Summary: ALTERNATE UNIVERSE ALERT!! Forget everything from the show, this thing is totally different. But don't worry, it's still Willow/Angel.
Disclaimer: I don't own anybody from the show. They are the property of Joss Whedon and his band of Merry Men. The story, however, is mine.
Archive: Go for it dude, just let me know!
Spoilers: There might be some stuff from the show mentioned, but otherwise everything is different.
Special Thanks: To Brenna: Get your computer fixed soon man!! STOP MOOCHING OFF MY JOLLY RANCHERS!!!
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Prologue
Ireland--1974
Sarah O’Brien sat perched on a large boulder near the edge of a giant cliff. Her short legs draped over the side, not quite reaching the plush green grass under her feet. She tucked a stray piece of her brown hair behind her ear, and stared out at the massive ocean before her. A cool breeze picked up, carrying with it the familiar scent of Sarah’s small Irish village; a combination of hearty soil and fresh rain. The aroma of the land embedded itself in the nostrils of those that worked it. It wasn’t until now that she realized how she’d taken for granted even something as simple as the smell of dirt.
Sarah was a young girl of 17. Her family, like most of the Irish families in her village, was extremely Catholic. Sarah went to church with them every Sunday, but her heart had never been in it. She just couldn't believe in God.
One day a mysterious woman named Arianna came to their town, and introduced Sarah to the world of magic and witchcraft. Sarah had a strong head on her shoulders, and decided that the beliefs of the Wiccans made more sense than her Catholic upbringing.
Sarah soon met a man by the name of Foster. He was a gypsy, and a friend of Arianna’s. The young girl was easily manipulated into believing that Foster loved her. Sarah, convinced that they would be together forever, lost her viginity to him. When she discovered she was pregnant, Foster left her, and Sarah had to deal with her family on her own.
When Sarah sat her parents down and explained what happened, they seemed eerily calm and understanding. She went to bed that night relieved that her parents supported her.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
The next morning Sarah awoke to find all of her belongings shoved into two metal trunks and sitting out on the front porch. Her parents left her a note saying that she was to leave and "never come back." Along with the note, they gave her enough money to pay for a plane ride to America, and to pay for a place to stay when she arrived.
After a fit of hysteria that lasted nearly three hours, Sarah found herself sitting on the boulder.
"This is it Sarah. Time to start a new life." She stood and brushed off the back of her long skirt. She had no idea where she was going to go, or what she was going to do when she got there, but she knew it was time to make a life for her and her baby.
"You, my child, are going to be perfect. And no matter if you're a boy or a girl, I’m going to give you the perfect name. Angel." Sarah patted her stomach, and turned to see the cab pull up in front of her parent's cottage. Sarah climbed into the passenger seat and gazed longingly at her former home. A single tear rolled down her cheek. It was the last time in her entire life that she cried.
~~~~~
Lucerne, Switzerland--1696
The young red head sat alone at a small table in the far corner of the tiny outdoor pub at the base of Mt. Pilatus. She looked out over Lake Lucerne, admiring it's beautiful blue-green color. She inhaled, and then coughed loudly, billows of tobacco smoke choking her lungs. She turned and sneered at the obnoxious men smoking cigars two tables away from her own. They didn't notice her.
"Well, I suppose I should be on my way," she said under her breath, taking one final swig of her drink. She slapped some money down on the tabletop, gathered her shawl around her shoulders, and waved to the bartender as she left the pub.
The sun was slipping swiftly below the horizon. < Lucerne is such
a small "Well hello there."
The sound of another female's voice sent chills up the red head's spine,
and she turned slowly to face the speaker. It was a young woman, not much
older than herself, with blonde hair and a smile that made the red head
feel uneasy.
"C-can I help you?" she asked nervously.
"Why yes, you can. I'm quite hungry. Can you tell me where I can get
something to eat?"
Relieved, the red head nodded. "Yes, there's a pub about one kilometer
down the road in that direction." She pointed, and the blonde just smiled,
ignoring her gesture.
"I'm afraid I can't wait. Why don't I just eat now?" With that, the
blonde woman grabbed the red head by the hair and buried her fangs into
the pale flesh of the other's neck.
Before the girl fell into unconsciousness, the blonde cut her wrist
and forced her blood on the red head. "By the way," the vampire gasped.
"My name is Darla."
They were the last words the red head heard before she died.
~Part: 1~
Sunnydale, California--1999
She slid undetected into the shadows of the small night club, her eyes
never leaving the group of people seated at the table across the room.
< A male Slayer. This should be interesting. > She maneuvered around
the sweaty, gyrating bodies and over- turned chairs, finally coming to
a stop underneath the rickety metal staircase leading to the second floor
of the building. She scanned the area to make sure she wasn't standing
underneath even the dimmest light, and then turned her attention back to
the Slayer and his friends.
She sized him up to the other Slayers she'd encountered in her many,
many years of existence as a vampire. He was unlike any other Slayer, not
only because he was the first male Slayer (a powerful ritual performed
by an unknown Wicca threw the entire Slayer organization off), but also
because he possessed far superior strength and mental capabilities. All
she knew about his past was that his mother was born with a natural psychic
ability. She could only assume that he was born with the same ability.
~~~~~
He could sense her the moment she stepped into The Bronze. He was always
able to detect vampires; after all, it was his job to do so. But this one
seemed different to him. He wasn't receiving the usual hatred and disgust
most vampires had towards the Slayer. He could only describe it as indifference.
Now that he'd made a mental note of what she "felt" like, he wanted
to see what she looked like. He reached out with his mind, trying to pinpoint
her location. < Under the < Oh shit, he’s seen me. > < She knows I’ve seen her. Where’s she going to run? > "What is it?"
He turned to his Watcher, and pressed his finger to his lips.
Amy Madison shook her head at her Slayer, and went back to conversing
with an older gentleman that had somehow managed to get into The Bronze
without getting laughed out by Buffy Summers and her snobby friends.
"Hey Witch-Lady, what's with Slay-Boy tonight?" Xander Harris sat on
the stool next to Amy's, followed by his best friend, Cordelia Chase.
"Shh, Xander please. I'm sure he's just spacing out again." Amy turned
back to the man, and allowed him to escort her to the dance floor.
"Hey Cordy, looks like Miss Madison is gonna get some action!" Xander
did a strange little dance move on his seat, and smiled brightly at the
brunette next to him.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Sure Xander, sure she is." Cordelia turned back to
her laptop and clicked away at the keys. Xander shook his head.
~~~~~
She tried to rip her eyes away from his penetrating gaze and focus her
attention on the teens sitting next to him, but she was unsuccessful. They
were locked in a blind stare.
He couldn't see all of her, but what he saw was enough to imprint her
image on his brain. The picture of her bright, green eyes and flowing red
hair would never leave him. Even after he killed her.
< He's going to kill me. I have to get out of here. > She looked
to her left, and then to her right. She was blocked on both sides by various
obstacles. All she could do was move forward. < Act like you’re a normal
person. Maybe he’ll leave you alone. > "What are you stari....hel-lo," Xander said, finally seeing on whom
his friend was so intently focused. She was the most beautiful creature
he had ever seen. She had long, beautiful red hair, and sparkling green
eyes. Her clothes were simple, a black pants suit with a white collared
shirt underneath. Xander, who's goal it was to become a fashion designer,
appreciated her sense of style.
The Slayer averted his gaze to Xander. "Let's go. Get Amy." Xander quickly
jumped from the table and pushed himself through the teeming mass of dancing
kids. Cordelia wrapped up her final sentence and slammed the cover closed
on her laptop.
"What're we doing?" she asked, sliding the computer into it's soft case,
and slinging the strap over her shoulder.
"Vampire. Headed outside. Come on." A wave of his hand was all it took
for Xander, Cordelia, and finally Amy, to follow him towards the back door.
Xander gripped the wooden stake in his pocket. He stopped to look for
her, and Cordelia slammed into him.
"Hurry up Xander, I'm aching for a killing tonight."
"Geez Cordy, what's with the lust for violence?"
She shoved him hard, and he stumbled forward, falling into the determined
Slayer.
"Watch it Harris, this is serious," he mumbled under his breath.
"Sorry, let's just go kick some vampire behind."
~~~~~
She pressed herself flat against the wall of the dark alley, and watched
as the four people stumbled out of the club. < It's no use, he'll feel
me. > She slowly crept deeper into the alley, taking her eyes off of the
group momentarily to maintain her balance.
Suddenly, she was thrown to the ground, the Slayer's knee pressing hard
into her back.
"Who are you?" he snarled, holding a stake just above her heart.
She tried to turn over, but couldn't muster up the strength. "I'm not
here to kill you," she groaned.
"Right, just like I'm not here to kill you. Really, who are you? What's
your name?"
"What difference does it make?" she hissed. "Do you like to know the
names of the vampires you kill?"
"Yeah, I use them for my scrapbook." He rolled off of her, and lifted
her up by the collar of her shirt. "Now, are you going to tell me your
name?"
He was so close, she could've stuck her tongue out and touched his nose.
In fact, she considered doing so, if only to throw him off guard so she
could twist herself out of his grasp. < Lower is better. > He recovered quickly, and slammed her hard against the wall. She gasped
at the sharp pain slicing through her back. "I won't ask again," he warned
through clenched teeth.
"Willow."
"What?"
"My name, it's Willow."
He stared at her, disbelief on his face. "Willow? How intimidating is
that?"
She snorted. "Would you prefer something like Attilla or Hannibal?"
He slapped her hard across the face. She snarled, and her teeth elongated
into sharp fangs. He grinned at her. "I guess I hit a nerve. Well, I suppose
I should introduce myself. I want you to remember my name while you burn
in hell."
"I already know your name, Slayer," she interrupted. "And you thought
my name was inappropriate. Angel? Ha! You were all set to kill me, and
instead you decide to torture me with brainless small talk and physical
abuse? Are you sure your destiny wasn't to become a vampire?"
He pulled her up against him, his eyes boring holes through her own.
"I don't think I'm the weak one here. You aren't even fighting back. And,
by the way," he spun them around and shoved her away. "Don't ever make
fun of my name. It's all I have left of my life before all of this." He
waved his hands around, emphasizing the dankness of the alley, which held
a deep symbolism for his tortured and dark life.
"Aww, poor Slayer. Look, I'm not here to fight, Angel. I'm here to warn
you." Willow started to move closer to him, but he stepped back.
"Warn me? Why, Willow, what makes you think I care about anything you
have to say? What makes you think I won't kill you if you help me?"
"I'm not helping you to avoid being killed. In fact, I welcome it. I've
been suffering far too long now," she said, looking down at her hands.
< A vampire with a soul. A sentence worse than hell. >
"Cry me a river, Willow. Tell me what you came here to say, and maybe
I'll let you go." Angel stood facing her, his arms crossed and his head
cocked to the side, a skeptical look on his face.
"There's a new Master in town. He's dangerous. More so than the last
Master. He's trying to get together an army, and he plans on opening the
Hellmouth."
Angel sighed. "You'd think as the Masters get more colorful personality
wise, they would do interesting bad things rather than the same old crap.
So, where's his hideout?"
Willow shook her head. "I don't know yet. I have sources, but I don't
have the trust. Ask your watcher, I'm sure she'd be able to help you."
<Amy... > Angel looked towards the opening to the alley, and saw
that he and Willow had an audience of three. He turned back to Willow to
say something, but she was gone. < What the…? > "Dammit!" he shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls and nearly deafening
him before he escaped the echo.
"What's the matter, Angel? Who was it?" Amy checked over Angel, making
sure he wasn't injured in any way. She said a short spell under her breath,
making sure to ease the pain of any internal injuries. They would be healed
by morning, but Angel shouldn't be made to suffer with pain if it wasn't
necessary.
"It was a vampire. She said there was a new Master in town, and that
he was more dangerous than any other Master before him. When I asked her
where he was hiding out, she said she didn't know, but I think that's a
lie." Angel brushed off the front of his shirt, and smiled gratefully at
his Watcher when he realized she'd done the spell.
"So, research then?" Cordelia asked, getting excited by the idea of
surfing the net and finding info on bad guys. More often than not, she'd
saved the day with her Internet expertise. Knowing that she had that kind
of power over everybody else, for she was the only one that had any idea
how to turn on a computer, much less use one, was something she enjoyed
immensely.
"Yeah, research sounds great guys, but I really need to head home. I've
got studying to pretend to do, and then I have other stuff that I need
to take care of," Xander said, shifting from right foot to left under their
stares.
"Other stuff? Don't you mean you have to watch this week's reruns of
Due South and Captain Planet?"
Xander glared at Cordelia, his face bright red with embarrassment. "NO!
I just uh, have to clean for my parents."
"Right, and I'm-"
"Guys! Can we please discuss this later? Xander, if you can't stay,
fine. Just let us drive you home. I'm not about to let you walk by yourself,"
Amy said. She hurried over to her small car and held the door open so Angel
could climb into the back seat. Xander shrugged and followed close behind,
hopping up front. Amy helped Cordelia into the back and climbed into the
driver's seat. The engine of the tiny car screeched and groaned before
finally roaring to life.
Willow watched from the rooftop. She admired Angel's ability to control
everybody around him with a simple word or gesture. Especially that teenage
boy. <Xander...he's pretty cute.. > Of course, there was no denying
that Willow had been somewhat attracted to the Slayer as well, but she
knew that nothing would ever come of it. < He's beautiful, but he's
the Slayer, which makes him hazardous for my health. >
She shook her head, sighing in frustration, and made her way down the
fire escape. Underneath her, a group of teenage girls came outside, giggling
and shrieking about boys and other girlie things that made Willow sick
to her stomach. The short blonde in the miniskirt and sleeveless shirt
seemed to lead the pack, her head held high, and her chest thrust forward
for all the world to see.
< Yuck, I hate people like that. But it seems to be what men like.
It's a good thing most of the men I'm interested in prefer dead girls rather
than live ones. I would have some serious competition. > She landed with
a thud at the bottom of the fire escape, and took off running into the
night.
~Part: 2~
"Angel, it's important that you tell me everything you noticed about
this vampire. There may be something about her in one of my books...something
that will improve her credibility. We can't just go around believing the
word on the street. It might be a set up or-"
"Amy, it's not a set up," Angel said, trying to calm his watcher down.
"I don't know how I know that for sure, but I can feel it. Something about
this wo...vampire makes me want to believe her."
"It was the girl from The Bronze, wasn't it?" Cordelia asked, not looking
up from her computer.
"What girl from...oh, yeah, it was her." Angel peered across the room
at his friend, and she looked up to meet his questioning look.
"Xander really knows how to pick 'em, doesn't he?" she said with an
exasperated sigh.
Amy started to answer, but bit her tongue and instead chose to gather
up all of the old Watcher diaries as reference on the new vampire, and
the new Master.
Angel snorted and stood up to pace around the room. "Xander's oblivious,
Cordy. He's just like every other guy. If you don't throw yourself at him
like a slut, he won't notice a thing. Not that I'm saying you should throw
yourself at him."
"Are you kidding? I doubt Xander would notice if I walked into a room
completely naked. He'd probably say something like 'Gee Cordy, you better
put some sunblock on. It's gonna be a hot one!' I'm so sick of him! Ugh!"
She pounded her fist on the large wooden table, and shrieked as her computer
screen went black. "Whew, it was only the screen saver." Her anger at Xander
forgotten for the moment, Cordelia started typing again.
"Angel, can you give me a hand please?"
Angel stopped pacing and walked over to the young woman, who was struggling
rather comedically with a large box full of books. He put his hands under
the bottom edge, and lifted the box into the air as though it weighed nothing.
"Where do you want it?" he groaned under the strain of the box.
"Over there," Amy said, pointing to the checkout counter. Angel stumbled
across the room and set the box down on the wooden surface. "Thanks, Angel."
"No problem. So, what do you want to know about this vampire?"
~~~~~
Willow unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped inside. She flicked
on the one lamp in the entire place, and dropped her keys on the kitchen
table. She opened the refrigerator and bent down to inspect the contents.
"Do I want O positive, AB, or O Negative?" Willow thumbed through the
multiple bags of blood sitting on the top shelf of the fridge, and chose
one. "AB it is."
She pulled a coffee mug out of the cabinet above the stove, tore open
the bag of blood, and poured it in. She set it in the microwave and hit
the preset time. After she regained her soul, Willow spent most of her
time learning about technology. She prided herself on being the only microwave
owner that actually knew how to program it.
The timer beeped, and Willow removed the glass. She drank slowly, savoring
the taste of the red liquid running down her throat.
After rinsing the mug out and placing it in the dishwasher, Willow went
into her living room and plopped down on the plush, burgundy couch. She
switched on the TV, and flipped through the channels. Once she found a
show she liked, she laid back into the massive throw pillow shoved into
the corner of her couch. She kicked off her shoes and stretched her toes.
Willow's thoughts drifted away from her television and onto the events
of that night. Meeting the Slayer face to face was something she'd been
wanting to do for a long time. Ever since the night she'd seen him in Central
Park.
After moving to New York, Willow took it upon herself to try and weed
out the city's vampire population. She knew it was a nearly impossible
task, but it gave her a reason to go on.
One night, while out patrolling through the park, she saw Angel fighting
three vampires. At first, she didn't realize he was the Slayer. She didn't
get the familiar Slayer warning in her head. But when she saw the skill
he displayed in his fighting technique, she knew.
From that night until the day he left for Sunnydale, Willow watched
Angel kill vampires in the park. He worked like a machine; kick, punch,
stake. Willow did some checking, and found that Angel's mother had been
killed by vampires. < Probably for creating When he left, Willow felt like a part of her was missing. She'd grown
attached to the young man. She found herself longing to aid him in his
battles. That's when she decided to move to Sunnydale.
"And here I am, sitting in my lonely apartment, pining away for a man
who wants nothing more than to kill me. Not to mention the fact that I'm
like 12 times his age!" Willow swung her legs off of the couch and stood,
stretching her tense back muscles. "Enough of this, I'm going to bed, and
I'm not going to think about the Slayer anymore!" She stomped out of the
living room and into her bedroom. She threw herself onto the bed, her red
hair falling in whisps across her down comforter. "I just need to concentrate
on finding out about this new Master. I have to try and dream up some kind
of plan or something. Or maybe that can wait..."
She drifted off to sleep, her mind on only one thing. The dark and mysterious
Angel.
~~~~~
"What did you say her name was again? Spruce?"
"No, Cordelia, I said her name was Willow!" Angel glared at the brunette
seated behind the computer, and she held her hands up in denial.
"I wasn't trying to insult you! It's late, and I'm tired! Give me a
break!"
"I'm sorry, I guess she just really got to me." Angel started to elaborate,
but Amy cut him off.
"That's really no surprise, Angel. Look." She held out an old, dusty
book, and he took it from her.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It's an old diary. A Watcher in the 1700's wrote it while living in
Austria with the Slayer at that time. It talks about a vampire named Willow,
but it says she also went by The Red Mistress. Supposedly she seduced many
rich married men, got them to put her in their wills as the sole heiress
instead of their wives, and then literally ripped their hearts out of their
chests. There was quite the surplus on widows back then."
"So are you saying she was trying to seduce me tonight? I don't know,
Amy. This vampire didn't seem like the type to rip a man's heart out. She
didn't even try and fight back." Amy scratched her chin, and then snapped
her fingers, producing another book.
"This is a journal from a Watcher in the early 1900's. He talks about
a red haired female vampire coming to his Slayer's rescue several times.
Her name was Willow. I can only assume it's the same vampire."
"Why the change of heart?" Cordelia asked. "Did she just up and decide
one day to join the side of good? I don't buy it!"
"Neither do I," Angel said. "Amy, there has to be more. Something explaining
this whole thing, because right now, she's just another vampire to me,
regardless of whether or not she provides us with accurate information
about this new Master."
"Ah, yes, the new Master! I almost forgot!" Another snap, and yet another
book was in the hands of the Watcher. Angel shook his head in amazement.
"I just don't get how you know which books to get."
"It's all in the mind, my young Slayer. Okay, check this out. This prophecy
says that a newer, more powerful Master will rise, and provide a challenge
to the most powerful Slayer ever known. It will be an equal match, and
the end result is unknown." Amy slammed the book shut, sneezing as a puff
of dust flew up her nose.
"So we don't know what's going to happen?" Cordelia asked, her voice
cracking.
"Nope. That's why we need all the help we can get. Angel, is there anyway
you can track this Willow down? We might need her to help us. Even if we
don't think she's on our side, at least she seems to be against the Master."
Angel paused for a moment, and then nodded. "I'll see what I can do.
She's like a beacon. That's what got my attention at The Bronze tonight.
It's like she wants me to find her."
"Great, see what you can do. In the meantime, Cordy and I will stay
here and find out what we can on this new Master, and on The Red Mistress.
Please be careful." Amy hugged him, maternal instincts taking over. Angel
was like a son to her, and her love for him ran deeper than any admiration
between Slayer and Watcher.
"I will, don't worry. I'll give you a call when I get home. Goodnight
Cordy." Angel hugged her and kissed the top of her head. Cordelia patted
his arm and then pushed him away.
"Hurry up, you don't want to miss her before she goes outside to kill
something."
"Right. Okay then, please be safe. Don't take down the protection spell
for anything." Amy smiled and nodded, and Angel, satisfied that he was
leaving the two women in relative safety, left the library.
~Part: 3~
Felix and Marvin sat hunched over the bar, each peering unhappily into
their respective glasses of blood.
"Willie, when are you gonna start getting better quality blood? This
stuff tastes like shit!" Felix said.
"Hey guys, it ain't my fault you're too lazy to go and kill. If you
don't like my stuff, get the hell out of here, and let the vampires that
can appreciate my service consume my product." Willie stared coldly at
the two vampires, and went back to wiping down the counter with a dirty
rag.
Felix was just about to deliver yet another empty threat on Willie's
life when he was interrupted by the loud crashing of the door.
Angel sauntered into the dark bar, and smiled at the two vampires seated
at the counter. They looked fearfully at him, then at one another, and
then they stood and left without saying a word.
"Yeah, you're welcome jackasses!" Willie shouted, cursing under his
breath at the measly one dollar tip they'd left him. "So, Slayer, what
brings you here this fine evening?"
Angel's smile disappeared as he strode up to the bar. He leaned close
to "The Snitch", as he was so lovingly dubbed, and whispered, "I need you
to tell me about the new vampire in town."
"I don't know much about the new Master, just that he's-"
Angel cut him off. "No, not the new Master. The red head. Willow's her
name. What do you know about her?"
From the look on Willie's face, Angel could see that he did in fact
know something about this mysterious vampiress. "I...uh...well, what do
you wanna know?" The fear in the bartender's voice was obvious, and Angel
could almost smell the terror seeping out of his skin.
"I want to know what she's doing here, and, more importantly, where
I can find her." He looked expectantly at the frightened man.
"I don't know where-"
"NO! Do not tell me you don't know where she lives! Willie, if there's
one thing you should know about me, it's that I can spot a liar from a
mile away. I know you know something about her. Your left eye is twitching.
So why don't you tell me where she is so I can be on my way?"
"But Angel, I really don't-"
Willie didn't have a chance to finish his sentence, because Angel was
over the counter and holding him by the neck in a matter of seconds. Willie's
line of work had put him in this position many times before, but a male
Slayer with exceptional power was somebody he didn't want to piss off.
In reality, Willie did know Willow. Very well, in fact. The day she
came to town she'd visited his establishment, and made the necessary arrangements
for a daily delivery of blood to her apartment. She'd threatened his life
to insure his silence. But even an incredibly powerful vampire was nothing
compared to this terrifying man standing over him, his hand so tightly
wrapped around Willie's neck.
"Okay, I'll talk," he choked. Angel immediately released him, and Willie
gingerly massaged his neck.
"Spill it, Snitch. I don't have much time."
"Alright, I'm supposed to deliver some blood to her apartment tonight
after I close this place. She set it up about a month ago, I guess when
she first got to town."
"Has she mentioned anything about what she was doing here?" Angel asked.
Willie shook his head. "No, just that she needed a delivery every night
until further notice. She paid six months in advance, too. Oh, there was
one thing that I thought a little bit odd."
"And what's that?" Angel was already formulating a plan in his mind
on how he could get to Willow. He just had to persuade Willie that he wasn't
going to kill his most steady source of income.
"She didn't want the blood of a human woman. She would take a human
male's blood, and any type of animal blood, but never the human woman."
While Willie never made it his business why his customers did what they
did, he was terribly curious about Willow's motives for refusing women's
blood. Once, on accident, a pint of women's blood was delivered to her,
and she abruptly returned it. It was a violent experience for Willie, one
which he would never forget.
< Why would a vampire care what kind of blood it drank? > "I have no idea," Angel said, having heard Willie's thoughts. "I've
never met a picky vampire. Anything else you can tell me?"
"No, don't think so." Willie prayed that his interrogation was finished,
and that Angel would hop back over the bar and leave. Their close proximity
and Angel's penetrating stare was making him nervous.
"So you haven't made your delivery tonight?" Angel asked, a vindictive
gleam in his eyes.
"N-no, I haven't. Why? Oh, wait a minute, Angel, I don't think so,"
Willie said, shaking his head emphatically and holding up his hands in
a gesture that clearly said "back off".
"Don't think, Willie. Just do." Angel grabbed the shorter man by the
collar, and tossed him over the countertop with the greatest of ease. Angel
hopped over and hauled Willie across the room by his collar, stopping in
front of the door to Willie's office. "Open it, give me the delivery, her
address, and don't say a word, you understand me?" Willie nodded, and fumbled
nervously with the keys, desperate to get Angel out of his hair. < Damn
Slayer, thinks he "I don't think I can manipulate people to do what I want them to do,
Willie. I KNOW I can. Now hurry up!" Angel snapped, smirking at the scared
look on Willie's face. Angel had never felt this way before. He was consumed
by the task of seeking Willow out, and would stop at nothing to find her.
A small part of him was frightened by this obsession, but the rest of him
screamed out at him to find her.
"Earth to Slayer, come in Slayer," Willie said. He cleared his throat
loudly, and Angel refocused his attention on the situation at hand.
"Sorry. What's the address?" Willie handed Angel the slip of paper on
which Willow had scribbled her address. "And the delivery?" Willie sighed
and opened up a small refrigerator next to his cluttered desk. He removed
four bags of blood and placed them in a Styrofoam cooler.
"Can you please bring the cooler back? I use it for other customers
too ya know. And look, Slayer, don't kill this broad. She pays good, and
she ain't bad on the eyes, so I'd like to keep her around for awhile. These
dollar tips are killing me." Angel chuckled and took the cooler from Willie's
hands.
"I promise I won't kill her. I just need to find out what she's doing
here." Angel hoped his voice sounded reassuring, but he could tell that
it didn't by the look on Willie's face. Angel himself wasn't sure what
he was going to do with the red headed vampire. He knew it was his duty
to destroy her, but something about her kept him from doing so. < I'll
get to the bottom of it. And then I'll be able to kill her. > Angel nodded
curtly at Willie and left the bar.
Once outside, he looked down at the scrap of paper in his hand. Angel
was familiar with the warehouse district, and recognized the address as
one of the many abandoned buildings. Sighing, he tucked the paper safely
into his back pocket and headed towards the docks.
"Why didn't the Slayer kill us, Felix?" Marvin asked as the two vampires
climbed down the rusty ladder leading down into the sewer.
"Beats the hell out of me. But I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.
I wanna get back to the caves before he comes after us." Felix waited until
he heard Marvin drop down into the water below, and closed the grate above
him. He cleared the remaining rungs and landed with a loud splash next
to his friend. "Let's go," he whispered, motioning for Marvin to follow
him.
Marvin shrugged and followed the older vampire. He had no idea where
they were or where they were supposed to go, but he trusted that Felix,
who'd been an inhabitant of Sunnydale for many many years, knew the way
home.
< Why didn’t the Slayer kill us? > "Felix, aren't we supposed to go this way?" Marvin's question broke
the silence between the two, and Felix spun around to face the other vampire.
"I think I know where I'm going, idiot! I've been through these sewers
longer than you've been a vampire!" Felix had to fight down the urge to
pummel Marvin.
Marvin held his hands up in defense. "Okay, I'm sorry! I just thought
I saw a light down one of the tunnels back there!"
"A light? Where? Show me, dammit!"
Marvin turned quickly and jogged back through the murky water to the
tunnel they'd passed earlier. Felix was right on his heels, and nearly
fell right into Marvin when the other vampire stopped suddenly.
"There, look," Marvin said, pointing to what was indeed a light at the
end of the tunnel.
"Well don't just stand there, go investigate!" Felix hissed, shoving
Marvin towards the entrance.
"No way Felix! The Master said he wanted us back right away! I'm not
about to piss him off!" Marvin pushed Felix off of him and started back
on their original course.
"Fine! I'll investigate, and if I turn up dead, the Master will kill
you because you let me die!"
Marvin paused and almost turned back, but instead he let out a little
snort and kept going.
Felix flipped Marvin off and stepped into the tunnel. If he could have
felt temperature changes, he would have noticed that it was getting hotter
and hotter as he got closer to the light.
~~~~~
"He WHAT?!?"
"I...um...that is, HE...he wanted to investigate, Master. I told him
that we should c-come back, but he said he didn't care!" < It's close
enough to the truth. > Marvin thought as he cowered before his Master.
"Well that's just fabulous, isn't it? He was to be my new right hand
man...oh well, I'll just have to eliminate him. So, Marvin is it?" Marvin
nodded eagerly, but put his head bacj down when his Master glared at him
with flashing, yellow eyes. "How would you like to move up in the ranks,
Marvin?"
"I would be honored, Sir," Marvin said, his voice barely above a whisper.
He was trying desperately not to sound like an idiot.
"Perfect. You are my new second in command. And for my first order of
business, I'd like to-"
"Oh sweetheart?"
Marvin and the Master both turned towards the shadows where the female
voice came from.
"Yes my love?" the Master replied.
"Why don't you take a break from business and come play with me? We
never do anything together anymore!" The vampiress stepped out of the shadows.
Her short dark hair hung loosely around her face, and she wore a flowing
dress with tiny blue flowers printed on the fabric. There was nothing scary
about her appearance, but Marvin knew her reputation, and was weary of
being in the same room with her.
The Master chuckled at his mate, and smiled down at Marvin. "Women!
Well, business will have to wait until tomorrow. If Felix comes back, kill
him." Marvin bowed his head and the Master stood from his position above
all of the other vampires. "Come my love, let us retire to our room." The
Master held out a hand to his lady, and she accepted, smiling shyly.
"Thank you, Master," Marvin said under his breath.
"No need to thank me, Marvin," the Master answered, never taking his
eyes off the face of the woman beside him. "And please, stop calling me
Master. It makes me feel terribly uncomfortable. I would rather you just
call me Ripper. Is that alright with you?"
"Y-yes. Ripper. Goodnight."
~~~~~
Felix could hear voices. It was difficult to make out words, but he
could tell that it was a male, most likely British, and a female, also
British. He crept closer until he could peek around the corner of the small
cave without being detected.
"Dru, luv, please sit up. I can't stay in this bloody cave all night
without anyone to talk to." Spike caressed her pale cheek and kissed her
forehead.
"Spike, do you hear them? Do you hear the birds? They are singing our
song, our happy happy song," Dru murmured, her eyelids slipping shut at
a rate that alarmed the blonde vampire holding her in his lap.
"Yes, I hear the birds," he lied. "Why don't you sing their song for
me, Dru? I love to hear you sing."
Dru sighed and buried her face in Spike's stomach. She started to mumble
the words when she stopped suddenly, and pulled Spike's face close to her
own.
"Somebody is here," she whispered into his ear.
"Are you sure, luv?"
"Yes! He's hiding in the shadows. He thinks I do not see him, but he
is wrong. Spike, I'm hungry." Her voice went from evil to whiny, and the
first thing Spike wanted to do was punish the thing that made his Dru upset.
Felix didn't hear what the strange vampiress said to the blonde, but
he knew he better get moving. He turned to leave when somebody seized him
from behind and pulled him into the light of the cave.
"Dru, darling, is this the man that you spoke of?" Spike asked, his
true demon form showing on his face.
"Bring him to me, Spikey. I want to taste his fear."
Spike grinned, his yellowed fangs flashing in the fire light, and shoved
the weak vampire to his knees.
"Wh-what are you going to do with me?" Felix asked, his entire body
quaking in fear.
"Gee, I'm not sure. Dru, what should we do with him?"
Dru squealed in excitement and began to clap her hands. "Let's have
a picnic!"
"Sounds great to me, luv!" Spike quickly snapped Felix's neck, and he
and Dru proceeded to drain the vampire of it's blood.
Once they were finished, Spike sat back against the wall of the cave,
Dru stretched out lazily across his lap.
"What are you going to do tomorrow, Spike?" she asked.
"Don't you remember what I told you? Our whole purpose for coming to
this wretched place was to find-"
"Mother?" She looked up into his blue eyes and grinned.
"Yes. It's time to find Mother. Now get some sleep, Dru. We've got a
busy day tomorrow." Spike gently played with her hair until he was sure
she was asleep. He then adjusted and moved her off of his lap. He rolled
away from her sleeping form and used his arm as a pillow. No matter how
hard he tried, he couldn't get the image of his Red Mistress out of his
mind.
Willow stumbled out of her bedroom and into the living room of her apartment.
There was a second knock at the door, louder than the first.
"I'm coming! Just give me a minute!" She shouted, pulling a blanket
on over her nightgown. She got to the door and looked through the peep
hole, but all she saw was a dark head of hair. <That's funny, usually
Willie is doing some kind of obscene thing when he's in my hallway.> Concerned
at his lack of enthusiasm, Willow quickly opened the door. "Willie, what's-"
"Sorry Willow, I think you've got the wrong guy," Angel said, smiling
down at the startled vampire.
"Slayer." Willow nodded curtly and began to invite Angel into her apartment
when she paused. <What am I doing?? Do I want to get myself killed??
I shouldn't be anywhere near him!> Willow braced herself against the door,
anticipating an attack. "What the hell are you doing here? And where is
Willie?"
"I gave Willie the night off. I told him I would take care of the...special...delivery
tonight. You don't mind, do you?" Angel tilted his head slightly to the
side and stuck out his lower lip, pouting.
Willow was fuming. "I most certainly DO mind! How DARE you think you
can come here! I suggest you leave, Slayer, before I really do kill you
this time!" She reached out for the cooler, but Angel snatched it away
and jumped back.
"Don't think so, Red Mistress. Now why don't you let me inside so we
can discuss what exactly you are doing here in Sunnydale?"
Willow felt weak in the knees when she realized what Angel had called
her. <Red Mistress...I haven't been called that since I left...well,
since I left Spike and Dru behind.> Realizing that she had no other options,
Willow stepped aside, allowing Angel to enter her home.
"Nice place," Angel said while he scanned the room and it's modern decor.
He could almost hear Xander's critique of her decorating choices.
"Thanks. Can I have my bl...cooler now?"
Angel handed it over, glad to get rid of the package. He sat down on
her large couch and listened as she went into the kitchen. Angel could
hear her mumbling something under her breath, but he couldn't make out
the words.
"I'd really like to get back to bed, so let's make this quick." Willow
joined him in the living room and sat cross-legged in the recliner positioned
next to the couch. She laced her fingers together and held them in her
lap. It was something she always did when she was nervous.
<She's got really nice eyes. Why the hell am I thinking about her
eyes?!>
"Okay, well why don't you start off by telling me why exactly it is
that you didn't try to kill me tonight." Angel sat back and watched her
facial expressions. He could tell that she was going through somewhat of
an intense thought process, but he couldn't sense what it was she was thinking
about. Somehow, she was blocking all of his attempts at reading her mind.
"You're probably wondering why you can't read my mind," Willow said,
noticing the confused look on his face. "I've been around a long time,
and I've picked up a few pointers here and there about magic and...things....
I know how to hide my thoughts. My emotions, however, are a little more
difficult." <Which is why I have to exercise some kind of control when
I'm around this guy. Look at me, crushing on a Slayer as though I were
a careless teenager!>
Angel didn't know how to respond, so he just nodded. Mentally, however,
his mind was racing, and he was adapting all of his internal sensors to
pick up emotional signals.
Willow continued. "Now to answer your question. You may not believe
me, but this is the absolute truth. Over three hundred years ago, I was
turned into a vampire. My sire was a woman named Darla, who died several
years ago by my hand."
Darla and I traveled around the world for decades, killing villages
upon villages of people. I loved every second of it. I was a killer through
and through, and nothing could stop me. A total of six Slayers came face
to face with me, and none of them made it out alive."
"Are you saying all of this in an attempt to frighten me?" Angel asked.
"No, not at all," she replied, shaking her head. Then she grinned. "The
whole point of this story is to explain WHY I'm no threat to you. Believe
me, if I intended to kill you, it would've been done already."
Angel scoffed at the smug vampiress. "I think you underestimate me,
Willow.
I'm not like other Slayers."
<Oh believe me, you don't have to remind me of your...differences>
Willow shook her head to clear her thoughts, and crossed her arms over
her chest. "May I please continue?"
"Be my guest."
"Alright, so about 100 years ago I was living in Portugal. I'd started
a very successful army of minions, and we had just taken over a small village.
One night I was out hunting when I ran into a young priest. I was pretty
hungry, and even though he was a small guy, I figured he'd hold me over
until I found a juicy kill." Willow stood up from her seat and began to
pace slowly around the room, adjusting various trinkets on shelves. Her
movements made Angel nervous, and his eyes followed her around the room.
"So I followed this priest to his church, and before he stepped inside,
I grabbed him. Just as I sank my fangs into his neck, he started chanting.
He was speaking Latin, and I understood the words, but I didn't know their
meaning at the time. I thought he was just praying. But when he stopped
chanting, I felt this terrible pain wash over my entire body, and then
I passed out.
When I woke up, I found myself laying on the floor of the church, surrounded
by crosses. I remember lashing out at them, and then running. I just kept
running."
Angel waited for Willow to continue, but she didn't. She sat staring
down at the carpet, fiddling nervously with her fingers.
"And?"
No answer.
"Willow?" He reached out with his mental sensors, but could pick up
no emotions.
"Willow, are you still with me?"
<No, I don't want to remember. Just let me forget, please, just let
me forget.> It took her a moment to realize that Angel was calling her
name.
Willow looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
Angel's first instinct was to comfort her. His mother had raised him
to treat women with kindness, and at first glance, this woman appeared
to be just like any other. He had to remind himself that she was his mortal
enemy. "Are you going to continue, or should I just kill you?"
Willow flinched at his harsh remark, and wiped angrily at the tears
in her eyes. "Sorry. Anyway, what the priest did, when he chanted, was
restore my soul. After over two centuries of being a brutal murderer, I
was given a conscience. And then I had 100 years to think about everybody
that I'd ever hurt. Every child that begged for his or her life. It wasn't
until recently that I actually began to function again. I vowed that I
would never kill another human."
"But you drink human blood?"
Willow nodded. "But only that which is donated. I won't drink the blood
of someone that is unwilling. I can smell the difference between the two,
and I always return blood that smells of fear."
"And you return the blood of women," Angel said.
"What?"
"You don't drink women's blood. Why is that?" he asked.
Angel's world came to a screeching halt. One moment, the vampiress was
standing on the opposite side of the room from where he was sitting. The
next, she was on top of him, her vampire visage in place.
"You son of a bitch!!" she screamed, her yellow eyes blazing with rage.
Willow punched him hard in the face, and then lifted him up off of the
couch. Her plan to throw him against the wall was cut off by his retaliation.
Angel knocked her arms away and punched her hard in the stomach. Willow
doubled over in agony, and Angel seized the moment and brought his knee
up hard into her chin. Her jaw cracked under the blow, and she was sent
reeling backwards. Before she fell, she grabbed onto Angel's belt, bringing
him crashing down on top of her.
Both were panting, not so much from the physical exertion as from the
emotional stress of their mutual anger. It wasn't until Angel felt Willow's
heaving chest beneath his own that he realized he was lying on top of her.
His face turned red with embarrassment, all of his previous emotions forgotten.
Willow couldn't take her hand off of his belt. She gripped onto it like
it was a life line, and he was going to pull her into safety. Willow wanted
him to save her.
"I...um...should probably get going now," he said. Willow's mind cleared
suddenly, and she released his pants from her grasp. Angel stood, rubbing
his jaw where she'd punched him. "Nice hit, by the way."
"Thanks," Willow replied, sitting up. She could feel that her own jaw
was broken. "You aren't so bad yourself."
"Look, I'm so-"
"No, you don't have to say anything. I'd rather you just leave, if you
don't mind?"
Angel shook his head, wincing at the pain in his face. He was pretty
sure his own jaw was broken. <I've never fought a vampire that could
hit like that.>
"I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again."
"You will. I'm still trying to find out more about this new Master.
As soon as I'm done, and he's destroyed, I'll leave, and you'll never have
to deal with me again." Willow pulled herself up and walked over to the
door, opening it for the dark haired Slayer.
"Well, goodnight Willow."
"Goodnight, Slayer."
Once Angel was out in the hallway, he let the tears of pain come to
his eyes. He'd held them back in order to save face; for his masculinity
as well as his position as Slayer. No vampire hit Angel and lived. So why
was this particular vampire so different? <Because there's something
about her that you can't get out of your mind. Because she intrigues you
with everything she does, and you can't stop thinking about that, even
though you've only known her for a few hours.> "No," he hissed at himself.
"I will not think about this right now. I have to get back to Amy and tell
her what's going on. A vampire with a soul? Please, there has to be more
here than meets the eye."
Satisfied that he'd fooled himself well enough to get through the night,
Angel left the building and started back to the school.
Once Willow was sure he'd gone, she let out the moan of pain she'd been
holding back. Acting tough was difficult enough, but in front of the Slayer?
Willow had to maintain a position of equality, if not dominance. She knew
intuitively that he was holding back some kind of reaction to the pain
he was in, but she ignored that. What she couldn't ignore, however, was
how she could still feel his body on top of her own. "Stop it, Willow.
He's the Slayer, he wants to kill you, and you don't stand a chance. It's
bad enough that you're betraying Ripper, but to have any kind of feelings
towards Angel can only make matters worse." Through berating herself for
the night, Willow went back to her room and climbed into bed. This time,
she dreamt of what would happen to her when her betrayal was discovered.
~Part: 5~
"Watch it, trailer trash!" Buffy Summers pushed past one of the many
"losers" that attended Sunnydale High School. She was followed by her regular
group of loyal wannabes. Harmony, Buffy's "best" friend, pushed the young
man Buffy had insulted.
"Yeah, watch it Jonathan."
The shy young man simply stared back at Harmony and then went on his
way. He'd been pestered by the group for four years, and finally decided
to simply ignore them. It wasn't so easy for others, however.
"Hey, Cordelia!" Buffy shouted. Cordelia, who had been trying to stay
out of the popular blonde's path, stopped in front of her locker and tried
to look occupied by putting her books away. Buffy sauntered up to her and
leaned against the locker next to the brunette's.
"B-Buffy. How's it going?"
Buffy laughed, a sound that sent chills down Cordelia's spine. "As if
you care!" she said. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad somebody got a
use out of my old yard-sale shoes."
Cordelia followed Buffy's glance down to the shoes on her feet and blushed.
"I'll have you know, Buffy, that I bought these shoes in Los Angeles."
"Uh huh, from the Goodwill!" Harmony piped in, and Buffy smiled appreciatively
at her clone.
"No, they are not from Goodwill! Not that I would have a problem with
buying anything from Goodwill! God Buffy, why don't you go pick on somebody
that understands your retard-speak?" Cordelia's heart raced when she saw
Buffy's reaction to her insult. < It was harsh, but she deserved it.
> "I'm sorry Cordelia, I didn't mean to confuse you with my obviously
superior control of the English language. You have a nice day now, okay?"
Cordelia started to open her mouth and defend herself when she was interrupted.
"Excuse me, but I'm looking for...oh, there you are Cordy!"
Buffy turned and saw perhaps the most beautiful man she'd ever seen
in her entire life.
"Angel! I've been wondering what you've been up to!" Cordelia flashed
a brilliant smile at her friend, and stepped past Buffy so that she was
standing in front of him.
"I'm sorry I missed you last night," he said, winking. He returned her
smile with one of his own, and pulled her into a tight hug. Buffy and her
friends stood, mouths gaping at the couple in front of them.
"Um, Cordy, aren't you going to introduce me to your...friend?" Buffy
asked.
Angel squeezed Cordelia, silently telling her that he was totally willing
to play along with whatever she had in mind. Cordy smiled to herself and
pulled out of the hug. She turned to face Buffy and the other girls, who
were busily straightening their already perfect hair.
"Buffy, this is Angel. He works for my father." Buffy shoved a delicate
hand into one of Angel's larger ones. Cordy noticed that she didn't let
go, and pretended to be jealous. She tore their hands apart and pushed
Angel protectively behind her. "Angel, this is Buffy."
"Pleased to meet you," he said, grinning. A collective sigh came from
Buffy's friends at the sight of his smile. He truly was the most beautiful
man ANY of them had ever seen.
"So, Angel, how old are you?" Buffy's attempt at conversation, and ultimately
seduction, was cut off by Cordelia's insistence that Angel was needed in
the library. He shrugged, said goodbye to a disappointed Buffy, and took
Cordelia's hand in his own.
"Thanks," she whispered once they were out of Buffy's hearing range.
"I hate her so much. She's the one thing about this place that I find totally
unbearable."
Angel leaned over and kissed the top of Cordelia's head. She smiled,
knowing that Buffy had seen his gesture and mistaken it for something more
than friendly. "Anytime I can help, Cordy. You're my best friend, and I'd
do anything for you. Even if it means touching that trashy whore. I can
wash my hands."
"Angel!" Cordelia smacked him on the arm, and he laughed out loud.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!" he said, nearly doubled over in laughter.
Cordelia let go of his hand and stepped back to look him over. She hadn't
seen him in this good of a mood in a long time. She checked his forehead
for a sign of a fever, which made Angel laugh even harder. By this time
they were drawing a crowd, and Cordelia tried to calm Angel down. When
he finally stopped laughing, he noticed the group of people staring at
the two of them. A group that included Buffy and the Slut Parade.
"Please, Angel, let's just get out of here," Cordelia said, her face
bright red with embarrassment. She wasn't used to being the center of attention,
and somehow Angel's presence did nothing to alleviate her nerves.
"As you wish." Angel suddenly swept Cordelia off of her feet and carried
her through the crowd of on-lookers.
Buffy rolled her eyes and walked away from the spectacle. < How embarrassing By the time they got to the library, Angel could take no more of Cordelia's
pounding on his back, so he finally set her down.
"You jackass! Now everybody will have an even bigger reason to laugh
at me!" She stormed upstairs and made her way deep into the stacks. Angel
just shrugged, thinking what he'd done was rather chivalrous.
"Hey Angel. What's wrong with Cordy?" Amy came out of her office and
joined Angel in the main room of the library.
"Beats me. I guess she can't handle a little 'Knight In Shining Armor'
every once in a while."
Amy smiled in the direction of the stacks, and then turned back to her
Slayer. "Did you ever find the 'Red Mistress'?"
"Her name is Willow, and yes, I did. I found out something very interesting,
but I don't know if I believe it."
Amy arched an eyebrow in suspicion. "Oh? What did she tell you?"
Angel went over to the big wooden table in the middle of the room and
sat down in one of the surrounding chairs. He rubbed his eyes, the lack
of sleep catching up to him. Angel took a deep breath, and explained to
Amy everything Willow had told him. He left out the part about their little
"fight", and once he was done, he sat back and waited patiently for his
Watcher's opinion on Willow's story.
Amy took in everything he'd told her. In her years studying under previous
Watchers and reading ancient tomes, she'd never heard of a vampire with
a soul. It wasn't totally impossible, though. In addition to her studies
under the Watchers, she'd learned the Wiccan arts, and she was aware that
plenty of spells were created for the restoration of souls.
"Angel, is there anyway you can get Willow to come to the library? I
have a few questions I want to ask her about this."
"You're inviting that vampire here? Are you insane??" Xander had entered
the room just in time to hear Amy's question, and was frozen in shock near
the swinging doors.
"It's okay, Xander. She won't kill us," Angel said.
"Yeah, right, and I'm gay!"
Both Angel and Amy had to turn away to hide their smiles. It seemed
that everybody, including Xander, was oblivious to his "true self". They
were the only ones who saw the irony in what he'd just said.
Xander ignored their obvious amusement at his expense, and walked over
to sit across from Angel. "So what makes you think this fiendish hottie
won't kill us? Does she not like the taste of blood or something?"
"She's different from other vampires, Xander," Amy explained. "She has
a soul."
"What?! How is that possible??" Cordelia asked as she rushed down the
stairs, sitting next to Xander.
"Yeah, and how does having a soul stop her from wanting to drink our
blood?" Xander asked.
"She has a soul AND a conscience, which means she feels tremendous guilt
if she hurts someone or something. And, according to Angel, she does drink
blood, but it comes by donation." Amy looked at Angel for his approval
of her short version of the story, and he nodded.
"I know it seems impossible, but I think I believe her story. She was
given her soul a long time ago, and has since taken up the task of killing
bad guys. She's actually doing me a favor."
"Okay, here's another question for you two, since you seem to know it
all," Cordelia said, her voice cutting. "What do the other vampires think
about one of their own working on the side of the Slayer?"
Neither of them had thought of that. And they couldn't come up with
an answer, either.
"That's what I thought. What if by helping us she's actually putting
us in greater danger? What if she's got some kind of relationship with
this new Master, and he doesn't know the truth about her? Or, this could
all just be a set up, and she could be trying to get on our good side by
making us believe she isn't a bad guy...damn! I'm glad you guys really
took the time to think about all of this!" Cordelia folded her arms across
her chest and glared at the Slayer and his Watcher. They could do nothing
but turn away. Both had hoped that having a vampire with a soul would make
things easier. Now both of them felt foolish for thinking positively too
soon.
"They won't find out about me."
The four were ripped from their uncomfortable silence by the soft, female
voice emanating from the shadows of the stacks.
"Who's there?!" Xander shouted, moving quickly to stand in front of
Cordelia.
Once Angel recognized the voice, he also stood, slowly pulling a stake
out of his leather jacket.
"You won't need the stake, Slayer. I can't come out of the shadows until
the sun sets, which means you have a few hours before I kill you and your
friends."
~Part: 6~
"See?!" Cordelia cried. "I told you she was bad!" The frightened brunette
scampered out of her chair and tried to pull Xander into the safety of
Amy's office.
"Cordy, calm down!" Xander shouted, breaking Cordelia out of her frenzied
panic. "She can't do anything to us! There's too much sunlight!"
"Cordelia, Xander's right. Just settle down," Amy said, her voice calming.
The blonde reached a hand out to her young friend, and Cordelia moved to
take it when Amy pulled back sharply. With a shriek the watcher's hands
flew up to her face, and Amy doubled over and gripped her skull. She began
frantically pounding her temples, trying to assuage the bolts of pain shooting
through her.
Angel was staring into the shadows, trying to locate Willow, when his
concentration was broken by the sound of the wooden shutters slamming closed
over their windows. < Witchcraft! She's closing the windows with a spell!
>
"What the hell is going on?!" Xander yelled, watching as Angel ran over
to try and stop the invisible force that was controlling the shutters.
Even Angel's superior strength wasn't enough to combat the supernatural
power.
"I don't know!" Cordelia screamed over the racket of both the windows
and Amy's shrieking.
Xander wrapped his hand around Cordelia's arm and pulled her roughly
into the office, slamming and locking to door behind them.
"Oh God, Xander, shouldn't we be helping them?" Cordelia asked as she
watched Angel struggle with another set of shutters. Amy was slumped over
in her chair now, gripping handfuls of her own hair, trying to stop the
excruciating pain in her head.
"A-Amy once told us that if there was ever any threat th-that appeared
to be caused by magic, you and I were to come in here. They can protect
themselves, Cordy, but we can't," he explained, breathing slowly to calm
down his racing heartbeat.
"What's this room supposed to do to protect us? I'm sure magic can penetrate
walls!"
"I don't know! Maybe there's some kind of protection spe-" Xander stopped
talking when he noticed that the racket in the other room had ceased. A
minuscule amount of sunlight seeped through the cracks in the windows.
That tiny bit of sun wouldn't effect any vampire that decided to waltz
in and kill everybody.
Cordelia didn't even notice that Xander hadn't finished his sentence.
She stared out of the window of the office, instinctively wrapping her
arms around her friend for protection.
Angel was leaning over Amy, wiping the tears from her cheeks. A figure
stepped out of the shadows, and Xander gasped when he realized it was the
woman from the club.
Willow leaned against the short railing, her arms folded over her chest.
A small part of her was touched by the scene before her. The Slayer comforting
his Watcher, and the two teens clinging to each other behind the protection
barrier. < Well...here goes nothing. >
"So! I guess you don't have a few hours after all."
Angel's head snapped up, his eyes flashing with molten rage. "You bitch!"
He ran straight at her, prepared to do whatever he had to do to make her
death unbearably painful.
"Angel!" Amy snapped. He stopped on a dime and spun around, confusion
etched on his face.
"Your Watcher is a smart woman, Angel. If you kill me, her pain will
come back, and it won't end until it kills her. The power of magic is amazing,
isn't it?" It took all the strength Willow could find to keep from turning
away. His look of betrayal destroyed her. She hated this more than anything
she'd ever done in her long unlife. Knowing that the two people she needed
on her side, the two people that were willing to trust her without thinking
about the consequences, and who were probably never going to rest until
they killed her, made her sick.
"Why are you doing this?" Amy asked, weary of the vampire that could
wield powers stronger than her own.
< Because I have to. > Angel was completely confused. The vampire standing in front of him
was nothing like the vampire he confronted last night. "But what about
everything you told me last night? You know, all of that about the kids
begging for their lives?" He took a step towards her, and she stood her
ground.
"I lied."
Angel went from confusion to hurt anger. But before he could lash out
at her, he caught a flash of her emotions. It was the first emotion Angel
had ever sensed from her, and it told him all he needed to know about what
was happening.
She was terrified.
"I don't think you did, Willow. I saw how you reacted to my question
last night. I saw the agony in your eyes at the memory of those kids. What
are you so afraid of?" His voice was barely above a whisper, but Willow
heard every word he said, for he was now standing directly in front of
her.
"What makes you think you know me, Slayer? After less than 24 hours
you think you can figure me out?" Willow stood defiantly before him, her
eyes a mixture of fear, anger, and sadness. Her posture was ramrod straight,
and she appeared to be quite a formidable presence. But inside, Willow
longed to reach out to Angel, to tell him everything about herself, to
beg him to free her from her tortured existence. Angel wasn't the Slayer
in her eyes. He may have started out that way, but now things were different.
He was making her feel again, and it scared the hell out of her.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
"Excuse me?"
"It was you," Angel repeated. "You were the one following me back in
New York."
Though it didn't seem possible, Willow's already pale face got even
paler.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Willow said, looking down
at her feet. < I really need to learn how to lie better. >
Angel shook his head and lifted her face with a gentle touch of his
hand under her chin, forcing eye contact. "Why did you follow me, Willow?"
She jerked her head away from his hand and stepped back. "Stay away
from me!" she cried, her voice shaking under the stress of her emotions.
He took another step forward, slightly closing the gap between them.
"I can't do that. I don't know why, but I feel like the information you're
hiding from me is something that I need to insure the safety of my friends.
I will not let you disappear with it."
"Don't you understand?!" Willow started to back away from him, her hands
held out in front of her. "If you get anywhere near me, he'll kill you!
I put you in danger by talking to you in the alley last night! I...I can't
be responsible for your death or the deaths of your friends." Bloody tears
took formation in her eyes, and her hands trembled wildly.
Angel wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms. He was disgusted
with himself for wanting to comfort her, but the fact that she'd done all
she had, scaring them into believing that she was truly evil, just to save
their lives, would not let Angel turn his back on her.
Willow's emotions were overflowing now, her carefully constructed walls
breaking down under the weight of her guilt. It had been so long since
Willow cried, and it felt so good to get some of her grief out.
He was almost nose to nose with her when she looked up into his eyes.
Angel used his thumb to wipe away the tear on her cheek. Willow opened
her mouth to say something, but Angel spoke first.
"I won't let him hurt you, and I will do everything I can to protect
you. I don't understand what I'm feeling right now. It's like....it's like
I KNEW it was you in New York. Even last night, I just had this feeling.
Your presence was familiar to me. That feeling of...stability... that I
get from you is something I don't want to lose, especially not now that
there's this all powerful Master trying to take over the world." He smiled
down at her, and the corners of her mouth turned up into an almost smirk.
"I can't ask for your protection. You and I, we're supposed to be enemies.
Why are you willing to help me when your hatred for me is in every fiber
of what you are?"
Angel pondered her question while he looked down into her eyes. Their
bright green depths seemed to hold all of the answers in the world for
him. He could spend the rest of his life looking into those eyes. "Honestly,
I don't know. Something about you makes me want to trust you. I guess that's
how I knew all of this," he gestured behind him towards the Amy and the
covered windows. "Wasn't real. You were trying to keep us away from you
because you know the Master will kill you and anybody around you once he
finds out you've betrayed him."
Willow gawked up at this man that knew her so well. Never before had
she met someone that could simply look into her eyes one minute, and give
a dead on interpretation of what he saw there the next. And not since Spike
had Willow been around a man that reeked with such power and...magnificence.
She couldn't tear her eyes away from his. "I...should probably go now,"
she whispered, not wanting to hear her own words, but knowing it was the
truth. Willow had given them all too much information. Her plan backfired,
and now these people were in even greater danger.
"You probably should. But please, will you come back?" he asked, hoping
with everything in his soul that she would.
Willow didn't want to come back. < If I come back, will I ever be
able to "The name is Angel," he whispered. The closeness of her small body next
to his own was causing his heart to do strange flip-flops in his chest.
She slowly pulled her arm out of his grasp, winked up at him, and was
gone, melting into the shadows. Angel stood staring at the empty space
which the vampiress had occupied seconds before, unaware of the three people
gawking behind him.
~Part: 7~
She was once again surrounded by pulsating bodies swaying to the erotic
beat of the music blasting out from the speakers near her ear. < Déjà
vu much? > "Ouch!" Willow shouted as a young woman stomped down hard on one of
her feet. The girl turned around and sneered at the red head. < If only
she knew what "Give me your other hand." Willow looked up at her savior, and was surprised
to see Angel leaning over the railing of the staircase under which she'd
hidden herself just days before. He looked desperately into her eyes, mentally
pleading with her to take his hand, and she complied. Willow reached up
and grabbed onto him, holding on for dear life, as he pulled her to safety.
"Thanks," Willow said once she was sure of her footing on the stairs.
"No problem," Angel replied, looking down at her pale features, and
smiling as she dusted herself off and straightened her practically perfect
collar.
Willow couldn't help but notice that he was staring down at her, but
she wasn't able to bring herself to look up into his eyes. < Once again,
I let Angel watched as she went through what appeared to be some sort of mental
process, but was distracted by the changing of the music from a hypnotic
techno beat to a song that was very familiar to him. "Would you care to
dance?"
Willow's head shot up. Once she realized she'd made eye contact, she
turned away, nearly blushing. "What, right here?" she asked, indicating
the unsturdy steps beneath their feet.
"Sure, why not? We don't have to get down and boogie. Just sway with
the music. Let it carry you away." Willow smiled slightly when she saw
the dreamy look in his eyes, and gently took his hands in her own.
"Okay, but only one dance. And you can't stake me!"
"I wouldn't dream of it," he murmured, pulling her close to him.
Something tells me I can trust in you There's no pretense in the things
you do So much water under this bridge And I'm standing here at the water's
edge
Under normal circumstances, Willow wouldn't have considered dancing
with Angel if he was the last man on earth. It didn't even matter that
he just happened to be the Slayer. She'd sworn off human's as love interests
the day after she regained her soul. Spending centuries tearing apart the
lives of men that she "loved" had a powerful effect on her. Her soul couldn't
let it happen again, and the only way to prevent it was to stay away from
all human males.
So why was Angel so different? Willow didn't know. It was the moment
that she cared about. Rocking gently in his arms, oblivious to the dangers
of what they were doing, not caring who or what saw them together. The
here and now was all Willow felt. But a nagging voice in her conscience
told her that there were too many obstacles. It wasn't meant to be, and
her fight would only end when it killed her.
Looking into your eyes
< She's so beautiful >Angel thought as he held her tightly in his
arms. It seemed like she fit right there; like that part of his body was
sculpted just for her. Sure, he'd danced with women before, but it never
felt like this. Something seemingly innocent was becoming the most erotic
experience of his life, and his insides begged him to let her go. Why couldn't
he do that?
Perhaps it was because he'd been alone for so long. Companionship wasn't
hard to come by for a young man like Angel. Girls were constantly throwing
themselves at his feet. Everytime it happened, Angel's first instinct was
to slap the girl silly and tell her to find a man that deserved her. He
chuckled when he remembered the way Buffy had fawned all over him earlier
that day at Sunnydale. < She would be the first to receive the slappage.
> Willow was the first woman that hadn't thrown herself at his feet. Hell,
she'd even welcomed death. While her motives may have been purely selfish,
she was actually doing Angel a favor by not fighting him. That's why he
couldn't kill her. That, and the realization that he'd felt her before,
in New York. Even in those days, when his guts were turned inside out by
his mother's death, the knowledge that she was around provided some comfort.
Angel now felt safe in her arms. She was filling a void in his heart
that he never knew existed. < Impossible! I don't even know her! > But
did he really need to know her? Was knowing her going to make a difference
in the way he felt?
You had the longing of a broken heart
Looking into your eyes, yeah
Willow felt his arms constrict and then loosen around her body. She
could almost sense his inner turmoil. Though not a psychic, Willow was
highly intuitive, and could tell by body language what was taking place
inside a person's mind. Angel was obviously waging some kind of mental
battle.
She looked up into his deep brown eyes, hoping to find an answer to
her unasked question. All she saw was the kind of tenderness and dedication
she'd only dreamt of finding in those eyes. Eyes that she'd imagined for
so long now. Eyes that she yearned to have wander over her body....
***HELLLLOOOO SUNNYDALE!! THIS IS YOUR NIGHTTIME DJ DAN THE MAN***
Willow slammed her fist down on her alarm clock. She hated being woken
up in the middle of a good dream, especially by that annoying disc jockey
"Dan the Man". < Too bad I have morals. I wouldn’t mind ripping his
vocal cords out! > ~~~~~~~
"ANGEL!! WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!!" Cordelia poked and prodded at her best
friend, trying to get him to wake up and re-focus on his research. Angel
moaned loudly, and Cordelia could sympathize. She herself had tried to
read the book he had been reading, and nearly drifted off to sleep. So
Cordelia unloaded the burden on Angel, citing that he had more patience
than she, and that he would probably enjoy it, since it was about past
Slayers.
Angel, of course, did not enjoy the book. He decided napping was a more
interesting route. And what an interesting dream he'd had. Willow in his
arms, dancing at the Bronze. Lovely thoughts that were also bad in a big
way. < No more of this pining for a vampire business. > "Angel? Where did you go in dream land?"
He slowly lifted his head, rubbing his eyes with clumsy fingers, and
glared at her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked, his voice raspy.
"Wouldn't she like to know what?" asked Xander, bounding into the room,
arms full of a variety of snack cakes.
"Nothing, nevermind. Let's get back to work." Angel shook the sleep
out of his mind and opened up his book. The words swam laps in front of
his eyes. He slammed it closed again and sighed. "Xander, could you toss
me one of those tasty snack cakes?"
"Sure thing, Slay-Boy!" Xander grinned as Angel failed to catch the
cream filled cupcake Xander had hurtled in his direction. "Looks like you're
losing your stuff there buddy."
"Shove it. I just woke up. You know how I am," Angel grumbled, tearing
open the cellophane and taking a huge bite out of his snack.
"I'm sure I'm the same way."
They all turned to see Willow making her way out of the stacks. She
was quite a sight to behold. Her red hair was pulled back in a loose french
braid, setting off her cheekbones and bringing out her eyes. Willow's clothing
was nothing to look twice at; black corduroys, a dark blue t-shirt, and
a long black duster. The contrast of the dark colors of her clothes and
her pale skin made her stand out against the dark shadows behind her.
It took Xander a minute to realize he was gawking. He cleared his throat,
and put out the first peace offering. "So, where did you get that jacket?"
~Part: 8~
"So what you're saying is that Rupert Giles, the former watcher that
disappeared five years ago, is now the Master terrorizing Sunnydale?" Amy
was stunned by this revelation. She remembered quite clearly the day she'd
met Rupert Giles. He was kind, soft-spoken, highly intelligent, and certainly
not the type of man that would attempt to take over a Hellmouth.
"He's no longer the Rupert Giles you knew, Miss Madison," Willow warned,
worried that Amy might not be able to see Ripper for the evil demon that
he was. "I met that man once as well, and apparently I'd made such an impression
on him, he purposely sought me out once he was...turned."
"He sought you out?" Cordelia asked. "Why would he do that? Didn't he
know that you had a soul?"
Willow shook her head. "No, all he knew of me was my past. I guess he
just figured I was toning it down around him. Funny, I never really thought
about that before."
"Why is it I pose all of the interesting questions? Do any of you even
THINK before acting?" Cordelia crossed her arms, a gesture that she'd been
doing a lot recently, and stared down everyone seated at the table. Even
Willow cringed under the harsh judgment of Cordelia's deep brown eyes.
"Because, Cordy, you're the smart one," Xander answered, hoping his
compliment would make her drop the subject. He knew he wasn't one to talk
about not looking before leaping. Xander Harris was never as cautious as
he should have been, especially in a town like Sunnydale.
"You're damn right I'm the smart one! Which is exactly why I should
be researching stuff on this Rupert guy." She stood from the table and
moved to sit in front of her computer.
"Ripper."
Cordelia halted her movements towards the machine and turned to look
at the red headed vampire. "Excuse me? Did I rip my dress?" The brunette's
hands swept down the back of her dress, checking for a hole.
"No," Willow said, stifling a giggle. "His name is Ripper. That should
narrow the search parameters significantly. I'd suggest checking the Watcher
Database first."
Cordelia scoffed. "As if I wouldn't have figured that out on my own!"
"Figured what out on your own, Cordy?" Angel asked, pushing through
the swinging doors of the library. In his arms he held several different
types of food, ranging from Chinese to Mexican to cheeseburgers. Xander
was at his side in less than a second, taking away some of the Slayer's
burden.
Amy joined Cordelia at the computer, looking over the brunette's shoulder
at the screen. "She doesn't believe she needs any help with research. I
guess Cordy here is better on this contraption than we all believed."
Angel nodded and smiled at his hacker friend. "Where's Willow?"
"Huh?" Xander mumbled, his mouth already stuffed with half a cheeseburger.
"I said 'where's Willow'," Angel repeated, looking around anxiously.
"She's in the stacks," Willow called out, smiling at the almost desperate
tone in Angel's voice. The vampire went back to searching for books on
former demon masters. She'd already had some idea of how Ripper planned
on opening the Hellmouth, but she wanted to be sure.
"Hey."
Angel's unexpected presence startled the young looking red head, and
she dropped the book she was clutching to her chest. Angel bent to pick
it up, examining the cover before handing it back to her.
"The Demon Underground of the 1950's and 60's? Willow, is this some
kind of nostalgic moment that I've interrupted?"
"No," she insisted, hurrying to put the book back on the shelf. "I was
just trying to find something about..."
"You don't have to explain it to me. I know about the history of vampires
and demons, and I know how sometimes even the strangest book can hold the
answers. No explanation required."
Willow held back the urge to smile up at him, and went about her business
sifting through the seemingly endless rows of books. Angel watched her
for a minute, and then began to help her look for anything that might be
of use in their search.
"Hey Angel," Amy called up into the stacks. "You really should get down
here and eat something. You spent a lot of money here, and it seems you
should be entitled to some of this junk!"
Angel laughed out loud, a noise that Willow found extremely pleasant,
and grabbed her wrist, pulling her along with him back down into the main
room of the library.
"But I didn't find what I nee-"
"It'll be there when we get back. I brought you something from Willie's.
If you'd like to-"
"Take it in the office? Sure. Thanks." Willow nodded appreciatively
at the young man gripping her wrist. When he didn't let go, she gave him
a look that let him know that he was beginning to overstep the boundaries
of their "partnership" as it were, and he immediately released her. Willow
went to the table and took the small cooler from Amy. Once she was inside
of the office, Angel turned to his watcher.
"Do you think it was wrong of me to bring her some blood?"
Amy looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, under any other circumstances,
I'd say yes. But I don't think she's a real threat to us right now. Besides,
she needs to eat like the rest of us. And if it's donated blood, well,
somehow that makes it all better." < If the Council "Ahem." Cordelia cleared her throat from across the room, preparing
to speak. But she was interrupted by Willow bursting out of the office
in full vampire mode.
At first Angel was scared that his thoughtful gesture had really backfired,
but then he saw something in the red head's eyes that made him more than
scared. He could feel the presence of a very powerful vampire nearby, and
knew that this must have been what Willow was sensing.
The Slayer slipped into predator mode as he slid his hand into his pocket
and extracted a stake. He shot Amy a look that plainly stated that she
and the others were to lock themselves in Amy's office until the danger
had passed. Amy quickly pushed Xander and Cordelia into the safe room and
locked the door behind them.
"Who is it?" Angel asked, his body now just as tense as Willow's.
"Shhh!" She was now making her way across the library, quiet as a lion
stalking it's prey. Willow wasn't sure what to do. She knew who was coming
down the hall. It was someone she hadn't felt in a very long time, but
he was as familiar to her as in the days when they were together.
Angel watched silently as Willow crept over to the doors to peek through
the circular glass windows out into the hall. < Like a lioness. It takes
years of "Oh shit!" Willow ran back to Angel's side and tried to pull him into
the stacks.
"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down.
"I seriously don't want to deal with this right now. Come on, they'll
be fine behind the protection wall, but we need to hide!" She continued
to tug on his hand, but Angel remained firmly in place.
"No, whoever or whatever it is will have to die. That's a lot of evil
out there, Willow. I'm not letting it get away." Angel pulled his hand
away from her and took out a vile of holy water from his other pocket.
"You don't understand what we'll be getting into here, Angel. Please,
trust me on this." Willow plead with him to go with her, but he still refused.
"Stop putting up a fight and tell me who it is."
Willow shook her head and began pacing in front of him. She didn't have
time to explain who was coming for them, but Angel had to know how to defend
himself.
Suddenly, the doors burst open.
~Part: 9~
"Mum? Are you in here?" Drusilla peeked around the edge of the door,
her supernatural eyesight allowing her to see into the shadowed areas of
the room.
"Dru, sweetheart, will you stop with the hiding and get in here?" Spike
asked from inside the library, his face and posture representing physically
the irritation in his voice.
"Sorry Spikey, I was just listening to the walls. They want to tell
me where our mum is. The walls talk to me." Dru stepped past the doorway,
taking Spike's extended hand.
"I'm sure they do, luv. Now, where do you suppose she's hiding?" Spike
cautiously led her to the large wooden table in the center of the room.
He glanced down at the books littering the tables surface. He released
Dru's hand and picked up one of the dusty volumes, cringing at the centuries'
worth of caked on filth.
Spike's guard was down for a milli-second. He didn't even see her coming.
Willow vaulted over the railing and landed with both feet on top of
the table, sending several books flying. Spike didn't have any time to
react before she delivered a kick to his chin. He stumbled backwards and
nearly fell into the scattered chairs behind him, but he somehow managed
to keep himself upright. Unfortunately for him, Willow took this to her
advantage, and began to punch him hard in the gut.
Angel watched from above as Willow continued to rain kicks and punches
on the blonde vampire. Her fighting style was highly sophisticated; much
more so than what was taught by the Watchers. Angel was so caught up in
admiring Willow, he didn't notice Drusilla sneaking up behind him.
Dru sprang forward, jumping onto Angel's back. She threw her arms around
his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. To a someone who didn't
know any better, it would appear that Angel was giving her a piggy back
ride.
Despite being distracted, Angel reacted in seconds, throwing the weak
vampire off of his back. He spun around to face her, and ducked as Drusilla
lashed out at him with razor sharp nails. The two went back and forth like
that for what seemed like forever--Angel ducking, Dru slicing through the
air where flesh had been mere seconds before. During all of this, Angel
tried to get a good look at his opponent. When he finally got a look at
her face, his world stopped in it's tracks.
Willow towered over Spike's prone form, torn between feeling relieved
that she'd beaten him, and disappointed that he hadn't used any of the
fighting techniques she'd taught him. Out of the corner of her eye, she
noticed Angel and Dru had stopped moving and were now locked in a silent
stare.
"Angel, no!" Willow cried once she realized what the dark vampiress
was doing to him. She'd taught Dru that form of mind control as a way to
retain dominance over physically stronger vampires. If Angel was killed
while under trance, Willow would never forgive herself.
Spike took advantage of the situation and kicked Willow's legs out from
under her. Before she could pull herself out of the tangled mess of their
limbs, Spike was on top of her, pinning her down to the floor.
"Gotcha, luv." He grinned down at her angry face, which had shifted
from her human mask when he'd knocked her down.
"Fuck you, luv," she countered, tearing into the carpet below with her
nails. Spike had her wrists pressed painfully into the floor. Willow turned
away from the deep blue oceans of his eyes and looked back up to where
Angel and Dru were standing.
< Angel > The Slayer heard a strong voice above the incoherent whispers that crowded
his mind.
< Willow? >
< Yes, it's me. Angel, you have to fight her. You have to try to
look away. > Willow knew her advice would be futile, but she had to try.
Until she could figure out a way to get Spike off of her, she was stuck
using telepathy to communicate with the Slayer. Things would be so much
easier if she could just push Angel out of the way. Or maybe even find
something to throw at him. Willow tried to break free from Spike's iron
grip, but was unsuccessful.
Angel tried to move his head, but it wouldn't budge. In fact, none of
his limbs would work at all. He strained and fought, and it was all for
nothing. He was paralyzed where he stood.
< I...I can't move. What is she doing to me?? >
"Willow, what are you doing?" Spike asked, disappointed that she'd stopped
trying to get away from him. Not that he minding being on top of her, he
just preferred things a little bit rougher.
"Shut up Spike," she hissed, concentrating again on Angel.
< She can only control that part of your brain which is responsible
for body < So she doesn’t control my mind? > < No. We don't have time to discuss this. She'll kill you unless
you find a way to fight her. Use your mind, Angel. Your psychic powers
are far stronger than any I've ever encountered. If anybody can counteract
Dru's little mind game, it's you! >
Angel thought she was crazy. How was he supposed to defeat an enemy
he couldn't hurt physically? Amy had told him time and again to work on
strengthening his mind, but had he listened? However, when Angel set his
mind to do something, he usually did it. He cleared his thoughts and put
all of his attention on the voices in his head.
Confident that Angel would be able to stop Drusilla, Willow turned her
attention back to the blonde vampire straddling her abdomen. "Do you mind?"
"Mind what, Red?"
"Do you mind getting off of me?"
Spike's grin got even wider. "How could I ever mind getting off-"
"OF me Spike. Getting off OF me!" As much as she hated to admit it,
Willow missed the innuendo that she shared with Spike all of those years.
She didn't just miss the innuendo though. She missed the instigator, too.
Spike was the vampire Willow loved to hate, and hated to love.
"Sorry ducks, no can do. You're stuck here until I say otherwise." Spike
increased the pressure on her wrists, and Willow moaned, in obvious pain.
"It's about time you show something other than pathetic weakness, blondie,"
Willow quipped, hoping to distract him long enough to get out from under
him.
"Give me a break, I was letting you beat me. I can't have you feeling
sorry for yourself, can I? Oh wait, I'm sorry luv, you already do enough
of that. The damage I could do probably wouldn't mean a thing, would it?"
Willow hated this. She hated that he threw her humanity in her face.
When he'd discovered the truth about her, he was hurt. Willow was Spike's
weakness. He would have done anything for her, and he made sure she knew
it at all times. And the fact that Willow didn't tell him right away made
him incredibly bitter.
"Still hating me after all these years, eh Spike?"
Spike shook his head, his grin vanished from his face. "No. I could
never hate you. You were my Red Mistress..." he trailed off, lightly grazing
the side of her face with his long fingers. Willow felt a tingling sensation
go through her body, but she ignored it. Spike was a killer and a liar,
and he betrayed her. If she got close, he would do it again. Somehow Willow
knew that, unless she did something about it, Spike would betray her to
Ripper.
Willow opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Drusilla's loud
shriek. It was so loud, in fact, that one of the windows shattered, sending
sharp bits of glass cascading down to the floor.
Angel and Dru collapsed at the same time. Spike's concern over Dru's
fall gave Willow the opening she needed. Because he was seated just above
her hips, she was able to move her legs enough to bend her knees and smash
them into his back. Spike cried out in pain and fell off of her, rocking
back and forth in a fetal position on top of a pile of books. Willow stood,
brushed herself off, and grinned down at the vampire at her feet. Spike
flipped her off, and Willow laughed out loud, stepping over him to go and
check on Angel.
He didn't know how he was able to do it, but Angel was happy to have
the voices in his head gone for the moment. He'd projected all of his psychic
energies on blocking the whispering, and suddenly he'd found himself on
the floor. Angel kept his eyes shut tight, not wanting to see what might
have become of Willow or the rest of his friends. It was only when he felt
the gentle caress of nimble fingers on his face that he opened them.
"Willow? Wh-what happened?"
Willow smiled down at him, happy that Angel was still alive, and still
intact.
"I'll tell you later. But right now, I have some business to attend
to. Here, let me help you up." She reached down to him, and Angel took
her hand. Although her skin was cold, her touch somehow warmed his body.
"Thanks. What business?"
"These two," Willow said, pointing at Dru's still body and Spike's trembling
one.
Angel leaned over the railing and looked down at the blonde vampire,
who was still whimpering from Willow's unexpected attack.
"Looks like you've already taken care of things, Willow. What are you
going to do with them?"
Willow didn't hear his question. She was too busy staring down at their
hands. Their fingers had somehow managed to intertwine, and Willow almost
couldn't tell the difference between her fingers and Angel's.
When Angel saw what she was staring at, he pulled away abruptly. <
Idiot! > He inwardly berated himself for once again overstepping the professional
relationship boundaries, but he couldn't help himself. Holding her hand
felt like the most natural thing in the world. To hell with the fact that
she was one of the most unnatural things in the world, and he was supposed
to be killing her.
"Um, guys, can we come out now?"
Cordelia stepped out of the office, tiptoeing over the torn pages of
ancient books and broken furniture. Willow and Spike had made quite a mess.
She gasped when she saw Spike writhing around on the floor. "Geez Willow,
what did you do to him?"
"Him who? Oh! Spike you mean? He, uh, he has back problems. And I complicated
them. Don't worry, he'll be like that for a little while, and I'll have
him out of here before much longer."
Surprised, Angel turned to her. "What are you going to do with him?"
"Oh, I don't know, take him back to my apartment, chain him up, and
beat him senseless?"
Angel was once again surprised by Willow's frankness. < It must be
Spork "Spike," Willow said, laughing softly. "His name is Spike."
Angel stepped back from her.
"You didn't. I can hear your thoughts."
"But I thought you said you couldn't do that."
Willow squirmed, uncomfortable with path the conversation was taking.
"I said that YOU couldn't read MY thoughts. I don't think I ever said I
couldn't read yours."
"Um, guys, could we please get to the important stuff here? Like cleaning
up my library? And getting those two out of here?" Amy stood with her hands
on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. Willow and Angel
stopped bickering and took a look around the room. There certainly was
a large mess to clean up. Willow was about to say a spell that would clean
it up right away, but Amy stopped her.
"No spells. I want elbow grease to clean this place."
"I thought elbow grease was used in polishing furniture," Xander remarked
from inside of the office.
"Xander, why don't you come on out? Nobody is going to hurt you," Cordelia
said, checking her laptop for damages. Happy to find none, she went back
into the office and pulled her friend out by his collar.
"NO!! I was fine in the office! The office was perfect! I need a quiet
place to research, so why not let me stay in there?" The young man was
doing all he could to push his friend away, but she was too strong.
"Stop your whining and help us clean up!" Cordelia shouted, annoyed
at her best friend's childish behavior.
"Mmmm, Spike?"
"Oh my God!" Xander screamed, and bolted back into the office.
Willow was at Dru's side in a second, making sure the vampiress wasn't
going to move anywhere. She heard Spike's raspy voice calling up to Dru,
and she decided then that it was time to get her "children" away from her
new friends.
"Angel, do you think you can help me carry them out to my car?"
"You have a car?" he asked, shocked once again by this mysterious woman.
"Yes, I don't drive it too often, but sometimes it's necessary. It's
a good thing I drove it tonight. Now you grab him, and I'll get her, okay?"
"Sure." Angel nodded and lifted Spike easily off of the ground. The
blonde vampire hissed at the Slayer, but Angel ignored him, and instead
picked Spike up and put him over his shoulder. Spike hated being so close
to a Slayer, but his back was killing him, and this position wasn't too
painful.
Willow held Dru in the same manner, and the two made their way out of
the doors, leaving Amy, Cordelia, and Xander if the relative safety of
the library.
"Sure, it's just like Angel to leave us to do the dirty work!" Cordelia
made a show out of huffing as she began to pick up the broken pieces of
wood. "I don't know why she couldn't have just staked him when she had
the chance," she mumbled.
"Cordelia, if you had any idea of who that man...er, vampire, was, you
would understand why she wasn't able to stake him," Amy said from across
the room, reaching over the checkout counter for a roll of tape that would
help mend her torn books.
"Why? Who was he?" Xander asked, reemerging from his hiding place.
"Oh, alright," Amy said, exasperated. Cleaning could wait, for now.
"That was William the Bloody. More commonly known as Spike. In my studies
of the Red Mistress, I came across references to William, and his relationship
with her. It seems that she is his sire, meaning the one responsible for
turning him into a vampire. But their relationship went beyond sire/childe.
In fact, if my assumptions are correct, the story of William the Bloody
and the Red Mistress is one of the greatest love stories, human and demon
realms alike, of all time."
~Part: 10~
"Red, luv, do you think you could tell the...BOY...to put me down?"
"Sorry Spike," Willow said over her shoulder. "I won't risk having you
run away from me. Besides, I thought you liked boys!" Spike laughed at
this and smacked Angel on his ass.
Angel froze, his face going pale. Willow noticed that he was no longer
following her, and halted her own movements to turn around and see what
the delay was. Angel had set Spike down and taken a step back, watching
from a distance as the gloriously cheek-boned vampire stretched the muscles
in his back. Willow smiled at Angel.
"Gosh Angel, homophobic much?" Her eyes glittered with amusement in
the moonlight, and Angel returned the smiled somewhat reluctantly.
"No, Xander IS one of my best friends, you know," he said, eyeing the
blonde vampire who had now taken to staring at Willow.
"So? Xander's not-"
"Gay? Of course he is. He just doesn't realize it yet."
Willow stood gaping at the young man. "But...what about Cordelia? She's
in love with him, isn't she?"
Angel nodded sadly, the look on his face clearly speaking of the sympathy
he felt towards his friend. "She is in denial more than he is."
"This is all very interesting, but I'd like to get out of here now.
Red, please give Dru to me." Spike held his arms out expectantly, and Willow
shook her head.
"No way Blondie, you and Dru are both coming with me." Willow reached
out and grabbed one of Spike's hands and pulled him roughly behind her
towards her car. Angel just stood staring after them, wondering at Willow's
great physical strength.
"Angel? Hello?"
"Huh? Oh! Sorry, I spaced out again." Angel put one foot in front of
the other until he reached the dark blue Honda and it's beautiful owner.
"Spaces out a lot, does he? Willow, you haven't fallen for ANOTHER brainless
sod, have you?"
Panicked and angered by Spike's comment, Willow squeezed harder on his
hand. She could feel the tiny bones slipping out of place.
"Ow! Jesus Red, it was a bloody joke!" Willow loosened her grip and
Spike snatched his hand away grimacing as he popped the dislocated bones
back into place.
Willow ignored Spike and spoke to Angel, who was now standing between
her and the car. "I need you to get my keys out of my pocket and unlock
the door for me." Willow had begun to tire of lugging Dru on her back,
and was now forced to hold onto the demon with both hands. Spike would
have her head if Dru was dropped.
Angel stared at her for a moment, unsure if he'd heard correctly.
"Angel, we're both adults. Just stick your hand in my pocket and take
out my keys."
Flustered, Angel stepped forward. Willow looked up into his chocolatey
eyes and watched with her peripheral vision as his hand snaked down between
them. Angel's large hand rested on the outside of her pocket.
"Other one," she whispered, never taking her eyes away from his.
As much as his mind called for him to remove his hand from Willow's
hip, Angel's body told him otherwise. He felt like he was on fire. Angel
could see mixed emotions in Willow's eyes as his other hand traveled down
to it's destination. Frustration, embarrassment, lust, all rolled into
one perfect face that he longed to touch.
As Angel's other hand finally reached her pocket, Willow opened her
mouth to say something, but shut it again. < Why isn’t he getting the
keys? I know he < Why the hell is she teasing me like this? > < Again with the intense eyes! > Spike was fed up with the disgustingly teenage behavior or his sire
and the Slayer. He marched over to Willow, pushed Angel's hand away, and
forced his hand into Willow's pocket, extracting her keys. "There, was
that so difficult? Was all of the foreplay necessary? Really Red, I thought
you had better taste in men."
Angel broke out of his trance and glared at Spike over Willow's head.
He lifted Dru off of Willow's shoulder and carried her to the now open
back door. Together, he and Spike managed to arrange Drusilla in such a
way that wouldn't cause her too much pain when she completely woke up.
Spike snorted, a gesture that Angel took to mean thank you, and shut Dru's
door. He then climbed into the passenger seat and allowed Willow to close
the door behind him. Wishing the deep breath she forced herself to take
would do some good in relaxing her, Willow turned away from the car to
look up at Angel.
"Thanks," she said, smiling.
"You're welcome," Angel replied, nervousness apparent on his voice.
"What's wrong?" Willow asked, feeling and sounding genuinely concerned.
"I...I guess you have a past with him...with THEM," he corrected, knowing
that he hadn't done a good job in concealing the jealousy in his voice.
Hoping that it really was jealousy she heard, Willow nodded. "Yes, I
do have a past with Spike. But that's all it is. He's a vicious killer,
and the only reason I'm associating myself with him is because I think
he can help us defeat the Master."
"What makes you think he won't join forces with Ripper? If they worked
together-"
"I know Spike. He would NEVER form an alliance with anybody that might
threaten his goals towards dominance. Spike doesn't want to work with the
Master. He wants to BE the Master."
Shocked by the passion with which Willow spoke about the vampire, Angel
stared into the car and watched as Spike fiddled with the radio controls. Angel averted his eyes from the car and focused them on the red head
before him. He searched her now emotionless eyes for some sign of what
she was thinking or feeling.
"Dru is his weakness?" he asked hopefully.
"No, Drusilla is not Spike's weakness."
Angel let out a slow breath, hating the truth he now saw in her eyes.
"You?"
Willow nodded, afraid to speak.
"Does he...does he love you?" Angel asked, his voice cracking.
Willow nodded again.
"And do you love him?"
Willow didn't say a word. This wasn't what Angel wanted to hear. Silence
was not the answer he was expecting. He either wanted confirmation or denial,
though the latter would have been more preferable to the former. Angel
spun on his heel and began to walk back to the school.
"Wait, Angel!"
He slowly faced her, unsure that it was the right thing to do, but not
really wanting to walk away from her.
"At one time, I did love Spike. I was really terrible then, Angel. More
so than I could ever describe, and than you could ever imagine. Spike and
I hunted together, killed together, conquered together, and loved each
other with more passion than we thought we were capable of. There was nothing
that could come between us. Or so we thought. When I was cursed with my
soul, Spike alienated me. My love for him was stronger than ever, because
the soul sought out the one pure thing that was present in me during the
time I was the 'Red Mistress'. It needed something to cling to, something
that would build it back up again and make it stronger than the ever present
demon. But Spike wouldn't have it. He said I was different, and that I
couldn't possibly love him. I know he was really hurt, but there was nothing
I could do.
"I don't think Spike has ever stopped loving me. And to be quite honest,
I don't think I've ever stopped loving him. But he has Drusilla, who loves
him despite his love for me, and he is no longer a part of my life in that
way. I haven't even seen him for at least 70 years. So, to answer your
question, yes, I still love him, but just not in the same way as I did
back then."
Angel stood silently, taking in all that Willow had just told him. Spike
was like the old boyfriend, back in town to try and screw up his ex's new
relationship. <But we don’t even have a relationship! Not yet anyway…
> Willow smiled, but it quickly disappeared when Angel looked up at her.
He'd obviously forgotten that she could hear every single one of his thoughts.
"Look, Angel, it's late, you look really tired, and I have to go beat
the shit out of these two. Find out what they're doing here, that sort
of thing. I'll meet you back at the library tomorrow at sunset, alright?"
Angel just nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait, please." Willow stepped forward and softly kissed Angel's cheek.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. I never wanted my past to be
revealed to anybody. I just wanted to help and then slip back into the
shadows."
"I'm...I'm glad that you're here, Willow. And you're exploits as the
'Red Mistress' are not as disturbing as some other things I've heard of.
You are definitely not an inconvenience." Angel caressed her cheek, and
then let his hand fall to his side. "Until tomorrow?"
"Yes, until tomorrow." Willow stood and watched Angel as he went back
into the school. Sighing, she went around to the driver's side of her car
and tapped on the window. Spike leaned over and unlocked the door for her.
Once she was inside, she turned to face him.
"Look, I don't know what you're doing here, but you might as well help
me out while you're in town. There's a new-"
"What makes you think I'm going to help you, luv?"
"Because I know you better than anybody else on this planet. I know
you want to become the new Master in Sunnydale, and you'll help me by defeating
the current Master. I know that power comes first on your list, and anything
you can do to achieve it will be done."
Spike crossed his arms over his chest and faced his window. "Shows how
much you know, pet," he mumbled to himself. Willow didn't hear him, as
she was flipping through the radio stations to try and find a song she
could sing along to. < You've always been first on my list, Willow.
And nothing has ever happened to change that >
Confused by his thoughts, Willow glanced over at her former lover. Spike
was still glaring outside the window, ignoring her. < What does he mean
I’m the Spike sat silently and watched as the school disappeared from view.
He was about to agree to something that he would eventually regret, but
he didn't care. His original plans for coming to Sunnydale could wait until
after the Master was dead. Spike just wanted to spend as much time with
his Red Mistress as he could before he put his plan into action.
Willow was roused from her sleep by a knock at the door. She mumbled incoherent
swear words when she saw what time it was and then realized it was probably
Willie. A very late Willie. She stood up and stretched, groaning as her
joints popped and muscles strained. Willow might not have looked a day
over 18, but she most definitely felt like it.
I'm crossing the river to get to you
I'm crossing the river
I'm crossing the river
Shined your light in a room that was frozen
dark
Looking into your eyes
I'm crossing the river to get to you
I'm crossing the river, and this time I'll
make it through
With your faith and your arms open wide
I see you there on the other side
I'm crossing the river of fear and pride