Parts: 21 - 33
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Part 21.
The tiny bathroom was starting to steam up. Breathing becoming more and more difficult as the air became thicker; Willow didn’t dare run the water any colder though. It reddened her skin making it sore so that even the briefest touch of the washcloth she was using was raw and painful but until the feeling went away, the creeping sensation of her flesh crawling and tingling, she couldn’t turn the water off. The running of the water seemed to help some. When she was concentrating on the sound of the shower and not on the feeling then it seemed to fade away some though if it even slipped for a moment then back it was, as strong as ever and maybe even stronger.
It had spread - the tingling that she had first felt in the car when confronted with the arrival of Philipson. Tiny little needles prickled the under side of her fresh, inside her, driving her mad and making her want to dig them out. Her entire arm was covered in it now, her shoulder and she was certain that it had also started on her back. Using one arm to steady herself Willow tried to reach around and wash her back and found that she just couldn’t stretch far enough. Slumping against the wall she slid to the bottom of the bathtub and crouched back on her heals with her elbows rested on her knees and her head back against the white tiles. A choking sob escaped her. What the hell is happening to me, she thought with a small whimper. The feeling was returning already.
There was a small radio on the windowsill of the bathroom, playing some song that she didn’t recognise but that made her head ache all the same. Underneath the constant beat she heard another sound that cut across it.
“Willow? Damn-it open the door now Red. If you don’t open this bloody door then I’ll bloody knock it down.”
“Spike, no, wait,” she said through the tears, reaching around the shower curtain for a towel. From where she was stood with one foot already out of the bathtub Willow could see the door handle already turning and jerking as Spike on the other side tried to open it. “Spike, wait please!”
There was a thud on the other side as the vampire impacted with the door, buckling the lock, and came through it shoulder first. Willow jumped in surprise and slipped back on the bath mat landing in a heap on the floor with a yelp. She tugged at the white towel to try and make herself decent while Spike stared down at her.
“Get out!” she shouted, a blush rising to her cheeks.
“What the hell have you done to yourself?” the vampire exclaimed coming forwards to kneel by her side. He reached out with one cool hand to brush her upper arm causing Willow to jerk away suddenly.
“Don’t do that. Please get out Spike. I’m not dressed.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what on earth happened to your arm.”
She turned away from him grabbing hold of another towel. “At least close the door then.”
Spike nodded turning on his heals and pushing the door shut gently so that it made hardly any sound. Sitting on the floor he pulled off his red top shirt and folded it carefully, placing it on top of the closed toilet.
They were so close now and the claustrophobic feeling she had been experiencing returned. The towels were too small and Willow found herself tugging at them again and again trying to cover herself. Finally she got the shifting cloths into a position where she was certain that she was fully covered but to her distress still didn’t find that she felt any less naked. Sniffling the witch reached for a tissue to blow her nose only to find that Spike had already picked up the box and was handing it to her. Self-consciously Willow took one and blew her nose still huddled on the floor by the bathtub.
Her eyes were glued to the floor, to the point where the edge of Spike’s boot touched the tiles. Despite the heat in the room Willow felt herself begin to shiver and tried to cuddle the damp towels closer.
“Red,” he said. She twitched a little pulling her legs closer up towards her body. “Willow let me look at you arm.”
Reaching forwards slowly the vampire took hold of her wrist that she had been keeping clasped close to her body and pulled it away. She glanced aside watching his face and expressions as they filtered across it. As his hand trailed slowly up her arm Willow gave a small whimper. Almost involuntarily the witch reached with the other hand and began to scratch where his fingertips had been.
“Stop it,” Spike scolded taking the offending hand and placing it aside. A thin rivulet of blood was forming where her fingers had been and was slowly making its way downward. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence as they both watched the blood and then Spike drew away sharply reaching for a tissue and pressing it to the scratch.
After a moment she heard the vampire in front of her take a deep breath and knew he was going to say something. She looked up, meeting his sparkling blue eyes and suddenly recognised there a depth of control that the witch had never seen before though underneath it she could also see the old lust for fresh blood peering through. “Don’t worry pet,” the vampire said. “I’m not going to try and take a bite.”
“I wasn’t… I didn’t mean that…”
“Shh. Now why don’t you tell me why you’re trying to take great chucks out of yourself?”
“There’s this feeling,” she replied nervously, her voice cracking. “I can’t get rid of it.”
“What do you mean a ‘feeling’? Like an itching of something?”
Willow shook her head. “No, it’s a crawling beneath my skin. I-I think it’s from the spell.”
“You mean the one on the door? I thought you said that nothing happened when you touched it.”
“It didn’t, I mean at first it didn’t but now I think it has because there’s this feeling and it won’t go away.”
Something drifted through Spike eyes that looked like amusement but the witch couldn’t be sure. “Scrubbing yourself raw won’t make a spell go away pet – I would have thought that you of all people would know that.”
“Don’t laugh at me!” she exclaimed. “I put some purification potions in with my shower gel thinking that might work but it hasn’t. Maybe I’ve not been using enough. Maybe I should try again.” Absently she reached for the bottle again only to be halted by Spike’s hand on her wrist.
“If it hasn’t worked by now I doubt it will pet. There’s no use in you hurting yourself like this when it clearly isn’t helping although I have to admit that all that lovely fresh blood is making quite a nice scent.” Spike stood pulling her with him. “Steady, don’t fall over again. We’re going to get you dressed and then we’re going to go and tell the poof what’s going happening to you and try and figure something out from there.”
“No I have to…”
“Willow,” he replied firmly. “I’m going to stand right here and wait while you get dressed. I’m assuming that you’ve brought clothes in with you?”
She nodded. “But you can’t stay while I change!”
A smirk spread onto his face. “I think I’ll be able to control myself.”
Blushing Willow said, “I don’t care. Out!”
“If I go out of this room you’re going to have another go at attacking yourself with the wash cloth so I don’t think so.”
“I promise I won’t. Is that good enough?”
“Nope. Get dressed.”
“At least turn around. Please.”
“Just don’t try staking me,” he replied turning to face the door.
“I wouldn’t do something like that!” Willow exclaimed in shock. Nervously she reached for her pile of clothing, the majority of her flesh already having dried during their conversation. When it became clear that her fears that he would suddenly spin around appeared to be unfounded she moved quicker, with more confidence.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” the vampire asked after a moment as Willow struggled to fasten her bra.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t act like an idiot Willow. You’ve been in this bathroom for the last hour and a half, probably scrubbing at yourself the entire time. You should have said something to someone.”
She shrugged and that tiny movement made her whimper a little. Blue eyes focused on her as Spike spun around to see what the matter was. The witch grabbed for a towel, almost letting the one around her waist slip. As she finished struggling with the two white towels the witch was left with one sat low on her hips and another clasped to her chest with the green of her underwear peaking through. Spike let out a long hissing breath, never taking his eyes and their powerful stare off her. Shifting for one foot to the other the witch waited for him to turn around again. “Spike…” she began only to be interrupted as the vampire took a step towards her.
“You alright pet? Let me help you with that.” Willow jumped and let out a small gasp as cold fingers brushed her skin. He had taken hold of the small towel about her waist leaving the witch free to fix the other how she liked it.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to put my t-shirt on,” she said quietly, uncomfortably aware of how close the vampire was standing. “It hurts to lift my arm.”
Spike held the towel out to her and picked up his shirt, unfolding it. “Your back looks all speckled and blotchy,” he said. Holding the shirt out in front of his the vampire added, “Let’s see if this’ll work.”
Nervously Willow let the towel drop to the floor and held out her arm so that Spike could slip the cuff over her hand. The shirt was cool and soft on her sore skin, lying so gently against it that the witch could hardly feel anything. They had a moment of concern while getting her arm inside the other sleeve but eventually Willow found herself sat on the closed toilet buttoning the front of the shirt up. This time Spike barely glanced aside as she pulled on her jeans.
He stood back watching her with that consistent stare that all vampires seemed to have when they were concentrating on something. It was a look that Willow had often spotted on Angel’s face before he moved away and one that occasionally appeared on Spike’s when he wasn’t running riot somewhere. After a while he appeared to catch himself and started, moving from his slumped position against and turning his back on her. “Red suits you,” he said opening the bathroom door and stepping out.
Part 22.
She couldn’t remember her name although she was certain that she had had one once because she could remember it being said with such affection and love. She could remember soft, warm arms and the smell of lavender soap; especially when she closed her eyes. There was always a gentle voice in the background, singing or whispering, so comforting that it worked to chase away the tears. Sometimes there was laughter, a beautiful sound that, even though she wasn’t really hearing it, made the girl smile. It was so nice to be able to close her eyes and feel the blanket of dark hair drifting around her body.
Some part of the girl told her that the woman, she supposed that it was her mother though there was no clear connection, was dead. If she thought too hard about it the memories hurt. They would flash and change, distort and become almost unrecognisable before turning to something so vivid that the girl would shy away from them, hiding. Yet it was so difficult to blank out the image of those dull, dead eyes staring at her, vacant and still, from their shared position on the floor. She didn’t remember anything much after that. One day she had been running around in a grass-covered garden with a swing hanging from an old apple tree and the next she was hidden away in a room with no windows and a locked door.
Then there was the strange woman, the one who was there day in and day out. Sometimes she was already there when the girl woke but if she wasn’t then she wouldn’t be far behind. It made her life a mixture of fear and anxiousness because she was never entire sure when the pain would begin.
It had been simple at first. She would be teased, deprived of food and made to beg for it. The girl hadn’t minded that. Occasionally she was left for very long periods of time with no food and no water and only a bucket in the corner of the room until the woman had got fed up of what she called ‘the filthy human stink’ and then she had been allowed access to a bathroom. When the girl had dared to speak to the woman she had been ignored and when she didn’t want to speak the woman would scream at her. After some time other people had been allowed to see her and they would grow angry easily and hit her, laughing as they did which the girl found strange. One time one of the men had held her down and tried to take off her shorts but the woman had come in and hit him and he had run away. She hadn’t seen him since.
Still it was the woman that scared her the most because she never knew what she was going to do next. When she decided she wanted to play then it always turned out that the girl ended up getting hurt. The woman called her terrible names, ones that the girl might have been punished for using before coming here, and would hit her until she cried and then hit her again when she did weep. The worst thing though was when the woman bit her because then her face would change and she would become the monster that the girl saw in her nightmares, the one that her mother had told her didn’t exist. When the woman finished she always felt weak and helpless, wanting nothing more to sleep. She’d feel sick and thirsty but didn’t have the energy to do anything other than sit. The woman had made it very clear from the first day that if she wanted a drink then she would have to get it herself. The girl had learned early on that rationing the small amount of water she was given was important.
Something was happening to her though. As the days and weeks went past she found that in spite of the woman biting her she was less and less weak afterwards every time. There was a desire in her to fight back. She began to see weaknesses in the way that the woman and her friends moved and acted. Each was a potential area for her to attack. The problem was that she wasn’t sure she knew how to attack them and she knew that they were all still considerably stronger than her. The girl had no doubt that they could beat her to death if she tried to escape.
So she sat and waited and prayed that someone would come and save her although that hope grew thinner and thinner as each day passed. Then each day she became more and more afraid and she would forget more and more of her life before. She forgot so much that she wasn’t even sure that there was a before. Instead she began to pray that perhaps, somehow, someday, she would discover how to escape.
Part 23.
As Angel moved behind one of the tall bookshelves there was a tingling of the doorbell and the sound of it opening. Lifting his head he scented the air and after catching nothing recognisable went back to looking over the covers of the books that Gadu had stored there. There were titles that he had never even heard of before and many that he hadn’t seen for years. One thing Angel did notice though was that there were none of the more dangerous books here that he had seen stacked in the back. Back there he had even seen books that were written on his alter ego. Some of the things written had been laughable although he supposed that Angelus had spread enough rumours himself to encourage them.
If he ever got the chance then he’d have to spend some time picking out the more interesting texts to read. The only collection he’d seen like this in the last forty years was his own and that of Rupert Giles’ back in Sunnydale.
There was a giggle from the end of the aisle and Angel’s head darted up to see two girls watching him with broad grins and shiny eyes. They giggled again and hurried off around the corner. Feeling a little embarrassed Angel placed the book he had been looking at back on the shelf and wandered back out into the main shop. The girls were stood at the far wall taking the occasional glance in his direction. Gadu had appeared behind the counter and a small smile played on her lips.
“I think you’re needed in the back,” she said as he appeared.
“Is it anything important?” The old woman shrugged her shoulders in reply.
“You should have said something!” Cordelia’s voice accused loudly as he approached. Angel rounded the corner into the sitting room and found that everyone seemed to be there. He felt suspicions dawn on him at the sight of Willow sat on one of the comfy padded chairs with Spike hovering protectively over her. The thing that immediately caught his eye though was the red shirt the slight young woman was wearing and the manner in which she seemed to be leaning in towards the blonde vampire. He’d thought that there might be something going on between them even in spite of Spike’s emphatic denials but… Angel gave a little shake of his head as he watched a frown appear on the young vampire’s face. But he’d always held out some small hope that Willow would come clean to him.
“I swear there’s an echo around here,” Willow replied with just the smallest bit of venom in her voice to demonstrate her irritation.
Wesley shook his head. “This is serious, very serious. It may have been a tracking spell or a corruption spell or something far worse.”
“I don’t think you’re helping,” Spike said acidly. “This isn’t exactly a time for accusations or ‘you should haves’.”
“Yes but…” the British man began to object.
“What happened?” Angel interrupted realising another round of arguments was inevitable. “Willow, are you okay?”
“No she’d bloody not,” Spike answered. “Some idiot put a spell or something on a door she touched and now she’d gone and got infected with it.”
Focusing on the redhead Angel asked, “Why didn’t you say something?”
She threw her hands up in the air in despair. “I give up! It didn’t seem that important okay? I’m sorry if I broke some rule by not telling you all.”
“What if it had been some kind of locater spell?” Wesley protested. “We could have every vampire in L.A. on our backs by now.”
At the pained expression on the witch’s face Angel silenced the man again. He was startled by the sound of Cordelia muttering, “Incoming.” The next thing he knew the young woman was slumped in her chair with her eyes tightly closed whimpering quietly. Cordelia reached for her pocket blindly with on hand and popped down a pair of pills. When she was able to answer the brunette asked for an address. “Hurry,” she said pressing it into Angel’s hand.
“Wes with me,” he said. “Spike you stay here and look after the girls. Willow I want you to find out about what that spell or whatever it was is exactly. Let’s tackle it as quickly as possible. I want to hear some good new when I get back.”
Part 24.
There were books spread about the room, covering every surface and the sight of them reminded Spike of how things were done back in Sunnydale. The most familiar sight of all was that of Willow bent over some ancient tome. She was still wearing his shirt claiming that the material was easier on her sore arms upon which small blisters now bubbled beneath the surface. Even as she watched the young witch’s hands twitched on the table and threatened to reach and scratch. “Don’t,” Spike warned and covered the offending hand with his own. She gave him a small smile and went back to reading.
Spike shook himself and tried to stop staring at her. The redhead didn’t need him watching her but she did need help figuring out what the hell was happening to her. Plus he had no doubt that she was currently more than a little uncomfortable around him. There was an air of nervousness about the young woman and she seemed to want to shy away from him. The reason was obvious. Firstly they’d had that bizarre conversation because the seer had opened her big mouth and then he’d barged in on her while she was in the bathroom earlier. It didn’t exactly add up to the greatest of experiences for the girl. He mentally kicked himself thinking of his rash actions and the startled flush that had covered her, seemingly from head to toe. Spike shifted on his chair suddenly growing uncomfortable himself as he tried not to think of what else he had seen in the bathroom. The slayer would have his arse if she caught him thinking like that.
Under the table Willow shifted and brushed his leg with her own and Spike twitched violently. “Sorry,” she murmured but didn’t even look up.
“Found anything interesting yet pet?” he asked.
“There were a couple of things but nothing too significant. I was just thinking of taking a break and fixing something to eat.” She pushed away from the table and stood up, the shirt pulling taught across her chest for a moment as she did so. Her hair fell forwards and green eyes peered out from underneath.”
“Aw to hell with it,” the vampire said rushing to his feet and stepping towards the girl. Before she could speak he brushed his lips against hers and then pressed hard until he could hear her labouring for breath. Stepping away again Spike swept a hand through his hair. “There, it’s done. You can smack me one now if you want.”
She made no reply and seconds later Spike plucked up the courage to look at her. Willow stood with her eyes wide in astonishment, finger tips lightly touching her reddened lips. “Willow…”
“You… you kissed me!” she exclaimed.
“Well, yes. Glad to see you noticed.”
“But why?”
He shrugged. This was actually going quite a bit better than he had expected. “It seemed like a good idea. Listen, I suppose I’m sorry if I offended…” he started but was cut off by the witch putting a hand at the back of his head and drawing him down into another kiss. Spike let out an unneeded sigh and leaned towards her, placing hands on the redhead’s arse and pulling her sharply to him. He revelled in the taste of her mouth and the slight scent of blood from the scratches on her arms that still clung to her and the delicious sensation of pert breasts pressed against his chest.
“Goddess!” Willow gasped as she broke contact and Spike felt a small smile break onto his lips. “That was…” she began only to trail off.
“It was,” the blonde vampire confirmed. “So I guess that you didn’t mind at all?”
Willow shook her head and smiled at him shyly. “I never thought that you would actually want to… I thought it was all teasing.”
“Of course it was teasing pet. I love watching you blush and get all embarrassed and start to ramble. It’s charming.”
She surprised him by laying another kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“That was very sweet of you.” A frown appeared on her face as something seemed to occur to the redhead. “Why did you let me make a complete fool of myself the other night?”
Under the scrutiny of her steady eyes Spike hesitated. “It never occurred to me that coming clean was an option. Besides I wasn’t too sure myself. I’m sort of, well, sort of an impulsive sort of person.”
The witch nodded apparently understandingly. “So, um, what now?”
“Now half of North America stakes me for even thinking about touching you.”
“Buffy,” she said with an odd sort of determination in her eyes.
“Yep and Angel and Xander and Giles…”
“Okay I get it. We could keep it quiet that anything happened for the time being.”
The blonde vampire shook his head slowly. “I don’t think that would work.” At the curious look in Willow’s eyes he added, “It won’t take five minutes for that empathic moron with a big mouth to pick up on something and the cheerleader isn’t stupid either. How long so you honestly think it’ll be before Angel finds out?”
“Oh. I see what you mean.”
“It’s no big deal. In fact it’ll probably sort its self out.” He disengaged himself from her arms. “First thing to do is figure out what that rash thingy is and if it’s contagious.” A mischievous glint entered his eyes. “I plan on spending quite a bit of time around you and I don’t want infecting.”
The smile on her face widened and her eye glittered wonderfully. “You do realise Cordelia’s going to be smug when she finds out don’t you?”
“I’m sure I can live with it.” He paused and then added. “As long as she doesn’t get too irritating that is.”
“I can hardly believe his is happening.”
Spike placed another kiss on her forehead. “I think I know how you feel.”
Part 25.
The address that Cordelia had provided him with was in one of the more gloriously rich parts of town where the houses were spaced far apart and people spent more money on a pair of shoes that someone people earned in a month. It was the area in which the demigods of L.A. lived and as he parked the vintage convertible Angel felt distinctly out of place. Wesley leaned forwards and peered out at the house. “Are you sure this is the right place?” the British man asked.
“Positive.” He paused then pointed up to the top of the high walls surrounding the property. “Do you see those?” the dark vampire asked.
“The cones?”
“Yes. They’re magical vampire deterrents. If a vampire attempts to go past them its demon will be detected and then an energy bolt will hit it and you might as well say bye-bye.”
“Ah,” Wesley said. “Then how exactly do you plan on getting inside?”
“I think they’re been disarmed.”
“You think?”
Angel reached for the door handle. “If I’m wrong then we’ll soon find out.” He swept out of the car and Wesley rushed to follow. Together they scaled the walls and to Angel’s relief they both made it over the top with no difficulty.
“Now why would they disarm it?” Wesley asked as he lowered himself to his feet.
“It might not have been disarmed – lets not rule of sabotage. Lets had up to the house.”
They moved though the undergrowth of plants silently eventually emerging on a well tended lawn. Even in the moonless night Angel could see more signs that the owners of the house had been further protecting themselves against vampires. In each case though, the precautions had been somehow tampered with making it useless. As they approached the Spanish styled villa Angel waved Wesley into the shadows away from the light shinning from the house. He crept closer and peered in through one of windows to see a spacious law sitting lounge but there was no one within.
“Angel!” he heard Wesley’s urgent voice hiss. Turning about the dark vampire saw the other man was frantically pointing at an upstairs window. He took three or four steps backwards and looked upwards to where two figures could clearly be seen. As he watched one of them struck the other.
“You go through the house and I’ll go up the wall,” Angel said reaching for the vine like brush growing up the wall. Taking hold he vaulted himself towards the window breaking through it and sending glass shards flying in all directions. As he landed Angel took in the scene; five vampires in total stood about the room with two humans one of which was lying dead on the floor. Angel recognised only one of them and as Philipson turned to face him the dark vampire let out a snarl. The expression on the man’s face was less than surprised.
He waved a hand at Angel. “I hate to sound clichéd but get him.”
They came at him all at once and it was only at last minute that Angel realised he might actually be in some danger. From the wall he grabbed one of the fighting staffs that were pinned there and spun in menacingly in their direction. Through the grand doors at the far side of the room he caught a glimpse of Wesley entering a hand axe clutched firmly in his grip.
“Don’t let him out of here,” the vampire instructed and gestured towards the human servant who had been moving towards the door.
“Right,” Wesley exclaimed reversing the axe and jabbing the wooden handle into Philipson’s stomach. The human stumbled backwards, spinning at last minute to avoid the ex-watcher’s second attack. Philipson brought his fist around in a smooth arch catching the British man’s jaw in an impressive display of strength but instead of falling Wesley pushed his arm aside and kicked him in the stomach. As he did something flew from the other man’s grasp though neither had a moment to think of it as he picked up a heavy metal helm from its display and slammed it down on Wesley’s head. The demon hunter went down and the last he could see Philipson was hurrying from the room having taken on final glance at the fight Angel was now winning.
The vampire’s were good. They showed elements in their fighting style that betrayed the fact they were not merely minions but had received some training. Angel staked one using the pointed tip of the staff but immediately two more dove at him. One attempted to pull the weapon from his grip only to find himself thrown across the room. Meanwhile the other kicked Angel’s leg out from under him so the vampire slipped to his knees only to find the staff thrust upwards so that another cloud of dust formed. At the other side of the room Wesley stumbled to his feet and seeing the vampire Angel had cast aside nearby moved quickly to lop of its head with his axe. When he looked up again Angel was busy cracking the staff on the back of the head of one of the vampires causing it to fall forwards onto its comrade. With one almighty thrust Angel drove the tip of the weapon through the two vampires turning them to dust.
Angel threw the staff aside letting it clatter to the floor. He shrugged his coat into a more comfortable position across his shoulders. “Where is it?”
“What?” Wesley replied. The young man ran his fingers over a large lump on the back of his head. He focused on the corpse. “Good Lord is that the man who was in Cordelia’s vision?”
“Must be.” Angel dropped to his knees and began to look around on the floor.
“We were too late.”
“Yes we were and I’m really sorry for it but lets focus.” He met the other man’s eyes. “Philipson was trying to take something out of here so let’s find it. Who knows, maybe it will help save some people.”
Wesley nodded and joined him in the search. Moments later Angel sat back on his heals and held up an object to his eyes. He’d found it under one of the many display cases and would have missed it even with his enhanced eye sight had it not been for the slight glow it illuminated. The object was spherical and had absolutely no flaw that Angel could see except a perfectly symmetrical cross, perhaps half a millimetre deep; moving it around he saw that the surface seemed to shift to compensate for his alterations. There was no doubt in his mind that this was what Philipson had been out to steal.
“Take a look at this,” he said holding it out to Wesley. The human took the object and inspected it carefully. A frown on concentration washed over his features. “What is it?” Angel asked.
“If I’m correct then it is the third and final part of the Dark Bringer.” He looked up at Angel. “It matches the diagrams that Willow brought with her from Sunnydale. We need to secure it in a safe place immediately, Philipson could some back for it any moment now.”
Understanding Angel rose to his feet. “Let’s get out of here then.”
Part 26.
It was quiet now. For a time the shop and its living quarters had been full of bustling activity but it was quiet now and Willow wasn’t sure whether she liked that or not. Somehow it seemed foreboding.
She shifted slightly under the light sheets and resisted the urge to scratch again at her arms. Spike had threatened that if he found anymore nail marks when he next looked then he was going to tape oven mitts onto her hands and while the thought had made her laugh she did not doubt that he was entirely serious. Then there was the fact that Cordelia had walked into the room half way though his ultimatum and added her backing to his and suddenly her fate had been sealed.
The brunette in question now lay asleep in the bed adjacent to her occasionally letting out a muffled snort. It was strange. Willow had never thought that Cordy would snort in her sleep.
Oh Goddess she couldn’t just lay here. For whatever reason she couldn’t get to sleep and it was starting to get to her because she couldn’t do anything but think about Cordelia’s sleeping habits. And why wouldn’t this damn itching go away!
As quietly as she could she slipped out from under the sheets and pulled on her dressing gown. It was one more irritation but she was not going to wander around this place half naked. Her roommate didn’t even twitch as Willow left the room much to her relief as she didn’t feel up to another round of questions over where she was going and what she was going to do. Standing in the dim light of the hallway the witch let out a relieved sigh. Already her heart seemed lighter.
There was a faint sensation tugging at her, pulling her in one direction and even in the befuddled state her mind was in through lack of sleep Willow guessed that it wasn’t her imagination. She followed it and as she emerged into the living room it had grown so strong that there was no longer any doubt at all in her mind that she was mistaken in her conclusion. The sensation rumbled through her body, humming and making her tremble and some part of Willow knew that she should really go and get someone about now but for some unidentifiable reason the witch couldn’t make herself go. Instead she gave in and let whatever it was draw her towards it.
A sudden gagging feeling flooded over the witch and she began to shake so violently that she fell to her knees. Rolling onto her side Willow clutching her own arms to stop them thrashing around and drew her knees up to her stop but still the shaking would not stop. Bile rose in the red head’s throat and she threw her head backwards choking as she did. It burned her mouth and somehow made its way up her nose and still she couldn’t stop the fit as her eyes rolled back in her head. Then somewhere in the middle of it she passed out.
When she came to she had a pounding headache that seemed to want to break out of her head. Willow groaned and rubbed her head. The action made her want to vomit and she groaned again. Ever so carefully she rolled onto her back and slowly opened her eyes. A small round face appeared above her with an inquisitive look in its wide eyes.
“Are you okay?” The voice was sweet and young and it took a moment for it to register that it was a child’s and that it had come from the girl who was looking at her.
Willow scooted to her feet and scrabbled over to the far wall where she stood breathing hard and trying to make the vomit in her throat go back down. It didn’t work and seconds later she was bent over emptying her stomach contents onto the floor. A small hand pulled her hair back away from her face and this time Willow realised that she didn’t have the energy to move away. If this girl was dangerous then she was in serious trouble because she wasn’t even sure she could stand up straight at the moment.
Gradually she managed to stand tall again and leant back against the wall and looked at the girl stood before her. She couldn’t have been more than ten or eleven years old with raggedly cut straight blonde hair and shining blue eyes but there was something there that seemed to scream a life time of experiences. But there was no malice in her expression. There was nothing hostile and if anything she seemed a little afraid of the redhead.
“Who are you? Where am I?”
“I don’t know.”
“You… what do you mean? You don’t know who you are or you don’t know where we are?”
The girl lowered her face slightly and appeared to withdraw. “Both.”
Willow’s eyes widened. “I… It’s okay. Well figure it out. First of all tell me how I got here.”
“They brought you in here. You didn’t seem well. You looked like you were sleep walking and then you fell down.”
“I don’t remember it.” She pushed away from the wall and sat down on the bed that was positioned in the middle of the room. “Okay, tell me everything you know about this place.”
Part 27.
“Angel!”
Her voice cut out through the silence as the brunette scrambled from her bed and began pulling on her clothes.
“Angel!”
The door burst open and suddenly the dark vampire was stood there. His eyes widened at the sight of the seer standing half naked and he turned his back to her. “What’s the matter?”
“Is Willow out there?”
“No she’s not. Why?”
“Well Mr Genius she’s not in here either and those are her nightclothes on her bed so, and I’m making a really big assumption here, I’m guessing she’s missing!”
“Shit!”
Cordelia stormed passed him and almost directly into Spike who had been approaching the door. The vampire stood solid and she rebounded slightly. “Where’s Red?”
“I was just about to ask you the said thing. How did you know she wasn’t here?”
“I heard you shouting and listened. There’s four heart beats instead of five. Wussley and Lewis are in the kitchen, the old woman’s in her room and you’re here.”
“Damn. She must have wandered off somewhere.”
“Why did no one hear her?” Angel asked. When the other two people in the hall looked at him he added. “We should have heard something.”
Something clicked in Cordelia’s head and she turned and hurried away from the two vampires who followed her asking questions as they did. “None of us saw anything but maybe Gadu did. She’s a whole lot more experienced with the vision thing than I am so maybe she got a clue before the rest of us.”
“That doesn’t make sense Cordy. If she had then surely she would have told one of us.”
The brunette stood coming to stand before the door to the old woman’s room. She knocked once then pushed it open when there was no reply and let out a startled gasp at the sight of Gadu lying on her bed with her ankles and wrists bound and a gag in her mouth.
“What’s going on?” a familiar voice asked and Lewis appeared beside the younger seer with Wesley coming along shortly after. “Grandmother!” The empathy barged passed the assembled people and into the room, frantically snatching at the bindings on his grandmother’s limbs. Cordy moved to help him and shortly they were helping the old woman sit up in her bed.
In Cordelia’s mind it seemed to take forever for the older seer to recover enough to speak to them. She sipped cautiously at a glass of water that Angel had got for her and kept her eyes down and with each passing moment the brunette felt her heart sinking.
“What happened?” Lewis asked eventually and after swallowing deeply the woman began to speak, her voice crackling slightly.
“Early this morning I felt something move through the house and got out of bed to investigate it. At first nothing seemed to be awry but when I went into the sitting room I found Willow passed out on the floor. As I leaned over to see what was wrong she woke and dragged me back into my bedroom and tied me here. Now don’t look like that, there was something wrong with her. I believe it may have been a type of possession from…”
“From that bloody spell that’s been affecting her since she went to the warehouse,” Spike finished and slammed his closed fist into the wall leaving an impression.
“Exactly. If you look I believe you’ll find that the box containing the artefact you found last night is gone.”
“Wesley go see,” Angel ordered and the British man rushed from the room without hesitating. Moments later he returned and shaking his head let the others know that the strange artefact was indeed gone from the place they had left it.
A long list of swears came out of Spike’s mouth and he turned to Cordelia, eyes flashing with anger. “This is entirely your fault you know. You should have kept a closer eye on her.”
“And where exactly were you Mr Guard Dog?”
“Why don’t we all just calm down?” Lewis suddenly exclaimed. Cordelia turned to where he was still perched on the bed by his grandmother and found that the young man was clutching at the side of his head with one hand. As he looked up the seer saw that his yellow eyes were glowing ever so slightly. “There is no use in petty arguing and name calling. At least we have some idea where she might be.”
“Where?” Cordelia asked.
“The warehouse - the one where she picked up the spell. It’s the only logical place if you think about it.”
“It makes sense,” Angel said. “Collect up what weapons we’ve got and bring the car around front. Are you going to be okay here Gadu?”
“I will.”
“Okay. Lewis go with the others.”
“I can’t leave.”
“You can and you will,” Gadu told him. “This is far more important.”
Reluctanty he nodded. “If you’re sure you’ll be fine.” At her gesture of confirmation he stood and went to find a coat.
Angel drove like a madman on the way to the warehouse taking his directions from Wesley. The British man’s voice was shaky as he clung to the armrest in the front passenger seat. Cordelia sat uncomfortably between Spike and Lewis in the back seat. The former of the two men fidgeted incessantly for the entire journey and the latter sat perfectly still. She could practically feel the waves of tension coming off the hour men and anxiously wondered whether it was their hearts and not their heads that had decided on this course of action so quickly. God she hoped they weren’t all going to get themselves killed.
Part 28.
Jane was perched on the edge of the bed, eyes wide as her new friend tried for what seemed like the millionth time to pick the lock on their cell door. From what the young woman had been muttering she guessed that it wasn’t going too well and eventually the redhead cast her makeshift tools down to the floor in anger. It seemed nothing could make the lock give, not her friend’s magic or any physical means.
As Willow slumped to the ground in a mixture of frustration and exhaustion Jane slipped off the bed and tucked herself under the witch’s arm. Jane was her new name, one that Willow had suggested and the young girl had easily accepted. It was nice just to have a name again and Jane was equally glad that there was someone to call her it.
Willow’s arm tightened comfortingly around her shoulders and Jane snuggled closer. “It looks like we’re going to have to wait until someone opens the door for us,” the redhead said regretfully. “When they do I want you to stay well back and let me take care of it.”
“You might get hurt. I don’t want to be alone again.”
Green eyes met her own. “I am not going to let that happen.”
“But if they hurt you…”
“Jane I’ll take care of it. Just promise me you’ll try to get out whatever happens.”
Reluctantly she nodded and felt the beginnings of fear begin to well in her heart. It was suddenly clear to her that Willow wasn’t confident about what was going to happen and Jane clung to her friend all the more.
She couldn’t tell how many hours passed. Time had long since ceased to have any real meaning to Jane more any but she knew it must have been a long time because Willow began to grow restless. Rising from their position on the floor she settled the younger girl on the bed and then wandered about the room looking at each piece of furniture in turn. Jane watched in fascination as she eventually seemed to settle on a stool that belonged to the room’s dressing table and picked it up. With a great swing she threw it onto the floor so that the legs splintered off with a crack. Picking them up the witch appeared to inspect them before coming over to the bed. She handed one to Jane and the young girl took it with almost reverential awe.
“This is for your protection. When that door opens we have no way of knowing exactly what will come through it but I’m guessing that it will be a vampire. If they try to attack you then aim the stake here,” Willow told her, pointing to a position on her chest. “This is the heart region. If you pierce the heart then the vampire will turn to dust. Whatever happens though, I want you to run like hell and get out of this place. Do you understand?”
Slowly Jane nodded but in her heart there was a feeling growing that seemed to be more than a case of nerves. She knew, just knew, that something was going to go wrong.
Part 29.
Maria could feel lines of magic running through the air around her as she ran her hands over the weapon. It was waiting for something. She knew that. It all but spoke the words directly into her mind and so Maria waited along with it.
It was complete now. The witch had seen to that by bringing the final piece of the weapon to her and Maria silently praised the day she had had the foresight to visit the oracles that had told her about the spell to have placed on her door. At the time she had thought it was a ridiculous thing to do, thinking that the witch would never willing come near her lair but to her surprise had been proven wrong and the discovery had only confirmed to Maria that this was her destiny. And it is completeness the vampire could see the glory of it all. In that moment she could see the beauty and the power and just how lucky she was to be able to be the one to place her hands on it.
Lifting the weapon from the stand she held it reverentially. Pointing it at the wall Maria imagined what would happen to structure if the weapon were active and she used it. From what she had read them it would be capable of taking on the entire building with just one blast and even then it wouldn’t really be tested. When it was let loose on the population of this city, then Maria knew she would see its real power. There would be rivers of blood in the streets by the time she was through.
If only to would work now. She did not know what it was waiting for but she knew that when whatever it was had been found then she would be here waiting for it.
At the other end of the room a vampire came running through the door way. Maria spun, the weapon turning with her and the vampire cowered away from it. “Well?” she snapped. “What is it?”
“There… there’s someone here. An intruder.”
Letting out a frustrated sigh she said, “Well then go and deal with it.”
“It’s the vampire Angel. And he brought help.”
Part 30.
Willow could feel magic surging beneath her skin and yet there was something that prevented her from reaching out and grasping it. Each time she tried then it seemed that pain would surge in her and she would find her grabbing her arms to stop herself from attempting to find its source beneath her flesh. Already her arms were scored from the passage of her nails over the top of them. To try and stop herself she gripped tightly the stake that she had clutched in one hand.
Still her senses were going wild and there was something telling her that she should stand up; that she should be ready. Willow reluctantly pushed herself to her feet, wobbled a little bit but remained steady. The sensations were wilder and she found herself searching for an explanation and then it came to her. For whatever reason she knew that someone was approaching the other side of the door. Someone powerful.
Then ever so slowly the door began to open and then it was open and there was a small dark haired woman standing before her with power rolling off her and into the room. Suddenly it wasn’t so easy to breathe and her hands felt heavy. All the same Willow forced herself to leap forwards. Her feet were leaden and she found herself off balance as she swiped at the woman with the stake. Then there was a hand in her hair and she was dragged off her feet, landing heavily on the ground, her knee shrieking in pain as they impacted with the floor. She tried to remember everything she had ever been told about fighting. She tried to remember every time that she had seen Buffy engaged in battle with a much stronger foe only to win and she tried desperately to reach for the magic she knew must linger in her somewhere. It all slipped through her fingers as she groped towards it and the redheaded witch found herself becoming increasingly frustrated.
She waved her arms wildly in the air, trying to hit at the person holding her while they somehow miraculously managed to avoid her. That was something that Willow just couldn’t figure out. The being holding her was clearly a vampire but despite that the witch knew that she should have been able to at least hit her even if she didn’t do any damage. But whichever way she turned and hit out she always seemed to avoid the slight little creature that still had her fingers tangled painfully in Willow’s red hair.
Something flew past Willow, colliding with the vampire and just for a moment the witch felt the grip on her loosen. She took advantage, springing away and climbing to her feet and trying to clear the dizzy sensation from her head. As her eyes began to focus again she felt them widen in horror at the sight before her and a gasped “No!” escape her lips. Jane hand her hands tightly around the vampire’s neck and was squeezing for all she was worth and for a moment the world somehow stood still as the tiny little girl actually seemed to be winning her battle with the vampire. Then the vampire somehow managed to get over her surprise and swung a clench fist around into the small girl’s head dazing her although Willow was certain that such a blow should have killed her. Instead the girl merely ended up slumped by the wall, slowly shaking her head as if to clear it with a slightly disgruntled frown on her face while Willow stared at her in amazement with her mouth partially open.
Then the vampire was on her feet again, her pale feature’s flaming with anger and a low snarl escaped her. “That was a very, very stupid thing to do, little girl!” she exclaimed and began to move towards Jane.
Willow shook herself realising the danger to the child and pushed herself between her and the muttering vampire. The vampire stopped, tipping her head to one side and staring at the witch crouched before her. A low chuckle escaped her and she reached down to grab Willow but the young woman had already begun to sweep her foot around in an arch. It wrapped around the back of the vampire’s leg and she fell backwards, landing gratefully and immediately rolling to her feet as Willow found herself doing the same. When the redhead came to her feet she had a stake clutched in her hand again and was trying to push down the sense of fear she could detect welling up into her.
“You’re Maria,” Willow said still not quite believing that she was confronting this particular vampire.
“Don’t be silly little witch,” the vampire warned. “I could snap you like a twig.”
“Then why didn’t you?” Willow countered. Something clicked in her mind. “You need me for something more. I don’t know what but you still need me.”
A smile came over the vampire’s lips. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt your little friend.”
“Stay away from her.”
Maria’s smile just widened and she moved forwards, quicker than Willow could see. The witch felt herself sailing through the air. She collided with the wall and everything went dark.
Part 31.
There was a vain of thrilling sensation running through Spike as he smashed another guard down to the ground and then broke his neck with one boot-clad foot. There was a flurry of dust and then the vampire was gone and Spike was left grinning up at Angel who stared at him with a disapprovingly expression plastered on his face.
“What?”
“We’re meant to be being quiet, Spike. What part of that didn’t you understand?”
“All of it and besides, they know we’re here already so what’s the point?”
The older vampire let out a long sigh. “It would at least give us some vague advantage,” he replied.
Spike shrugged his shoulders and ground one fist into the palm of his hand until it almost hurt. “I already have my advantage – I’m pissed off.”
By his side Cordelia rolled her eyes at him. “I’d hardly call that an advantage. You’re more likely to get us all killed.”
He scowled at her and then turned, very purposely, to stare down the corridor and towards the opposite end where a number of vampires had suddenly appeared. In a heartbeat Spike met the eyes of the leader of the small troop and rushed forwards, only vaguely aware that Angel was following closely after him.
The battle was fast and furious and within long all that was left was dusting floating in the air. Cordelia had received a small cut to her arm as she tackled Wesley out of the way on an especially nasty attack but other than that they had fared well. One vampire had managed to get away and Spike leapt after him with a ferocity that startled everyone, including Angel.
“Angel…” Wesley began only to be stopped when the dark vampire held up his hand.
“I know. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Spike hadn’t felt this blood coarse through him like it was currently for years. He really felt alive – not like he was just playing at being alive. The world around him was blurred as he moved and acted almost without thinking. One lot of vampires went down, then another and another and all the while he was hardly even aware of the others around him until Angel finally put a hand on his shoulder stopping him from running off again. Spike almost threw the dark vampire off, only half realising who it was.
“We need to do this methodically,” Angel said.
“No, we need to find Willow.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“Angel?” Lewis called. When the vampire only continued to glare at Spike he was forced to call again. “Angel.”
“What?!” he exclaimed spinning to look at the human empath.
The man raised an eyebrow and then said. “I think you should take a look at this.”
Spike grunted his disapproval at the distraction from his quest to find Willow and leaned against the wall while Angel walked back along the corridor and looked in the room that Lewis had indicated to. After a moment he went inside and Spike felt his curiosity peak as he half heard Cordelia mumbled something from inside. When they remained in the room longer than he could stand to wait Spike stalked towards the door and marched inside. “What the hell is so important that…” The vampire trailed off looking at the little girl holding onto Cordelia as if she were life it’s self.
It was impossible not to instantly recognise her for what she was. It was in everything about her from the hostile eyes she directed at himself and Angel to the way in which she shifted her small body in front of Cordelia’s the moment that Spike stepped into the room. He found it quite amusing considering.
“Guess that’s something we should have figured on,” he said and didn’t entirely miss the glare that Angel shot at him. Turning back towards the corridor he added, “Well come on then.”
“We can’t leave her here!” Cordelia exclaimed. She stepped forwards and grabbed hold of his shoulder. “You think Willow would want you to just leave her here?”
He turned, his mouth twisting into a snarl and he opened it to speak only to find that the girl had spoken before him. “Willow?” she said. “You know Willow?”
Spike didn’t answer, instead opting to turn away and once again leave the room. To all of them he said, “We don’t have time for this. I’m going to go and find Willow. If you still want to help then come along but if you’ve forgot what’s important then just get the hell out of here.”
Silence met his words and Spike took off into the maze of corridors once again. When he glanced back he saw that Angel was following but that Cordelia and Wesley were nowhere in sight. Lewis trailed along behind the two vampires, desperately trying to keep up with them. The corridors wound on for what seemed like forever but Spike had unconsciously caught Willow’s scent now and was following it with a single minded determination, the slightly hint of blood in the air only pushing him forwards. Turning a corner his eyes lighted on a door in the distance and rage boiled on him.
There were four minions on the wall but unlike most minions Spike could feel a sense of strength coming off them; whether they were minions or not these vampires were old and their age had given them power. He stopped suddenly and allowed Angel and Lewis to catch him up even as the four vampires at the other end of the corridor saw him and started towards them all.
“Why does this not strike me as good?” Angel said gaining him a wry look from Spike.
“Come on,” the blonde vampire said and rushed down the corridor towards the lumbering giants.
They took a vampire each, the forth and final one joining one of his companions in attacking Angel. Lewis was struggling with the demon that attacked him but showed an amazing aptitude for predicting where he would be hit next and moving to avoid it while attempting to injure the vampire in return. Spike’s own attacker, while large, was woefully unskilled and after catapulting himself off the wall in a daring display of acrobatics Spike wrapped his arm around the minion’s throat and snapped his neck, the vampire turning to dust in his arms. Turning to where he could see Angel battling for a moment Spike considered leaving him and then shook himself and moved to engage with the vampire that Angel had just thrown against one of the walls. With a roundhouse kick he condemned the demon to death and turning around found that Angel had done the same. For a second the two vampires meet eyes and then they moved, each grabbing an arm of the demon that was attacking Lewis and pulled him away. The next second Lewis had impaled the demon on the stake he was holding, wincing slightly as the momentary pain the creature felt rolled over him.
After looking at them both for a moment Spike moved towards the door only vaguely hearing Lewis say in the background, “No! Wait a moment Spike!” But by that time he was already pushing through the door and then things got really messed up.
Part 32.
Maria spun around, carrying Willow with her because of the grip she had on her arm when the door opened. The redhead stumbled for a moment as her ankle twisted painfully and she started to slip to her knees; only Maria’s grip on her kept her from doing so. Willow’s eyes widened as she saw the three men coming through the door somewhat recklessly. Suddenly vampires were surrounding them with more than a few human servants as well. Lurching forwards the redhead shouted, “Spike!” drawing his attention instantly to her.
The blonde vampire’s eyes widened and he moved to take a step forwards towards them, game face coming to the fore, creasing him handsome features so that he once again became the fierce demon that she knew him to be underneath. From the corner of her eye Willow noted that Angel tried to follow him and stop the younger vampire from rushing forwards too quickly. He did not move soon enough though and abruptly, sharply Spike was hit from the side as a pair of vampire’s leapt at him. The blonde hit the ground with a purely disgusting sounding crunch that made Willow’s stomach lurch.
Maria snarled something at the others in the room even as Willow saw the rest of her friends enter the room. Before she was pulled away from looking towards them she realised to her sudden horror that Jane was with them; she found she had half believed that somehow the small girl had managed to get away when Maria had pulled her down the corridor and into the strange room at the end. Finding that her hopes were dashed Willow had no chance to look past the thought before Maria had spun her away so that she was facing the other side of the room and something that she hadn’t even wanted to think about. There was no doubt in her mind that the object before her placed on some sort of pedestal was the final parts of the weapon and if there was one thing that she didn’t want to be around then it was that.
Suddenly her entire attention was focused on the weapon. After glancing for a moment at Maria she clearly saw the intention in the vampire’s eyes. There was something… a wave of power coming from the weapon but worse than anything that Willow could have imagined it called to her. Not for the first time her skin began to tingle with the same familiar feeling, as if someone were tinkling her under skin in the most horrible irritating fashion, that had struck her before and lead her to this place. It was like some kind of odd siren; abruptly Willow realised that whatever had called her to this place was intimately connected with the weapon before her. Maria had always been two steps ahead of them; her mind clearly edged sharply by age picking over things that they had never even begun to imagine while she was plotting against them. She had wanted Willow there from the beginning and she had got what she wanted even when the current events were taken into consideration; whether Angel and Spike and the others were there or not didn’t matter, it was clear to Willow’s eyes that her friends were seriously outnumbered and overpowered because of it.
Maria’s hand was tight around her wrist, squeezing fiercely and making Willow want to cry out though she refused to do so valiantly. There were sounds of fighting from behind her which half of her desperately wanted to twist around and see and the other half wanted to avoid seeing for fear that she would see nothing but carnage and, she realised in shock, she realised that the last thing she wanted to see was a pile of dust where Spike had last been see by her. She also realised that wondering where Spike was and how he was should be the last of her concerns at that moment; there was the small matter of Maria apparently needing her for something to do with the weapon and then what was bound to be her impending death.
It actually happened so quickly that Willow barely had time to think anymore. One sharp tug of her hand and Willow found herself touching oddly warm metal that seemed to grow even hotter under her touch. She tried to pull back but Maria held her there with a grip which could not be broken and as she did so the metal grew hotter and hotter until it was burning her. The smell of singed flesh began to fill the air and Willow screeched loudly. It was too late however; the dusting of hairs on her arms began to dance, telling her body that there was magic in the air. She tried to resist, the pull whatever was happening back within herself but it was as if the weapon was drawing magic out of her and into it’s self and would continue to do so whether she intended it or not. For once in the first time in months she found herself unable to keep a hold on her abilities and they rushed away from her at such a frightening pace that Willow simply did not know what to do to stop them.
Before her a glowing nimbus came to life. It filled the air around her and Willow collapsed to her knees gasping for breath which was surprisingly hard to do. Maria let her fall, apparently feeling that Willow’s part in whatever plan she had was done. Her hand removed from Willow’s wrist the witch landed heavily and rolled onto her back just in time for her to see Maria reach over her and grasp hold of the weapon with a look on her face which could only be described as ecstatic.
She barely knew what happened next, only that there was a sudden surge of power in the room and a brilliant light washed over them all. Screams filled the air, a sound that was nothing more or less than pain itself.
Something ran through Willow; something that was entirely expected. The pain she heard seemed transformed, almost brilliant as it filtered into her being. It glowed brightly in her but not in the way she had expected; instead of being horrid there was something oddly wonderful about it, invigorating in the simplest sense of the concept and although Willow knew on some level she should be disgusted with the idea she found herself gradually growing to enjoy it. It took some time but it dawned on her eventually that what the feeling was turned out to be that of power filling her limbs and making her whole again; a return she had put into the weapon. More than that even; there was something coming back to her that had never even been there before though, perhaps, she could herself thinking, it should have been.
Coming back to herself she sat up in time to see that Maria had moved to the other side of the room. Pushing herself Willow slowly climbed to her feet even as she watched a burst of power and light explode from the tip of the weapon and fill the room once again. There was an instant mirroring explosion in the redhead’s body and for the briefest instant she saw Spike in her mind and realised that it was him that the weapon had hit. Willow ran towards the diminutive vampire before even fully comprehending what it was she was doing. When she impacted with Maria it was barely enough to shake the powerful if small vampire but it was enough to jolt her arms. From the corner of her eye Willow watched as Spike slumped down to the ground.
Maria turned to her, dark eyes burning with something that could only be madness. A snarling noise filled the air, erupting from Maria’s lips as she looked at Willow and for the first time since she had acted Willow felt fear. The redhead backed away only thankful that she had taken the vampire’s attention from Spike who she could now see climbing to his feet in the background. Leaning against the wall the blonde man shook his head briefly before meeting Willow’s eyes. He started forwards seeing that Maria was leaning over the witch with the weapon in her hands but that was the last that Willow saw of him as a small figure moved before her and her eyes were redirected away from her friend.
Jane looked so small and Willow instantly felt an urge to push the child behind her. There was something about the way that she was standing however that stopped Willow from doing so and the next thing she knew the girl had deflected a blow meant to push her out of the way and was making an effort to strike Maria. A small fist out striking the vampire and she actually stumbled backwards. Everything in the room seemed to stop. Then a hand grabbed Willow’s upper arm and dragged her sideways to where she found herself being surrounded in a brief hug by Spike even as a cry of frustration filled the air. Maria had hit out again and this time it struck Jane sending the girl to the floor where she instantly flicked her legs around caught the vampire behind the knees.
Maria came down with a surprisingly loud thud but she refused to loosen her grip on the weapon even as Jane moved towards her and sent a kick into her stomach. Spike was already moving, racing around the outside of the strange little circle of fighting until he was behind the small dark vampiress. Once there he leaned down, wrapping an arm around her neck and tugging her upwards into the circle of his arms. She struggled nearly upsetting them both but before she could get away Jane punched her square in the face while taking hold of the weapon and wrenching it out of her hands and causing Maria’s dark eyes to widen in amazement. At the same time Spike squeezed his arm around her throat even tighter and Angel was abruptly there taking hold of an arm and twisting it violently. There was the snap of bone and a flood of power in the room at the same time; Jane letting the weapon went off so that it hit Maria directly in the chest. The vampire’s face twisted in agony. She attempted to slip forwards but Spike’s grip on her would not let that happen even when the vampire was weakening, seeming to fold in on herself. Jane did not turn away however; she seemed mesmerised with what was happen just as Willow was with the power coursing though her.
The vampire imploded, the final jolt over power leaving her and sending Jane flying across the room. Spike collapsed to his knees with an explosion of air even as Angel’s arm went out to try and hold onto him. Willow sank down, the power flooding through her system overwhelming her, washing over her and leaving nothing but darkness as she passed out.
Part 33.
It seemed like forever before Spike found himself with enough strength to stand. Reluctantly accepting Angel’s help he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, staggering back for a moment and putting his hand against the wall to steady himself. Once he had regained his balance he looked around the room, eyes first landing on where Cordelia and Lewis were standing, their stance telling him that they were exhausted. Next they went to Wesley who was busily shoving a human servant away from him before looking towards the young girl they had found and then to Willow. He was moving forwards before he even realised what was happening, absently noticing that the remainder of Maria’s followers were scampering as quickly as they could from the room not that the vampire herself was no more.
Willow let out a low groan as Spike came to a halt at her side. He dropped down beside her and rolled the redhead onto her back, searching with her eyes for any sign that she was physically injured and celebrating silently when he realised that she was not. The feeling, the realisation that at least for a moment back there he had been more concerned about her than he had been about his own skin, was a startling one and an unneeded sigh escaped him in an explosion of air. He slipped an arm beneath her shoulders, pulling her to him so that the redheaded witch was half on his lap and almost fully in his arms. She seemed unnaturally warm and Spike could still feel the distracting presence of magic flitting along the surface of the girl’s flesh. It sang to him, the power seeming to have the odd presence of a vampire about it and yet evidently being all part of the witch and Spike felt his demon wriggling around inside for a few moments before seeming to quiet. Looking down he realised that Willow had opened her eyes again and was looking up at him. A brilliant smile if a tired one came over her lips and Spike fought the urge to reply to it with one of his own. Instead he scowled and said, “And just what the hell did you think you were doing?”
“Saving the day?” she offered weakly.
“Don’t know why you’d want to go do a damn stupid thing like that all on your own.”
“I didn’t have much choice in the matter and I really, really don’t want to argue about it at the moment. I’m… tired.”
“Tired?”
She frowned at him, suddenly realising where she was laying and just how she was laying before abruptly sitting up with her hands on either side of her. “You would be too.”
“Are you okay?” Cordy asked appearing over the pair. Spike stared up at her irritably but Willow allowed herself to be drawn to her feet. When the redhead looked unsteady Spike shot into a standing position, half pushing the brunette seer away so that he could support the other woman.
“I can do that – you go fix your make up or something.”
Cordelia looked indignant for a second or two then she spluttered something, glared at Spike and then Angel before offering Willow a sympathetic look and hurrying away towards Wesley who was looking around with a slightly dazed expression on his face. Spike took hold of Willow’s arm, a satisfied feeling running through him even as he felt her lean on him slightly. “Thank you,” Willow said softly.
“We should get out of here,” Angel announced suddenly. “They might come back with reinforcements or something.” He sounded doubtful for a moment but the others took his advice anyway and began to walk out of the room.
“Wait a moment,” Willow said. “Where’s the weapon?”
“I’ve got it,” Jane said quietly, cradling the weapon in her arms.
Willow looked at her for a moment with an inquisitive look in her eyes before nodding and holding out her hand. “Maybe you should give that to me to look after.” It was only once she had the weapon in her arms that Willow felt happy enough to follow Angel out of the room. The way she was holding it made Spike pause for a moment but he continued to help her out of the room.
When they had emerged into the night time air Spike let out a huge sigh and walked towards the car looking up at the stars. He pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and lit up, trying to ignore the aches and pains which were now starting to riddle through his body. For a moment he lost track of Willow and even as that thought occurred to him he turned to look over his shoulder and saw that she was stood in the middle of the alley way. “We should get rid of this,” Willow said when she realised that everyone was looking at her. “We should break it up and make sure that all the pieces can’t be assembled again and we should do it sooner rather than later.”
“Any idea how to do it?” Angel asked and the young woman nodded in reply.
Bending down she placed the weapon on the ground and walked a quickly circle around it. Before anyone quite knew what had happened the witch had embarked on what appeared to be some type of ritual though no one quite knew where she had discovered it from. Willow would later explain that whatever had happened to her back in the room where Maria had kept the weapon and to where she had dragged the redhead in order for the completion of the weapon’s assembly had left an impression on her; in her mind there had seemed to be a wealth of knowledge connected to the thing that she had never imagined was possible. As a result it turned out to be surprisingly simple to do away with the weapon; the end result turning out to be a brilliant flash of light and then a crack as it disassembled. Walking over to look at the pieces and at Willow who had gone oddly pale, even more so than usual, Angel first enquired whether she was alright and then picked up the pieces. He gave one to Lewis, one to Wesley and kept one for himself before giving them direction to get rid of them and to ensure that they didn’t tell the others what had been done with them so that it would remain a secret even to them. By the end of it Spike and Willow found themselves alone, Cordelia having gone with Wesley along with the little Jane and the other two men having headed off into the night.
“Willow…” Spike began walking towards where she was still waiting in the spot that she had performed the ritual. When she didn’t reply he put a finger under her chin and raised her eyes to meet him. Feeling more than a little uncomfortable the vampire said, “You know you scared me right?”
“I know.”
“Good, because, you know, it’s important that we understand each other.”
Looking a little confused but also a little hopeful Willow asked, “Why?”
“You’re going to make me actually come out with this aren’t you? This isn’t a joke anymore.”
“I know and you’re not normally so shy about coming forwards,” Willow responded softly.
He nodded in agreement putting a hand behind her head and leaning forwards in order to kiss her. It was only brief and the moment he leaned back Spike found himself wondering whether he hadn’t made a giant mistake. Willow’s eyes were closed, her expression utterly blank. “I think that covers anything I could have said,” he told her.
Green eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. “I think it does,” she agreed.
THE END
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