Willow paced back and forth, her movements frustrated and angry. It had
  been three weeks, and still they hadn't completed stage one. She
  realized that she wasn't much of a temptation, but still! The Iztanzey
  magic should have been enough. But she guessed that Angel had greater
  will-power than most demons.

  Willow had continued to study the books on Iztanzey magic. Although
  Angel had confiscated them as promised, she had scanned them into the
  computer, so she would always have a copy. Willow grinned. Another point
  for the Iztanzey.

  Lately, she had started thinking in terms of point. Unfortunately, she
  was currently losing. But she was determined to change that.

  She lost her train of thought as the bunker door opened. Keith had
  arrived on his daily supply run. Food, of course, was the main reason,
  but he also often had to being more clothes, as Angel was very rough on
  her clothing.

  "Hello, Willow."

  Willow barely gave Keith a nod as she started to pace again, her mind
  whirling with ways to complete her plan.

  Keith stared at Willow for a bit, surprised at her attire, but he soon
  shrugged it off and unpacked the food. Black was looking quite nice with
  her skin tone, off-setting it quite nicely. And all the skin showing
  made the outfit quite interesting.

  "Pick up some zanthas and cinthas for me."

  "Sure, Willow." Keith left a bag of clothing by the armchair as always,
  and headed out.

  Keith had become Willow's conduit to the outside world. Luckily, she
  had talked Angel out of killing Keith. After all if Keith was gone, who
  would take care of all the little details that Angel tended to forget?
  Like, food? But, of course, Willow had an entirely different reason. She
  wanted Keith to get her stuff instead of Angel. He got all kinds of
  things that Angel wouldn't because Angel knew they were ingredients to
  some of her spells.

  Willow had become quite the little mage the last few weeks, casting
  several of the smaller spells from the book. It helped that all
  Iztanzeys had an natural ability at magic. She was surprised that she
  had never noticed before. However, her spells didn't appear to have had
  any effect, as Angel still seemed rather impervious to her.

  Her mind shifted suddenly as she wondered how Buffy and the gang were.
  Angel gave her 'status-reports', but she knew that they were hardly
  factual. According to Angel, Buffy was incapacitated, Xander was dead,
  Cordelia was scarred for life, and Giles was blind.

  Willow snorted delicately. Impossible. Angel was hardly fit right now
  to battle a housecat, much less the Slayer.

  Willow's mind drifted back to a night about a week ago. It had been the
  closest she had come to completing the third bond, but Angel had stormed
  out before it had happened. She still got the shivers when she
  remembered the events of that night. His hands on her body. His mouth on
  her throat. He was obviously going to be a fabulous lover.

  Willow blushed as this thought went through her head. She still had a
  hard time believing all the changes in her. Even though her blushing
  rate had increased, her inhibitions were practically non-existent. But
  she knew that was simply another part of the transformation, so she
  could do what needed to be done. So much of the taming process relied on
  sex, as it was something that demons, for the most part, understood.

  The longer it took, the more violent their first coupling would be, and
  Willow knew without a doubt that she would feel pain, and not just the
  pain of losing her virginity, either. And she was scared. She didn't
  mind rough, but this was bound to be more that rough. It would be
  brutal. Willow shivered, but in anticipation and fear.

  The bunker door opened again, and she realized that she had spent hours
  daydreaming.

  <Tonight's the night. I hope this works!>

  *****

  Angel closed the bunker door, and turned around. He had meant to say
  something caustic to Willow. However, the moment he laid eyes on her, he
  was struck dumb. She was wearing one of the most provocative outfits
  that Keith had furnished her with, and there was something about her...

  <Iztanzey magic>

  Angel tried to fight it, but soon realized that it was a lost cause.

  <She wants sex?> Angel thought. <Fine with me. Let's see what I can do
  to make this as unpleasant for Willow as possible.>

  *****

  <Sunnydale...> Michelle thought as she disembarked from the bus that
  she had taken to return here. <The little town on top of the
  Hellmouth...> She grinned. Mark came up behind her, and put a hand on
  her shoulder.

  "We don't have to do this. We can return to the compound, with no
  blemish on us." He looked at Michelle imploringly. "It's foolish to go
  up against the Slayer if we don't need to."

  Michelle shrugged off the hand, and grabbed her bags. "I'm doing this
  Mark. And you're either with me or against me. Which is it?"

  Mark sighed. "With you, of course." He shouldered his own bag, and
  together they headed for the apartment they had rented, sight unseen.

  <I'm really worried about her,> Mark thought. <The fire dancer's
  possession seems to have changed her. She's not playing with a full deck
  anymore.> With a fervent prayer to whoever might listen to a vampire
  that this condition was only temporary, Mark fished the key from his
  pocket, and the two entered the basement apartment that would be their
  home for the next little while.
  *****

  Willow was curled up into a ball, leaning back against the headboard.
  Her hand snaked out, grabbed the bottle off the nightstand, took a swig,
  then returned it. She then firmly wrapped her arms around herself again.
  She been following this pattern for the last half hour, and Angel was
  worried. Since the initiation of third bond, Angel had been feeling more
  protective of Willow than he had been, and he didn't want her to be like
  this.

  The bottle held a powerful healing potion, to heal all the bites and
  scratches that covered Willow. Angel had been extremely rough, drinking
  a lot of her blood, and gouging at her skin. And as his soul had once
  again achieved dominance for a short time, he was filled with remorse.

  Angel had been pacing back and forth, agitated, since he had become
  aware of what he had done. He had quickly gotten one of his shirts to
  cover her, as he had shredded the clothes she had been wearing, and
  tried to put in on her shoulders. However, when she had shrunk away, he
  had simply placed it on the bed, and gotten dressed himself, his soul in
  agony.

  <I raped Willow. I raped a innocent girl who was only trying to help
  me.> This thought kept going round and round in his head until he
  thought he would scream. Except for the fact that he was more concerned
  about Willow than himself. After all, she was the one he had hurt.

  He had apologized again and again, begging for her forgiveness, even
  though he knew he didn't deserve it. However, Willow had ignored him,
  only acknowledging the arrival of the shirt and healing potion.

  He sat down in a chair, his agony showing on his face and he watched
  Willow. He had stopped talking after he realized that she wasn't going
  to talk this through right now. <You just raped her, you idiot. Of
  course she doesn't want to talk to you.>

  He so wanted to take back the events of tonight. However, he knew he
  couldn't, but he still didn't know what to do. He had hurt Willow in the
  worst ways he knew how. He simply hoped that she would recover from this
  without too much difficulty.

  Angel looked at his watch. It was getting close to sunrise, and he
  didn't want to be here when the demon re-emerged. Willow was much too
  delicate for that right now. He definitely didn't want to hurt her
  again.

  "I'll be back tomorrow night, Willow. Try to eat something. And..."
  Angel trailed off, then said softly, "I really am sorry. And I want to
  thank you. For helping me." Angel left the bunker, as a single tear
  trailed down Willow's cheek.

  *****

  As Angel left, Willow began to shake with relief. Their joining had
  been even more painful that she had imagined possible. Obviously Angelus
  had learned a wide range of ways to hurt people over the years, and had
  tried most of them out on her.

  Willow took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Most Iztanzey would
  simply shrug and put this behind them, as part of the game. But Willow
  was very young, had been innocent, and was still unused to the whole
  game. As such, she was very vulnerable. She had yet to develop the
  strengths that she would soon have that would let her shrug off the
  violent encounter. But she was learning, and determined that the demon
  would not win.

  Tears streamed down Willow face, tears she hadn't dared let Angel see.
  Even if his soul was currently in control, it wouldn't last long, and it
  would know everything that Angel knew. And she couldn't let the demon
  see weakness in her, or she'd never win.

  Willow got up and headed for the bathroom, and a long shower to scrub
  away the dried blood and remaining pain. Her wounds were already healed,
  a testimony on the effectiveness of the potion.

  Water beat over Willow's head, as she thought of Angel. Most of her
  thoughts made her shudder, however the various causes for that reaction
  were quite different. Some were from fear and disgust, while others were
  from sexual desire.

  <You are definitely messed up, kid,> she thought to herself. However,
  she knew it was the Iztanzey training, trying to make this easier on
  her. Her arousal would make their future couplings less painful, and
  hopefully enjoyable.

  <After all, you have to follow the deal that was struck,> she reminded
  herself. The deal wasn't spoken aloud, or even thought about, but it was
  there nonetheless. Use of her body in return for control over the demon.

  <And I am going to win. Whatever it takes,> she promised herself.
  <Anything to bring the light back into Buffy's eyes.>

  *****

  Spike sat in a chair, thinking. He'd gotten stronger over the last few
  weeks, and two days ago had finally gotten rid of that damn chair. Now,
  he used a cane and didn't overtax himself.

  Angelus had been making himself scarce lately, for which he was
  extremely happy. Dru was paying attention to him again, like she had
  before Angelus had returned.

  Spike drummed his fingers on the tabletop. The Slayer. He had to get
  rid of the Slayer. But carefully this time. He had no desire to end up
  in that chair again. <Perhaps an all out assault.>

  He was taken from his musings as Dru came into the room, humming a
  non-sensical little tune.

  "My Spike. Come, let us hunt."

  Spike smiled, took the hand that Dru offered, and the two headed out
  into the night for a bite to eat.

  *****

  Buffy stalked into the room, then started to pace in an aggressive
  manner. Xander sat down and was fidgeting, while Giles was still in his
  office, reading a book of prophecies.

  "Giles, get out here, NOW!" Buffy yelled.

  Giles jerked in his chair, then got up and went to his door. "Yes,
  Buffy?" he asked in a calm voice. "Is something the matter?"

  "Are we just doing to leave her there?" The 'her' in the question
  needed no more detail, as Willow was on all of their minds lately.

  "Willow is more than capable of taking care of herself."

  "Against dead boy? I don't think so. This is Willow we are talking
  about, remember?"

  "And Willow is an Iztanzey. Iztanzeys can more than take care of
  themselves."

  Buffy stalked up to Giles. "You also said that their abilities develop
  slowly, and that Willow is unlikely to be ready to face Angelus at his
  full strength."

  Giles looked shocked. "I didn't tell you any of that."

  "But you don't deny that it's true?" Giles expression gave away the
  truth of her statements, and Buffy swore.

  "Buffy!" Giles exclaimed, shocked at her language. "How did you learn
  of that?"

  "Research Boy looked it up," Buffy said, motioning to Xander.

  "Without threats?" Giles asked, looking dazed at the thought of Xander
  VOLUNTARILY doing research.

  "The threat is to Willow," Xander said darkly. "Anyway, I have class.
  And after school," Xander gave Giles an aggressive look that was so
  unlike Xander than Giles couldn't help but stare. "We'll continue to
  look for Willow." He then stalked from the library.

  *****

  "Come on, Willow! It'll be fun!" Willow looked at Xander with barely
  concealed skepticism.

  "I don't know, Xander, it seems kind of high."

  "Come on!" At Xander's urging, Willow took the plunge and slid down the
  fireman's pole, She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the
  ground in one piece.

  BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

  Willow awoke with a start, and sighed. That had been such a simple
  time. But as much as she could wish that she could go back to those
  times, she knew she couldn't. That innocence was lost forever. And she
  didn't mean innocence of body, but of innocence of mind. She had lost
  that, starting slowly when she had learned the truth about the
  Hellmouth, then increasing fast after Angelus kidnapped her, and the
  last was shredded away last night, after their brutal encounter.

  Willow sighed again and stretched, feeling her sore muscle protest the
  movement. Her body had almost completely healed from Angelus' assault,
  leaving only lingering muscle aches and soreness. But the mental wounds
  had only begun to heal. Willow knew she'd have to face that soon, but
  not this minute.

  She slipped into the shower, allowing the soothing spray, along with a
  simple chanting spell, to ease her muscle aches and melt away the
  soreness in her body. She chuckled ruefully. <Of course, things would
  just HAVE to be this way...>

  Willow stepped from the shower, toweling her hair dry. She moved into
  the living area, and she breathed deeply. She chanted the spell that
  would help her deal with these unwanted emotions, as an Iztanzey's mind
  must be unclouded. She must work with only her true purpose and goal in
  mind. She must deal with all unwanted emotions in a methodical fashion,
  and expel them.

  And that was what Willow did. The fear, the hate, the hurt, all of the
  negative emotions that Angelus had inspired, she boxed up and thrust
  from her body. She had enchanted a chest in the corner of the living
  room to hold her emotions. That way, she could work unencumbered.

  Willow then examined her emotions towards Angel, letting anything that
  would come, come.

  Friendship, she identified the first. Loyalty. They then started to
  come faster. Trust. Love. Pride. Envy. She started at that one, but
  decided to examine it al length later. More came, and she ceased to be
  able to identify them. However, most were positive, and those that
  weren't were necessary to maintain a proper atmosphere.

  <Envy?> she asked herself. <Why would I be envious of Angel?> Willow
  realized that she had been envious of Angel before, when he and Buffy
  had been so close. Willow snorted. Look at them now.

  <Maybe,> she thought <just maybe they can be together like that again.
  And I'll do everything in my power to help him. And Buffy.>

  That decided, Willow sat down at her computer, and started to truly
  absorb the knowledge from the books, as she was now full Iztanzey, with
  all the powers of one, even if she couldn't control them all yet. <But I
  will,> she promised herself. <I'll do anything, ANYTHING,> she stated
  venomously to herself, as if she were trying to make sure she believed
  herself, <to get things back to the way they were.>

  And Willow read.
 
 

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