Sitting on the roof of the warehouse, Mystique sighed. She had known
  that this wasn't going to be easy, but she hadn't expected it to be this
  hard.

  She pulled a piece of crystal out of her shirt, and looked at it at
  length. The clear octagonal crystal shimmered in the moonlight. She
  could cast a scrying spell. She'd find Uncle Angel that way, but he
  probably wouldn't be very happy with her. He'd yell at her that it was
  an invasion of privacy, but he'd forgive her. He always did.

  She pulled out a small pouch of silver dust, and sprinkled a small
  amount in a circle. Her crystal balanced, she twirled it above the
  filled circle, and intoned the simple spell.

  "Show me what I want to see."

  Short and to the point, but it worked. The silver dust melted and
  liquefied, creating a shimmering pool in which to see. A man appeared in
  its depths; his features soon clearing to identify him as Uncle Angel.

  She sat back, ready to absorb whatever she saw, but quickly realized
  that her spell wasn't going to behave itself. She saw flashes of images,
  Angel, a young flame-haired girl, an underground bunker. Mist realized
  that the girl was an Iztanzey and that her Uncle was her target. Rage
  began to build inside her.

  More came into view. Angel and the Titian arguing, him ripping her
  clothes right off of her. Mist's eyebrows lifted. Interesting...
  Especially since they probably weren't lovers yet...

  And still more images presented themselves. Angel and the Titian slow
  dancing. Kissing. Fighting. Angel's game face, snarling. The images flew
  faster, and Mist could hardly recognize any of them. Blood, flames, a
  girl screaming...

  And then, all of a sudden, the images stopped. Mist reeled a minute,
  then sighed. Her Uncle, trapped. The target of an Iztanzey...

  "Putting your nose into things again." Mystique whirled around,
  startled, to face her Uncle.

  "I just hate you see you in the same situation I was in." She paced
  forward, and turned his wrist over, exposing the barely noticeable
  beginnings of a tattoo. "Just started the second stage. Nothing save
  total severance can stop it now." Mist look wistfully up at her Uncle as
  she said this. "Wish I could help." She turned to look out at the city.

  "There's... nothing you can do?" Angel said softly.

  Mist rubbed her own wrist, where there was a tattoo. A tattoo remarkably
  similar to Angel's.

  "You know I don't know how I severed myself from Paul. If I knew, I
  would tell you; keep you from the pain and torment that's to come. But I
  don't. So I can't."

  Angel put his arms around his niece. "It's ok." He turned her around to
  face him. "Would you like to meet her?" Mist nodded. Angel looked
  introspective for a moment, as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

  "I need to talk to Willow alone, so why don't you stop by the bunker in
  about two hours? You still know where it is, right?"

  Mist nodded, and slipped from the rooftop.

  *****

  Angel slipped into the bunker, feeling weary. Mist often had that
  effect on him, wearing him down. He looked up from his musing to see
  Willow standing in the middle of the living room. Her hands were clasped
  behind her back, and her eyes were on the floor. Her posture was both
  submissive and proud at the same time. Angel sighed in relief. He'd been
  worried he'd driven her over the edge, but he should have known better.
  Willow was stronger than that. She wasn't a weak hothouse flower.

  Willow glanced up at him, defiance in her eyes, but she soon lost her
  courage and stared down at the floor again. Angel walked over to her. He
  realized somewhere in the back of his mind that something was different,
  but he didn't really think about what that might be. Right now, he was
  focused on how to return to Willow her self-confidence and strength, And
  he thought that he knew of a way.

  Angel gently took her chin in his hand, and raised her head, so that he
  could look into her eyes. She glared defiantly at him, then tried to
  look away. Angel gave her a small, sad smile, and leaned down to
  carefully kiss her. She stiffened, then relaxed in his arms, letting him
  support her.

  Angel clasped his hands around her buttocks, lifting her against him.
  Willow gasped, her eyes fluttering open to look at him, a rather wild
  look in her eyes. Angel looked down at her, making it quite clear that
  if she wanted out, now was the time. Willow shook her head.

  "You have a choice. I'm not going to do anything you don't want," he
  told her gently.

  Willow looked up at him with apprehensive eyes, but determination was
  on her face. "I have to do this. I have to." She then took the
  initiative, and reached up and kissed him.

  Their tongues intertwined as Angel pulled Willow even closer to him.
  Willow's arms were like steel cords around his neck, not letting him
  move away. Angel stepped backwards, and dropped them both onto the
  couch.

  *****

  Satiated, and feeling like a languid cat, he was relaxing against the
  couch when he remembered Mist. <Damn! She'll be here any minute!> Angel
  rolled off the couch.

  "We're going to have company. You'd better get dressed," Angel said. He
  gave her a mischievous smile. "We can finish this later."

  Willow quickly grabbed her clothes, but Angel forestalled her. "I'll
  get you something more appropriate. Wait here." Angel headed off into
  the bedroom, while Willow sat naked on the couch.

  <Company. And probably not Keith. Interesting...> Willow was kind of
  surprised she could sit naked without embarrassment, but she could now.
  Still, she hoped Angel hurried. She was starting to get cold...

  *****

  Mist whistled as she headed down the passageway to the bunker. Strange,
  all the happy feelings that this place gave out. She never would have
  expected it from such a dismal place.

  <I wonder what she'll be like. A tyrant, like Paul? Or a caring
  person?> She hoped for Angel's sake that this 'Willow' wasn't corrupt as
  Paul and many Iztanzeys were. In taming demons, they often absorbed
  their negative energy, sometimes turning into creatures even worse than
  the ones they sought to help.

  She had seen how Willow was behaving, but that could have been an act.
  She wouldn't truly know until she saw her face to face. And if she was a
  tyrant... well, then she would just have to kill her.

  She reached the bunker door, and knocked loudly. Considering this was
  her Uncle, it was better to be safe than sorry. She REALLY didn't feel
  like walking into another one of his affairs.

  The door opened a few moments later, Angel being fully dressed. Mist
  slipped inside, gave her Uncle a kiss on the cheek, and turned to look
  at Willow. <She looks so young in that outfit. And so pure...> Willow
  was wearing an outfit that looked a lot like a school uniform. Mist
  smirked.

  "Gave her some of Darla's old stuff, huh?"

  "It was hanging around," Angel said, sitting in one of the chairs and
  watching both women carefully.

  "Hmmm..." she said, not believing a word of it. She turned back to
  Willow, and stalked towards her. Willow stood rigidly, not moving.

  <She's important to Angel. And powerful. If things go wrong, she could
  destroy everything...> Willow thought. <I can't let that happen.>

  <Young. Inexperienced.> Mist thought, as she circled around Willow.
  <And not yet corrupted. She'll do fine.> Mystique smirked.

  "We haven't been formally introduced. My name's Mystique, but you can
  call me Mist." She offered Willow her hand.

  Willow looked at it suspiciously, but took it. "Willow," she said
  shortly. <Something about this woman makes me nervous. She powerful, but
  almost... childlike in a way.>

  "Pleased to meet you, Willow." She started to circle her again, then
  put a hand on Willow's buttocks. Willow yelped, and spun around to hiss
  at Mystique, who had started to chuckle.

  "Mystique..." Angel said warningly.

  "Oh, come on, Uncle. It's not like you wouldn't like to see the two of
  us together." Mist gave him a naughty grin. "You always were something
  of a voyeur."

  "Mystique..." he said again. Angel knew she had no intention of doing
  anything of that sort. She was just testing Willow again. Her eyes had
  rounded, and her body resembled a living marble statue. <Although, it
  would have been nice to see...>

  "Just kidding, Willow." Mist stalked over to the sofa, and made herself
  comfortable on it. She glanced over to her Uncle. "Didn't you want to do
  something before daybreak?"

  "Oh, right." Angel smirked, and turned to Willow. "Did I forget to
  mention that I'm going to be sleeping here during the day from now on?"

  Willow paled, but a determined light entered her eyes. It would step up
  the process, making the transformation go faster on both their parts.
  But it also would mean she wouldn't have much downtime. <It's not like a
  have a choice in this matter, though.>

  "Whatever," she said, with a casualness that she DEFINITELY didn't
  feel. Angel stood.

  "Not interested in knowing why?" he teased. "Well, it just so happens
  that I think I'm starting to like you." Willow's jaw grew tight. <This
  is SO not good...> Angel smirked, as he headed towards the door. "I'll
  be back before dawn. Why don't you and Mist get to know each other?"
  Angel left the bunker, and she could hear him humming as he left.

  And Willow and Mystique were left to stare at each other.
 
 
 
 

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