************************************************************
Willow frantically searched through the shelves at Giles'
magick shop. They had
a key to the shop, Anya had closed up for the day. "You'd
think Giles would have
bought stock in the company that makes these things." But
there wasn't an Orb of
Thessula to be found in the whole place.
Xander was looking through the inventory log. "Wills,
there's a number on here
to call about ordering them."
"Thank Goddess! Let's order one and have it shipped
overnight."
He dialed the phone and then punched in some numbers to
get through the
automated system. "I'm on hold to speak to an operator."
He said to Willow.
She hoisted herself up on the counter. There was only one
magick shop in town,
they had no choice but to wait. Orbs of Thessela were rare
items, it was doubtful any
shop in the immediate area would even have one. The
magickal community knew them
to be useless without the gypsy curse. And Giles had
guarded the secret of the curse
for very carefully. If conjurers could summon souls at
will -- the results would be
disastrous.
"Uh, yes? I'd like an Orb of Thessela delivered pronto!"
Xander listened a
minute, his face twisting. "What?! Six weeks, they're
back ordered? NO!" He listened
again. "Well, I know they make an attractive paperweight."
Willow handed him a
credit card and he quickly rattled off the numbers and
finished ordering. He hung up
the phone. "Apparently, there all the rage now!
Paperweights for executives."
"We'll just have to try other sources. " She thought a
moment. " I know Giles
doesn't have one at his apartment. I'll make sure I call
Cordy and ask her. I should also
go online and see what I can find there. Who knows? Maybe
they're auctioning one off
on ebay."
"Meanwhile, I guess were babysitting Angelus." He
grimaced.
*******
Angelus was awake. He had been for some time. He didn't
know how he got
tied to the chair but he was displeased. Very displeased.
And his head throbbed, it
seemed these migraines were becoming more and more serious.
Angelus heard muffled voices in the hallway. Xander and
Willow walked in her
room, they both looked grim.
"Untie me." He demanded. In truth, Angelus had twisted out
of the knots, but he
wanted to see what Willow's reaction would be.
"Not a chance, Deadboy." Xander said. He looked at
Willow. "We should call
Buffy."
"Not yet. Give me a couple of days to find an orb." She
refused to look at
Angelus. She was so glad that Xander was willing to stay
with her. If she had to be all
alone with Angelus she didn't know what she would do. She
could still see those
drawings that he had made of her. . .she mentally shook
herself. "In the meantime, let's
strengthen these ropes. "
"Willow, untie me. Now." His voice was calm but laced
with authority.
She wouldn't even acknowledge his words, it was hard
enough to be in the same
room with him. She lit some incense and moved closer to
Angelus with her spellbook
in hand. "Gather the fiber, stronger and tighter. Gather
the fiber, stronger and tighter."
She chanted, and as her er hand gestured to the ropes and
a flash of sparkling energy
centered on them.
"That was very clever, little one. But-" He stood up,
letting the shredded end of
the rope show. "I've been free for some time, now."
Xander rushed forward, trying to block his path to Willow.
Angelus easily
grasped by the boy by the arm and pulled him close,
exposing his neck. His face
changed and he attempted to sink his fangs in Xander's neck
when he experienced
another bolt of pain. "Owwwww!" He let go of the boy and
clutched his aching head.
"What's happening to me?"
"You've been chipped!" Willow shouted, gleefully. Xander
gave her his "huh?"
look, then he looked at the vampire warily. She spoke to
Angelus for the first time.
"That's why you were so curious about the Initiative! They
captured you and put a
chip in your head. Just like Spike."
"WHAT?" He roared. "I've been defanged? Me, the Scourge
of Europe?"
"Yep, you are." She smiled brightly. This made matters
much simpler. "I'm
surprised you didn't figure it out when you first tried to
bite someone."
"I didn't know the details about Spike's chip. I thought
it took away the desire
to bite. Soulboy's not exactly chummy with the watcher
these days."
"Maybe we should tell Buffy." Xander insisted stubbornly.
"No! This is perfect, don't you see? Even if we don't
find the orb soon, we'll
have an insurance plan. He can't hurt anyone. Can't even
hit people! I'm not going to
burden Buffy with this right now. Not unless its
necessary."
"I'm not talking to that blond twit ever again. Unless
it's to say, 'move your neck
to the left so I can get a better angle to bite.'"
"I'll dust you if you say or do anything to hurt her."
Willow threatened.
"Now, little one. We both know you aren't going to hurt
Soulboy's
body."Angelus said, folding his arms across his chest. His
eyes slid over her from head
to toe, like a caress. "I've missed you, little one."
"I just bet you have." The twisted smile that spread
across Willow's face even
chilled Angelus to the bone. It was almost as if she was
channeling Vamp Willow. She
walked toward him purposefully and he was forced to retreat
until his back met the
wall. "I don't think you want to mess with me, Angelus. I
could do things to you that
would be worse than death." She reached into her jeans
pocket and pulled out a small
bottle of holy water. "I could tie you up and burn you
with this until you scream. I
could withhold blood from you until you-"
"Alright. I'm playing along. I'll be Mr. Nice Vampire
for now."
"Good boy." She reached up and patted his head. "Knew
you'd see things my
way. All you needed was a bit of inspiration."
She spun on her heel. Xander was staring at her with
fascination and a bit of
fear. "It's okay. It's me, Willow." She opened her mouth.
"See? No fangs." Willow
was loathe to admit it, but it felt good to put the vampire
in his place. He had a lot to
pay for.
"Well, I assume you're hungry." She said to Angelus. "
Xander will stay with
you while I get some blood from Willy."
"Hurry back." Xander called as he watched her retreating
form disappear down
the hall.
*******
Willow climbed the stairs to the upper hallway of her
house. She'd managed to
get Angelus enough blood to last a few days. She was proud
of herself for not cowering
in front of the vampire. And a bit guilty for having
entertained thoughts of torturing
Angelus. But just a bit. He'd actually appeared frightened
of HER.
She was about to open the door to her room when she heard
voices coming from
the interior. "You know what else? Leather. . .it makes
your butt look big, Deadboy. Really
big. That's right, you might want to switch to diet blood
or something. . .feed off a jogger." She
also heard a "Owww!" When she entered she saw Angelus
pressing a hand to his head
and Xander laughing himself silly on her bed.
"This is too much fun, Wills." He said, gasping for air.
"I was planning on
kicking his ass for all the hell he's put us through when I
insulted him. He's hurting
himself trying to kill me more than I could ever hurt him
on my own."
"Xander!" She reprimanded. "That's cruel."
Xander's face sobered. "Don't you forget about what he did
to Ms. Calender or
Giles."
"I know." She said quietly. She sighed, some of those
memories were still
painful. But she had managed to forgive Angel. She'd
worked through a lot of her
feelings and felt that she was healed. The temptation to
get a bit of revenge on Angelus
was almost irresistible though. "We shouldn't sink to his
level, Xander."
Xander nodded. "Alright, no more insults for tonight. So,
where's he gonna
stay?"
"With Spike?" Willow suggested.
"Absolutely not! I do not sleep in a crypt. Disgusting!
I have my own hotel
room."
"We're not letting you stay on your own, just yet. I
still don't trust you. Giles
and Buffy are out. Xander?"
"Well, Anya's there all the time. Eventually she'd figure
it out. And Anya-"
"Couldn't be discrete about anything to save her life. I
guess I'm the winner,
you're staying with me."
Angelus smiled, taking a packet of blood from the bag
she'd brought it in. He'd
be living with Willow. That had. . .possibilities. This
might be a better plan in the long
run. And he knew he'd get those Initiative soldiers.
Force them to have a scientist take
out the chip and then drain them all dry. Angelus never
took no for answer. In fact, he
might even have help. Maybe Spike wasn't so useless after
all. It was about time he
said hello to his prodigal 'son.'