AUTHOR: Winter
Parts 21 - 28

PART TWENTY-ONE

"Tell me again exactly what you were thinking when you decided to go along with this convoluted plan?" Buffy's voice was hard and disbelieving.

Doyle sighed and rubbed his temples.  After having explained everything that had been going on in Los Angeles to the others, he and Cordelia had been bombarded with questions and accusations.

"Look, Ms. High-and-mighty Slayer," Cordelia jumped in, seeing that Doyle's stamina was wearing down, "We did what we thought was best under the circumstances, alright?  If you want us to apologize for not involving you, then fine.  We're sorry that we felt like you guys didn't deserve to be slaughtered by Jaufien, and we're even sorrier that we kept you all alive by keeping you out of it!"

Buffy and Cordelia glared at each other for a moment before Giles interrupted, "Look, we're all extremely tired and under a lot of stress right now, but we need to refrain from turning on each other."

"Giles is right," Xander spoke up, "if anything, we're going to need to band together, especially now.  We can't let Angelus keep up this game, and it's going to take all of us to finally stop him."

"What do you mean 'finally stop him'?" Cordelia questioned, glaring at her ex.

"Have we forgotten the havoc that he wreaked the last time he was around? And you two yourselves said that you tried re-cursing him and it didn't work.  What other option do we have?  What would Angel want us to do?" Xander questioned.

"This isn't about what Angel would want us to do!" Cordelia snapped, "it's about what you've *wanted* to do ever since Angel first showed up in our lives!"

"What are you talking about?"

Cordelia shook her head in disbelief, "Two girlfriends and practically three flings later, you're still jealous of Angel."

"I am not jealous of anyone!" Xander defended himself.

"Alright you two, stop it!" Buffy commanded, "this jealous bickering isn't getting us anywhere."

"You should have realized that before you threw *your* jealous venom onto Willow and tossed us out of here the night before," Cordelia wasn't about to give up without a fight.  They had no idea what she, Doyle, and Willow and suffered in Los Angeles, or the kind of changes that had started taking place in Angel--in all of them--since he started helping people, and she wasn't about to let them take the sanctimonious attitudes here.

"My jealousy?" Buffy asked in a low, dangerous tone.

"Yes, *your* jealousy," Cordelia challenged, "your whole, 'if I can't have Angel, no one can' attitude.  The way you freaked when Angelus was taunting you about Willow says it all."

"Hey, wait a minute--" Riley began, but was cut off by Buffy.

"Let me handle this, Riley.  First of all, you yourself said that there was no relationship between Angel and Willow--"

"No, there isn't," Cordelia interrupted, "but the fact that you reacted the way you did--"

"--shows that I don't want anyone to get hurt!" Buffy finished, "Because I know first-hand what can happen, and as much as it pains me to say it, Angel is not allowed happiness, and that's exactly what he would inevitably find with someone like Willow!"

A stunned silence fell over the room at the Slayer's comments, and Cordelia felt like she'd been slapped.  She would never have expected those words to come out of Buffy's mouth, and she didn't know what to say.

"That's right," Buffy continued, trying to clarify her last statement, "don't you think that I would want Angel to be happy?  Angel and I didn't split only because he could never be happy, but because *we* could never be happy together, not with what we are.  And if you want me to admit it, then fine, I will.  It hurts whenever I think about Angel, because no matter what we were or are, I did love him.  And I know that I said a lot of hateful things to Willow, and I know this isn't any excuse, but I was taken by surprise, and I was scared of what Angelus being back would mean.  Believe me, I would like nothing more than to be able to take those words back, but I can't.  All I can do is apologize for saying them and try to help.  If there was any way for Angel to find peace with someone else, I'd be thrilled for him.  But we all know that isn't possible because of the curse.  And besides that, I've moved on."

As if to emphasize her point, she took Riley's hand into her own and gave him a reassuring squeeze.  They had spent the day in private discussing her past with Angel, and they had both managed to come to terms with everything that had been said and done.

"I'm sorry, too, Buffy," Cordelia sighed, "I guess I should have learned by now that my big mouth usually gets me into more trouble that it gets me out of."

"You're protecting Willow," Buffy smiled at the brunette, "I never thought I would see the day, but I can honestly say that LA's been good for you."

"It's been good fer all o' us," Doyle finally re-entered the conversation. It was obvious that there was a lot of history between these people, and it was best not to get involved in that, but he felt he needed to add his two cents.  "Ya should see Angel with the people he helps," Doyle continued, "he's makin' a difference.  Maybe not all in one fail swoop, but soul by soul.  The Powers that Be sent me ta him ta help him, which obviously means that he's pretty important in the grand scheme of things.  We can't stake him just because it's goin' ta be hard ta find a solution ta this mess.  We have ta try somethin'."

"I agree with Doyle," Giles spoke the words quietly, "No matter what our histories with Angelus has been, we owe it to Angel--for the sake of his redemption, and whatever his existence may mean for the future--to help him."

"So then are we all in agreement?" Doyle asked.  Cordelia, Buffy, Riley, and Giles nodded their heads and glanced expectantly at Xander and Anya.

Xander sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, if it's for the betterment of mankind, I'm all for it."

"Xander this is serious," Anya elbowed him, "he means to say that we'll do what we can to help Angel," she told the others.

"What she said," Xander added, "and I'm sorry, Cordy."

"Me, too," Cordelia said quietly.

"Alright then," Buffy attempted to change the subject, "now that we've finally gotten all the angst behind us, we need a plan.  And in order to make one, we need to first find out what Jaufien and Angelus--and now Spike--are planning."

"From what Willow's told us from her all too frequent rendezvous with Angelus," Cordelia said, "they need the sword--which they now have--and a source of magickal energy."

"Magick?" Buffy's face suddenly paled, "Tara!  Oh my god, they have Tara!"

"Wait, what?  Who?" Doyle asked.

"Tara, Willow's friend, the blonde girl that came in here the other night!" Buffy clarified, "They took her, and in all the confusion between Angelus suddenly popping up and Willow's coma..."

"We never went after her," Riley ended the sentence.  He looked into Buffy's guilt-ridden eyes and felt his throat constrict.

"Who knows what they've done by now," Xander said quietly.

"I can't think like that," Buffy shook her had and blinked back the tears threatening to form in her eyes.  "They probably took her to wherever they're staying now.  We need to find them and get there--"

"--Spike's crypt," Xander offered, "that'd be the most logical choice, since they just got here."

"Right," Buffy nodded in agreement, "you're right.  Okay, Riley and I are going to get some weapons, we're going to go down there, and--"

"I'm comin' with ya," Doyle interrupted her, "we can't take any chances. The more backup we have, the better."

"I can call in the guys," Riley offered.

"No, leave them out of this," Buffy stated, "if the Initiative gets involved, it'll make things worse.  Okay, you, me, Doyle, and Xander'll go see what we can do.  The rest of you, stay here and see what you can find on whatever Jaufien is planning and this weird bond between Willow and Angelus."

"Right," Giles agreed, "I'll go pull out the volumes from the back and...you take care, Buffy.  I've been reading up on Jaufien...he's dangerous, and he's skilled."

"Yeah, I remember the fight.  He's good, but we have to do something to stop this," Buffy said.  "We ready?"

"Let's go grab some weapons," Riley instinctively took command of the group and led them out, while Cordelia silently prayed that they all came back in one piece.

PART TWENTY-TWO

"You know, I always knew that soulboy had a thing for you," Angelus grinned at Willow, "but I never would have guessed that he'd actually act on it--especially up here," he tapped the side of his head as his gaze shifted back and forth between the two would-be-lovers sprawled out before him.

"Go to hell!" Willow snapped, grabbing her blouse and hastily putting it back on.

"Already been there, Red," Angelus watched with intense eyes as Willow reclothed herself, "but if it's a good ravaging that you want, I guarantee that I'd be much more satisfying than...my lesser half."

"Don't you ever *touch* her!" Angel snarled.

"Oh, we're well past that, Angel," Angelus sneered, "or did you happen to miss those parts?"

"I hate you," Willow's voice wavered as she let her emotions take over, "you're a murderer and a sadistic bastard!"

"Oh, come now, flattery really isn't necessary," Angelus' tone was mocking but his eyes were dangerous.

"You killed Tara!" Willow continued, not paying attention, "you're nothing but a pathetic--"

She was cut off as Angel turned her frame to his and pulled her into his embrace, allowing her to bury her face into his chest and try and block out the pain.

Angelus glared at the two of them for a moment before speaking, "Ah, yes, the girlfriend.  Well, you'll be pleased to know that the draining didn't kill her--it never kills anyone."

Willow choked back her tears and raw emotions as she turned back to face Angelus, "I saw her die."

"You saw her crumple at the loss of her sustaining energy."

"Then, she's alive...?"

The smirk returned to Angelus' face as his form began to fade, "Well, I didn't say that, either."

"What...?" Willow trailed off as he vanished once again, and she turned confused eyes to Angel who could only shrug in reply.  "Argh!" she felt like screaming and unleashing all of her pent up emotions, but she knew she had to keep control of herself.  She was tired of always finding herself on the loosing end of any battles with Angelus, and she resolved herself to put all of her energy into finally bringing an end to all of this.

"Willow," Angel wasn't quite sure what to say, so he fell back on the words that had seem to become his mantra over the past decades, "I'm sorry."

Willow shook her head as she placed a soft, gentle kiss on Angel's lips, "Now isn't the time for apologies, or for pity.  I've been doing a lot of that, you know.  Pitying myself for everything that's gone wrong, but I can't do it anymore.  We have to stop this, Angel."

"I know," Angel nodded his head, wondering slightly how she'd grown up so fast.  "First things first, we need to get you back into your own body.  We can worry about everything else later."

"Agreed, but I'm still at a loss as to how."

"I've been thinking about that," Angel started, "and I think we've just been overlooking the obvious."

"Which is?"

"Which is that the astral plane is the key to all of this.  You came here through the astral, you leave through the astral."

"We tried a version of that, Angel," Willow reminded him of the failed 'Captain N' endeavor, "and it didn't work."

"Not just going to sleep," Angel shook his head, "but you actually trancing yourself into the astral plane.  From there, I'm pretty sure you'll get pulled back into your own body--naturally."

"Simple enough to work," Willow mused.

"Yeah, simple.  Seems I've forgotten that it can actually work sometimes."

"Oh, you mean as opposed to turning yourself into an evil, soulless killer--" Willow began jokingly.

"--hush, little girl.  I may get a bit--"

"--overzealous?" Willow offered politely.

"Blinded," Angel grounded the word out, "but it helps to have someone like you to force me to open my eyes."

"I haven't really done a good job of that, now have I?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Angel reached out and stroked Willow's hair, "I feel like I'm seeing things clearly for the first time in a long time."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Angel nodded and pulled Willow to him, "like you, for instance.  You amaze me."

"Little old me?" Willow smiled up at him.

Angel responded by capturing her lips with his own and tightening his grasp on her.  Breaking away a few moments later, he whispered, "I'm just so scared that I'll never feel your lips under mine again."

Willow was taken aback by his words, and after finally managing to recover, she spoke, "We'll just have to make sure that you get control of your body."

"Easier said than done," Angel murmured against her hair.

A light bulb suddenly went off in Willow's mind, and she pulled herself away from Angel, causing him to lose his balance.

"Wha--oof.  If you wanted to get away from me that badly, you could have asked," Angel exclaimed.

"No, no!  I have an idea!" Willow's eyes were wide and her hands were gesturing wildly. Angel deftly evaded one of her flying limbs before asking, "Which is?"

"You've done it before!" she began.

"Done what before?" Angel asked, perplexed.

"That day in LA!  In the alley!  Angelus and I were there, but then suddenly, *you* were there.  I saw your eyes staring out at me--you *must* have managed to somehow gain control."

"Yeah, I did, but only for a fraction of a moment."

"But the point is that you *did.*  You just need to tell me how."

Angel was silent for a moment as he thought about it.  "The demon was losing control of himself," he finally began, starting to really remember that day.   "I could feel it.  So I slipped in.  It happens sometimes, but I couldn't keep the demon at bay," Angel explained.

"Losing control?  How do you mean?"

"It's strange.  Like I said, it just happens."

"Do demons lose control of themselves often?" Willow asked, her mind whirling.

"Typically, no.  For the most part, it'll happen when they're feeding, but there's no guarantee."

"But if Angelus were to feed from someone, and lose slight control, then, theoretically, you could step in and gain back control?"

"Theoretically, I suppose, but realistically?  It's not easy.  Angelus is going to fight back before I can bind him."

"But if he couldn't fight back?" Willow's eyes were gleaming.

"What are you getting at...?"

"The bond!" Willow gestured at her and Angel's bound wrists.  "It lets me control him--Angelus--sometimes.  I don't know, when I can summon up energy, he, he somehow just...does what I tell him to.  Like that night in the alley, I told him to freeze and he did!  He couldn't move!  I don't even think that he could think anything!  And--"

"Wait, wait.  Slow down here," Angel stopped her before she began her trademark rambling.  "Are you about to suggest what I think you're going to suggest?"

"It could work," Willow offered.

"No," Angel shook his head emphatically, "I will not allow you to put yourself in harm's way!"

"But Angel, this could be our only option!" Willow argued.

"And if it didn't work?  My god, Willow!  He could turn you!  He's already made it obvious that he wants to."

"I won't let him kill me," Willow tried to explain her reasoning, "he could just start feeding, and then I could stop him, you know freeze the demon, and you could bind him and take control...Angel, it's the only way."

"There has to be some other way."

"There isn't," Willow stated, "we've already tried the Romani curse, a half a dozen times I might add, and it hasn't worked.  What other solution is there?  And even if there was, Jaufien and Angelus have everything that they need for this plan of theirs.  We don't have time to waste on researching some other way to get you back!"

"We do have time," Angel jumped at his chance to dissuade Willow from the suicide mission, "Jaufien can't put everything into motion until precisely three thousand years after the death of Malich, which is still a week and a half away."

"That's still not enough time," Willow pointed out, "and even if it was, would you really want to cut it down to the wire like that?"

Angel remained silent as he pondered over what Willow was saying.  He knew that she had a point--they couldn't risk waiting until the last minute to stop Jaufien, and they couldn't stop him with Angelus still around.  He exhaled slowly and deliberately as he formed the words in his mind, "Alright.  You're right.  This is probably our only option."

"It *is* our only option, and we have to take it."

"I just can't stand the thought of him feeding from you," Angel's eyes were dark and serious, "If I lost you..."

"You won't.  If worse came to worse, you could always curse me..."

"Don't ever talk like that," Angel shushed her.  "We'll think positive.  We have to."

"Yeah," Willow nodded.  After a minute of silence, she tentatively asked, "Angel?  Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"When did you get to care about me so much?"

Angel was thrown by the depth of sincerity and raw emotion in the question, but he honestly didn't have an answer, "I don't know.  I've always cared, since day one.  You were my first real friend--"

"But Buffy?--"

"Buffy was an infatuation turned into a love.  Never a friend.  Not until recently, at least.  You were a friend--through everything.  Someone I always felt like I needed to protect and coddle like an innocent child.  But somewhere in between you restoring my soul and my leaving for LA, I realized that you're a grown woman--a woman whose mind, whose heart, whose soul never ceases to amaze me.  And somewhere in between my asking you to take away my soul and now, I got a glimpse into your heart, your courage, your strength, your intelligence...and I began seeing you as a woman who mesmerizes me and who's captured and reawakened a part of me that I thought had died when I was in Hell."

"Oh, Angel, you have no idea how good it feels to hear someone say that...to me," Willow felt the tears slip from her eyes despite her attempts to blink them back.

"And you have no idea how good it feels to know that there's someone out there who's willing to risk her life, her *soul* for me.  Maybe it shouldn't feel this way, but I feel like I've been given a taste of what eternal redemption will be like.  And it's like ambrosia, Willow."

Willow smiled at Angel before hugging him tightly and savoring the feel of his heartbeat against hers.  She knew that no matter how everything turned out, this would be the last time she would feel it.  She pulled away a few moments later and said, "I should probably get back to myself now."

"You probably should," Angel smiled back at her, "and please be careful."

"I will," she squeezed his hand, "just be ready."

"I will," Angel promised, "I'll always be ready for you."

"Good," Willow grinned up at him.  "Now, let's try this brilliant plan of yours."

PART TWENTY-THREE

"How about the mansion?" Angelus offered as a response to Jaufien's inquiry.

"Not a bloody bad idea--it's certainly big enough," Spike agreed.

"If you both think it's a good idea, then I'll agree," Jaufien accepted the suggested location.  "I'll make sure that this mansion is established as the meeting point for any demon in the area who'd like to join us."

"Get ready for a party," Spike snorted, "you've got no bloody idea how many soddin' demons there are on the Hellmouth."

"The more the better," Jaufien shrugged, "it's time we begin building our first army.  Once we've got the takers from here, we'll head back to Los Angeles.  It doesn't really matter where we start the invocation, just that it gets done on time.  Besides, the last thing I want is that Slayer and her cadre ruining things."

"Which just happens to be their hobby," Spike informed the elder vampire, "you'd probably be better off just killing the chit before you leave. Knowing her, she'll end up following you to LA--stake in hand."

Jaufien's eyes narrowed slightly as he stated, "That brings to mind a question I've been meaning to ask for a very long time."

"Which is?" Angelus asked.

"How, exactly, Angelus, do you know the Slayer?  She seemed awful eager to invite you in the other day, and as I recall, Spike, you were seated rather casually in the midst of her associates that same night."

Angelus and Spike exchanged a glance before simultaneously speaking, "It's a long story."

"So bore me," Jaufien's expression was deadpan.

Angelus' expression was one of utter revolt as he began speaking, "You remember when I told you about that pesky soul?"

"Yes," Jaufien's tone indicated for him to continue, and Spike wore an amazed look at the fact that Angelus had actually told Jaufien about having a soul.

"Well, it only disappeared...a couple of years ago, before which time, *Angel* decided to befriend the Slayer."

"Imagine my surprise," Spike interjected, "waltzing into town and finding that my dolt of a sire had hooked up with the bloody Slayer."

"I imagine you would have been surprised," Jaufien raised an eyebrow, "but since you're without a soul, I still can't quite fathom why they would trust you enough to bring you into their fold."

"I was never a part of their soddin' group!" Spike defended himself, "and I wouldn't have been if it weren't for this bloody chip in my head!"

"Excuse me?" Jaufien grinned.

"Spikey boy here got himself captured by a bunch of steroid popping military scientists that implanted a chip in his head--he can't attack any living creature," Angelus explained.

"What?" Jaufien struggled to keep from laughing.

"Hey!  They used a friggin' stun gun, and before you start laughing, it could have happened to either of you!" Spike swore.

"Oh, I'm sure," Angelus mockingly comforted his childe.

"Oh, shut up you bloody wanker," Spike growled, "in any case, when the Slayer found out I'd been defanged by the 'Initiative'--bunch of soddin' idiots--she kept me around as a source of information."

"Which, I'll admit, was a *huge* mistake," Buffy's voice drifted towards the three vampires, "I should have just staked you the second I found your pathetic self on Giles' doorstep.  But hey!  It's not too late to do it now."

The sudden and unexpected arrival of the Slayer alarmed the three vampires, who instantly got to their feet.

"Slayer," Jaufien growled, shifting into game face and readying himself for battle.

"Slayee," Buffy responded, also readying herself, "and wow, deja vu.  I think I used that line before...oh yeah, on a vamp that found himself to be dust three minutes later."

"Well, I'll just have to see that history doesn't repeat itself," Jaufien countered.

Behind Buffy, Xander, Riley, and Doyle prepared their weapons, waiting nervously for the fight to begin.

"Try it," Buffy sneered before launching herself at Jaufien.  That was the cue.  Xander and Riley raised their crossbows at the oncoming Angelus and Spike, intent on holding them back.

Doyle had snuck off to the side, trying to find Tara, but a flurry of movement had caught his attention.  Three vampires were approaching Riley and Xander from behind.

"Look out!" he warned them, but it was too late.  The vampires threw themselves onto the men, and Doyle found himself running back in order to help.  He grabbed the stun gun that they had laid to the side and attacked one of the two vampires that had ganged up on Riley.  After successfully knocking him unconscious, he turned to the next vampire, only to have a large rock strike him squarely between the shoulders.  He cried out and fell to his knees, turning to see Spike staring at him dumbfound.

Meanwhile, Riley fought off the attacking vampire as best as he could, struggling to keep it at bay and get to where his crossbow had been thrown. The vampire sent a blow to his midsection, and Riley grunted in pain, throwing a hook punch to the vampire's jaw in return, sending him back a few feet.  Riley used the opportunity to launch a series of successive sidekicks--something he had learned from Buffy--that forced the vampire to the floor.  Launching himself to the right, Riley skidded on his knees a few feet before reaching the crossbow.  He grabbed it, turned, and fired, striking the vampire in the neck.  Cursing, he quickly reloaded and fired again, this time hitting his mark.  As the vampire exploded into dust, though, the crossbow was kicked from his grasp yet again by Angelus.

Xander saw Angelus attack Riley from the corner of his eye, but he was too preoccupied with the vampire in front of him to be of any help.  They had been circling each other for the past couple of minutes, the vampire waiting for Xander to get close enough to grab, and Xander slowly inching his way towards his own fallen crossbow.  Finally he felt the wooden frame collide with his foot, and he dove down quickly and snatched it up.  Unfortunately, the vampire caught his movement and also made a dash for the weapon, laying his hands on it the instant Xander did.  The two struggled with the crossbow, and Xander did his best to turn the arrow point towards the vampire.  Finally managing to gain some leverage, he pressed the point to the vampire's heart and released the catch, exhaling in relief as the dust fell before his eyes.

"Moron," he muttered to himself as he turned and saw Buffy still fending off Jaufien, Riley struggling with Angelus, and Doyle fighting...Spike?  Xander wasn't quite sure how Spike was managing to pull that off with the chip in his head, but he decided that he'd use the opening to his advantage and try and find Tara.

He slowly headed into the back of the crypt, keeping his eyes peeled for any other vampires--or the dead body of one particular blonde.  "Looking for me?" a soft voice asked from behind him.

"Tara?" he asked, not believing what he was seeing.  They had turned Tara into a vampire.

"Xander," she mimicked him, "what's the matter?"

"I can't believe..." Xander cursed his luck, but he knew what he had to do. Raising the crossbow, he aimed and fired.  Tara's eyes held shock for only a fraction of a second before she crumpled away.

Shaking his head, Xander glanced back and forth between the battles between Riley and Angelus and Buffy and Jaufien.  Buffy looked extremely tired, and sweat was pouring from her as she suffered one blow and delivered another. Xander aimed his crossbow to try and hit Jaufien, but the two were moving and circling too quickly for him to be able to focus.  Shaking his head, he decided where he was really needed, and ran to help a desperately losing Riley.  Doyle, again much to Xander's shock, seemed to be holding his own with Spike.

Spike dodged one of Doyle's blows before he landed a solid kick to his opponent's gut.  A mild spasm wracked his brain, but it was nothing compared to the pain he'd felt when he tried to attack people before.  Either the chip was slowly starting to deactivate, or the Irishman before him wasn't all human.  Spike shrugged off the thoughts, deciding that he'd worry about it later.  For now, he'd just keep the man occupied, since he still highly doubted that he would be able to kill him.

Doyle recovered from the attack quickly, but he'd lost the small control that he'd managed to keep over himself.  His demon half was out, confirming Spike's theories, and the battle began again.

Meanwhile, Xander reached Angelus and Riley just as Angelus was about to twist Riley's neck.  Xander tackled the vampire, sending the both of them crashing to the ground and freeing a startled Riley.  Riley quickly got to his feet and went to help the man that had just saved his life.  It was no use, though, as Angelus easily fended the both of them off.  Riley, deciding to change tactics, spotted the fallen stun gun that was laying roughly ten feet to his left.  He exchanged a quick look with Xander before punching Angelus.  The vampire easily avoided his move, but as he backed away, Xander moved in, covering.  Riley then dove to grab the stun gun, bringing it up and charging it for maximum voltage.  Running forward, he placed the barrel into Angelus' side, who growled before knocking the gun out of Riley's hands and falling to his knees.  Both Riley and Xander used the opportunity of tackle Angelus and keep him down.

"We need something to tie him with!" Riley yelled to Xander.

"It's no use, man!  We're losing here.  Besides, Tara's dead.  We've got to get out!" Xander yelled back.

A defeated look passed over Riley's eyes as he looked around and saw that Xander was right.  Doyle, who's face had transformed into that of a...pincushion?...was slowly loosing his battle with Spike, and Buffy was lying on the floor, trying desperately to keep Jaufien away and get back on her feet.

"You're right," he told Xander, "Doyle!" he yelled for the other man's attention, "We've got to get out of here!"

Doyle heard the call, and didn't question it, but knew he couldn't just turn and run--he'd be attacked from behind and stopped.  Instead, he backpedaled away from Spike, leading the two of them to Xander and Riley.  Xander figured that Spike could attack Doyle since he was obviously partially demon, but he couldn't attack him.  Getting up, he yelled at Doyle, "Watch Angelus!" and ran to Spike.  "Come on, peroxide boy, hit me!" he challenged, instead sending a punch to the vampire's jaw.

Doyle quickly exchanged positions with Xander, helping Riley to hold a now struggling Angelus down.  He kept his demon out, knowing that he'd be much stronger, and turned to Riley, "Get Buffy out o' here!"

Riley, seeing that Doyle would be alright for a moment, nodded his head and ran to Buffy, who was now back on her feet and backing away from Jaufien and--thankfully--towards him.  He ran forward and grabbed Buffy's wrist, surprising her.  She turned her head to see who had grabbed her, and upon seeing Riley's beseeching eyes, she relaxed slightly and let him lead her back.  "We've got to get out of here," he told her.  Buffy merely nodded, not willing to verbally accept defeat.

"Running away, are we?" Jaufien taunted.

"Just prolonging the battle," Buffy spat back at him.  Riley had let go of her arm and had snatched up the stun gun, poising it to fire.  Doyle and Xander, upon seeing Riley and Buffy backing out, bowed out of their respective battles and headed towards the door.  Angelus, Spike, and Jaufien advanced upon the four of them, but Riley sent the gun crackling, and the vampires were forced to take a few steps back.

"Let's get out of here," Riley whispered to his friends.  With that, the four turned and fled into the night.

***

Cordelia paced across the floor, anxiously waiting for the others to return.   She, Anya, and Giles had hit the books, furiously trying to find anything that might help them, but to no avail.  Hearing a voice and some shuffling outside the door, she quickly turned around and saw a weary Buffy enter the house with a defeated looking Xander, Riley, and Doyle in tow.

"What happened to you guys?" she exclaimed.

"We got our butts kicked?" Xander attempted humor, but failed miserably.

"Oh my gosh, Xander!" Anya ran to him and immediately began inspecting his wounds.

"What happened?" Giles asked, standing up and closing the book he had been reading, "we were waiting for you..."

"They were too strong," Buffy sighed, plopping herself down onto the couch. "And Tara's dead.  She was vamped, and Xander had to stake her.  So we pretty much high-tailed it out of there."

Giles heard the note of shame in Buffy's voice and tried to console her, "At least you're alive to tell the tale."

Buffy smiled at him weakly and asked, "Have you guys been able to find anything?"

Giles shook his head, and Buffy dejectedly placed her head in her hands and mumbled, "What I wouldn't give for one piece of good news."

"Well we do have good news," Cordelia informed the Slayer.

Buffy's head shot up as she asked, "What?"

"It's what we were waiting for you guys for," Cordelia smiled, "we got a call from the hospital a few minutes ago--Willow's awake."
 

PART TWENTY-FOUR

"Hey, Wills," Buffy said as she poked her head in the door of the hospital room, "the doctors finally said it was okay for us to come in."

"Buffy!  Everyone!  You're all here," Willow's face brightened as she saw her friends file into the room.

"Where else would we be?" Giles asked, smiling down at the redhead.  He had to admit that it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his chest.

Willow smiled back and sent a nervous glance towards Cordelia, then Buffy. "How are you guys?" she asked tentatively, raising herself off the bed and into a sitting position.

"I think we should be asking how you are," Xander stated, "and falling to our knees and begging profusely for your forgiveness."

Willow's eyes widened slightly as her gaze locked onto Buffy's.  "The other night..."

"Was a fluke," Buffy stepped forward and squeezed her friend's hand.  "I'm so sorry for everything I said and did.  Can you forgive me?"

Willow exhaled audibly and sent a thankful glance to Cordelia and Doyle. She was pretty sure that the two of them had had something to do with this, and she couldn't thank them enough.

"Of course I forgive you, and I'm sorry, too, for keeping all of this from you," Willow turned her attention back to Buffy.

"You had every reason to," Buffy smiled reassuringly at her, "I understand that now.  That night, I was just taken by surprise, and I flew out of control."

Willow smiled back at her friend and noticed for the first time the beginnings of bruises all across her face and arms.  "Buffy!  What happened to you?"  Looking around the room, she noticed the same marring on Xander, Riley, and even Doyle.  "What's happened...?"

Buffy exchanged a look with Giles before speaking, "We had a confrontation with Jaufien and Angelus and Spike."

"And?" Willow asked, suddenly nervous.  Angel's plan had worked to get her back into her body, but would she have a chance to see if her plan would work?  "Is Angel..."

"Angelus is still alive," Buffy nodded, sensing where her friend was going, "all of them are, unfortunately."

"Oh, Buffy!  You can't blame Angel for this--"

"I don't.  We've all agreed that, if we can help it, he stays alive through all of this."

Willow sighed in relief, "Thank goodness."

Buffy snorted, "Besides, if we staked him, we'd never get the chance to give him hell for being such an idiot."

"Oh, don't worry, I've already done that," Willow told her.

"You what?"

"Uh, I'll explain later.  You still haven't told me what happened in the...confrontation," Willow tried changing the subject.

"Right, that," Buffy looked down at the white bedspread, "I don't quite know how to tell you this, Wills, but Tara's dead.  They took her the other night, and we went to try and get her back, hence the big fight, but they had turned her, and we had to stake her.  I'm sorry."

"So that's what Angelus meant," Willow's voice was soft and filled with grief.

"Willow, that's the second time you've alluded to speaking with Angel, or Angelus, or both.  Would you mind explaining?" Giles questioned.

"You're not going to believe this," Willow began, "heck, even I'm starting to wonder if it was real or not, but...I was in Angel's head.  Well, technically Angelus', I guess."

"In his head?" Riley asked, not quite following.

"Yeah, and don't ask me to explain it, but somehow, my astral self got sucked in, leaving my body in a coma."

"So that's what caused it," Giles mused, "interesting.  And you got back by...?"

"Taking myself back to the astral plane and letting my body naturally pull me back in," Willow explained it as best as she could.

"I see," Giles pondered the situation for a moment before asking, "and while you were in Angelus' mind, you conversed with Angel?  I would think that removing his soul would have taken it completely out of the body."

"It should have, but--surprise--something went wrong, and the soul never left the body.  That's why we couldn't redo the Romani curse," Willow directed the last part towards Cordelia and Doyle, "in order for the curse to work, the spirit has to be called from the...I don't know what to call it...other side?  But Angel was in his body the whole time, just not in control."

"But the Orb of Thessulah was glowing with something," Cordelia started, confused, "if it wasn't Angel's soul, what was it?"

"I don't know," Willow shook her head.

A knocking at the door captured everyone's attention as the doctor entered. "Hello, Ms. Rosenberg, everyone.  It's nice to see that you're doing better."

"Oh, yes, I am.  Much better, in fact," Willow stated emphatically, "well enough to go home, I think."

"That's really not advisable, Ms. Rosenberg," the doctor smiled as if he'd heard that proclamation a thousand times before, "With the way your condition has been, and the staff here still not knowing what caused it, or how you came out of it--"

"But I *am* out of it, and I'd really like to go home," Willow interrupted.

"Wills, if the doctor doesn't think it's a good idea, maybe you should stay," Buffy suggested.

"I can't, Buffy," Willow silently implored her friend to understand, "I just...don't like staying here in the hospital.  It makes me feel like a sitting duck, you know?" she added the last part in a low whisper.  Turning back to the doctor, she stated, "I'd just like to be released."

The doctor sighed and tried to reason with the patient, "It really is best if you stay for observation.  There's still the probability of a relapse, or a sudden--"

"Uh, doc," Xander jumped into the conversation, "Willow here has been my best bud since we were kids, and what you're looking at right now is the infamous resolve face.  You're not going to change her mind."

The doctor shrugged his shoulders and looked at his patient for a long moment.  "Very well then.  I'll make a note on your chart that you're leaving against medical advice.  You can get yourself ready--your clothes are in that cabinet--and sign your release papers on the way out."

"Thank you," Willow told him as he left the room.  "I guess we better get going, huh?"

"Yeah," Buffy squeezed her friend's hand one last time, "we'll be waiting for you outside."

"Okay."

***

"Uh, I said that I'd really prefer to go home by myself," Willow repeated her statement upon seeing the incredulous expressions on her friends' faces.

They had all gathered once again at Giles' house to share information, research, and discuss battle tactics.  After roughly an hour and a half, they had come to an agreement that it would be for the best if everyone went home to get some rest, since it had been an extremely long and tiring night for everyone.  After all, they still had a week and a half to figure out what was going on.  It was then that Willow spilled the beans about her plan to restore Angel's soul that night.

"You can't be serious," Buffy responded to Willow's statement, "there is no way that I'm going to leave you alone with Angelus for even a moment!."

"It has to be that way in order for this to work," Willow argued, "you guys can't be around when I do this.  You understand, right Cordelia?"

"Heck, no!  And not because that puts me and Doyle out of a place to stay tonight, but because it's suicidal," the brunette answered.

"I've already been through this conversation with Angel," Willow sighed, "and there's no other way."

"So you let Deadboy sink his fangs into you?" Xander challenged, "Wills, do you realize how crazy that is?"

"Crazy enough to work."

"That's what Angel probably said about his plan, right?" Riley questioned, "and look where that got everybody."

Willow groaned as she tried to form the words in her mind that would make her friends understand.  She came up empty.  "Look, I know that this is hard to understand, but this bond...I *know*, I can feel it deep inside of me, that this is going to work.  It has to."

"There's a big difference between somethin' that has ta work and somethin' that does work," Doyle tried to advise the redhead.

"Oh, you just don't understand!" Willow shouted as she shot off the couch and raced out of the room, startling everybody.

"Will?" Xander got up to go after her, but was stopped by Buffy.  "Let me handle this," she told him.

"Let *us* handle this," Cordelia stepped forward, "'cause like it or not, Willow's my friend, too."

"Okay," Buffy nodded.

The two girls exited the room and found Willow a few minutes later pacing back and forth in Giles' guest room.  "Willow?" Cordelia said her name softly, not wanting to startle her.

"Just go away," Willow sighed dejectedly as she sat herself down on the bed.

"Can't do that," Buffy threw up her hands and seated herself next to the redhead, "that's the downside to friends, they always butt in."

"Yep, and they're usually really stubborn about it, too," Cordelia sat herself on Willow's other side, trapping her.

Willow looked back and forth between the two of them and suddenly burst into a fit of giggles.

"I think she's finally blown her lid," Cordelia remarked to Buffy.

"No," Willow managed to subdue her laughter, "it's just that I would never have imagined anything like this to ever happen, even on the Hellmouth."

"What, you mean all this stuff with Angelus?" Buffy questioned.

"No, I mean the three of us sitting here like this," Willow gestured at each of them in turn.

"Yeah.  The strangest things..." Buffy trailed off.

"Yeah," Cordelia nodded her head in agreement as a lengthy silence fell over the room.  Finally, Willow decided to break it.  "I just need to start standing on my own two feet."

"Come again?" Buffy asked, wondering where that had suddenly come from.

"This whole thing," Willow explained, "it's not just about me risking my life; it's about me making my own choices and finally looking out for myself."

"Will--" Buffy began.

"No, let me finish," Willow cut her off, "my whole life I've been hiding behind people.  First it was Xander and Jesse.  Then it was you and Jesse. Then it was Oz.  I just feel like I need to start living my own life, fighting my own battles.  I can't hide behind people forever, and you can't protect me forever.  I need to do this, and I need you guys to understand."

"We do," Cordelia whispered softly, gazing at Buffy.  "I understand where you're coming from, I understand it completely.  It's why I moved to LA in the first place, and if this is what you need, then I'm behind you.  We're both behind you, right?" she directed the question to Buffy.

"Right," Buffy nodded her head.  She couldn't be sure of what would happen tonight, but she knew that she had to let Willow do this her own way.

Willow exhaled in relief, "Thank you guys so much."

"Hey, we're your friends," Cordelia smiled and gave Willow a light hug before standing up.  "Now we just have to remind everyone else of that,
too."

"Like taking candy from a baby," Buffy, too, stood up.

"You've got to be kidding me," Cordelia looked at her with rounded eyes.

"Sarcasm, hello?  Yeesh, I didn't think I had lost my edge by *that* much," Buffy mused.

Willow just smiled as she followed her friends out the door.

***

Willow wrapped her arms around herself as she stood out on her balcony, gazing up at the night sky.  It had been a long time since she'd last stood there, a long time since she'd felt it was safe enough to.  She knew now about all the exact reasons why it still wasn't safe, but tonight would be all about finally seeing if she could handle it.

After she, Buffy, and Cordelia had finally managed to convince the others to let her go through with this, they had decided that Cordelia and Doyle would stay with Giles tonight, and Riley had offered to drive her home.  He had said some things to her during the short ride that she couldn't get out of her mind.

"I've spent a lot of time working with the Initiative," he had said, "and I learned pretty much everything I ever thought I needed to know about how to make a team really work.  But you guys showed me so much more than I ever thought possible."  He had paused then and laughed in the gentle way that Buffy found so appealing, then continued, "Just remember.  No matter how this plays out, you'll always be part of a team that needs you, and a team that believes in you.  I've never been really good at giving prep speeches, but I guess I just wanted you to know that I really feel like you're gonna come through this with flying colors."

"You really think so?" she had asked.

"I really do," Riley had nodded.  "Good luck, soldier."

Soldier.  She really didn't feel like one.  A sudden image of her clothed in the brown and green camouflage uniform flashed through her mind and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Something funny, Red?" a deep voice asked from beside her.

Willow gasped in shock and unconsciously jumped a few feet back.  Angelus had been standing not even five feet from her, and she hadn't even realized it.  Or maybe she had.  Wasn't that the reason she was standing out on the balcony in the first place?

"What are you doing here?" she asked, simultaneously knowing the answer and yet not wanting to know.

"You should know by now that I'll always be wherever you are," he locked his dark gaze onto hers and stared intently into her eyes.  "I just never imagined I'd find you to be such easy pickings."

"Excuse me?" Willow asked, blinking free of the spell he had managed to weave over her.

"Standing out here on your balcony this late in the night," Angelus chided, "you should have known that something or another would come to get you."

"Really?  I was really only expecting you to come and get me."

"Ah, so the girl is learning."

"I knew you'd come," Willow ignored his comment.

"And you wanted me to?" Angelus asked, mildly surprised.

Willow took a deep breath and reminded herself that it was now or never. One of them would walk away from this encounter entirely changed, and she resolved to herself that it would be Angelus.

"Yes," she whispered, "I wanted you to come."  Turning around, she slowly walked back towards her room, aware that Angelus was following her very closely.

Stopping at the threshold, but not crossing it, she turned back around to face Angelus and offered him her hand, "And now I want you to come inside."
 

 PART TWENTY-FIVE

"Do you realize what you've just done?" Angelus asked as he grabbed Willow by the wrists and pushed her back into her room with him.  "Of course you do," he continued, not waiting for an answer, "because you're such an intelligent woman.  Which makes me wonder why you've decided to play kamikaze."  His grip on her wrists tightened painfully as he spoke.  "Tell me, is Buffy hiding somewhere back there ready with a stake or a crossbow? Hm?"

"We're all alone here," Willow shook her head, ignoring the throbbing in her wrists.

"Really?" Angelus asked, leaning towards her and slightly loosening his grip, "so if I were to make you scream," he grabbed her and pulled her tightly against him, "no one would come running to save you?"

Willow struggled to keep control over her racing heartbeat and suddenly shallow breathing, but she found it to be extremely difficult.  "I don't need anyone to save me from you."

"You sure about that?" he questioned as he placed a kiss over her pulse point.  He inhaled her scent and continued speaking, all the while keeping her body pressed flush against his, "You know how long I've waited to make you mine, Willow?  And now, all of a sudden, you give me the perfect opportunity.  Why?"

Willow tried to collect her scattered thoughts as Angelus released her wrists and began to gently massage her back.  "Because..."

"Because what, Willow?" Angelus asked as he slid his right hand under her shirt and continued massaging, his lips tantalizingly close to her own.

Willow found her attention focused on his lips, and she briefly cursed the fact that it was Angel's lips hovering over her own and Angel's body pressed against hers.  "Because I need to know what I can be."  She hadn't expected to say that, but now that it had slipped out, she knew she had to go with it.

Angelus' hands stilled as he stared into her emerald eyes, "You can be anything you want."

"Can I?" Willow whispered, never expecting Angelus to say something like that, either.  "You had said before that as a vampire, I was..."

"Powerful," Angelus placed his lips over hers but exerted no pressure, "deadly, brilliant.  The epitome of darkness."

"I don't want to be evil--"

Willow was cut off as Angelus captured her lips in a searing kiss, sending a heated, electric shiver through her body.  Willow felt like her insides were melting as her knees turned to rubber.

Angelus, sensing that she was losing her balance, smiled and scooped her into his arms, then walked over to her bed and gently laid her down.  "Don't you get it, Red?" he asked, standing over her.  "It's never about what you want.  If it was, none of us would be here.  It's all about destiny."  He sat down next to her and leaned forward to place a kiss on her brow.

"It's my destiny to become a soulless murderer?" Willow asked, wondering why she had let him lay her down, wondering why she wasn't getting up.

Angelus grinned as he shifted positions to lay himself down next to her. "It's your destiny to be a goddess."

"What if I don't want to be a goddess?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Angelus propped himself up on his elbow and brought his other hand up to stroke the side of her face, "It's not your choice, it's mine.  And I choose to give you the world."

Willow took a sharp intake of breath as Angelus leaned over her and kissed her hard.  He broke away quickly but his tongue continued to blaze a trail of fire as his lips made their way to her pulse point.  He placed his hands on either side of her and shifted his weight so that he was directly above her, straddling her hips.

As his lips closed over her jugular she could feel the ridges press against her skin as his features changed.  She sent a silent prayer to the Goddess to help her through this, and she tensed as the first pricking of fangs tore  her skin.  She could feel the blood well up as Angelus began to suck lightly.  He alternated between sinking his fangs further into her throat and drinking down the hot liquid that poured forth, creating an almost rhythmic, passionate, pleasurable sensation.

Willow could feel the strength start to slowly seep from her, but she could also feel Angelus start to tighten his grasp on her upper arms.  She felt his body trembling above her, and she knew that this was her chance--her only chance.

Combining her fear and desire, Willow let both emotions swirl and build inside of her until she could no longer contain the energy.  "Angelus!" her voice was stronger and steadier than she imagined it could have been, "I command your demon to stop, and I thrust him to the furthest recesses of your mind to be chained for all eternity."

The expulsion of energy left Willow desperately grasping for breath, and as she managed to finally fill her lungs, she noticed that both the penetration and the suction had stopped.  Angelus was literally frozen above her.

Not sure of what to do, she waited for a moment to see if anything would happen.  After a few minutes, she felt Angel's body spasm slightly and the suction continued.

"Angelus?" she breathed, wondering if somehow Angel had lost the battle. Then suddenly, the fangs began retracting and she felt nothing but the gentle lapping of a tongue against her pulse point.  "Angel?" she tried again.

Angel lifted himself off Willow slightly and stared into her eyes, "It's me, Willow," he smiled.  "It's really me.  I'm back!"  His smile broke into a full grin as he leaned down and kissed Willow with a renewed passion and happiness.

Willow brought her hands up and tugged on the hair on the back of Angel's head to remind him that she needed to breathe.  Angel broke away reluctantly and sat up, pulling Willow with him.  "We did it!" the exuberance was evident in his voice, and it lit up his entire face.  Willow had never seen this expression on Angel's face, nor heard that tone in his voice, and it made her smile broadly despite herself.

"We did?" her glowing eyes mirrored his own, and as she gazed at the emotions swirling beneath the chocolate depths, she knew that she had her Angel back.

"Yeah," Angel nodded and pulled her off the bed.  He dragged her to him and began circling and skipping around the room.

"Angel!  What are you doing?" Willow couldn't help but laugh at his antics as she was pulled around with him, half dancing, half jumping.

"Rejoicing!" Angel laughed with her, "we won!"  As he said the words, he realized that they weren't completely true, and he quickly slowed to a halt.

"This battle," Willow, too, came off her high.

"But not the war," Angel concluded the cliche, his face instantly sobering. "Right," he sighed, "we've still got a lot of work ahead of us."

"But we passed this hurdle," Willow reminded him, trying to stay positive, "and together, we can pass anything."

"You're right," Angel smiled at the redhead, "you're absolutely right."

"We need to gather the others together," Willow began formulating a plan in her mind, "we can call them all over here tomorrow morning, and we can decide where we'll go from there.  We're all a team, and we're gonna beat Jaufien as a team."

Angel simply marveled at the wonder before him.

"What?" Willow asked.

"Nothing," Angel shook his head, "I was just thinking to myself how absolutely amazing you are."

Willow bit her bottom lip and looked down to keep Angel from seeing the blush that she knew was spreading over her this very instant.

"Hey," he touched her chin and nudged her face to look back up at him, "don't look away from me.  Besides, you're gorgeous when you get that blush on your face."

Willow rolled her eyes at his compliment and smiled, "I think we both just need to get some rest tonight.  Agreed?"

"Agreed," Angel nodded.  "Where do you want me to crash for the night?"

Willow walked back to her bed and sat down, then motioned for him to join her.  "Right here."  At seeing the expression on his face, she hastily amended, "that is, if you want to..."

Angel quirked his eyebrow and stalked towards her, placing a soft kiss over her lips.  "I'll always want to."

"I just want you to hold me tonight," Willow told him as the two snuggled together beneath the covers, "and I wanna feel safe...in your arms."

"I'll hold you for as long as you want me to," Angel pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her, "and I promise you that you'll always be safe with me."

"I trust that," Willow smiled up at him, "and I trust you."

The heartbreaking look that Angel sent her spoke volumes, and after placing a soft kiss on his cheek, Willow burrowed herself further into his embrace and let sleep claim her--peacefully--for the first time in a long time.

***

"Now you're *sure* that this is our Deadboy, and not the evil Deadboy?" Xander questioned Willow, but looked at Angel.

The entire group had gathered in Willow's living room, and Willow had just finished calming all of them down and convincing them that it was Angel standing before them and not Angelus.

"Yes, Xander, I'm *sure*," Willow spoke the words slowly, emphasizing the statement.

"Okay, then.  Just checking," Xander stated.

"It's good ta have ya back," Doyle came forward and clapped Angel on the back.

"It's good to be back," Angel told him honestly, "and Doyle?"

"Yeah?"

"If I ever get any ideas like this again, please just knock me over the head and tie me up until I come to my senses."

"Oh, we are so gonna hold you to that, buster!" Cordelia exclaimed. Realizing that she had spoken a bit too energetically, she laughed slightly and continued, "What I meant was, it's good to have you back, boss."

"Thanks, Cordelia," Angel smiled at her.

"And how are you feeling?" Buffy directed the question to Willow, eyeing the bandage covering the bite wound over her neck.

"I'm just fine," Willow reassured her fretting friend, "believe it or not, Angelus was actually being careful to not be too violent."

"Right," Buffy stated as if she didn't believe a word that Willow had just said, "if you say so."

"Putting all of this behind us now," Giles cleared his throat and spoke up, "I think it's time that we concentrate on stopping Jaufien."

"Good thinking, G-man.  You see, that's why you're the ex-watcher in the group," Xander threw his arm over the older man's shoulders.

"I thought I asked you to stop calling me that," Giles looked at Xander.

"Guys," Buffy broke into the bantering, "while Xander just complimented Giles for stating the obvious--"

"--I was being sarcastic!" Xander defended himself.

"Sure you were," Anya patted Xander on the back.

"Oh, hush," he muttered under his breath.

"As I was saying," Buffy continued, "Giles is still right.  We still don't know what he's planning or even if it matters.  I mean, if this thing isn't until a week and a half away, why can't we just charge in and nip this thing in the bud?"

"We tried that before, Buff," Xander said, "and need I remind you of the results?"

"Actually, Buffy's got a point," Angel stated, "with Spike not being able to harm anyone, it would just be Jaufien...and the army of demons he's gathering," he concluded as he suddenly remembered the last part.

"What?" Riley asked.

"That part seemed to have slipped from my mind," Angel said sheepishly, "yesterday, we--Angelus, Spike, and Jaufien--had decided to set up temporary headquarters in the old mansion.  Jaufien's planning to gather a small army here, then move out."

"Move out where?" Giles asked.

"As of now, plans are back to LA."

"Okay," Buffy began thoughtfully, "then we just attack tonight, before he has a chance to ship out of here.  He's probably still here, if anything waiting for Angelus.  I doubt he knows anything about you being back," she directed towards Angel, "about how many demons do you think he's gathered by now?"

Angel sighed as he considered the question.  "He just put out the call last night, so I'd be willing to bet that he won't have too many by nightfall. My best guess: maybe two dozen vamps and half a dozen assorted demons."

"That's what you call 'not too many'?" Riley questioned.

"For all nine of us?" Angel offered.

"So *now* he learns the merits of teamwork?" Cordelia huffed.

"Cordy," Doyle sent her a warning glance.

"This is all well," Giles started, "but it may still be of use if we knew what Jaufien was planning."

"That," Angel grimaced, "is a long story.  One that started roughly three thousand years ago."  At seeing everyone's expectant gazes, he continued, "There was a demon named Malich--a Certyx demon.  They're pretty much extinct now, but they specialized in finding...creative ways to manipulate dark magick.  Malich was roughly two centuries old, and he'd devoted all those years to gathering the essences of the cruelest and strongest demons. Essentially, he'd use the incantations that he'd created to steal their lifeforce and draw it into himself, then transfer them into a material object."

"Wait a minute," Buffy interrupted, "why didn't the other demons just kill him?"

"Good question, but from what I can tell, his magickal capabilities were highly developed."

"But what was all this for?" Willow asked.

"That's the tricky part," Angel stated uncertainly, "Malich had somehow formed an incantation that would allow him to...create a demon, multiple demons, actually, from the lifeforce of another demon."

"I get it," Willow's eyes lit with understanding, "so he captured the lifeforces with the intent to mix them, then create some sort of super demon?"

"An army of them," Angel nodded his head, "to wage war against the world."

"Anyone else glad that this guy's not around anymore?" Xander raised his hand.

"Yeah, speaking of which, what happened to him?" Buffy asked.

"It's never been really clear," Angel shrugged his shoulders, "it seems as if the magick just slowly began to eat away at him.  Eventually, it completely destroyed him.  He figured it was coming, so he used the last of his energy to seal all the lifeforces that he had captured into a single item--the Sword of Gwydeon."

"So that its story," Giles' voice was filled with wonder.

"You mean there's actually something that the Watcher's Council *didn't* know about?" Buffy's tone was snide and betrayed her still-present hostility towards the Council.

"The Sword of Gwydeon was considered one of the most dangerous weapons simply because it didn't have a known history attached to it," Giles nodded his head.

"Actually, the Sword is pretty popular in the demon world," Angel told the ex-Watcher, "the story of Malich--a much vaguer version than the tale I just told you--was a popular myth.  No one believed it was real, though.  That is, until Jaufien."

"And how do *you* know so much about this?" Xander asked.

"Some demons tend to have...strange habits," Angel seemed about to laugh, "and Malich's was writing things down."

"What?" Willow exclaimed.

"Yep," Angel grinned, "Malich kept very detailed journals of everything he did."

"The evils of the written word," Xander shook his head.

"You mean to tell me," Buffy sounded indignant, "that we're in this mess because Jaufien somehow managed to track down the journals of a three thousand year old demon?"

"That's about it," Angel nodded, "the journals--which Jaufien spent a lot of years translating--told his entire story, and basically spelled out how and when to break the seal on the sword and start the incantation to release the energy and create the army of demons."

"We gave that moron so much more credit than he deserved," Cordelia muttered bitterly.

"Well, Jaufien does get some points for persistence," Angel responded.

"And being one hell of a fighter," Buffy shook her head in disbelief, "and now that we've heard this oh-so interesting story, we still need to think up a plan to *kill* this guy."

"I'm with the Buffster," Xander agreed.

"Well, we're definitely goin' ta need a lot o' weapons," Doyle offered.

"Hey, Riley," Buffy asked, "I know that you only have your one stun gun, but do you think that you could get your hands on a few more?"

"I'd have to give a pretty convincing reason," Riley responded.

"Tell them anything you have to except the truth," Buffy pleaded with him, "just see what you can do."

"I will," Riley nodded.

"And I'll unload my cache at home," Giles stood up to leave, "we're going to need to form some sort of first attack plan."

"We will," Buffy nodded.  "Everyone up for this?"

Eight heads nodded in unison.
 

PART TWENTY-SIX

"Angelus, where the hell have you been?" Jaufien stalked towards the entering vampire.

"Settling a few things," Angel shrugged his shoulders, looking intently at Jaufien.

"What's gotten into you now?" Jaufien asked, his eyes narrowing at the vampire's suddenly different demeanor.

"A bloody soul," Spike declared as he came up behind Jaufien, "they cursed you again, didn't they?"

"What would make you think that?" Angel asked.

"You're my bloody sire!  You think I can't tell?" Spike yelled, "Jaufien, meet *Angel.*"

"Angel?" Jaufien lifted an eyebrow in inquiry, "it's too bad, really.  But I don't have time to deal with this now."  Raising his voice, he called, "I want everybody out here, now!"  Turning back to Angel, he said, "You see, you came at a very bad time.  We were just on our way out, and now, so are you."

A large group of vampires and a few other demons began streaming into the room, ready for a fight.

"You're not going anywhere," Buffy came forward and stood next to Angel, her arms crossed over her chest.  "Now!" she yelled.

The others, who had been waiting outside listening for the call, charged forward with flamethrowers at the ready.  Jaufien and Spike instinctively jumped back, and the battle began.

The army of vampires ran forward in phalanx fashion, and Riley launched the first flamethrower.  Xander, Giles, and Doyle followed suit, their arrows hitting the first line of oncoming vampires, who scattered to the sides as the flames consumed them.  The remaining vampires halted their attack and decided to split up, attempting to encircle them.

Willow and Cordelia, who were standing together, waited until the three vampires who were approaching them neared.  Cordelia attacked the first vampire with the stun gun, while Willow quickly conjured up a ball of fire and launched it at the other two.

"I tire of your games, Slayer," Jaufien growled as Buffy approached him.

Angel grabbed Buffy's wrist and held her back, "Then play mine," he challenged.  Rushing forward, he struck Jaufien once across the side of the head and placed a firm sidekick in his gut, sending him staggering back a few feet.  Jaufien recovered quickly and countered, lashing out with his heel and striking Angel in the chin.  Angel evaded his hook punch and retaliated with an uppercut, continuing what seemed to be almost a dance.

Buffy let Angel have his go at Jaufien and turned her attention to the two demons that were ganging up on Riley.  She tackled one of them to the floor and, grabbing the ax that had been strapped around her waist, quickly decapitated it.

Riley, meanwhile, reloaded his stun gun and sent the other demon to the floor yet again.  Even though his weapon was set to maximum, it was only temporarily halting the demon, not knocking it unconscious.

Doyle and Giles, who had made their way to the back of the room while trying to keep two other demons at bay, stayed together as they kept their swords protectively before them.  One of the demons attempted to rush Giles, and, seeing the movement, Doyle thrust himself in between and ran his sword through the demon.  Giles stepped to the side and swung at the other demon, effectively hacking off its left arm.

On the other side of the room, Xander cheered silently as yet another vampire fell to dust before him.  He aimed his crossbow at the fifth vampire and prepared to fire when he heard Anya shout a warning to him.  Before he could turn around, a sharp object struck the side of his head and he fell to his knees.

Anya charged forward and fired her stun gun on the back of the vampire's neck, knocking him unconscious.  Xander got to his feet and sent a thankful glance to Anya before pulling out a stake and finishing the job.

Meanwhile, Spike watched the scene unfold before him and realized that things were not going well.  "Oh, bloody hell!" he growled as he spotted a demon attack Buffy from behind.  Running forward, he grabbed the sword that was strapped to Riley's waist, ran to where Buffy was trying to fight off the demon as well as another two vampires, and proceeded to hack at the demon.

Riley jumped at the sudden loss of his only other weapon, but upon seeing Spike putting it to good use, he lifted his stun gun and charged towards two other vampires.  Using both his weapon and his feet to fight them, Riley was completely unaware of yet another demon approaching him from behind.

"Riley!" Buffy yelled in warning just as the demon lifted its clawed arm and struck Riley violently across the head.

Riley sank to the ground and Buffy charged forward, lifting her ax and striking the demon in the chest. Pulling the blade back out, she sent a swift series of kicks to the demon's knees, sending it crashing to the ground.  Raising her weapon once again, she brought it down and sliced through the demon's throat.

"Riley," she ran to him and fought the rising panic in her chest as the blood pooled around his head.  She quickly checked his pulse and was relieved to find that he still had one, but he wasn't conscious.

Willow, meanwhile, continued to launch the magickally conjured fire elementals at any vampires she saw, but the severe drain in energy was starting to catch up to her.  Cordelia noticed and threw Willow the crossbow that they had brought, while she continued to alternate between the use of the stun gun and her stake.

Willow caught the weapon and lifted it, aiming for any other stray vampires, when she finally noticed that they had managed to dust the majority of them.   She motioned for Cordelia to go to where Xander and Anya were struggling with a few vampires, while she quickly scanned the room.  Finally spotting the objects of her search on a table in the far back corner of the room, Willow made a mad dash for them.

Cordelia reached Anya just in time, as a vampire was about to strike her over the head.  Raising her gun, she fired at the vampire and snorted in satisfaction as he crumpled to the floor.  Xander shoved a stake into his heart and watched as he disintegrated.

"Xander!" Cordelia yelled as another demon prepared to tackle the boy.  Both she and Anya fired, but the guns didn't seem to have an effect on the massive form.  The demon grabbed Xander by the neck and hurled his body across the room, sending him crashing into the opposite wall.

"Xander, no!" Anya yelled, racing after him.

"Uh-oh," Cordelia breathed as the demon advanced upon her next.  She screamed and dropped the gun as he lunged for her, but was surprised as he suddenly froze merely inches away.  She watched in disgust as the form slid to the ground and his blood oozed out, and she looked up to see Doyle standing before her with an outstretched, blood covered sword.

"Oh, thank you," she told the Irishman, swooping down and grabbing her gun again.

"Just glad I got ta ya in time," Doyle flashed her a grin before turning back and tensing for the next attack.

Giles, seeing that Buffy was having a difficult time guarding Riley's fallen body from a group of vampires, ran to help her.  He swung his sword and chopped the head off the nearest vampire, then turned to the next, catching the relieved smile from Buffy.

Willow finally reached the table and gazed solemnly at the wooden box that sat atop it.  Grabbing it quickly, she raised it above her head and threw it to the floor, smashing it and releasing the energy that had been stolen from Tara.  She sent a silent prayer to the Goddess to watch over Tara's soul, and turned her attention next to the gleaming sword.

Jaufien, meanwhile, had gained the upper hand on Angel, but upon seeing the redhead pick up the sword, he knocked Angel roughly to the ground and ran for the girl.

Willow saw the flurry of movement rushing towards her, and she made a mad dash in the other direction, taking the sword with her.  Turning to look back, she noted that Jaufien was gaining on her, so she stopped, turned, and with all her might flung the sword as far across the room as she could.

The sword landed with a loud clutter at Giles' feet, and he looked up quickly to see what was happening.  His heart began beating double-time at the sight.

Jaufien had grabbed Willow roughly and placed both hands on either side of her head, looking ready to twist at any moment.

"Angelus!" he bellowed, loud enough to capture Angel's attention as well as everyone else's.  Looking around the destroyed room, he noted with anger that his entire army had been slaughtered, and everything that he had worked for was crumbling around him.  "Oh, well done!" he mockingly applauded, "but look here.  I still have the grand prize, don't I?"

Buffy began to move forward, but Jaufien stopped her with his words, "Take one more step, Slayer, and I break the witch's neck."

Buffy halted in mid-stride, her mouth agape.  She darted terrified eyes between Jaufien and her friend, and she looked as if she was going to say something, but suddenly thought better of it.

"There's a good girl," Jaufien growled, though it was evident from his tone that he was anything but pleased with the turn of events.  "Well, I hate to kill and run, but--" his arms tensed as he prepared to jerk, but Angel suddenly cried out, "No!"

Jaufien froze and smiled cruelly, "No, what, Angelus?  No, don't kill her? Because she will die.  The question is, how painfully?"

"Jaufien--" Angel began.

"You want the girl?" Jaufien cut him off, "come and get her."  Grabbing Willow firmly, he pulled her with him as he quickly backed out of the mansion and ran into the night.

Angel charged forward, intent on chasing after them, but Buffy grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him back.  "You're not going after them alone!" she yelled.

"I have to," Angel growled, in game face.

"I'm coming with you," she told him sternly, picking up her ax.

"No, you need to get Riley to a hospital," Angel motioned towards the fallen boy, "I'll handle this."  Shrugging out of Buffy's grasp, he ran after Jaufien, ignoring the sudden rush of fear that rose inside of him at the thought of losing Willow.

"If you're not back in an hour, I'm coming after you!" Buffy yelled at his retreating form, not sure if he'd heard, and silently praying for her friend.

***

"Of all the...Angelus!" Jaufien growled, pacing in front of the redhead.

He had come across an old cabin a couple of miles from the mansion and had decided to hole up inside.  After securing the witch on a chair with iron manacles, he had begun formulating his backup plan.

"You know Angel's gonna find me!" Willow stated matter-of-factly, trying her best not to show any hint of fear.

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Jaufien glared at her, "I'm counting on him finding me...along side your dead body."

As he stalked towards her, Willow felt herself begin to panic.  She struggled with the bonds around her wrists, but knew it was no use.  Iron was immune to magick.

"I see that Angelus must have already gotten a taste," Jaufien indicated the bandage over Willow's throat.

"What are you gonna do?" Willow asked him, here eyes wide.  She didn't know much about vampire behavior, but she could tell that this was one pissed off--and completely out of control--vampire.  There was no telling what he would do, considering that from what Angel had told her, Jaufien was *always* in control.

"I'm going to grant Angelus his parting wish," Jaufien growled, shifting into his game face.  Violently ripping off the bandage, he sank his fangs into Willow's jugular, reveling in her cries of pain.

Willow felt Jaufien's fangs tearing into her skin and she cried out despite herself.  This bite was entirely different from the one she had experienced from Angelus: savage as opposed to careful, violently crazed as opposed to intensely purposeful.  The pain wracked Willow's body and her vision began to blur.

Then, suddenly, she heard a shout and felt the fangs pull sharply away.  She could feel the blood pouring from her wound and hear the sounds of fighting in the background.  She struggled to focus on what was happening, but her eyes began to droop.

Then there was nothing.
 

PART TWENTY-SEVEN

Angel felt his rage increase tenfold as he saw Willow's form suddenly go limp.  He could smell her blood continuing to trickle forth and noted the paleness in her cheeks.

"What's the matter, *Angel*?" Jaufien questioned, "Upset that your little witch is going to die?"

"The only person that's going to die is you," Angel growled, renewing another round of attacks.

"I'm already dead," Jaufien reminded him, blocking Angel's hits and delivering a few of his own.

"You won't stay that way for long," Angel countered, giving himself up wholly to the fight at hand.  He charged forward and kicked Jaufien twice in the groin, then lifted his foot to strike him twice in the chest.  Bringing up his back hand, he struck Jaufien squarely over the ear and heard the eardrum pop as the blood oozed out.  Continuing his assault, Angel used his flat, open palm to hit Jaufien's nose, ramming it back into his skull.

Jaufien grunted in pain, but didn't have time to recover as Angel quickly followed with a hammer blow to the top of his head and a sidekick to his knee, shattering it.  He lost his balance and fell to the ground, looking up just in time to see Angel remove a stake from his coat pocket.

Angel moved to shove the stake into his heart, but Jaufien grabbed his wrist and twisted, forcing Angel to drop the stake.  Striking out with his other foot, Jaufien knocked Angel to the ground and leaped on top of him, grabbing the fallen stake.

"The one thing I've never tolerated," Jaufien growled as he prepared to plant the stake into Angel's heart, "is betrayal and disobedience."

As the tip of the stake descended, Angel grabbed Jaufien's hand and attempted to keep him from bringing it down any further, but it was growing more difficult with each passing moment.

Suddenly, Angel heard a loud rush of air as Jaufien was thrown off of him. He scrambled to his feet to see Willow's eyes practically glowing and Jaufien battling with the flames that were licking at him.

Not wasting another moment, Angel grabbed the stake and rammed it into Jaufien's heart, watching as the elder vampire glared at him with intense hatred before exploding into dust.

Turning quickly, Angel ran to Willow and gathered her into his arms, "Thank you," he whispered against her hair.

"We're a team, remember?" Willow managed to choke out, "Angel, I..." she trailed off as the effort of speaking became too much for her, and her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Willow?" Angel gently slapped her cheeks in an effort to revive her, "Don't you dare leave me, Willow!" he practically screamed.  Grabbing her wrists in his hands, he violently tore her restraints apart with a strength even he had never known he was capable of.  "Willow, Willow!"  At seeing that she had slipped into unconsciousness again, he cradled her form into his arms and raced out of the cabin, heading for the hospital.

He made it to the hospital in record time and barged through the emergency room doors, calling for any doctors.

"What's happened?" one of the nurses asked, as several others gathered to take the young girl out of the man's arms and place her on a stretcher.

Angel paused as he suddenly felt like he was reliving the moments from less than a year ago.  "Please help her," he rasped, "she's lost a lot of blood."   Hadn't he spoken those exact same words before?

"We'll do what we can," the nurse tried to console him.

"Please, you have to save her," Angel's eyes never left the rapidly disappearing stretcher, "please."  He'd been forced to give up one love after a similar incident before, and he wouldn't lose another.  Not when he'd just found it, not when he hadn't even gotten a chance to explore it.

"You should sit down," the nurse directed Angel to a chair and forcefully shoved him into it, "I'll be back in a moment."

"Please save her..." were the only words that Angel could form in reply, but whether they were directed to the nurse or the Powers that Be, he wasn't sure.

After a few moments, he managed to bring himself out of his daze long enough to notice a phone sitting on the counter of the admissions desk.

"Excuse me?" he asked the nurse seated there, "may I use the phone?"

"Sure," the nurse smiled at him.

With numb fingers, Angel picked up the phone and began to dial.

***

"What's happened?" Giles asked as he approached Angel with Cordelia and Doyle at his heels.

"Jaufien..." Angel tried to explain, "he bit Willow."

"Is she alright?" Cordelia questioned.

"I don't know yet," Angel shook his head, "they won't tell me anything.  Are Riley and Buffy here?"

"They were," Giles began, "Buffy brought him here, but some Initiative doctors showed up and took him to their own infirmary.  Buffy went with them."

"I see," Angel nodded.  "And Xander?"

"Xander has a mild concussion," Cordelia told him, "he's at home with Anya hovering over him."

Angel chuckled slightly at the image, but quickly became serious again as his thoughts immediately returned to Willow.

Finally, one of the doctors emerged from the room they had taken Willow to, and Angel practically jumped on him, "Is she alright?"

"Ms. Rosenberg is going to be just fine.  The blood transfusion was successful, but she's still unconscious.  She's lucky that you got her here when you did--she'd lost a lot of blood," the doctor said.

"Yeah," Angel nodded absent-mindedly, his mind still digesting the fact that Willow would be okay.

Upon seeing the man's preoccupation, the doctor cleared his throat and said, "Uh, we'll need to continue to monitor her closely until she wakes up, but you're welcome to go in and see her now.  I'll be back in a little while to check on her condition."

"Thank you, doctor," Giles told the man as he left.

"There, ya see?" Doyle came up to Angel, "She's gonna be just fine."

"Thankfully," Angel murmured, "I'm gonna go in..."

"Sure," Cordelia offered him a reassuring smile.

Angel nodded in return and headed for the room.  As he entered it, he felt a tightening in his throat at the sight of all the machinery and tubes. Willow had been subjected to too many hospitals because of him.

"Hey there, Willow," he said quietly as he took a seat next to her bed. "The doctor said you're gonna be just fine.  Do you know how relieved that makes me?"  He didn't know if she could hear him, but for the first time, he couldn't seem to stop talking.

"I'm so sorry that I pulled you into the middle of all of this," Angel continued, "but you know something?  I'm not sorry for the end result--and I'm not talking about you being here in the hospital.  I'm talking about the way I feel."

Angel gazed at her beautiful face for a long moment before he leaned in closely and whispered into her ear, "I love you, Willow Rosenberg.  God help me, I love you."

Angel's head shot up as he saw Willow's eyes flutter open and her lips start to move slightly.  "Don't try and speak, Willow," Angel advised her, starting to get up, "let me get the doctor."

"Angel," she croaked out, trying to make him listen to her.  Swallowing, she took a deep breath and said, "I love you, too."

Angel smiled as he sat back down.  "You could hear me?"

Willow nodded her head, "I could hear everything, I just couldn't seem to move."  She paused slightly and swallowed again, "there was just this blackness, well, 'cause my eyes were closed, and I could hear everything like I was perfectly awake, but I just couldn't seem to control any part of my body.  So I just waited for the feeling to come back."

"Willow Rosenberg," Angel chided her, "even in a hospital bed you ramble away."

"You were getting pretty talkative yourself, Mr. Brood-Guy," Willow reminded him.

Angel only gazed at her in reply, and Willow found herself becoming self-conscious.  "What?"

"Nothing," Angel told her.

"Come on, after all that, you're gonna go back to being cryptic?" Willow goaded, starting to feel her strength slowly seep back.

Angel smiled and said, "I was just thinking how beautiful you are."

"Oh, I must look like a mess!" Willow refuted.

"No," Angel shook his head, "seeing you lying here, talking to me, knowing that you're going to be okay...it's a wonderful vision."

"Excuse me, sir?" a nurse came into the room, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave.  We need to examine Ms. Rosenberg further, now that she's woken up."

"Sure," Angel nodded and stood up.  "I'll be back," he said to Willow, "and you make sure you get some rest."

"Yes, sir!" Willow teased him, watching with serene eyes as he reluctantly left the room.

***

"So you're really gonna do this, huh?" Buffy asked her friend.

"Yep," Willow smiled at her, squeezing Angel's hand.

It had been three days since the final battle with Jaufien, and everyone had gathered at Giles' house for a final farewell dinner before their group was split up again.

"We don't know exactly where this is going to lead," Willow continued, "but we have to find out."  She and Angel had announced that they would be leaving together for a little while, to spend some time alone and try and figure out what was happening between them.

"Yeah, just don't get too happy," Xander shot at Angel.

The smile dropped from Angel's face as he heard the boy's words.

"Well, actually," Giles cleared his throat, "I've been thinking about that."

"And?" Willow prompted him to go on.

"And...I don't think you need to worry about that anymore," Giles stated.

"Say what?" Angel asked, nearly doing a double take.

"Well, technically, the happiness clause was a part of the Romani curse to restore Angel's soul.  But this time, the curse wasn't used to bring you back."

Willow's face lit up as her eyes met Angel's, "Which means that there's no clause!  I mean, if there was no curse, then there's no clause, right?"

"I think so," Giles nodded.

"Wait a minute," Xander argued, "does this mean that Willow and Angel can do the horizontal mambo and nothing's gonna happen?"

"Xander, that was so not an image that I needed," Cordelia whined.

"What?  I'm just trying to makes things perfectly clear."

"It means," Buffy stated quietly, "that Angel can finally have some joy in his life."

Angel looked at Buffy for a minute, reflecting briefly over everything they had shared.  Oddly, the pangs of grief and loss didn't accompany those memories.  There was only an odd sense of...acceptance.  "Looks like we've both finally managed to move on."

"Yeah," Buffy smiled at him, "and I'm glad.  I think you and Willow are just perfect for each other!"

"Thank you, Buffy," Willow hugged her friend, "and now, we're getting out of here before some other catastrophe occurs."  She grabbed Angel's hand and started pulling him towards the door.

"Oh, please don't jinx me!" Buffy moaned, "Or I'll come hunt you guys down and drag you back here to help me."

"Knocking on wood!" Willow said as she quickly grabbed Xander by the collar and tapped his head.

"Hey!  That's not fair!" Xander protested the playful insult.

"I'll see you guys," Willow ignored his comment, but ruffled his hair slightly.

"Have fun!" Cordelia waved at them as they opened the door and prepared to leave--and ran right into Spike, poised in mid-knock.

"Spike!" Willow exclaimed, "What in the world...?"

"Came to offer peace?" Spike lifted the fruitcake in his hands.

"How dare you," Buffy came forward, looking ready to stake him.

"Now, Slayer," Spike backed away slightly, "I did save your life, remember?"

"He did," Angel shrugged.

"You're defending him?" Buffy screeched.

"Well, he's right you know," Spike jumped into the opening, "and besides, it's not like I can hurt any of you, and you bloody well know it...well, except for maybe that Irish fellow over there, but he's leaving for LA anyway."

"Wait a minute," Cordelia looked back and forth between Spike and a flabbergasted Doyle, "what's he talking about?"

"Oh, bloody chap is half-demon," Spike chirped as he waltzed into the house.

"What?" Cordelia whirled on Doyle, "you're what?"

"Delia..." Doyle raised his hands in defense, but when he couldn't think of anything else to say, he resorted to: "Angel?"

"You're on your own for this one, Doyle," Angel laughed and wrapped his arm around Willow's waist, "I'm officially on vacation."

With that, the couple waltzed out of the house amidst Cordelia's demands for answers, Buffy's threats to cause bodily harm to a certain blond vampire, Doyle's stuttered explanations, and Spike's repeated apologies.
 

PART TWENTY-EIGHT

"You know, you've never told me what you think of this place," Angel said to Willow as the two of them relaxed on the couch in his office.  The two had arrived in Los Angeles a couple of hours ago, and had decided to just spend their time there, since Doyle and Cordelia had offered to stay in Sunnydale for a few days longer to give Willow and Angel some private time.

"I think it's very cozy," Willow stated as she turned to Angel and nuzzled his neck.

"Cozy?" Angel sounded almost offended.

"Yes, cozy," Willow lifted her earnest eyes to meet his confused ones.

"That wouldn't happen to be Willow-speak for 'small', now would it?" Angel asked.

"No," Willow chided him, "that's *Willow-speak* for 'I love it.'"

"Really?" Angel grinned at her.

"Yep," Willow nodded, "and you know which room I love most?"

"Which one?" Angel asked interestedly.

"The bedroom," Willow's eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Really," Angel responded suggestively, "well, lucky for you, it just so happens we'll be spending a lot of time there."

"I'm looking forward to it," Willow wagged her eyebrows.

"So am I.  But, humor me and tell me what you like most about the bedroom."

"I'm not really sure," Willow looked thoughtful.  "Everything, I guess. It's just really nice."

"Nice?  You know, Willow, you're really going to have to start translating for me."

"Are you sure you'd like to know?"

Angel lifted an eyebrow, looking at her as if she should already know the answer to that.

"Okay," Willow said in a sultry tone, "'Nice' translates to 'sexy.'"

"Sexy?" Angel shot forward, "you know, I'm going to have to start mentally replaying every conversation we've ever had before, because I'm pretty sure you've called *me* nice in at least one of them."

"I probably did," Willow smirked at him.

"I'm getting to like this new language," Angel chuckled as he gathered Willow into his arms and settled back again.

Willow sighed contentedly as she rested her head on his chest.  After a moment of silence, she asked, "Angel?  Where do we go from here?"

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, you and me, what with me being in Sunnydale, and you being in Los Angeles--"

"Shush," Angel placed a finger over her lips, "we don't worry about that now."

"We don't?"

"No.  These few days are all about you and me in the here and now.  I don't want to think about later."

Willow was silent again for a moment, then asked, "You know something, Angel?"

"What?"

"I think that's the first time that I've ever seen you shrug off the future."

Angel laughed slightly as he replied, "What can I say?  I'm a changed vampire."

"What, you mean now that you have a new red-haired accessory?"

"No, I mean now that I have my soul mate," Angel answered her seriously.

Willow graced Angel with a loving smile before quickly stealing a kiss. "You think of me as your soul mate?...Oh!  The Orb!" she suddenly exclaimed.

Angel blinked in confusion and was silent for a moment, but still not being able to figure out what she meant, he asked, "Where did that suddenly come from?"

"The *Orb*," Willow emphasized, suddenly very energized, "The Orb of Thessulah!  We still don't know what's in it."

Angel sighed as he pondered over Willow's strange habits of free-association, then replied, "Does it really matter?"

"Angel!" Willow berated him, never expecting him to just ignore something, especially if it concerned the side-effects of a magick spell.

"What?" Angel defended himself, "Vacation, remember?  You and me?  Spending time in your favorite room?"  At seeing the expression on Willow's face, he relented, "You're probably right.  For all we know, it could be something...really bad."

"Really bad?" Willow echoed.

"Vacation, little girl," Angel growled sarcastically as he stood up.  Willow joined him as the two headed towards the shelf in the outer room that they had placed the Orb on before heading to Sunnydale.

Angel picked up the softly glowing orb and stared at it.  "It's slightly warm."

Willow, too, stared at the fragile glass.  "What do you think's in it?"

"I have no idea," Angel was lost in thought as he mentally shuffled through the possibilities.  "I have an idea," he finally stated, moving towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Willow asked.

"To find out the answer to your question the fastest way I know how," Angel answered, the orb still in his hand.

"Which is?" Willow moved to go with him.

"I need to go alone," Angel stopped her, giving her a kiss.  "I'll be back in a bit.  Stay here, okay?"

"Can't you at least tell me where you're going?" Willow asked him, starting to become irritated.

"I'll explain everything when I get back," Angel got into the elevator and closed the door.  "I love you," he told her as he began descending.

Willow turned around and sighed, "Me and my big mouth."  Shaking her head, she walked back inside.

***

"Why have you come here?" the man asked.

"I have a question that I need answered," Angel looked intently at the two Oracles.

"Ask," the woman replied, "and we shall see if you question warrants answering."

"This," Angel held up the orb, "what's in it?"

The woman peered at the orb for a moment, then said, "Magick."

"What kind of magick?" Angel questioned.

"The magick that binds you to the witch," the man answered curtly, "your question has been answered.  Now leave."

"I need you to explain," Angel demanded.

The man looked at Angel angrily, but his companion placed a hand on his arm to quiet him, then turned towards Angel.  "If you so choose to dissolve the bond between yourself and the witch, you must destroy the orb.  That is all."

"I see," Angel looked down at the orb with a new solemnity, "thank you."

As he turned to leave, he was stopped by the man, "Vampire."

"Yes?"

"You have recently made a grave mistake, one which you must take responsibility for."

"I know," Angel's voice was quiet.

"Nevertheless," the man continued, "the scales have begun to finally tip towards your favor.  Your feet have been set upon the path of your destiny.
Do not stray again."

"I won't," Angel vowed to them, giving them his promise before turning and walking stiffly out.

***

Angel returned home to find Willow asleep and snuggled underneath the covers of his bed.  He smiled as he gazed at her, loving the way that certain wisps of hair fell across her face, the way that a small smile played across her lips and graced her features, the way that she kept her hand tucked slightly underneath her chin, reminiscent of a small child.

Angel walked to the corner of his room and unlocked the cabinet that stood there.  Glancing at the orb in his hands, he gently placed it inside and closed the doors, relocking them.

He turned as he heard the ruffling of the sheets and watched lovingly as Willow yawned and stretched out on his bed.

"Angel?" she asked, blinking her eyes to clear the haze of sleepiness.

"Yeah?" he came over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Where did you go?" Willow sat up and scooted to sit next to him.

Angel gazed at her without saying a word, then leaned in and captured a slow, deliberate, passionate kiss.  "Dance with me?" he asked, after finally pulling away.

"Angel?" Willow repeated, confused.

"Come on," he pulled her off the bed and twirled her towards a radio sitting forlornly on a dusty table a few feet away, snapping it on.

*~* You got the touch *~*
*~* You got the power *~*

"Oh, I love this song!" Willow suddenly exclaimed upon hearing the music.

"You do?" Angel asked, surprised.

"Well, I was a big fan of transformers as a kid," Willow smiled sheepishly.

"Transformers?" it was obvious that Angel wasn't following.

"Yeah, you know, the old animation?  Well, this song is from the movie.  It was actually a really cool movie.  I mean, I cried buckets when Optimus Prime died, and I was literally staring open-mouthed at the screen when they showed Unicron transform, and I couldn't believe that they turned Megatron into Galvatron, and..." Willow trailed off at the expression on Angel's face.  "You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?"

"Not really," Angel shook his head and grinned, "I was too busy paying attention to the way your lips move when you talk."

*~* You got the moves, you know the streets *~*
*~* Break the rules, take the heat *~*
*~* You're nobody's fool *~*

"My lips?" Willow's tone was incredulous.

"M-hm," Angel nodded and softly kissed the tip of Willow's nose, "and I was wondering what those lips would feel like...in other places."

"Oh," Willow's lips rounded.  Then, flashing a wicked smile, she purred, "Be a good little vampire and you might find out."

"Oooh, sassy," Angel's voice was seductive.

*~* You're at your best when the goin' gets rough *~*
*~* You've been put to the test, but it's never enough *~*

Willow grinned back at him before placing her head on his chest.  "You know, Angel, dancing sort of involves moving, and since we're not really doing much of that..."

"So I lied," Angel shrugged, "I just wanted to hold you."

"You could have just *said* so," Willow playfully chided him.

*~* You got the touch *~*
*~* You got the power *~*

"You never answered my question, you know," Willow whispered after a moment.   "Where did you go?"

"The orb holds the magick that keeps us bonded," Angel bluntly answered the question he knew she really wanted to ask.

"It what?" Willow's head shot up.

*~* When all hell's breakin' loose *~*
*~* You'll be riding the eye of the storm *~*

"As long as the orb stays in one piece, our bond stays in place," Angel explained.

"Oh," Willow grew quieter, "so then, are you going to break it?"

Angel tensed at the question and looked deeply into Willow's eyes, "Never," he told her firmly, "I guard it with my life."

*~* You got the heart *~*
*~* You got the motion *~*

"But, it's all over now..."

"Not us," Angel told her.  "That orb...it's a symbol of everything of we've been through.  Of everything we've sacrificed, everything we've discovered, and everything we've gained.  You can't get free of me that easily."

"I don't want to," Willow told him.

*~* You know that when things get too tough *~*
*~* You got the touch *~*

"I feel like an entirely different person now," Willow continued, "and it's all because of you.  I finally came into my own because of you."

*~* You never bend, you never break *~*
*~* You seem to know just what it takes *~*
*~* You're a fighter *~*

"You're a fighter," Angel mimicked the song in the background, "it was always inside you.  The fire, the power, the strength.  You just needed to tap into it."

*~* It's in the blood, it's in the will *~*
*~* It's in the mighty hands of steel *~*
*~* When you're standin' your ground *~*

"I learned everything I know from you," Willow told him.

*~* And you never get hit when your back's to the wall *~*
*~* Gonna fight to the end and you're takin' it all *~*

Willow smiled and whispered, almost singing along, "You've got the touch."

*~* You got the touch *~*
*~* You got the power *~*

Angel leaned down and kissed Willow, pulling her closely to him and letting himself melt in her warm embrace.

*~* You're fightin' fire with fire *~*
*~* You know you got the touch *~*

"I love you, Willow Rosenberg."

"I love you, too, Angel..."

"What is it?" Angel asked, hearing Willow's voice trail off.

"You know something?" Willow's voice grew playfully accusing, "I don't even know your last name!  In fact, I don't know a lot of things about you when you were alive."

*~* You're at your best when the road gets rough *~*
*~* You've been put to the test, but it's never enough *~*

Angel's eyes grew wide as he looked into Willow's expecting ones.  "Well, uh," he cleared his throat.

"'Well, uh' what?" Willow demanded, pulling away from him and placing her hands on her hips.

"You know, you look an awful lot like Cordelia standing like that," Angel told her hastily.

"Quit trying to change the subject, buster."

"I love you," Angel stepped forward and pulled Willow to him again.  When Willow raised her eyebrow at his suspiciously, he began placing butterfly kisses along her tightened jaw and attempted to walk her back towards the bed.

"I'm not budging," Willow shook her head.

Angel ignored her statement and kissed his way down her throat and across her collar bone, bringing his hands up to rub large circles over her back.

*~* You got the touch *~*
*~* You got the power *~*

Willow sighed in pleasure and leaned against him.  "I asked you a question..."

"Did you?" Angel asked her, kissing his way back up to her lips.

"Yes," Willow felt herself become lightheaded.

"Which was?" Angel continued to lead her towards the bed.

"Something about..." Willow trailed off as she landed with a soft thud on the mattress.

"Something about what...?" Angel covered her body with his own as he nibbled gently on her earlobe.

"I'll remember later," Willow sighed as tingles of excitement ran through her.

Angel chuckled as his tongue continued to lavish her with attention, "Yeah, later."

*~* You got the touch *~*
*~* You got the power *~*

The End!

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