"Boy are you guys gonna be sorry that you took me.  I can't wait to see
what happens when Angel gets his hands on you.  Not to mention Faith.  And
if there's anything left of you after the two of them get done with you, I'm
pretty sure the others will have a thing or two to say about this.  Man, I
sure am glad that I'm not in your shoes right now.  There won't even be
enough of you left to require more than a few stamps to ship your sorry
asses back to England."
"Will someone please shut her the hell up," the leader of the Watchers,
Quentin Travers, finally ordered, speaking about Willow.  The red head had
not been quiet ever since she had been taken away from Faith and Cordelia,
annoying the six men that thought that it was a good idea to use her as bait
to get to the brunette Slayer.  She had determined that if they were going
to insist on holding her hostage then the least she could do was make them
regret it by talking their ears off.  And talk she did.  Alternating between
discussing the latest in vampire and demon lore to what was going to happen
when her friends came for her, she had sorely tested the patience of her
captors.
"Oh what's the matter," Willow cooed.  "Am I scaring you?  Can't handle the
truth?  Why don't you just let me go then?  Maybe Angel won't hurt you too
badly then.  You know, maybe he'll actually leave you alive with only a few
broken bones, instead of showing you exactly why he was called the Scrouge
of Europe."
  Travers stood in front of Willow; he glared at him defiantly.  Even though
she knew that she was pushing her luck and that there was every chance that
he would decide that she wasn't worth keeping around as a hostage, she
refused to let him see her fear.  She had every confidence that it was only
a matter of time before Angel and the others got to her, all she had to do
was hang on that long and possibly stress out her captors so that when her
friends came, they would be a little on the distracted side and not ready to
deal with everything.
"What makes you even think they're going to come after you, little girl?"
Travers declared.
"Isn't that why you took me?"  Willow countered.  "Decided to use me as
bait?"
"At first," he admitted.  "But it didn't work, now, did it?  You're still
here and the Slayer is still gone.  Maybe she decided that you weren't worth
the risk of getting killed for.  She's probably hightailing it out of town
as we speak.  She wouldn't be the first Slayer to decide that you weren't
worth hanging around for."
"Faith would never do that," the red head denied.  "And even if she did, you
would still have Angel to deal with.  And the others."
"Please, a bunch of high school students," Travers sneered.  "They don't
even know where you are and even if they did, they wouldn't cause too much
of a problem I wouldn't think.  And your precious Angel is a vampire above
all else.  The life of a human, let alone a human child," he emphasized the
word child, "are of no consequence to him.  He killed his own childre, why
should he care what happens to you.  Especially since he has his own Slayer
back again."
Willow tried to shut her ears, knowing that Travers was only trying to
intimidate her and make her feel small.  Maybe even try and convince her to
help the Watchers in their quest to hurt Faith, but there was still a small
part of her that listened.  The part that remembered how Buffy and Angel had
been when the blonde Slayer was still in Sunnydale, but that was before.
Willow was sure that Angel loved her now, even if Buffy was still in the
picture.  He would never allow anything to happen to her, even if he decided
that he wanted to be with the blonde Slayer that had first stolen his heart.
  But that moment of doubt had lasted a moment too long and Travers had seen
it and continued to use it.
"You know I'm right, don't you, little girl?"  He taunted.  "No matter how
many times you deny it, you know what I'm saying is true.  You're nothing to
them except a weak little girl who likes to play at being a grown up."
Willow continually shook her head, trying to deny what the Watcher was
saying.  He smiled evilly as he leaned closer to her.  "You're pathetic you
now that, don't you?  A little wannabe Slayer, playing at things she can't
possible understand.  You know, maybe I should let you go.  Let you go back
to Sunnydale and the Hellmouth.  It shouldn't be too long before you get
yourself killed."  Willow spat in the man's face.  He slapped her, the ring
on his hand catching her cheek.  Blood began to slowly make its way down her
face as she stared defiantly at him.  "Why you little bitch."
Travers went to hit Willow again but was stopped by a loud roar that
assaulted his ears just before he was thrown back from the red head.  He
looked up at his assailant only to cower back in fear.  Standing above him
stood Angel, no not Angel, Angelus.  The vampire that had attacked him bore
no resemblance to the souled one that Giles had told the Council about,
except for looks.  Instead, Travers was sure that he was facing Angelus, the
Angel of Death.  Angel's demon was in full possession of his body and he
looked over at the red head that he had just hit, wondering how much he
would soon regret hitting the teen. He began to pray that just maybe he
wouldn't be tortured too badly before he was killed.
Angel loomed over Travers, his face a mix of open fury and outright hatred
for the man that had hurt his mate.  As soon as the vampire had smelled
Willow's blood, he had felt his demon take over and, for once, he didn't try
to reign him in.  The thought that someone had touched the woman that both
he and the demon had claimed as theirs caused the two to join forces for
retribution.
Angel grasped Travers by the mortal's neck, wrenching him off of the floor
and slamming him into the closest wall.  The Watcher fought off the darkness
as unconsciousness threatened to overtake him.  Around him the sounds of
battle could be heard but he paid no attention to it, concentrating instead
on his own slim chances of survival.
"You have touched my mate," Angel growled, game face on.  Travers looked
into golden eyes and saw his death.  He didn't understand how he could have
been so wrong in his assumptions.  He had honestly thought that the vampire
would not come after the red head.  All of the information the Watcher's
Council had on Angelus suggested that he cared little to nothing about any
humans he might have actually been keeping as his pets, but here he was,
calling Willow his mate.  If he got out of this situation alive, Travers
promised to make someone pay for the misinformation.
Travers grabbed the hand that was holding him up, trying to loosen it a
little so that he could breathe.  Angel was having none of it.  Instead he
leaned in closer and Travers smelled something that could only be described
as death on him.  He shivered in fear at the thought of what the creature in
front of him was truly capable of, knowing that he was about to see some of
it.
"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now."  Angel demanded, menace in his
voice.  "Give me one good reason that I should allow you to walk out of here
alive."  Travers knew that no matter what he said, there was a better than
average chance that he would still be killed, so he did the only thing that
could possibly save his life.  Offer information on the people who ordered
Faith's capture and execution.
"Information," he managed to croak out between gasps for air.
"What kind of information?"  Angel's grip loosened, enabling Travers to get
some more air to talk.
"Information about who ordered the Slayer's death."  Angel dropped Travers,
who landed hard on the floor with a thud.  The man looked up at Angel,
seeing the dark look on his face and knew enough not to even think about
moving.
"Talk, or I'll make sure your death is long and painful," Angel threatened
and Travers knew enough to know it wasn't an idle threat.  "Why do the
Watcher's want Faith dead?"
"It's not all of them," Travers began, choosing his words carefully.  He
knew what he said in the next few minutes would determine whether he would
see his family again.  "Only a select few, but they are a powerful group."
"Who are they?"
"They're lead by a man named Wyndham-Price.  He's one of the most senior
Watchers in the Council, not to mention one of the most powerful.  And what
power he doesn't have, his friends do.  He's the one who ordered the
Slayer's death."
"Why Faith and not Buffy?"
"Faith is Buffy's replacement.  Another one wouldn't be called with Summers'
death, only with Faith's.  And Wyndham-Price considers Faith bonding with
Giles a personal insult to himself and his family."
"Why?  What has she done to him?  In fact, what has Giles done to him that
makes him feel that way?"  Angel demanded, grabbing the other man again,
slamming his head once more against the concrete wall.  "Giles has done
nothing but train his Slayers to the best of his ability.  That's why he has
two of the most successful Slayers on record, even if one of them has turned
her back on her duty."
"It has nothing to do with Giles' ability as a Watcher," Traver continued.
"Wyndham-Price's son, Wesley, was next in line as a Slayer's Watcher.  He
should have been Faith's to begin with. In fact, he was already set to come
to Sunnydale to train her, but Giles had reported that he had already
started and that the Watcher/Slayer bond had already begun.  It was too late
for Wesley."
"So?"  Angel squeezed Travers' neck a little harder.
"So he decided that if he could get rid of Faith, then Wesley would be able
to train the new Slayer.  The want him to make so that the Slayers go back
to the old ways, before Summers brought in outsiders."
"You mean back to when the Slayer was lucky to make it to her eighteenth
birthday, don't you?" Angel asked sarcastically.  Travers could only nod.
"You said that not everyone feels this way.  How many of you are following
Price?"
"Its only a minority, but they have the power to back them," the Watcher
explained.  "The others want to stop him but they aren't sure how.  There
are even some of his followers who aren't happy with his plans but they're
too afraid to go against him."
Angel was silent as he processed all of the information he was being given.
  The idea that the reasoning behind the order to kill Faith was because she
was using unorthodox methods to succeed annoyed him.  But the concept that
the order for her death was because of a fool's jealousy just pissed him
off.  And the fact that the man in front of him had hurt his mate made him
want to kill all of the Watchers that he could.
Travers looked into Angel's eyes and could see the demon that was
threatening to come out and once again, began to question whether or not he
would see the next sunrise.  He silently made ready his good byes to his
family and waited the vampire's decision.
"Angel," a soft voice said from the vampire's side.  Angel looked down,
meeting the emerald gaze of his lover.  Willow rested her hand on the arm
that was holding Travers by the neck.  "He isn't worth it."  Angel seemed to
think about it, then looked at the Watcher.
"You're lucky I love my mate," he growled, releasing the man who slumped to
the ground.  "She just saved you life.  But I want you to take a message to
the Council with you."  Travers nodded his agreement.  "Let them know that
if I even get so much as a hint that they are going to come after Faith or
any of the others, than I'll be on the first plane to London and I'll make
the Valentine's Day Massacre look like a Sunday picnic in the park."
"Of course.  Thank you."  Travers quickly got up and rounded up the bruised
and injured Watchers.  Once they were gone, Angel took Willow into his arms
and kissed her deeply.
"Love you, kitten."
"Love you, too, Mine."

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