Cordelia leaned over the sink to reapply her lipstick. *Damn it, Xander. Do you have to ruin my make up every night?*

"That's a good shade for you, Cordelia," a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

The cheerleader looked behind her in the mirror, but all she saw was the ladies room at the Bronze. The Red, Red Wine lipstick clattered into the sink basin as she slowly turned her head to stare into a pair of green eyes. "Willow."

"Very good. And Xander said you were dumber than Buffy," she said as she hopped onto the counter top.

Cordelia tried to make a break for the door, but was stopped by a wall of fire that appeared before her. With a squeal, she fell back on her butt.

With a snap of her fingers, Willow made the flames disappear. "I expected better from you. I mean, I figured Xander, or even Buffy, to run from little ol' me, but not the great Cordelia Chase. The one girl in Sunnydale who could humiliate me with one cold stare?" she said as she examined her cuticles.

The normally confident and self absorbed girl backed away from Willow. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Willow looked up from her nails. A smile of wonderment graced her face. "You really are afraid of me, aren't you?"

"Shouldn't I be?" she asked, confused.

The leather clad red head hopped off the counter. Standing over the cowering girl, she leaned down. "Oh, yes. But I have other plans for you, Miss Chase."

"What kind of plans?"

Willow squatted beside her. She lifted a lock of dark hair from Cordy's bare shoulder. "My power is great," she said as she rubbed the silky strands between her fingers. Looking deep into her hazel eyes, Willow smiled. "I plan on making one childe to share in my power. The question is how badly do you want to live."

Cordelia realized the choice Willow put before her. Die or be turned. "What about Buffy?"

"Buffy would make a terrible vampire, don't you think?"

"No, I meant..."

"I know what you meant," she interrupted. "The Slayer isn't an issue. Make your choice, Cordelia."

"Okay," she said quietly.

"Good choice." She reached down and pulled Cordy to her feet. "Let's go." With a wave of her hand the bathroom door opened and a group of girls entered. She lead the brunette through the crowded club and out the backdoor.

Spike leaned against the hood of his car smoking a cigarette. He gave Willow a knowing wink as he pulled open the car door and bowed dramatically. "Welcome to the family, ducks."

*****
Angelus paused at the doorway. He felt a power. It was almost the same feeling he had around Willow, but not quite as strong. He turned the corner to find Spike and Willow chatting with Cordelia Chase?

Willow looked up as he entered the room. "Angelus, come in. Have a seat. Say hello to your...Let's see if Spike's your childe and I'm your grandchilde. Cordelia would be your great grandchilde. Kind of makes you feel old, doesn't it?"

Angelus and Cordelia stared at each other in silence. "You're not planning on turning the whole lot of them, are you?" he asked Willow.

"No. Cordelia will be my only childe. I don't have the inclination to give anyone else a portion of my power."

"Why her?" he asked as he continued to stare into Cordy's hazel eyes.

Willow moved to sit on the arm of Cordy's chair. "Because she was a bitch when she was alive. I just knew she'd be even better as one of us."

Cordelia broke eye contact with Angelus to look up at her sire lovingly. "I'm hungry."

Willow stroked her long brown hair. "Of course you are, sweets. Marcus," she called with a snap of her fingers.

Marcus pulled a bound and struggling teenager behind him. "Mistress," he said with a bow as he threw the boy to the ground.

Cordy waited for Willow to give her a sign. She smiled down at her "daughter". *So obedient and eager to please,* she thought. With a nod of her head she watched her childe jump out of the chair and run to the boy on the ground.

Cordy flipped him over onto his back. With a grin of recognition, she removed the gag.

"Cordelia?!" he cried in surprise.

"Xander," she answered back before she bit into his tender neck.

His screams echoed through the room. Cordelia only took a few swallows before pulling away.

"What is it, pet?" Spike asked.

Cordy's golden eyes turned to Willow. "He's too sweet," she whined.

Willow knelt in front of her and licked the blood from Cordy's mouth. "Figures. He always did eat too much junk food." She pulled her disappointed childe to her feet. "Marcus, give him to the others, but warn them. I don't want them sick to their stomachs." Wrapping an arm around Cordy's shoulders, she led her over to Angelus. "Why don't you take Cordy out hunting?"

His dark eyes never left the tall brunette. "Why should I?"

Her green eyes observed his interest. "You don't like your new playmate?"

Angelus shifted his focus to the young upstart then went back to the exotic beauty. A grin slowly turned up the corners of his mouth. "Let's go play."

Part 11
Monday afternoon...

Buffy pushed the library doors open after her last class. "Giles," she called.

The Watcher entered the main room with his glasses in one hand and a folded newspaper in the other. "Buffy," he said solemnly.

She noticed the distressed look on his face. "What happened?"

"You'd better sit down."

"Giles, just tell me."

"The police found Xander's body this weekend," he explained as he held out the paper.

Buffy took the paper from him and scanned the article. "It doesn't mention his name. Maybe it's not him," she said, trying to latch onto any particle of hope she could find.

Giles took the paper back and opened it so she could see the note written in red beside the article. "This was on my desk when I came back from a staff meeting half an hour ago."

"Too bad. So sad. Willow-3. Buffy-1," the Slayer read aloud. "Three? What does she mean by three?"

"Front page," he instructed.

Buffy turned the Sunnydale Gazette to the front page. "Local heiress missing since Friday," she read. "Cordelia." She slumped dejectedly into a chair. "But maybe..."

Giles shook his head slowly. He knew Buffy wanted to hope, but it was time to face facts. Xander was dead and Cordelia was either dead or had been turned. Now it was a question if Buffy could take out her best friend and who Willow would go after next.

Buffy crumpled the newspaper between her hands. "We've got to take her out now, Giles."

"Take who out?" Faith asked as she walked through the door.

"Willow. She killed Xander and Cordelia," Buffy fumed.

"Finally some action," Faith said as she rubbed her hands together. "When do we start?"

"It won't be easy to take her down, Faith," Buffy sighed.

"Why not? Insert stake. Big pile of dust," Faith summarized as she pantomimed with an invisible vamp.

"Willow is a reincarnated sorceress. A very powerful one," Giles explained.

Faith rolled her eyes at the tweedy Watcher. "Details. If she's reincarnated, then she died at least once, right?" Giles nodded. "So she can die again."

"It won't be easy to get close to her."

"So take out those around her," Faith countered.

"That's what started this war in the first place," Buffy sighed as she ran her fingers through her long hair. "Kendra staked Drusilla after we'd made a deal."

"Can I have some cheese with that whine, B." The blonde was starting to piss her off. "You just don't want to do it."

Buffy glared at the brunette interloper. "No, I don't. She was my best friend."

"Yeah, well your best friend is killing all your other friends. Whatever. When you finally grow a pair let me know. Until then I'm out of here," she said as she turned on her heel and stormed out of the library.

****
Willow stretched and slowly opened her eyes. She slipped out of Spike's arms and pulled the covers over him. Leaning down she pressed a kiss to his forehead. She slipped her robe on as she left the bedroom.

She was surprised to see Cordy sitting at the kitchen table. "Cordelia? What are you doing up so early?" she asked as she sat down.

Cordelia turned the paper around to face Willow. "Can you believe they couldn't find a better picture of me? I mean, please. This picture is like a year old."

Willow glanced down at the picture. "It still looks good."

"Duh."

"Don't ever change, Cordy. So what did you do last night?" Willow asked.

Cordy pulled her foot onto the chair and rested her chin on her knee. "Well, Angelus took me to the park and we had a picnic. Then we went shopping," she said excitedly.

Willow cocked one eyebrow. "Shopping?"

With a roll of her hazel eyes, she sighed. "Okay, shoplifting. Is it really shoplifting when the store is closed?"

Willow threw her head back and laughed. "No. I think that would just be stealing."

"Anyway. I got a whole new wardrobe. Which is good because I can't get back into my house to get my things."

Leaning forward on her elbows, Willow stared intently at her childe. "Are you sorry?" she asked softly.

"Yeah. I had some designer originals in my closet. Not to mention all my shoes. Do you know how long it took me to find the perfect shoes. I thought Angelus would stake me."

Willow stood so quickly that her chair crashed against the wall. She turned to run upstairs.

Cordy realized what she said. She jumped out of her seat and rushed after her sire. Catching her at the foot of the stairs she pulled Willow to a stop. "No. I didn't mean it like that," she insisted, shaking her head. "I meant that he was bored. You know guys don't like shopping."

Reaching a hand out, Willow stroked Cordelia's cheek. "If he _ever_ threatens you, I want you to tell me. Understand?" Cordy nodded. "Good. What I was asking is if you're sorry that I turned you?"

Leaning her cheek into Willow's hand, she smiled. "How could I? Well, except for that whole reflection thing." She stretched her hands out in front of her. "I feel so much power in me. It's in every cell in my body. It almost makes me feel alive."

"I'll have to set aside some time to teach you how to use that power. It can be very dangerous. I don't want you to try anything until I show you how to control it," Willow ordered as she wrapped an arm around the tall brunette.

Cordy leaned into the shorter red head. "Yes, Giles."

Willow threw her a dirty look. "Why don't we go out tonight? As a family?"

"Bronze?"

"Bronze."

Part 12
Faith felt the pulsing sound of the bass throb through her body. She changed partners just about every other verse. Someone bumped into her from behind. More than ready for a fight, she turned to confront him. Her brown eyes widened in mild surprise. "Cordelia," she said.

Cordelia took a step back. "Faith."

Faith turned her attention to the red head beside her. "You must be Willow."

"I guess I must," Willow replied with a grin.

"You want to take it outside or just party right here?" Faith asked as she hooked her thumbs into the waist band of her leather pants.

"Neither. We just came here to dance."

The Slayer looked the read head over for a few moments.

"No harm no foul," Willow said with a tilt of her head. "Everybody deserves a night off."

"Five by five," Faith agreed and returned to her dancing.

Willow wrapped her arms around Cordy's neck and continued dancing.

****
Spike and Angelus sat in a dark corner of the club watching the two teenagers move to the music. When Cordelia bumped into the new Slayer, Angelus was on his feet in an instant to protect her. He didn't get passed the coffee table before Willow has smoothed things over.

He threw himself back into the corner of the couch he staked out for himself. His dark eyes followed Cordelia's hips as she swayed them back and forth against her sire's.

"You've changed," Spike commented as he threw back his shot.

Angelus tore his gaze from the swinging skirt to look at his childe. "What?"

"I said you've changed."

"No, I haven't."

"Yes, you have. You're more like you were before."

His dark eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm nothing like soul boy."

Spike shook his head slightly. "Before you were cursed."

Angelus thought about it for a minute. "How am I different?"

"Not so obsessive, I guess," Spike answered.

"I was plenty obsessive before I was cursed. Remember?"

Spike propped his foot on the coffee table as he thought back to Angelus' diligent pursuit of William Brody, AKA Spike. A grin appeared on his serious face. "Yeah. I remember." Another more recent memory wiped the grin from his face. "You killed her," he said softly.

Angelus watched the amusement fall from his childe's face as his icy blue eyes narrowed. "I've killed a lot of people, Spike. Be more specific."

His blue eyes found her small form out on the dance floor. Both she and Cordelia were dancing with the Slayer. Guys were trying to cut in, but they were having none of it. It was more fun dancing with each other. "Willow," Spike said softly.

"What about her?"

"You killed her," Spike said between clenched teeth.

Angelus looked at his childe like he'd lost his mind.

"The night you turned me, she saw me and remembered. She came to find me and you killed her."

Angelus thought back to that night long ago. He remembered the night he turned William. It was a beautiful night; one of the best nights of his unlife. Vaguely he remembered a scrawny, dirty girl coming to the inn were he was staying. He looked at the vibrant red head on the dance floor and tried to merge the two images in his head. "The eyes were the same."

"Yes they were. They always have been. In every incarnation, she's had those beautiful green eyes," Spike sighed.

"Incarnation?"

"Long story. I don't understand most of it."

"That's why she loves to humiliate me," Angelus concluded aloud.

"No, I think she does that because it's fun," Spike laughed.

"She certainly got rid of Drusilla quick enough," he accused.

"Willow didn't want that to happen. She had plans for Dru," Spike defended his love. It still hurt that Dru was gone.

Angelus leaned forward. "Does she tell you these plans?" he asked.

"Not all of them, no."

"Then how do you know staking Dru wasn't part of her plan?"

"Because I knew how much Drusilla meant to both of you," Willow said as she joined them. "And I never wanted to hurt either of you."

Angelus sat back to stare at the red head. To say he had mixed emotions about her would be an understatement. He grudgingly respected her power, but most of that power used to belong to him. "And I'm supposed to just believe you?"

Willow crossed her arms over her chest. "Whether you believe it or not, it's the truth."

"Forgive me if I find your sincerity lacking," he shot back at her.

"That's your problem, Angelus. You lack trust."

"Why should I trust you? You take over my town. You don't tell us anything. You make deals with the Slayer without consulting us," he said loudly as he got to his feet.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was a committee. I was under the impression that it was a one master kind of thing," she said sarcastically as her hands dropped to her hips. "No one is forcing you to stay, Angelus."

Cordelia moved around Willow and set a hand on Angelus' chest. "Please, don't fight," she pleaded, looking between the two powerful vampires. She didn't want to have to choose between her sire and her lover. The scales tipped slightly in Willow's favor, but just slightly.

Angelus looked down into her beautiful hazel eyes and backed down a step. Willow also took a step back. This wasn't what she wanted. Desension among the four of them would just lead to chaos.

"If you really want to know my plans, I'll tell you. But not here. Too many prying eyes." She turned her head and looked at Faith who stood apart from the group.

Faith took a step back with her hands in the air. "Hey, that's cool. I gotta go anyway."

"Nothing personal, Faith," Willow said with a smile.

Faith grinned back. "I may not have been playing long, but I do know the game."

Willow nodded as Faith turned to leave. Returning her attention to the group, she looked each of them in the eyes. "Ready?"

Angelus draped his arm around Cordelia's shoulders. "Let's go."
 

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