~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 1

<I wonder where they are?> Willow asked herself as she surveyed the club once more. Buffy had heard of this new place that had just opened up on the other side of town, and had convinced everyone to go. Well, more like got enthusiastic yeses from everyone, but had resorted to the ultimate guilt trip, in order to get Willow to come. It wasn’t that she was anti-social or anything, she loved going out with her friends, but with Xander and Cordelia engrossed in their own little world....and Buffy trying to make herself forget about Angel (sorry, Angelus) by throwing herself at every guy in the place, it left a shy Willow feeling lonely and left out.

Anyways, tonight had been a type of turning point for Willow. After coming to terms with the fact that she would definitely have to be there (or risk having Buffy ream her out on the phone, or worse, in person), Willow decided that for tonight, she would leave ‘Net Girl’ at home, and bring a new Willow to the club - the same Willow that had dared to wear a TOTALLY out-of-character outfit, on Hallowe’en. So, she had put on a short black skirt, with a white, tight-fitting tank-top (which she had bought when out with Buffy once but had never dared to wear) and matching black sandals. She put on a minimum of make-up and silver jewelry, and was ready to party as the new Willow. Until she got to the club, and found that her friends were 25 minutes late.

<Where are they?!!!> getting just a little ticked off at having to wait for her friends in a strange place. <Well, I might as well look around a bit.>

Standing along side the wall on the far side of the club, she began to take in her surroundings. The Lair. <The name sure fits THIS place!> The walls were all black, with some red, velvety-type material draping the walls in certain areas. The red lights didn’t illuminate much, but what she could see, left her with a strange feeling. On the opposite side of the dance floor, there were several overstuffed, black couches. Willow couldn’t decide whether they were leather or not. A black gauzy-type material hung from the ceiling around groups of the couches, creating almost separate rooms. The dance floor was packed, with the writhing bodies of Sunnydale’s youth, while music pounded from the giant speakers at all four corners of the room. Turning to look at the door, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair, before it was swallowed up in the crowd. Stepping away form the wall, Willow began to slowly walk towards where the blonde head had disappeared, when she finally saw the rest of the group. Xander and Cordelia making their way through the crowd to where Buffy had vanished.

Willow had taken only a few steps, when a pair of arms grabbed her form behind, one around her waist, lifting her up and back, the other covering her mouth. Squirming furiously, she was taken towards one of the red, velvet curtains, which was suddenly pulled back and a doorway became visible. Once through the doorway, the curtain was dropped back into place, and the arms released her from her prison. Spinning around furiously, Willow was prepared to rip into her assailant with a vengeance, when she got a look at his face, and her heart dropped into her stomach, when she realised exactly what was going on.

"Well, well. Willow. It’s about time." he said tauntingly.

"Angelus!" cried out Willow, in fear and shock.

"Good guess Willow! I always knew you were the smart one."

"What d-do you want?" Willow asked hesitantly. She didn’t know what Angelus wanted, but whatever it was, it sure wasn’t good. Maybe he was going to use her as bait for Buffy........he had to know she was here.

"Why... you Willow. I’m hurt that you forgot. Really I am!"

She couldn’t beleive it. After all this time.......to still want to keep that promise - if that’s what you could call it - it made her quake inside. She still remembered that night - the first night that Angel had become Angelus. Just before he let her go, he had whispered something in her ear.....to quietly for anyone else to hear, but loud enough for her to understand.

I’ll be back for you later.

She’d fooled herself into thinking that he wouldn’t come after her, but deep down, she knew that it was only a matter of time. <It seems that now is the time! Oh Goddess.......What am I going to do???!!!>

"Why......why me? Why now? I mean, I ...........I ......." she began stammering, before Angelus cut her off by covering her mouth with his hand.

"Really, Willow. I’m surprised at you. All that intelligence, and you still can’t figure it out. Well then, let me help you out." With that, Angelus removed his hand and lowered his head to hers. Willow stood frozen to the spot, unsure of what to do, as his lips claimed her. Bringing his hands up to her head, to hold her in place, Angelus gently forced her lips open, to let his tongue enter, swallowing her gasp of surprise and fear.

Willow was totally floored. When he had first kissed her, she had been prepared for anything. Anything, that is, except for the sensations her body felt as his tongue penetrated between her lips. Unable to control herself anymore, she felt herself responding to his kiss as she never had with Oz. Bolts of fire were racing through her body, making her nipples hard and apparent through the tank top she wore. With a will of their own, her arms wound themselves around his neck, and her hands buried in his hair, pulling him closer. Deeper.

As he left her mouth, his lips continued down her jaw and her neck, to her pulse point. There he stopped and began a small suction that had moisture beginning between her legs, and her knees growing weak. Hearing her moan in disappointment, at the lose of his mouth on hers, Angelus grinned in satisfaction. <I was right. This is going to be absolutely perfect.>

With a last kiss on her neck, he slid his game face into place, and sank his razor sharp canines into her soft skin. He felt her hands in his hair tighten as he forced the blood from her body, trying in vain to pull him away from her neck. Angelus almost groaned at the sweet pleasure that tasting her blood brought him. It was the sweetest thing he had tasted in almost 150 years. Forcing himself to slow down, he stopped before he killed her. Raising his head from her neck, he looked into her eyes, glazed over with the coming of her death. At the precise moment before death took over, he bit into his own wrist, and held it to her mouth. After a few seconds, he began to feel her mouth moving on his wrist, as the blood was slowly drawn out of him, and into his newest creation. Soon, the slow drawing out of his blood became a hard suction, as instinct took over, but he held on, knowing that the more blood she took, the stronger she would be.

When he reached the point where anymore loss of blood would kill him, he gently separated her mouth from his wrist, and caught her as she collapsed. Picking her up in his arms, Angelus carried her up the hidden stairway at the back of the cubby-hole, and up to a room he had set up, above stairs.

Laying her on the bed, Angelus took off her sandals, and looked at his newest childe. <She’s going to be perfect.> Her hair was spread out behind her like a cape made of satin. Already he could see the changes beginning to take. Her skin was paler, her lips more red, and her hair took on an almost blood-like color. Angelus sat down in one of the chairs, and waited for Willow to wake up. He knew it wouldn’t take long, as the more blood was taken in, the less time it took for the vampire to wake up to its unlife.

He could hardly wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2

She was dreaming again. Dreaming of him.

They were in a small area, similar to the utility closet that Xander and Cordelia use frequently, but the walls were bare. He had her up against one of the walls, holding her tightly. She was scared, but at the same time, she felt a sense of inevitability overcome her. She knew what was coming, but couldn’t seem to stop herself or him. His mouth descended towards hers, and all she could do was stand there and stare. Wait for what she had craved for, since the moment she had seen him. Not the nice part of him that she knew, but the other side of him. The dark side that intrigued her, always hidden just beneath the surface, just peaking out but not allowed the release it craved. What she craved.

As his mouth touched hers, she realized that she would never be complete without him. She was his as completely as if he had created every aspect of her being. She felt the electric bolt through her entire body, as his mouth took possession of her, body and soul. Letting go of rational thought, she allowed her body to act on instinct, trying to meld with his own.

His mouth slid from her lips, releasing a moan of frustration and desire from hers. She felt his lips slide down her throat, to rest at her pulse point, where they began to lick and kiss the skin he found there. Then he left her. Forcing her eyes open, she looked into golden eyes, a ridged forehead and pointed canines, and knew her fate. Unable, or unwilling, to try to stop him, she saw him bend his head back to her neck, and felt those same canines pierce her tender flesh.

Then, pain and blackness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3

Jerking upright in bed, Willow opened her eyes wide, trying to figure out where she was. Willow knew the second she woke up what she was. It was ingrained into her very being, that she was now one of the very demons she had fought alongside the Slayer, but somehow, it didn’t seem to bother her in the least. In fact, she gloried in the fact that she would now outlive her friends. She would be around when they were dust. <Dust! HA!>

Taking stock of her surroundings, Willow noticed the decor first. The walls were dark, there were no windows, and very little furnishings. The bed she was on, a large dresser and two wing-back chairs the only things, except for several rugs on the floor. The bed itself was a four-poster, made of some kind of dark wood, with black velvet hangings falling from each post. The room itself was decorated in mostly black, with only the very smallest splash of color here and there.

Looking around the room, she noticed a dark shadow sitting in one of the chairs, blending so well, that only the slight movement of the shadow itself when she had woken up, giving away anything. Staring deep into the shadow, Willow felt a zing go through her, and a strong pull towards the shadow. Crawling across the bed, towards the chair, Willow was not surprised when the voice from her dreams called out to her. She felt it within her very demon who this other was. He was her sire, true, but more importantly, he was her mate. How she knew this was a mystery to her, but she knew it was the truth. The instant she had seen him, she had known who he was. Mine.

"Willow." he said. "You’re awake, at last. I was beginning to worry." this was said in that mocking tone of his.

"No you weren’t." she replied in a calm voice.

"You’re right. I was just waiting for you to wake, and it took so long. I was beginning to get bored." he said, still in that mocking tone of his.

"You always were impatient." came her reply, as she knelt on the end of the bed, facing him. She wanted nothing more than to jump him that very second, but knew that to have him, she would have to play the game for a bit. That didn’t bother her one little bit. However, her plans were put on hold for awhile, as another desire made itself known to her.

Hunger. Hunger like she had never known in her life overcame her. It was so powerful that Willow had to close her eyes for a second to regain control, before she made a disgrace of herself. It would not do to show any weakness, either around Angelus, or other vampires.

Noticing her action, Angelus was amazed at her control. For a newly made vampire, she had remarkable control over the demon in her. Newbies could rarely control themselves long enough to savor their first meal, let alone keep their human mask in place while doing so, the hunger being so strong. But then again, she wasn’t a normal newbie. He’d known that when she had looked at him, seeing him through the shadows of the room, he’d felt the snap, and even now felt her pull. His mate.

Very few vampires can say that they had found their true mates. Unlike in humans, where they often have soulmates, vampires have a kind of ‘demon-mate’. It very rarely happened, but when it did, the mated pair became incredibly strong and powerful, ruling a clan for decades, sometimes centuries. They were often killed by Slayers or such, but not without retribution. The surviving mate usually started a rampage of terror, that was talked about for years to come. He still remembered the last mated couple. Angelus had never met them, but he’d heard about them from sources. Alec and Tanya. Tanya had been killed by a fledgling vampire, trying to gain dominance in the pack, thinking that if she took out the Queen, the King would then turn to her. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out the way she had planned.

Standing up, Angelus made his way to the dresser, where a bottle and a glass sat. Pouring a large amount of the red liquid into the glass, he brought it over to the red-head kneeling on the bed. Taking the offered glass, Willow brought it too her dark red lips, and drained it in a few seconds.

"I’m impressed. Not even a hint of the demon within you." said Angelus.

"Would you expect anything less?" Willow asked him. "No." came the amused reply. "More?"

"Please." she answered, not daring to let him know just how much she craved the contents of the bottle he brought back with him. Re-filling the glass, he watched in amazement as she drained it again, without letting the demon slip from her control.

After finishing the last of the bottle, Willow looked up in surprise at his next words. "Lets see." His tone of voice suggesting it was a command, not a request. Knowing what he was referring to, she let the demon slide into place, and looked up into deep, dark brown eyes.

Angelus was quite literally floored. She was beautiful. This little red-headed witch, who seemed almost too delicate to hold more that lightly, was an absolutely gorgeous vampire. Lifting a hand, he gently trace his fingers over her ridges, pleased when her eyes closed in obvious pleasure. Trailing the hand down the side of her neck, it found its resting place at the base, over top of the now-healed bite marks. Squeezing gently to get her attention, he watched as she slide her human mask back into place, and opened her eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper, sending shivers down her spine.

"You’re Angelus." she replied, mesmerized by his voice, and the look in his eyes.

"Who am I to you, Willow?" he asked again.

"My sire." came the answer. Angelus knew she understood the question, but was teasing him.

"Who, Willow?!" this time, his voice was harsh and uncompromising, demanding the answer he knew she knew.

"My mate." she said, raising herself up onto her knees, looking him straight in the eye. Bringing a hand up to his head, she twined her fingers in his dark hair, and dug her nail into his scalp. "And who am I?" she asked, in the same harsh voice he had used.

"My mate." came the amused reply. With a wicked grin curving her lips, Willow leaned forward, bent her head, and licked his neck, following the corded muscles up to his ear, where she gently, but firmly, bit down on his earlobe. Still having a firm hold of his head with her hand, Willow let her free hand slide down to his waist and rest on his hip. Pulling him towards her, she whispered into his ear. "Your mine, now, Angelus." all the while, moving her hand from his hip to the bulge pushing against the front of his black, leather pants.

In response to her statement, his arms wrapped around her, swiftly, pulling her against his hard body. Bending down, he whispered into her ear "But, you’re mine, now, too, Willow. No one to save you. No one to keep the bad, bad monsters at bay."

"Who said I needed or even wanted to be saved." she said seductively. "In fact, who said I wanted to keep the monsters away. Some can be awfully fun........well, one in particular, anyways." leaving no doubt in his mind as to who she was referring.

Angelus slipped his hands under her tight tank top, sliding up her rib cage, to stop just under her breasts. Letting his thumbs lazily caress the underside of her breasts, he heard her moan of desire. "Lets see how long that control of yours will last, hmmm?" he said as he drew her top over her head.

Pushing her backwards onto the bed, he covered her body with his, and proceeded to claim his mate in the oldest of ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 4

"Hello?"

"Buffy, hi."

"Willow! Where were you last night? We’ve been worried sick about you."

"Well, I got there and waited, but you didn’t show, so after awhile I went home."

"Yeah, we kinda got there a little late. Cordelia had hair issues."

"As always."

"Hey, Will. You want to go shopping this afternoon? There’s a great sale on at the Gap."

"Sorry, I can’t. I promised mom we’d have some ‘family’ time. She’s on this new kick and wants me to spend more time at home. NOW she wants to be best friends with her teen-age daughter!"

"Sounds joyful. Many sympathies."

"Yeah, well......... Look, Buffy....I sorta have....well, lots of homework to do......"

"But it’s Saturday morning, Will!! You have all weekend!"

"Not if mom wants to play happy family, which I think she does, not that I mind..but, well, I do have other things to do and well......I should go."

"K. See you tonight? You are coming, right?"

"I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Besides, who would perform the ritual? Giles?"

"Yeah, I guess you’re right."

" Bye, Buffy."

"Bye Willow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, that was easy." said Willow.

"What did you expect? She’s an idiot!" replied Angelus as he pulled her back towards him on the bed. "Maybe, but I still didn’t think it was going to be that easy."came Willow’s answer. Laying her head on his shoulder, she began to trace designs on his hard chest and stomach with her hand. They had spent all night getting to know each others bodies, only realizing too late that the sun had risen, and they would have to spend the day in their room above the club. Not that either of them minded.

Angelus could still barely believe that this creature laying next to him on the bed was his for eternity. Willow was his match in every way. She had a cunning and creative mind, was like a wildcat in bed, and totally stunning. However, she was not a weakling. She would take orders from no one, and constantly challenged him, daring him to prove himself to her over and over again, while at the same time, proving her worth as his mate. In short, she was perfect for him. Never had he felt this complete, in all his years. She was truly the complement to his demon, making him whole.

Looking down, he realized that green eyes were regarding him with lazy interest, with a hint of clever mayhem lurking in the back. "What is that mind of yours thinking?"

"Who to play with first." she said, in a matter-of-fact voice. "The Slayer’s mine." came the uncompromising voice of her lover.

Surprise coloring her eyes, Willow’s eyebrows rose in defense. "Of course. I didn’t even think of taking her away from you." she said. "But I do get to help. After all, she did have you as her pet vampire. I can’t allow that to go unpunished. I mean, if she lived, then just imagine the discipline problem we’d be having.......... No respect, every fledgling within a hundred miles thinking they can challenge you..... No, I just can’t let it go."

"Well, Red, just what is this plan of yours." he asked casually, as he flipped he onto her back. Leaning over her, he braced himself on his forearms on either side of her, and lazily looked down into her face. Bringing her arms up, she entwined her hands with his hair, saying "We’ll make them think that you’ve decided that I’m the next to die. They’ll try to protect me. They’ll try to give you back you soul. And, when Buffy goes to confront you, thinking that you’re her Angel, we’ll have her. Then, the fun will begin."

"Why would you think they would try to give me back my soul?" he asked, already dreading the answer. "We found a disk of Ms. Calender’s with the curse on it. They’re going to try it tonight." came the careless reply.

"And I should not kill them all, because................?" Angelus was curious. She would not have mentioned it, unless she had a way to avoid it.

"Because..........I’ll switch disks before the ceremony, so we won’t even be performing the curse. Just some Latin words, candles and really good acting on my part. Anyways, the curse still has the happiness clause. If they do happen to perform it, one good romp in bed, and bye-bye soulboy." came the wicked response.

"And you think you can give me one true moment of happiness, do you?" he asked.

"You know, you’re right. We really should practice. ‘Cause you know what they say: ‘practice makes perfect’." Laughing in a purely maniacal way, Angelus lowered his head to her stomach, and began to lick and kiss his way up to her mouth, setting off another round of lovemaking that lasted well into the afternoon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 5

"I’ll try and get the disk before they perform the spell, and switch it with the fake one. That way, we won’t be taking any chances." said Willow, as she walked through the cemetery, with Angelus’ arms around her. They’d just finished hunting, and were enjoying the night. Angelus was truly captivated by her. She was quick and deadly, but still took the time to play with her food.

Stopping in front of a large stone that looked like a table, Angelus lifted her up, and sat her on the edge, with her legs dangling over. Stepping between her legs, he grabbed her head, and kissed her with such ferocity, that Willow almost said ‘screw the plan’, to stay there with her mate. But soon, they were interrupted by the approach of several set of feet, one of which belonged to the Slayer.

Breaking apart, they looked at each other, and began to get ready. Taking Willow into his arms, he turned her around, and wrapped one arm around her waist, the other hand going up to grab hold of her head, and tilting it to the side.

This was how the Slayer and gang found them. Willow looking helpless in the arms of a vamped out Angelus, who was getting ready to have a Willow snack.

"Let her go, Angel!" yelled the Slayer. Angelus glanced up, a bored look in his eyes. "Well, well, Buffy. Your timing is impeccable, as usual. Just as I’m about to have a nice snack a la Willow, here you come to interrupt me. Again." still holding on to the frightened-looking red head.

"I said, let her go. NOW!!!" Seeing the watcher and Xander behind the Slayer, Angelus let out a sigh. "I’ll be back for you, Willow. Don’t think that I’ve forgotten." he said, just before he threw her to the ground, her head hitting a headstone, and took off at top speed, with Buffy hot on his heels.

"Willow, are you ok?" asked Xander, kneeling down in front of his best friend. "Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little bump on the head. Nothing to worry about." she reassured him.

"My dear girl. What in heavens name were you doing out here so late, for, anyways?"

"I ...I was looking for the last ingredient for the...the curse, and I guess I lost track of the time. I thought I could make it to the library safely,... but I guess I was wrong." came the answer to Giles’ question.

"Well, we had better get you to the library before we have anymore unexpected company." said Giles. <Idiots. The lot of them!> thought Willow, inwardly laughing. <Poor little Willow needs to be protected from all the evil creatures of the night.> disgusted with her former self, she almost sneered at her own thoughts. <Wonder what they’ll do when they realize that poor, little Willow IS one of those evil creatures of the night, and is right now planning their downfall. HA!>

A small smile was the only indication of her thoughts, as they helped her to her feet. "What are you smiling about, Wills? You almost became Deadboy’s evening meal, yet you smile. Am I missing something of vital importance?" asked Xander.

"Oh, I was just thinking of how happy Buffy will be when Angel gets his soul back."

"Yeah, well. I still say we slay him, and give his ashes to Buffy, instead of giving him his soul back." came Xander’s snide reply. Trying to control her rage at the boys careless words, Willow had to remind herself of the role she was playing. That was easier said than done. The mere thought of her Angelus a pile of ashes unleashed feelings and thoughts of such rage, destruction and violence, that she fairly shook with them. <I’ll destroy this entire town before I let these fools take him away from me!>

Feeling her tremble, Giles looked at Willow in concern. "Are you all right, Willow? You’re shaking?"

"I’m fine. Just a little cold, that’s all." her calm voice reflecting none of her inner turmoil.

"Here, take my jacket. I don’t need it." taking Xander’s jacket, they walked in silence the rest of the way to the library.

Once there, Willow began instructing them on the preparations for the ritual. "Giles, can you set up the candles, please? Place them in a triangle, each candle representing a tip. Xander, these are the ingredients. Please place them in that bowl, and then put the bowl in the centre of the Giles’ triangle of candles." turning her back on them, she walked over to the computer, and picked up the disk with the restoration ritual on it. Hearing Xander and Giles go about the tasks she had assigned them, she silently slipped an identical disk out of her pocket, and substituted it with the real one. Turning on the computer, she inserted the fake disk, and printed up the Latin text she had created earlier that day. <Thank Satan that the club had a word processor identical to the one here.> Laughing in her mind, Willow remembered exactly WHAT she had translated.

Looking up, she saw a young man with yellowish hair enter the library. "Hey Oz." "Hello." greeted Xander and Giles. With a small nod in their direction, he walked over to where his girlfriend sat at the computer. "Hey there."

"Oh. Hi Oz." she said, in the brightest voice she could find.

"You ok? You don’t look so good...kinda pale...and there’s something about you......" taking a sniff of the air, Oz looked directly at her, "You smell like Angel! What were you doing with him?"suspicion forming in his mind, he took a step back from her.

"Angel caught her tonight. Almost had a Willow-snack." her rescue came from Xander, in an off-handedly way. "Buffy chased after him, but he threw her down, and she hit her head." finally looking at the couple.

"Baby, are you ok?" came the sympathetic response from Oz. "Yeah. Just a little bump."

"Let me see." reaching up a hand, he attempted to feel the bump his girlfriend had gotten. He didn’t like the fact that she was Angelus’ next target, and was determined to prevent Angelus from reaching his goal. She was HIS, and was not going to become a gourmet meal for the Slayer’s wacked-out ex.

Shying away from his hand, Willow looked at the ground, so he wouldn’t see the panic in her eyes. The bump had already gone away, but if she were still human, it would still be there, causing her pain for the next few days. "No, it’s ok. Really. Oh, look. It’s done printing. Time to start with the re-cursing of Angel’s soul, so Buffy can have her boyfriend back. Then, we don’t have to worry about evil vampire Angelus anymore. Uh, huh. That’s a good thing." she said in a rush. Jumping off the stool she sat on, Willow quickly made her way over to where Giles and Xander had finished setting up.

"Are you sure you’re ok, baby?" came Oz’s concerned query. "Yeah, I’m just a little jumpy. I want to get this curse over with, and then I won’t have to worry about Angelus lurking in the shadows, thinking of ways to kill me."

At that moment, Buffy came through the doors. "I lost him in the cemetery." was her only statement. Motioning for her to sit down, Willow began the ritual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 6

Walking up the front steps of the mansion, Willow took a good look at her new home. She had already discussed it with him, and Angelus had agreed that the mansion was the best place to live. The place was huge, dark and gloomy........just the way she liked it. Opening the front door, she came face to face with one of the minions. Angelus had told her to make her presence felt, and that was exactly what she did. Delivering several brutal punches, and a well-placed kick, the vampire was rendered unconscious in the entryway. <Gotta thank Buffy for letting me watch her train, otherwise I’d be dependant on others to teach me how to fight. It’s not good to show weakness around vampires.> Stepping over the unconscious demon, she continued on her way.

Staying in the shadows, Willow entered what looked like the main room. Almost a dozen vampires were congregated there, along with a bleach-blonde in a wheelchair, and a dark haired woman, dressed in a long white gown, with an empire waist, holding a blind-folded doll. Realizing that this must be Drusilla and Spike, she leaned back, and watched.

"What’s so bloody important that the wanker had to call us all here, at this time of the night." spat out Spike. From his comment, Willow guessed that he was talking about Angelus. <Gonna have to have a word with Spike about his attitude to my mate. Can’t have demons getting ideas.> Looking at him closer, she noticed something. They were small, insignificant details, but if you looked at the whole picture, a secret was revealed about this injured vampire. <He’s not weak! He’s as strong as ever!> she realized. <Well, well, well. What are you playing at, Spike.>

"Spikey, be nice. Daddy has something big to tell us. Something that will change everything." said Drusilla, in a dreamy voice.

"Do you know what it is, pet?" inquired Spike, suddenly very interested in the loons ramblings.

"Miss Edith won’t tell me." she said, then smiled and giggled at his growl. Hearing Spike’s sigh of resignation, Willow decided to try something new. She’d heard that Drusilla had some sort of psychic powers, and wanted to see how strong they really were, if they even existed.

Ever since Angelus had changed her, she’d felt power flow through her, just waiting to be released. Earlier in the day, she’d realized that coming together with her mate had increased her witch’s power, and was anxious to see what she could do. Stretching out her mind, she gently pinged Drusilla. It had the desired effect.

Stopping in the middle of a sentence, the vampire quickly looked around the room, growling, her golden eyes picking out Willow’s form among the shadows. Standing up, Drusilla took a few steps towards Willow, in full demon mode, when she suddenly stopped. Stepping out from the shadows, Willow quickly glance around the room. She saw that everyone there had stopped whatever they were doing, the instant Drusilla had stood up, and were all looking at her with a mix of surprise and menace, evident on their faces.

"Well, well. If it isn’t the Slayers pet hacker. Nice outfit, girl. Now how did you get in here?" asked Spike. He had to admit, he was curious about this girl. Before, he had always seen her behind the Slayer, scared for her life, but bravely facing any danger coming her way. He’d always thought her the mouse, the weak link in the group. His suspicions were confirmed when Angelus returned, and gave them all the dirt on the Scooby gang. But here she was. Walking into their lair like she owned it, not the littlest bit afraid.

"Spike, you really should get better help around here. I mean, any sort of disreputable person could walk in here at any time." came her witty reply. "And thank you. I went shopping this evening, and maxed out a few credit cards." Casually walking around, Willow looked at the multitude of faces staring at her. Some were surprised, some confused, but most were looking at her like she was next on the menu. Laughing softly, she made her way around room, and back to where she had started. Pausing for a moment, she let her eyes drift shut for a second, as she let herself feel the power flow into her, as she sensed her mate stepped into the room, but keep to the shadows. Opening her eyes, she caught the gaze of Drusilla.

"Look into my eyes. Be in my eyes. Be in me." came Drusilla’s hypnotic voice. Just before she fell, Willow heard Spike laugh, thinking that his dark princess was about to claim another victim. Feeling power behind those words, Willow prepared herself for the fight to come.

Falling into the vampire’s mind, Willow looked at the chaos around her. It was like a world torn apart, only kept from drifting off into space by some unseen gravity force. Landing on the largest of the fragments, Willow crouched at one end, and saw Drusilla at the other end, sitting in a rocking chair, rocking her doll in her lap. The insane vampire looked up from her doll at last.

"You’ll destroy everything." she said. "My daddy will leave me, and soon Spike will leave me too."

"Angelus is not yours. You may have had him to yourself for all these years, but he’s mine now." replied Willow. This was not only a fight for power, but for Angelus. Though Drusilla didn’t seem to realize yet that the fight for Angelus was already lost to her, Willow decided to enlighten her. "But you know that already, don’t you. You just don’t want to accept it. He’s mine in every way. My partner, my companion, my friend, my lover...........My MATE!!!" she said the last forcefully, as she mentally reached out, and began to use the vampire’s own mind against her.

Drusilla let out a scream, both in her mind and in reality, as a floating fragment of her mind crashed down between the two women. Thrown off balance, Drusilla lost what little control she had, and Willow gained power. Standing up, she sent a surge of such power through her mind, that it sent Drusilla down to her knees with a scream of pain and anguish, in the real world.

Realizing that she was back in the real world, and no longer in Drusilla’s mind, Willow took a minute to survey the damage. Drusilla was on the floor, weeping and begging for the pain to stop. Spike was by her side, in the wheelchair, trying to comfort her, while sending murderous glares at Willow, at the same time. The rest of the vampires in the room, looked afraid. They had just seen Drusilla defeated at her own game, and were terrified. If she could do that to someone with a fair amount of powers, then imagine what she could do to normal vampires. They couldn’t imagine, and didn’t want to find out.

However, Spike gave the order for them to kill her. He didn’t like to see his princess in pain, and the person who caused it was going to pay. What he hadn’t counted on, though, was the fact that most of the minions in the room were terrified of this small girl, and didn’t want to become a pile of dust. But still, a few of them decided that they could take her, and began to advance upon her.

Smiling with delight, Willow laughed. She had expected to have most of the room on her in seconds, but found that only three vampires were descending upon her. She knew Angelus was in the room, but she also knew that he wouldn’t help her, unless it looked like she was about to die. This was another test for her, to prove herself to her mate. And she reveled in it.

When the first one was within reach, she spun out and kicked him in the head, sending him spinning. He landed a good fifteen feet from where he had started, dazed on the ground. The second one to reach her went to punch her, but she blocked it with her arm, bringing the other hand up to punch him in the face, pushing him a few steps back. Gaining some space, Willow turned to the side, and aimed her foot into his gut. It hit with such a force that the vampire collapsed unconscious on the ground. The third one, seeing his fallen companions, got behind her, and wrapped his arms around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides. Finding she didn’t have the use of her arms, Willow lifted one foot, and brought it down on one of his with such force, that the crunch could be heard all through the room, making all the others glad they weren’t fighting her. Feeling his foot being crushed, her assailant dropped his arms in surprise, and immediately regretted it. Willow spun around and landed her open hand in his chest, throwing him backwards into a crowd of vampires. Before he blacked out, he could have sworn that he heard a few ribs break, from where her hand had been.

Realizing that she wasn’t done, quite yet, Willow sharply brought her arm back, nailing the vampire coming up behind her in the chest with her elbow. Quickly, she reached over her shoulder to grab his head, and threw him over her shoulder. As he landed in front of her on the floor, she absently noted that it was the first vampire of the three that had attacked her. She didn’t care. Forcefully, she put her high-heel, booted foot down on his throat, and kept him in place. Looking around at the room of stunned vampires, a wicked smile crossed her face.

"Oops. Did I do that?"this came out in a small child-like voice, which drew a laugh from the shadows. Clapping was heard from the same spot as the laugh. Every vampire in the room, with the exception of those unconscious or otherwise unable to move their heads, turned to see Angelus step out from the shadows.

"I’m impressed." he directed his comment a Willow, whose foot was still planted on the vampire’s throat.

"No you’re not." she said. "You would expect nothing less."

"True. But it was still amusing to watch." he said, as he walked over to her. Halting in front of her, he looked down at the trapped vampire and smiled. "You can let him up now. I think he’s learned his lesson."

With a sigh a resignation, she lifted her foot, and allowed the minion to scamper out of range.

"Angelus!" Spike shouted. He had just gotten his princess calmed down, when his sire had appeared. "Just what do you plan to do with the little witch! She walked in here, attacked Dru, and brought down three of the boys!"

"Actually, it was four." replied Willow. At the questioning look Angelus gave her, she clarified. "There’s another one by the front door, who should be waking up any time now."

"Just what do you plan to do? This kind of thing cannot go unpunished." said Spike. He was still upset about Dru getting hurt.

"Let’s see. I plan to take her upstairs, and see that she doesn’t leave until well after sunset, tomorrow night." Looking at his mate, he questioned "Does that work for you?"

"Always." came her whispered reply. "What about Dru, Angelus?" Spike wasn’t going to let this go easily.

"Drusilla was warned. Now she’s being punished. If she continues, she will soon be a pile of ashes by my feet!" growled Angelus. Hearing a low, feminine growl from behind Spike, all attention turned to the recovered, female vampire, still vamped out on the ground next to Spike.

Seeing her daddy, next to the red haired witch, made Drusilla go wild. She wouldn’t give up without a fight. Getting up, she launched herself at her daddy, hoping for some acknowledgment from him. However, before she could reach him, the witch stepped in front of him, to block her way.

Seeing his beloved run to their sire was like a stake in his heart. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make her forget ‘her Angel’. He was about to give up and leave the room, when the red headed hacker stepped in Dru’s way. He watched as Willow’s hand reached out and grabbed Drusilla by the throat, dragging her face up to hers. What was most surprising to everyone in the room, however, was the fact that when Drusilla growled at the girl, Willow growled back, as her demon came to the fore. Drusilla fought the hand around her neck, but with no luck, as Willow had a good hold of her. <So he turned the little hacker, did he? This should be interesting.>

It was as Willow was growling at Drusilla with such power behind it, that Spike began to see what was different about this girl. Willow was not just a normal fledgling, but a childe of Angelus. What surprised him the most, however, was that when Willow said "He’s mine!" to Drusilla, all Angelus did was smile.

"Bloody hell!! You’re mated, aren’t you?" swore Spike. It was the only explanation he could come up with that fit all the pieces together. The conversation between the two, the sexual energy oozing off them, and Angelus’ humour at Willow’s claim. If anyone else had said that, they wouldn’t have lived to finish the sentence, as Angelus was his own person. People belonged to him, but never had he belonged to anyone, not even Darla.

"I win!" chimed in Willow, with a smile on her face. Angelus looked at her with an almost petulant look about him. Spike would have laughed, except that Willow’s next words froze him in place. "I told you he would be the first to guess it. Now you owe me!" She sounded victorious, and pleased.

"Angelus!!" came Spike’s roar as he realized what she was talking about. "You bet against your own childe??!!"

"Well, Spike, come on. You’re not the sharpest tack in the box........... But in this group, I guess you are." Seeing that this was about to become a fight, Willow decided to intervene.

Dropping Drusilla to the ground, she turned to Angelus and held out her hand. "Time to pay up, big boy." she said smugly. Sighing in defeat, Angelus reached behind him for his wallet, pulled out a credit card, and handed it to her. Seeing this, Spike let out a bark of laughter. <I like her. She’ll be good - or bad - for him. Either way, he’s out of my hair......hopefully. Bloody wanker!> were his thoughts as he contemplated the scene before him. This slip of a girl had Angelus, the Angel of Death, by the short curlies. Spike loved it! What was even better, was that Angelus didn’t mind. In fact, he loved it. Which really wasn’t all that much of a surprise to Spike, considering that mated demons had one hell of an unlife together. There male was usually the stronger of the two, but the female was powerful in her own right, using strength and intelligence together in an amazing combination. Spike realized that the only way that they could have been mated, was if Willow matched Angelus in every possible way. Knowing his sire better than almost anyone, except for Willow, he knew that she was one vamp to stay on the good side of. Especially if the scene with Dru was any indication. He’d never seen ANYONE defeat his princess at her own game, and not even bat an eye. Willow could be truly frightening.

Once Willow got her hands on the card, she placed it in the back pocket of her tight, black leather pants, smiling up at her mate the entire time. "Thanks." was all she said. Seeing that he had to say something to the minions crowded into the room, he turned to face them, with Willow at his side.

"For those of you who don’t understand, Willow here, is my mate. That means that she is mine. Don’t go getting any ideas about her, because if she doesn’t kill you, I will." pausing a moment, he allowed that to sink in. He’d seen some of the others sliding looks her way, and didn’t like it one little bit, even though he knew she’d never seek out another. Well, he amended, not unless I’m invited. "Do what she tells you, no arguments. You won’t win." he continued. "Lastly, she will be living here. Don’t spread it around. I don’t want any nosy slayer poking around here." With that, he put his arm around Willow’s waist and led he out of the room, and up to their room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 7

Walking down the dark street, the Slayer was oblivious to the night around her, her mind solely on the person she was about to see. After the restoration ritual last night, she was all set to go out and find Angel, but Willow had stopped her. Willow had said that he night need some time to gather his thoughts and re-adjust to being souled. Realizing that she was right, Buffy waited impatiently for the sunset, and then waited some more before going to Angel’s old apartment, deciding to give the vampire time to find some food.

Unable to wait any longer, Buffy had left her house and started walking to Angel’s apartment, hoping to find him there. Looking up, she saw that she had arrived.

Opening the door to the darkened apartment, she hesitated before entering. She wasn’t sure if he would welcome her or not. She had been nervous all day, pacing her room, changing her mind about her outfit at least two dozen times, and basically driving her mother nuts. Taking a deep breath, Buffy took a few steps into the room when she saw him. He was standing in the doorway to his room, his dark form outlined by the glow of a desk lamp left on.

"Buffy?" came the hesitant and confused inquiry. "Is that really you?"

Rushing forward, Buffy flung herself into her love’s arms, holding him tightly, unaware that the door had closed behind her. Stepping back, she looked up into his eyes, expecting to see love and tenderness there, with a large amount of guilt. Instead, all she saw was evil amusement and a mocking smile playing upon those beautiful lips. Distancing herself from him further, she was about to turn and run, when something hard hit her on the back of the head, sending her into unconsciousness on the floor.

Looking down at the fallen Slayer, Angelus laughed in triumph. "That seemed almost too easy."

"That’s because you didn’t do anything!" came his mate’s indignant reply.

"What, and deprive you the pleasure of beaning the Slayer?" he said. "You would have been upset if you hadn’t gotten to nail her."

"True. But I’m still pissed at her! I mean look at the dent in this thing!! You had to have such a hard head, didn’t you Buffy?" looking down at the aluminum bat in her hands, that sported a sizeable dent now, promptly send a wave of annoyance through her. Taking her anger out on the knocked-out Slayer, she sent a brutal kick into her side, feeling satisfied hearing the distinctive crunch of a rib breaking.

"Now, now. Be nice, dear. We have all week to torture her.....maybe longer. Let’s see how long she lasts, hmmmm?" came the reply from Angelus. Calling in the few minions he’d brought with them, he set them to the task of bringing the Slayer back to the mansion. "Be sure she’s kept chained the entire time! I don’t want to lose her." was his final command, before taking Willow’s arm, and leading her out into the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 8

Groaning in pain, Buffy slowly began to wake up. <My head’s killing me!> trying to remember what had happened, she started to put the pieces together. <I went to see Angel.......hugged him......but...it wasn’t Angel.....it was Angelus.....the curse didn’t work! I was about to get away....and was hit on the head with something....> came the disjointed thoughts. <I wonder who hit me?> Opening her eyes, she immediately regretted it, as it sent a wave of pain so intense that she almost passed out again. Trying again, she managed to open her eyes half-way with minimal pain. Seeing that she was on the floor, Buffy used her arms to push herself up into a sitting position, this time not able to stop the gasp of pain that left her. "She’s awake." came a voice from the other side of the room.

Finally able to open her eyes completely, she looked up as a fuzzy figure in black walked over to her.

Crouching down in front of her former friend, now enemy, Willow held a glass of water to Buffy’s lips, letting the Slayer sip at the cool liquid. Lifting a hand, she gently brushed the hair away from Buffy’s face in a surprisingly tender act. Dropping her hand, Willow cupped Buffy’s face in her hand, forcing the Slayer to look at her.

"Willow?" confused and uncertain, she tried to figure out what was going on. She felt the chains around her wrists and ankles, but couldn’t figure out what Willow was doing here. She should be at the library, trying to find out what had happened to Buffy, or out with her new boyfriend, Oz. She shouldn’t be here with her. <Unless Angelus caught her too!> That would explain a lot. <And he has become interested in her, recently. The scene in the graveyard certainly proves that!> "Did he get you, too?"

"Who, Buffy?" asked Willow.

"Angelus."

A small smile passed over her lips as she said "Not exactly." Standing up, Willow walked across the room. When she returned, Buffy had fully regained her senses. She could feel vampires all around her, even a few in the room with her. Looking up at Willow as she returned, Buffy got the shock of her life. Willow was in LEATHER!!! She had on tight leather pants, wearing thick, high heeled boots, and a lace up, leather top that showed off everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! <Since when does Willow have breasts?!> Buffy thought. And her entire outfit was in black. No colour on her, expect for her red hair, green eyes and bright red lips. Even her eyes were outlined in black.

"Willow, what happened? Why are you dressed all in leather?" shocked was not what she was feeling in the next instance. She went so far past shocked that there was no name for what she was feeling as a pair of strong arms snaked their way around Willow’s waist.

"Not very smart for a Slayer, is she?" Glancing over her shoulder, Willow looked at her mate, and gave him a faint smile. "That Slayer sense of hers is always letting her down."

"That’s not true!" came the Slayers indignant comment.

"Puh-lease! Explain Angel! You spent how many hours in his company, and you didn’t even realize that he was a vampire! I mean the cold, pale skin, lack of eating food and never being seen during the day was quite a tip-off for me, but not for the almighty Slayer!"

"Now, now. Don’t go getting all heated up. Save it for later." bending his head, Angelus began to nibble at his mate’s neck, making her moan.

"He turned you!" whispered Buffy. Horror and sadness evident in her voice. "See, she’s not as dumb as she looks." said Willow to Angelus.

"When?" asked Buffy, gaining control of her raging emotions, rage and hatred being in the fore. <I’ll kill Angel for this!> was her first thought. <Then we’ll restore Willow’s soul and everything will be okay.> was her next thought. Then, "Was the curse real? Or just another game?" she asked. She needed to know, as her plans for Willow rested on the fact that the curse existed.

"Yes, the curse is real, but the one I performed was just some Latin words I threw together. I would love to see the look on Giles’ face when he finally decides to translate the ‘curse’. It’ll be priceless." Willow informed her.

"And to satisfy your curiosity," continued Angelus, "Willow was turned Friday night, when you and your followers were late to meet her."

"You were at the club?" she asked. "Buffy, I own the club. When I saw her standing there, all alone, I figured that now was as good a time as any.......... It worked out better than I could have imagined."

"Isn’t he just delicious?" Willow asked Buffy with a happy grin on her face. Turning her head, she caught Angelus in a deep kiss that looked like it wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

A disgusted snort came from off to the side, as a silent observer made his presence known. "You two are more repulsive than a slimy Chaos demon." an accented voice said from the shadows.

"Why thank you, Spike. Never knew you cared." replied Angelus, in a snide tone. Seeing that an all out brawl was about to begin, Willow intervened. "We have more important things to do, darling. It’s time to play with the rest of them. You promised, remember?" Willow said in a child-like voice.

With a final glare at his childe, Angelus agreed. As they were headed out the door, Willow’s last comment could be heard, "We’ll have so much fun, Angelus. I can hardly wait."

Struggling against the chains, Buffy tried in earnest to get free and save her friends, but they didn’t so much as budge. "You’ll just tire yourself out, if you keep that up. Red strengthened the chains before they were put on. You’re going to need you’re strength for what’s coming." said Spike, rolling over towards her.

"What do you mean, she strengthened them? How?"

"Put a spell on them, ducks. Ten Slayers all trying couldn’t break the damn things."

"Spell? But Willow isn’t that strong!" exclaimed the Slayer. She knew Willow was a practicing Wicca, but her powers weren’t very strong.

"Ever since she mated with the wanker, her powers have been growing. She nearly destroyed the last of Dru’s mind, when Dru decided that she wouldn’t let anyone take away her ‘daddy’." scorn evident in his voice. All Dru had talked about all day was getting ‘her Angel’ back. Spike had tried to get her to drop the subject, knowing that the only way to get Willow away from Angelus was to kill her, which would then be the death of them all. <He’d probably take out most of the continent before someone stopped him.> "She doesn’t see anything other than the fact that the witch ‘stole’ her ‘daddy’. She’ll be the death of us all if she’s not stopped." he said with a resigned sigh. He knew her days were numbered. And Angelus wouldn’t be the one to take her out, either. The red head wouldn’t let Dru live to see another night if she knew what Dru was planning. Not that Spike knew, either.

" Let me go, I’ll kill Angelus and restore Willow’s soul. Problem solved." she said, her voice taking on a ‘reasonable’ tone.

"You don’t get it, Slayer. They’re mated."

"She’ll get over him. She has eternity." still not seeing the problem.

"Slayer, you really know nothing of vampires." he spat. He was getting annoyed. Having to explain about mates to this girl was ridiculous, but necessary. "Vampires who have found their mates are different. They are bound to each other for the rest of their lives."

"I’m still not seeing the problem here."

"Think of it as soul mates. But with vampires, it’s more like demon-mates. We each have our own mate. If you’re lucky enough to find them, you gain incredible power and strength. Angelus and the witch are mates. If you kill one of them, the other will become self-destructive."

"So if I kill Angel, Willow will commit suicide?" horror filling her with that realization.

"Not exactly."

"Well, explain. Please." she asked. She really wanted to find a way to get Willow out of this situation, and her plan was quickly going down the drain. She didn’t want to kill Willow.

"If Angelus died, his mate would go on a rampage of violence. She would become almost unstoppable, not caring who she killed, how many, or if they’re human or demon. She wouldn’t stop until someone killed her, which is very difficult."

"Ohmigod!!" came her whispered exclamation. The thought what Willow would do was beyond horror. But the thought of Angelus going on a rampage was even worse.

"Now you see. To stop them, you have to kill both of them." explained Spike. "It’ll be hard enough to kill one of them, because they will do anything to protect the other."

"How come I never heard of this before? I mean this sounds like something that all Slayers should be aware of!"

"For one, very few vampires know about mates, so I doubt the Watcher’s Council does. And second, there hasn’t been a mated couple in close to 200 years."

"If it’s been so long, and so few have heard of it, how do you know?" she asked, suspicion colouring her voice.

"Because I was around when the last couple died. Tanya and Alec. Tanya was killed by a younger female, trying to take her place as head female in the pack. She didn’t know what hit her when Alec went mad. She was the first one to die. Alec went on a killing spree so bloody, that it’s still talked about today. By the time he was done, half of Europe was on it’s knees." The way he described it had shivers of fear running up and down her spine. <I’ve got to think of a way to get Willow out of this.> Not willing to let her best friend be tied to a cruel and sadistic demon for the rest of her life, she tried something.

"Spike, will you help me? If you could find the disk Willow took, you could help me perform the curse on the two of them. Then they wouldn’t be such a threat." plans already forming in her head.

"You don’t get it, do you, girl. These aren’t just a pair of vamps that decided to join up together. Their demons are bonded to each other. Any curse for a soul or such you try on them would only backfire. A soul is the opposite of the demon. Together, Angelus and Willow are protected from any restoration you try." With that said, Spike spun his chair around, and wheeled off in the other direction.

Leaning against the wall behind her, Buffy let out a sigh. <I don’t know what to do.> Closing her eyes, she fell into unconsciousness, her body losing the battle with pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 9

Walking into the library, Willow and Angelus prepared to do the best acting of their lives. Willow, personally, could not stand the person she once was. All quiet, shy and helpless. So weak. She liked the way she was now, much better. So strong and powerful. <And I have Angelus.> Not to mention the difference in clothes. <Fuzzy sweaters, sneakers, overalls, tights.......uuugggggghhhhhhh!! Sickening!> But still, the acting made the game all the more fun. Angelus, however, was in a different frame of mind. He could hardly wait. He had a feeling that tonight would be one of the best of his unlife.

Once they stepped through the doors, it seemed as if time had stopped. Giles, Xander and Cordelia stopped what they were doing, and were all looking at Angelus as if he might attack them. <Smart kids.> he thought.

"Hey guys." came Willow’s cheery greeting. Giles was the first to get it together enough to form a complete sentence. "Willow, are....are you certain that this is Angel, and not.....not Angelus?" He still had unresolved issues concerning this creature, especially after Jenny, but the hope and joy on his Slayer’s face when they had found the restoration ritual had pushed aside all his doubts.

"Of course I am. Giles, if he was still Angelus, do you really think I’d be here talking to you? I mean, Angelus had his mind set on me next, and that would be bad. But this is Angel. They’re two different people. Don’t blame Angel for things he did as Angelus. He had no control over that." she said, putting on her best effort at her ‘resolve face’, which was hard, without scaring them all off.

"Ok, Wills. Whatever you say." said Xander, slightly surprised by the vehemence in her voice, and the serious ‘resolve face’ on. He had never seen her be that ‘resolved’ before.

In an attempt to change the subject, Willow turned to Giles. "Giles, have you seen Buffy tonight? I can’t find her anywhere." conveying concern in her voice.

"Well, I believe she was set to go visit Angel tonight, at the apartment. Why, is she not there?" the last was directed at Angel. "She didn’t show. I was waiting for awhile when Willow showed up."

"I expected to find Buffy there, but she wasn’t. We can’t find her anywhere!" panic now in her voice. "What if something’s happened to her? We have to help her! She’s our friend. She could be in trouble, fighting a vampire or a demon or other Hellmouthy creatures. She could be hurt, lying on the ground bleeding to death as we speak, wondering where we are, and here we are just talking about where she is, and not really looking. Giles, we have to find her......"

"Willow, calm down. I’m sure she’s just out patrolling or changing her outfit or some other such activity." interrupted Giles.

"Yeah, I’m sure she’s just fixing her make-up. Which, I might add, she needs a lot of. I mean, all those visible pores......... Uhhhhh." put in Cordelia with a delicate shudder. "Thanks for the creative input, Cordy. What would we do without you?" Xander said sarcastically.

"You know, Xander, I really don’t have to put up with this..." only to be interrupted by Giles again. "Children, please. Our main concern should be Buffy. Now Willow. Have you called her mother?"

"Yes. She said Buffy left hours ago. I don’t know why, but I just have a bad feeling about this." came Willow’s teary reply.

"Alright then, we should go out and have a look for her. Xander, Cordelia, you come with me. We’ll look around the route from Buffy’s to Angel’s old apartment. Angel, can you check out the cemeteries, please? Willow, if you could search the hospitals and such on the dreadful machine?" the watcher waited for all their nods before gathering his things.

"Of course. I want to find her as much as anyone." said Angelus in a concerned tone of voice.

"Why should we trust Deadboy, over there? How do we know he really has a soul?"

"Xander!" snapped Willow. "Don’t you trust me and my abilities? He’s Angel!!! Now go out and find Buffy. She should be our priority right now!"

That said, a shameful Xander, a smug Cordelia, a tired Watcher and a pretend-souled vampire all left to look for the possibly missing Slayer.

Watching as the group left, Willow went to the table in the centre of the room, and sat on top of it. Waiting. Several minutes later, the doors opened, and the one that had been on her mind walked through them.

"I can’t believe they actually bought that crap." he said, stalking over to her. Stopping in front of her, he spread her legs and stood between them, running his hands up and down the front of her fuzzy sweater. Bringing her arms up around his neck, she pressed herself against him before answering.

"They always were idiots." Threading her fingers through his hair, she pulled him closer, her lips almost touching his. Teasing him. "Now, what can we do to pass the time, until they come back from looking for the poor, missing Slayer? Hmm?"she said seductively. Lowering his head, Angelus captured her lips in a deep kiss, getting lost in her mouth. Pulling back, Willow looked into his eyes as she ran her hands down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as she went.

"Tease." he charged, as her hands roamed the inside of his shirt, getting reacquainted with his hard chest. "Um hmm."was her only answer as she began to place small nips all over his chest, making him groan with need.

Suddenly, he froze in place. "Slayer." was all he said. But it was enough.

"I thought she was in chains in the mansion?" she hissed. All their plans were about to fall into a million pieces. Stepping back from Willow, Angelus moved into the shadows and Willow took her place in front of the computer, waiting for Buffy to enter the room.

When the doors opened, Willow was shocked to see not Buffy, but Kendra. The other Slayer. If she still breathed, Willow would have let out a sigh of relief. The plan would still work.

"Kendra! What are you doing here?" Willow asked in genuine surprise.

"Me watcher said I was greatly needed here. He say Angelus back." came the accented reply.

"Well, he’s half right." said a voice from the shadows, that had Kendra spinning around. "I knew I felt a vampire here, but I was not sure where ye were."

"Well, you do better than our own Slayer. She couldn’t even tell her boyfriend was a vampire until he ‘vamped out’ as it’s put around here."

"What happened to yer soul?" she asked as she sized up her opponent. Angel had been nice, but guilt ridden. Angelus, however, was a killer, with more Slayers under his belt than his childe, Spike. She felt something that she hadn’t felt in awhile. Fear. She was scared, because Angelus had taken down better Slayers than her.

"It went bye-bye, Slayer. And just so you know, you’re really not needed here. I have everything perfectly under control." that said, he glanced over her shoulder to the person behind her. Throughout the entire conversation, Willow has silently crept up behind Kendra. Catching Angelus’ eye, she attacked.

Kendra barely had time to take in Willow’s game face, before a set of fangs became imbedded in her throat, quickly draining her. Once she was dry, the now-dead Slayer was unceremoniously dropped to the floor, as Willow looked at her mate. She saw his smile of pride. His mate had taken a Slayer.

Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips for a kiss. Just as they were about to start where they had left off, when the doors were opened by the watcher and the two teens. Taking in the vamped out Willow and the not-very souled vampire before him, Giles asked the obvious question. "Dear Lord, what happened here?"

"Willow got herself a Slayer." said a smirking Angelus. As if realizing for the first time that something was wrong, all their eyes dropped to the body on the floor.

"Willow?" came Xander’s squawking exclamation. Confusion was evident on the faces of all the humans in the room.

Gasps of shock and horror filled the library as the her three former friends realized that Willow was lost to them. "You bastard!" was all Giles could say, so great was his rage. Laughing in pure evil glee, the two vampires took off to the back of the library, and escaped through the tunnels, entering their home a while later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 10

A few days later.

Willow was laying in bed when the idea finally formed in her thoughts. She’d had a vague notion of how to accomplish her goal, but until this moment, she hadn’t known exactly how to do it. Getting out of bed, she made sure she didn’t wake Angelus, and made her way into the main room of the mansion, her new senses telling her it was just before noon. Finding a comfortable chair, she sat down and called to her the one who had been on her thoughts for days.

Hearing a noise, she looked up as Drusilla came into the room. The insane vampiress had been reclusive since Willow had come. <Probably plotting ways to get her ‘daddy’ back. As if I’d let her!> thought Willow. Motioning for her to sit down in the chair Willow had placed across from hers, she began her task.

Looking deep into Drusilla’s eyes, she allowed herself to be pulled into the other’s mind. Concentrating all her power, Willow began the slow and painful job of fitting all the floating pieces of Drusilla’s mind back together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sensing it was sunset, Angelus awoke in bed to find himself alone. Feeling that something wasn’t right, he went in search of his mate. He found her downstairs.

Rushing over to her unconscious form slumped in the chair, he didn’t even spare a glance at his other childe who was also unconscious, across from Willow. The minions came running at their Master’s call, surprised and slightly scared when they saw the scene before them.

"Find me some fresh blood. NOW!" he ordered them, his tone not leaving any room for argument. Angelus was terrified. His mate was hurt and he didn’t even know why. He felt helpless.

"What’s all the bloody racket for. You finally realize that sunlight burns?" asked the blonde Brit from one of the doorways. Seeing his princess in the same predicament as Willow brought Spike over to her side in an instant. His secret of being able to walk had been revealed by Willow the previous day, when she’d decided she’d had enough with all the secrets in her new family.

"Dru? Baby? Wake up, princess." panic slowly seeping into his voice. Watching her closely, he noticed her eyes flutter slightly before they opened. What surprised him the most, was that for the first time in over a century, they were clear and bright, not glazed with her madness. Growling from behind him distracted Spike for an instant.

"Willow! Open your eyes. OPEN THEM, WILLOW!" becoming more panicked and enraged as the minutes passed with no response from her.

"Don’t worry, Angel. She’s just tired. Give her time, and she’ll wake up." came Dru’s soft reply. Looking at her sharply, Angel noticed something different about her, but couldn’t tell what. "What’s wrong with her?!"

"She made me better. She undid all that you did. But she’s tired now." It was then that Angelus saw that Drusilla’s madness was gone. He understood now. Willow had heeled her mind, but it had taken so much out of her, that her body had shut down to repair itself. <When the food gets here, she’ll be better. She needs to get something into her.> It was also at that moment that he realized that Dru’s cryptic and nonsense sayings weren’t from her madness, but a part of her. <Probably a quirk she got from me!>

Pulling his attention off his now-sane childe, he picked up his mate, and took her upstairs. Saying before he left, "Send up one of the meals when the boys get back.". Turning his back on the room, he carried Willow to their room. Laying her gently on the bed, he sat down next to her, thinking over all they had done the past few days. <I can’t lose her now. We’ve been so happy these last days.> Since a replacement Slayer had yet to arrive, the Hellmouth was without a Slayer to patrol it, as Buffy was in chains in the basement. That thought brought a smile to his face. Willow did have a mean streak in her. He’d never seen anyone with that kind of lust for torture and blood, except for Spike and himself.

Gently brushing the hair away from her face, he recalled the past few nights. It had been an all out hunt-fest in Sunnydale, with his Willow leading the way. He was so proud of her. She’d earned the respect of all the vamps in the town, without killing any of them. But they all knew she’d dust them in a second if they so much as thought of betraying her. <A true queen.>

Looking down, he found himself staring into a pair of luminous green eyes. "You’re awake. It’s about time." he said. Then, letting out all his pent up tension and worry, "What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have fried your brain!" he yelled.

"Shhhhh, Angelus. I’m alright. I knew what I was doing." came her calm reply. She understood his mood. He was worried about her. If she were being truthful, she had been worried there, for a minute. Putting back together Drusilla’s mind had taken more out of her than she had expected. Her body had immediately demanded rest from her, time to heal. Thus, she had passed out. Now, she was starving and let Angelus know about it.

Laughing, he told her that he’d sent the minions out for some food for her and Drusilla. "But I want to hunt." came her petulant reply.

"You’re too weak, right now. Get some food into you, and we’ll go hunting." seeing that she still wasn’t content, he added "I’m sure Dru will want to come." pleased when he saw her smile. He was constantly amazed at this person who was his mate. He had sone something extremely nice for Dru, even though she knew that the insane vampiress was plotting ways to kill Willow. It was then that he realized that some of her kind heart had stayed with her, when she’d been turned, but that her kindness seemed to only be directed towards those in her family. Namely, Spike, him, and Dru, not her former friends.

Hearing a knock on the door, they both turned to see Spike standing there, the vampire behind him holding the body of an unconscious resident of Sunnydale. "Foods here." was all he said, motioning for the minion to bring his burden into the room, giving it to Willow as she got off the bed to meet him. Without a word, her demonic ridges appearing as she fed from the hapless girl. Spike look on in fascination as his sire’s mate fed, amazed that this girl had given him his princess back. Dru was sane, and no longer plotting Willow’s death. Plus, she was devoted to Spike, no longer passing him over for Angel, who she no longer referred to as ‘daddy’. <Thank bloody Satan! My dark goddess is here to stay, and she’s all mine.> Deciding that he’d let Willow and Angelus have time alone, he turned from the room and headed for his and Dru’s room. Thinking back, he was flabbergasted by the fact that Willow had convinced him to not hide the fact that he could walk. Now, he was glad. Unlife had become better since Willow had come into their lives. He knew that every vampire in Sunnydale would gladly follow her in anything she decided, even if it was walking out into daylight. <Angelus inspires fear, and his mate inspires respect. What a combo.>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the Library

"What the bloody hell...." cursed Giles under his breath, drawing the attention of the other occupants of the room.

"What’s the matter, G-man." asked Xander, curious as to what had caused the tweedy librarian to use such language.

"I’ve been going over the spell to restore Angelus’ soul.....translating it and such.....it doesn’t make any sense....." he replied absently.

"Why are you wasting you’re time on Deadboy’s curse?! We should be figuring out how to help Willow, find Buffy and dust evil Angel!" cried Xander, missing the big picture all together.

"Xander! Please use your brain for something other than a paper weight." said Giles, unable to believe the boy’s denseness. "If we can find out what went wrong with the spell that Willow performed, then we can fix it, and use it to give Willow back HER soul."

"Oh." was all he said.

"So what’s the problem?" asked Oz.

"Well, I’ve only translated the first few lines, but it doesn’t seem like any spell. It’s more like babbling."

"Well, maybe if you read it to us, we could help you some."

"Here it goes, ‘A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away......’" began Giles. However, he was interrupted by Xander, who was choking on the pop he had just taken a gulp of. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I’m just guessing that Willow was turned before she ever did the curse." said Xander.

"What makes you say that?" inquired Giles, truly curious.

"It’s the opening to ‘Star Wars’." supplied Oz, feeling sad. His girlfriend was truly lost to him.

"‘Star Wars’?"

"Yeah, you know, the movie?" answered Xander.

"Well, then..... It appears as though we must come up with some other plan." said Giles. "We have to assume that Willow and Angelus have Buffy."

"What makes you say that?" asked Oz.

"Well, we didn’t know she was missing until Willow and Angelus mentioned it. How would they know unless they had taken her?" finished Xander, following Giles’ train of thought.

"So do we have a plan?" questioned Oz.

"I believe I have an idea." said Giles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 11

At the Mansion

Angelus and Spike were having an argument about the best way to skin a cat, when one of the minions came rushing into the room.

"Master Angelus! You must come quick! Lady Willow’s been taken!" he said in a rush. He was terrified to be there, but knew that his death would be slow and painful if he didn’t reveal what he’d seen as soon as possible.

"What do you mean ‘taken’?" he roared. <I knew I never should have let her go out hunting alone with Dru.> But the red head had a way of convincing him to do things he normally wouldn’t.

"Well, I was in the park, looking for something to eat. I noticed that Lady Willow and Lady Drusilla were also hunting in the park. Before I had a chance to do anything, I saw that librarian and the two boys attack them."

"Well!? What happened? I don’t believe for a second that they would both be taken down by such imbeciles!" shouted Angelus. He wasn’t over-reacting. Those idiots had taken his mate and his childe, but he knew Willow wasn’t dead. He would have felt it if she had been dusted, besides, that group would never be able to kill one of their own. But he still couldn’t figure out how they had taken them.

"I saw the dark haired boy shoot Lady Willow with some sort of gun, and then she just collapsed." the minion paused there, unwilling to go on. He knew that what he said next would be his death.

"Dru wouldn’t just stand there and let that happen. She adores Willow." this was the first thing Spike had said since the minion had come in. As he said the words, a sense of dread overcame him, as if he knew what the next words out of the minions mouth would be.

"She didn’t............ Lady Drusilla went wild, attacking the three of them." pausing again.

"Well! What happened? Did they get her too?" asked an impatient Spike.

"No." he said slowly. "They staked her." Expecting an outburst of violence and a quick death, the minion was surprised, and even more terrified, at the long silence that followed his statement. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Spike spoke.

"They’re dead. The lot of ‘em." was all he said, before turning on his heels and walking out of the room.

Realizing it was too late to do anything for his mate didn’t add to Angelus’ mood, either. Instead, he went into the basement where the chained Slayer was being held, and took his anger and frustration out on her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jolting upright in a flash, Willow opened her eyes and saw she was in the cage in the library. Thinking back, she tried to put her memories together to form a coherent picture. She remembered hunting with Dru, using the time as bonding-time with the now sane vampire....... then two Slayerettes with the librarian...........something hit her in the chest........she felt herself falling into unconsciousness........as her eyes were about to close......Dru going wild........and then a poof as she was dusted. With the realization that Dru was dead, came a growl from deep in Willow’s chest.

Hearing her growl in the cage, the occupants of the library turned to see a very angry, very vamped out Willow, awake and pissed.

"Let me out of here and I’ll make sure your deaths are as quick as possible!" she growled. Ignoring her comment, Oz approached the cage with sad, yet expectant, eyes.

"Willow." he began. "You don’t have to be this way. I know there has to be a part of you that remembers who you are."

"Don’t waste your breath, wolfboy. This IS who I am. The Willow you remember was only a pathetic shell. Shy. Quiet. Mousy. Never had the nerve to go after what she really wanted." she snarled, every minute getting angrier. "And what I want right now is your still-beating heart in the palm of my hand. You killed Dru! You’ll die slow!"

"She was nutso, Willow. Bonkers. Wacko. The world is a better place with one less psycho vamp running around." said Xander.

"You idiots! Do you think I went to all that work to rebuild her mind, just so you asses can kill her?!" she yelled. "It took me a good 6 hours to put her mind back together!"

"You reversed Drusilla’s madness?" asked Giles in astonishment. He knew Willow had power, but he’d never thought it was this strong. To rebuild a broken mind was VERY difficult. Add to it the fact that the person in question had powers of her own, only added to the complexity of the task.

Willow looked at Giles while he contemplated what it meant. <Finally, he’s beginning to understand the full capacity of my powers.> she thought with an evil smile playing across her lips. Once she dropped that bombshell, Willow decided to leave it for now. She could smell the dawn coming, and knew no rescue would be forthcoming this day. She’d have to wait until sunset.

"Bored now." was all she said, as she turned around and began to pace back and forth in the cage. Her mind already plotting the mind games she could play with them. But she’d also have to inform them of her mated state and all it represented. <Don’t want them going out, thinking that they can dust him.> realizing that no matter how good a vampire was, there was no avoiding an arrow from a ‘sniper’, of sorts. You can only avoid what you know is coming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting in his office, Giles’ mind went over all that had happened that day. They had captured Willow, hoping to help her by either cursing her with a soul or find a way to bring back the Willow they all knew and loved. Staking her was a last resort. Correction, it WAS a last resort, until she explained in great detail about her ‘mate’ and what would happen if either of them was killed. Little was known about mated vampires, mainly because there hadn’t been any in over two hundred years. <And the chaos that abounded the last time cannot be allowed to happen again.> The only option open to them was to kill both Angelus and Willow. However, as with other plans, this one had several holes. One, they would have to be together, as once one was gone, the other would be almost impossible to stop once he/she got started. Two, there was no way an aging Watcher and three teens could take on that many vampires (as Angelus would have his legion of minions with him). One Slayer was missing, held captive and tortured (confirmed by Willow - in GREAT detail), and the other one not ready, as she’d just been called. Three, if they did somehow manage to live through all of this without killing Willow and Angel, there was still the fact that the group would be hunted by the vampires. And four, if they did succeed in killing Willow and Angelus, there was still Spike to deal with, as he would be out for their blood as soon as possible, for the staking of his long-time love. <I need some tea.> he thought. His head felt like it was going to explode, but at this moment, that sounded like a good idea.

Getting up to prepare his soothing cup of tea, he wandered past his bookshelf of ‘forbidden’ books. Stopping, he ran the list of spells through his mind, finally finding the right one. Finding the book, he found the page.

"I can do this...." he mumbled under his breath, ideas already forming in his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 12

Angelus was in a mood. And not a good one. His mate had been taken, and was being held for ransom: the Slayer. That made his bad mood become even worse. But images of how he would get revenge ran through his mind, lessening his ire a little. Not much, but a little.

Stalking through the park, he concentrated on the moment, eager to have his mate back. A note had been slipped under the front door of the mansion earlier this afternoon, setting a time and place for the exchange of one female for another. The time - thirty minutes after sunset. The place - the old fountain in the park. Glancing behind him, Angelus was pleased to see that Buffy was being carried, rather than have her walk on her own. Walking had become something of a wishful dream of the Slayer’s, after having Spike, and later Angelus, take into her for the loss of Drusilla and the capture of Willow. Already, plans were forming in the back of his mind, most ending with the bloodied corpses of the entire Scooby Gang littering the streets of Sunnydale.

Reaching the meeting place, he noticed that those left of the Slayerettes were all there. He also saw that Willow wasn’t among them.

"Where is she?" he all but growled at them.

"As if we’d trust you to leave quietly after you get Willow back." said Xander. "The second you get your cold hands on her, we’d all be vampire supper!"

"She’s safe, for the moment." was all Giles said. Looking beyond Angelus, he saw his Slayer being held up by two of Angelus’ minions. "Is she alright?" motioning to Buffy.

"Spike spent some ‘quality’ time with her, this afternoon." mocked Angelus. "She’s fine, for the moment. Now, where’s Willow?" his mocking tone gone.

"Hand over Buffy, and we’ll tell you." reasoned Giles, hoping to have this end easily, and hopefully, with little to no blood.

"As if I’d trust you to actually tell me where she is." sending the same words back at them.

"You need to ask yourself a question, Angelus. Do we want Buffy more than you want Willow?" seeing the dark look pass over the vampire’s face, Giles knew he’d hit it square on. Growling deep in his chest, Angelus realized that what he said was true. He would give almost anything to get Willow back. But he hated to know that that damn librarian knew it too.

"I’m leaving two of the boys here. You don’t touch her until I send word that Willow is safe. If you’re lying to me, they’ll kill you all." said Angelus. Seeing that it was the best he would get from the vampire, Giles nodded.

"Giles, you can’t!" cried Xander. "He’ll kill us all, anyways!"

"Got to agree with him." said Oz, no emotion in his voice. Cordelia, for once, had nothing to say through this whole ordeal.

"I’ve guaranteed us some protection." was all Giles said to the group of teenagers. Turning to Angelus, "She’s in Angel’s old apartment. She should be waking up in about ten minutes."

Not waiting to see who followed him, Angelus spun on his heels, and ran in the direction his mate was in. Reaching it in record time, he stepped into the main room, searching her out. Vaguely aware that Spike had followed him from the park, his eyes caught on the sight of his Willow, slumped on the floor. Rushing to her, he lifted her up in his arms just as the tranquilizers wore off.

"Angelus...?" she whispered. Her head hurt and there was a hunger in her that she hadn’t felt since she was turned. Controlling the hunger, she opened her eyes in time to see Spike leave the room.

"I’ll kill them for this." was all he said as he carried her from the apartment to the mansion.

Laying her down on the bed, he noticed her paleness. "You haven’t fed in awhile. I’ll go get you something." Turning to leave the room, he was stopped by her soft plea. "Don’t."

"Don’t what?" he asked.

"Giles has been busy with his magic, today. He cast several spells. One was to prevent us from harming any person inside the city limits off Sunnydale, until sunrise." she said, pushing the hunger away. What she had to say was more important than her stomach. Struggling to sit up, she tried to explain to him what Giles had done.

"We have to leave. By sunrise."

"Why leave? And why so soon?" he asked. He knew there was something important she was trying to tell him, and he had a feeling her REALLY wasn’t going to like it.

"He put a spell on all the vampires in town. At sunrise it will activate." she said, her voice growing stronger with each word. "It gives us an aversion to blood - makes us despise the taste, smell and thought of blood. However, it only affects us as long as we’re in the town limits. Leave, and it dissipates."

"So we’ll just leave town to feed. It’ll take longer, but in the end, we can...." he began, only to be interrupted.

"That’s not all he did. He was very busy all day, casting spells and making plans." she said. "His last one was a type of binding. It is also activated at sunrise. Any vamps left in town are locked in the city limits for eternity, or until they die, which won’t be long. But if those vampires are outside the city limits, then it bans them from entering the town. It’s like revoking the invitation to a house, only Giles managed to do it to the whole town." with that said, Willow lay back down on the bed, exhausted but slowly recovering.

Getting up from the bed, Angelus looked down at his mate. "Then we’ll leave town before sunrise." he said, before leaving the room to get her some blood they kept around, in case of emergencies.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he saw that most of the minions had returned, and so had Spike. Informing them quickly of the need to leave town before sunrise, and why, he then moved on as Spike took control of the move.

Returning upstairs, he gave the bottle and a glass to Willow, then proceeded to pack up their belongings. There wasn’t much really, just clothes and a box of Angelus’ that held some treasured keepsakes from the ‘good old days’. Things like Drusilla’s rosary, from when she took her vows as a nun (minus the cross), the ring off his first meal as a vampire, and Spike’s first spike. <Ahhhh, what memories.> he thought.

"The boys are packing up as we speak. We’ll be out of town well before sunrise."

"Do you know where we should go?" she asked. On such short notice, it would be hard to find a place big enough for the whole group.

"I have a house on the beach, about an hour from here. It’s all boarded up......very nice view of the ocean, when you actually go outside." even as she was speaking, Angelus had been making plans. As Willow realized this, she also came to realize that his mind was always working. As an event happened, his mind came up with dozens of different ways to deal with it or avoid it. He was truly amazing. <And he’s all mine.> came the thought, which sent tingles up her spine. As if reading her thoughts, he walked over to her sitting form, and lowered his head to her lips in a brutal kiss. He showed her how much he’d missed her, and how much he loved her. They both realized that there wasn’t time to get into anything, and broke away from each other. But her eyes promised him everything later.

"Is there any loophole in this damn spell?" he asked, getting back to the subject at hand.

"Well, there is one. I’m sure Giles never considered this, when he was casting all these nasty spells." teasing him with her answer.

"What is it?" he nearly growled.

"Well, we can’t be invited back in, unless everyone involved in the spell invites us back into town............But, any other vampire can come and go as they please." she said, letting her hands glide up and down his chest and shoulders. She’d been away from her mate for too long, and wanted to show him how much she had missed him, but knew that this wasn’t the time. The place, but not the time.

"So....we get another vamp into town to do the killing for us....." he finished for her. Searching his mind, he came up with the perfect candidate to fill the position they’d leave open in Sunnydale. Marcus was the last childe he’d made, before being cursed by those damn gypsies. He had his number in New York. <Yes, perfect.> Marcus had been one of his better children, right up there with Spike, Dru and Willow, but he’d never had the time to really teach and train him. <Oh, well. He’s bloodthirsty and vicious. And still my childe. He can’t refuse my offer of a Hellmouth, even if he wanted to.>

That decision made, he returned to the task of packing up to leave the Hellmouth. It wasn’t as bad as he would have thought, leaving Sunnydale. He thought he’d be angry, being forced to leave, but instead he felt almost relieved. A whole new world lay out there. A world in which his newest childe and mate had no experience in. Just thinking of all the mischief and destruction they would wrought together almost made him giddy.

Finished with the packing, he turned, reached out his hand to Willow, and left the mansion and Sunnydale, for good. Heading towards a new life of mayhem and torture.

The End.
 
 

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