“I still don’t see why we aren’t rushing out of here with Willow,” Xander demanded lowly as the huddled group talked.

“I can think of three reasons why that wouldn’t work.”

“Who does that guy think he is?” Xander asked angrily.

“I’m guessing that’s Doyle the demon,” Buffy guessed.

“As much as both of you might not like this, we need them to explain to us just what happened to Willow,” Giles tried to reason with them.

“He’s right, Xander. If there’s any way of getting Willow away from them, we have to listen to what they have to say.”

“Fine, but once this gets out of hand, I say we take Willow and run once we can.”

They agreed and sat back on their chairs, looking on at the couple seated across from them, in deep conversation.

“Let me get this straight. I leave for a week and all hell breaks loose.”

“Told you not to leave.”

“I thought it was because you’d miss me.”

Cordelia couldn’t help but give him a quick smile.

“That too.”

“So, Angel found this pandora box that Spike planed to open and he went to stop him. He disappeared, and you called Sunnydale for help, but the
only one who came was Willow...”

“And Amy...”

“And Amy and what you suspected happened. Angel was in trouble so all you three ladies went to rescue him.”

“Right...”

“But something happened and Willow almost died.”

“Then I called them and they took her back to Sunnydale.”

“And now she’s here?”

“Angel found her in the park.”

“But you had told me she was dieing......”

“She was Doyle. Xander told me she had a 10 percent chance to see tomorrow.”

“She looked fine to me.”

“I know... that’s the creepy part.”

“But isn’t she a witch?” he tried to reason.

“Not that powerful. Amy is still in a coma, but Willow seems fine, except she can’t remember anything.”

“Beautiful,” he commented as he combed his hair back with his hand.

“I was thinking.... she might be a clone... but....”

“You know that’s impossible, Saks. Not after that...”

“That’s what I thought.”

“She’s Willow. Now all we have to figure out is how she got here.”

Cordelia looked across the long black table and glazed at the group of people that had once been her friends.

“They aren’t going to give up until she’s back in Sunnydale,” she told him worried as she turned to look at them again.

“Neither will Angel, or any of us for that matter,” he replied.

“It going to be a fight ‘till the end.”

“You can bet on it.”

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

Oz shifted in his chair as he kept his vigil. He had wanted to go to LA, but knew he would be needed here more. He didn’t want her to wake up
alone, not after all that had happened to them. He understood the motivation, even if the others didn’t, but he knew there was much more to the
story then what she had told him.

After so many twists and turns, he found himself where he never thought he would be again, in love. And now he found himself doing something he
rarely did anymore, pray.

He looked down at his watch, but quickly looked up as he saw a slight movement come from the bed. In a moments time, he was on his feet, standing
over her and looking into the brown eyes he had feared he would never see again. She had finally woken up.

He reached for the phone on the nightstand next to him and punched in the familiar numbers and waited for the ringing as he placed a soft kiss on
her forehead.

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

Angel walked into the conference room carrying a weak Willow in his arms.

“What happened?”

Angel silenced the group with a growl, his demonic face in place.

“Cordelia, call Whistler. We’ll need his help. Giles, I need you to follow me to the library.”

“What the hell happened?” Xander demanded.

“What did you do to her?” Buffy asked angrily.

Doyle immediately stood and withdrew his weapon, warning off the teens. Angel turned around and walked out, with a confused Giles a short
distance behind.

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

Angel placed Willow on the table, pushing anything in the way out. He kissed her once again on her forehead, telling her everything would be fine
and turned to enter a sort of weapons room. Giles took the opportunity to move closer to her caress her hair. His tears began to water as he saw just
how fragile she know looked.

“Are you my father?” the redhead asked, feeling a paternal warmth come off him.

Giles nearly choked out the answer.

“I feel like I am.”

Willow looked at him a bit closer.

“He won’t hurt me. Ever. Trust him. Just like I do,” she told him with a weary smile.

Even in her state, she was acting just like the Willow he knew. He looked up and saw Angel return with a blanket and two books. He quickly covered
Willow and handed one of the books to Giles.

“When she was in the hospital, what exactly happened?” Angel asked as he saw Willow’s eyes droop.

“I don’t understand what you mean...”

“What did they give her? What was she given for the pain or any machines....”

“She was hooked up to various machines.... monitoring her breathing and heart... I know they injected her with morphine, but it didn’t matter, she
was in a coma....”

“Was she ever awake?” Angel asked as he began skimming through his book.

“No..... now that you mention it.... she was never awake... she was unconscious here and in Sunnydale the doctors said she had fallen into a coma.
Why?”

“Did she have IV put on her?”

“Of course.”

“Blood?”

“Of course, she had lost too much.....,” Giles replied as he looked back down at Willow’s still form.

“What did the doctor tell you?”

“He didn’t think she’d make the night..... what is this all about Angel? Why do you need to know this?”

“Do you have any idea how Willow woke up?”

“I haven’t been able to determine that....Will you please tell me what all this means.”

“I have some idea as to how she woke up, but I need to look and see if any other cases have been reported.”

“Reported? Reported on what?”

“Tell him,” Willow told him softly as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

“Tell me what?” Giles asked desperately.

“Giles.... she’s a vampire.”

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

“How long are we going to be held here?” Buffy asked from across the room.

“Until they’re finished talking,” Doyle replied.

“Whistler should be here any minute,” Cordelia told him as she re-entered the room. “He was in the area.”

“Whistler is never in the area,” Dolye commented prompting three heads to turn to look at him.

“What does that mean?” Buffy asked, not quiet cathing what he meant.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“He knows something, doesn’t he?” Cordelia asked him lowly as they took they’re seats.

“When has Whistler come here without knowing what’s happening?” he asked her.

Across the table Xander asked Buffy the same question.

“So Whistler knows something?”

“I don’t know,” she replied simply, her body begining to tier.

“They know something, I know it. They aren’t telling us though.”

“Giles is with her remember,” Buffy added, hoping that added some comfort.

“Yeah, Giles versus Angelus. Guess who I’m betting on. Come on, I have a plan.”

“Xander....”

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Xander yelled as he got up from his chair.

“Hold it,” Doyle replied.

“I can’t,” he replied.

“Then I advise you turn around and use the cup in back of you.”

Xander growled as he saw Doyle turn his attention back at Cordelia and ignore him. Buffy pulled on his pants, motioning him back onto his chair.

“This is going to be a long night,” Cordelia muttered as her former classmates shot daggers at her.

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 
 
 

“A vampire?!” Giles asked in complete shock.

“A dying vampire,” a new voice answered.

All eyes turned to the newcomer.

“What do we do?” Angel asked him desperately.

“She isn’t turned completely, Angel.”

The words slowly sunk in, their bodies sinking at the realization.

“There has never been a known case of half left vampires, never been such a thing,” Giles reasoned with them.

“That doesn’t mean it can never happen.”

“That also means that you my be wrong,” Giles replied with anger in his voice.

“Do you want to save her?”

Before he could reply, Willow did as she tried to speak, but instead coughed up blood. Angel immediately grabbed a napkin from one of the drawers
around him. He cleaned her mouth, scared once again that he would lose her.

“She doesn’t have much time left,” Whistler informed them.

Angel carressed her hair as she shook, blood still spilling from her mouth.

“Sire me, Angel, please,” she managed to say to his ears only.

Angel looked into her eyes, a storm of emotions raging in him. Could he do it? Did he have much of a choice? If he didn’t, he would lose her....... but
if he did..... she would be with him for eternity.

“I’ll sire her,” Angel told them, leaving no room to argue. “Do you have the rum curse?”

“The new and improved,” Whistler replied as he handed him the paper.

Giles took a look at his once protige and smiled. What mattered was that she lived now that they had that option. He took the paper from Whistlers
hand and read the spell. Then he noticed it.

“This isn’t the original rum curse,” Giles told him.

“No, it isn’t. Willow made some alterations to it in order to give Angel a permanant soul.”

“This doesn’t make sense, though. It says here “to give a soul in order to save a soul to bind in body, heart and mind”.”

“Let me look at that,” Whistler asked as he took the paper and re-read it.

“Was Willow bitten?” Giles asked Angel.

“No, not that I can remember.”

“She didn’t need to,” Whistler replied.

“What?”

“She didn’t need to, the demon saved her.”

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

Oz carressed her hair as she slowly came to. She gave him a weary smile as she focused on him and noticed he was on the phone. Then a single word
dominated her mind.

“Where’s Willow?” her raspy voice asked.

“Amy, you have to rest.”

“Oz, tell me.”

“She’s in LA.”

“With Angel?”

“Yeah. Giles and the rest of them are over there.”

“Call them, please.”

“Just did. Buffy isn’t answering her cell. Gonna call Giles.”

“Hurry.”

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

“What demon?” Angel asked.

“Your’s. If she performed this spell on you, Angel, she gave a small part of her soul to you in order to dominate the demon. That in turn gave her the
power to cage it.”

“No.... she wouldn’t....” he tried to deny as he looked down at her.

But Giles knew she would. She would have done that to anyone she called friend. His thoughts were interrupted by his ringing cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Giles, it’s Oz. Amy just woke up.”

“Thank God,” Giles replied with some relief.

“Did you find Willow?”

“We did.”

“When are you guys getting back?”

“It’s a bit more complicated. Oz, I need to speak to Amy.”

He waited a moment and her weak voice soon greeted him.

“Amy, did Willow give part of her soul to Angel in the new rum curse?”

After a brief silence she answered.

“No, she took part of Angel’s. She had part of the demon in her soul. That way it would not be strong enough to break the cage she had built for it on
both sides.”

Giles nearly dropped the phone.

“She died that night, didn’t she?”

“When I found her, she was dead. They’re was so much blood everywhere. When I came in Angel had just finished killing Drucilla, drained her. But
there was so much blood all around. Angel’s, Drucilla’s and Willow’s. She was in the middle of a pool. It was horrible, Giles,” she managed to chock
out.

“Then I know what we have to do. I’ll call you soon.”

Giles turned off his cell and turned his attention back to the group, conveying the converstion he had just had. Angel looked down at Willow, his face
full of guilt at the sacrifies she had made for him, mixed in with anger for not telling him what it would take from her.

“So the demon is what brought her back, because by instict it brought out all resources to survive.”

“But it isn’t strong enough,” Angel reasoned.

“Then you must sire her, then repeat the spell,” Giles told him.

“No.... no spell....” Willow spoke low.

“Why no spell Willow?” Angel asked.

“We are binded, Angel. Together our souls are one, parts missing from each other. Apart, as different....as day and night.... we must share your
demon equally.... that way it can never take either of our souls.......”

“How do you know?” he asked her tenderly.

“Because the shadows... they whisper in my ear...”

The group looked at each other and agreed with her.

“We’ll leave you alone,” Whistler told them as he grabbed Giles and dragged him out of the study.

Angel looked down at the petite red-head with watery eyes. He would never want this fate on anyone, least of all Willow.

“It’s okay,” she told him as she coughed up more blood.

He climbed on top of the table with her and lifted her into his arms.

“This will hurt a little,” he told her as his mask fell, showing his true face.

Willow tried to smile, the sooothing sounds around her calming her. She closed her eyes and waited. Angel pulled her carefully further up and tilted
her head carefully, exposing her neck to him. He placed a gently kiss over the spot where his fangs would soon pierce through.

Willow remained silent as she felt his elonged fangs enter her, not wanting to make him feel worse for what he was doing. She felt the blood in her
begin to drain, pleasure crosing through her body. Before her eyes began to droop, Angel cut his wrist with bloody fang and moved it to her mouth.
Not a second later, Willow was feeding off him, taking part of him with her.

Angel felt a sudden pain in him and collasped into uncounsioness a moment later. Willow joined him a moment later, leaving the room eerily silent.

                                                      * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

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