Parts: 21-26
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Faith approached the watcher’s house with purpose. Things were about to change, and that was good. She was tired of living in Buffy’s shadow. It was time for her to make her own way, and if that meant working for Angelus, so be it. He wasn’t a bad guy, once you got past the cocky attitude.
"Hey, B." Faith walked into Giles house and surveyed the room. Xander and his ex-demon girlfriend were cuddling on the couch. Giles was emersed in some book, and Buffy was making puppy dog eyes at some guy Faith had never had the displeasure to meet. "So, who’s the honey?"
Buffy looked up from Riley and tried to manage a smile. "Faith. This is Riley. Riley, Faith, my sister Slayer."
Riley stood up and offered his hand to the brunette Slayer who just looked at him as if he had grown another head. He put his hand down. "It’s nice to meet you." He smiled.
Faith winked. "Sure thing." She turned towards the little group. "Any news on Red?" She asked them feigning ignorance.
"Yes. Cordelia called. She said that Willow called her. She had decided to go away for the weekend, and forgot to call her and cancel their plans." He repeated willow’s lie as he looked away from his text.
Faith nodded. "Great, then you won’t be needing me." She headed towards the door, "I’ll do a patrol, and then head home." She told the group as left.
Once outside, Faith laughed to herself. They had believed the story Willow had made up. She knew that soon, all hell would break lose and she could get out of this blasted town.
*****
Angelus grabbed Willow’s wrist and she tried to get out of the car. "Are you ready?"
Willow nodded. "Yes. Let’s get this over with. The sooner we do, the sooner we can return home." She told her mate.
Angelus released her wrist and climbed out the car behind her. He his in the shadows as his witch knocked on the gypsy’s door. After a moment, she was led into the house. Angelus approached the house, and waited for his witch to let him in.
*****
"Willow. It’s so good to see you." Jenny hugged the younger witch. "We were so worried about you. Rupert told me that you decided to take a little weekend vacation? Are you alright?"
Willow smiled brightly. "Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry to worry you all. I forgot I was supposed to go out with Delia." She shrugged.
"Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?" Jenny asked as she headed towards the kitchen.
Willow took the opportunity to let Angelus in and watched as he hid himself near the hallway.
"No thanks. I won’t be staying long." She told the gypsy.
Jenny walked out of the kitchen holding a cup of Coffee with one hand. Willow watched at the cup slipped out of her grasp and shattered onto the floor when Angelus grabbed her from behind. Putting a firm hand around her mouth. Jenny’s eyes went wide as they plead silently with Willow.
Willow shook her head sadly and turned towards the door. "I’ll be outside." She told Angelus as she left her lover to his kill.
Willow walked into the night air and leaned up against the car. She didn’t feel nearly as bad about Jenny’s death as she thought she would. Willow realized she still felt anger at the woman for kissing him two years before. It was her fault that Willow had been alone these past couple of years. She had separated them. She had returned Angelus’ soul, leaving her with a poor copy of the man she loved. But now he was back, and he would never leave her again.
She knew he wanted to turn her, and that thought didn’t frighten her as much as it once had. She had her family back, and that was all that mattered. She smiled to herself as she thought of the new additions. Cordelia was wicked as a vampire, and Faith was just plain fun to have around. She couldn’t help but giggle as she imagined Xander’s reaction to the way things were turning out.
"What’s so funny, Red?" Faith asked as she stepped out of the bushes into the moonlight.
"Faith." Willow exclaimed happy to see a friendly face among the memories of Sunnydale. "I was just thinking. What are you doing here?" She looked at Faith questioningly. "Patrolling?"
Faith laughed and put her stake back in her pocket. "Actually, I was looking for Cor. You did bring her with you, didn’t you?" Faith asked as she looked around.
"Willow smiled slyly. "Yeah, she’s back at the hotel though. Angelus wanted her and the other’s to stick close to home, at least until Jenny was taking care of."
Willow stared at her friend in silence for a moment. "I’m sure she’s bored silly. She really wanted to go hunting tonight. Maybe you could…" Willow trailed off.
"Yeah, maybe I could." Faith said as she turned and headed towards the edge of town where the vampires were staying. She stopped and looked back at Willow. "Oh, red. I was at the watchers earlier. They believed Cor’s story."
Willow nodded, a smile forming on her lips. "No reason they shouldn’t." She looked out into the night, as if searching for something. "Was Buffy there?’ She asked quietly.
"Yeah. B was there with her new squeeze."
Willow looked sharply at Faith. "Riley? Is that his name? He’s the soldier?" She asked, remembering something Xander had told her about Buffy’s new boyfriend.
Faith shrugged. "I guess." Faith turned and headed away. She was almost out of earshot when she heard Willow thank her again. S he smiled slightly. S he could used to having a family.
*****
Willow leaned up against a tree and looked at the sky. She couldn’t believe so much had changed in only a couple of years. Everything was different now. S he was different.
She felt her body tense slightly when she felt the presence of another. S he smiled softly when she recognized it as Angelus. He wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"It’s done?" She asked softly as she leaned into his embrace. She felt him nuzzle her hair.
"Now the fun begins." He whispered huskily as he turned her around to face him. He picked her up and carried her through the park, not stopping until they reached his old apartment on the other side of town.
"What are you doing?" Willow asked into his chest as he carried her into the bedroom. "They’ll be expecting us."
Angelus began to undress. "Let them wait. Tomorrow we’ll have to deal with the Slayer, but tonight, I have other plans." He told her as he slowly began to divest her of her clothes.
"Do you now?" She asked as she felt heat spread through her body.
Angelus climbed up the length of her body, raining kisses as he went. "Yes, lover." He murmured. "Would you like me to show you?"
"Yes, Please." Willow groaned she felt him enter her.
End Part 21
Willow looked at her mate and smiled as they walked towards Giles house. She had wanted to come by earlier, but Angelus had refused, since it was daylight, he couldn’t protect her if things got out of control.
"ShowTime." She smiled wickedly at him, not sure why she was feeling so calm considering that her life was about to come crashing down around her.
Willow knocked on the door and mustered a startled expression as Xander through open the door and thrust her inside.
"Xander? What’s wrong?"
"Jenny. She’s been killed."
"What?" Willow gasped slightly, feigning shock. "Who?"
"Angelus." Xander spit out the word like venom.
Willow crinkled her brow at the hate in Xander’s voice. She sighed. She had been unsure how long it would take before they realized it was her lover who had killed the gypsy. There were going to play for awhile before the truth was revealed. Oh well. Willow turned towards the door, which was slightly ajar.
"The secrets out, Lover, you may as well show your self."
*****
Drusilla giggled as she watched her sire enter the watcher's house, devoid of any barrier. "I want to play too." She pouted. "But mommy said no. Why won’t she let me and Miss Edith play?"
Spike sighed. "Because Pet, she doesn’t want to kill the Slayer, just warn her a bit. Besides you can’t get in without an invitation." He reminded her.
"Did I miss anything?" Cordelia asked excitedly as she came up behind her two older siblings. She didn’t want to miss the excitement.
"Now, Cor, Red said no one was gonna die tonight." Faith reminded the youngest vampire.
Cordelia turned back to the Slayer, "I know, but she could change her mind." Her dark eyes sparked with hope.
Spike chuckled as he watched the Slayer and the newest addition to his family. "Now, play nice. Daddy gets cranky when his plans are interrupted."
Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest in an act reminiscent of a petulant child. "Fine, then can we go kill someone else?" She pleaded.
Drusilla sat up straighter at the suggestion. "Oh, yes, that does sound devine."
Spike nodded, his hunger demanding fresh blood. "What are we waiting for, pet?"
****
The small group gaped in shock as Angelus entered the watcher's house unhindered. He wrapped his arms possessively around Willow.
"No, it can’t be." Buffy refused to acknowledge what she was seeing. "When? How long?" She asked, her mind reeling from the news.
Willow looked up at her mate and smiled. "When? A couple of days, if you mean when did he lose his soul… again. How long? Well, we’ve been together since he lost his soul the last time." She told them honestly.
"No. You and Angel?" Xander found his voice.
"No." Willows balked at the notion. "No, never Angel. Only Angelus, always Angelus." She told them, remembering the hell she had lived through these last two years.
"I don’t understand." Buffy admitted.
"What’s to understand?" Anya asked, speaking for the first time. "Willow’s mated to a vampire." She looked at the vampire in question carefully before continuing, "You killed the gypsy to prevent the curse from being recast?"
Willow smiled softly at the former demon. She could see understanding in her eyes. "Yes."
"What about Oz?" Giles question brought a growl from Angelus’ lips.
"What about him?" Willow asked, knowing where this question was leading.
"You say you’ve been together since… before? Yet you knew what he did to Oz? I thought you cared for Oz?"
"Oz was a wolf who deserved worse than he got!" Willow snapped, remembering the nightmares, and the hateful words Oz had left her with.
Buffy looked from her friend to her former lover. "I, I have to go." She headed towards the door, and then turned around, starring daggers at Angelus. "This isn’t over." She threatened.
Angelus smirked. "Oh yes it is, Slayer."
Willow pulled away from Angelus’ embrace and approached Giles. "I’m sorry about Jenny. I truly am, but I couldn’t allow him to be cursed again. I couldn’t risk it." She told him softly.
Giles looked at the girl who, up until that moment he had called a friend, "You knew?" He looked into Angelus smirking eyes, "That’s why you’re here? It isn’t to terrorize Buffy? You came to kill Jenny?" He asked softly, not wanting to hear the answer.
Willow nodded. "I am sorry." She turned towards her lover, and prepared to leave. She took one last look at her former friends, mentally telling them goodbye, knowing that if they met again it would be on the battlefield.
"Goodbye." She whispered as she led Angelus away from the house, and from her past.
End Part 22
Riley knocked on the door once loudly. He was a nervous wreck. He was meeting Buffy’s mother for the first time. They were supposed to meet at her house for dinner. He hoped that her mother liked him. He wasn’t sure what to expect. None of Buffy’s friends had been what he had expected.
Joyce Summers opened the door and smiled. "Riley?" She asked as she stepped aside allowing him to enter the house.
"Mrs. Summers. It’s nice to meet you." He shook her hand briefly before standing awkwardly and looking around the living room.
"Buffy’s running a little late." Joyce explained. "She had another run in with Angel."
Riley looked up sharply. "Is she okay? She isn’t hurt is she?" He asked growing concerned, mentally preparing himself to run out and help her if she was.
Joyce laughed softly. She liked this boy. "No, she’s fine. But she wanted to stop off and speak to Giles first." Joyce motioned to the couch. "Would you like to sit down? Maybe have some coffee?"
*****
Cordelia smiled broadly as she approached the Summers’ house. She had feral look in her golden eyes as she anticipated what would happen next.
Drusilla watched her sister in amusement from across the street as Cordelia’s human mask fell into place. She knocked on the front door and after a moment, it appeared she was invited inside the home of her victim.
Drusilla giggled. "Miss Edith says the Slayer will hurt." She told Spike, who was holding her closely as he finished his after-dinner cigarette.
"Cor’s idea was bloody brilliant." Spike agreed. He pulled her away from the street and back into the shadows, leaving Cordelia to her fun.
*****
"What’s the emergency, B?" Faith asked with a hint of irritation as she entered Giles’ house. She had had to cancel her evening plans with Cordelia in order to come and listen to Buffy and her friends bitch and moan about whatever was bugging them now. She hoped the vampire wasn’t haven’t too much fun without her.
"It’s Angelus." Buffy told the brunette Slayer, as if that explained everything.
"Angelus?" Faith questioned, feigning ignorance. "What does B’s old studly have to do with anything?" She turned to Giles for an explanation.
Giles sighed. He had hoped someone had made an effort to explain the situation to Faith. "It seems he’s back. He… he killed Jenny."
Faith’s brown eyes softened slightly in the face of the watcher’s pain. She liked him. He was the only member of Buffy’s little group that had been nice to her, except for Willow and Cordelia. Faith smiled inwardly as she thought of the newly made vampire. She was beautiful. Had always been, but now she had this animalistic quality about her. She was absolutely stunning.
Faith drove away her inner thoughts. "I’m sorry." She told Giles, surprising herself by meaning the words.
"It gets worse." Buffy told her fellow Slayer.
Faith turned to Buffy and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. She didn’t know what Willow had told them, if she had told them anything. She hadn’t seen either her redheaded friend or Angelus since she had followed Cordelia hunting the previous night.
"Willow is with…*him*" Venom laced Buffy’s voice at the thought of what she had learned the previous evening.
Faith pulled off a shocked expression. "Red, with a vampire?" She asked as she looked around the room, suddenly wondering why she had been called there. She had never been asked for her help before, and she figured they would have tried to keep her out of this as well as everything else.
"Why am I here?" She asked accusingly. "What is it you want me to do?"
Giles looked down at his hand and absently removed his pinky ring and then replaced it. "We were wondering if you could take patrol for the next couple of days while we handled this… situation."
Faith looked closely at the watcher. "Oh. You don’t need my help?"
"No!" Buffy exclaimed, a little too quickly. "We can handle this ourselves." She told her.
Faith nodded. It was just as she had suspected. "Fine. I’ll patrol, I’ll stake, I’ll party." She headed towards the door. "See you, B"
Faith the apartment, feeling slightly dejected, but more than a little angry. *You’d think they’d take whatever help they could find! * Muttered Faith as she walked through the cemetery.
"But they wouldn’t get it from you, would they, deary?" Drusilla’s lilting voice broke through the Slayer’s thoughts.
"No, I suppose they wouldn’t." Faith acknowledged. Her scowl turned to a smile as she realized she didn’t need them. S he had her own family now.
*****
Riley sat uncomfortably on the couch when Cordelia entered the room. She smiled broadly and introduced herself. There was something about her that gave him a cold chill, but he couldn’t place it.
"Why don’t I make us some coffee. Are you hungry, Cordelia?" Joyce asked smiling at the vampire.
Cordelia grinned. "Just a little. Maybe a small snack?"
Joyce nodded and left the two alone and went into the kitchen.
Riley looked up in an attempt to make conversation with the brunette, only to find she was gone. He looked around the room briefly, only to feel her cold hand wrap itself around his throat.
"Do you know what it feels like to die?" She asked him, her clod lips barely touching his skin near his ear.
Riley gulped. "You’re… you’re a vampire."
"And you’re dinner." Cordelia smiled as her demon came to the fore. She sunk her fangs into his tender neck and drained the blood from his body. She was reveling in the taste when she heard a gasp. She turned around to face the horrified expression on Joyce’s features.
"Tell the Slayer he was good." She licked her lips and bound out of the house at a speed faster than could be seen by human eyes.
End Part 23
After Faith left, Buffy turned around and faced Giles and Xander. "We need to do something."
"We need to get Will away from that bastard. Make her see reason!" Xander paced around the room angrily. The thought of Willow, his Willow and evil incarnate sent a cold chill through his body.
"Xander’s right." Giles spoke for the first time since Faith had left. He looked at the two stunned people for a moment before pushing away his own personal feelings, and elaborating. "Perhaps if we can separate her from Angel… Angelus, then whatever hold he may have on her will be lifted enough for her to help up."
"Help us?" Buffy asked, not understanding Giles’ meaning.
Giles’ sighed. "The curse. With Jenny gone…" His voice cracked, "Willow’s the only who knows enough about this type of magik to cast the spell."
"Right. The curse." Buffy sighed. "So, tomorrow, we find Willow, and make her understand."
"Why tomorrow?" Xander exclaimed. "Why not tonight? Right now?"
"Because, it’s night. It’s too dangerous. But tomorrow, when Willow goes out, she’ll be alone." Buffy grabbed her jacket. "I have to go. Riley’s meeting me at my mom’s for dinner." She hugged Xander and Giles before she walked out of the door.
*****
When Buffy reached her mother’s house, the door was swinging wide open. She ran in, memories of a night three years previous coming to the forefront of her mind.
"Mom!" She screeched. "Mom!"
"In here honey," Joyce’s weary voice called out from the kitchen.
Buffy was so pleased to hear her mother’s voice; she walked right by the crumpled and covered body of her boyfriend without so much as a glance.
"Thanks God!" She hugged her mother tightly and then noticed the sad look in her eyes. "Mom? What is it?" She looked around the quiet kitchen for a moment. "Where’s Riley?"
Joyce looked up into the questioning eyes of her daughter. "Sit down, honey."
Buffy sat down across from her mother at the table, and felt a wave of dread fill her body. "It’s Riley isn’t it? Something happened to him." It was a statement more than a fact. Joyce nodded. Buffy swallowed hard and intense pain filling her heart. "Was it a vampire? Was it Angel?"
Joyce shook her head. "No. It was…" She couldn’t form the words to tell her daughter that one of her friends had been turned into a monster.
"It was who, Mom? Who did you let into the house?" A thought struck her as fear gripped her soul. "Oh, God, it wasn’t… It wasn’t Willow?" Her name came out as a raspy whisper.
"No, not Willow."
"Then who?" Buffy asked, relieved.
"Cordelia."
Buffy looked into her mother’s eyes, unable to accept what she had just heard. "Cor… Cordelia? Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I’ll kill him!" Buffy stood up, anger flashing in her blue eyes. "This is his fault. Angel’s. I should have killed him when I had the chance. Now… Now it’s too late. No! It’s not too late. I have to save Willow." Buffy continued to speak to herself, each new word becoming softer and softer until her body was shaking with unshed tears.
Joyce wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders and let her cry her pain out.
*****
Willow opened her eyes and smiled to herself. Her life was good. Better than good. Angelus was back. Her mate was back, and allow she regretted having to kill Jenny, she knew it was for the best. She could take the chance that he would be ripped from her again.
The truth was out. There were no more secrets from Buffy, well none that were weighing her down anyway. She had hoped to keep Cordelia and the other’s out of it, but Cordelia’s impromptu dinner the previous night put a stop to that. She couldn’t really blame her. She was a demon, like her lover, like she would soon be. Death was a way of life, or unlife, as the case may be.
Willow knew that her time as a mortal was drawing near its end, and she didn’t fear death. She was actually looking forward to it. She had often wondered if things would have been different if she had let Angelus turn her before they had restored his soul. Would they have left Sunnydale, and made some other place their feeding ground. Would they have stayed and killed Buffy? Would her soul have been restored along with Angelus’? If so, would she be with Angel now? She didn't have the answers. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted them. What she was sure of was that it was almost time, and she was ready.
A knock at the bedroom door brought Willow out of her contemplation. She silently climbed out of bed, so as not to disturb her mate, and slipped on a robe. When she opened the door, she found Faith standing on the other side in little more than an oversized nightshirt. She giggled when she recognized the pattern as something Cordelia had worn on occasion.
"You’re up early." Willow commented as she shut her bedroom door behind her.
"Never went to sleep." Faith shrugged.
Willow nodded in understanding. "Ah. Got you." She walked into the kitchen and started to brew some coffee, she wanted to run some errands while Angelus was still sleeping. "Coffee?" She asked the brunette Slayer as she started to go through the refrigerator looking for something to eat. "Doesn’t look like there’s anything to eat, and I don’t know about you, but I worked up an appetite last night." Willow shut the door dejectedly.
"Ditto." Faith seconded, grinning.
"Well, I have some errands to run. I’ll pick up something on the way home."
"Do you think that’s wise, Red?" Faith was concerned about her going out alone.
Willow laughed. "Faith, its daylight. Nothings gonna happen. Besides, I won’t be gone long." Willow headed back into the livingroom. "I’m gonna go get ready. Maybe you should crash for a few hours. I’m sure the others won’t be up for awhile."
Faith nodded and headed up to the bedroom she had spent the last several hours in.
******
Willow lifted the small bag off of the counter and thanked the sales person. She walked out into the morning sun. Looking up into blindly for a moment, savoring it, knowing she wouldn’t get to see too many more. She was so lost in the site that she didn’t hear the footsteps approach until it was too late. She felt something hit her hard on the back of the head. She felt her head start to pound as everything started to blur, and then nothing.
End Part 24
Willow awoke and suppressed a groan at the pain. Everything was black. Of course that was probably because her eyes were closed. She could hear voices far off. She recognized them. Buffy, Xander and Giles. They had kidnapped her? Why? She strained to hear what they were saying.
"We can’t take her to my house, Xander." Giles said as patiently as he could muster. "It’s too dangerous to bring her there, or to Buffy’s. They’ve already been invited." Giles pointed out.
Xander sighed. "I can’t believe Cordelia’s a vampire."
"I know. I’m sorry. But we’ll get Willow back. She’ll do what we ask, and everything will go back to normal."
"Normal? I don’t think so." Xander spoke softly.
Willow listened to their conversation in confusion. Why had they kidnaped her? What did they want her to do? Her thoughts were interrupted as she her footsteps approach. She opened her eyes to find Buffy staring down at her. The eyes that met her weren’t the eyes of a friend. They were the eyes of the Slayer.
Willow mustered all her strength and courage and sat up. "What do you want?" She asked, knowing that whatever it was, it must have been pretty important in order for them to have kidnapped her.
"Cordelia’s dead." Buffy spoke with an accusatory tone. Willow realized she was testing her, trying to see if she had known about Cordelia.
"No, she’s not. She’s undead. There’s a difference." Willow pointed out, standing up. She refused to play some mind game with Buffy. She had accepted that the loss of Buffy’s friendship was inevitable when she had accepted Angelus as her mate. That decision hadn’t changed with his absence. If anything, their estrangement had strengthened her resolve.
"You knew?" Xander’s voice was incredulous as he processed what Willow had said.
Willow turned to Xander. "How could I not. I can feel her, inside me." She turned to Buffy. "He’s her sire, but he’s my mate." She turned away from her former friends and walked towards the other end of the basement. "Do you know what it means to be mates to a vampire?" She asked over her shoulder. When no one answered, she continued. "It’s eternal. Blood calling blood. He is I and I am he. We are one and the same." She turned around. "Sire and Childe have a special bond. Interconnected for all time. They are connected to me, as they are to him."
Xander took a closer look at his friend. She was different. He could see that now. How he had not seen it before, he didn’t understand. "And you’re okay with this? He killed Jenny. He killed Cordelia. He’s a monster!" He spat the last word.
Willow looked sharply at her oldest friend. "He’s a demon. I accept that." She turned to Giles who was standing near the staircase. "Why am I here? What do you want?"
Giles looked at the girl standing before him, her words of the past two days echoing in his mind. They had lost her. She would never return. She wouldn’t see that her lover was a brutal killer, and she wouldn’t help them to restore his soul.
"The curse. We want you to perform the restoration ritual." Buffy’s words broke through Giles thoughts.
Willow stared at Buffy as though she had sprouted another head. She had to be kidding. Didn’t she? When she realized she wasn’t, Willow shook her head. "No." She turned to Giles, "Do it yourself." Willow sighed heavily and lay down on the bed. She closed her eyes, confidant that no matter what they had tried, the curse was dead. Angelus had made sure of that.
*****
Faith awoke to an annoying beeping noise. She grumbled grumpily as she climbed out of bed and found her jeans where she had left the beeper that was part of the compromise she had made with Buffy. She didn’t have to attend their little training sessions or research parties unless there was an emergency, so long as she kept this beeper on her so she could be beeped if the apocalypse did come.
However, Giles rarely used it. Which was why she was surprised to see Xander’s phone number on the thing, followed by the numbers ‘911’.
Faith wandered back out into the livingroom and picked up the phone and dialed. After listening to Giles explanation of the situation, Faith had to stifle the urge to laugh out loud.
"Sure thing. I’ll be there in five." She hung up the phone and turned around to find her lover staring at her curiously.
"Who was that?" Cordelia asked from the doorway.
Faith laughed. "The watcher. They’ve got Red."
"What?" Angelus snarled a she entered the room.
"Calm down, chief. Everything’s five by five." She turned back to Cordelia. "It seems they wanted to perform the restoration. She refused, so Giles is gonna try and do it."
"Is that possible?" Cordelia asked as she flopped down on the couch exhaustedly. Both girls turned questioning glances towards Angelus.
"No!" He barked, "The don’t have enough information. The only thing they can successfully curse is their dogs fleas. Now back to why I shouldn’t go over there right now and rip there eyes out of their sockets and feed them to Cor here?"
"Yum" Cordelia licked her lips, sending a tingle through Faith's body. She shook her head of the images forming there, and turned her attention back to Angelus. "For starters, it’s daylight. Besides, there’s no need. Apparently, they need someone to baby-sit Red, and I got the gig."
"Bloody marvelous!" Spike laughed from the hallway.
Faith turned and smirked at the blonde vampire. "So, I’ll go get her and bring her back." She headed towards the door stopping to plant a firm kiss on Cordelia’s cold lips.
*****
Willow fought the urge to open her eyes when she heard the door open and someone descending the stairs. She figured it was Xander again, trying to tell her how wrong she was, or Buffy to ask her how she could betray her like this or Giles to look at her with that disappointed look which used to wound her deeply.
"Do you want to blow this Popsicle stand, or just lay there?" Faith asked from a few feet away.
Willow’s eyes popped open at the familiar voice. "Faith?"
"Hey, Red. Lets get you home before Daddy risks spontaneous combustion to come and find you."
Willow didn’t need to be told twice. She jumped off the bed and took the stairs two at a time, with faith not far behind.
*****
"It’s time." Drusilla smiled happily at Spike.
"What’s that, pet?"
"Mommy. It’s time for her to join us." She picked up her favorite doll and started twirling her around the room.
Spike laughed. "Well then, we should celebrate. Come here princess."
Drusilla giggled as she danced over to Spike and climbed into his lap.
*****
Willow looked out the window to the night sky. It was clear night. No clouds, just millions of stars. Stars she could stare at forever. S he turned towards her lover who was staring at her from his position on the bed.
"It’s time." She told him. She looked into his deep brown eyes, conveying all of her emotions in that one look.
Angelus nodded and took her into his arms. His kissed a trail along her collarbone until her reached her pulse point. He gently sunk his fangs into his love’s neck, and drained her sweet nectar from her mortal body. Just before death, he released her, and fed her some of his own. She drank greedily, hungrily, until he was forced to pull away. She smiled lazily as she drifted off into the sleep of the dead.
When she woke, she would be reborn.
End Part 25
Buffy slammed the door to Giles house angrily. She had spent the last several hours searching for Angelus and Cordelia. She had found neither. Every other vampire in Sunnydale, but not the two she was looking for. The only useful information she had gained had been that Angelus wasn’t alone he had brought Spike and Drusilla with him. Useful, although unpleasant. It was going to be difficult enough dealing with Angelus and the now turned Cordelia, but add Spike and Drusilla, and that was a world of trouble waiting to happen.
"Did you find them?" Xander asked hopefully.
"Nothing. And it gets worse." She paused before she told them the bad news. "Spike and Drusilla are back."
Xander sunk into the couch next to Anya. "It’s way worse than that, Buff."
Buffy crinkled her brow and looked from Giles to Xander in confusion.
"It seems, Willow is gone."
"What?" Buffy asked, not wanting to hear this latest news. "But what about Faith? I thought she was watching her? You don’t think something happened to her do you? That Angelus killed her to get to Willow?"
Anya snorted. Buffy turned to look at the former vengeance demon. "Would you like to share?" She asked snidely.
Anya sighed. "Nothing happened to Faith. If I were to guess, she’s off with your friend having lots of orgasms."
"Willow? And Faith? I don’t think so." Buffy protested, not liking the image that was forming in her mind. Angelus was bad enough, but Faith too?
"Not Willow, you moron. Cordelia." Anya shook her head. She couldn’t believe they were that dense.
"You… You don’t know what you’re talking about." Buffy sputtered.
"You’re not the only one with connections." Anya told the Slayer. "Faith was seen hunting with a small group of vampires a few nights ago. Two women with dark hair, and a bleached blonde. Even I can add two and two."
Buffy shook her head, not wanting to believe what she had heard. "Who told you this? And why would they tell you and not me?"
Anya stood up. She was growing irritated. "Maybe because I’m not the Slayer. And I don’t care." She turned towards Xander. "Come, Xander. Let’s go."
Buffy watched in shock as Anya and Xander left. She turned to Giles who was trying to rub the weariness from his eyes. "Now what?"
Giles sighed heavily, something he had been doing a lot of. "I will try and decipher the curse. Maybe… I don’t know, maybe we can get their souls’ back."
"Will it work for Cordelia too? I thought the curse was written especially for Angel."
"It was, but I might be able to alter it. But I won’t know until I can decipher some of the text."
Buffy nodded, hoping that something could still be salvaged.
*****
"Well?" Buffy asked impatiently as Giles tried to decipher what was left of the curse.
Giles shook his head. "It’s no use. There’s very little left. And what is… well it’s useless." He looked up at the Slayer. "Did you get any new information?"
Buffy flopped dejectedly onto the couch. "Anya was right. Faith was seen with them, on more than one occasion. Wherever they are… she’s one of them now."
******
Willow woke up to a new world. She could see things more clearly. She listened carefully, trying to pick up sounds, which had previously gone, unnoticed. A heartbeat. She could hear a heartbeat. Only one and it was beating rapidly. She could hear moans and groans coming from a room nearby and smiled to herself as she realized whom the heartbeat belonged to and why it was beating to rapidly.
‘You’re awake." Angelus entered the room and smiled at his mate. "How do you feel?"
Willow looked up at him with new eyes. She smiled. "I’m a little thirsty."
Angelus chuckled as he poured her a glass of something that resembled red wine. "I have just the thing."
He handed it to her and watched as she drank greedily from the glass, her demon’s features coming to the fore. She licked her lips after she had drained the liquid. She looked around the unfamiliar room. "Where are we?"
"Los Angeles."
Willow looked up at him curiously. "We left Sunnydale?"
Angelus chuckled at her disbelief. "I told you we would once the gypsy was dead."
Willow nodded, remembering their conversation from only a few days ago. "So what now?" Her eyes sparked as the possibilities started to form.
Angelus smirked at the look in her eyes. "Now, we take over." Reached a hand out and pulled her to her feet. "A city in need of a king… and a queen."
Willow laughed at her mate as she thought of how their lives would be. Yes, unlife was good.
The End