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Part One

"It's Buffy." Angel made that simple statement and Willow was glad. It meant that she didn't have to say it and it reminded her of why she was here. It was about Buffy. It was for Buffy.

"I need the book." Her voice came out stronger than Angel had expected considering that Willow looked shattered. Except now that she had spoken, her stubborn resolve face slid into place. Angel didn't have to ask which book, he knew.

"What book?" Cordelia interrupted them. She knew from Willow's and Angel's expressions that Buffy was dead, but why would Willow be so concerned with a book? Unless someone was hurt and she needed it for a healing spell or to kill the demon that killed Buffy or.... "Is Xander okay?"

For the first time Willow really noticed the others. Cordelia and Wesley looked sad and worried for their friends. The other two, a shy looking brunette woman and a young handsome black man, she didn't know. And she didn't have time to know them right now. Cordelia's chin was starting to tremble and Willow knew that she had to at least answer her question. "Xander's as okay as the rest of us. I need the book, Angel. I can get Buffy back."

"No. That book is dangerous." Angel shook his head. Giles would stake him if he gave that book to Willow and then Buffy would find him in hell and thrash the afterlife out of him.

"What book?" Wesley echoed Cordelia's first question.

"Angel, you don't understand." Willow ignored Wesley's question. Angel was the important one. He had the book and he would do anything for Buffy. He just needed to think about it and really understand what she was saying. That she could bring Buffy back. "Buffy was caught in a vortex opened with Dawn's blood. It sucked out her soul to seal itself. Her death wasn't natural. The vortex took it from her, it didn't leave her body because she was dead, she died because her soul was gone. I can get her soul back if you give me the book."

"The Romany Book of Lost Souls," Wesley said with awe. "You have it, Angel? Does it say anything about your curse?"

"It was in with Jenny's things that the police released to Giles. He gave it to me for safekeeping. How did you know that I had it, Willow?"

"Just give it to me." Willow crossed over to them, casting a glance backward.

That's when Angel noticed the figure curled up on the couch hidden by the shadows. Dawn. Their terse argument hadn't awakened her. He couldn't believe that Willow had dragged the exhausted and grief-stricken girl here. It just showed that she wasn't thinking clearly. He had to protect her from herself. Buffy would have wanted it that way. "No."

Before Willow could respond, the front door of the hotel slammed open. A large, dark figure filled the doorway. Willow didn't recognize what type of demon he was, but from the looks on their faces, Angel, Cordelia and Wesley did. "Angel! You and your human friends have interfered in my hunting parties for the last time." The silver gleam of an axe blade flashed in the dim light and it's red eyes glowed.

"I don't have time for this, I only have twenty-four hours before Buffy's soul is lost." Willow turned to Angel. "Bad guy?" At Angel's nod, her eyes turned black. "Evil begone," she growled and held out her hand. A crackle of energy shot from her fingers into the demon. The thing howled, but was promptly cut off as it exploded into tiny particles that blew out into the street as the door slammed shut again.

Angel was aware of Gunn and Fred jumping back. Cordelia and Wesley just stood with their mouth open. No one had told them that Willow's powers had grown to this extreme. Now he was worried. Willow might actually be able to perform the spell she had in mind. Angel shuddered when her eyes, devoid of color, turned to him.

"Don't make me take it."

*****

This was madness. Angel couldn't believe he was back in Sunnydale about to help Willow resurrect his lost love. He should have listened to Wesley and refused to help. He should have called Giles and had him talk some sense into Willow. He glanced over at the object of his thoughts and caught Dawn's worried gaze. She was afraid for Willow too. She was also why he hadn't put up a fight over the book. Dawn had woken up when the demon exploded and had heard Willow's threat. She had started to cry and Angel hadn't wanted to upset her by having a physical confrontation with Willow, because given her state of mind, that's what it would have been. Angel had seen no choice other than to give Willow the book and insist on accompanying them. He was here
to make sure that Willow didn't hurt herself or Dawn.

"It happened here." Willow stopped at some debris. They were back at the construction site that Glory had picked to open the vortex that would send her home. Willow squeezed Dawn's hand. Now that they were here, she was scared. What if she couldn't do this? What if she hurt Dawn in the process?

"Willow, you don't have to do this." Angel uncannily read her mind. His hand enfolded her free one. It was what she needed. She would and could do this - for Buffy, for Dawn, and for Angel. On the way back to Sunnydale, while Angel drove, Willow had read the book. At first she just read the spell she needed over and over again to memorize it, but that hadn't taken long and she was curious about the rest of them. On the page that had Angel's curse, there was a footnote that referred to an anchoring spell. Willow hadn't had time to pursue it since they had reached Sunnydale and Angel had immediately confiscated the book from her. He thought the book was dangerous and that he could convince her not to use it. Poor Angel, because not only was she going to use
it, but after reviving Buffy, Willow had every intention of using that book to make Angel's soul permanent. Then the Slayer and her vampire could be happy.

"Give me the book, Angel." Willow let go of her friends' hands. She turned to Dawn. "Dawn, I need you to be my connection to Buffy. After I retrieve her soul, I'm going to have to tap into some of your energy as the Key to transfer her soul into her body, okay?"

"Okay." Dawn nodded. "Will this really bring Buffy back? And she'll be okay, right?"

"I wouldn't try it if I didn't think I could bring our Buffy back to us." Willow hugged the girl to her. "I love you." She let Dawn go and shrugged the canvas bag she'd been carrying from her shoulder. As she rummaged through the bag she explained what she was going to do. It reassured her, made it seem more real and possible and not some desperate attempt to hold onto her dead best friend. "This first part is relatively easy. I just need some of your blood to open the vortex, Dawn."

"But how will you close it?" Dawn's question was more curious than fearful. She knew that she could trust Willow and Angel was here too, so she wasn't scared that any of Glory's lingering minions would hurt them either. He would also stop Willow from hurting herself. Ever since Buffy had died, Willow's behavior had worried Dawn. She had wanted to go to Angel immediately and wouldn't listen when the others had tried to stop her. Of course if they had known her real reason for wanting to go to Angel, they would probably have locked her up. Or tried. Dawn was pretty sure that Willow would use her magic against anyone who tried to stop her, even her friends, but she also knew that Willow wouldn't hurt her.

"The vortex opens with your blood and it stops when your blood stops. It's connected to you and you are connected to Buffy by blood, that's why her sacrifice sealed it. If Buffy had realized this earlier, none of this would have happened, because we could have come prepared - like I have." Willow glanced warily at Dawn. She took a small jar from her bag. Within it a greyish bulbous mass floated in a clear liquid. "The blood that connects you belonged to Joyce. I took this from the hospital before we left for L. A. It's the tumor they removed from your mother's brain. It should seal the vortex once I've gotten Buffy's soul back." Willow set the jar onto the ground and reached into her bag once again and this time brought out a crystal sphere.

"The Orb of Thesulah," Angel whispered. The orb would hold Buffy's soul just as it had housed his a few years ago. Not for the first time that night, dread permeated his consciousness. Something was going to go wrong. Willow was going to get hurt. "Willow..."

"You can't stop me, Angel. I have to do this, I have to try." Willow set the orb down beside the glass jar. She threw her arms around Angel in a tight bear hug. "I'll bring her back to you, I promise."

It was amazing to Angel how much this young woman in his arms would do for the people she cared about, not to mention what she would do for complete strangers. Angel's arms tightened around her, holding her warm body as close as possible to his. He hadn't had many chances to hold Willow close, usually it just happened when he was saving her from some demon that wanted to kill her, and he didn't want to let go now. He couldn't take the chance that the world would lose this perfect treasure. "Buffy wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, Willow. And what if something were to happen to Dawn? It's too risky. Think
about Giles and Xander, they can't lose you too or Dawn." Angel risked looking down at Willow, even though it meant that he had to move a hair's breadth away from her. She met his gaze briefly, guilt flashing through her eyes, before she slipped from his grasp. Too late Angel realized that she had taken the book from his pocket.

"Sorry." Willow mouthed the word. "Thicken," she commanded out loud, immobilizing Angel. He would have tried to stop her and she didn't want to hurt him. She turned her back on him and started walking up the stairs to the top of the construction tower that Buffy had fallen from with Dawn following behind her. Once they reached the top, Willow opened the book to search for the page with the spell just in case she had a memory lapse. Angel would forgive her once Buffy was back safe and sound. They all would. "Dawn, are you ready?"

The younger girl nodded and held a trembling hand out to Willow. Her eyes were wide and they darted around the construction site below them. Willow wished that she didn't have to involve Dawn, especially so soon after the traumatic events of the night before, but she needed the power of the Key and the blood connection to Buffy. As gently as possible, Willow slit open the tip of Dawn's index finger with her white-handled ceremonial dagger.

The blood dropped to the ground and the effect was immediate. With a sighing grumble, dark clouds formed and a bright white light cracked their surface. Willow held the Orb of Thesulah aloft. "Buffy Anne Summers! I call your soul to this orb." The orb began to glow, and as it happened when she restored Angel's soul, the words came to her. Willow barely glanced at the book as the familiar Romany words flowed from her lips. A bright blue and pink dazzling light flashed out from the vortex and struck the orb like lightening. The orb absorbed the light and Willow knew the spell was successful. She had Buffy's soul. Now she just had to close the vortex again.

All Angel could do was watch. Willow had effectively pinned him to his spot. He was helpless. but she had done it. He had watched as Buffy's soul was pulled into the orb and now he watched as Willow opened the jar containing Joyce's tumor. He heard her yell something, but couldn't make out the words. Then, with an arm a quarterback would admire, she threw the jar into the vortex. Flashes of intense white light crackled in the dark clouds as the vortex decided if this was what it wanted. A loud bang of thunder signaled its acceptance and the vortex sealed.

The sudden silence was oppressive, especially since Angel couldn't move. He heard the hollow clang of their footsteps on the stairs as Willow and Dawn descended from the tower. As they approached him, Willow held out her hand. "Release." And he could move again. Angel joined them without a word as the trio left the construction site. It was time to restore Buffy's soul.

*****

The funeral home where Buffy's body lay waiting to be buried was dark. Willow zapped the lock on the door without a second thought and Angel was again astonished at how magic had become such an integral part of her. Willow took Dawn's hand and gave it another reassuring squeeze. Angel realized that not even a month ago, Joyce Summers had lain here waiting for her burial. He took Dawn's other hand and felt better when she smiled at him. It was hard to believe that this fragile little girl was the key to the universe. He smiled back at her. He was feeling better all around. Now that Willow had Buffy's soul and had sealed the vortex, he was beginning to think that she could actually bring Buffy back and that his earlier feelings of doom and gloom were just his pessimistic nature.

"Who's there?" Spike's speech was slurred and he looked up from where his head was resting on Buffy's coffin with bleary eyes. A bottle of his favorite whiskey was clutched in his hand. "No one goes near the Slayer! If it's a trophy you're lookin' for, leave before I bash yer soddin' brains in."

"Spike it's me." Willow approached him cautiously.

"Wil'ow? An Li'l Bit, Dawnie!" Spike smiled at the girls, but it twisted horrifically as he vamped when he noticed Angel. "You," he growled and tried to launch himself at his grandsire. In his inebriated state, it came out more as a stumbling lurch that found him kissing the floor at Angel's feet.

It was a pitiful sight, but one that Angel understood. When Buffy had told him of Spike's feelings, she had referred to it as a 'crush', but Angel had known better. When his grandchilde loved, he loved with every part of his being and Angel had known that Spike had loved Buffy. "Spike." Angel hauled him to his feet. "I'm sorry about Buffy."

"Yeah, right, Big Poof. You came here to take her away from me. Like Dru...always second...never loved me...hated me...loved her..fought stupid evil...." Spike trailed off, taking a swig from his empty bottle. Realizing he was out of alcohol, he flung the bottle away and it smashed against the wall. Swaying slightly, he once again focused his grief-filled rage at Angel. "You! You want to...want to..."

"I'm here to bring Buffy back. Angel doesn't want to take Buffy away, he's here to help me." Willow took Spike's arm and led him a few steps away from Angel. She settled him onto a metal folding chair set up for the services the next evening.

"Really? You can do that? Bring her back?"

"I've got her soul right here." Willow showed Spike the orb. He stared at it and the glowing lights reflected the tears that wet his cheeks. "Now you sit here while Dawn and I perform the restoration ritual. Okay?" She patted Spike's hand.

"What do you want me to do?" Angel asked softly, keeping an eye on Spike. All of the younger vampire's rage had disappeared as his gaze never left the Orb of Thesulah and Buffy's soul. Angel still didn't want to take the chance of antagonizing him again.

"I'm going to do the restoration spell and combine it with a healing spell that will take care of the damage to her body from the fall and from any cell degeneration that took place after she died. I'm going to need to tap into Dawn's energy as the Key to do it. I want you to stop me from taking too much. I won't be able to control it once I start the spell." Willow turned to the young girl. "When you feel pain, I want you to cry out and Angel will break our connection. You don't have to worry, it won't effect the spell or Buffy."

Both Dawn and Angel nodded. Willow took Dawn's hand again and walked towards Buffy's coffin. Angel hung back, waiting for his signal. Something Willow had said bothered him, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"The curse! What about the bloody curse!" Spike suddenly yelled. "Don't want the Slayer to be all broody 'cause she'll lose her soul when she's happy."

"That won't happen, Spike," Willow assured him. "This is a different spell from the one that was performed on Angel. It returns a soul to its human body, because it was taken unnaturally. It's not a curse for the undead. Buffy's soul will be with her until she dies a natural death." Willow turned back to the coffin. She lifted the lid to reveal a peaceful looking slayer. As he was the first time he had seen her, Angel was captivated by her beauty. She lay there like Snow White waiting for Prince Charming. A sharp pain in his heart reminded Angel that he could never be her prince. Even if Willow did resurrect her, Buffy's destiny was with someone else. And hopefully, someday, there would be someone for him as well.

Willow was nervous. Things were going too smoothly, even Angel hadn't put up much of a fight. Of course, once he realized that Buffy would be alive and well, Willow hadn't expected him to. Angel would do anything for his love - his soulmate. Resolve face back in place, Willow placed the orb on Buffy's chest. One hand hovered over the orb and with the other, she took Dawn's hand. With a deep breath, she opened a channel to the Key's energy. In a voice she didn't recognize and in a language she didn't fully understand, Willow spoke the words of the spell.

It was a thrilling and terrifying thing to watch. The beautiful sparkling green left Willow's eyes, replaced with inky black. The orb glowed in response to Willow's words, the soft white light enveloping Buffy's body. He waited for a response - a twitch, a breath - anything that would indicate that Buffy was alive and well. So focused was he on this, that Dawn's sharp piercing cry made him jump. Immediately, Angel rushed forward and wrenched Dawn's hand from Willow's grasp.

The loss of the Key's energy impacted Willow like a football tackle - it felt like she had gotten the magic 'wind' knocked out of her. With another deep breath, she steadied herself and gathered her magical power and let it flow into the finishing of the spell. Willow looked down at Buffy. She held her breath as she caught a faint flutter of an eyelash and let it out in a gasp of surprise and delight as Buffy's eyes opened.

"Willow?" Buffy whispered. She sat up slowly. "What happened? Death was my gift."

"And your life was mine." Willow smiled, tears running down her cheeks. She stepped back to let Dawn hug her sister. They were both laughing and crying and when Spike joined in, Buffy didn't push him away.

Willow felt Angel's hands on her shoulders and she briefly wondered why he didn't join in on the group hug. "You did it, Willow, you brought Buffy back," he whispered in her ear. She felt him press a kiss to her temple.

"Yes, I did." Willow tilted her head up to look into Angel's dark brown eyes shining with unshed tears. She touched his cheek. She couldn't wait to perform the anchoring spell. It would have to be done as soon as she had regained enough strength. He and Buffy deserved to be happy together. Willow felt her knees give out and Angel's arms go around her as he caught her.

"Willow?" She heard Angel say her name and he sounded far away. She had thought she would have more time. She must have used too much power and the severed connection had done too much damage. She wasn't going to regain enough strength to anchor Angel's soul. She wasn't going to regain any strength.

"Angel...the book," Willow gasped. She had to tell him about the spell before it was too late. Someone else could do the spell. "Tara...Giles...anchor...." That's all she could manage. Her head was tingling and her peripheral vision was darkening. Her heart gave a weird jump and then Willow felt it stop.
 

Part Two

One minute she had been smiling up at him and the next she had collapsed in his arms babbling about the book, her girlfriend, Giles, and an anchor. Her
heart stopped beating. Willow's heart stopped beating. Angel had heard its last thump. A searing pain burned his chest. "Willow!" he screamed. He shook
her limp body more forcefully than he should have.

"No!" Angel heard Buffy's voice, but barely felt it when she pushed him away from Willow. "No, she's not going to die. Willow, you are not going to die."

"She's dead." Angel crept closer to the two girls. Buffy was feeling for a pulse. She laid her head on Willow's chest. "She's dead," he repeated numbly.
She was alive and now she was dead.

Buffy looked up, her eyes blazing into his. "No. Dawn, call nine-one-one, tell them we have an unconscious female with no pulse at Brierly Funeral Home.
Wait for them and bring them back here." Buffy watched as Dawn took off and then turned her attention back to Willow. She was not going to die. She
wasn't going to lose someone else she loved. Buffy tilted Willow's head, pinched her nostrils and delivered two breaths into her best friends inert lungs.
With no response, she started CPR compressions. She tuned everything else out - she didn't know what Spike and Angel were doing - her whole world
was two breaths, five chest compressions, until finally a paramedic pulled her away. Her instinctive protective reaction was to knock him away, but she felt
Spike's cool hands close over her arms as he moved her away.

"It's okay, Slayer, they're here to help." He hugged her to him. "Your job is over now. Let them do theirs."

It seemed to take forever. Time was moving in a horrendously slow motion. Buffy had to turn her head into Spike's chest when they brought out the
defibulator and started to shock Willow with the paddles. "I've got a pulse," finally one of them shouted. "Let's move her into the wagon."

They were going to take Willow away. Angel stepped forward as she was put onto the stretcher. He clasped one of her small limp hands in his. "I'm going
with her." He was never going to let her go again.

"Angel." Buffy stepped forward to protest. She was Willow's best friend, she should stay with her. She was about to bring this little fact up when she noticed
Angel's eyes. He was terrified. They followed the stretcher as it rolled toward the front doors.

"Let him go." Spike took her arm once again. "We'll meet them there."

"Is Willow going to be okay?" Dawn's voice was small and she trembled with grief and exhaustion. She hugged herself to her sister's side.

"She'll be fine, Dawn," Buffy assured her. She watched as Willow was loaded into the ambulance and Angel jumped in after her. The doors were closed and
the vehicle roared away into the night with sirens blaring. "Willow can't die. Too many people love her." Some more than they realized.

*****

The ambulance was a small, self-contained flurry of activity. Angel sat at Willow's side, holding her hand and concentrating on her face, willing her to wake
up. The paramedic on her other side kept track of her pulse, beeping on the heart monitor, and continued to force air into her lungs with a balloon-like
pump. It had AMBU-BAG embalzoned on its side in dark red letters. Willow's heart was beating, but she still wasn't breathing on her own. Angel didn't want
to contemplate what that meant. Absently he brushed a lock of fiery red hair from her eyes. His thumb returned to caress her brow. Not breathing meant
a respirator. Respirators could be turned off. This thought stayed with him as they screeched to a halt in the ambulance bay and still thundered in his brain
as they tore Willow's hand from his and wheeled her through a set of swinging doors.

"Sir, are you with that young lady who just came in?" a pretty, middle aged nurse asked. She smiled that gentle 'everything will be okay' smile that people in
her profession have perfected. "We need some of her information." Angel went with the nurse over to the admitting desk and told her what he could. While
he was doing that, he also told her a few things that laid the groundwork for his plan to protect Willow. It wasn't going to make anyone happy, Buffy and
Xander would be furious - not to mention Willow's girlfriend - but Angel didn't care. After speaking with the nurse, he dug out his cell phone to call someone
who could come up with the proper documentation to verify his lies.

"Angel!" Buffy ran up to him just as he was finishing his call. "How's Willow? Did you just call Giles and Xander?"

"No, I didn't think to call them. They just took Willow in there a few minutes ago. They haven't told me anything yet." Angel gestured at the doors down the
hall. He sat down in the chair nearest the doors to wait.

Buffy paced back and forth in front of Angel. "I'll go call them." She started to head to the bank of payphones, but Spike stepped in front of her.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Pet, considerin' the last time Giles and Xander saw you, you were dead 'n' all." Spike walked over and picked up the
receiver of a payphone. "I'll call."

Buffy resumed her pacing. Dawn curled up in a chair beside Angel. She reached over and held his hand, squeezing it tightly. There was no evil to fight, no
demon or hell goddess to kill, all they could do was sit...and wait...and hope...and pray. Not things that any of them were good at.

*****

Buffy and Spike were making Dawn dizzy. One paced one way and the other paced the other way. Angel was making her worried. He just stared at the
door and didn't say a word. Dawn rested her head on his shoulder. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She had shed too many tears in the last
twenty-four hours - tears of fear from being captured by Glory and tears of grief for her sister - there weren't any left for Willow. Besides, Buffy had said that
Willow wouldn't die and Buffy never lied. And Angel wouldn't let Willow go without a fight. "We didn't hurt her, did we, Angel?"

"You didn't do anything, Dawn, except help bring your sister back." Angel couldn't tear his eyes from the doors. He had this irrational fear that if he looked
away, Willow would die. It was his fault, he had hurt her when he had broken the connection between Dawn and Willow. He now knew what had bothered
him when Willow had assured them that breaking the connection wouldn't effect Buffy or the spell - she hadn't included herself. He could hear her
heartbeat. It was strong. That was good. He would concentrate on that.

"It wasn't your fault either, Angel. Willow didn't tell us it would hurt her." Dawn squeezed his hand again. She had always been perceptive for her age. At
least, that's the way he remembered it, thanks to the monks who had created her. It was weird, but he hadn't actually known Dawn, his memories of her
were a fiction created to protect her. But still, Angel felt a connection to Dawn - because of their love for Buffy and now over their shared guilt for Willow.

It was his fault. He should have known that Willow was keeping something from him. He had known, but hadn't let himself see it until it was too late. Had he
unintentionally sacrificed Willow for Buffy?

If it was possible, Angel actually got paler. Buffy cast him a worried glance, but didn't say anything to him. She could see Dawn talking quietly to him, but he
was ignoring the young girl. Angel was in a full-blown guilt brood and Buffy knew better than to interrupt it. The only thing that would snap Angel out of it
was Willow walking through the doors to tell them she was fine. But that wasn't going to happen. Willow had died bringing her back to life. Buffy wiped the
tears from her cheeks with an impatient swipe of her hand. She didn't feel worthy of receiving that much love. Sure, she saved the world, but when it came
to the people that mattered the most - the people she loved - she couldn't do anything except pace a hospital corridor and wait for a doctor to tell her
everything was alright only to have things not alright and someone she loved dead.

This was tearing his unbeating heart out. Spike reached out and stilled the Slayer's frantic pacing. He pulled her into his arms and he could feel her tears
wet his shirt. He could hear her heart pounding and the blood rushing through her veins, and for the first time in a long time the sound didn't just make him
feel hungry. Spike wanted to spout sappy love poetry, something he hadn't done since the night Drusilla had turned him. He wanted to immortalize forever
how he felt about his beautiful warrior goddess. He hugged Buffy closer, knowing that the only reason why she was letting him was because she was
emotionally overwrought and The Poof seemed to be in some sort of grief-stricken brood coma. He had known that his grandsire had been soft on the
witch, he had been as frantic as Buffy to find her that time he had kidnaped her and the moron. He had also been conveniently present whenever Red had
needed her life saved. Spike wasn't stupid, even though the brooding Nancy-vamp was. He was just glad that Angel seemed to have lost all the designs on
the Slayer that he had harbored for so long.

"Willow can't die," Buffy whispered brokenly into his chest. Spike looked down at her blonde hair shining dully in the fluorescent glow of the overhead lights.
For her sake, he hoped that the little witch did pull through. He liked Red well enough - had nothing against her really, and out of all of the Slayer's
groupies, she would be the last one he would kill - but she wasn't his friend and he would feel no real loss in her death. He only cared because Buffy cared
and because the witch had brought her back to him. He still had a chance. She was his world and for an earth-shattering moment he had lost her. He had to
make it clear to her how much she meant to him before she went and died on him again. "Slay...Buffy...."

"Willow!" Xander burst through the emergency room doors followed by Anya and Giles. "Spike! What happened to Willow?" At first Xander didn't bother
noticing the person Spike's body was mostly blocking from his view. He assumed it was Dawn or Tara, the person was female, but Dawn was sitting beside
Angel. What the hell was he doing here? If he was responsible for something happening to Willow... Maybe the girl standing in front of Spike was his best
friend. Maybe she was fine - just a few scratches, a bump, a bruise. "Willow?" Xander took the next five paces in two strides.

"Can't you see we're busy?" Spike whipped around, revealing the girl that had been obstructed from view.

"Buffy," Anya said the Slayer's name since Xander and Giles seemed no longer capable of using their vocal cords. "Why aren't you dead anymore?"

"Willow...she brought me back. I don't know how. Angel and Dawn were with her." Buffy moved away from Spike and stepped toward Xander and Giles.
Impulsively, she hugged Xander. She met Giles' stunned gaze over his shoulder. "I wasn't too late this time, Giles. When Willow's heart stopped, I did CPR
until the paramedics arrived and they started her heart again."

"Her heart stopped." Xander backed away from Buffy. He walked past Anya and leaned his forehead against the wall. Just a few hours ago, he had been
grieving for Buffy, but ever since he had found out about her being the slayer, he had known her death was inevitable. He loved Buffy, but he had saved a
part of his heart to deal with her death. His heart couldn't live without Willow.

"But it started again. That's good, right?" Anya touched Xander's back. She wasn't good at this and there had been too many dead people that Xander
cared about in too short a time. "And Buffy's not dead anymore."

"Buffy." Giles finally found his voice. In an uncharacteristic display, he crushed his former charge to him.

"I'm so sorry, Giles, but I had to do it." Buffy looked up at him. "You understand why, right?"

"Of course." Giles let her go. "I'm very proud of you, Buffy. Now, how did Willow do this?"

"I don't know," Buffy repeated. She gestured over to the chairs. "Ask Angel and Dawn, they were there."

Giles looked over, noticing Angel for the first time. The vampire ignored them and the confusion of their reunion, instead he stared at a set of double
doors. "The book." How Willow had known about it or its location, Giles had no idea, she had probably been at his Watcher's Diaries again. She had
obviously performed some sort of soul restoration ritual, he would have to get the specifics from Angel once they had learned more details of Willow's
condition.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg?" Buffy's surprised question brought Giles' attention to a distinguished looking couple who had just entered the emergency room.
Buffy turned to Spike. "You called them?"

"Hell, no. Had no idea that the witch had parents. Hospital must have." The blonde vampire shrugged. He sat down beside Dawn, who transferred her head
from Angel's shoulder to his, although she did keep a grip on the dark vampire's hand.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg," Buffy said louder to catch their attention. She wasn't concerned about shocking them, she doubted that they had heard she had
died.

"Bunny." And if they had, it's not like the name would have rang bells. Buffy offered Sheila Rosenberg a weak smile, but didn't correct her. "What happened
to Willow?" Have the doctors said anything?"

"I don't know what happened." That was partially true and besides, Buffy had no idea what Angel had told the hospital about what had happened. She was
about to refer Willow's parents to her ex-boyfriend for the made-up details when a doctor walked out of the doors that held Angel's rapt concentration. It was
the same doctor who had treated her mother. He consulted with the admitting nurse before approaching them.

"Doctor." Ira Rosenberg stepped forward. "We would like an update on our daughter, Willow Rosenberg's, status."

The doctor scanned their worried faces, his glance catching Angel's as he stood up. Buffy saw Angel nod slightly. "Well, Willow has suffered from a severe
trauma to her system, all body organs seem to have been effected, but we've managed to stabilize most of them. Her brain has been influenced the most,
there's some unusual activity on the E. E. G. Right now she is in a coma and is unable to breathe on her own. She's on a respirator and I can't tell you
when or if she'll ever awaken."

"But people do all the time," Buffy insisted. If she could come back to life than surely Willow could wake up from a silly coma. "You know, you hear about the
guy who was in a coma for ten, twenty years and then one day - poof, awake. Faith did it and it didn't even take a year. Willow will wake up. We just have
to wait."

"No." Ira Rosenberg shook his head grimly at the doctor. "Willow has probably suffered from brain damage, if she did wake up she wouldn't be the daughter
we loved. Waiting will only breed false hope. It would be in the best interest of everyone, Doctor, if Willow's respirator was removed."

The announcement was met in silence until Sheila Rosenberg stifled a sob and turned away from them. Buffy wanted nothing more than to beat some
sense into Willow's father. Didn't he know how wonderful, special, and important his daughter was to the world and to them? Didn't he know that they
wanted her alive, brain damaged or not. If that doctor even twitched in Willow's direction, Buffy would hit him. There was no way he was getting near enough
to Willow to unplug or remove anything.

"I can't." With those words, the doctor saved his own life. "I'm sorry, Mr. Rosenberg, but this isn't your decision. It's Mr. McAlistair's." The doctor looked at
Angel, obviously associating the name unfamiliar to the others with him.

"Why would he have any say in my daughter's medical decisions?" Ira Rosenberg raised his voice and glared at Angel.

"Because," Angel answered him quietly and calmly. "Willow is my wife."
 

Part Three

"My daughter is not your wife," Ira Rosenberg stated emphatically. "Willow would not get married or even engaged without her mother's and my approval and consent." He turned to the doctor. "This man is lying."

There was nothing, short of the bogus papers he had ordered Merle to forge, that Angel could do or say to convince Willow's parents that he was in fact her husband. Angel didn't care what they thought, he was more concerned that the doctor looked uncertain. If he decided to take Willow's parent's word over his....

"He's not lying." Help came from an unexpected source as Xander stood beside Angel. "I was there. Angel and Willow are married."

While Ira Rosenberg's face started to turn red, Sheila wiped a tear from her eye. "Why didn't she tell us, Xander? I know we were a bit...harsh with her when she decided to stay in Sunnydale, but that was only because she has so much potential...we didn't understand why she would want to stay here." She turned to Angel. An open plea for understanding in her eyes. "Was it because of you? Was it because she loved you that she wanted to stay here and go to school? Why didn't she just tell us that? I would have understood."

"She didn't stay in Sunnydale because of me, I live in L. A. Willow had..commitments here." Angel really didn't know what to say to the woman, he would need a clearer head to keep track of his lies before he told her anything else. Right now, he had only one thing on his mind. "The respirator stays on as long as she needs it. Willow will wake up."

"You still haven't answered my wife's original question. Why would Willow keep your relationship from us? Alexander?"

Xander looked to Angel. He really didn't have an answer to that one. He knew why Willow was keeping her relationship with Tara from them, she knew they wouldn't understand it and she was afraid that they would cut her out of their lives totally. There was really no reason why she would have kept a relationship with Angel a secret. Somehow Xander doubted that Willow's practical parents would believe that the reason why their daughter hid her marriage was because the groom was a two hundred and forty-eight year old vampire.

Luckily, Angel had a much more plausible excuse. "I'm Catholic," he blurted out.

"Oh, man, you should have gone with 'I'm a vampire,'" Xander mumbled under his breath just loud enough for Angel to hear.

If Ira Rosenberg had been a less controlled man, he would have exploded. Instead he just clenched his fists and gritted out, "Willow was married by a priest? She converted."

"No," Angel protested, realizing his mistake. It was bad enough in Ira Rosenberg's eyes that his daughter had married a man without his approval, but for Willow to also have disregarded the fundamental beliefs that she had been taught... "I respect Willow's beliefs and she respects mine."

"It was a civil ceremony, with a judge," Xander jumped in. He still remembered that time Willow's Dad had caught them watching 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' He had scowled disapprovingly every time he had saw them for a month, poor Willow had hung her head in shame so often that she had developed a crick in her neck. The last thing that his Wils needed was to wake up from a coma and find herself a Catholic married to a vampire totally disowned by her Jewish parents. Xander let out a silent sigh as Ira Rosenberg visibly calmed down, unclenching his fists while his color returned to normal.

"I...I'm not a practicing Catholic," Angel added. He didn't have much experience with parents - as a human he had avoided them and as a vampire he had just killed them - really his only experience had been with Joyce Summers. This was different, he was claiming to be married to Willow and his upbringing would have demanded that he approach Willow's father first and ask his permission to court his daughter, not just marry her. What the hell was his thinking? He wasn't really married to Willow! He had no reason to feel uncomfortable and ashamed of his actions. Angel turned to the doctor, who had wisely stayed
quiet during the family squabble. Angel assumed that the rest of the Scooby gang was just flabbergasted. "Can I see her now?"

"Of course, but only two visitors and only for a short period of time."

"I'm not leaving her."

"Of course not," the doctor readily agreed with Angel. "She's been moved to a private room in ICU. It's down the hall and to your left. The nurse on duty will point you in the right direction."

Angel turned to head that way when he felt a hand on his arm. "May I go with you, Angel?" Sheila Rosenberg asked softly. Angel nodded and she followed him down the hall.

Buffy waited until Angel and Willow's mother disappeared around the corner and Willow's father walked away with the doctor before she said anything. "What the hell was that all about? Angel and Willow married! And what possessed you to help Angel lie?" She turned on Xander, pointing an accusing finger at him. Intellectually, Buffy understood Angel's reasoning - he could keep Willow alive because as her husband, any decisions about life support would be made by him - but it still hurt. Angel had once told her that because of the curse, he wasn't allowed to move on, and Buffy had been glad. If Angel couldn't move on and love someone else, then that meant that he would always love her. As the slayer, Buffy knew that she would never have a normal life, would probably never have children and that eventually her friends and family would die too. There would be no one to remember her, no one to know about the sacrifices she had made, no one to love her - except Angel. As long as Angel lived and loved her, then a part of her would always be alive. Buffy knew it was selfish, but it was how she felt. She didn't want Angel to be Willow's husband, not even in pretend. He belonged to her.

"He saved her life, Buffy. Mr. Rosenberg wasn't joking, he was going to have that respirator removed and there was no way we could convince him otherwise." Xander glared at Buffy. "What's the matter, isn't Willow important enough to put a dent in your 'Buffy and Angel forever' shrine? Angel seems to think so." Xander swallowed the bitter taste his words left in his mouth. He knew he shouldn't lash out at Buffy. She was as confused and scared as the rest of them, but she was alive. Willow had sacrificed her life for Buffy's and Buffy wouldn't even let go of a relationship that should have died a long time ago.

"Of course Willow is more important. I was just..surprised...and hurt that Angel even thought about pretending to be Willow's husband. I didn't think he saw her that way."

"I wasn't surprised. Willow's beautiful. Why do you think I was so worried about Xander having sex with her?" Anya peevishly offered her opinion. All these silly emotions humans felt were starting to annoy her. She like the feelings that sex caused - the love, the pleasure - she even liked feeling friendship, but the pain, jealousy, and confusion she could do without. It was stupid for Buffy and Xander to be fighting when they should be happy that Buffy was alive and that Willow would get better. And she couldn't believe that none of them had noticed how Angel looked at Willow. She had only seen them together that one time at Thanksgiving when Xander had been sick and it had been obvious to her that they both cared about each other more than they both wanted to admit. These people had spent years with them and hadn't noticed their burgeoning attraction at all. Anya shook her head. Denial, thy name is Buffy and Xander. "Angel has feelings for Willow and she has feelings for him."

"Willow is my best friend," Buffy protested.

"I noticed it too," Spike confirmed Anya's observation. He was kind of glad that the moron had interrupted his weak moment with the Slayer. It was obvious that she still loved his grandsire. Spike could live with her thinking that his feelings were a mere crush, but if she knew the true depths of his love and was unable to return it, he couldn't live with that. He had spent over a century with one woman who was overly infatuated with Angel, he couldn't do it again.

"We'll save the debate about Willow and Angel's feelings for when Willow is awake and well," Giles cut in, placing a calming hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Right now I need to know what happened so we can begin researching. There may be a way to bring Willow out of this coma that has nothing to do with modern medicine." The group nodded. Now they were on familiar ground, researching the supernatural bad for the solution. "Dawn, I need you to tell me what happened." Dawn nodded and they all took seats in the waiting area. Hopefully by the time Angel came back from seeing Willow, they would have a way to
bring her back to them.

*****

It was true. At first Sheila hadn't been certain that it wasn't a lie, but seeing Angel with her daughter convinced her. He loved Willow. He was her husband. She just stood back and watched as Angel caressed Willow's bright red hair, a recessive genetic trait given that both her and Ira's hair was a more sedate brown. It looked even more vibrant against the whiteness of her surroundings and the pallor of her skin.

"Willow, honey, it's okay. It's me, Angel. I'm here with you and I'm not going to leave you," Angel murmured close to Willow's ear. He brushed a kiss to her temple, trying to ignore the constant whir and hum of the machines that kept Willow with him. "You're going to be fine. Your mother is here with me."

Taking her cue, Sheila reached for her daughter's hand. "Sweetie, you rest and get better. There are a lot of people who love you. Especially your husband." She took a seat beside Willow across from Angel. His eyes never left her daughter's face as he stroked her cheek gently. "How long have you known Willow?"

"Five years. I, uh, used to go out with Buffy." Angel decided to stick to the truth as much as he could, that way there was less of a chance of getting tripped up. "Willow and I kept in touch after I moved to L. A."

"And what do you do there?"

"I'm a private investigator. I do pretty well. Willow was going to move to L. A. and transfer to UCLA once her term in Sunnydale was over."

"Oh. When did you get married?" There was a slight catch to Sheila's voice. It hurt that Willow had kept something so important from her. She knew that she wasn't as involved in Willow's life as she should be, but she had always thought that she would at least know that her daughter was married. And that she would have met the groom and been at the wedding.

"Not that long, only a month. It was spontaneous, we were going to tell you once you came back from your trip." Angel took a shot in the dark and hoped that Willow's parents had just arrived back in town from one of their many 'conferences.' The lies were coming too easily. He had no trouble picturing it. He could see himself arriving at Willow's dorm room one night, breathless with desire and impatience. He would have swept her into a big hug, kissing her senseless and declaring that he couldn't live another moment without her. Then he would have asked her to marry him. Willow would have been stunned, her lips parted in surprise, but her bright green eyes glinted with anticipation and excitement. He had barely been able to hear her soft 'yes,' but he had and they had tracked down a judge, grabbing Xander and Anya along the way to witness. Xander had been a pain, grumbling about how in the world his best friend could be crazy enough to be marrying Deadboy, but he knew how happy Willow was and didn't protest too loudly.

"That's wonderful. It's exactly what I would have wanted for Willow. But why would Xander refer to you as 'Deadboy?'"

Angel started at Sheila's voice. He hadn't realized that he had vocalized the fiction his mind had spun. His mind struggled back to reality as he thought of an answer to Sheila's question. "He thinks I'm really boring." It worried Angel how effortlessly his mind had shifted from a 'might have been' to a 'how it happened' way of thinking. A small pang of guilt twinged in him. In all the years he had been obsessively in love with Buffy, he had never once fantasized
about marrying her.

He was still dwelling on that fact when Sheila stood up. "I'll leave you alone with Willow now. I just wanted to see her. You have to understand, Ira does love her very much, he couldn't stand to see her suffering or in pain. I think that he's afraid that if he didn't make the decision now, he wouldn't be able to later." She touched Angel's hand. "Thank you, Angel, for taking care of our daughter and making her happy."

"I'll always take care of her," Angel vowed. He brought Willow's spiritless hand to his lips and kissed it and then rested it against his cheek. He didn't notice when Sheila left the room.

Or when someone else entered. "How long are you going to wait to turn her?" Spike asked curiously. He entered the room just enough to close the door.

"I don't have to turn her, she's alive." Spike noticed that Angel wasn't completely appalled by the idea of turning Willow. He also noticed that Angel didn't say he wouldn't, he was considering it.

"Don't wait too long, Peaches, her muscles will turn to mush and her hair will go grey. Not attractive features in a vampire."

Instead of snarling at him, Angel talked as if he hadn't heard Spike's jibe. "I could feel it, when she died. A searing pain in my chest, like my soul wanted to leave with hers." Angel was quiet.

"Why didn't it?" The question wasn't sarcastic this time, Spike really wanted to know. He slipped into the chair vacated by Willow's mother. He had come into the room because he was bored with the 'Save Willow' project the others were so engrossed in and Buffy was ignoring him, so he had decided to get a rise out of Angel. He had also wanted to reconfirm his suspicion that Angel wasn't just playing white knight and that the witch had replaced the slayer in his heart.

"Maybe because her soul didn't leave. It's still there," Angel finally answered. "When the gypsy who had done the original curse died, I felt it, but it wasn't the same. My soul didn't want to leave with hers."

Spike's eyebrows rose. This was news to him, but it's not like he was ever interested in the intricacies of his grandsire's curse before. "You can feel what Red feels?"

"I tried not to, it always felt like an invasion of her privacy, but some things still filter through the connection. The gypsy woman had used it to send me hate. She hated me with every fibre of her being and when she died, it was a relief at first. The hate was gone, but the guilt was worse." Angel stopped talking, lost in his memories of pain and despair. Spike waited anxiously for him to speak again. Suddenly, he wanted to know more about his grandsire, he wanted to
understand how his soul influenced him - besides making him the Poofter he was. Maybe it would help him to understand how this bloody chip worked in his head, it sure was bringing out the sap in him with the way he had fallen for the Slayer and how he doted on Dawn. "Willow never really hated anything," Angel mercifully continued before Spike broke down and asked him. "She even liked you. I didn't think it was possible for that much love to exist in one person and I didn't feel worthy enough to be privy to it. I shut down the connection as much as I could, which was quite a bit considering that Willow wasn't aware of it." Angel laid his head on Willow's chest and clutched her hand tighter. "Please, Willow, let me in again."

The bleedin' chip really had turned his brain to mush. Spike actually felt sorry for Angel instead of the anger and envy. Spike took Willow's other small hand in his own and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry, mate, she'll come back to you. The birds never could resist you."

Angel looked up at Spike and gave him a small smile of gratitude before closing his eyes and nestling his head more comfortably on Willow's chest. He could hear her heart beat sure and strong. He used it as he looked deep inside himself to guide him to the part of his soul connected to Willow. He had to open the link and use it to help her. She was in there somewhere and she was hurt, frightened, and alone. She needed him. He needed her more.

*****

"Willow used your energy as the Key to restore Buffy's soul to her body and she told Angel to break the connection when she started to draw more power," Giles summed up the events that Dawn just finished explaining. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What happened after Angel broke the connection?"

"Willow finished the spell and Buffy was alive again." Dawn yawned. She smiled sleepily at her sister. "We were all so happy. Spike and I were hugging her and I was crying. Willow was standing away from us with Angel. Then she collapsed and he caught her. He said she was dead."

"That's when I told Dawn to call nine-one-one and I started CPR," Buffy took over. "What happened, Giles?"

"I'm not certain. It sounds like some sort of magical backlash from the broken connection between Willow and Dawn."

"But she'll be okay, right?" Xander asked desperately. "We just have to wait for her to wake up and then she'll be okay. One hundred percent Willow."

"I don't know, Xander. It's difficult to ascertain what damage was done and if Willow can recover from it. Maybe if I had the spell, I could do more research. Where's the book?"

Blank stares met Giles' question. Dawn shrugged. "Maybe it's still at the funeral home," Buffy suggested. "I'll go get it."

"Don't bother." Tara's voice stopped Buffy as she rose from her chair. The normally timid looking blond's face was set in hard lines. She handed a small black book to Giles. She glared at Buffy. "Willow killed herself to bring you back. She knew what would happen and she won't recover. The book is useless. She's dead and there's nothing any of you can do to bring her back."
 

Part Four

Silence met Tara's venomous attack until she burst into tears.  Xander and Buffy both jumped up and went over to her in an attempt at comfort, but Tara pulled away.

"I'm sorry, Tara, one of us should have called you." Xander touched her shoulder tentatively.  "How did you know that Willow was here?"

"I went to the funeral home.  I thought she would be there, grieving for Buffy.  I found the book and Buffy gone and I knew what she had  done.  She didn't have enough power to do that spell, she drained  herself bringing you back, didn't she?" Tara turned her tearful, angry gaze back on Buffy.  At this moment, Tara let the small sliver of jealousy she had always felt toward Buffy blow up and over-ride everything else.  She knew that her relationship with Willow was
different from the one Willow shared with Buffy, but she also knew that Buffy took precedence.  If it came down to a choice, Tara had known that Willow would choose Buffy and she had.  Willow had left her, not for 'boy's town' as she had thought Tara had been afraid she would, but for Buffy.

"Willow isn't dead, Tara," Xander tried to assuage her anger.  He led her down the hall toward Willow's room.  "She's in a coma, but she'll wake up."  They reached the ICU and walked to the window that gave the nurses a view into Willow's room.  She lay on the bed, machines beeping and whirring around her.  Angel sat on one side of her, holding her hand, stroking her hair, and whispering to her.  Spike sat quietly on her other side just holding her hand.

"Who is he?"

"That's Angel.  He, uh, has Willow told you anything about him?" Xander hoped she had because it was a long story and it was going to be difficult enough to explain Angel's lies.  God, he hoped Tara went along with them and didn't cause a scene.  If she protested, then the hospital might take a closer look at Angel's bogus claims and follow through with Mr. Rosenberg's orders.

"He's Buffy's ex-boyfriend.  She restored his soul.  Why is he in there with Willow?" Tara watched the souled vampire as he caressed her lover's face.  She watched his lips brush her temple as he leaned in to whisper to her once again.  She had a funny feeling that she knew the answer to her question, but she didn't want to say it out loud.  He was acting more like Willow's distraught boyfriend than an ex-boyfriend of her best friend.  Tara was so engrossed in watching Angel's actions that she almost missed what Xander was saying to her.  "He said he was what?"

"Her husband.  That way he can keep her on life support as long as she needs it.  Her parents would have had it turned off."  Xander cast a glance at the others as they joined them at the window, hoping for some support.

"Angel saved Willow's life," Anya offered the support her boyfriend was seeking.

"No he didn't.  Her body is alive because of the machines, but Willow is gone, Xander." Tara turned away from the tender scene playing out in Willow's room.  She couldn't watch it anymore.  "Her power is drained, you don't recover from that."

"But she didn't use her power, she used mine."  Dawn looked to Giles to make Tara understand.  "She still has hers."

Giles started to answer when an alarm at the nurse's desk screamed. Immediately, the nurses jumped to attention, rushing into Willow's room.  The gang turned back to the room and watched in horror as Willow convulsed on the bed.  Angel held her hand and it looked like he wasn't going to let go despite the nurse who was trying to delicately extract his hand from Willow's.  Finally, Spike intervened and dragged Angel from the room as the doctor entered it.

"No, I...I can't leave her," Angel protested and tried to get around Spike, but his grandchilde held him back.  He felt his game face start to come forth, but Buffy grabbed his arm.

"Angel, Angel, you have to let the doctor help her."  Buffy rubbed his back.  Abruptly the blind shut off their view of the commotion in Willow's room.  Angel lunged for the door once again, but she and Spike managed to keep him back.  Buffy rested her head on his arm.  "Willow will be okay.  She'll be okay."

"I was talking to her, telling her she was safe and she wasn't alone. She started choking and the alarms went off."  Tears leaked from the corners of Angel's eyes.  "I have to be with her.  I promised I wouldn't leave."

This time Buffy and Spike didn't hold Angel back, his re-entrance into Willow's room was forestalled by the doctor and nurses filing out. "Willow is fine," the doctor informed them before anyone could ask. "She was choking on the respirator.  This happens when it is no longer needed.  Willow is breathing on her own now."

"That's wonderful, Doctor," Giles spoke for the group.

"Yes, but she still isn't out of the woods.  We don't know when she'll wake from the coma."  The doctor turned to Angel before he left.  "You can go back in now."

Angel couldn't wait to get back to Willow.  She had heard him and she was getting better.  Buffy's hand on his arm stopped him again and he turned to her with an impatient growl.  "Angel, this is Tara, Willow's girlfriend."  He looked blankly at the girl Buffy gestured toward. Willow was his wife, she didn't have a ...Willow wasn't his wife.  He didn't know why his mind kept insisting on believing its own lie.

"I would like to see Willow alone for a few minutes, if her husband doesn't mind."  Angel caught the underlying jealousy in Tara's last statement.  She refused to look in his direction.  He couldn't say no, he had no right to keep her from Willow and why would he?  From all accounts, Willow loved this girl.  He shouldn't have this overprotective urge to keep Tara away from her.  Overprotective, hah! He was the one who was jealous.

"Yes, well, now that Willow has settled, I think it best that we leave and come back later in the morning.  Buffy and Dawn, you need to sleep after everything that's happened and I need to look at this spell more closely." Giles gathered Buffy and Dawn, fully intending to take them back to his apartment and never letting either one of them out of his sight.

"Giles, can you take Anya back to our place?  I'm staying here with Angel." Xander hugged Anya before she could protest.  "You're tired and you need to sleep.  Giles is going to need you to look after the magic shop tomorrow."  He stroked her hair and kissed her.  "I love you."

"I love you too." Anya changed her mind and left without voicing her protest.  She didn't want to leave Xander, but she understood that he needed to be with Willow.  She was proud that knowing that didn't make her jealous.  Xander loved her.

*****

Someone had turned down the lights in Willow's room.  The steady beep of the heart monitor cast an eerie green glow on her pale skin.  Tara stood over her.  She didn't want to sit down.  She didn't want to hold her hand.  She didn't want to do the things that Angel had already done.  Besides, none of it would work.  The others were hopeful because Willow was still breathing, but they didn't really understand how magic worked.  Giles had an idea, but he was refusing to admit that this was something they couldn't resolve.  Willow was dead.

"I knew you would leave me." She had known it since that morning when they had their infamous first fight, the one that had left her vulnerable to Glory's attack.  That morning had been the worst day of Tara's life, it was the day she realized that Willow wasn't hers.  It had started out innocently enough.  She had wanted to help Willow. Willow's magic was so strong and she was so anxious to explore it that she sometimes forgot to learn how to control it first.  Tara had decided to surprise her with a soul bond.  Through the soul bond, she and Willow could share their strengths and weaknesses.  She could give Willow her ability to control their powers and Willow could give her the absolute certainty that she had that their powers came from some place good.  After being brought up thinking she had a latent demon gene, Tara couldn't quite place the trust that Willow did in her magic.

The spell hadn't worked.  Willow's soul had already bonded with someone else's.  Tara had thought it was Oz that morning and when she had gone to the funeral home to find the book and Buffy's empty coffin, she had been certain that it was Buffy, but it was neither of them.

"I'm sorry, Willow, I'm not as strong as you are.  I can't do this...I can't watch you like this and hope that you return to me someday when I know you won't."  Tara leaned down and placed a kiss on Willow's lips.  She had no illusions that Willow would wake up like this was some stupid fairy tale.  She was dead.  Not even Angel could change that.

*****

What the hell was taking so long?  Instead of the still, desperate patience he had shown while Willow was being treated in emergency, Angel paced.  This girl...Tara...had been in with Willow for hours - okay, minutes - but it was way too long.  Angel was afraid she would be in there all night.  She couldn't stay in there all night.  If she did then he couldn't sit by Willow side, feel her hair slip through his fingers and her warm hand in his, he couldn't hear her heartbeat,
well he could, but it wasn't the same.  He wouldn't be able to tell her that he was there.  He wasn't.

"Angel." Xander halted the vampire's agitated movements.  "Tara won't hurt Willow.  She loves her." He watched Angel's reaction to his statement and caught the slight flinch.  So, Anya wasn't off the mark, Angel's idea to be Willow's husband hadn't come from out of the blue. Funny how this knowledge didn't bother him.  He accepted the maturity that allowed him to see that Angel was a good, decent guy, and not the evil, hated rival his immature male hormones had made him out to be.

"I'm sorry, Xander." Angel hung his head.  It was obvious that Xander didn't know what had happened, otherwise the boy wouldn't be talking to him.  "This is all my fault.  Willow used Dawn's energy as the Key to bring Buffy back.  I broke the connection when it started to hurt Dawn."

Xander placed a hand on the tortured vampire's shoulder.  "Look, Angel..."

"You what?" Tara cut in after overhearing Angel's confession.  After hearing it, she remembered what Dawn said just before Willow had started choking on her respirator.  Willow had used her power, not her own.  And this...bastard...who claimed to be protecting her was the onewho had hurt her.

"I broke the connection."

The slap cracked loudly in the hushed environment as Tara's hand connected with Angel's face.  The ICU nurse looked up from her station, but didn't interfere.  "You killed her."

"Tara, stop it." Xander pulled the girl back from Angel.  "Willow isn't dead.  Her power wasn't drained like you thought.  Can't you at least try to have a little bit of faith?  Willow never gave up on you."

"There is nothing to have faith in, Xander.  It's even worse than I thought.  Dawn was Willow's power source and breaking the connection created a backlash that fried her brain.  There is no Willow to give up on, she's already done it with his help.  You killed her," Tara shouted at Angel.  She tore herself away from Xander and stalked away from them.  She couldn't stay here.  Willow was gone and there was nothing left.

"That was one pissed off witch.  You're lucky she didn't turn you into a rat, Peaches."

"Spike." Angel turned toward the voice to find Spike lounging in one of the visitors' chairs.  "I thought you left with Buffy."

"Nah, the over-protective watcher wouldn't have let me near her anyway." Spike really didn't want to admit that he had stayed because he wanted to keep an eye on Angel.  The bloke didn't look good, more tortured than usual. Spike didn't want him doing something drastic like taking a walk in the sun if Willow didn't make it.

"He'll have to.  You have to tell Giles what Tara said.  It might help with his research."  Angel rubbed a hand through his hair.  "And Willow also said something about the book and an anchor before she...passed out.  It could be that she didn't have time to finish the spell and Buffy's soul may still need an anchor."

Worry for the Slayer suddenly etched Spike's features.  "I'm on it." He swept down the hall.

"Let's go in and see how Willow is doing," Xander suggested and let Angel precede him into the room.  Even with the new information, Xander didn't blame Angel.  He sat down on the other side of Willow.  She was so still.  It was strange to see her so still.  Willow was always moving and he knew for a fact that she was a restless sleeper.  He had the broken rib from when they were five to prove it.  "She didn't tell you that it would hurt her."

"I should have known.  I did know, but I refused to see it until it was too late."

"Even if you had, you couldn't have stopped her."  Now that he had seen her, Xander wasn't reassured.  This sleeping wraith was not his Willow. Maybe Tara was right.  Maybe there wasn't any hope.

Angel looked up from his study of Willow's face to protest and saw the doubt as the boy looked at her.  For the second time that night, Angel found himself confiding in one of the last people he had ever thought he would be telling his secrets to.  "She was wrong, Xander, Willow isn't gone." Angel took a deep breath.  Xander had reacted extremely and surprisingly well to everything so far, but this might finally send him over the edge.  He knew how protective Xander was of Willow and their friendship.  "I can feel her.  When Willow did the soul restoration, it created a bond between our souls."

"She didn't tell us that." For a second Xander wanted to call Angel a liar.  He wanted Angel to be a liar.  Willow was his best friend, if anyone was bonded to her soul, it should be him.

"I don't think she realized it was there and I never told her.  I tried to shut down the link as much as I could, but it's still there."

"You can feel Willow's soul." Xander struggled to work past his initial jealousy and really understand what Angel was saying.  "She's not gone."

Angel cupped Willow's cheek.  He could feel her.  A small glimmer of warmth inside him.  It would get stronger.  "Willow will get better." Angel and Xander settled into a companionable silence as they watched over the red-headed witch who meant so much to them.

*****

Power.  He could feel it like an echo resounding around the Hellmouth. Phife's lone velvety ear swivelled around on his mis-shaped oval head as he tried to pinpoint the epicenter of the delicious power.  His pug nose sniffed the air.  It was witchy power.

The hospital.  Phife's small, toothless mouth slobbered and his large, milky grey eyes swam with glee.  A witch had gotten herself badly hurt and now lay helpless in the hospital.  Her power was his for the taking.  As long as he got there first.
 

Part Five

Hospital corridors were too damn bright.  Phife sidled as close to the wall as he could get.  Hollow footsteps warned him of someone's approach and he ducked into a darkened room.  An orderly and a nurse aid walked by gossiping about their co-workers.  Once they were out of sight, Phife slunk out of the room.  He was almost at the ICU.  That's where things would get tricky.  Nurses were everywhere there.  He would need a distraction.

*****

The steady thump of Willow's heartbeat was overwhelmed by the sound of the alarm at the nurse's desk.  Angel lifted his head, instantly awake. He looked over at Xander, who had also become alert at the sound.  The activity outside of Willow's room indicated that another patient was in distress.   Still, Angel sensed something.  His own feelings of impending danger were confirmed by Xander when he removed a stake from its hiding place at his back.

They didn't need words.  Angel stood up and walked without a sound to the door.  With a quick flip, he shut the blinds, cloaking the room in further darkness.  Xander moved to the foot of Willow's bed ready to back Angel up and protect Willow.

A tiny slice of light appeared as the door was cracked open.  Both men stiffened, waiting for the intruder to show himself.  It could be a nurse or one of the Scoobies here to check on Willow.  The triangle of light widened.  Angel's nostrils flared as he sampled the newcomer's scent.  It wasn't human.  He took a step back as the door inched toward him.  From his periphery vision, he saw Xander's hold on the stake tighten and he crouched in a fighting stance.  The years on the Hellmouth and fighting by the Slayer's side had sharpened the boy's senses and fighting skills.  Angel's attention turned back to the door.  He found himself trusting Xander as he would Gunn or Wesley, something he had never done while he had lived in Sunnydale.

The hesitation in the intruder's entrance took an abrupt turn as the door suddenly slammed open.  Ready for such a tactic, Angel sidestepped the swinging door with vampiric speed.  His hand lashed out, grabbing the demon by the throat and pulling him into the room.  The door whooshed shut.  With a quick jerk, Angel broke the thing's neck. Unfortunately, that wasn't how you killed this particular demon.  A silver razor sharp tongue slashed out of the demon's small mouth and cut Angel's cheek.  Angel hissed and vamped.  He pushed the thing away from him and out of its tongue's reach.  At the same time, Xander
shoved his stake through the demon's chest, piercing right through its body until it poked out the back.  As an added measure, Angel pressed his hands to the demon's temples, crushing its lumpy head.  He dropped the body to the ground.

"Is it dead?" Xander asked.  He hesitantly knelt down by the creature's body.  That was the trouble with demons, unless you knew what the hell it was, you didn't know what killed it.

"It's a Bultak.  It dies when its heart and brain have been destroyed." Angel walked over to Willow's side.  She was still breathing evenly and her heartbeat was strong.  More importantly, her soul still flickered through the link.  "It's okay, Willow, you're safe."  He kissed her forehead.  He turned back to Xander.  "We'll have to get rid of the body.  Bultak's don't disintegrate."  Angel spun around as he heard the door softly click shut.  He moved swiftly to the door,
pulling it open.

"Oh," the startled nurse gasped, placing a hand over her racing heart. "Is everything all right?" She tried to look into the room, but Angel blocked her view.

"Fine, everything's fine." Angel tried for a casual smile.

"The blinds are closed.  I have to check the patient."

This was her job, Angel knew the woman wouldn't be dissuaded.  He eased away from the door and let the woman past him.  Xander sat innocently by Willow holding her hand.  His sweater had mysteriously disappeared and he was only wearing his t-shirt.  The body of the demon was also no where to be seen.  The nurse crossed over and opened the blind.

"The, um, commotion out there...we, uh, didn't want it to upset Willow," Xander offered a halting explanation.  He watched nervously as the nurse checked Willow's vitals and the lines of the oxygen tank and IV that were connected to her.  Angel hung out by the door, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

The nurse gave them both a comforting smile, misinterpreting their restlessness.  "She's doing very well.  She might even be moved to a private room by morning.  Until then, the blind has got to stay open so that we can keep an eye on her."

"Of course.  Sorry." Angel held the door open for the nurse.  As soon she left, he turned to Xander.  "The body?"

"Under the bed.  Why would a Bultak come after Willow?"

"I don't know." Angel tossed Xander his cell phone.  "Call Giles. Maybe he'll have an idea."  Angel ran a hand through his hair and went to his place at Willow's side.  He rested his forehead on her temple and stroked her soft tresses.

"Hey, Giles.  Angel and I have a bit of a situation.  Could you come down to the hospital and, uh, maybe bring a really big duffel bag, a sharp ax, and some towels."  Xander turned off the phone and handed it back to Angel.  "He'll be here in a few minutes."

*****

The nurse at the main station turned to get herself another cup of coffee giving Phife the opportunity to duck out of another patient's dark room and leave the ICU.  The witch was being protected by a damn vampire.  And not just any damn vampire - it was Angel.  Phife's black forked tongue flickered out of his mouth.  He shuddered as he thought about the fate of the Bultak.  He didn't want to end up like that. Phife left the hospital by the nearest exit.  There would be another time to get to the witch and her lovely power.  Preferably one when Angel's guard was down.  Phife liked his mis-shaped head in one piece.

*****

Giles arrived at the hospital in the few minutes he had promised with the prescribed items.  Intercepting the suspicious look of the nurse, he headed straight for her.  "Hello, I've brought some things for Miss...Mrs. McAlistair, at the request of her husband.  Clothes and things for when she wakes up."  Giles held up the large duffel bag, well aware that it was more than what would be required.  "I...wasn't sure what to bring."

"That's fine.  You can take it in, but please don't stay too long. Mrs. McAlistair needs her rest."

"Of course." Giles crossed to Willow's room, relieved that he had remembered the last name Angel had given the hospital.  Angel and Xander were sitting by her side.  She was so pale.  Now that he had worked through his feelings about Buffy's death and subsequent resurrection, he could concentrate on his concern for Willow.  He never should have allowed the girl to play with magic the way she did. He should have had her sent away to be properly trained.  Just because they would have all missed her desperately was no excuse.  "What happened?"

"Giles, thank God you're here.  I think this Bultak thing is starting to smell already."  Xander stood up and took the duffel bag from Giles. He set the bag down, reached under the bed and pulled out the body of the dead Bultak.  A thin layer of silvery slime covered the dark scaled demon.  Its head was twisted around and crushed and its silver tongue protruded from its mouth.  A large stake was stuck through its body.

"Do you have any idea why a Bultak would attack Willow in a hospital? Their hunting grounds are beaches and they don't usually go this far from the water," Angel asked Giles.  He hadn't moved from his place at Willow's side.

Looking at the demon and hearing Angel's question, something occurred to Giles that he should have thought of hours ago.  Dear, sweet Jesus, if something had happened...if Angel and Xander hadn't been here.... "She's a witch.  Willow is a full-fledged witch.  I still have trouble thinking of her that way, to me she's still just a child.  You're all children, extraordinary children...."

"Giles," Angel barked, interrupting his rambling excuse.  "What's going on?  Is Willow in danger?"

"Yes, yes she is.  As a full-fledged witch, Willow has gained her own power which she uses for her spells.  Conscious and unhurt, this power is a part of her, other creatures would sense it, but wouldn't bother with it.  In this state, Willow is vulnerable, her power isn't being used.  It can be taken from her."

"So, this guy isn't the last." Xander kicked at the Bultak.

"I'm afraid not.  The Hellmouth is acting as an amplifier.  It's projecting Willow's inert power all around Sunnydale, acting as a beacon for all the demons here."  Giles sighed.  They would have to set up a twenty-four hour watch over Willow.  He noticed a look exchanged between Xander and Angel.  They must have already discussed this, but they couldn't possibly watch over Willow themselves.  They too needed sleep and they would need help.

"Xander, why don't you take Giles out of the room and make sure no one comes in.  I'll take care of the Bultak."

"Actually, Angel, I need to speak with you."  Angel's hand immediately tightened on Willow's, like he was going to be pulled away.  Giles frowned.  Angel's behavior was puzzling.  He lived in L. A., as far as Giles knew, he had had very little contact with Willow since leaving and, Anya's observations aside, Giles couldn't really believe that Angel had romantic feelings for Willow.  Or maybe he just didn't want to believe it, it would explain why Angel was excessively reluctant to leave her for even a second.  But then where had these feelings come from?  They didn't just appear out of no where and they didn't just
transfer from one person to another.  If it was Buffy in that bed, then there would have been no questions, no mystery about Angel's behavior. There had to be a reason Angel felt so connected to Willow.  "It's important."

"Xander...."

"No need to ask, Deadboy.  I'll take care of clean up and keep watch on any demons that might come through the wall.  She'll be fine, Angel."

Angel nodded and followed Giles out of the room.  Another puzzling thing was this sudden trust and friendship between Xander and Angel. When they had both been enamored of Buffy, they could barely look at one another without posturing like alpha males, but their mutual adoration of Willow seemed to have a uniting effect instead.

"What is so important, Giles?" Angel leaned against the window looking in on Willow's room.  He didn't look at Giles, his eyes never left Willow through the open blinds.

"It's about the message you gave Spike, about what Willow said to you before she...lost consciousness." Giles paused for Angel's reaction and didn't get one.  He hoped the vampire was actually listening to him. He wasn't kidding or being overly dramatic when he had said it was important.  "You misinterpreted.  I looked through the Book of Lost Souls and Willow had completed the ritual to restore Buffy's soul. She's safe."

"Is Willow's soul in danger?" Angel looked at Giles now.  "Is that what's wrong with her?  Is that what she was trying to tell me?"  There was a desperate gleam of hope in Angel's eyes.  He wanted to be able to fix Willow with a quick spell.  Have her whole and conscious like Buffy.

"No."  The gleam died.  "You forget, Angel, we are talking about Willow.  Her last concerns would hardly be about herself.  They were about you and your soul."

Of course.  Willow would have thought about making his soul permanent while she had the book in her hands.  That probably would have been for Buffy too.  Willow was a romantic and had been their love's biggest champion from the beginning.  She believed in it more than he and Buffy did.  She was the only one who hadn't baulked at the thought of them together after he had returned from Hell.  Angel took the book that Giles offered him and opened it to the page Giles had placed the silk bookmark.

On the page was the spell that restored his soul.  At the bottom was a footnote.  Angel turned to the page it indicated.  He read out loud. "If ever the soul is to know complete happiness without guilt, it shall leave, its purpose unfulfilled.  If ever the soul is to know complete despair, it shall stay bound to the vampire until the creature is dust for it will have served its purpose and the creature may seek redemption free of guilt."  Angel stopped speaking, the words
resounding in his mind.  Soon a name was added.

Darla.
 

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