------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 

Willow didn't know where she was as she glanced around. It looked like
they were in a cave. . .but she knew she'd been transported to an another
dimension. She could feel it.

Her eyes widened when she saw the demon sitting in front of her. She'd
been so busy trying to figure out where she was that she hadn't even
noticed him.

'He looks like a demon' she thought. 'But why isn't he attacking me?'

"You have much anger and pain. Your magic is strong but your pain. . .it's
like a scream that pierces dimensional walls. We heard your call,"
D'Haffryn said.

Willow glanced a the demon. 'You heard my call? What are you?' she
thought.

"I'm sorry. I- I'll try for a. . .quiet rage. Bye," she said nervously,
turning to leave.

D'Haffryn's minions stopped her.

"Our intention is not to quash your potential," D'Haffryn said. "Quite the
contrary."

Willow turned around when she heard his words. D'Hoffryn smiled slightly
when he saw he had the witch's attention.

"The pain and suffering your brought upon those you love is inspired, You
are ready to join us here in Arashmaharr," D'Hoffryn continued.

"Pain? What pain?" Willow asked, her voice breaking. She was scared.

A grayish screen appeared between D'Haffryn's hands. Willow watched as her
friends fought off a group of demons unsuccessfully on the screen.

"This is the result of your power. You'll make a fine vengeance demon,"
D'Hoffryn explained.

'Oh god. Vengeance demon' she thought.

D'Hoffryn motioned her forward. Willow walked slowly to him because she
didn't know what else to do.

He touched her face when she was close enough. "It's your choice. But just
know that I can make life miserable for your friends," he said.

"And what happens if I agree?" Willow asked.

D'Hoffryn shrugged. "You become a vengeance demon. Things for your friends
would go back to normal," he answered.

Willow could sense a but coming. "But?" she prodded.

"But. . .if you agree, you'll be a demon. Which means you really won't fit
in with them anymore. And whenever they're hurt and ask for help through
their pain, you'll be in charge of granting it to them," D'Hoffryn
explained.

"So I'd still be able to help them. . .and still use my magic," Willow
mumbled.

"Yes. And it'll give you a purpose for your magic. . .and allow you to
become stronger at it," D'Hoffryn said.

Willow thought for a few minutes about the past month of her life Her
parents were never around and she hadn't talked to them since she'd left
for colege; she knew they really didn't care. Then Oz had cheated. . .she
was still dealing with that. The pain wasn't lessening, though.

The next thing she thought about brought a bitter smile to her face. Her
friends. 'They don't care either' she thought, as she remembered how her
friends would've done anything to get away from her when she was crying
over Oz.

'Buffy, Xander, and Giles didn't care unless it disrupted their lives' she
thought. Her anger subsided as she made her decision.

"Ok. I'll do it," she told D'Hoffryn.

D'Hoffryn rubbed his hands together. "Wonderful! Anyanka was out last
vengeance demon and that was 1120 years ago," he said.

'Anya,' Willow thought.

"Now when she was a demon, she got to travel all over the world. And you
will get to do that eventually. But for now I want you to focus on that
Hellmouth you live on," he said.

Willow nodded.

"We'll keep careful watch on you from here in Arashmahadd to make sure
you're not betraying us," D'Hoffryn said.

Willow screamed as an electrical shock hit her. She collapsed on the floor
as darkness entered her vision.

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

The Scooby Gang looked at each other as the demons they'd been fighting
disappeared.

After Buffy and Spike finally got over the shock that they'd been about to
get married, a seriousness fell over the group.

"What happened here?" Buffy asked, looking at her friends.

Xander and Spike shrugged. A sad look came to Anya's eyes.

"Anya, what is it?" Buffy asked.

"I. . .I don't think we'll be seeing Willow for awhile," she answered.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked. Xander and Spike looked at the ex-demon.

Anya stepped away from the portal she'd been trying to open. "I think
Willow offered herself in return for our safety," she replied.

She got three blank stares as a response.

The ex-demon rolled her eyes at how dense this group could be.

"Since I don't seem to be speaking English, I'll try to explain this
again. If this works the same way it did 1120 years ago, then D'Hoffryn
offered Willow a choice. She can come back to this reality and watch her
friends die, or she can become a vengeance demon and we're all safe. Plus,
she can still use her magic to do her vengeance work," Anya explained.

"Vengeance against men?" Xander asked carefully.

Anya nodded. She didn't bother to say anything because she knew that Buffy
and Xander weren't going to take this news about their best friend well.

"Anya, open that portal now! We have to get to that world," Buffy said,
walking toward the unopened portal.

Anya grabbed the Slayer's arm. "Buffy, listen to me. You can't just go
walking into Arashmahadd. . .you'll die. And D'Hoffryn is immortal; you
can't kill him," she said.

Buffy sighed, defeated. "So what do we do?" she asked the ex-demon.

"There's nothing we can do. Willow's gone," Anya replied.

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

When Willow woke up awhile later, she found that D'Hoffryn had moved her.
She remembered collapsing in the floor, and now she was on a bed
surrounded by purple velvet sheets.

"How do you feel, child?" a voice asked.

Willow rolled over and found herself looking at D'Hoffryn, who was sitting
at the foot of the bed.

"I feel strong," Willow replied, sitting up.

D'Hoffryn smiled slightly. "Good. You'll feel stronger as you get more
used to your powers. But since you're a part of Arashmahadd now, you have
access to all the books and secrets that we have. You should start
becoming familiar with the spells you'll need to know to perform your
job," he said.

Willow watched as D'Hoffryn started to leave the room. "Wait," she said,
stopping him. "Am I allowed to contact anyone?" she asked.

D'Hoffryn stopped in the doorway. "As long as it's a demon," he answered.

"He is. A vampire," Willow said.

"Very well," D'Hoffryn replied, nodding. "Tell me where he lives and I'll
send you through a portal.

"L.A," Willow replied as a portal opened in front of her.

****
 

"I just can't believe this," Buffy said, pacing back and forth. "This is
all my fault."

"Buff, it's not your fault," Xander replied.

"Yes it is. You all three know that I spent most of my time with Riley. If
I'd spent more time with Willow, she might not have felt so lonely," Buffy
said.

"You're right," Anya answered.

Buffy glared at the ex-demon. "Thanks, Anya," she said.

"Hey, you said it first. I was only agreeing," Anya explained.

Xander sighed. "Then I'm to blame, too. I didn't spend much time with
Willow either. She was so whiny. And she used to be reliable. But after Oz
left, she was a completely different person," he said.

"So neither of you bothered to be there for your 'best friend' because you
were both too busy with your own lives," Anya said.

Xander glared at his girlfriend. "Why are you complaining? I spent all my
time with you," he replied.

Anya couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Yeah. Keep telling yourself
that if it makes you sleep better at night," she said.

"What are you saying?" Xander asked.

"She's saying that you two are bad friends. I can't believe you'd do that
to Red. She'd do anything for anyonr and this is how her best friends
treat her," Spike explained.

Buffy looked at Anya and Spike guiltily. Xander just glared at them.

"Let's go, Buffy. I don't think we're wanted here," Xander said.

The two of them left, leaving Spike and Anya alone.

"I can't believe those two," Anya said angrily.

"I know, pet. I'm not surprised about Buffy doing that, but Xander I'm
shocked about," Spike replied.

"What are we going to do?" Anya asked.

Spike thought for a minute. "I think we should talk to peaches," he
answered.

Anya looked at Spike in confusion.

"Angel," he explained. "He'd know what to do. If we can do anything."

"So we're going to L.A?" Anya asked.

Spike nodded. "Let's go. I'll drive," he answered.

The two of them walked back to campus, where Spike had left his car
earlier.

"Do you think we'll see Red again?" Spike asked as he and Anya got in his
car. Spike pulled the car out of the parking lot and headed for the
highway.

Anya sighed before she answered. "I honestly don't know. I think you and I
will because we're not human. And we both know enough magic to call her
forth if we want to. I doubt Buffy and Xander will ever see her again,"
she replied.

Spike shook his head as he pulled out into the highway traffic. "Not that
either of them seem to care right now," he said.

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

Willow stepped out of the portal and found herself about two blocks from
Angel's office in L.A.

She felt the presence of evil around her, but they kept away. . .they
could all sense that she was a demon. Willow smiled as she realized the
power she had.

Willow walked to two blocks to Angel's and then stopped outside. She took
a deep breath before she went inside.

"Willow! What are you doing here?" Cordelia asked from behind the desk.

Angel stepped out of his office. "Willow," Angel said, coming over and
hugging the red-head.

Willow hugged Angel tight, breaking down into tears. Angel let her cry for
awhile, not pulling away until she'd stopped.

He could tell that something was very wrong, but he didn't want to push.
"You know you're safe here, Willow. What's wrong?" he said.

Willow didn't know what to say, so she started with a question. "Angel? Do
you know who D'Hoffryn is?" she asked.

Cordelia, who was still at her desk, grabbed her purse and left the
building. Willow was grateful for that.

"D'Hoffryn?" Angel repeated. "He rules the demon dimension."

Willow nodded. "Arashmahadd," she said.

"Yeah. But how do you know about that, Willow? A human isn't supposed to
know about that dimension," Angel said.

Willow looked at Angel, and he could see the hurt and pain behind her
eyes.

"Willow. . .what did he do to you?" Angel asked.

The red-head walked over to Cordelia's desk and sat down. She told Angel
everything that had happened in the last month. . .how hurt she'd been
over Oz, how Buffy, Xander, and Giles hadn't wanted to be bothered with
her, and about the spell she'd cast.

"I walked in the dorm room, and D'Hoffryn was there. He took me to the
demon dimension," Willow finished.

"Did he make you a demon?" Angel asked.

Willow nodded. "He told me if I became a vengeance demon, he's spare the
gang's lives," she replied.

Angel looked at the girl sitting at Cordelia's desk and his heart went out
to her. He knew she'd had a hard time for the last few months and he
couldn't believe Buffy and Xander had been so insensitive.

Angel walked over and hugged Willow; he'd really become fond of her in the
few months since he'd left Sunnydale.

Willow shook as he held her.

They broke apart when they heard the office door fly open. Angel and
Willow looked up to see Spike and Anya standing in the door.

"Peaches, we have a big problem. The Slayer's screwed up again and now
Willow -" Spike said, trailing off when he saw Willow in the arms of his
sire.

"And she's here in L.A," Anya said.

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

Spike breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Willow. 'So she's ok' he
thought.

He thought about hugging her, but he decided not to because Angel seemed
to be protective of Wilow.

He knew his sire had feelings for Willow even if no one else noticed it.
He smiled knowingly ay Angel, but the dark-haired vampire just shook his
head at his childe.

Angel looked questioningly at Anya, and Spike realized that the two of
them had never met before.

"Oh. Anya, this is Angel. . .Angel, this is Anya," Spike said.

Anya smiled at Angel. "S you're the one who dumped Buffy," she said,
looking him up and down. "What's she see in Riley after she had you/'

"Anya!" Spike said.

"What?! He's a hunk. Riley's just a freak," she answered.

Spike looked at his sire and shook his head. "You sometimes have to ignore
Anya here. She has quite a way with words," he explained.

Finally the attention went back to Willow.

"So. . .are you. . .human?" Spike asked.

Willow shook her head and explained the deal D'Hoffryn had made with her.
She never saw this day coming; the day when she actually had something in
common with Anya and Spike.

"I don't know if there's a way to reverse this," Angel said. "All we can
do is talk to the Oracles."

Anya shook her head. "The Oracles won't help. I talked to them 1120 years
ago when D'Hoffryn made me a demon," she answered.

"Why won't they help?" Angel asked, looking at Anya.

"Well you all know how there are demons put in this world to help even out
good and evil. . .and sometimes to help keep peace. A vengeance demon is
one of those. She has to maintain balance between men and women. See, I
was the last vengeance demon called. . .there hasn't been one since I lost
my powers last year," Anya explained.

"So good and evil are out of balance," Spike said.

"And Willow got called because of the pain and lonliness. She has to
maintain the order," Angel added.

****

Xander threw a book across the room and looked at Buffy, who was laying on
his bed. "Can you believe how Spike and Anya talked to us?" he asked.

"I know. Like we're the only bad friends. They probably tore into us
because they're feeling guilty themselves. Especially Anya since she made
you spend all your time with her instead of with us," Buffy answered.

There was a knock on the basement door. Xander opened the door and they
saw Giles standing outside.

"G-man! Come on in," Xander said.

Giles came in the basement and looked at the two teenagers. 'I was worried
sick and they were here having fun' he thought angrily.

"I take it things went smoothly since everything went back to normal,"
Giles said.

"Didn't we can you?" Buffy asked, glancing at Xander.

Xander shook his head. "We were mad at Anya and Spike. We didn't call
him," he answered.

"So you two just let me sit in my apartment and worry because you were too
mad at your friends to call? You two could have been dead for all I knew,"
Giles said angrily.

Buffy looked at the floor guiltily. "I'm sorry, Giles," she said quietly.

"You should be, Buffy. It wouldn't have killed you to call me," Giles
answered.

"There is one thing you should know, Giles," Xander said.

Giles raised his eyebrow, waiting to hear what Xander had to say.

"It's about Willow. Have you ever heard of a demon called D'Hoffryn?"
Buffy asked.

The ex-Watcher thought for a minute and then shook his head. "No. What
about him?" he asked.

Xander took a deep breath before he answered. He knew Giles wasn't going
to be happy. "D'Hoffryn is the one who made Anya a demon 1100 years ago.
He somehow got Willow and. . ." he said.

Giles closed his eyes as he took this in. "Xander, please don't tell me
that he made Willow a demon," he said.

"Ok, I won't tell you. But he did," Xander replied.

"Do you two have any idea how someone becomes a vengeance demon? Because
of lonliness," Giles said.

Xander shrugged. "If she was that lonely, she should have said something,"
he said.

"Maybe she did and you two just weren't listening? I seriously doubt
either of you would have paid attention to her anyway. If you cared, you
two would have stopped what you were doing and asked yourselves why Willow
was spending most of her time either alone or with me," Giles said.

"We weren't *that* wrapped up in our lives," Buffy said quietly.

"Yes you were, Buffy. You spent more time with Riley than with Willow when
she really needed you. And Xander, you spent all of your time with Anya.
You both chose your love life over your best friend. I have to say I'm
disappointed in you both," Giles answered.

Tears came to Buffy's eyes at Giles' words. "I don't need to hear this,
Giles. I already feel guilty enough," the Slayer said.

"Actually I think you do need to hear it, Buffy. Both of you do. I know
this isn't entirely your fault because Willow made the final choice, but
you two should have been there for her more," Giles replied.

"I know we should've been. Spike and Anya already told us all this. But
Willow made the choice and she has to live with it," Buffy said.

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

Willow sighed and leaned back in the chair. She was trying to take in
everything that her three friends were saying.

'Friends' she thought with a smile. She looked at the two vampires and the
ex-vengeance demon. She never thought she'd hear herself calling Spike and
Anya friends.

'But they actually came to L.A to see what they could do. You don't see
Buffy and Xander here' she told herself. At least Angel, Anya, and Spike
were here for her.

"Do you think you could talk to D'Hoffryn and see if he'd give me my
powers back? Put in a good word for me," Anya said.

Spike looked at the girl beside him. "Do you really want your powers
back?" he asked.

"I'd love to have them back," she answered, looking at Spike. "I don't
exactly fit in this world. Especially with the teenagers. What a
punishment D'Hoffryn gave me for losing my powers!"

"You fit in my world, though," Spike said quietly. He thought he's said it
to where no one could hear him. But Angel looked at him knowingly.

"So where can I stay?" Anya asked.

Spike looked at her. "You're staying? Don't you think Xander will be
looking for you?" he asked. He saw a flash of hurt in Willow's eyes and he
instantly regretting saying Xander's name.

"I plan to stay for a few days if Angel has room. I don't care if Xander
looks for me. Maybe we can find a way to help Willow," Anya answered.

"I have room. You two can have the couches downstairs," Angel said.

"You'd make a girl sleep on the couch?" Anya asked in shock.

Angel rolled his eyes. 'Where did they find this girl?' he wondered.
"Fine. You can have my bed. I'll take the couch," he replied, his mind
already on something else.

"What is it, Angel?" Spike asked, noticing the look on his sire's face.

"I think I want to pay a visit to the Oracles," the dark-haired vampire
replied.

"The Oracles?" Spike asked in confusion. Anya seemed to be just as
confused as he was.

"Yeah. They're sort of like. . .messengers. If you bring the right gift
and ask the right questions, they'll tell you why something happened and
give you an idea of what might happen next," Angel explained.

"I'll go with you to see them," Spike said.

While the two vampires were talking, Willow received a psychic message
from D'Hoffryn telling her that her time was up.

Willow stood up. "I have to go. My time's up," she said.

Angel stood up and took Willow in his arms. "You take care of yourself,
ok? Come back tomorrow," he said, running his hands through Willow's hair
and kissing her forehead.

A portal opened in the middle of the room. Willow took one last look at
the three people in the room and then stepped in the portal. She'd be back
in Arashmahadd in a minute.

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

Willow stepped out of the portal to find D'Hoffryn waiting for her. He
smiled slightly when he saw her. "There you are," he said. "Come here."

She wasn't scared of D'Hoffryn now. Willow walked until she was standing
in front of him. D'Hoffryn pulled a necklace from his pocket and placed it
around her neck.

Willow touched the necklace. "The necklace is your power center. You have
to wear it at all times. If you lose it then your power is gone,"
D'Hoffryn said.

'So that's how Anya lost her powers' Willow thought.

"You must spend two or three days just reading the books I gave you. Then
we'll send you to where vengeance is needed for the first month. After
that you'll be on your own," he explained.

Willow nodded. She'd been scared when D'Hoffryn had made her a demon. But
now she realized that she had a purpose in life a group of people back in
L.A who actually cared about her.

"You're going to make a fine vengeance demon. You care about people but
they've walked over you so much that now all that's left is the pain and
anger. And it's mainly hurt from men. . .one has hurt you very badly in
the past," D'Hoffryn said.

'Oz' Willow thought. The hurt she kept buried inside threatened to
overtake her, but she couldn't cry.

D'Hoffryn touched her cheek. "When you became a vengeance demon, you lost
all ability to cry. All you can do is feel the pain and use that with your
powers," he said.

Willow nodded. She couldn't even begin to imagine nights when she didn't
cry herself to sleep from the sadness and lonliness. But she couldn't wait
to find out what it was like.

*****

"You have this place really fixed up, don't you?" Spike asked as he
watched Angel lift the trap door in the floor of his bedroom.

Angel shrugged. "I have to get around somehow during the day," he replied,
climbing down the ladder into the sewers.

Spike decided to skip the ladder, jumping down into the sewers and landing
on his feet beside Angel. "Well technically it's not day," the blonde
vampire pointed out.

"Yeah, but it will be in an hour. I don't want to take any chances. Did
you bring the gift?" Angel said.

Spike pulled the antique dagger from the pocket of his duster. "Right
here," he answered. "Since when do demons want gifts anyway?"

"I haven't decided if the Oracles are demons or not. But they won't give
very much information if we don't bring an offering to them," Angel
explained.

Before Spike could say anything, a vampire stepped out of the shadows of
the tunnel. The intruder momentarily threw Angel off-track, but Spike's
reflexes kicked in. He grabbed the vampire, pinning it against the wall.

"Stake, Angel!" Spike said.

Angel drew a stake out of his black coat and drove it through the
vampire's heart. Spike and Angel watched as it exploded into dust.

Spike dusted himself off as he and Angel continued walking. "So L.A's no
different from Sunnydale, is it?" he asked.

"Not when it comes to vampires and demons. Except I've seen things here
that I never saw in Sunnydale," Angel replied, glancing around to make
sure there were no other vampires lurking in the shadows.

Finally Angel stopped. Spike glanced around, but he didn't see anything.

"Where are we? I don't see any doors or entrances," Spike said.

"We're under the post office," Angel answered. "And there's a spell I have
to read before the door appears."

"So we're under the post office? Interesting place for the Oracles when
you think about it," Spike said.

"I know. And Spike, please let me do the talking, ok? The Oracles are hard
to talk to as it is," Angel said.

"What? You don't think I'd be able to handle talking to whoever these
Oracles are?" Spike asked.

"Oh, I don't have any doubt that you could talk to them. But you do tend
to lose your temper. I'm not sure how long we'd survive in there before
they either turned you into something or threw us out," Angel replied.

Angel sat the bag down that he was carrying and pulled a book from it. He
handed it to Spike. "Turn to page 107," he said, pulling a few more things
from his bag before hiding it in the shadows.

"How do you know all this anyway?" Spike asked, flipping the book open.

"Doyle and I have been down here a few times. But he could never get past
this point because he's part human," Angel answered.

"Who's Doyle?" Spike asked.

"He's a friend of mine who helps me. And he's Cordelia's boyfriend," Angel
explained. "Ok. Let's do this," he said.

Angel read a few lines from the book Spike handed him. The blonde vampire
watched as a door opened in front of them. Angel walked inside and Spike
followed. Once they were inside, the door disappeared.

"You again?" a male voice asked impatiently.

Spike looked up to see two people dressed in black robes. 'The Oracles' he
thought.

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

Anya sighed as she wandered around Angel's apartment. She touched the
fighting ax that was hanging on the wall. 'He definately isn't expecting
company. At least not the good kind' she thought.

Finally Anya went back upstairs. The phone on Angel's desk started
ringing. There was no one there, so Anya picked up the phone in case it
was something important.

"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Anya? What are you doing there?" Giles answered on the other end.

"Giles?" Anya asked, trying to figure out the voice.

"Yeah. What are you doing there, Anya?" Giles said.

"Spike decided that the one person who could tell us about Willow was
Angel," Anya replied. "So after Buffy and Xander didn't show any
indication of caring, Spike and I came here."

"I was just calling to see what Angel could tell me. Is he there?" Giles
asked.

"He and Spike went to see some people about it. They should be back,
though," she answered.

"Alright. Anya, have you all seen or heard from Willow?" Giles asked,
dreading to hear the worst.

"She was here last night. She's a vengeance demon, Giles. Angel and Spike
are out seeing what they can do. But Angel doesn't think we can do
anything," Anya replied.

"That's what I was afraid of. I'm going to try to get to L.A. But if I
don't, then you tell Angel that if he needs anything, he can call me, ok?"
Giles said.

"Ok. I'll tell him," Anya replied, hanging up.

Anya left Angel's office and went out into the outer office. She was
looking out the window when she heard the door open.

Doyle walked into the office and stopped in his tracks when he saw Anya.
"Please tell me you're not a demon," he said in an Irish accent.

Anya shrugged. "Used to be. But no, I'm not one," she answered.

Doyle took a deep breath. "I just just making sure you weren't going to
kill me," he said.

"No worries, you're safe. I guess you could say that I'm a friend of
Angel's. Or at least he's friends with some of my friends," Anya replied.

"Well that answers my next question about what you're doing in my boss'
office," Doyle said, walking to the refrigerator and pulling out a beer.
"Want a drink?"

"Thanks," Anya said, taking the offered beer. She and Doyle sat down on
the couch together. "So what's your name?" he asked.

Before Anya could answer, Cordelia breezed into the office. "Sorry I'm
late. I overslept," she said.

Doyle smiled. "Relax, princess. Angel isn't here," he replied.

"Oh," Cordelia said, kissing her boyfriend. "In that case, neither of you
saw me come in late."

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

"What did you bring us?" the female Oracle asked.

"This," Angel replied, holding up the dagger he and Spike had brought
along.

Spike watched as the dagger flew out of Angel's hand and drifted across
the room into the hand of the Oracle.

She looked at the dagger and then back at the two vampires. "I don't know
how you got in here; you're not a hero," the female Oracle said, looking
at Spike. "But I sense that you are a warrior in your own right."

"What is it you seek?" the male Oracle asked, looking at Angel.

"Information. A friend of mine was turned into a vengeance demon," Angel
answered.

"You know that we can't change what happens. Everything happens for a
reason," the female Oracle said.

"Yeah, you've told me this before. But it doesn't explain anything," Angel
replied.

"This was a destiny chosen by your friend. There's nothing you can do to
change it. You are a warrior against the darkness to make sure that people
get to see the dawning day and your friend now has a purpose in life," the
male Oracle said.

"Things happen so that you can learn something from them. Your life and
the life of the vengeance emon are interetwined forever; as are your
fates," the female Oracle added. "She will be your light against the
dark."

"Now do not bother us again," the male Oracle said.

The next thing Spike knew, he and Angel were being thrown out of the
Oracles dimension back into the sewers.

"Well," Spike said as he and Angel stood up. "That was interesting. Do
they alays talk in tongues like that?"

"Acutlally, yeah the do. Only I usually don't get as much out of them as
we did today," Angel replied.

"Now did anything they said make sense?" Spike asked.

"Nothing they say makes sense. . .it's not supposed to. It just gives us
something to work with," Angel answered as he and Spike started walking
back through the tunnels.

"Now what?" Spike asked.

"There's one more person I want to talk to before I make any decisions
about what's happening. And that's D'Hoffryn himself," Angel replied.

"Can you do that?" Spike asked.

"What? Talk to D'Hoffryn?" Angel answered. "He rules the demon dimension,
so I don't see why I can't."

The two vampires walked back to the building Angel owned. They entered
through the door in the bedroom floor and then climbed the stairs into the
office.

Cordelia, Doyle, and Anya jumped when the two vampires entered the room.

"God, give us a heart attack!" Cordelia exclaimed. "Do you vampires ever
do anything besides sneak up on people?"

"Yeah. Sometimes we stalk people," Spike replied.

Cordelia looked at the blonde vampire and glared. "What are you doing
here, Spike? Run out of people to annoy in Sunnydale?" she asked.

"Nice to see you, too, Cordelia. It's been awhile," Spike said.

"I got your message, Angel. What did you find out from the Oracles?" Doyle
asked.

Angel sat down in one of the chairs. "They said that I can't change what's
happened and that Willow's fate is intertwined with mine. I need to go to
Arashmahadd," he answered.

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

Willow had spent the whole night reading the books D'Hoffryn had given
her. She'd been learning what she could do as vengeance demon. . .and she
had to say that she liked it.

From the books, she'd learned how to open her own portals. 'So now I can
visit Angel' she thought.

Willow stood up from the bed. She knew D'Hoffryn was asleep, so she had a
few hours before he'd realize she was gone.

She focused all her energy on one of the walls until a portal opened. She
stepped inside and the portal closed in around her. A minute later, it
opened into Angel's office.

"Willow," Angel said when Willow stepped into the office. He walked over
to the red head and hugged her.

"Wow. Way to enter a room," Cordelia said. "Hi, Willow."

Willow looked at the ex-cheerleader and smiled. "Hi, Cordelia," she
replied.

"I thought you said that only demons could see her. . .not humans," Spike
said, looking at Anya.

The ex-demon looked confused. "I didn't think they could," she answered.

"I think Cordelia can see her because she's a believer. She knows that
demons exist," Angel explained.

Willow nodded. "That and I can control who can see me," she said.

The red-head looked around at the people in Angel's office. 'They really
are my friends' she thought with a smile. 'They're trying to help me.'

"Have you seen Buffy and Xander?" Anya asked.

Willow shook her head. "No. And I don't know if I'm going to see them,"
she replied. 'And I don't have any intention of seeing them. They probably
don't even know I'm missing. Or if they do know, they probably don't care'
she thought.

"It's ok. You don't have to see them if you don't want to," Angel said.

Willow smiled. "Thank you," she answered. "I thought I might drop in on
Giles and let him know I'm ok, though."

"Did you talk to the Oracles? What did you find out?" Willow continued.

Angel shook his head. "Not much. Just that I can't change what's
happened," he replied. He decided to leave out their fates and lives. .
.he wanted to know what it meant before he told her.

"At least you tried," Willow said, hugging Angel.

"Willow, do you think I can travel through that partal with you? I need to
talk to D'Hoffryn," Angel said.

*****

Willow focused all her energy on the wall behind Angel's desk. The others
watched as a portal opened. "That's just cool how you can do that," Cordelia
said.

The red-head turned to Angel and grabbed his hand. "Let's go, Angel," she
said. Together they stepped into the portal. The four people left in the
office watched in fascination as the portal closed in around the vampire and
the vengeance demon.

A minute later, the portal opened and they found themselves in Arashmahadd.
The two of them stepped into a bedroom and Angel glanced around.

"This is my room," Willow explained.

Angel nodded and followed Willow into the other room. He raised his eyebrows
when he saw a demon sitting on the floor of the room.

'D'Hoffryn' Angel thought.

"Willow," D'Hoffryn said. "I was wondering where you were." Then he noticed
Angel. "Who are you?"

"Let's just say that I'm a friend of Willow's," Angel replied.

"Well you don't smell human. . .and if you were, you wouldn't have gotten
this far," D'Hoffryn said. He stared at Angel for a few minutes. "You're
Angelus."

"Good call," Angel replied. "But I prefer Angel if you don't mind."

"Very well," D'Hoffryn said. "What can I do for you?"

"I need some information. And I think you can help me," Angel said. "Why did
you turn Willow?"

"Because she serves our purposes. A vengenace demon must have beauty, a good
head on her shoulders. And above all else, she must fell pain, lonliness,
and isolation. Willow has all three characteristics," D'Hoffryn explained.

"I talked to some people and they said that- " Angel started to say, but
D'Hoffryn silenced him.

"I was told by powers higher than myself that a vampire would come to me,
asking questions. I guess you're him," D'Hoffryn said. A scroll appeared in
front of him and he took it in his hand. "This will answer all your
questions."

Angel took the scroll that D'Hoffryn handed him. He opened his mouth to say
something, but D'Hoffryn cut him off once again.

"I can't tell you anything more. You'll have to read the scroll," he said.
"Now go."

The next thing D'Hoffryn knew, he was being put back through a portal to his
office in L.A. Doyle, Cordelia, Spike, and Anya all looked up when he
stepped into the room.

"Angel," Doyle said when he saw his friend. Then he noticed the scroll in
the vampire's hand. "What's that?" he asked, nodding toward it.

Angel looked down at the scroll in his hand and then back at Doyle. "The
PTB's or someone told D'Hoffryn that I'd probably be there to ask
questions," he replied. "He wouldn't tell me anything outright. . .he just
gave me this scroll and said it would answer all my questions."

"What's it say?" Anya asked.

"I don't know," Angel answered. He sat down at his desk and took the scroll
out of its container. Doyle stepped behind him and glanced over the
vampire's shoulder.

"I'm going to take a very wild guess and say that's not English," Doyle
said, pointing at the writing on the scroll. "At least not any English I've
ever seen."

"It's not English. It's Latin," Angel answered.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. 'So it's going to be a long day of translatting'
she thought. "Since you're going to be busy all day, do you mind if Anya and
I go get something to eat?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Angel replied, already pre-occupied with the scroll. Cordelia
and Anya left, leaving the two vampires and the half-demon to the
translatting.

A strange look came to Angel's face. "Guess it's good that Spike and I can
speak Latin. I already know what it says," he said, handing the scroll to
Spike.

"Damn," Spike said once he'd read it.

"What's it say?" Doyle asked.

"It says, 'The second vengeance demon to walk the earth will seek the
guidance of a warrior against the darkness; a vampire cursed with a soul',"
Spike read. "'Their souls are forever intertwined. She will find her place
in the fight against evil from him and he will learn what true happiness is
from her. Thus, the true meaning of soulmates.'"

"So you and Willow are soulmates?" Doyle finally asked.

"I always told you that Buffy was all wrong for you, Peaches. Now do you
believe me?" Spike asked.

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

"I can't believe it. Can you believe how mad Giles was? Like this is all our
fault," Buffy said as she and Xander left his house.

"Well technically most of it was," Xander pointed out.

"Maybe 'some' of it was," Buffy said. "But do you really think that things
would have been different if we had have been there for Willow? It wouldn't
have been, Xander. Some things are just meant to happen, and this is one of
them."

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that if it makes you sleep better at night,
Buff," Xander said.

Buffy stopped and looked at Xander. She couldn't believe what she was
hearing. "And how much time did you spend with Willow this year, Xand? Just
the times when we were all at Giles'? Let me tell you. . .it was a lot worse
than that. I lived with her remember?"

"Well, she was whiny. . ." Xander said. "But she was our best friend and we
should've been there for her. She would have been for us."

She knew that Xander was right. "You're right, we should've been there more.
But I still say that this couldn't have been prevented," Buffy answered. "I
mean, we didn't her hand and tell Willw to become a demon. And I have to
live with the fact that my best friend was killed by one of the things that
I'm supposed to be protecting the world from."

Xander watched as Buffy broke down into tears. She started to walk away, but
Xander grabbed her arm. "Hey," he said, turning her to face him. He pulled
her into his arms.

Buffy tried to push him away, but couldn't. She sobbed against Xander's
chest.

A chill ran down Xander's spine as he had the strange feeling that they were
being watched. He glanced around but didn't see anything. If there was
something out there, it was hidden in the shadows. Xander shrugged the
feelings away, figuring he was imagining it.

But in fact he wasn't imagining it. Willow watched from the shadows of a
nearby yard as Xander held the sobbing Slayer in his arms.

"Xander, a year ago you would have walked away from Buffy for the things she
just said. And here you are holding her," Willow said to herself.

A dark shadow crossed Willow's features as she watched her two former
friends. She'd heard everything that they'd said. She couldn't keep her
anger at bay any longer.

'At least I know how they feel' she thought. Almost instinctively, Willow's
hand shot out from her side and fire erupted from it. She watched as the
fire struck one of the trees in a nearby yard and it caught on fire.

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

Anya glanced around Cordelia' apartment as they walked inside. 'This is a
nice place' she thought. 'Angel must pay his secretary good for Cordelia to
afford this'

She followed Cordelia into the kitchen and went to set down at the table.
Her eyes widened when the kitchen chair pulled itself out.

"Uh, Cordy? The chair just moved itself," Anya said.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and walked to the refrigerator. "Dennis, don't
scare Anya. You know I'm not afraid to make you listen to the Christina
Aguilera CD. I bought it just for these occassions," she said.

Anya glanced around, but there was no one in the room but the two of them
and nothing moved. 'I could have sworn she acted like she was talking to
someone' Anya said. 'Either Cordy's crazy or it's just me that is'

"Dennis is my ghost if you're wondering," Cordelia explained when she saw
the confused look on the ex-demon's face.

"Oh, you have a ghost?" Anya said. "I like ghosts."

Anya stepped in front of the chair and smiled as Dennis pushed the chair in
under her. "Thanks, Dennis," she said.

"Yeah, Dennis came with the apartment. He's not too bad, except that he gets
jealous," Cordelia said. "He's learned to accept that Angel and Doyle are
going to be running in and out of here. He used to baricade the door when
Doyle came."

Anya couldn't help but laugh at the thought. "Poor Doyle," she said.

The two girls watched as Dennis opened the refrigerator and pulled two
Cokes, placing them in front of Anya and Cordelia. He even flipped the top
open on Anya's.

"I think he likes you," Cordelia said with a laugh.

"So how do you think the guys are doing with the translating?" Anya asked.

Cordelia shrugged. "Well you know how guys are. The three of them would have
to work together to even get it translated," she said. "Then they'll have to
ask one of us what it means when they're finished." She looked at her watch.
"By now they've probably got it figured out and are kicked back with a
beer."

"Want to get back over to Angel's office and find out?" Anya asked with a
grin.

Cordelia laughed. "Yeah, let's go see if my theory is right," she answered.
The two girls left the apartment and got in Cordelia's car.

When they got to Angel Investigations, they hurried inside. Angel, Doyle,
and Spike looked up when Anya and Cordelia walked in.

The three guys were drinking, but they were actually looking at the scroll.
"I was partially right," Cordelia said to Anya with a grin.

****

D'Hoffryn walked into the dimension where the Oracles were found. At first
he hadn't been sure who'd told him that Angel would be coming to see him;
but now he knew.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw the two people standing in front of him.
'These two mere mortals are the Oracles?' he thought as he looked at them.

"What are you doing here and how did you get in? We don't deal with your
kind," the female Oracle said.

"My kind? What kind is that?" D'Hoffryn asked.

"You are a lower being. We don't deal with your kind. You should leave now,"
the male Oracle said. He and the female turned to leave.

"Wait. Stop," D'Hoffryn said, walking toward them. "I came here to talk to
you two, and you're not leaving until I say you can. You might as well talk
to me since we're working for the same purpose."

The female Oracle walked toward him. "And what purpose is that? We have
nothing in common," she said.

"Oh, but I think we do," D'Hoffryn replied. "Don't tell me it's a
coincidence that the girl I turned into a vengeance demon is somehow
connected to the vampire you work with."

The female Oracle thought before she said anything. "It's not a coincidence
that you chose that girl. Everything in life is mapped out from the time a
person is born; they just have to make choices wisely," she replied.

"What about the girl? I read that scroll and I have to say, the things it
said were interesting," D'Hoffryn said.

"Fate is stepping in. Again, it's not a coincidence that the girl was turned
at this time. She and the vampire have to admit their feelings for both of
them to be happy. She's still be a demon and he'll be a vampire, but they
are soulmates," she answered.

"And what happens if they don't admit how they feel?" D'Hoffryn asked.

"We aren't told everything, lower being," the male Oracles answered. "We've
told you everything we know, so leave."

With a snap of his fingers, he dismissed D'Hoffryn from the Oracles chamber.
He shook his head as he and his female counterpart walked further into the
chambers. "Annoying lower beings," he said.

D'Hoffryn shook his head when he found himself back in Arashmahadd. He
groaned as his head cleared. He was still angry at the way the Oracles had
treated him.

"That was interesting to say the least," he said. He glanced around, but
didn't see Willow anywhere. "Where's Willow?" he asked one of his fellow
demons.

"Don't know, sir. Last time I heard, she was on the Hellmouth, causing
trouble," the minion replied.

D'Hoffryn smiled at that. "Very good. She's got some real potential," he
said. "And even better? That she picks up so quickly."

D'Hoffryn's minion nodded, but didn't say anything. 'Sometimes it's annoying
how quiet they can be' he thouht. He shook his head and started to walk to
his room. But then he stopped.

"Jamir, tell me when Willow returns, ok? I have her first official
assignment," D'Hoffryn said.

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

Willow watched from the alley as the Sunnydale firefighters battled the fire
she'd somehow caused. It'd happened not far from Xander's house, and the
fire had spread to a nearby empty house.

She saw Buffy and Xander standing nearby, watching the firefighters. Her
anger mounted. She decided to keep her anger contained, though. 'For now
I'll keep it under control' she thought.

Willow stepped further back into the shadows. She decided to get back to
Arashmahadd. Then she stopped as a wave of pain washed over her. 'What's
happening?' she thought. Everything around her became fuzzy as she lost
control of her movements. 'It's like someone's calling me forth'

She tried to fight it, but the power was too strong. 'Magic' she realized
right before she was pulled into a portal.

When the portal opened, she found herself in a familiar home. "Willow. Nice
to see you," Giles said. He locked the front door, not wanting Buffy or
Xander to walk in during their conversation.

Willow was angry. Her hand shot out and the books on Giles' desk crashed to
the floor. 'He's not the one you need revenge against' she warned herself.
Finally her anger subsided and she helped Giles pick up the books.

"I'm sorry, Giles," she said. "The anger is sort of in control right now."

"I see that," Giles replied. "I'd just been reading about vengeance demons
when I heard about the fire. The actions matched, so I figured you'd started
it."

"And now here I am," she said with no emotion.

"Yes," Giles answered. "And I want to know how you are."

Willow shrugged as she walked around the apartment. "Actually I'm better
than I have been in a long time, Giles. For once in my life, I don't have to
feel any pain and I have a purpose finally," she said. "And remember how out
of place I felt in high school and when I first went to college?"

Giles nodded, afraid to make her mad.

"Well all of those things don't mean a thing now. Buffy, Xander, and Oz hurt
me, Giles. At least now I have a group of friends who actually give a shit,"
she finished.

The ex-Watcher wasn't sure what to say to Willow as he looked at her. She
looked like the same girl he'd known for four years, but yet she was
different. "Willow, you should have told me how you felt," he finally said.

"I'm not mad at you, Giles. I'm still standing here talking to you, aren't
I? It's the others who did this. And I made the choice," Willow replied.

Willow glanced around. "Look, it was great chatting with you, Giles. But I
need to get home now," she added.

Giles watched in shock as the red-head opened a portal with her eyes in his
apartment. Willow stepped inside and in the next instant, she was gone.

D'Hoffryn was waiting when she got back to Arashmahadd. He smiled when he
saw Willow.

"Need something?" Willow asked.

A piece of paper appeared in front of D'Hoffryn and he handed it to Willow.
"This is your first assignment as a vengeance demon. That contains all the
info," he answered.

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

Cordelia and Anya looked at each other as Angel finished explaining what the
scroll had said. Anya raised an eyebrow at the ex-cheerleader.

"Ok, is this a joke like 'haha. Let's get Cordy and Anya back for thinking
that we'd be partying' or are you serious?" Cordelia asked, looking at her
boyfriend and the two vampires.

Spike rolled his eyes and handed Cordelia the scroll. "Read it, pet," he
said. Then he smiled knowingly. "But oh wait. You can't read Latin."

Cordelia hit Spike with the scroll before she handed it back to him. Then
she looked at Angel.

"We're very serious, Cordelia. It said that Willow and I are soulmates and
that we're forever intertwined," Angel said.

Doyle walked behind the chair Cordelia was sitting in and put his hands on
her shoulders. "Do you really think we'd lie to you, Princess?" he asked. He
leaned around and kissed her.

Cordelia smiled as they pulled apart. "Well I know you wouldn't lie to me,"
she said to Doyle. Then she glanced at Angel and Spike. "But come on. We all
know Spike's not known for being a hundred percent honest. And Angel might
go along with him for a laugh."

"Yeah," Spike replied. "And we had time to plan this when?"

Cordelia turned back to Angel, ignoring Spike. "So after all the brooding
you've done over Buffy, you finally find out that she's not the one? That
sucks," she said.

'Leave it to the airhead to make the best point any of us could come up with
for the poof' Spike thought. He chuckled. "I told him that the Slayer was
all wrong for him. Red's much better," he said.

Anya lost herself in her thoughts as the others talked. 'There's something
I'm forgetting' she said to herself. Then a vision of herself from over 200
years ago came to her.

"Angel? When you were. . .evil, were you Angelus?" Anya asked.

A pained look came over Angel's face. "Yeah," he answered. "Why?"

"Because about 200 hundred years ago, I remember reading a book. I remember
it having your name in it and something about you'd fall in love with a
human, but then years after that, you'd find out that the girl you loved
wasn't your soulmate. Then someone else would enter your life," Anya
explained. "Something like that anyway. I just now realized who you were and
that passage came to me."

Angel and Doyle looked at each other. "Do you remember what book that was?"
Doyle asked.

Anya tried to remember, but she couldn't. She shook her head. "Sorry," she
replied. "Even if I did remember it, D'Hoffryn would have it now."

****

Angel, Spike, and Anya were researching, trying to see if they could find
anything about D'Hoffryn. Angel and Spike were going through the books in
Angel's library while Anya searched the internet for the antique book she'd
read over 200 years ago.

"I hope Cordelia hurries," Angel said. He'd sent her after a book he'd left
at her apartment one night.

"Relax, peaches," Spike replied. "She took Doyle with her. They'll be
awhile."

Anya sighed in frustration as her search came up empty. She got into another
search program and then stopped. "Ok, I don't know how to use this one," she
said, looking at the two vampires.

"Don't look at me. I don't know anything about computers. I was born before
the computer age, remember?" Angel replied.

Spike rolled his eyes and stood up. "How do you run a business then? Is that
Cordelia's job?" he asked, walking over to Anya. He pulled a chair up beside
her. "Move over, pet," he said.

Angel smiled as he watched his childe and the ex-demon. He noticed how Anya
smiled as she and Spike talked. 'I think she likes him' he thought. Then he
noticed how close Spike was sitting to her and the familiar glow on his
childe's face. 'And those feelings are definately two-way'

Angel went back to reading his book, tuning out Spike and Anya. 'There sure
isn't much information on D'Hoffryn' he realized, leafing through the open
book. Mainly what they'd found was the stuff they already knew. . .like that
D'Hoffryn ruled the demon dimension and he spawned demons.

"This is boring," Angel said, tossing the book back on the desk.

Before Spike or Anya could reply, a portal opened in the office and Willow
appeared. She smiled when she saw Angel, Anya, and Spike.

"Willow," Angel said when he saw the red-head. He smiled and walked over to
her, taking her in his arms. "How are you?"

Willow took a deep, unneeded breath. "Well I went to Sunnydale. I set fire
to a tree and watched it spread to a house," she replied. "Anger really
brings out the powers in me. And Giles called me forth."

"What caused you to get angry?" Angel asked.

"Buffy and Xander," Anya answered before Willow could. Angel, Willow, and
Spike raised their eyebrows. "What? I remember when I was a vengeance demon.
Besides, I figure that Buffy and Xander will make her the angriest."

"Anyway," Willow said, "I get to go on my first vengeance assignment
tomorrow."

Anya's eyes lit up. "Really? That's great!" she exclaimed. "I hope you get
to put boils on a guys' penis or something."

Angel and Spike glanced at each other before they looked at Anya. 'This girl
is definately one of a kind. I like that characteristic' Spike thought. He
pushed his thoughts away when he realized that she was serious. "I'm glad I
never crossed you, pet. That sounds painful," he said.

Anya shrugged. "It is for the guy. That's the whole point," she replied.

"I just wanted to let you know where I'll be," Willow said to her three
friends. "I'll stop by tomorrow night."

Angel nodded and hugged her. "Just be careful out there, ok? I know you're a
demon now, but still. You're still my Willow," he replied.

Willow smiled at Angel's words and kissed him on the cheek. "You be careful,
too. My Angel," she said. Then she was gone.

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

Cordelia sighed as she unlocked the door to her apartment. She opened the
door, but jumped backward when the door closed shut again. Doyle raised an
eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Your roommate, I'm guessing?" he asked.

"Dennis," Cordelia said, trying to keep her anger under control. "Don't make
me hurt you. It's just Doyle. And besides, Angel sent us. So let me in
already." Suddenly the door swung open. Cordelia shook her head as she and
Doyle went in.

"Nice body guard," Doyle said, looking around as if he thought Dennis was
going to grab him.

Cordelia walked over to the table and grabbed the book that Angel wanted.
"Got it," she said, walking back to where Doyle was standing.

He stopped her before she could move toward the door. Doyle pulled Cordelia
into his arms. She laughed as she melted into his arms. "Doyle, what are you
doing?" she asked.

"I love you, Princess," he replied, kissing her. She closed her eyes and
lost herself in the moment. Then she remembered why they'd came to the
apartment in the first place.

"Doyle," Cordelia said as he kissed her neck. "We didn't come here to have
sex. We came to get a book."

He pulled away and smiled at her. "Don't worry, Princess. We've never had
sex. . .and we don't have to now. Doesn't mean we can't kiss, though," he
replied. Cordelia squealed as Doyle pulled her down onto the couch with him.

Doyle captured her lips in a fiery kiss before she could protest. Their
tongues dualed until he started trailing kisses down her chin and neck.

"We can't do this right now, Doyle. We have to get this book back to Angel,"
Cordelia said, kissing him and then pulled away.

Doyle sighed reluctantly. "I know you're right, Cordy. Let's go," he
replied.

Cordelia stood up and grabbed her keys. She and Doyle were at the door when
she stopped. "But remember where we were because we'll definately pick up
from there later," she said.

Doyle smiled as Cordelia locked the door and the two of them left. They got
back to 'Angel Investigations' to find Anya and Spike at the computer and
Angel brooding.

"Oh god. What are you brooding about?" Cordelia asked, handing Angel the
book.

"Willow was here," Anya replied. "I think he's thinking about sex."

"Anya!" Spike exclaimed, covering her mouth with his hand. "You have to
ignore her," he said, looking at the other three. "She's a sex-maniac."

Cordelia raised an eyebrow at her boss. "You better not be thinking about
sex, mister," she said. "You know where happiness gets you."

Angel rolled his eyes as he looked at the dark-haired girl. "Cordelia, I'm
not thinking about. . .sex. I'm thinking about Willow," he replied. He saw
the look passed between the other four people in the room. "Willow and I are
just friends. That's all."

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that if it makes you sleep better at night.
Just remember that prophecy, peaches," Spike said.

"There's the book! I remember the cover of it," Anya said, pointing at the
computer screen.

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

The next morning, Willow packed herself a bag before she left for her first
assignment. D'Hoffryn stopped in the doorway and looked at her. 'She's got a
lot of potential. I made a good choice' he thought.

Willow sensed D'Hoffryn's presence and glanced toward the door. "Hi," she
said when she saw him.

D'Hoffryn smiled slightly and stepped inside. "You ready?" he asked. "It's
time."

Willow nodded and tossed a few more things in her bag. "Ok, I'm ready," she
replied.

She zipped her bag and followed D'Hoffryn into the main room. 'This is it'
she thought. 'My immortal life as a vengeance demon is about to begin.
Immortality. That sounds strange' D'Hoffryn started talking, bringing her
out of her thoughts.

"This is your first assignment. We'll be watching occasionally to be sure
that things are going smoothly. And please be careful of that necklace," he
said, pointing to the one around her neck. "If you lose that, your powers
will be gone."

The red-head nodded. "I'll be careful," she replied. "And I'll make you
proud."

D'Hoffryn smiled. "No one can tell you how long the assignment will last. It
can last anywhere from a day to a month. If no vengeance is sought after a
month, you'll come back here and find a new assignment," he said. "You have
to spend time with the person, befriend them. Get them to trust you."

Willow nodded and stepped into the portal D'Hoffryn opened for her. A minute
later, she found herself in Australia. She glanced around at the unfamiliar
place and then looked at the piece of paper D'Hoffryn had given her
yesterday. 'Tellie' she read from the paper.

She started asking around, looking for someone who knew the girl. Finally
she found someone who knew Tellie from school; they told her what club to
find the girl at that night.

She went to the apartment that D'Hoffryn's minions had found for her. Willow
unpacked and went to get something to eat. She pulled an envelope out that
D'Hoffryn had given her earlier; it contained a picture of Tellie.

When it was late enough, Willow went to the local teen club. After about
twenty minutes there, she spotted Tellie. When she saw the girl head toward
the bar, Willow headed that way, too.

Willow bumped into Tellie where the line formed. "I'm sorry," she said.

Tellie smiled slightly. "No, it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was
going," she replied. She looked at Willow closely. "I'm Tellie. And I don't
think I've seen you around."

"I'm Willow," the red-head said. "And I just moved here today."

"Oh, so you're new here," Tellie answered as the two of them got their
drinks. "Want to sit with me and my friends?"

"Sure, thanks," Willow said, following Tellie through the club.

****

Willow glanced around the table at Tellie and her group of friends. But she
payed the most attention to Tellie herself. The girl was laughing and
talking with her friends; like a normal teenager.

'She doesn't act like someone with a broken heart. And her friends don't act
like anything's wrong with her' Willow thought. Then she thought better of
that. 'Of course she could be dying on the inside and just be really good at
hiding it'

She watched as a dark shadow crossed Tellie's face. The girl was watching a
dark-haired guy that had just walked in the club.

"I can't believe Jason brought that girl here," Tellie said. "I caught him
kissing her here last weekend and he actually has the nerve to show his face
here again with her."

'Bingo' Willow thought. She tried to get a better look at the guy, but
couldn't. She turned her attention back to the table, just in time to see
Tellie's friends leaving for the night. Willow couldn't believe what she was
seeing. 'So when she needs a friend, they just conveniently disappear?
Sounds familiar' she thought.

Tellie sighed and looked down at the table. "Do you want to leave to? Feel
free to," she said.

Willow shook her head. "I'm not going to leave," she replied.

"They always do this," Tellie said quietly. "I always end up having to deal
alone because they don't care."

Willow placed her hand on top of Tellie's. "It's ok," she replied.
"Unfortunately that's how some people act."

"I know," the girl replied. "They're always like this. But it's funny
because I'm the one they come to when they need something." She looked at
Willow and laughed. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I'm sorry."

The red-head shook her head. "You don't have to apologize for talking to a
friend about how you feel," Willow said. "The truth is that most people
don't care. And that most people who call themselves your friend will end up
stabbing you in the back. All you can do is realize that you're the most
important person to take care of."

Tellie raised an eyebrow at Willow. "How do you know all this?" she asked.

"Let's just say that I've had experience in the area and leave it at that,
ok?" Willow replied.

The girl nodded, deciding that it'd be best not to question Willow about it.
"So I take it you've been heartbroken before?" Tellie asked.

Willow nodded. "In an awful, gut-wrenching way. But my past isn't the point
here. We were talking about you," she replied.

The two girls watched as Tellie's ex kissed the girl while they were at the
bar. Then he looked right at them and turned his head. "See? He doesn't even
care that we were together for a year. It's nothing him," she said.

'He's a real jerk' Willow thought as she watched him. She turned to Tellie.
"You want to get out of here?" she asked.

Tellie nodded. "I'd love to get out of here," she replied. "Want to go back
to my house for awhile?"

"Sure," Willow replied. The two girls gathered their stuff and left the
club.

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

Spike stretched as he stood up. "I think that's the most reading I've done
in one day," he said.

"Except when Giles threatens to kick you out and send you to Xander's for
not helping him research," Anya pointed out.

The blonde vampire grinned. "Yeah, well I'd rather stay with Giles anyday,"
he replied.

Angel grabbed the piece of paper Anya had written the book title on. "I'm
going to go look for this book," he said. "I hope I can find it."

Cordelia grabbed her purse. "Doyle and I are going to get something to eat
and go back to my place for awhile," she said.

Doyle handed Spike a key. "That's the spare to my place so you can come and
go as you please," he said. "Just don't make a mess, ok?"

The three of them left, leaving Anya and Spike alone.

"So what do you want to do?" Spike asked, looking at Anya. "Do you want to
get out of here?"

Anya shook her head. "I can't go to Cordelia's yet. I really don't want to
walk in on her and Doyle having sex. . .it'll just remind me of Xander," she
replied. "But you can leave if you want."

"Have you ever had sex with a vampire?" Spike asked, walking over until his
cold body was pressed against Anya's back as she looked out the window. He
heard her take a deep breath.

She turned around and placed her hand on the fabric that covered his member.
She smiled. "You offering?" Anya asked.

Spike groaned as he picked Anya up. He carried her over to Angel's desk,
pushing the stuff on it to the floor. Then he sat Anya on top of it.

He pushed her legs apart using his knee and stepped between them, capturing
her lips in a fiery kiss. Anya moaned as she wrapped her arm around his neck
and ran her fingers through his hair. Spike ran his hands over her thighs
and between her legs. He could feel the heat radiating from her body.

Spike pulled away. "We shouldn't be doing this, pet," he said.

Anya raised an eyebrow. "Why not? Guys take advantage of girls. . .it's what
they do," she replied. "And I'm giving you permission to. I know you find me
attractive."

The two of them looked up when they saw Doyle come in the office. He raised
an eyebrow when he saw Spike's hand on Anya's inner-thigh. Spike moved his
hand when he looked at the ex-demon. 'Caught' the blonde vampire thought.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but I forgot my coat," Doyle said. He grabbed
his coat and left.

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

Angel sighed as he left the used bookstore. He'd come up empty again. He'd
been running around L.A for the last hour, looking for the book Anya had
told him about. This bookstore had been his last hope.

He thought about going to the Oracles and asking them if they could find the
book for him, but he wasn't sure if they'd help him.

He watched as the couples passed him on the sidewalk, lost in their own
worlds and in the arms of the person they were with.

Angel stuffed his hands in his pockets and started walking. Seeing all the
happy couples just made him even more lonely than he already was.

'I wish Willow was here' he thought. 'If she was, me and her could be like
these couples'

The dark-haired vampire stopped walking as he realized what he'd just
thought.

For the last couple of months, he'd found himself thinking about Willow.
More specifically, thinking about holding Willow in his arms and kissing
her. He'd found Willow to be a shy, innocent girl when he'd first met her in
Sunnydale more than three years ago. Since then, she'd grown into an
intelligent, confident girl. And he'd fallen in love with her.

He hadn't wanted to admit his feelings to anyone because of the whole
vampire-human thing. But now that she was a demon, he couldn't deny his
feelings any longer.

Angel went back to his office to wait for Willow. He had to tell her how he
felt.

****

Anya woke up the next morning on the couch at Cordelia's. She stretched as
her eyes adjusted to the light streaming in through the windows. 'At least
it's not as dark as it is at Angel's' she thought.

She smiled as the blanket was pulled off of her. "Hi, Dennis," she said.
"Sleep good?"

Cordelia stuck her head in the room. "Oh good, you're awake," she said. "I
have to get to work in a little while. . .and Angel called. He needs to talk
to you."

"Alright," Anya replied. She got up and walked into the kitchen where
Cordelia was. Dennis pulled the chair out for her and she sat down.

The dark-haired girl shook her head. "I'd almost say that Dennis has a crush
on you. He's not this nice to anyone else," Cordelia said. She glanced at
Anya's outfit. "You're seriously not planning to wear that are you?"

Anya rolled her eyes. "You know, Cordelia, Spike and I left in such a hurry
that I didn't have time to think about clothes," she said.

"Well you can't wear that two days in a row," Cordelia replied. "You'll have
to borrow something of mine." The two girls went into Cordelia's bedroom.
Anya sat on the bed as Cordelia went through the closet.

"How about this?" Cordelia asked, holding up a light green shirt that tied
at the waist.

"I like that," Anya replied, taking the shirt from Cordelia. As soon as
she'd left the room, Anya changed. When she came out, Cordelia was standing
at the door waiting.

The two girls left the apartment and headed to the office. They got there to
find Doyle and Spike having coffee. The half-demon smiled when he saw his
girlfriend.

Cordelia grinned. "So did Spike make you think about staking him last
night?" she asked, kissing Doyle's lips.

Doyle rolled his eyes and nodded. "Spike talked in his sleep," he replied.
"I yelled at him so he started mumbling; which is almost as bad. Oh, and I
tripped over his big feet this morning and almost broke my neck."

"Well you wouldn't have if you'd turned on a light like a normal person,"
Spike said, taking another drink of coffee.

"It's my house! I shouldn't have to turn a light on to walk!" Doyle
exclaimed.

Angel chose that morning to come upstairs. He rolled his eyes at Doyle and
Spike. Then he glanced at Anya. "As interesting as this is, I need to talk
to you, Anya," he said, walking into his office.

Anya raised an eyebrow at the other three and then followed Angel.

Spike glanced at Cordelia and Doyle. "What's wrong with Peaches this
morning?" he asked. "He get up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Oh, he's always like this," Cordelia explained. "Plus he told me that
Willow didn't show up last night." She walked over to the doughnut box and
picked one out, and then poured herself a cup of coffee.

She wrinkled her nose when she tasted it. "Who fixed this anyway?" she
asked. "It's horrible."

Spike grinned. "I did, pet," he replied.

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

Willow smiled as she brushed her hair. She'd just gotten in from having
lunch with Tellie. She'd found herself thinking about Angel a lot, but she
didn't know why.

Finally she decided to visit him since it had been awhile. She opened a
portal that would take her to Angel's L.A office.

She entered his office to find him and Anya talking. Anya smiled as she
looked between Willow and Angel. 'Well he seems to be less broody now that
she's here' she thought. She left the two of them alone.

"Willow," Angel said. He'd had every intention of telling her how he felt.
But as he sat there and looked at her, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
'I can't bring her into the darkness' he thought. 'Even though she's a
demon, I can't bring her into the darkness that comes with being involved
with a vampire'

Willow smiled at her friend. She looked at his face. 'He really does look
like an angel' she thought. She couldn't help wondering what it would be
like to kiss him.

'Stop it, Willow!' she scolded herself. "Hi, Angel," she finally replied.
She sat down in the chair that Anya had left minutes earlier. "I just. . .I
wanted to come by and see you since I didn't come earlier."

Angel couldn't help but chuckle as Willow glanced at the floor. 'Even as a
demon, she still seems innocent in ways' he thought.

"What's so funny?" Willow asked, looking at him.

"Just us," Angel replied with a smile. "We've known each other for four
years now. . .we don't have any reason to be nervous around each other." He
was trying to make her believe it as much as himself.

Willow smiled and took Angel's hand on top of the desk. "You're right," she
said. "But there's a lot of things that are different now." She looked into
his eyes to make sure he understood. "A lot's changed, but there's still a
lot that's the same."

'Yeah' Angel thought. 'And one thing that's changed is that we're soulmates'

The dark-haired vampire thought back to his life in Sunnydale. Two years
ago, he'd wanted to believe that Buffy's place in his life was as his
soulmate. He wouldn't have believed anything else. Willow had just been a
friend through that whole time. Now that he'd moved on with his life, he
found out that Willow was his soulmate instead.

'She's right' Angel thought as he looked at her. 'A lot's changed'

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

"Do you think Giles will ever forgive us for not paying as much attention to
Willow as we should have?" Buffy asked Xander as they sat in the dorm room
talking.

Xander shrugged as he took a handful of chips from the bag Buffy had offered
him. "He'll have to sooner or later, won't he?" he asked.

Buffy shrugged. It had been a few days since Willow had become a vengeance
demon. Giles was still angry at her and Xander for not being the good
friends they were supposed to be. Of course it made him even more angry that
the two of them didn't understood what they'd done wrong.

"I don't know," Buffy replied. "He just seemed angrier than usual. I don't
think I've ever seen him this mad."

"It'll be ok, Buffy," Xander said. "It's not like he can stay mad at you.
Even though he's not your official Watcher now, he's still responsible for
your safety. . .he likes it that way." He looked at Buffy to see if she was
believing anything he said.

The Slayer took in what her friend was saying. "Maybe you're right," she
said. "I just don't like having him mad like this. I know we didn't make her
become a demon, but I think if the truth was known, we had a huge hand in
her decision."

"You're right. But Willow got the final choice. Giles really liked Willow. .
.they had a lot in common since they both actually enjoyed reading and
learning. I think he just misses her." Xander replied.

"You're probably right," Buffy said, laying back against her pillows. "I
just don't like this."

"Do you think we'll ever see her again?" Xander asked. He hadn't known how
much he took Willow for granted until they'd lost her to the demon world.
Now he just missed her.

"I don't know," Buffy replied honestly. "But I doubt we will, Xand. If we
do, she'll be a demon. . .she won't be the Willow we knew. And she'll
probably be vengeful toward us."

Xander sighed. He knew Buffy was right, but he'd been hoping that she'd tell
him what he wanted to hear. "I miss her," he said.

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

That evening after the sun had set, Spike and Anya decided to go get a drink
together. They left Angel's office in a comfortable silence.

"So what did Angel want?" Spike asked as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Oh, he wanted to know if I still had any of my contacts from my demon days.
Which I still have a few of them, so Angel wants me to go see them tomorrow
about that book." she answered.

Spike glanced at her. "Is it a good idea to go alone? I mean, since you're
human? I'll go with you," he said. He didn't know why, but he felt
protective toward her.

Anya smiled. "You worrying about me?" she asked.

Before Spike could reply, he heard Anya scream in pain and he watched in
horrow as she felt to the sidewalk, an arrow protruding from her shoulder.

"Spike," she said, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Spike turned around to see a demon watching them. The demon was yellow and
scaly with glowing red eyes. He held a bow and arrow in his hand, but he ran
when Spike met his eyes.

Once the demon was gone, he dropped down beside Anya. She was bleeding
around the arrow from the wound. He could smell it. 'It missed the heart' he
thought with relief, trying to distract himself from Anya's blood.

He picked her up. "Come on, pet," Spike said. "We have to get that out."

Angel and the others looked up as Spike rushed into the office, Anya in his
arms. The dark-haired vampire's eyes widened when he saw the arrow in
Anya's shoulder.

"What happened?" Angel asked as his childe layed Anya on the couch.

"Some bloody demon shot her with an arrow," Spike replied angrily, taking
his black duster off and covering Anya with it.

Angel started to reach out and get the arrow out, but Spike shook his head.
"I'll get it, peaches," he said. "You and the others look up what did this.
He was yellow and scaly. . .obviously big on bow and arrows."

Once Angel was gone, Spike stooped down in front of Anya. "This is going to
hurt, luv," he warned.

"I know," Anya replied. "I trust you, though."

Spike nodded. As carefully as he could, he broke the end of the arrow off.
Anya grunted in pain and Spike wiped her tears with his finger.

"Just get the damn thing out of me," Anya said, crying.

The blonde vampire nodded. He took hold of the part of the arrow sticking
out of her back. With as much strength as he could use, he shoved the arrow
through to the front, pulling it out. Anya screamed in pain, sobbing.

Angel came out of his office and handed Spike a bowl of water and a
washcloth. Then he went back to the others.

"You're going to be fine," Spike said, touching Anya's face.

"Yeah, if the pain doesn't kill me first," she replied.

Spike chuckled as he dampened the washcloth. He started to touch it to the
wound, but Anya grabbed his arm. "Why don't you clean it up yourself?" she
asked.

"You'd let me do that?" Spike asked.

Anya shrugged and unbuttoned her shirt, exposing the wound. "Why not? It
shouldn't set your chip off since you're not actually biting," she replied.

Spike thought about what she'd said for a minute. Then he looked to make
sure that the others weren't looking. He bent his head and touched his
tongue to Anya's wound. She smiled and held his head as he sucked at the
blood.

****

Cordelia unlocked the door to her apartment and she and Doyle went inside.
'I shouldn't be here. I should be at home' the half-demon thought. 'We both
know where this is going to lead'

"Want anything to drink?" Cordelia asked. She was trying to hide the fact
that she was so nervous.

"Well I know you don't have any whiskey because I've looked before. So
coffee is good," Doyle replied.

He followed Cordelia into the kitchen, but his feelings for the dark-haired
girl overtook his need for a drink. Doyle grabbed her wrist when she put her
hand on the refrigerator and turned her to face him. He captured her lips in
a fiery kiss.

Cordelia wrapped her arms around his neck. She took a few steps back into
the refrigerator, bringing Doyle with her. She lost herself in the feel of
his arms.

"Maybe. . .we should. . .go to the bedroom," Cordelia whispered around their
kisses.

Doyle pulled away and smiled. "You're right," he replied. He picked Cordelia
up and carried her into the bedroom, closing the door behind them.

He layed her on the bed and looked down at the beautiful girl in front of
him. Doyle tried not to think about the fact that he was a half-demon.

He fumbled with the buttons of her blouse before Cordelia pulled his hands
away and unbuttoned it herself. Doyle groaned softly at the sight of
Cordelia laying in front of her in only her bra and skirt.

'This is what it's supposed to be about' he thought. 'Ther perfect moment
with the person you love. It's not about sex in a drunken state' Doyle
unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it on the floor with hers.

She rolled over and Doyle managed to unzip her skirt. Cordelia raised up and
he pulled it off of her, along with her shoes.

Before long, they were both naked and Doyle climbed on top of her. He
trailed kisses down her neck and stomach while running a hand up her inner
thight. Cordelia moaned softly and arched her hips toward him.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Princess?" he asked. "Your first time
to be with a half-demon?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Doyle, we've had the 'oh-but-I'm-a-half-demon'
discussion a million times. And it got old after the second time," she
replied. "I want you. Now shut up before you ruin the moment."

Without another word or thought, Doyle lowered his mouth to Cordelia' and
their lips met. Her mouth opened slightly and the half-demon slipped his
tongue inside.

'This is where I'm supposed to be' he thought as he and Cordelia sealed a
bond that was new to them. 'I belong in Cordelia's arms'

"I love you, Cordelia," Doyle said.

"I love you too, Doyle," she replied right before they made love for the
first time.

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

Spike sat the book down he'd been reading when he heard Anya groan. He
glanced over and saw that she was waking up. He glanced at the clock to see
that it was 5:30 in the morning.

After he'd cleaned her wound the night before, Anya had fallen asleep. Not
wanting to wake her up, Spike had stayed there all night with the ex-demon.
He'd moved to the couch a few hours earlier and now her feet were resting on
his lap.

Anya smiled when she felt the cold body at her feet and realized that it was
Spike. 'He saved me' she thought, thinking back to the events of last night.

"How do you feel, pet?" Spike asked, massaging her feet.

Anya groaned when she moved and her shoulder throbbed. She touched her
shoulder and realized that Spike had put a bandage on it and that she was
covered by his duster.

"Feel?" she repeated. "I feel like someone ran over me in a sem-. . . one of
those big trucks."

Spike chuckled. "A semi, luv," he filled in.

She glanced at the clock. '5:40?' she thought. 'I slept all night on this
couch' Anya thought back to what had happened last night. She remembered
letting Spike feed off of her. . .she must have passed out after that.

"Did you stay here all night with me?" she asked.

Spike nodded. "You fell asleep and I didn't want to disturb you," he
answered. "So I left you here on the couch and told Angel that I was going
to stay here with you."

Anya sighed. "In all my years doing vengeance in the world, I've never been
shot," she said. "And believe me, now that I know how it feels to have an
arrow sticking out of me, I don't have any plans to let it happen again."

The blonde vampire helped Anya set up. "Then when we get back to Sunnydale,
you'd better find you a different group of people to hang out with," he
said.

She glanced at him. "What do you mean?" Anya asked.

Spike shrugged. "Just that from my experience with the Scooby Gang, a person
close to them tends to get hurt, shot, or worse. . .they end up dead," he
explained.

"You're right," she replied. Then she thought about something. "Did you get
a good look at the demon?"

He nodded. "Yeah," Spike replied. "The others tried to find the bloody
bastard in one of the books, but didn't have any luck."

"Think Angel would be mad if we looked through his books?" Anya asked. "I
feel the need to do some vengeance."

"Oh, he'd be pissed as hell," Spike answered, imagining his sire's reaction.
Then he smiled. "But that's the whole fun of it."

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

Willow hurried into the cafe. She knew she was late, but she hadn't checked
her messages until thirty minutes ago. Tellie had called, wanting Willow to
meet her for dinner because her friends had deserted her again.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, tossing her stuff on a table.

"Oh it's ok," Tellie replied. "I wasn't sure if you'd be able to come on
such short notice."

The red-head shrugged. "I didn't have any plans," Willow said. "Besides I
wanted to see how you're doing." She knew Tellie had a hard time believing
people, so Willow had to work hard to get the girl to trust her.

"I'm ok," Tellie replied. "I saw Jason at the store earlier and it made me
want to get out and get my mind off things."

Willow nodded. "Tellie, did you say anything to Jason after he cheated?" she
asked.

"Well I didn't exactly 'talk' to him because I didn't think it would do any
good," she replied." Tellie grinned when she saw Willow's curious look. "I
just. . .I was angry and upset, so I ruined his letterman's jacket."

"Are you serious?" Willow asked. She couldn't help but laugh at the image.

"I'm dead serious," Tellie replied. "I was just hurt. And I knew that
Jason's prized possession is his jacket. It makes a lot of sense when you
think about it."

"It does make sense," Willow agreed. "But don't you sometimes. . .wish that
there was a way to get back at him for good?"

"I sometimes do," Tellie replied. "But I don't believe in 'luck', so I know
that it'll never happen."

'She isn't going to make this easy' Willow thought. 'It's going to take a
lot of work on my part to get her to wish something on him' But she wanted
to be successful at being a vengeance demon, so she was determined to make
things go right.

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

Giles sighed and took his glasses off. He'd been sitting in front of
Willow's laptop for over an hour now. 'I give up' he thought. 'There's no
way I'll be able to use this dread thing'

He picked up a book and layed it on the desk angrily. He rolled his eyes as
he watched the message come up on the computer screen saying that he'd been
disconnected.

"Great," he said to the empty room.

Since Willow had chosen to become a demon, Giles found himself missing the
red-headed witch. When it came to teenagers, Buffy and Xander tended to
confuse him. But Willow talked in a way that he could understand.

The ex-Watcher couldn't believe that the Slayer and her friend had done
this. 'How could they be so uncaring that they'd ignore their friend, who'd
do anything for anyone?' he thought.

He knew that Buffy and Xander didn't know anything about computers. Anya and
Spike did, but they weren't in Sunnydale. 'Wonder how they are' he wondered.

The more Giles thought about it, the angrier he got. 'I need to get out of
Sunnydale for awhile' he realized. Finally he called Buffy's room and left a
message on her machine saying that he was going out of town on business for
a few days.

Giles packed a bag and left the apartment, on his way to L.A.

***

Cordelia woke up and looked at the clock. '7:30' she thought. 'Thirty minutes before I even have to get up' A snore came from the person beside her, bringing her out of her thoughts. Cordelia glanced at Doyle beside her and smiled.

She touched his face lightly and then snuggled against him. Cordelia drifted back to sleep as she wrapped her arm around Doyle's bare stomach. 'I wish we could stay like this all day' she thought.

Ten minutes later, she woke up when she felt something against her arm. Cordelia looked at Doyle to find him stroking her arm with his fingers. "Morning," she said, laying her head against his shoulder.

"Morning, Princess," Doyle replied, capturing Cordelia's lips with his.

When he'd woken up a few minutes ago, he'd expected the night before to have been a dream. But he'd looked around to find himself in Cordelia's bed. . .and when he'd glanced over, he'd found her beside him. "I thought this was all a dream, but it wasn't," Doyle said.

He rolled over so he was facing Cordelia. Cordelia smiled. "It's not a dream, Doyle," she replied. "It's real."

Doyle smiled. "I love you," he said. He sat up and looked at the clock. "I guess I should go home and change clothes. I don't think Angel would appreciate me wearing the same clothes I had on yesterday."

"I doubt he would either," Cordelia replied with a laugh. "Actually, I wouldn't want you to show up in the same clothes either."

The half-demon laughed as he got up and put his clothes back on. Then he walked over and kissed Cordelia before he left. Cordelia smiled as she listened to the sound of the front door closing. Then she got up and grabbed her shower stuff. 'I have time for a quick shower before I have to leave' she thought, walking into the bathroom.

Thirty minutes later, Cordelia walked into the office. She and Doyle shared a smile that didn't go unnoticed by Angel. He wondered for a minute what was going on, but he figured he probably didn't want to know. "Anya, are you still going to talk to that guy you know?" Angel asked, looking at the ex-demon.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to go see him tonight," Anya replied. "I was going to go today, but Spike doesn't want me to go alone. I'm just hoping that the bastard doesn't want anything in return for giving me information. . .like a lap dance or sex."

Doyle chuckled at the ex-demon's words. 'She definately has a unique way of saying things' he thought. Angel raised an eyebrow at his childe, but Spike just shrugged. 'Interesting choice for Spike' the dark-haired vampire thought.

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

Giles glanced at the piece of paper with Angel's address on it and then glanced out at his surroundings. 'Wonder if I'm anywhere near it' he thought. Finally he found the street he was looking for and turned down it. A minute later, he found the address and pulled over. 'So this is where Angel lives' he thought as he glanced at the building. He turned the car off and walked inside the building.

When he found the 'Angel Investigations' office, he found the door unlocked so he went on in. "Hello?" he said, once inside.

"Giles!" Cordelia said from the desk. She hadn't missed the ex-Watcher's when she'd heard it, but she thought she was imagining it since they were in L.A and he was in Sunnydale. But here he was.

"Hi, Cordelia," he said to the dark-haired girl as she came around the desk and the two of them hugged. "It's nice to see you again."

Angel came out of his office when he heard the voices. Doyle was right behind him. "Giles," the dark-haired vampire said when he saw the ex-Watcher. He and Giles shook hands.

"Oh, look," Spike said from the couch. "Giles got bored in Sunnyhell and came here."

Giles turned around at the sound of the British voice. "Spike," he said to the blonde vampire. "Not very nice to the person who took you in back in Sunnydale when you didn't have anywhere to go. I'm surprised Angel hasn't staked you yet."

"He's a poof," Spike explained. "He'd feel guilty over it. I guess it's a perk of being soul-having."

"You're trying me, Spike," Angel warned.

That's when Giles noticed that Anya looked uncomfortable sitting next to Spike on the couch. 'She's been hurt' he realized as he looked at her. "It's just a wound, Giles," Anya explained. "I got shot with an arrow last night. Even though it does hurt more than it looks like it does."

No one said anything for a minute. "How did you know what I was thinking?" Giles asked.

Anya had caught him off guard by answering him before he'd even asked the question. Anya shrugged. "You just have that look on your face, Giles," she replied. "You wore it a lot back in Sunnydale when you were worried about Buffy."

He nooded. "Point taken," Giles said. He turned to Angel. "I keep getting angry at Buffy and Xander, so I came here to help you all if you don't mind."

Giles was surprised by how comfortable he was with this group. "You know you're always welcome here, Giles," Angel answered. "I have room for you in my apartment."

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

As soon as the sun set that night, Anya and Spike left the office to go see the ex-demon's contact. Anya wasn't thrilled about having someone go with her, but she hadn't been able to talk Spike out of it. The two of them walked in silence, but it was a comfortable one. All of a sudden, Spike stopped walking and glanced around.

"Spike?" Anya said, turning to him. "What is it?" That's when Anya sensed something around them. 'What's out there?' she wondered.

The blonde vampire didn't say anything. He and Anya watched as a figure stepped out of the shadows onto the sidewalk. It was a dark-haired woman in a flowing black dress. "Who are you?" Anya asked.

"Spike," the intruder said in a breathy voice that sent shivers down Anya's spine. And it made the ex-demon jealous, which was something she wasn't ready to deal with yet.

"Dru," Spike replied, trying not to show any emotion. "Last time I saw you, you were with that chaos demon on a park bench. What are you doing here?" Spike took a cigarette out of his duster and lit it.

Anya rolled her eyes. She grabbed the cigarette from Spike's hand and threw it to the ground, putting the flame out. "That's a nasty habit, Spike," she said. But all comments were lost on Spike at the moment.

He was still staring at Drusilla. 'Dru' Anya thought, repeating the name Spike had used. Then she realized who the girl was. 'Drusilla. His. . .ex girlfriend'

"I came back for you, my sweet," Drusilla said, walking over to Spike and touching his arm. "I miss you, Spike. We can work things out."

"No, we can't, Dru," Spike replied, stepping away from the insane vampire. Right now he was wondering what he'd ever seen in the dark-haired vampiress. "You'd like me even less now than you did while we were in Brazil."

Anya stepped toward Spike. "You heard him," she said to Drusilla. "So why don't you just leave?"

Drusilla looked at Anya with a cold stare. "Miss Edith told me about you," she said cruelly. "She warned me. You're the reason my Spikey doesn't want to be with me. . .you stole his heart and his thoughts have left me after a hundred years. For that, you should pay."

The ex-demon could just stand there as Drusilla stalked toward her. The vampiress slapped Anya. "Oh, you did not just do that, you bitch," Anya said. She punched Drusilla in the face. Spike watched as Drusilla fell to the ground, unconscious.

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

Willow sighed as she curled up in the chair. She'd just gotten in from hanging out with Tellie again. 'I'm breaking her down gently' she thought, fingering the necklace around her neck. She reached over and pulled a book out of a box in the floor. The box was full of books that D'Hoffryn had loaned her as 'reading material'.

Willow opened the book on her lap and started reading. After awhile, she just started thumbing through the book. 'I'm starting to understand why Giles always liked reading old books' she thought. She glanced out the window as her thoughts drifted to the ex-Watcher who'd taught her so much. Then Willow went back to reading. 'Focus' she told herself. 'Don't think about the past' A passage in the book caught her eye.

"Angel's name's in here?" she said out loud when she saw her friend's name in the book. ' "Angelus, the Scourge of England, will one day make a fatal mistake. A family wronged by a death at Angelus' hands will seek vengeance," ' she read. ' "In the 1900's the vampire will fall in love, but it won't last. His soulmate will one day be a person he called a friend. She, too, will be a demon; a vengeful demon." '

She looked at the date on the book. It was 200 years old. Willow closed the book and tossed it back in the box. She'd been wanting to get her mind off of Angel. . .but that wasn't possible if she was reading about him. She sighed in frustration as the words she'd read ran through her head. Willow wondered for a second if she was the girl the book was talking about. She pushed those thoughts away, not wanting to deal with them. Willow opened a portal. She was going to visit her friends.

"Doesn't it seem strange to you that Giles just all of a sudden went out of town on business?" Buffy asked as she and Xander walked to the Bronze. Buffy had found the message from Giles that afternoon when she'd finally checked the machine.

Xander shrugged and looked at the blonde Slayer. "I don't know if it's 'strange'. But I'm not going to question it because Giles has no reason to lie to us," he replied.

"I guess you're right," Buffy said. "I just feel bad because Giles is so angry with us. I just wondered if he'd used the 'business' excuse to get away from us for a few days." She just couldn't seem to stop wondering about it.

"He might be angry but he wouldn't lie, Buff," Xander replied as the two of them reached the entrance to the Bronze.

They paid the cover and went inside, making their way to a table. Buffy and Xander hadn't even sat down before someone approached them. "Hey," a guy said. Buffy looked at the guy closely. She remembered seeing him in high school.

Then she realized that he was the boy Willow had tutored when they were seniors. "Percy, right?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Percy replied with a smile. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember me or not. I was wondering if Willow was going to be here tonight. I haven't seen her for awhile."

Buffy and Xander looked at each other. 'He doesn't know' she realized. Then she turned back to Percy. Buffy wasn't sure how to tell him, but she had to. "I don't know how to tel you this, Percy. But. . .Willow's dead," she said.

Percy didn't say anything for a minute. Then he sat down at the table with Buffy and Xander. He shook his head. "Are you serious?" he said. "I just. . .I can't believe this."

"We couldn't either," Xander replied. "But it's true. Willow's dead." A pang of guilt shot through him. He wondered for a second why, but Xander knew. 'It's because we're sitting here telling Percy that Willow's dead when she's really not' he thought. 'Technically we're lying'

A few minutes later, Buffy and Xander were alone together. "Don't you feel funny?" Xander asked. "I know we have to lie, but still."

Buffy shrugged. "I just don't see how we're lying," she replied. "It's not like we could tell Percy the truth. And besides, in a way, she is dead. The Willow we knew is anyway. She became a demon and we're never going to see her again."

"You believe that, don't you?" Xander asked. He was hoping that Buffy was wrong. . .he wanted to believe that Willow would come back.

"Yeah, I do," Buffy replied. She saw the look that she was getting from Xander and tried to explain. "At first all I wanted was for Willow to come back. . .actually that's what I still want. But we both know that we lost our best friend; all that's left of her is a demon wearing her face."

Xander nodded as he looked at Buffy. "I guess you're right," he replied. 'I wish you weren't, though' he thought.

Buffy squeezed Xander's hand. "Maybe if we're lucky, she'll lose her powers one day like Anya did," she said. Then she thought of something. "Speaking of Anya, have you talked to her since that night we left her and Spike in that crypt?"

"No," Xander replied. "I tried to call once, but all I got was her answering machine. And she never called back. Knowing Anya, she's probably off with Spike somewhere." With that, the dark-haired boy focused his attention on the music playing in the Bronze.

What Buffy and Xander didn't know was that they were being watched. In the shadows of the Bronze, Willow stood listening to Buffy and Xander's exchange. The vengeance demon could feel the rage building up in her.

Without thinking, Willow sent a ball of fire hurdling toward the crowd. It struck one of the guitars on the stage. The people in the Bronze screamed as it caught on fire.

A smile crossed Willow's face as she watched. Then she left the Bronze through a back door; she found herself alone in a dark alley. She'd been on her way to see Angel, but Willow had decided to stop in Sunnydale first.

' "All that's left of her is a demon wearing her face'." Willow shook her head as Buffy's words replayed in her head. She opened a portal and stepped inside, planning to go to L.A. She meant to be in Angel's office when the portal reopened, but instead Willow found herself in a nearby park in L.A.

'That's strange' she thought as she glanced around. Willow heard a fight nearby and walked toward it.

'Angel' she thought when she saw the dark-haired vampire. He was struggling against a vampire and Willow could see that he was hurt. "Angel!" Willow exclaimed, sending the vampire flying back into a tree.

While the vampire was down, Angel pulled a stake from his black duster and shoved it through the vampire's heart. "Thanks," he said, turning to face Willow. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't showed up."

"It's no big deal," Willow replied, walking toward Angel. "But you're hurt." She touched his arm, running a finger over the wound that was already healing.

"It's just a scrape," Angel replied when he saw the concern on Willow's face. 'How come she has to be so beautiful?' he wondered. It was taking all the willpower Angel had not to take Willow in his arms and just kiss her.

Angel breathed a sigh of relied as Willow removed her hand. "So," he said, trying to break the silence that had fallen between them. "Do you want to get something to eat? It's on me for saving my life."

"I'd love an ice cream," Willow replied with a smile. She put her arm through Angel's and the two of them left the park together. Willow wondered again why the portal had put her in the park. But she was glad it had because otherwise she wouldn't be going to have ice cream with Angel.

"You know what's strange?" Willow said. "I stopped in Sunnydale to see Giles, but he wasn't home. Even his doors were locked." 'It's not like Giles to not be home' she thought.

"Giles is back at the office. He showed up this morning. . .said something about needing to get out of Sunnydale for awhile. So he's staying with me," Angel replied. He was glad that Willow was still talking to the ex-Watcher.

Willow smiled as she thought about Giles, the man who'd been like a father to her since the day she'd met him. "I'm going to go see him before I leave," she told Angel.

Soon the two of them found themselves outside the ice cream shoppe. Angel held the door open for Willow and followed her in. They got their ice cream and grabbed a table.

'Patroll should always be like this' Angel thought as Willow told him about Australia and Tellie. The dark-haired vampire found himself really enjoying the red-head's company.

"Well that was a bust," Anya said as she and Spike left her contact's house. They'd came up empty. 'But at least we didn't see anymore of that bitch Drusilla' she thought. Anya didn't like the dark-haired vampiress.

Anya glanced at Spike as they walked, wondering what the blonde vampire was thinking about. 'Probably thinking about Dru' she thought angrily. The ex-demon touched Spike's arm, causing him to stop. "What are you think about?" she asked. 'And you'd better not say Drusilla' Anya thought. 'You'd better be thinking about me'

"This," Spike replied, capturing Anya's lips with his. She wrapped her arms around the vampire's neck, pulling herself closer to him. Anya opened her mouth slightly, allowing Spike's tongue in. Neither of them noticed the shadow that appeared.

"Spike!" Anya said, breaking the kiss. But it was too late. She watched in horror as Drusilla hit Spike over the head with a shovel. The ex-demon wanted to run, but she didn't want to leave Spike there.

Drusilla vampire out and grabbed Anya harshly, causing her to wince as pain shot through her shoulder. Anya tried to break away fro the vampiress' grip but couldn't. Drusilla tired her wrists together and then led her away.

"I wanted to know you out, but Miss Edith told me that you wouldn't feel any pain if I did that," Drusilla said. "I decided she's right. You should suffer for stealing Spike."

"Miss Edith?" Anya replied. "Who's that?"

A far-away look came to Drusilla's face. "Miss Edith has been naughty," she replied.

Anya shook her head, not wanting to know what the vampiress was talking about. "So this is about Spike?" she asked. "Did you ever think that maybe he came to me because you couldn't give him what he wanted?" Anya was trying to distract Drusilla into a conversation while she worked at the bonds holding her wrists.

Drusilla stepped in front of Anya and punched her. "Of course he wants me," she said, her eyes flashing. "Why would he want you?"

Anya felt the bonds give way. "Oh, I don't know," she replied. "Maybe because I'm not insane?" She grabbed the shovel Drusilla had dropped and knocked the vampiress out with it. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked down at Dru's unconscious form. Then Anya hurried back to Spike.

Spike was rubbing his head when he saw Anya. She helped him to his feet and Spike looked at her. "How did you get away?" he asked.

"Let's just say that Drusilla and I exchanged some words. And that her shovel came in useful," Anya replied with a grin. "But let's get back to Angel's before she comes back."

The blonde vampire nodded and they headed back to the office. "Who's Miss Edith?" Anya asked. "She kept talking about her."

Spike laughed. "Miss Edith is her doll. She goes everywhere Dru does," he explained.

Anya shook her head. "Her age and still playing with dolls," she said. "And Miss Edith 'talks' back? Damn, I must have really struck a nerve when I told her she was insane."

Willow and Angel spent a few hours talking over their ice cream. They finally left when they kept getting looks from the manager of the ice cream shoppe. Angel threw their trash away and the two of them walked out into the warm night air. "Now what do you want to do?" he asked.

"It's getting late," Willow replied, glancing at her watch. "At least it is here. I should get back to Australia and work on getting Tellie to make a wish."

"No luck yet?" Angel asked. He glanced at Willow and was surprised to see that she hadn't changed much since she'd became a demon. 'She's still the same person deep down. . .the Willow Rosenburg I met four years afo' he thought. Angel smiled as he thought about the vast difference physically in the Willow beside him and what she had been before.

Willow shook her head, trying not to look at the vampire beside her. She knew if she looked at Angel, she'd lose herself in the depth of his dark eyes. "I thought it would be easy. But Tellie turned out to be stubborn," she replied.

"Sounds like you two have something in common already," Angel said. He chuckled and tried to step away from Willow. 'I'm going to get it for that comment' he thought.

He wasn't fast enough, though. Willow slapped his arm and laughed as Angel stumbled off the sidewalk. "Not fast enough on your feet, are you?" she replied. Then she grinned. "I'd be careful. I have powers now, remember?" She walked toward Angel who was still trying to stay away from her.

Willow squealed as Angel grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. Before she could say anything, Angel captured her lips in a fiery kiss. Thunder sounded through the city as rain fell from the sky, but Willow and Angel were both oblivious to everything but each other.

Willow wrapped her arms around Angel's neck, deepening their kiss. 'What are you doing?' she thought. 'You're kissing Angel like there's no tomorrow. He's your friend' She reluctantly pulled away.

She and Angel stared at each other for a few minutes without saying anything. Willow knew if she allowed herself this moment in Angel's arms, she'd never want to leave. "I have to go," she finally said.

Angel watched as Willow opened a portal. She kissed him and then before he could protest, she was gone. The dark-haired vampire sighed as the portal closed around Willow. He looked up as rain ran down his face. As lightening streaked the night sky, Angel headed for the safety of the tunnels. A few minutes later, he was back in his apartment. 'Someone's here' he thought, sensing another presence around him.

Quietly he walked around the corner and looked into the kitchen. Angel rolled his eyes when he saw Anya at the refrigerator. "Anya," he said, walking into the kitchen. "You scared me. I thought you were a demon or something." Then he thought better of his comment. "Which I guess you are."

Anya turned around and Angel raised an eyebrow when he saw the bruise on the ex-vengeance demon's face. He walked over and touched her cheek. "What happened to you, Anya?" he asked.

"It was Drusilla, Peaches," Spike replied, walking in the kitchen. He couldn't keep from feeling jealous when he saw his sire touching Anya. The blonde vampire wanted to slap Angel's hand away, but he knew that would just draw attention to his feelings for the ex-demon. "She's back and she has it in for Anya."

"Because she thinks you two are together?" Angel asked, looking between his childe and Anya. "Dru always did have a thing for vengeance. But we should try to stop her before she hurts you, Anya."
 
 

Willow and Tellie walked into the local club that night in Australia. She couldn't get Angel's kiss out of her head, but she tried because she had to focus on her job. 'Can't let little things like love get in the way' she thought.

She glanced at Tellie who had been extremely quiet that night. 'Wonder what she's thinking about?' Willow wondered. If there was one thing Willow had learned though, it was that Tellie would only tell her things she wanted to be known.

The two girls grabbed a table and sat down. Tellie breathed a sigh of relief as she glanced around the crowded club. She was glad that Willow had agreed to come with her. . .she didn't feel like spending her evening alone. "Looks like this place is going to be busy tonight," Tellie said over the music.

Willow glanced around the club and had to agree. A couple of guys smiled her way, but she tried to not let on as if she'd noticed. "Looks like you're getting some attention tonight," Tellie said, grinning at Willow.

The vengeance demon didn't miss the sadness in her friend's eyes, though. Willow squeezed Tellie's hand and smiled gently. "Tellie, you could have any guy in this club you want," Willow replied. "I know you're still hurting over Jason, but there's nothing wrong with having fun."

"I'm not that lucky," Tellie said quietly. "I loved Jason and you see where that got me." She knew she was whining, but she didn't care at the moment.

Willow took the necklace off that she was wearing. "Here," she said, hooking it around Tellie's neck. "I think you might be able to use this. . .it's a good-luck charm." The vengeance demon smiled at her friend.

Tellie touched the necklace, shaking her head. "I told you I don't believe in luck," she replied. "And it doesn't matter how many nights I've spent crying over Jason. I can hope things will change, but they never do." She looked at Willow with tears in her eyes. The red-head leaned over and hugged Tellie.

"It'll be ok," Willow said. "It had to be." She glanced around the club and her eyes fell on a familiar figure. She did a double-take to be sure, but it was in face Jason. "And speaking of the devil himself." She nodded toward him.

She turned around in time to see Jason kissing some strange girl. "I know I said that I don't believe in luck," Tellie said, glancing at Willow. The tears were gone and had been replaced by anger. "But sometimes I keep thinking that something will happen to wipe that smirk off his face."

"Don't you wish?" Willow asked, glancing at Tellie intently. 'It's going to happen' she realized. She could sense it. 'She's going to wish for something'

"I do," Tellie replied. "If Jason was a rat, he'd be ugly and no girl would even want to touch him." She thought for a minute and laughed. "Plus he'd have to scurry around to find food, water, and shelter. Hell, I wish he was a rat."

"Done," Willow said, looking at Tellie with her demon face.

The lights went out and people began to scream as a blue light surrounded Jason. Tellie watched as he disappeared. A few seconds later, the lights came back on and a rat scurried across her feet. She glanced around, but Willow was gone. Tellie touched her neck to find that she was still wearing the necklace.
 
 

Anya rolled over on the couch and glanced at the clock. 'Midnight' she thought with a groan. She felt something brush against her face and smiled when she realized that it was Dennis.

She heard the lock on the door turn and looked up to see Cordelia. "Oh good, you're awake," she said. "I went to get groceries after my date with Doyle, and I still have more in the car. If you wouldn't mind helping me, I mean."

"No problem," Anya replied, getting up. Cordelia sat the bag she was carrying down and the two girls left the apartment, closing the door behind them.

A figure stepped from the shadows at the opposite end of the hall. Drusilla smiled as she watched the two girls leave. She walked to the apartment and taped a picture to the door. Then she followed Anya and Cordelia. At the door, she picked up the ball bat she'd left there earlier.

Anya and Cordelia were busy at the car and didn't hear anyone leave the apartment building. Anya heard a crack and glanced around in time to see Cordelia crumpled on the ground. She glanced up and found herself face-to-face with Drusilla.

"You again?" Anya said. She saw Drusilla's eyes darken and her grip on the ball bat tightened. Anya tried to duck as Drusilla swung, but she wasn't fast enough. The ex-demon crumpled to the ground beside Cordelia as darkness descended.

A few hours later, Anya woke up. She closed her eyes against the harsh light. She tried to move, but found that she was chained to a wall. She glanced beside her to see that Cordelia was awake, too.

"You're awake," Cordelia said, glancing at her friend with relief. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was hit by a car," Anya replied. She glanced around to see that she and Cordelia were in a cramped apartment. The two of them looked up when Drusilla came in. 'Great' Anya thought. 'It's the bitch from hell' Everything started to come back to her as she remembered what had happened outside Cordelia's apartment.

"What do you want with us?" Cordelia asked, not letting her gaze leave Drusilla's. 'And she better have a good excuse for having me chained up here' she thought.

Drusilla smiled as she picked Miss Edith up. Then she walked over so she was standing in front of the two girls. She took Anya's chin in her hand. "This one here, she stole my Spike. He's supposed to be mine, but she came into the picture," she replied. Then she took Cordelia's chin, who flinched against the vampiress' cold touch. "And you. I remember you helping the Slayer last year. And now you're friends with my Angel."

"So? What do you plan to do?" Cordelia asked, trying not to show how scared she was. "And they obviously aren't yours."

"I plan to keep you here," Drusilla answered. "Spike and Angel will know where to find you. . .and when they show up, they'll be mine again or I'll kill you two."
 
 

"Well someone looks happy this morning," Doyle said, walking into Angel Investigations. The first thing he'd noticed was the smile on his boss' face. 'That's a change' he thought, looking at the dark-haired vampire. 'Usually he's all broody with a scowl first thing in the morning'

"Who's happy?" a British voice asked. Giles walked into the office, cleaning his glasses. "It's too early to be in a good mood." The ex-Watcher glanced around. "And where's the blonde vampire childe? He's usually here with a quick quip."

Doyle laughed. "Spike's still at my apartment, asleep," he replied. "He said it was too early to get up and come help his poof of a sire. And that's a direct quote." He grinned when he saw both Angel and Giles roll their eyes.

"That's the Spike we all know," Angel said, pouring himself a cup of coffee and walking to one of the chairs in the office. Looking at Doyle, he continued. "And aren't I allowed to be in a good mood sometimes?"

"Hey, I don't have any problem with you being happy, man," Doyle said. "But it's out of character. You're always telling me and Cordelia how you're meant to suffer and how you're not supposed to be content in anything. What changed that? Did you run into Willow?"

Angel looked down at his coffee cup, trying to find a way out of this conversation. 'But Doyle knows me well enough to figure out that I was lying' he reminded himself. Finally he gave up on finding a way to change the subject. "Yeah, I did. Last night. She saved my from a vampire in the park."

"And?" Doyle prodded. He could tell from the look on the dark-haired vampire's face that Angel wasn't telling him everything. 'He might as well tell me' the half-demon thought. 'He knows that I'll find out eventually'

"And we kissed," Angel replied. The room grew quiet as Doyle and Giles took in what the vampire had told them. When neither of them said anything, Angel continued. "It just happened. We were walking and the next thing I knew, we were kissing."

The three of them talked for awhile and then started reading the morning papers to make sure that no demonic attacks had occurred last night. Angel was worried because Cordelia and Anya weren't there yet, but Doyle kept reminding him that Cordelia Chase was never on time.

But when the two girls still hadn't showed two hours later, Angel knew that something was wrong. It was a gut feeling he had. 'Cordelia might not be the most punctual person in the world, but she not this careless' he thought. "Something's wrong," he said. Doyle nodded. "I know," the half-demon replied. "Before I just thought that she was acting normal. You know, breeze in here late and tell us how it's our fault she's so tired from making her be here so early. But she's two hours late. . .she'd call if she was going to be this late."

"Exactly," Angel said. He looked at his best friend and an agreement passed between them. They both knew that they had to get over to Cordelia's apartment. And fast.

"We've got to get over there," Doyle said, reading Angel's thoughts. The two of them headed to the sewer tunnels, leaving Giles at the office in case the two girls showed up. "They better not be out having a good time while we worry."

Ten minutes later they found themselves in the basement of the apartment building and made their way quickly upstirs to Cordelia's apartment. 'Nothing seems to be wrong or out of place' Angel thought as they made their way down the hallway.

They reached the door to find a picture taped to it. Doyle pulled it off as Angel read the words printed on the bottom of it over his friend's shoulder. "Better come get your girls. I'll kill them. Love, Dru," Angel read, anger creeping into his voice.

"What now?" Doyle asked, looking at his boss. He was worried about Cordelia and Anya. . .he hoped they were ok. 'They're in the presence of an insane vampiress. They can't be ok' he thought.

"I know this place," Angel said, looking at the apartment in the picture. "Let's go get Spike and get back to the office. We have to rescue them because Drusilla makes good on her threats."
 
 

Willow packed up the stuff in her apartment. Now that her job of granting Tellie's wish was done, there was no reason for her to stay in Australia. She was so intent on what she was doing that she didn't even hear anyone come in the apartment.

"Willow?" a female voice said. The vengeance demon jumped when she realized that she wasn't alone. 'Tellie' she thought when she saw her friend standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.

"Hey," Willow said, not sure what else to say. 'What can I possibly say to her after the things she saw last night?' the red-head wondered. She knew there was nothing she could say, though. 'This is way beyond words'

Tellie walked further into the room, her gaze never wavering from Willow's. "I don't know what happened last night. And I don't expect any explainations," she said. "But I know you had something to do with what happened . . .with the lights going out and Jason being a rat."

Willow thought about denying it, but she knew she couldn't. Tellie knew the truth. "I did," she finally replied. "And I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't. Let's just say that helping people is part of my fate."

"And now you have to leave," Tellie filled in, nodding toward Willow's suitcase. The red-had could see the hurt in her friend's eyes from the news that she had to leave, but there was nothing Willow could do about it.

"I have to," Willow replied. Tellie noddd and the two girls hugged. The vengeance demon watched as her friend left the apartment. "Maybe we'll see each other again," Tellie said, stopping in the doorway. Then she was gone.

The red-head sighed and finished packing. Ten minutes later she grabbed her bags and opened a portal, on her way back to Arashmahadd. D'Hoffryn was waiting on the other side when the portal opened in the demon dimension.

"Job well done, Willow," D'Hoffryn said with a slight smile. He had to admit that he'd had his reservations while he'd watched Willow working. But she'd come through in the end. 'I knew she'd make a good vengeance demon' he thought.

Willow smiled at the compliment. "Thank you," she replied. "It wasn't an easy job, but I finally got it done. And there's no way that I'd ever let you down." After her first granted wish, Willow liked her job. "And I have a question. I was reading one of the books you gave me and I ran across something about Angel. Will his soul be permanent when he meets the girl the book referred to?"

D'Hoffryn smiled. "His soul will be anchored to hers the day they admit their feelings," he answered. He knew that Willow knew the book passage was about her. . .but he still wasn't allowed to say anything.

The red-head smiled, knowing what she had to do. 'I have to tell Angel how I feel' she thought. 'There's no point in denying it' Willow opened a portal and stepped inside, on her way to L.A. It was night when she got there and Willow made her way to Angel's office.

"Angel?" Willow called out, walking into the office. The lights were out and the place seemed to be empty. She sighed in frustration as she sat down in a chair to wait. 'He has to come home eventually' Willow thought, turning on the overhead light.
 
 

"I wonder what Spike would do if I killed you?" Drusilla said, looking at Anya with hate in her eyes. "I mean would he mourn over you? Cry himself to sleep at night over your memory? Find someone new?" The dark-haired vampiress paused. "Let me tell you something. Spike was mine. Mine! We were family and now he's gone."

"Oh, get over yourself, bitch," Cordelia replied angrily. She tried not to show her fear as she locked gaze with Drusilla. "Get it through your head that Spike and Angel were both over you a long time ago. That's the day they both came to their senses."

Drusilla's eyes darkened. She walked to the dark-haired girl and backhanded her. "It's not over," she hissed at the two teenage girls. "We were together long before you two tramps were born. We had a bond."

"A bond?" Anya repeated. "You don't have a 'bond'. They were with you out of pity! You're going to be a lonely old lady before they'd take you back in. But oh. . .I guess you already have the old part covered."

Drusilla threw her glass bottle to the floor and it broke into small pieces. The dark-haired vampiress picked up one of the sharp pieces and touched it to Anya's face. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into," the vampiress said. "Spike can never love you. He loves me."

Anya screamed out in pain as Drusilla drug the piece of glass down her face. The ex-demon could feel the blood pouring from the wound. But before she could say anything, a crash sounded and the window across the room shattered and broke. Cordelia and Anya both breathed a sigh of relief as Angel, Doyle, Spike, and Giles came in through the broken window.

"Drusilla," Angel said, stake and holy water in hand as he faced his female childe.

"Spike," Drusilla said, smiling when she saw her blonde lover. "Angel. I'm glad you two got my message. . .you're just in time for the finale. It's time to kill these two girls, and it's only fun with an audience." With Spike and Angel's eyes on her, she walked over to Anya and backhanded her.

The blonde vampire's eyes darkened as he heard Anya's cry of pain. "Touch her again, Dru, and you'll be the one who dies," Spike replied. "What makes you think that you can just come here and get what you want because you say it's yours?"

"Because we belong together, Spikey," Drusilla said with a whine. "You knew that until this little girl came into the picture. Now I'm just a memory and she's the one you love. I came here to get you back and found you with her."

"I thought we belonged together at one time, too. But that was before you ran off with a chaos demon last year. . .and this year it was a fungus demon of all the bloody things!" Spike replied with a growl. 'Was she always this shallow?' he wondered.

"And this one," Drusilla said, ignoring Spike and squeezing Cordelia's cheek. "Even though Angel doesn't love her, he still cares about her as a friend. So she'll die, too."

"Over my dead body," Doyle replied angrily. "What, you think you can just come here and do whatever you damn well please? Well guess what. It doesn't work like that." He walked over and punched the vampiress, watching her stumble backwards.

Spike watched as Drusilla picked Doyle up and threw him across the room, his back hitting the wall. Angel and Spike nodded to each other and moved in on the dark-haired vampiress. "I'm sorry, Dru," Spike said, backhanding her.

While the two vampires were busy with Drusilla, Doyle pulled himself up from the floor and went to help Giles, who was trying to unchain the girls. "You ok, Princess?" he asked Cordelia as he freed her. Giles freed Anya and the four of them hurried outside to wait for Angel and Spike.

Drusilla vamped out and punched Spike. Growling, she turned to face Angel. She threw her sire against the wall. Sensing Spike sneaking up on her, she whirled around to find her lover, carrying a stake in his right hand. She chuckled cruely. "Think you're strong enough to use that on me?" she asked with a smirk.

Spike morphed into his vampire face and kicked Drusilla back into the wall beside Angel. "I can if I have to," he replied with a smile. The dark-haired vampire got up and held Drusilla hard against the wall. She screamed as Spike drove the stake through her heart.

The two of them watched as Drusilla turned to dust and then joined the others outside. "Spike!" Anya exclaimed, hurrying to Spike's side. She threw herself into his arms and Spike hugged her. Anya flinched as he touched the cut on her cheek.

"I think this calls for a little celebration," Doyle said. "We saved Cordelia and Anya, which means that we deserve some fun. I think I have some whiskey at the office."

"Everything is a cause for celebration for you, Doyle," Cordelia replied with a smile, slapping the half-demon's arm.

He, Cordelia, Giles, and Angel started to head back to the office. Angel turned around when he realized that Spike and Anya weren't following. "Coming?" he asked. 'Maybe Spike needs to be alone since he just staked Drusilla' he thought.

Spike glanced at Anya, knowing that they needed to be alone for awhile. He turned back to his sire. "We'll be there later, ok?" he asked. "I need to talk to Anya for now." The two of them watched as their four friends headed back to the office.
 
 

Ten minutes later Anya and Spike found themselves at a nearby playground. "Well this brings back memories," Anya said with a smile, looking at the swing set. She walked over to it and sat down on one of the swings.

Spike shook his head and followed her. "Yeah, brings back memories from a couple hundred years ago," he replied, sitting down on the swing beside Anya. "For me anyway. . .I guess it's been a lot longer than that for you."

The two of them swung in silence for awhile, enjoying the comfortable silence that had fallen between them. Spike glanced at Anya, who seemed to be looking up at the stars in the night sky. 'I know I have to start this conversation' he thought. 'But what exactly am I supposed to say?'

"The night is so beautiful," Anya said, looking at Spike. "I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to see this again. I was pretty sure that I was going to die before I got the chance to tell you that. . ."

"That what?" Spike prodded, noticing how nervous Anya was. "What is it, pet?" Obviously Anya wanted to talk first, and he wasn't about to stop her.

Anya looked at him with love in her eyes. "That I love you," she finally replied. "I know that we still don't know each other that well and that you probably don't feel the same way, but-"

Spike captured Anya's lips with his, cutting the rest of her words off. He pulled away, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I do feel the same way, luv," he said. "I love you." 'I just didn't want to say anything sooner because I was afraid of getting hurt' he finished silently.

"Well I'm glad that's out," Anya said with a smile. "I don't know about you, but I feel a lot better." 'Now for the million dollar question' she thought, taking a deep breath. "But what now?"

The blonde vampire glanced at the twinkling sky and then smiled at Anya. "Ever had sex under the stars?" he asked. Spike knew he was probably pushing it, but right now he didn't care. . .all he wanted was to be close to Anya.

"No," Anya replied with a laugh. She squealed as Spike picked her up from the swing and carried her to the shadowy part of the playground. "If any kids show up, they're going to get a bloody nice view," he whispered with a chuckle. He layed Anya on the grass and climbed on top of her, tossing his black duster off to the side.

Spike kissed Anya's neck as he unbuttoned her shirt. He kissed down her chest and stomach as he exposed her warm skin. He seperated her legs with her knee and grabbed her hips. "Spike," Anya moaned as she pulled his vest and T-shirt over his head. Before long, they were both naked and in each other's arms. Anya arched toward her lover as he positioned himself at her entrance.

They lost themselves in the feel of each other's arms, nothing else mattering as the two of them made love under the stars that night.
 
 

Angel and the others walked into the office laughing since the threat of Drusilla was gone and the insane vampiress was dead. The dark-haired vampire stopped in his tracks when he saw the red-head that was sitting at Cordelia's desk. "Willow," he said.

"Angel," Willow replied. "Sorry about just showing up like this. But I knew you'd have to come back eventually." She paused as she considered her next words. She got up and moved until she was standing in front of Angel. "I think we need to talk."

"We do," Angel said, looking at the girl he had grown to care about. "Let's go downstairs." He led the way to the elevator and waited until Willow was beside him. Neither of them said anything, an uncomfortable silence falling between them.

Once in the safety of Angel's apartment, Willow took a deep breath. She hated the silence that had fallen between her and Angel. 'Even though it should have been expected' she thought. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, trying to decide how to tell you this," she said. "But I don't want to play games with you, so I'm just going to say it."

"I know you've read the prophecy where you and I are supposed to get together," Willow said. "I didn't want to buy into it; I kept telling myself that there was no way that was going to happen. But god, after that kiss last night. . .I love you, Angel." There. She'd said it.

Angel walked over and pulled Willow into his arms. "I love you, too," he whispered. "And I didn't want to believe what the prophecy said either. I knew we'd both been hurt by the people we loved and that we didn't want to get hurt again. . .but really it's just something we have in common and have to work through. I want to be with you, Willow."

Willow smiled at the man she loved and kissed him. "I want to be with you too, Angel," she said. "You're the one thing that makes me happy besides being a vengeance demon. I need you." She was glad to finally be telling Angel how she felt.

"When do you have to be back in Arashmahadd?" Angel asked with a smile. 'We both know what's going to happen' he thought, looking at Willow.

"Tomorrow morning. Why?" she replied, confused. Willow smiled when she saw the grin on Angel's face. She laughed as the dark-haired vampire picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, closing the door behind them.

"The prophecy has been fulfilled," the female Oracle said as she sensed that the bond had been formed between the vampire and the vengeance demon.

Her male counterpart smiled. "A job well done yet again," he replied as the two of them headed back into their chambers. 'A job well done indeed' he thought.

THE END.

back