Rating: PG now – NC-17
Summary: Dimension hopping…….
Spoilers: Takes place somewhere in the third season of Buffy… bare with me… trying to figure it out myself
Feedback: Yes please! It's been a long time…….
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters related to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' that honor goes to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Authors Notes: Testing the waters…….
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Part: 1~
"Are you ready?"
The redhead hesitated for a moment, the hands on her shoulder giving her the support she needed.
"You don't have to go?", he whispered in her ear.
She couldn't help but smile as she laid her head back on his strong shoulder. She looked up to meet the chocolately concerned eyes of her lover.
"I have to."
He knew that, in the front of his mind he knew she had to go, but that didn't mean his heart wouldn't rebel against it.
"I know."
"Willow, we only have a short window here, you have to go now."
She turned and kissed him passionately, needing to keep it, deep in her soul.
"I love you. I'm coming back," she assured him.
He didn't want to let her go. Didn't want to see her vanish again, but he had no choice.
"I'll be waiting gra."
She kissed him once more, vowing it would not be their last. She stepped back, with stake in hand and moved inside the circle. Her gaze never wavering, she waited for the flash of light to come and the pounding pain to invade her body.
Her last image was of him, her dark angel, whispering "I love you".
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Patrolling tonight?"
"Training, then patrolling," she replied as she pulled back her hair into a ponytail.
"It's been a quite week," the redhead commented.
"Too quite. Giles isn't too happy about it."
"Because it's been quite?" she asked surprised.
"Yeah, you know him, a pooper at heart."
"No bronze?" she asked a little disappointed.
"Nope, not tonight, maybe tomorrow. I finally convinced Giles for a night off," she happily answered as she began to stretch for her sparing match with her watcher.
"Okay, I might just head home."
"Home? No Oz tonight?"
"No…. no Oz….. not for a while," her saddened voice grabbing her friend's attention.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Nothing… he's touring… for a while," she explained as much as she could.
"Touring?"
"Yeah… they went to LA last night…"
"Will's, why didn't you tell me?" she asked slightly hurt.
"With you and Angel… I didn't think… you had your own worries and…."
"You should have told me, then we both would have eaten ice cream until we couldn't move," she tried to consol.
"No, it's fine, I'm okay… you?"
"Shock still, but hey, it's okay," the slayer tried to convince herself.
"That good?"'
"About as good as you I think."
They jumped in their seats as Xander rushed thru the library doors, halting abruptly just a few feet away from them, his surprised and panicked face on Willow.
"What's wrong?" Buffy immediately asked, jumping up in attention.
"What are you doing here?" Xander asked incredulously.
"I was talking to Buffy," Willow answered, unnerved.
"You can't be, I just saw you…" he said confused.
"Xander what's wrong?" the slayer asked once more.
"At the Bronze…. Vampires… Willow…"
"Xander, I'm here…" the redhead once again tried to assure him.
"You can't be…."
"Why?"
"Because, you're in the Bronze… dusty vampires…"
* * * * * * * * * * *
For the first time in his long undead life Angel was speech less. He looked around the deserted club, never imagining to see her there.
He had heard the screams from the alley. He had run as fast as he could, fighting through the small crowd coming against him, spilling from the Bronze. The vampires inside the dark club were not a surprise, the petite red head fighting them, and dusting them off was. He was shaken awake from his thoughts as he began to fight against one, killing it rather quickly. The remaining two attacked the small redhead, two stakes ready in hand as she kicked one and staked the other.
He remained still, admiring the strength and presence she demanded as she fought against the much bigger vampire. With a series of kicks and one swift knock of her fists, the demon fell, the red head following on top of it, stake piercing it's undead heart. And it was gone, dust its only remains. He froze on the spot, as he felt her lift her head, as if sensing his presence, her gaze falling on him.
"Willow?" he couldn't help but mutter, recognizing her.
She rushed at him and for the second time that night, Angel was left speechless as she kissed him.
~Part: 2~
He should have pulled back, he knew that, but he couldn't. Her lips were demanding a response from him and as she curled her hand around his neck he could do nothing but comply. It wasn't until her teeth slightly bit his lower lip that he began to pull away. As much as he wanted to continue, something inside him told him it was dangerous.
The hazy look in her eyes began to fade slightly as he pulled back to look at her.
"Willow?" he couldn't help but ask as he finally took her in completely. Her hair was much shorter, with streaks of black highlighting it, and a small scar by her left brow. But what caught his eye were the healing bite marks just below her smooth neck.
"You're here," she half whispered as she looked back at him with warm emerald eyes.
He wasn't sure what she meant, but the way she looked at him.. And the way she smelled.
"I am, but."
She smiled at him and he was stunned by it.
"You don't know me, but you may know your Willow," she responded.
"My Willow?" he couldn't seem to complete a sentence.
"I'm not from here."
But before she could continue, the rushing of voices into the club was the undoing of the spell she had seemed to cast over them.
"That's her. That's you," Xander pointed.
Willow almost fell back as she saw herself across the room.
Buffy, on the other hand, felt surprised at the proximity her ex-boyfriend stood by Willow, not her Willow, that Willow.
The black streaked Willow looked at the group back to Angel, her hand moving from the back of his neck to his cheek.
"There's much to explain and not enough time."
* * * * * * * * * * *
"So let me get this straight. Your Willow, but not Willow from our world, but a Willow from another world, but sort of the same Willow as here," Giles tried to reason.
"That's right."
"And how did you get here again?" he questioned once more.
She sighed, not knowing it was going to be this difficult. Were they just stupider here? she thought.
"I guess you can say I warped here," she put it simply.
She was becoming uncomfortable. Everyone was starring at her as though she was some sort of freak and she didn't like it. Even her persona couldn't seem to stop looking at her.
"I know this might be a bit hard to understand." she began.
"Not really, someone else has been here," Giles explained.
"Who?" She asked worried.
"A vampire version of Willow," Angel answered.
"Vampire..?"
"Not the nicest person," Buffy added as she eyed the bite marks on the visitor's neck.
"I'm not a vampire." she defended.
"Than the bites.?" the slayer couldn't help but ask.
"But I."
Angel cut her off.
"She isn't a vampire Buffy, we would have felt it."
Before the discussion could continue, Willow looked up, curiosity and fright in her eyes as she looked at her double in front of her.
"Why are you here?"
"I've come searching for someone who escaped to here," she smiled, happy to see her version finally talking and taking part.
"How do you know they came here?"
"I placed a tracking spell on him."
"Tracking spell?"'
"Before he left."
"How? How did you make it here?" Giles interfered.
"Another spell. I was able to anchor myself to him, and it brought me here."
"You're an experienced Wiccan?" Willow asked surprised.
"Aren't you?" she asked confused.
"I've dappled. "
"Dappled?" surprised by her response.
"I haven't really, I mean I have, but." Willow began to babble.
"You shouldn't dapple, it's what you are."
"She isn't ready for that sort of thing yet, not unsupervised." Giles quickly interrupted.
"Than how is she to learn?" she asked slightly angry by the hold they seemed to have on her.
"If what you say if true, this may be nothing like your world. Things are done differently here," Giles re-buffed.
"I see that. And everything is done differently in each parallel dimension, our choices make it so," the visitor replied, looking at Willow specifically.
"Do you need our help?" Willow asked.
The visitor looked at her and grinned.
"Any kind of help I would be indebted to, but I came to find you more out of concern. With the demon here, you're in danger because I'm here. He may kill you, warning me or mistaking you for me," she reveled.
"Who is this demon?" Angel finally asked.
"Alexis is a reaper. He kills and then inhabits a body until the use of it is complete and then kills another. He killed a friend of ours and used his body to take the Key. I need to find it and bring it back," she answered, her gaze never wavering from the handsome vampire.
"What's the Key?" Giles asked.
"It's a key, to the hell mouth."
"You closed the hell mouth?" Willow asked surprised.
"We were able to shut it, just like a door. We haven't been able to seal it yet. Whoever holds the Key, holds the power over it."
"What does Alexis want with it?" the redhead continued to probe.
"We aren't sure. He helped us for a time. We never thought.. he betrayed us. He wouldn't have much use for it, unless he can get something for return."
"Like what?" Xander asked a bit confused.
"Money, power." Giles thought aloud.
"A body." Willow answered, seeing the logic behind the brainstorming.
"Highest bidder who can offer him a body," Angel finished.
"That's what we fear. I need to find him."
"How can you be certain he's here?" Buffy wondered.
"I can trace him with my spells. I don't think he'll leave here until he's found his bidder."
"How can you be certain?" Giles asked concerned.
"He doesn't have the power or knowledge to "jump"."
"Which means?" Xander asked.
"Someone sent him," Willow answered.
"We aren't sure who. the others are trying to find that out."
"He might have found whoever he's looking for." Buffy suggested.
"He might have, but I don't think he has. Our worlds are different. It depends if that person even exists here. He may not have had the same luck as I did.and he would need to find someone to send him back."
". hopefully not," Willow finished her thought.
They smiled at each other, grateful that even in two separate dimensions they still had a similar thought process.
"Where do we even start looking?" Xander asked.
"I'm not sure.." She replied a little defeated.
"Than for tonight, we'll sleep on it." Giles responded.
"Sleep. I don't have."
"You can stay with me," Willow quickly offered.
"It might not be safe. We both need to find a safer place, perhaps Angel." She began to suggest.
Everyone looked at her surprised, including the en-souled vampire.
"I."
"I'm a slayer, you can stay with me," Buffy quickly suggested.
"I think, if Angel couldn't mind, it would be best if we both stayed with him."
"Why? Buffy is the slayer, she is quite capable.." Giles defended.
"I don't know her," she answered.
"What? Not know her?" Giles asked confused.
"I don't know her because she doesn't exist in my world."
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