Cordelia glared at the two dark Immortals. Her blood boiled. They threatened Willow. Sweet Willow. Witchy Willow. Willow who was in most of the few really good memories she carried inside herself about Sunnydale. "Of course, there was that thing with Xander....", Cordelia quelled the stray thought rapidly, glaring at swordbearing women.

"What a way to greet someone. Jeez! Willow came all the way up here to help you two, and this is the thanks she gets?! Get a grip", the brunette said angrily.

Witchy nodded in acknowledgement of the Seer's words. "We're truly sorry Flame. Cordelia's right, we're both jumpy."

Willow calmed immediately, staring in the dark eyes of one of the dark haired women who'd just threatened her. Somehow, despite the youthful looks, the redhead sensed age and power. Her fear evaporated. Especially since she understood on some level that Angel would never allow any harm to come to her.

"Are you Myst?", Willow asked.

Mystra nodded, and stepped forward. "I'm Myst. I'm really sorry Flame. If I had hurt you, I don't know what I--"

"Shhh", the hacker said, stepping to her longtime internet buddy and hugging her without reservations. "All is forgiven, believe me I understand about jumpiness."

Willow relaxed in the woman's arms, enjoying the culmination of three years of e-mails and supportive, albeit, anonymous friendship.

Mystra smiled softly and hugged the lovely cyber witch back. "Willow was truly the most amazing person", she thought.

Over Willow's shoulder the elder Immortal could see Angel taking in the women's embrace. The dark vampire had a speculative gleam in his eye.

"Great", Myst thought, "I just know he's going to ask a whole bunch of indelicate questions about what almost happened here. Damn!"

The redhead grinned against the slightly shorter woman's neck and disengaged from the embrace, a slight flush staining her cheeks. "Ohhh, she feels so good", the young witch thought.

"Wow", Willow gushed, "I can't believe we've finally met. I was beginning to think you were a figment of my overactive imagination."

The dark haired woman winked at the red witch. "Nope, I'm real all right."

Witchy stepped forward, and offered her hand to Willow. "Sorry about earlier Flame. By the way, I'm this one's better looking sister", she said gesturing to Myst.

The elder Immortal snorted, and opened her mouth to speak. A loud voice broke through their small talk.

"Witchy, pet. Where are you? I woke up alone."

Casually, Spike sauntered down the lobby steps.

Willow's eyes widened in surprise. She glanced at Angel, a question in her eyes. The gorgeous vampire, arched an eyebrow and shrugged eloquently. She smiled in reaction to his oh-so-cryptic moment, and hurriedly turned back to the blond vampire.

"Spike."

The British vampire smirked at the lithe redhead. "Red, nice of you to join the party ducks."

Sauntering over to Witchy, Spike hugged the dark haired witch from behind, kissing her neck with easy grace. The Immortal giggled softly and nestled tightly in the blond vampire's arms.

"Umm...", Willow began awkwardly. "You do know he's a----"

"Vampire?", Witchy finished. "Yeah I know."

"Oh, okay", the redhead replied succinctly, immediately accepting the situation.

Wesley blinked. He'd been quietly observing the entire scene. "Yes, Willow Rosenburg was definitely a whole lot more than his short time in Sunnydale indicated." The former watcher felt a bit left out as the old friends, and new friends who were actually old friends, reunited. Abruptly he wondered where Gunn was, all this happy lets be friends stuff was beginning to get to him. What he wouldn't give for a little of Gunn's brand of sarcastic slang infused humor.
 

~Chapter 12~

Angel stared at Willow as she laughed and spoke animatedly to Cordelia, and the two Immortals. His eyes were shuttered, his expression giving away nothing despite his wishing there was something he could say to include him in the conversation.

Instead, he watched.

She was beautiful, so very lovely. It had been so long since he'd seen her last. But she seemed more confident and mature. Not that the redhead hadn't always been mature beyond her years.... no, it was a maturity born out of pain and time. Her body was fuller, she was lush and on the verge of full womanhood.

Angel's eyes carefully traced her face, and then strayed to her hair. It was different. The wiccan wore it shorter now. It was as red and bright as ever, brighter even. In fact, she seemed to glow from within.

The dark vampire leaned back in his chair, admiring Willow's luminous green eyes. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Spike sat by the elder vampire, taking a seat to his right and propping one bootclad foot on a low coffee table. "I didn't realized you were in love with Red." Spike murmured.

Angel debated ignoring his Childe. To his surprise, he found himself answering the bleached blond vampire. "I've loved her for a long time, before the Slayer ever came to Sunnydale."

Spike blinked. "So Slutty's the Slayer to you now, is she?"

Angel remained silent.

The chipped vampire nodded, as if something important had been transmitted in that silence.

"If you loved Red, why did you chase Summers?"

Angel sighed, forcing air from long dead lungs. "Willow's was so innocent and pure--" The dark haired vampire looked down at his hands. "These hand have killed so many, destroyed so much. I couldn't sully her."

Spike tapped a long finger against the chair's armrest. "What about Mystra, Peaches? I've seen the way she looks at you. She fell for you, and she fell hard."

The dark vampire clenches his fists. His fingernails dug into his skin painfully. "I know Spike, and if I'd never met Willow, maybe...." Angel shook his head in frustration. "But I did, and although I care about Myst, I love Willow."

"Nothing's ever easy for you, is it mate?"
 

~Chapter 13~

After lunch, which much to Willow's surprise had been made by Cordelia, Willow sat with Witchy in front of her laptop.

The redheaded hacker was attempting to break the encryption code on the disk the sisters had said was imperiling their lives.

Myst was upstairs taking a shower. Cordelia and Wesley had left. Neither had felt they could be of any assistance, in so technical a goal. However, before the former May Queen left, she had managed to get Willow to promise to a night out the following day.

Trying to concentrate on what she was doing, Willow's fingers fairly flew over the keyboard. She found it difficult to focus, her mind continually straying to Myst. Her long time Internet friend seemed worldly, and wise. Wise beyond her years, truthfully. Witchy seemed more innocent somehow. Well, not innocent exactly.... less jaded perhaps.

Beneath lowered lashes, the redhead glanced at the woman who sat by her side and had been offering suggestions. 'Sisters...', Willow mused. They certainly did look enough alike. Same basic height, hair color, even body type. But somehow the witch doubted they were actually sisters. The coloring was off, the eyes too different. The witch even thought that they sometimes seemed almost like mother and daughter.

Willow bit her lip, musing in silence. She was intensely curious about Myst. She want to know more about her. Like whether she believed athames were necessary for some more important spells, or what her favorite color or movie was. She even wondered if Myst had finally started dating anyone, if she had a boyfriend..... or maybe a girlfriend.

Willow gasped, her fingers stilling on the keyboard.

"Flame, are you okay?", Witchy asked.

"Yeah, sure. Sorry." Embarrassed, the redhead faltered for something to say. "S-s-so why swords?"

Witchy blinked. "Swords?"

"Yeah why did you and Myst come running out here with swords?"

Making a quick decision she hoped her sister wouldn't kill her for, Witchy answered the young woman truthfully. "We're Immortals", the dark haired witch said, "swords are what we know."

"Immortals? What kind of Immortals?", Willow asked. "Demon, animal, mineral?"

Witchy smiled.

"Nope just Immortals. Human in every way, except we can't die and we can never have children." Witchy paused, "Actually we can die, but only one way."

Willow winced at the implications of that statement.

"So.... ummmm.... decapitation, huh?"

The dark haired Immortal nodded, her hazel eyes clouding over slightly with regret.

The cyber witch remained silent, knowing there was nothing she could say. Turning back to the computer, the redhead busied herself at the keyboard.

She sighed. "I don't know who locked up this disk, but they sure did a hell of a damned good job."

"Alchemist", Witchy responded distractedly.

"Huh?"

"Oh, our friend Alchemist did it. He found something important in a old book he was translating. He told us it had something to do with Immortals and the Game. His research started to get attention from the wrong people, and the next thing we knew he was dead. Two days later that disk showed up at our house." Witchy's voice grew firmer and angrier as she spoke. Someone had killed her friend for whatever was on that disk, and she would make sure they paid dearly.

The Immortal frowned suddenly. "Myst and I couldn't make heads or tails of what was on it, but we didn't get much of a chance to try either. A few days after the disk showed up, Immortals with attitudes started showing up at our door. Its like my sister and I suddenly had bull's-eyes painted on our backs or something." Abruptly, Witchy fell silent.

"I'm sorry, about your friend", Willow said sincerely, placing her hand on the Immortal witch's arm.

Witchy nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Thanks."

Deciding to leave the woman to her thoughts, Willow made a mental note to research Immortals and Game. She wanted to know everything. Maybe she would ask Myst about it later too.
 

~Chapter 14~

Mystra stood under the spray of hot water, eyes closed. She knew she was avoiding the inevitable. She had been in the shower for forty-five minutes.

The Immortal was slightly ashamed of herself. She knew she should really be downstairs with Flame, after all the soft hearted redhead had traveled to L.A. to help her. But right now all Mystra wanted to do was avoid the slender witch.

The dark haired woman sighed in resignation and turned off the water.

Grabbing a towel from a hook, the Immortal witch dried herself off. Wrapping herself in the soft terry, she grabbed a large tooth comb. She was running it carefully through her hair as she walked into her room.

"Angel!", she shrieked, startled, Mystra dropped the comb. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

Angel stared at the Immortal beauty in silence, his fingers steepled in front of his face.

The witch growled in annoyance. "Fine. Sit there. I'm getting dressed."

Turning, Mystra grabbed her duffel and dug through the few remaining clothes. Grabbing a pair of black leggings and a tiny purple tee shirt, the woman allowed the towel covering her nakedness to fall to the floor.

'Stupid vampire!', she thought.

"There was something you weren't saying down there", Angel said finally.

Myst sighed and nodded tiredly, as she shrugged into a black bra. She faced the dark haired vampire and bent, stepping into black panties.

"Yeah I did. I didn't know what else to do", she admitted. "Immortals shouldn't tell pre-Immortals about their status."

Angel's chocolate brown eyes widened imperceptibly. "Willow's an Immortal?"

"Well, yes and no", the dark witch said, tugging the purple shirt over her head.

The vampire's eyes lingered on the woman's lush form. He shifted, finding himself suddenly a bit uncomfortable in his chair.

Mentally kicking himself, Angel tried to make sense of Myst's last statement.

"So Willow has the potential to be an Immortal? Is that what you're saying?"

Nodding sadly, Mystra replied, "Yes, unfortunately. And being a witch, the Slayer's best friend, and the love of your life, all indicate to me that her life is already in enough peril daily. Flame doesn't need to risk her life any more than she already does. Pre-Immies who find out about their status are usually careless and end up dead, sooner, rather than later."

"Fuck", the ensouled vampire muttered. Part of him was almost giddy with the news that Willow could potentially live forever. But the larger part of him was horrified. The thought of the lovely redhead having to fight to stay alive; having to fight to keep her head, her power, gripped him with fear.

"What happens if she never gets killed, if she lives a full life and dies of old age?", Angel asked.

"Well conceivably she would never know. She would still never be able to have children, but plenty of people face that same problem....", Mystra's voice trailed off. She didn't know what else to say. She was speaking theoretically, her gut told her that Flame wasn't destined for a long, normal life.

Suddenly feeling ancient, Angel stood and walked towards the door. He walked stiffly, frustration and anger evident in every line of his body.

The dark haired Immortal winced when his heavy fist rammed violently into the wall. "Willow doesn't deserve this", he snarled. And then he was gone.

'Did any of us?', Myst wondered.
 

~Chapter 15~

Mystra wandered down the stairs after taking a few moments to compose herself. She found Willow talking to Spike and Witchy. The trio's playful banter made her smile. Looking at the lovely redhead and seeing the purity and innocence which seemed to surround the hacker in brightness, made the dark haired woman wish, not for the first time, that things could be different for her friend.

"Hey guys", the Immortal said in greeting.

Willow smiled at the older woman and gestured to the chair by her side.

The Immortal took a seat.

"Any luck with the disk?"

Willow shook her head, sighing in frustration. "Nope, I'm running a program now that I hope will eventually decipher the key to the encryption. It could take a couple of hours so...."

Myst nodded and sat back. Her gaze was drawn across the table, where Witchy and Spike seemed disgustingly content playing tonsil hockey.

The redhead followed the Immortal's dark gaze, meeting the sight with a groan and a roll of her eyes.

"Are they always like this?", the young witch asked.

"Yeah", Mystra replied, she turned and found herself caught the depths of Willow's sparkling green eyes. "Disgusting isn't it?"

"You're just jealous", a cocky British voice interrupted.

Willow smirked, "Sure Spike keep telling yourself that."

The blond vampire wiggled his eyebrows comically and then pushed back his chair.

"Well Witchy-pet, what say we get lost and let the two ladies catch up?", Spike said, gallantly offering his arm to his dark haired lover.

Witchy's lips curved slightly, mischief dancing in her eyes. "Sounds great Blondie." The Immortal witch linked arms with her escort, winking slyly at the two remaining women as she disappeared up the stairs.

Willow turned to Mystra in bemusement. Gesturing to where the couple had gone, the red witch asked, "So how did that happen?"

"Witchy and Spike?", Myst grinned, "they hooked up in a club. That's

actually how we met Angel too."
The thought of the handsome ensouled vampire made the cyber witch smile. "I have a feeling there's more to that story", Willow remarked.

The Immortal grinned despite herself. "Ooohh... what's that smile for? Do you have a little crush Flame?"

Willow flushed brightly. "Me? No. No way! I mean Angel's gorgeous and all, but Angel's... well he's Angel. And a boy.. I mean a man.. I mean a vampire." The redhead looked at her lap. "I loved Tara, I like girls, women..." She groaned. "You know what I mean Myst."

"I know you loved Tara, but were you ever IN love with Tara? And did your loving Tara negate the love you shared with Oz?", Mystra asked.

The young woman shifted uncomfortably in her chair and ducked her head.

Mystra sighed, she reached out and clasped the hacker's hand, almost shocked when a slight jolt of something-- electricity, or perhaps awareness, met her touch.

The dark haired woman tried to shrug the feeling off, saying finally, "Flame, you can't cling to something or someone because its safe and comfortable, or because your afraid to get hurt again. Its not fair to you. There's so much left in life that you haven't experienced. Don't close yourself off to the possibilities."

Willow swallowed past the lump which suddenly formed in her throat. She squeezed her friend's hand, allowing it to linger a moment longer, before nodding.

"So I've been wanting to ask you something", the redhead said.

"Okay shoot."

"Well I wanted to know more about Immortals. Like, what is the Game? And how do you know if you meet another one?" Willow's questions trailed off. After a brief hesitation, she said, "I was kind of curious to find out what your favorite color was too...."

Mystra smiled. "Well that one's easy. My favorite color is blue."

The two women lapsed into an easy conversation, both wanting to get to know the other better.

~~~~~

After about two hours, the hacker's computer beeped abruptly, interrupting the women's exchange.

"The program's finished", Willow stated.

"Well lets see if we got anything", Mystra said, walking over to Flame's laptop.

The two women bent over the screen and began to read.

"Oh Goddess!!", they both gasped.
 

~Chapter 16~

Mystra knocked again. "Witchy, Spike", she called. The Immortal smirked, she knew exactly what her sister and the blond vampire were doing inside.

A pesky, wicked part of her was childishly enjoying interrupting the couple.

The door swung open abruptly. A half naked and irate looking vampire was framed in the doorway. Mystra blinked in surprise and appreciation. 'Wow', she thought.

Spike scowled. "What!", he growled. The dark haired woman stepped back taking in the unfastened black jeans and the blond's sculpted chest.

Mystra smirked.

The blond started in surprise, stifling the sudden urge to cover himself. He felt like a piece of Godiva chocolate all of a sudden.

"Get Witchy and meet me downstairs in a couple of minutes Blondie. Willow's cracked the encryption, everyone needs to hear this."

Spike frowned in annoyance. "Fine", he said shortly, slamming the door in Mystra's face. The Immortal collapsed against the door, giggling.

~~~~

Angel leaned back, completely spent. His dead seed coated his hand. Sighing in resignation, the ensouled vampire stood and walked over to the bathroom to clean himself up.

He was just drying his hands when the knock sounded on his door.

The dark vampire lifted his eyes heavenward in supplication before striding towards the door to open it. He stared in shock at the person before him.

"Willow", he gasped.

"Hey Angel", the green eyed redhead grinned. She stepped inside and looked curiously around his room.

"Nice", Willow said, noting the antiques.

"Thanks", he said, inordinately pleased.

The lithe wiccan smiled up at the handsome vampire, almost surprised when a matching grin graced his features.

"Wow."

"What?", Angel asked.

"I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile", Willow answered.

"Oh."

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two individuals.

"So, uhh... I came up here to tell you that we figured out what was on the disk. Myst sent me to get you. She's rounding up Witchy and Spike."

Angel nodded. "I'll be down in a couple of minutes. Thanks Willow."

The red witch grinned and started to leave.

"Willow, wait....", Angel began, not wanting the girl to leave.

Willow stopped and turned back towards the dark haired vampire. She cocked her head, a question shining in her eyes. "Yes?"

The ability to speak deserted him. Instead, he shook his head weakly.

"She's fine Angel."

The vampire blinked, "Who?"

"Buffy? Isn't that what you were going to ask?", Willow said, looking up into Angel's chocolate brown eyes.

"Actually no. Truthfully, Buffy's the last thing on my mind at this moment", Angel replied.

His dark eyes were unreadable. Surprise and awareness coursed through redhead's body as the handsome vampire's hand reached up to gently trace the curve of Willow's jaw.

The pre-Immortal flushed and stepped back. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

'What just happened?', Willow wondered.

"So, uhhh...", she stammered, "Myst's waiting downstairs for us. We'd better go." Turning the witch walked quickly away, never noticing the pained look in Angel's eyes.
 

~Chapter 17~

Moments later Mystra stood and handed a copy of the translated disk to each of the people sitting around the lobby. She noticed with a frown that Willow seemed preoccupied. A tiny, jealous part of her wondered if Angel had said or done something which may have given the young witch a clue to his true feelings about her.

She sighed tiredly, rubbing a hand across her forehead as if to physically push the thought away. What was meant to be, was simply meant to be.

Exhaustion suddenly flooded her body and the Immortal sat down heavily on the couch beside the redhead. "You okay Flame?", she asked placing her hand lightly on the girl's arm.

Willow nodded, smiling slightly at the older woman in reassurance. Her emerald eyes met Myst's dark gaze almost shyly.

"Holy shit!"

The two women turned to look at Witchy. The other Immortal was reading the sheets she'd been handed in growing shock.

"Is this for real?", Witchy asked her sister.

"It looks like it", Myst replied.

"Damn. But I thought that was just a story. A legend. You know, just like that stuff about the oldest living Immortal, Methos."

Mystra almost laughed out loud. She thought about her friend 'Adam' and wondered what Witchy's reaction would be if she were to find out her sister's old boyfriend was actually Methos.

Spike chuckled, his scarred eyebrow arching disbelievingly. "Pet, your sitting around a hotel lobby with two vampires, a witch .... and last but not least, you and your sister are Immortals. If we aren't the stuff of legends Witchy, I don't know what is."

Willow giggled and glanced around the room. Her laughter stopped abruptly when her eyes met Angel's. Something in his eyes made the spellcaster's breath catch in her throat. Pulling her gaze away from the dark haired vampire's, Willow blinked and fell silent.

The platinum blond vampire glanced back down at the papers in his hand and grimaced. Finally, losing patience, Spike slapped the pages onto the table in front of him.

"Alright chits... Would somebody just explain to me what going on? The language these are written in looks older that the Great Poof over there."

"Well actually", Mystra began, "the legend is much older than your Sire. Here's the gist of what we found." Taking a deep breath, the dark haired woman began her tale.

"A long, long time ago there was a small religious faction growing in what is now Turkey. A group of people worshipped a little known god, Krill. Krill was a warrior god, he was the embodiment of loyalty and courage. Thus, Krill couldn't really be classified as good or evil. I guess basically you could say he was neutral, since although loyalty and courage seem like great attributes, many times such things in those times were decided on a battlefield. Bad and good are hard to determine in situations like that. Although the group of worshippers was small, a number of men had elected to become priests."

The elder Immortal took a deep breath and paused. "Any questions so far?"

"No", Angel's deep voice replied, "please continue."

Mystra nodded. "Well one of these men, a particular priest, was becoming well known. His name was Tevroot. He was a staunch defender of his faith. Often, he was at the forefront of any skirmishes against encroaching tribes and other peoples who wanted to banish the small cult from the fertile region they had settled in. One day Tevroot died in battle."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Let me guess... the blighter didn't stay dead for long, right?"

The Immortal witch grinned softly. "Yup, Tevroot was an Immortal. Instead of being afraid of him, his people thought their greatest warrior had been blessed by their god. They lauded him, and the Immortal continued defending his clan. He died for his beliefs and his people many times after that first death. Throughout these battles he came across other Immortals and learned the rules of The Game, and that he could die, just not very easily. His fellow priests were privy to this information, he trusted his fellows."

Sighing, Mystra paused and leaned further back into the couch. "One day, Krill appeared to his assembled priests. He told the assembled men, that for Tevroot's many years of loyal and courageous service, he was going to bless him. The blessing would make Tevroot, invincible. At least in theory...."

Noticing how tired her friend seemed. Willow took up the story. "Well, in the end the other priests became frightened and I suppose jealous. They felt Tevroot would therefore practically be a god if that were to happen. That night, before the ritual blessing would be performed the next day, a group of them beheaded their greatest warrior in the dark of night. Until Witchy's friend Alchemist discovered it, the blessing was thought to be a legend, a story Immortals just heard over the years."

"So let me get this straight", Angel began, gesturing to the computer. "You guys discovered a way to make Immortals invulnerable on that disc? How? What's involved?"

"Well as far as Myst and I can figure, the blessing can only be done once. It doesn't make the Immortal invulnerable really, what it does is mask that tell-tale feeling Immortals get when another is near."

Mystra nodded. "That sensation is like an early warning device. It pretty much guarantees that the Rules of the Game are adhered to. I mean, if you know another Immortal is around its pretty hard to sneak up on one another. Some evil Immortals have occasionally used human helpers to give them an advantage, but for the most part the 'buzz' we get is our best defense."

"This means that basically any Immortal who receives the blessing will be able to feel others, but no one will be able to feel him. Whoa!" Witchy shook her head in disbelief. "Jeez... that pretty much guarantees that whoever gets it, will win the Prize. Even if they just sat back and waited til we all killed each other....", the dark haired witch whispered looking at her sister. "No wonder everyone's after our heads, this thing is huge!"

Spike looked back and forth between the two sisters. "Well, can't we perform the blessing on Witchy here and spread the word that its done and gone. I mean, if it can only be done once...."

"No way, if anyone should have it done, it should be Myst", Witchy turned glaring at her blond lover. "She's lived longer than I have with this thing, she shouldn't have to continue taking these damned challenges. It would be great if she could live her life in peace."

"But pet", Spike bit out, "I want you to be safe."

Witchy's hazel eyes widened and her expression softened. "That's sweet Blondie."

Willow spoke up, interrupting the bickering. "You guys, the thing is, this blessing ritual thing, just doesn't seem fair. It gives one Immortal above others an advantage. I mean, haven't you ever heard the saying absolute power corrupts absolutely? Even thought Witchy and even Myst are good guys..." The redhead's voice trailed off, she didn't know how to express what she wanted to say without offending someone. "Maybe we should just destroy it?", she finished weakly.

Myst decided to intervene. "Neither Witchy, nor I could really benefit from it very much. We're not unknown in the Immortal community, if one of us suddenly started to not 'feel' Immortal to our friends... It just wouldn't work. Besides we have enemies who know who we are. I think Willow's probably right, we should just destroy it."

"Even if you destroyed it, it wouldn't stop other Immortals from going after you or Witchy thinking you still had the secret", Angel stated, after his long silence.

The group said nothing. The ensouled vampire had a very good point.

"Damn it! I hate to say it, but Paingel's right", Spike muttered.

"Guys, I don't think we're going to figure out what to do tonight", Willow said. "I think we all need a good night's sleep. We can sleep on it and discuss this all tomorrow."

"Flame's right we definitely can't decide all of this tonight", Myst said. The dark haired Immortal yawned suddenly, causing grins to break out among the others. Silently, she got up and headed towards the stairs.

Angel stared at the pages in his hand. He hadn't put down the translated material yet. He was aware that the last page, had the actual ritual. He'd only glanced at the sheet, but he wanted to keep it handy. His mind whirled with possibilities. The vampire realized immediately during the course of Myst's story that this could solve his Willow dilemma. The young witch was a pre-Immortal, but if she actually did die and become a full fledged Immortal, this could save her. She wouldn't have to fight, or hide, she could simply live a long, hopefully safe life. The thought that the woman he loved's life wouldn't have to be in constant peril someday, cheered him.

Glancing upwards, the dark haired vampire started in surprise. He was alone. He wondered how long exactly he'd been sitting there brooding. He guessed everyone had gone to bed. Groaning, he closed his eyes. Tonight was going to be torturous. How was he going to sleep when he knew Willow was going to be there, right next door.

Tucking the sheets of paper into his back pocket, Angel made his way upstairs. He passed Willow's door first. The urge to knock was almost overwhelming, but he managed to force his protesting feet to move. Pausing at his door, he glanced further down the hall towards Mystra's room. He wondered if she was already asleep.

Shaking his head is disgust, the dark vampire forced himself inside his room. Something about the Immortal witch drew him, and that bothered Angel. What he felt for Willow was so deep and abiding, thoughts of her warmed his very soul. So then, what the hell was wrong with him? Why did thoughts of Myst occupy another dark, shadowy part of his brain?
 

~Chapter 18~

Cordelia and Wesley were speaking quietly the next morning when Angel finally came downstairs.

"Hey there tall, dark and broody", the tall brunette said in greeting.

Angel nodded absently towards his Seer, bypassing his friends he headed straight to the coffee maker. He didn't care if the stuff Cordelia made was sludge and tasted like crap, he needed an artificial jump start. Sleep had been an issue the night before and he had not slept well.

The former May Queen watched the dark vampire, her eyes knowing and slightly sad. Instead of speaking her mind, she remained uncharacteristically silent. She smiled suddenly, noting the grimace he tried to hide upon taking the first sip of her coffee. She wondered how much longer he, Gunn and Wesley were going to be nice and drink the awful stuff. Didn't they ever notice that she herself usually stopped by Starbucks in the morning?

"So did anything of interest occur last night?", Wesley asked his boss.

Angel sighed. "Sit down you two. Willow cracked what was on that disc of Mystra's."

~~~~

Twenty minutes later, the ensouled vampire watched in amusement as Wesley pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Whoa!!...", Cordelia mumbled.

"So in essence whichever Immortal gets gifted the Blessing of Krill will be... well basically invulnerable after a fashion?", the bespectacled ex-watcher wondered aloud.

"Yes, basically", Angel agreed.

The Seer's forehead was furrowed in thought. "But what I don't understand is, what is this Prize thingy?"

"No one really knows."

Startled, the three friend turned at the sound of Willow's voice. The slight redhead smiled softly. "When Myst was explaining the Game to me, the one thing she made clear was that this 'Prize' many are so desperate to win, is a mystery. It could be anything. Everyone has a theory. Some think it just refers to the fact, that the last Immortal will have all the cumulative power and knowledge of all Immortals. Others think it could even mean, the last Immortal becomes mortal. No one knows."

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Angel glanced up the stairs to see Mystra and Witch shuffling slowly down the lobby staircase.

"Hi guys", Witchy greeted, yawning widely.

Mystra rolled her eyes. Her sister was much too damned cheerful in the mornings... especially now that she was getting it regularly. The elder Immortal grumbled under her breath and spotted the coffee pot. "Oh thank the Goddess...", she murmured, heading straight for the pot.

"Don't thank her until you've actually tasted it", Angel muttered under his breath. Cordelia scowled and smacked the vampire's arm playfully. Willow observed how close the two had become, and grinned, almost laughing aloud when she heard Wesley's own chuckle.

"So, Angel's told us what you discovered last night", the former watcher began, "any thoughts as to what you will be doing with the information?"

Mystra sighed and shrugged. She took a long sip of coffee and made a face. Placing the mug on a desk, she stretched, her arms reaching upwards, her eyes closed. Two sets of eyes watched as the dark haired witch's tee-shirt crept upwards revealing a small patch of golden hued skin.

Meanwhile, Witchy shook her head at Wesley. "Not a clue, really", the younger Immortal sighed. Her sister nodded in agreement, and picked up her mug. Taking a tiny sip, Myst leaned against Wesley's desk.

"If anyone has any ideas, we'd love to hear it", the elder Immortal commented.

Cordelia traced random patterns on the wood with her finger. "Hmmm... its too bad we can't just start some kind of rumor... you know, that the Blessing of Krill was a hoax or something." The brunette harrumphed in frustration.

Mystra almost choked on her coffee. The two Immortals stared at the Seer, and then glanced towards each other. "A rumor...", Witchy repeated blankly. "That's so crazy, it could just work."

The eldest Immortal witch leapt forward and hugged the taller woman. "Cordelia, you are a genius!", Myst squealed. Letting go of the former cheerleader abruptly, she ran to the phone on Cordelia's desk, and started to dial a number from memory.

The Seer smiled, her face telegraphing her confusion. She looked at Willow, a question in her eyes. The little redhead just shrugged.

"Who the hell are you calling?", Witchy asked, trailing after her sister.

"Adam."

The younger Immortal grinned mischievously. "Ah.... and why? I thought you and your old boyfriend were finally over. You know, kaput, the end, done, finished...."

Angel scowled. 'Boyfriend...' Jealous anger whipped through his muscular frame. He turned away from the two women and noted that Willow's face also held a frown.

Mystra rolled her eyes at Witchy. "We are, its been like ten years. Good grief Witchy, shut up." The dark haired Immortal stuck her tongue out at her younger, slightly taller sister and glanced over at Angel. His back was to her.

"Adam Pierson", a deep voice said into her ear. Myst smiled. "Hey there..."

Despite their curiosity, the others in the room, moved away from the dark haired witch to give her a modicum of privacy.

Witchy turned to Willow. "So Flame, you want to train with me and Myst today? We're going down to the basement."

Willow's face brightened, her green eyes gleamed. "Really?! Yeah, cool... wait, do I need a sword or something?"

"Naw, I don't think so. We're just going to do some katas and maybe some practice rounds with some wooden practice swords Angel has downstairs."

"Can I come?", Cordelia asked. "I'm kind of tired of being like constantly surrounded by guys. It would be cool, if I could learn some moves from a couple of kick ass chicks."

Witchy smiled at the brunette. "Sure, the more the merrier." Cordelia grinned, and grabbed Willow's hand.

"Come on Wills we can grab some of Angel's sweat pants." The Seer and the red witch moved towards the stairs. Cordelia paused on the landing, "Oh yeah, Wills promised me yesterday that we'd go out tonight. You guys are more than welcome to come."

Catching only the tail end of the conversation after she hung up, Mystra looked up the girls on the stairs. "Sounds like fun." The Immortal looked over at her sister. "Where are they going?"

Witchy grinned, "I invited them to come downstairs and train with us, they're going to change."

Myst nodded. "Good idea", she commented, staring at the redhead's retreating back.

From his place by his boss, Wesley folded his arms against his chest. "Do you suddenly feel a bit left out? I know I do."

Angel just growled softly.
 

~Chapter 19~

Willow and Cordelia made their way down to the training room, Angel had in the basement. It was pretty basic. Blue mats padded the floor, a punching bag hung in one corner, while different weapons seemed to occupy every bit of space on his wall.

The taller woman watched the redhead look around. She smiled, amused by the way Angel's borrowed black sweatpants hung off Willow's slender frame. Willow paused at the stair's landing becoming entranced by the graceful, dance-like movements of the two female Immortals.

The two dark haired women moved in synchronous harmony through a set of katas. The young witch was impressed.

Cordelia elbowed her friend. "I've seen Angel do that sometimes", she said quietly.

The hacker grinned, an image of the dark vampire executing the katas easily and gracefully, readily coming to mind. She wondered fleetingly if Angel got all sweaty. 'Did vampires sweat?' Suddenly, the image in her mind changed. The ensouled vampire was now sweaty, naked, and propped on his arms above her.

"Willow."

"Willow", Cordelia said again, tapping the shorter girl on the shoulder.

"Huh", the witch blinked, "what?" A bright blush suffused her skin. Amused, the Seer arched an eyebrow at her. 'What the hell was wrong with her', Willow wondered, 'she hadn't had naughty thoughts about Angel since high school.'

Taking pity on her friend, Myst spoke to the two young women, garnering Cordelia's attention away from the suddenly flustered redhead. "You guys want to learn?"

"Sure", Willow said quickly, moving next to the Immortal witch. Nodding in agreement the tall brunette came to stand by her friend, and mimicked Witchy's starting position.

~~~~~

Almost an hour later, a sweaty Seer collapsed on one of the floor mats, completely exhausted. "Damn, that was had work. It looks easy when Angel does it."

Willow sighed, smoothing back damp strands of her sweat-soaked hair from her forehead. The young wiccan took a deep drink of water and sat by the brunette, offering her a cold bottle.

"Well it probably is relatively easy for him now", Mystra said, wiping her brow on a towel. "Practice, you know."

"I wonder if it helps...", Willow began.

"What?", Cordelia asked.

"Huh... oh, you know that Angel doesn't breathe", the redhead wondered aloud.

Witchy chuckled. "Who knows. Still, I know not breathing can be very helpful. At least when it comes to Spike."

"Eeeeewwww!!!", Cordelia cried groaning.

"Sheesh... talk about too much information", Mystra said, mock-glaring at her sister. Rolling her eyes, she moved over to the wall, taking one of the wooden practice swords off.

Witchy grabbed the other, and Cordelia and Willow watched as the two sisters faced off. They bowed to one another before falling into easy stances, swords at the ready.

Suddenly, Witchy's practice sword clashed powerfully with that of the other Immortal's. The two women swung and parried each other's wooden blades with ease, the hits filling the air with the sound of clacks and loud cracks.

Mystra grinned and lunged forward, Witchy blocked the blow and stepped aside leveling a fist towards the other Immortal's now exposed side.

The dark haired woman grunted as the blow connected. Itching to wipe the smirk off the younger witch's face, Myst faked a downward slash.

As she expected, Witchy danced away easily, avoiding the wooden sword. However, her sister was not quick enough to avoid the roundhouse kick Mystra sent towards her skull.

"Shit!", Witchy gasped. "That was dirty sis."

Mystra stuck her tongue out at Witchy. "Yeah and I suppose that kidney punch I got, wasn't?"

"Whatever", Witchy grumbled.

Cordelia and Willow giggled, enjoying the easy banter which accompanied the spectacle of the two women's sparring session.

After another ten minutes, the two witches lowered their swords in unison, and bowed to one another.

"Either of you want to try?", Mystra asked the two seated young women.

The Seer shook her head. "Maybe some other time, I should head back upstairs and at least pretend to earn my meager paycheck", she joked.

"How about you Flame?", Witchy asked the redhead.

Willow grinned, and stood. "Sure, I'll try."

"Here", the dark haired witch said, handing the redhead her practice sword. "I'm going to go see if Spike's awake yet."

Mystra groaned. "Please. You just want to see if he's 'up'."

"Punny Myst", Witchy said with a put-upon sigh.

With that, Cordelia and Witchy left, climbing the stairs to the lobby together.

"Okay", Willow said, walking to the center of the mat. "What do I do?"

Myst walked towards her friend, and observed her attempt at a stance. "Ummm... move your right foot forward a little and bring your sword up some more. It should be at an angle in front of your face. Then stand sort off to one side. Try to give your opponent, the smallest target you can."

Willow followed her instructions easily.

"Good, Flame. Okay, I'm going to swing at you. Do whatever feels natural and I'll tell you whether what you did was correct of not.

The lithe redhead managed to parry the blow, flinching as wood met wood with a crack. Her face showed her determination.

"Good", Mystra commented, "that was good."

Her student beamed at the compliment.

The two women continued in this way for quite a while, before the Immortal noticed Willow's drooping shoulders.

"Tired, Flame?"

"Yeah, a little. Wow... this is some serious workout. This stupid wooden sword feels like it weighs a ton suddenly", Willow groaned.

In companionable silence the two women laid down on the mat, side by side, staring at the ceiling. The redhead's voice broke the silence. "So, ah, why did you call the ex-boyfriend?"

"Oh, Adam. Well he knows a few Immortals, including a gossipy cat burglar named Amanda. She sort of skims in and out of interactions with the seamier side of life. I gave him the gist of what was going on. He agreed to spill the beans to Amanda. She'll do all the work for us", Myst explained.

"What is he going to tell her?", Willow asked, a thoughtful frown on her pretty face.

"That the Blessing of Krill is a hoax. That Witchy and I attempted it and it didn't work", Mystra replied.

"Do you think that'll work?"

"It might. At least it'll put a lot of doubt into people's minds. Make them think they're on a wild goose chase. Hopefully it'll at least lessen the number of nasties on our tail", Mystra mumbled. "At least I hope it will."

The dark haired Immortal turned to her friend, propping herself unto her elbow. She was surprised to discover that Willow was in the same position, facing her. Their noses could've almost touched.

Brown eyes locked onto green. Willow licked her lips nervously.

The movement drew Mystra's eyes down to the girl's plump, well shaped mouth. The Immortal was unsure later, who exactly moved closer... but then, they're lips touched. The kiss was little more than a gentle brushing of flesh. Yet, it caused her stomach to flop and her heart to race.

"Flame--", Myst began, unsure of what to say.

Whatever she had been about to say was lost when Willow's mouth brushed hers again.

The two women jumped apart guiltily when they heard the door to the basement bang open abruptly. A handsome, black youth bounded down the stairs.

"Hey", he greeted them. "I'm Gunn."

Blushing profusely, Willow stood and shook the young man's hand. "Hey I'm Willow, Cordelia's told me about you", then gesturing to the still seated woman on the floor, the redhead introduced her friend.

"You guys don't mind if I work out do you?", he asked.

"No go right ahead", Myst said finally, "we were just finishing up."

"Cool", the youth grinned, moving towards the punching bag.

Silently, the two witches climbed the stairs, both pondering the meaning of what had happened and what could have happened if Gunn hadn't shown up.

The first person Willow saw in the lobby was Angel. "Hi", she mumbled, feeling incredibly awkward. "I'm going to take a shower... uhhh... bye." So saying, the wiccan took off up the lobby stairs to her room.

Myst met the dark haired vampire's stare evenly. Confusion and guilt suffused her body, making her throat close up. Without saying a word, the woman left, also climbing the stairs to her room.

Angel stared for a long time at the empty staircase, his nose flaring. The lingering scents of their arousals hung in the air. Snarling, the ensouled vampire slammed a fist onto a nearby table. He wasn't sure who he was angrier at; Myst, Willow or himself.
 

~Chapter 20~

Spike was awake, much to Witchy's delight. The blonde vampire had been lounging about in bed wishing his Poof of a Sire believed in the wonders of television, when the Immortal had entered the room.

One sniff of her sweaty body, sent her pheromones directly to his brain and with wicked smile, the bleached blond had been out of bed in an instant.

Witchy found herself pinned to the door by the very aroused body of one hell of a sexy vampire. "Miss me?", she whispered innocently, as she writhed her body against her lover's in a decidedly non-innocent way.

"Always luv", Spike murmured, his lips grazing her neck as he spoke.

'Damn, but the man was sexy', Witchy thought, as his voice reached her ears. Sometimes, she swore he could make her cum with his voice alone. She was a sucker for that accent.

Pushing the dark haired witch's sweat pants down with one hand, Spike allowed long, elegant fingers to lightly trace the entrance to her center.

Witchy groaned, her senses suddenly afire. She could feel herself melting at his caress, hot, viscous fluid coating her thighs as it oozed copiously from her core.

"Spike...", she moaned.

And then he was inside her. His long, hard cock plowing into her womb with deadly accuracy.

The Immortal woman almost screamed in pleasure, and the couple sank to an undignified sweaty heap onto the floor.

~~~~

Willow allowed the hot water to run across her body, enjoying the feeling of the pulsating water pelting her aching muscles. Sure she worked out and tried to keep fit, but she hadn't done anything as physically demanding as the training session with Witchy and Myst had been, since P.E. in high school.

Using a small lavender soap from her collection, the redhead lathered up, enjoying the relaxing fragrance and letting her mind drift.

She couldn't believe they'd kissed. The first kiss had just seemed to... happen, but the second... well, the second she knew she had instigated. 'The experience had been toe curling to say the least', Willow thought appreciatively. Remembering the confused, almost awed look in Myst's chocolate hued eyes, the wiccan was pretty sure the Immortal woman had enjoyed it just as much.

Closing her eyes, she turned her face towards the spigot, wishing the water could wash her guilt away. She didn't understand what was going on. These feelings of attraction to Myst and especially, to Angel were... well, they were wrong. She had a girlfriend. A sweet, loving girlfriend. Tara didn't deserve this. Plus Myst was a friend, a on-line friend she'd known for quite some time and only just met, but still, a friend.

Then there was the Angel thing. That really threw Willow for a loop. She'd always thought her crush on the handsome vampire had ended long ago. It was a high school forbidden puppy-love type thing, she had always assumed. Once Angel had gone to L.A., Willow had forgotten it. Or at least she thought she had, now she wasn't so sure. What amazed the redhead most, were the signals she thought she was getting from the dark haired vampire. 'Was it possible he was attracted to her?', the young woman wondered. 'No way...Right? She wasn't his type, he liked blonds', she thought, thinking of Darla and Buffy. 'Didn't he?'

Shaking her head and sighing in sudden weariness, the lithe witch turned off the water. Sweeping her hair over one shoulder, she squeezed out the excess water and reached for a towel.

She was probably worrying over nothing. She was there to help Witchy and Mystra and she'd done that. Unless they needed her for anything else she would leave soon, returning to Sunnydale and her comfortable life as the Slayer's best friend.

As Willow walked through her room, she stopped at the dresser and found herself stopping in front of the mirror. Only it wasn't her own reflection she was seeing, it was the awed look in pair of dark eyes after a kiss, and the tender affection she'd glimpsed in another pair of dark eyes after a certain souled vampire had caressed her cheek.

"Oh my", she gasped, shaking herself from her reverie. Suddenly it was her own visage she saw. Large green eyes stared back at her, while cheeks were tinted pink.

"Oh boy... I'm in trouble now", Willow whispered to herself. She wandered over to the large bed in the center of the room, and threw herself onto the cool sheets.

~~~~

A couple of hours later, Witchy bounded down the stairs towards the lobby. Cordelia sat at her desk talking on the phone and a black youth Witchy had never seen, sat sharpening stakes.

"Hi", she greeted, "I don't think I've met you."

"Hey, I'm Gunn", the youth said, coming to a stand and shaking her hand, "Charles Gunn."

"I'm Witchy, nice to meet you Gunn."

Gunn stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. "You look like that other chick I met a while ago.... the one with the redhead."

"Ahhh... that's my sister Myst, the redhead's Willow", Witchy said. The dark haired witch looked around the empty lobby. "So where's Wesley and Angel?"

The demon hunter sighed, "Apparently while I was downstairs using the punching bag, Barbie over there", he gestured towards Cordelia, "had a vision. They took off without me."

"That sucks", Witchy said sympathetically, her hazel eyes glittering with humor.

"You got that right."

"So, you think Cordelia will mind is I use her computer for a minute?", the Immortal asked.

"Naw...hold on." The youth turned and ignoring the fact that the Seer was currently on the phone yelled, "Yo!! Cordy, can Witchy use your computer?!!"

The former cheerleader glared daggers at Gunn, before telling whoever was on the phone to hold on. She covered the mouthpiece. "Go ahead Witchy", she said, ignoring her rude colleague.

"Gee Gunn, thanks", the Immortal witchy chuckled.

The handsome black youth winked at her before going back to sharpening stakes.

Walking over to Cordelia's computer, Witchy logged on to her e-mail. She knew it hadn't been very long since she'd asked Tis, Salice and Nutmeg about any information on possible soul anchoring spells, but she figured she would check.

To her surprise, the women in her coven had already sent something over. Nutmeg had found it of course, the tall honey haired witch was the best researcher of them all, having an encyclopedic memory for all things occult, but it was Tis and Salice who were trying to see if they could alter the spell to fit this specific situation.

Her friend Tis had written that the spell had originally been used to help anchor the souls of people under demonic possession. The goal of these demons was to push the soul out so they could take complete control of the body. Salice and Tis were currently rewriting the spell to fit Angel's circumstances.

Witchy smiled in satisfaction. Her friends were amazing. She loved that group of women. Her grin widened even more when the three had all left her a list of questions concerning the ensouled vampire. They had never heard of such a thing. But is was Nutmeg's question which almost made her laugh out loud. 'Was he cute?' The Immortal smirked. That Nutmeg was a trip.

The dark haired witch logged off, a satisfied smile on her face. She knew that the girls would get back to her in a few days. Witchy couldn't wait. She wanted to see her sister happy, and she knew that even if Mystra and Angel were not meant to be, helping Angel would make Myst content.

The witch turned in her chair and gasped, surprised to find Cordelia right behind her, a large grin on her face.

"So", the brunette began, "are you ready?"

"Huh?"

Cordelia sighed. "We're all planning to go out tonight remember?"

Witchy nodded. "And..."

"Well, we have to start getting ready", the Seer said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But Cordelia, its only like three in the afternoon", Witchy said staring at the girl.

The brunette harumphed, "Jeez, Witchy..." Cordelia sighed. "Go grab Mystra and Willow, we're leaving now. We have shopping to do. New outfits are a definite must for our outing."

'Well', Witchy thought, 'Myst and I do need some more clothes....' "Okay", she said aloud, "I'll go get them." Getting to her feet and heading for the stairs, the young Immortal noticed the look of pity on Gunn's face.

The dark haired witch shook her head, she couldn't help but wonder what she had just gotten herself into.

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