Author: Carolyn, The Torture Ranger

Parts: 1-10

E-Mail: cmiller@sgi.net

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel & Co. belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: What if instead of killing some random extra, Angelus decided that the blood needed to open a certain demon lawn ornament should come from our favorite Hacker?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~Prologue~

Drusilla walked in on Spike in his room. "Spike, my sweet, the fun's about to begin!" Spike just wheeled himself out of the room and down the hallway. In the main room, Angelus and Dru are standing and waiting for something.

Two fledglings drag in a young man, barefoot and barechested with his hands tied behind his back. They drop him to the floor unceremoniously in front of the the three vampires.

Angelus looked down at the man and grinned evilly. "I will drink..." he recited, "the blood will wash in me, over me, and I will be cleansed. I will be worthy to free Acathla." He looked over at Spike. "Bear witness..." He looked at Drusilla. "as I ascend..." His vamp face came front as he said it. "As I become."

He grabbed the man by the hair, turned his head to the side, and was about to bite when an idea came to his head. "Wait..."

The man in his hands trembled, hoping that Angelus would keep his word on that one. Angelus threw the man to the floor carelessly, and the man lost consciousness as his head banged off the floor.

"Oh no," Spike said, recognizing the thoughtful look on Angelus' face. "You're not...no, not bloody well now!" The half-brooding look on the elder vampire's face could only mean one thing. "You're gonna screw this whole Acathla deal up just to mess around with the Slayer."

Angelus' look only grew stronger with Spike's words. "You betcha, roller boy...I have the perfect idea for her...all we need is the hacker." He stroked his chin with his hand, working out the schematics of his plan in his mind.

"But, daddy, I thought we were going to open the demon's mouth...I want to see it swallow the world whole...like a giant marshmallow..." Drusilla began to shudder, realizing that the end of the world wasn't going to come that night.

"The hacker...I need the hacker..." Angelus mused, walking down the hallway. But he wasn't so deep in thought that he didn't stop to kick Spike's wheels, sending him forward a few inches. "Now how to get that redhead..."

Drusilla watched her 'daddy' walk down the hall, and went over to Spike, still shaking slightly. "Daddy is gonna change his plans...Spike, why did daddy change his plans?" Her hands traced over the frame of his wheelchair as Spike sat there, fuming.

"I don't know, ducks," Spike said, his voice bitter. "But I have this bloody feeling we aren't going to like it very much."
 

~Part: 1~

"Hmm...'Not dead nor not of the living.'" Willow studied the spell, printed out, in her hand. This was most definitely something that one would return souls with. And with any luck -- okay, a whole lot of luck -- Angel would get his soul back.

NO. Angelus would get the soul of Angel back. Buffy would get Angel back, and with that same daub of luck, the world wouldn't get sucked into hell. Willow wished she had a bigger daub to go on.

Scanning over the spell again, she looked at the words again. "'Let him know the pain of humanity, gods.'" Ouch, that sounded painful. But Angel had dealt with that for what, a hundred years? Something like that. Still, she wished there was a way to remove that pain. But that would probably take his soul, and that would be a bad.

There was that daub again.

Flipping over the pages of the spell, she picked up the orb of Thessula in her hand. It was so small, so fragile...yet capable of holding an entire human soul. For a moment, Willow wondered if it was ever used to hold a human soul, and if a human could live soulless...

There came a tapping at the window, and Willow froze. Who would tap at her window at...what time was it? One in the morning? She slowly got up off her bed. What if it was Buffy? Was she hurt? She pushed away a curtain cautiously, peering out into the night. She couldn't see anything.

To reassure herself, she reached her hand up to find the cross that she had nailed beneath the curtains. Yep, there it was. Reaching down to her nightstand a few feet away, she picked up a cross and held it tight in her left hand. Using her right hand, she opened the window. Being careful not to ever leave the house whatsoever, she held the cross tight and stared off into the night.

*****

Just a little more...another inch, hacker, and I'll have you...

The thoughts were running rampant in Angelus' mind as he heard the redhead open the window. If only he had someone to mimic Buffy's voice, she'd lean all the way out entirely. But he didn't. But maybe...

Disgusted at his thought, he realized it might be the only way to get Willow to fall into his trap. Reaching back into his memories with the Slayer and her gang, he tried to remember the pattern and tone of that annoying voice...

Checking himself, he spoke softly.

"Will?"

*****

The voice came from...well, Willow couldn't place where the voice was coming from. But it sounded so much like him...she had to check. What if she was wrong? What if it was a trap? But what if he really was in trouble? She couldn't afford to lose him, not if she was too scared to save his life.

"Xander?"

*****

Yes! His voice had worked. Willow had leaned forward a little...he could see the cross she was holding out in front of her. Another inch or so and he'd be able to get his main ingredient in his plan. Taking a totally unnecessary but dramatic breath, he spoke again.

"Will?"

*****

There was no doubt in her mind. Xander was out there, he was hurt, and she had to bring him in. Leaning out of the window, she looked down at the ground, searching for her best friend.

Next thing she knew, she saw black.
 

~Part: 2~

Like anyone would be
I am flattered by your fascination with me....

***

Willow regained consciousness slowly, and it almost seemed to evade her. As she swam into the dim light ahead, she wondered if her body knew something her brain didn't. And when she finally opened her eyes and lifted her head painfully, she realized her body had been right.

The last thing she could remember was looking out her window, thinking Xander was out there. As she looked around the damp room, she realized that chances were it hadn't been him. She also seemed to remember a very hard object hitting her ont he head. As she felt the ache in her head trob, she rationalized that it had probably been a fist.

Her eyes wandered the room, taking in the swirling cement walls, the brightly colored tables and chairs, the golden chains on her wrists...then she blinked, shook her head slowly, and opened her eyes to a perfectly normal torture chamber. Willow quickly realized she probably liked the first pain-induced version better, but she wasn't about to bash her head against the wall to bring it back.

The wall. She twisted to see how she was chained up. Oh, great. Each of her hands were chained to the wall, apart, and the same was with her ankles. In fact, she wasn't chained. She was shackled. Willow remembered hearing somewhere that the position she was currently in was really bad for her body.

Even worse if someone decided to torture that body, Willow thought.

Weakly, she yanked on the shackles, trying to loosen them, maybe even make them creak, to give her some hope of escaping. After a few minutes of struggling, though, she realized that the escape gig was more of Buffy's profession. What could Willow do?

Well, she could cast a spell, but she *really* wasn't in the mood, predicament, or possession of the things she would need to cast one. Plus, the only real spell she knew was the one to restore Angel's soul, and that was definitely out of question.

Angelus. Was she in the sewers? She twisted her head around, glad that they hadn't shackled her up like a dog with a collar. It was most definitely damp and dank and dark, but it didn't smell like the sewers. It smelled...well, dead.

It could most definitely be Angelus. Or Spike. Or Dru...nah, Dru would've probably just wanted to go nuts in front of her. She wasn't really all that stable. Then, to Willow's surprise, someone entered the room, half-aware.

Speak of the devil. Drusilla. The vampiress was swirling about in circles, talking to someone Willow couldn't see. "She's here, love...she doesn't want to be...I can smell her fear...it smells like roses, doesn't it, Spike?"

Spike. And at that, the handicapped vampire rolled into the room. "I think it smells more of blood, ducks. But if you say roses, I guess it could just be her perfume." He looked smug, but Willow felt like laughing. He looked so...harmless in the wheelchair.

But when Spike vamped out right in front of her, she decided to take back her last thought. "Eek," she squeaked, and drew in a deep breath of air. Wheelchair or no, a vampire was a vampire, drank blood, and killed people for fun. People like her. "Eek," she said, in case they didn't pick it up the first time. Or so she told herself.

"Pet," Spike threw at Drusilla, "d'you really think that Angelus needs a scrawny bitch like this for Acathla?" He rolled himself up to Willow, who was only chained a few inches off the floor, and grabbed her hair, yanking her head down as she squealed in pain. "Think he'd mind me taking a little snack?" He bared his fangs.

Dru did a little drowsy dance, drawling as she spun. "Spiiike, daddy wants the girl for Acathla...and the Slayer...the one is for two, don't you see, love?" She danced her way to Spike's side. "And all will be evil, don't you see?" She traced her hands around Spike's shoulders.

Entranced by Dru's touch, Spike shoved Willow's head away violently. She gasped as her head came close to hitting the concrete. Spike rolled away, uttering something in disgust.

"That's right, Dru, we wouldn't want to waste my plan, would we now?" came a smart-alec voice from the doorway. All three looked up to see Angelus strolling towards them, a bragging gait in his step.

Willow shrunk back in her bonds. She didn't know what else to do. Three very deadly vampires were standing in front of her, most likely hungry, and she was in a very uncompromising position.

But then again, if they were just going to eat, why had they gone to such great lengths to get her? Why hadn't they just drained her on the spot? Why had they gone to all the trouble of chaining her up? Willow realized that they weren't going to eat her. Torture her, maybe.

Angelus swaggered over to her, stroking his chin with his hand. Hming and hawing over her like she was a piece of artwork or something, she was even more frightened. Why was he acting this way?

"Perfect." Willow shrunk away from the hand that was coming at her. "Willow, you are perfect." Taking her cheek in his hand, he softly ran his thumb over it. "You, my little hacker, are going to be the bait for that pesky Slayer. Won't she just come in here running if she knew you were in trouble, trying to save the day? Of course, I'm either going to have to strike a truce -- which I really don't want to do --- or kill her. I'm really banking on the second choice. How about you, little tree?"

Taking in Angelus' tone of voice, his touch, and the fact that she was probably going to end up dying, Willow did the only thing she could.

She screamed.

***

But you, you're not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight...
 

~Part: 3~

Must be strangely exciting
To watch the stoic squirm

***

"Hey, Xander, have you seen Willow?"

Alexander Harris broke away from his girlfriend to face Buffy. "No, I haven't...it was kind of weird and all, too, cuz we usually walk here together. Except not today, but usually, but not any more." He paused thoughtfully. "I'm blundering again, aren't I?"

Cordelia grabbed her boyfriend by his collar. "Yes. Now shut up." She drew him close and kissed him until he gave in and wrapped his arms around her. Satisfied, she continued the kiss.

Buffy stood there for a while, tapping her foot, then decided to just talk to see if he would listen. "Maybe she stayed home to work on the spell," she wondered out loud.

For that, Xander had to cut in. "Wills? Stay home from school for magic? It's like Giles switching to spandex." With his two (halves) cents put in the pot, he went back to making out with Cordy.

Buffy mused over this for a while. Willow was not in school. Which meant either she was sick, studying -- no, elimination there, Willow wouldn't skip school to study -- working on the spell, or in trouble. Buffy really didn't want to think that Willow was in trouble, but there was only one way.

"Tell Mr. Miller I went home sick, Xander," she said to the occupied teenager. "I'm going to check up on Willow."

***

The sheets were in place. On top sat the orb of Thessula, lonely by itself, although sitting next to the spell. Buffy sighed. Everything looked...normal. She turned around and was about to leave when a draft blew by her.

Startled, she turned around. The curtains were drifting up in the breeze from the open window. Willow's window open...she'd never do that. Will was too smart to leave her window open like that. Buffy approached the window and gazed outside.

On the ground lay a broken branch and a small object. Buffy squinted, but she just couldn't make out what it was. Swinging one leg out, she exited the window and climbed down the house, finally hopping to the ground. Kneeling, she picked up the abandoned cross.

***

Angelus laughed as Willow screamed again. He enjoyed her scream, her shrill cries for help, her whimperings...another thought crossed his mind. What did her laugh sound like? Or maybe...

An evil smile spread ear to ear on Angelus' face. Then the screaming stopped.

Willow looked at Angelus, confused. He had grinned. Sure, he had been smiling while she had desperately tried to call for help, but this grin was different. It was a sinister smirk, which meant he really had something up his sleeve. Or lack thereof, as she realized he was only wearing a teeshirt in the cold sewers.

Willow shivered involuntarily as a chill crept up her spine. He was planning something, and the fact that he was planning something did not give her any kind of peace of mind. In fact, the chill threatened to come back threefold once Willow saw Angelus stand up and walk towards her.

For hours he had just been sitting there, a smug smile on his face as she screamed her lungs out over and over again. But now, he had stood up, was walking over to her, and took her face in her hand again, like the first time. He began stroking her cheek again with his thumb, looking at her appraisingly.

Willow shrunk back from his touch. She didn't like him touching her this way...it made her think of Oz. Only Oz had ever touched her that way. Well, him and that guy at the Bronze the day she had met Buffy. And that guy had been a vampire. And Oz was a werewolf. And Angelus was a very evil...very bad...horrible, awful vampire. She had to remind herself that.

Finally, her willpower gave in. Sure, Willow Rosenberg is built for abuse, but this just pushed her to the edge. Tilting her head to the side tiredly, she sighed a sigh that seemed like a purr.

The grin came back on Angelus' face. She's not so bad, Angelus thought. Then, after realizing what he had thought, he slapped Willow hard across the face. "Little bitch," he growled, scowling at her now. "I'm not your man." With that, he turned and stormed out of the room.

Willow hung there, bewildered, her cheek still stinging from his blow. Reeling from everything that had just happened, she fell asleep.

But you, you're not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight...
 

~Part: 4~

"Giles! Xander! Cordy! Anyone! GET OVER HERE NOW!" Buffy called out as she burst through the doors to the library. The entire Slayerette brigade sans Willow appeared from various places in the library, all stunned at Buffy's demanding tone.

"What's wrong, Buff?" Oz asked quizzically, tossing his backpack behind a chair. He approached Buffy worriedly, followed by Xander and a half-caring Cordy.

Buffy looked at Oz squarely. "I think Willow's been kidnapped."

***

Things were exploding all over the place. Literally.

Dru cowered in the doorway next to her invalid as vases and stands flew through the air and smashed against the walls and floors. One particularly large statue gracefully soared through the air and landed with a crash at Spike's feet, sending porcelain shards flying at him. Calmly moving his head to avoid them, he waved back at Dru, who was clearly freaking out.

As Angelus saw Spike roll into the room, he put on an angry sneer. "Hey there, meals on wheels, what's wrong? Can't go hunting?" He tossed a nearby vase. "Well, that's just awful, isn't it?" With another look of passionate anger, he kicked Spike's wheels.

Luckily for Spike, he had put on the brake. "Look, mate, we don't know what you've got up your sleeve for the hacker, but she's doing one hell of an opera number on our ears. Why can't you bloody well make her shut up!" Spike exploded calmly at Angelus.

"Because," Angelus looked at him with an evil grin, "that would probaby require killing her. And I don't want to do that!"

"Then let me bloody well kill her!" Spike said, angry now. "I'm hungry, y'know, you can't quite live off of pizza boys all day!" Dru, behind him, regained her confidence and danced out into the room.

Nimbly avoiding the pieces of glass and other materials, she waltzed around the two male vampires. "He wants the girl...she's strong...useful...she's going to help us end the world." She stroke Spike's face with one long fingernail. "It's going to be all red in the end..." The bloody trail left by her painted fingernail emphasized her point.

Spike jerked his face away from the crazy vampire. "Sounds like fun, Dru, but I'm bloody hungry." He stared at Angelus accusingly.

Angelus waved his hand at the young man, now chained in the corner. "I'm not gonna need him, you can eat him," he said distractedly. Stroking his chin again, he stormed out of the room.

Shrugging, Spike wheeled over to the shuddering young man in the corner. "You may not be for Acathla," Spike growled as his face shifted, "but at least I get a bite." He grabbed the man's head, yanked it to the side, and sank his fangs in to feed.

Dru smiled.

***

"So, Wills is gone, her window's open, and nothing was moved? This is totally weirdo," Xander commented in his usual dense-like fashion. He gripped Cordy's hand tighter as he thought. "But why would Wills leave her window open? She's too smart for that...unless she was in some sort of trouble, and had to go outside."

Buffy held up the wooden crucifix she had found outside of Willow's house. "This was outside...I gave it to her a few days after we met. It was for extra protection...because it's big." She stared down at it in her hand. "She'd only use it for a good reason."

"And that good reason is obviously some kind of attack," Cordy piped up.

"...or lure," Oz said out loud. The gang looked at him in surprise. He hadn't really said anything while Buffy had been explaining her search at Willow's. "Why would she leave the house through the window? It doesn't make sense. What if something was out there that needed help?" Now Oz looked even more concerned than before.

Buffy looked at him sadly. "Then let's hope that she helped it, and something didn't help themselves to her."

***

*crash*

Xander calling her name...

*smash*

Angelus slapping her...

*silence*

At the sudden change of noise, Willow awoke from her dreams. She instantly wished that she had stayed asleep, seeing as waking up seemed to put her in a worse predicament. And the situation worsened as she blearily watched a furious Angelus storm into the room.

"Hello, little hacker," he said slyly. "How are we feeling now?" Willow nodded slowly, trying not to do anything that would earn her another slap. A draft blew through the room, and Willow noticed for the first time that she was still in her nightgown. Groaning inwardly, she wished that she had stayed dressed that night.

"Now, little one, how can you answer with a yes?" Angelus asked her, a small sneer apparent on his face. He was provoking her to speak, for some strange reason. Willow swallowed.

"Um...I'm feeling like shit." WHAT?!?!?!?! Why the hell had she said that? Speaking before thinking equalled bad. She was bad. What if she had made him mad? Swallowing again, she shrunk back. It was bad enough that she had said that, but she didn't swear often. It was very interesting...and bad. Naughty. Not Willow, Willow was good.

A bemused smile slowly appeared on Angelus' face. "Well, I'd get you down from there, but you'd probably run. And we can't have that now, can we?" He came up close to Willow again, and against his own mind's protests, he stroked her face gently. He tried to convince himself that he was messing with the girl's mind. He hoped he was right.

Willow winced. The last time he had touched her, he had slapped her. She hung there, not sure what to do. Finally, she spoke.

"What the hell do you want?"
 

~Part: 5~

Willow's question hung heavily in the air. Although Willow managed to hold her composure enough to stare Angelus coldly in the eye, her captor didn't even blink. Finally, Angelus turned with a wave of his hand and walked to the center of the room.

"Hmm...what do I want? Oh, I want a lot of things, little hacker. I want a good meal, I want more vases to throw, I want the Slayer dead, and I want the world to end. As you can see, Willow, I want a lot of things. So why did you ask?" Angelus grinned again. He knew he was tormenting her. He wanted to see how she would hold up. Not like he needed to know, but it would be interesting...

Willow gritted her teeth. Angelus was a pain in the you-know-where. "What do you want *with me*?" she restated, and steeled herself for any punishment he would deal out.

However, the evil vampire just curled the corner of his mouth. "Now, that's a different question, red. What do I want with *you*?" He turned to face her again, his chin once again resting in his hand. Narrowing his eyes at her, he approached her again. "Willow, I want you to imagine that you are nothing more than a worm," he said, the maliciousness clear in his voice. When Willow's eyes widened at his statement, he laughed. "Because I'm just waiting for the Slayer to bite the bait."

***

"Giles, I can't believe I'm just sitting here! I mean, I'm in school when my best bud is out God-knows-where and doing God-knows-what or getting God-knows-what done to her!" Buffy knew she wasn't making much sense, but she was frustrated. Willow was missing, she wanted her found, and no one was helping!

Giles turned his head and nodded at Buffy distractedly as he checked a pile of mail lying on the library counter. Shuffling through junk mail and college applications, he finally found the lumpy package at the bottom of the pile. Picking it up curiously, he read the label closely.

Buffy watched as her Watcher turned pale. "Giles, what is it?" She leapt to her feet and went over to Giles. The librarian just stood there, staring down at the label, then finally handed it to her.

"I-it's, uh, well, it's addressed to us..." Giles said, astounded. Buffy read the label out loud.

"Slayer and Watcher." She looked back up at Giles for a clue, found none, and turned back to the package. Turning it over, she ripped the lumpy package open at the seam.

***

"Dru, as much fun as this isn't, when are we going to get to end the bloody world?" Spike muttered as he rolled around the main hallway. His nutty vampiress danced in circles around him, humming and singing as she went. Basically, she was driving him to the limit. "Dru?!" he asked insistantly.

"Oh, the world is pretty tonight..." she said drowsily. She was dressed in a ballroom gown, a dress that Spike had given to her nearly a hundred years ago. He hadn't seen it since the night he had gotten it for her...it had been a good night, too. The girl he had gotten the dress from had been a good meal, too.

Spike shook himself from his reverie as Drusilla continued to swirl around the room. "Geez, Dru, can't you bloody stay still? I feel like a bloody babysitter..." he muttered to the vampiress. Drusilla, if she heard him, made no notice of it. Instead, she sat on his lap like a child, and kissed him fully on the lips. Contented with his fate, he kissed her back.

***

Angelus watched Dru kiss Spike. A little part of him was screaming that the bitch was his, and no way no how was roller boy going to get to have a piece. But obviously he had no say in that now...and a larger part of him was telling him that Dru and Spike should dote over each other anyway. He had larger fish to fry...

The hacker. The redhead had been bugging him since she had gotten there. She just wouldn't shut up, talking about how Buffy would rescue her, or how he'd never make it through the scheme, etc...it had been driving him nuts. So, he decided to give in to impulse and send the message to Slayer. With any luck, she'd get moving.

Angelus smiled.

***

"Listen, Buff, I'm worried about Willow as much as you are, but I don't see how that can help us any," Xander said as he gestured to the item Buffy was holding. "I mean, what's it supposed to be? I'm certainly not struck with terror."

"Yeah, well, that's you," Cordelia muttered under her breath. Not surprisingly, Xander neither heard nor understood what she had said. He just shrugged and sat on a library table.

Buffy put it on the table next to him. "But why would someone send this to me...no, not just me, but the 'Slayer and Watcher', if it had no connection?" She sighed as the doors swung open, revealing an approaching Oz.

Suddenly, Oz's gaze drifted to the table and he came running. Picking up the slipper Buffy had placed on the table, he looked at them frantically. "This...is Willow's."

They were all so worried, nobody even thought to comment on how Oz knew it was Willow's slipper.
 

~Part: 6~

“Oh, little hacker…” Angelus’ voice rang through the nearly empty room. When the words worked their way into Willow’s ears, her head shot up. Angelus was back…maybe she’d finally learn what was going on here. She shrunk back into her bindings, hoping to hide from the cruel vampire. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to work.

“What do you want?” she said again, hoping that maybe she could just tell him something and he’d go away. She really didn’t like hanging there…in a dark, damp room…in her nightgown…and being held by Angelus. Things like that were bad. Very bad, and should really be avoided.

Good lot of a job she had done.

Angelus entered the room, closing the door shut behind him. Sauntering over to Willow, he hummed a violent little tune. “We’ve already had this discussion, red. But now I have a different idea.” He worked the plan through his head again quickly. Time to put on the sweet and innocent act, and hoped the teenage girl would fall for it. Considering the words he just used, it would.

He softened his features expertly. The eyes sagged, the mouth relaxed, and his whole demeanor changed instantly. No more Angelus - he was working soul-boy now.

Willow watched as Angelus seemed to change before her eyes. In fact, he looked almost kind, soulful…angelic. A shudder ran up her back as she realized she was looking at Angel…or what used to be angel. Evil guy now, she reminded herself as she looked at his lucsious body. Evil. Evil evil evil evil evil…

“Willow…listen, I was thinking…” he started slowly, smiling softly. “And I figured something out that was bugging me. It’s just, that…” He looked deeply into her eyes. “I think I really like you, and I was wondering if there was a chance, y’know, that we could…go out.”

The hacker was very much slack-jawed. In fact, she could almost hear her chin hit the floor. It was a trick. A mean, evil, horrid trick that was pulling on her in order to make her vulnerable.

And dammit, it was working.

But before Willow could even think to react, Angelus charged forward and captured her mouth with his.

First, Willow tried to pull away. But, unfortunately, the wall was in the way of her head, and she couldn’t make it. Second, she tried to cut off the kiss, but he held her head in his hands firmly, and she couldn’t do anything. Third…goddamn, she was enjoying it, and that was a bad.

Finally, thoughts of Oz filled her head. Oz! Oh god, she was cheating on Oz. Or was this cheating? She wasn’t willing…but she was liking it. Oz didn’t kiss like that…or hold her like that…or make her feel like that…

Bad Willow! She mentally reprimanded herself. She was doing bad stuff…but then again, she couldn’t help it. Eventually giving in to Angelus’ oral attack, she told herself over and over again that it was just her body responding.

Angelus could almost feel Willow’s thoughts. First, rejection. Then, denial. There was a lot of that. But eventually, he could feel the acceptance. Grinning, he finally decided that maybe his insane plan would actually work.

***

“Someone’s got Willow.”

“Check.”

“That someone knows who the Slayer and Watcher are.”

“Another check.”

“And we have absolutely no idea what’s going on, if Willow’s in trouble, and what the hell we’re supposed to do.”

“Triple check.” Xander checked off their list with his hand, making a checking sign in the air. “So basically, we’re really screwed. Willow’s missing, being tortured, threatened, hurt…oh god,” Xander trailed off, putting his head in his hands. “Oh Wills…” he moaned into his hands.

Cordy went over to comfort Xander, but she had no idea what to do. People disappeared in Sunnydale every day.

But why did it have to be Willow?
 

~Part: 7~

Spike cursed as he rolled around the statue of Acathla. The stone monster seemed to stare down at him, almost, threatening the end of the world. Sure, there were things he wouldn't mind giving up in this world...he almost considered trying to stop Angelus' crazy plan. But it would be fun to watch the demons run rampant...

He decided to eat on it. Rolling over to the phone, he picked it up and dialed a well known number. "Hello? Party Crasher's? Yeah, I'd like to order a pizza..."

***

"Guys, I'm going positively bonkers. I don't know where she is, I don't know what to do...I'm gonna go out and stake a couple hundred vamps, beep me if she calls," Buffy called out in frustration as she paced the room, then ran out.

The rest of the Slayerettes minus Willow stared after her. "Waitasec," Oz said suddenly. "What about that Willy guy? Think he'd know anything?"

Xander looked surprisingly thoughtful. "Hm...I could go give it a shot. Anyone like to come with?" He looked at Cordy meaningfully, but she was oblivious to his comments, too engrossed in touching up her eyeliner.

"I'll come," Oz said, grabbing his coat, a stake, and a cross. "But we better equip first."

Xander nodded grimly.

***

Spike wiped his mouth and threw the pizza box in the trash. The pizza was resting on the table in front of him. Angelus had made him save it for Willow. The hacker was bound to be starving by now.

***

At first, Willow shrunk away from the offered piece of pizza. What could be in it? Arsenic? Cyanide? Date rape drug? She cowered in her bonds.

Angelus sighed heavily, annoyed with her. Finally throwing the piece of pizza at the wall, he grunted. "That's it," he said, running his fingers through his hair. "Enough play." He took her head in his hands fiercely and kissed her.

Once again, Willow nearly swooned with confusion, fear, arousal, and guilt. He kissed like a god...

Angelus broke off the kiss, grabbed another piece of pizza, and shoved it into Willow's wide open mouth. She gagged, then finally chewed and swallowed. "That's right, pet. Eat up. Because you're going to be dead within a day."

Willow nearly choked.

***

Xander barged into the bar, scaring the few patrons there were. Oz followed close behind, looking around warily. Thanks to his wolfy side, although dormant, he could tell all were human. If there were any vamps there...well, he'd have to keep Xander from playing out his interregational fantasy.

"How can I help you guys? You look a little young to be drinking," Willy spoke from behind the counter. He had a rag in his hand, and was wiping the countertop with it. He gave them a cocked smile, and Oz just gave him a weird look.

However, Xander went right up to him and pounded on the table. "We need info, Willy, right now." He reached up, grabbed Willy's collar, and pulled him to his face. "And you better tell us what we need to know."

At this, Oz decided to cut in. Prying Xander's fingers from around the poor bartender's shirt, he helped Willy back to a standing position. "Listen, we just need to know if you know what Angelus is up to," he said amiably.

Willy gave both of them wary looks. To Xander, he said, "You're nuts." He then looked at Oz to answer. "Last I knew, he was gonna bring Acathla. But that was a couple of days ago, the big day it was. And we're kinda not in hell, so I'm guessing it didn't work. But that's all. Sorry boys," he said, straightening his collar.

Xander scowled at the man, but Oz just nodded. "Thanks," the guitarist said as he dragged Xander out of the bar.

"I coulda taken him," Xander mumbled.

***

"Okay-" Buffy grunted as she kicked the blond vamp in the head. "Tell. Me. What. I. Need. To. Know," she said, accentuating each word with a punch in the head. When the surfer dude was lying submissive at her feet, she reached down and grabbed his neck. "Where's Willow?" When the vamp just shook his head and whimpered, Buffy threw him against a tree, breaking his neck. As his body turned to ash, she started to turn.

But then something caught her eye. Not everything from the vamp had dusted. A white envelope, sealed, lay at the base of the tree. She walked over, picked it up, and looked at the front. Opening it, she unfolded the note inside, read it, and gasped.

With that, she ran off towards the school.
 

~Part: 8~

"Guys, I've got news," Buffy said as she rushed into the library. Letting the doors swing shut behind her, she waved the envelope at the occupants.

Oz looked at Buffy. "About Willow?" When the Slayer nodded, he went closer to Buffy. "What is it?"

Buffy looked down at the envelope, looked at Oz, then looked at Giles. Handing the letter over to the librarian, she went and sat down in a chair.

Giles looked at the envelope carefully, turned it over, and removed the piece of paper inside. He read it over once, wiped his brow, and looked at the back of the paper. He looked at it again, then sat down on the table next to Buffy.

"It's not good news, is it?" Xander said. When Giles looked at him, Xander just shrunk back.

At that moment, Cordelia came out from behind the stacks. "So you're killing us with the tension, book guy, just tell us what's got Willow and you guys can go save her already!" Cordelia's cluelessness was obvious in her voice.

Once again, Giles shook his head in defeat. Sighing, he read the letter out loud. "Beloved Slayer - I have your little wich. And if you want her to live to see another day, come by my house tomorrow night, at nine...and prepare to see sparks fly. See you in Hell, Slayer." Giles paused. "Sincerely, Angelus."

Xander was enraged and speechless at the same time, sending out little squeaks as a form of communication. He sat there, still and quiet, as his mind processed the letter. "He's gonna kill her."

Buffy shook her head defiantly. "No he won't. Not if I have anything to say about it." Turning to Giles, she started to get her information. "Number one -where's this house of his? It can't be his apartment, that's for sure."

Taking another look at the letter, Giles shook his head. "It has an address here...I recognize the road name. I believe it may be an old run-down mansion...it's known for a few murders committed inside."

"A serial killer's temple," Cordelia noted. Xander took her hand in worry for his best friend's safety.

"Number two - why would he take willow? I mean, she's a good friend to us and all, and that would make sense for the kidnapping, but why her? Why not Xander or Cordelia, or you, Giles?" Buffy's concern was for her friends, but it sounded of a demand made of fools. In other words, they had no idea.

"I don't know, Buffy...perhaps he wished Willow to perform a spell for him." Giles rubbed his head again, and took his glasses off the clean them.

Oz stood up. "Xander," he said, looking at the teenager, "when we were at Willy's...he said something about a big demon." He looked at Xander for support.

Xander began to understand. "Yeah," he said slowly. "He said something about the world going to Hell...I believe it was literal."

"Yeah. Some demon or thing or whatever was going to do the big Hellmouthy thing," Oz added.

"You mean, open the Hellmouth?" Giles asked. He ran to the bookcases. "There aren't that many demons who possess such power...oh my." Worried he rushed into his office, and Slayerettes could hear him tearing through his files on his desk. Soon after he came back out, holding up a folder.

"Acathla."

***

The world seemed to swirl around her as she tried to clear the cobwebs from her brain. First the air seemed of smoke, then mist, then finally she could see the dark gray stone clearly. Unfortunately, she had no idea where that was.

Willow realized that she was on the floor. That was a new concept to her, for ever since she had been abducted, she had been hanging on the wall. She reached to rub her sore wrists, but soon noticed that she was still chained. Just not hanging.

Slowly, she began to stand up. Looking around her, Willow took in her surroundings. Gray walls, stone floor, broken glass and pottery on the stone floor, and a huge statue of a demon in the middle of the room.

She took another look at the demon statue. Its mouth was shut, and a sword was protruding from its chest. The demon's eyes seemed to glow almost, but seemed dimmed by something unnatural. Perhaps it was the stone it was encased in.

Willow finally turned back to her current predicament. She was still chained. The chains connected her wrists to the wall behind her, but they were at least three feet long. She found that she could stand up and see the room from there, for her ankles were no longer chained.

The hacker changed her mind and sat back down, rubbing her chafed ankles. So she was shained in a room with a giant stone demon, after passing out from God-knows-what, and knowing that she was going to die within twenty-four hours.

As her mind began to drift back to what knocked her out,a voice poked into her thoughts.

"I see you're awake, hacker...that's good, because I'm relying on your screams to bring the Slayer here."

Willow gritted her teeth. "Angelus."

The vampire revealed himself from the shadows. "C'est moi, ma chère. How can I resist such a wonderful woman such as you?"

Willow tried her best to shoot daggers at him with her eyes.

Unfortunately, she failed miserably.
 

~Part: 9~

Angelus regarded the girl in front of him with an evil glint in his eye. He was good at getting that little spark of fear to grow within her...but not for much longer. As soon as her blood was taken for Acathla, she would be dead.

The vampire contemplated that thought for a moment. Willow, the hacker, the redhead, the sweet little innocent pure girl...could he really kill her?

Of course he could.

Just, would he want to deprive himself of such a darling little companion? Someone to scream when he threatened her, or whimpers when he kissed her? Or maybe she would make a much better vampire.

Once again he went back to studying her body crumpled on the floor. She had given him a glare that was weak inside. She was broken...dammit, that's not what he had wanted. He had wanted her to defy him to the very end of the world. Perhaps he could persuade Acathla to save her as a demon or something. Perhaps.

Willow squirmed on the floor in front of him. She knew that there was no way in hell she'd be able to ever intimidate him. Angelus had said that Buffy was coming...to get her out? Probably her intent...but Angelus was expecting the Slayer. Which meant Buffy might not stand a chance. Willow resigned herself to her fate.

Angelus saw Willow's shoulders droop. "Now, now, none of that," he said in a tone he didn't recognize. He walked over to her and bent down on one knee. He found an overwhelming urge to comfort her, and shakily placed one hand on her back.

Her shoulders were lightly shaking, and slowly he began to rub her back. She was warm...as were all humans. He was a vampire, he reminded himself, and vampires are cold blooded. They kill. Kill...

Willow shuddered when she felt Angelus' hand on her back. Was this the end? Would he finally kill her? Probably not. Angelus had made it quite clear that Buffy was going to see her die. At least she'd go out making an impression...unfortunately, it was going to be the end of the world.

As his hand moved up and down her back, he wondered what the hell he was doing. After several moments of the comforting gesture, Willow finally slumped to the floor, fast asleep.

His hand hung in the air, unsupported, as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

***

The door gave way to Buffy's constant attacks, and it finally fell to splinters. Needless to say, the lock was broken. She pushed away the fallen pieces and barged into the dark apartment.

Everything was covered in dust and grime. It was obvious that he hadn't lived there for months. Buffy let her eyes wander to the bed...then went back to business. Angel had stored some pretty heavy artillery in that apartment. With any luck, thos big bad babies were still there.

She immediately went for the bed, dropping to her knees. Buffy stored her own weapons in a trunk under her bed. Lifting up the rumpled covers, she peered underneath.

There was indeed a trunk there, and she pulled it out. She popped open the lid, and was pleased to find several axes, a few stakes, and three or four vials of holy water. Stashing what she could on her body, she shoved the trunk back under the bed and left the apartment.

She adjusted a few of the stakes on her person, sliding one up her sleeve and one into her boot. Taking a cord from her pocket, she tied it around a vial of holy water and hung it around her neck. Tucking it under her collar, she checked her watch. Twenty after eight...time to leave. Time to get Willow back.
 

~Part: 10~

Willow woke up again on the cold floor. The first time she had been knocked out, and this time she had fallen asleep...Willow checked her memory several times before thinking about it. Angelus -- the big bad killer demon in Angel's body -- had put her to sleep by rubbing her back.

Yawning, she pushed herself into a sitting position. She could here voices talking nearby and she stretched as she tried to focus in on them.

"Dru, I'm tellin' you, that bloody wanker's gone soft on us. Again!" Spike was ranting. He sounded mad. Willow could faintly hear his wheelchair spinning across the floor. She could also hear Dru dancing lightly around Spike.

"Daddy's fine. The hacker is for us and Acathla...he'll be gobbling us all up, he will..." Willow opened her eyes and blinked a few times, only to see Drusilla dance out the door. A chair went flying from behind the statue, and Willow was shocked to see that it was Spike's wheelchair.

Willow giggled softly as she imagined Spike lying on the floor, unable to move without his wheelchair. But her laugh got stuck in her throat as she saw Spike walk out from behind the statue.

"Bloody chair doesn't even bloody work," he grumbled as he stalked over to the wheelchair. Willow's jaw dropped as she realized that Spike could walk. The whole wheelchair thing was just a façade he put on to seem vulnerable.

Spike dropped into the chair just as Angelus strutted into the room. The first thing he noticed, however,was that Willow was awake.

"Willow...good, you're up," Angelus said loudly. Spike's head whipped around to stare at her, realizing that she knew. "And it's nine-oh-two...seems like your Slayer is late, little hacker," he chuckled.

"You only wish," came a cold voice from the doorway. An object whizzed throught the air, heading towards Angelus. The vamp simply stepped aside and let the stake clatter against the wall next to Willow.

The intruder took a running start towards Angelus, banked to the side, and threw another stake. Another miss. Willow noted with dismay that the room was starting to fill up with vampires.

Angelus laughed. It was amusing to see the Slayer all riled up. He also noted that she wasn't even trying to engage him in physical combat, instead opting to throw stakes at him. Fine, he thought, we can end it now. So much for the mud wrestling.

"Boys," he called out to the vamps, "get the Slayer." At once, Buffy was bombarded with nearly sixty vampires. She began throwing bottles of holy water like grenades, catching two or three with each blast.

No matter how hard she fought, there were too many vamps for her. Within minutes, the Slayer was bound and tied. Angelus stickered as he ordered her chained to the wall next to Willow.

Willow was in shock. Buffy was the Slayer. The Slayer was good. The good guys were supposed to win...weren't they? She didn't notice when two minions came over to her, unchained her, and dragged her over to the statue in the middle of the room.

Buffy struggled and squirmed, but was unable to get out of the layers of robes and chains she aws encased in. They had even gagged her.

The Slayer watched helplessly as Angelus approached Willow. She was still in shock, and Angelus took her hand and helped her up off the floor where the minions had dumped her.

Willow lookedinto Angelus' eyes as she stood up. Angelus...vampire...bad...

An evil grin spread over Angelus' face. "I will drink..." he said as he reached his hand up to Willow's face. "The blood will wash in me, over me, and I will be worthy to free Acathla." Slowly, he brushed the red hair away from Willow's neck. "Bear witness as I ascend..." He tilted her head to the side with two fingers. "As I become."

Buffy watched in horror as Angelus clamped his fangs into Willow's neck and drank.

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