Part: 21 - 30
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Part: 21~
Spike stalked toward Buffy, Giles and Anya, who were huddled together on the opposite side of the room.
"Chip or no chip, you better start prayin for your life," he growled menacingly.
"Hey, now wait a second," Anya said nervously, holding her hand up as if she wanted to ask a question. "Now-now, I had nothing to do with any of this." Spike quirked an eyebrow at her. "Well, I mean, , I knew what they were doing, and no I didn't stop them, and alright, so I didn't exactly tell you about it, but-but I was against it from the start! I told them, try to fool a prophecy, never works out good for anyone in the end. Least of all the, uh, the people being threatened by the angry vampire," she finished weakly.
Spike believed the former-demon. She wasn't the type to lie about something like that. Stopping for a moment, he stopped to the side and swept his arm out, gesturing toward the door. "Leave," he growled, "now."
"Um, okay!" Anya said, a nervous smile crossing her face as she leapt for the door.
"Anya, wait!" Buffy shouted, trying to move past Spike, after the other girl.
Spike snarled at the slayer, not allowing her to move past him and grinning slightly as she backed off nervously.
"What's the matter, Slayer? Afraid? Don't think you can handle the big bad vampire all on your own? Need another woman here to protect you? Lord knows the watcher won't be any good."
"Watch it, Spike. You give me one good reason and I'll stake you so fast…" Buffy began, before Giles reached a hand out and let if fall onto her shoulder, pulling her away from the angry demon.
"Now, Spike, I know that you're upset, but…"
"Upset? Upset, Rupert? Upset does not begin to describe how I am feeling right now. If it weren't for this damned chip, I would have you both dead on the ground already, your bloody throats ripped out. Do you understand? How could you do that?! I mean, I figured you wouldn't be too happy about Willow and I bein together, but you took her away, just when…and you let me believe that she just left me!"
"I know, Spike, and I'm sorry," Buffy said, pangs of guilt hitting her. "It had nothing to do with you and Willow being together."
"Then why the hell didn't you tell me?!"
"Because," Buffy tried to explain, "we knew you wouldn't let her go."
"Damn right I wouldn't have let her go! She should never have been sent away!"
"It's complicated, Spike," Buffy said, starting to get agitated. "There are things about it that you don't know, that you don't understand."
"Well, then why don't you explain it to me?" He shouted back. "Oh, no, wait. Can't tell Spike anything. Heaven forbid we let him into the loop for even a second, right? Just drag him along to take a few lumps for the team and then toss him outside again, is that it? Well, not any more!"
"Spike…"
"No. You listen to me, now. I loved that girl with everything I had, and…"
"I know, Spike," Buffy interrupted.
At that, Spike let out a loud growl and lunged for the slayer, punching her once before doubling over in pain. Giles watched, unsure of what to do as both Buffy and Spike were hunched over, holding their heads in pain. Finally, both stood up, glaring at each other, a mixture of anger and sadness on both of their faces.
"How could you?" Spike asked, finally, his voice quiet and lacking the fierceness it held before. "You knew what she meant to me and you knew what I thought when she left, and you let me believe it. How could you?"
"I'm sorry," Buffy whispered, not able to look the vampire in the eye.
"Yeah, well, sorry doesn't bring back the last three years, now does it? Actually, scratch that. WILLOW doesn't remember ANYTHING that happened, ever! It's like I never existed to her, and YOU did that!"
Again, Buffy simply whispered a tiny apology.
"Now, that she's back, what do you plan to do about it? This prophecy, she's still in danger, right?" He asked Giles. The watcher nodded. "Then what do we do to protect her?"
"I'm really not sure," Giles admitted.
Spike let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes. "Well, why don't you start by explaining to me exactly what the prophecy foretold."
~Part: 22~
"The key?" Spike questioned, trying to understand what Giles was telling him. "That thing that Glory was looking for? It was Willow?"
Giles nodded. "Yes, well, apparently the key was a sort of ball of energy that worked to open dimension portals. A group of monks were guarding it until Glory came along. To protect it, they made it human. They created…"
"Willow," Spike whispered. "She isn't…what does that mean exactly?"
"They built memories of her," Buffy explained, "and gave them to all of us, made us want to protect her, love her."
"Love her?" He repeated, looking stricken. "You mean…"
"That isn't to say that the feeling that we had for her weren't real, exactly," Giles tried to amend. "It's just that, she had only really been with us about, well, we figured it to be around six months before…"
"Before you sent her away," Spike supplied. "You're saying that everything I remember about her, it's not true? They just made me fall in love with her to, what, protect her?"
"I don't know," Giles told him. "I suppose that is possible. It is also possible though that you actually did, uh, fall in love with her, well, after she was brought here. How long would say that you had been harboring feelings toward her?"
Spike shrugged, looking off at nothing in particular, soaking up the information. "Don't know, really. Was a gradual thing. After the chip, obviously, but," Spike paused, thinking of something else. "Does that mean the time that I kidnapped her, the bottle in face thing, the attack in her dorm room that never happened?" He couldn't believe it was possible for that to have never taken place.
Giles and Buffy silently shook their heads. "I couldn't believe it either," Buffy said after a long pause, never having thought that she would feel compassion for Spike.
His head shot up suddenly and they could see fire and anger in his eyes. "Right. So it was just a big joke on old Spike from the Powers That Be, that it? Make the vampire fall for the little girl, because, after all, he isn't pathetic enough as it is, all chipped and unable to bite. What can we do to screw with his unlife a little more? Oh, I know! Send some energy thing in the form of a shy, geeky girl and make the moron think he's in love with her. Then, when she gets torn away from him, we'll all have a good laugh at his pain!" Grabbing a vase from a nearby table, the enraged vampire threw it hard, smashing it against the far wall.
"Spike, it's not," Buffy started, but didn't get any further before the vampire stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
~*~
It wasn't until the following night that Willow ventured out of her hotel room again. Buffy, Xander and Giles had all called separately in the hopes of coaxing the redhead into seeing them, but she had declined all three, saying that she needed more time to think about everything they had told her.
And so she had sat, alone, in her tiny room, contemplating everything she had learned. She still wasn't sure if she should believe these people, but with the dreams she had been having, and then the house with her parent's picture, she was finding it increasingly difficult to NOT believe them.
Finally, deciding that she needed more answers, she headed back to the apartment she had been at the night before, determined to learn more.
Walking down the dark, quiet street, Willow glanced around nervously. The last time she had ventured down these streets alone, she had been attacked, and wasn't particularly wanting that to happen again.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the redhead jumped, hearing a noise behind her. Stopping and looked around, she saw nothing but darkness and empty space.
Willow shrugged her shoulders and chuckled to herself. "All this talk of demons and magic, got me all jumpy," she mumbled to herself. "There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," came a voice from behind her. Willow spun around, startled to see a man standing behind her, dressed in a black robe, his face almost completely covered by a hood.
"Wh-what do you want?" She asked, nervously backing away from the stranger.
"Looking for my key," he told her, his cruel voice causing her to shiver.
"Well, I don't have it, so…" At that, she turned and ran. Panic tore through the young woman as she ran through the unfamiliar street, not having any idea where she was or where she was going. Something in her simply told her to run, and so run she did.
Glancing back, she saw that the demon was still behind her, not too far. Her legs felt like rubber and her chest felt ready to burst, and just when she was sure she could not take another step, she let out a shrill scream as she ran into a hard, unyielding object. Willow felt arms grasp her shoulders and she shrieked in terror.
"Willow! Willow, what's wrong?" She heard a voice questioning.
Looking up, she finally forced her eyes open, not even realizing that she had shut them, and found herself staring up into the crystal blue eyes of vampire in her dreams. For a moment, she wondered if she was sleeping, but knew almost immediately that she was awake. This felt nothing like her dreams.
Spike continued to hold onto the shaking, out of breath girl, trying to understand what was wrong. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to pull her to him, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her, but then he remembered. She was not what he had thought. She was not real, nor was the love he felt for her. A sharp pain passed through his chest and Willow saw Spike's eyes suddenly grow cold and angry, just before he pushed her slightly away from him, letting go of her shoulders.
"What's all the fuss about?" He asked, all warmth and caring gone from his voice.
Willow was confused by the sudden change in his demeanor, but didn't give herself time to think about it. Looking back nervously, she saw that her pursuer was gone. Glancing back at the vampires, she shook her head wearily. "I-I thought I heard something, saw someone," she told him.
"Was someone following you?" He asked, concern suddenly filling his voice again.
"Uh, I don't know, maybe. Why would someone be following me? I don't even know anyone here, and..." Her voice trailed off as she realized that she had no idea how true the statement that was anymore. She needed to talk to those people and get more information, now.
~Part: 23~
Hearing a soft knock on the door, the group inside all looked up with hopeful expressions. They had been discussing the prophecy and what they should do about Willow, how much they should tell her and how they could protect her.
Xander jumped up and ran to the door, flinging it open, a wide smile on his face as he saw the redhead standing on the other side.
"Willow! Come in!" He greeted her, about to hug her, but stopping just before reaching her, noticing the way she shrugged away from him. His smile fell slightly, though he tried to hide the hurt he felt and he gestured for her to come in.
Willow walked in, followed by the blond vampire, feeling slightly more nervous now that she was actually there. Looking at her, they were all reminded of the girl they knew in high school or at least the girl they remembered knowing. She looked shy and nervous, uncomfortable in her own skin, but then no one would blame her for any of that right now. It saddened them, though, to remember how strong and self-confident she had become and to now see all of that gone.
Noticing the flushed look on the girl's face and the nervous tension in her eyes, Giles stepped forward.
"Willow, are you quite alright?" He asked.
Willow simply nodded, ducking her head apprehensively.
"Had a run-in with some…thing," Spike explained. "Thinks she was bein followed."
"Is that right, Willow?" Again the girl simply nodded her head affirmatively. "Well, this is very serious. Did you get a look at whoever it was?"
"Uh, he was wearing a dark robe with a hood," she said quietly, sounding unsure. Giles, Xander, Buffy and Anya exchanged worried glances.
"Did he say anything at all to you?" Giles questioned.
At first, Willow didn't answer, ready to shake her head no, but then paused, remembering what the man had said.
"He-he said he was looking for a key," she told them.
"Oh dear," Giles mumbled.
"Do you-do you know what he was talking about?" She asked.
"Willow, what were you thinking, walking out there alone at night?" Buffy questioning, wanting to change the topic of conversation.
"What was I thinking?" Willow repeated, suddenly becoming indignant. "Well, I was thinking that I'm a grown woman who didn't realize that she had to ask a bunch of strangers for permission to walk outside!"
The redhead's eyes were blazing and everyone was slightly taken back by her sudden outburst.
"Oh, you'd be surprised at how controlling this group can be," Anya said with a slight grin. Looking over at Xander, she saw him glaring at her and smiled nervously. "Well…I'm just saying that…you know…sometimes Buffy can be a little bossy…a-and controlling, and… I'll be quiet now."
"Buffy was just worried about you, Will," Xander said softly. "We all are."
"Well, thanks for the concern," she replied, sarcastically, "but right now, the biggest threat that I can see is all of you."
At those words, everyone else in the room looked down sadly, wondering how they had ever gotten to this point.
"I want answers, and I want them now. You have them," she stated, looked toward Giles, "and I'm not leaving here until you explain to me exactly what the hell is going on."
"What has gotten you so rattled all of the sudden?" Giles questioned, seeing the panic in her green eyes.
"I was attacked tonight! Plain and simple, alright? Now you know. Someone attacked me in a strange town full of people that seem to know me but I don't know them. I see a house with the same room as mine back home and pictures of my deceased parents, who apparently are very much alive, only not around where I can see them or talk to them. I was supposed to be coming here for a computer convention and there doesn't even seem to be one. I don't know where I am, what I'm doing here, or what's going on, and to top it off, I'm being attacked by weird guys in strange robes who want some key and I don't even know what that is!"
At the end of her tirade, Willow let out a deep breath, her chest contracting as her eyes filled with tears.
"Please, just explain to me exactly what is going on," she whispered helplessly, again unknowingly rubbing the mark on her neck.
"Well, you had better sit down, Willow. It's a rather long explanation," Giles said softly, gesturing to the couch. Buffy and Xander both opened their mouths to protest, but the older man held up his hand, silencing them.
"She has a right to know," he said simply, before turning back to the redhead.
"Willow, the man that you ran into tonight is part of a demon cult, looking to open a portal to a hell dimension which would effectively destroy the world. The key…" Giles paused, taking a long, deep breath before continuing, "you are the key."
~Part: 24~
"I-I don't even know what to say," Willow said, shaking her head wearily. Giles had explained to her exactly what had happened. Well, almost exactly. He gave her a brief history of what they knew of her life, the one that the monks had created, and then about how Buffy had learned that she was the key. He told her about the prophecy and about her magical abilities. Giles also explained why they had decided to send her away and change her memories. The one thing he neglected to mention was the relationship that had been forming between the witch and the chipped vampire, whom had remained quiet, on the opposite side of the room, during the long explanation.
In truth, Giles wasn't entirely sure how to explain Willow's relationship with Spike. He knew there had been something there and Spike had told him that he had loved the girl, but Giles wasn't entirely sure of what Willow's feelings for the vampire had been. Beyond that, given the new information regarding Willow that Spike had just recently received, Giles wasn't entirely sure that the blond vampire would even want their previous relationship brought up. He seemed to be taking the news pretty hard and seemed much more cold and distant with the redhead now. The watcher figured that he would refrain from mentioning any relations between the two, allowing Spike to bring it up to her when and if he chose to.
"I-I was a witch?" She asked for at least the tenth time, scrunching up her nose at the idea. "I did spells and tricks a-and did I fly around on a broom?"
The others tried not to laugh at the innocent question. At least she wasn't denying what they were saying any further. They all knew that in any other room in any other town, they would have all been considered certifiably insane.
"Yes, Willow, as I have told you, you were a witch. You had a great amount of power, due to the nature of your origins, but that power was bound with the spell."
"Yeah, uh, what does that mean exactly? Is it gone?" She asked.
"Not gone," Giles told her, "Just caged in a way."
"A-and the whole key thing...You're saying that I didn't exist th- that someone created me? A-and created all my memories?" Giles nodded. "So someone just made me up and created my whole existence?" Again, he nodded.
"We were all dumbfounded when we first learned of what had happened," Giles told her. "It was a bit heartbreaking actually."
"We felt so violated," Buffy chimed in. "To think that someone changed our memories and that all the things we remembered, all our times with you, they weren't real."
"A-and how is what you did to me any different?" Willow asked quietly. Buffy and Xander both looked at each other in horror. Anya watched quietly, not far from where Spike was standing. She had known it was only a matter of time.
"I-I mean, I had a life and family and friends, and-and none of those were real either as it turns out. Just traded one set of false memories for another. Am I ever going to start actually living a normal existence?"
Suddenly another thought struck the redhead. "Rosalyn," she said suddenly, looking toward Giles again. "I-I knew her my whole life or I thought, does that mean…"
"She worked for the council," he told her, his heart hurting at her pained expression.
"She-she knew the whole time, she knew that-she knew what I was and what you did and that we weren't really friends, a-and…" The feeling of betrayal seemed to surround the redhead as her head swam. These people had betrayed her, her parents were not who she remembered, and now Rosalyn, the one person she had thought she could still trust…
"I-I-this is all too much," she muttered, before jumping up from the couch, startling everyone. She had reached the door and was pulling it open before anyone had even a moment to react. Spike was the first one to reach her, blocking her escape for the second time in two nights.
"You can't go out there alone," he told her, his voice still cold and hard.
"I don't care. I need to go," she said, fighting the tears that threatened to fall and trying in vain to push him aside.
"Yeah, well, you know that makes two of us," Spike said suddenly, stepping aside. He didn't love her, after all, he reminded himself. Never had. It was all a lie.
Without sparing them another glance, Willow was out the door and heading down the street.
"Are you insane?" Xander yelled, watching the girl leave. "How could you let her walk out like that?"
"What do you care?" Spike asked harshly. "She never really existed! She wasn't your best friend, you didn't grow up together, none of it was real! You're just the poor sap that got stuck with the memories!"
"Yeah, well," Xander said slowly, stepping up in front of the vampire, his voice catching in his throat. "That all may be true, but this is one sap that wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world. I don't care how they got there. As far as I'm concerned, that girl is my best friend and I love her more than life itself. Now if you aren't going after her, then I'm-"
Spike let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine, I'll go make sure she gets home alright." At that, the vampire stormed out of the apartment.
~Part: 25~
It didn't take long for Spike to catch up to the distraught redhead.
"Go away," she said, wiping at the tears that streamed down her face as she started to walk faster.
"Can't do that," he told her, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.
"Sure you can," she countered. "It's easy. Just turn around, walk away and forget that I ever existed. Should be pretty easy."
"Feeling sorry for yourself, now?" He asked, grinning slightly at the look of outrage on her face.
"You don't think I deserve a little self-pity?" She asked him incredulously.
"You know, you weren't the only one hurt in this," he replied. "I'm not saying that you didn't get the worst of it, but you weren't the only one hurt."
"Yeah, you seem really upset about the whole thing," she shot back, feeling her defenses spring up.
Suddenly, Spike threw his cigarette to the ground and reached out, grabbing her shoulder, stopping her, mid-stride, and spinning her around to look at him.
"Don't even begin to think you know how I feel about anything," he told her, his voice filled with contempt and something else she couldn't quite place. "You don't know the first thing about me."
"No, I don't," she agreed, her voice meek, her eyes darting toward the ground. She felt a tingling in her neck again. It was something she had noticed happening a lot since she had come to this town and her hand reached up, once again lightly fingering the faint scar there.
"I-I don't know anything about any of you," she told him, not looking up to see his eyes riveted on his mark. "You all seem to know everything about me and I know nothing about any of you o-or myself, actually."
She looked so lost and Spike couldn't pull his eyes away from the mark on her neck. Finally, her large, green, watery eyes looked up, surprised to see him staring at her. She quickly dropped her hand back down to her side and blushed slightly.
"That mark," Spike mumbled. "It…"
"Was attacked by an animal," she replied quietly. "Don't remember it, really. Big surprise there. Apparently there are a lot of things I don't remember."
Spike visibly flinched before clenching his jaw tightly, his eyes flashing yellow, though Willow didn't seem to notice. The demon in him raged for him to grab the girl and bite deeply into her, reminding her of the claim she had apparently forgotten, and the touch of humanity that remained within him screamed as he felt his heart break a little. Finally, though, he regained some control and pushed aside the angry thoughts plaguing his mind.
"I'm sorry that this is so hard for you," he said quietly. "I know that you didn't ask for any of this." Willow simply nodded, giving him a weak, slight smile.
The rest of the walk to her hotel was made in silence. Willow hated to admit it, but there was something about the vampire that made her feel safe, protected. She felt more at ease around him than she could ever remember feeling before, even when he was completely infuriating her.
And then there were the dreams. They always seemed to come back to him somehow. He was always there, helping her, holding her, kissing her. She couldn't deny the pull she felt toward him and the longer she spent in his presence, the stronger the pull seemed to grow. He walked her up to her room and stopped outside the door.
"This is my room," she told him, surprisingly reluctant to say goodnight.
"Right, then I'll just be-" Before Spike had a chance to finish, a cloaked figure jumped out from an adjacent hallway, tackling Spike to the ground, while a second one lunged toward the redhead, grabbing her and pulling her to him.
"Willow!" Spike yelled, horrified to see a demon in a black, hooded robe, holding onto the girl.
"Stay out of this," the other demon growled, pulling Spike up and shoving him against the wall. "This is not your concern."
"Wrong, mate. SHE is my concern. The girl belongs to me."
"Hey!" Willow protested. "I don't belong to anyone!" Spike rolled his eyes but before he had a chance to say more, the demon holding him against the wall spoke again.
"She is the key. She belongs to our order. She is NOT your concern." At that, Spike quickly threw a left hook, knocking the stunned demon back slightly. Seeing his opening, he quickly pummeled his attacker, trying to keep one eye on the demon holding Willow.
"Spike!" She yelled, as the demon began to drag her down the hallway.
Hearing her yell out for him, the vampire jerked his head around to see her, giving his attacker a chance to fight back. The demon pulled out a dagger and was about to lung for the blonde when Spike whirled back around, kicking the weapon out of his grasp. Kicking out again, he caught the demon in the stomach, causing him to double over, just before Spike grabbed his head and twisted it brutally, breaking his neck.
With inhuman speed, the vampire reached the other demon who was trying to escape with the redhead in tow. Before the demon even knew what was happening, Spike had grabbed him from behind, gripping his head and twisting in the same sickening fashion, effectively breaking his neck. Reaching out, he caught the falling redhead just before she hit the floor.
Willow felt herself sink against the blond vampire, as she looked back and saw the two fallen bodies.
"Oh, god," she mumbled, burying her face in his chest as a fresh flood of tears began to flow.
"It's alright, luv, you're safe now," Spike muttered soothingly, holding her tightly. He let one hand find its way to her soft hair, gently running it through the strands, calming her. He had wanted to hold her for so long, to feel her body against his, to feel his hands in her hair. He knew it wasn't real, knew it was wrong, but just this once, for this one moment, he would allow himself this tiny, guilty pleasure.
Finally, when she began to calm, he loosened his hold on her.
"We can't stay here," he told her. "It's not safe." She simply nodded miserably and gave him a questioning look, having no idea where she could go.
"You can come back to the crypt with me for the night. You'll be safe there, with me," he told her, noticing the way she scrunched up her nose in distaste as he mentioned the crypt. "Unless of course you'd rather go back to your `friends'," he said with a grin, knowing what her answer to that would be.
"No-no-the, um, the crypt is good, thanks," she said quietly, before following him out of the hotel and back down the deserted streets.
~Part: 26~
"So, uh, this is where you live, huh?" Willow said, looking around the dusty crypt. "It's, um, nice."
Spike rolled his eyes and sighed. "Living area is down the ladder," he told her, pointing toward the trap door on the floor.
After they reached the bottom of the cave, Willow sounded slightly more sincere. "Oh, it's, uh, the most homey cave I've ever been in, at least that I know of."
"Yeah, well, it works," he told her. He watched as she stifled a yawn and stretched, grimacing as she felt a few aches and pains from the earlier attacks.
"You, uh, you should really get some sleep," he told her, gesturing toward the bed. Willow nodded and moved to the mattress, gingerly laying down, curling into a ball on her side.
"Thank you," she said, her voice already sounding sleepy, "for, well, before a-and saving me and well, thank you."
Spike grinned as he watched her babbled and blush. "Welcome, pet," he whispered, more to himself than to her.
It was only a few minutes later that the redhead fell asleep and Spike moved over to the bed, laying next to her and leaning against the headboard. Willow unconsciously moved toward him, resting her head on his lap and murmuring contently in her sleep, a small smile gracing her features.
Spike looked down at the sleeping girl, letting his hand gently run through her long, red hair. He was torn. Part of him kept screaming that none of it was real and that he didn't really love her. But the other part of him, the other part begged the gods to allow him to hold onto this moment forever, to never lose this precious gift again, and it was that part of him that he allowed to bask in the joy of having her there, even if only for that moment, for that night.
~*~
Willow awoke, surprised to feel a hard body pressed up against her back, a strong arm wrapped around her waist. She had dreamt again, the night before, but this time there had been no nightmares, just dreams filled with passion and love, and the blonde vampire that now lay behind her. Snuggling into him slightly, she turned a bit in his arms and was startled to find him watching her.
"Sleep well?" He asked softly. Willow nodded with a slight smile. Spike tilted his head in and nuzzled his mark on her neck, causing Willow to shiver and shudder at the sensations running through her. Remembering where she was and who she was with, Willow suddenly pulled away from him and sat up.
"I-I should go. It's light out," she told him.
"Don't think those guys are only night walkers," he told her, desperate to keep her there. "You should stay here, with me, where you're safe."
"Well, I think I should go see Mr. Giles a-and tell him what happened last night," she told him, seeing his face harden slightly at the thought of her leaving.
"Right, then," he said, his voice sounding slightly colder.
"I-I really appreciate you letting me stay her last night," she told him, as she stood up, her hand again at the tingling mark on her neck. "It's just I-I don't know what's going on or who I am anymore, a-and they seem to have answers." Spike remained silent, his face now an unreadable mask.
"You know, I've been having dreams about you," she added in a whisper. Spike's eyes widened at the statement.
"That right?" He said with a smirk.
"Yeah, uh, sometimes you're, um, saving me, like you did last night. A-and other times, you're kissing me." She felt her cheeks heat up at the words. "A-and sometimes you bite me, scaring me," she added in a whisper, noting that his face seem to regain its cold mask. "I- I don't remember anything, though, and Mr. Giles, he didn't say anything about you and I and no one seems to be willing to tell me very much, but I-I feel this pull to you, a-and I can't help but wonder, even though, and please just tell me, what am I to you?"
Her voice was pleading and tiny, and Spike looked at her carefully. His heart burned for her. Everything in him screamed at him to grab onto her, hold her, protect her, claim her, love her. But it wasn't real. It was a cruel trick, and he wouldn't be fooled again. He wouldn't allow his heart, however dead, to be ripped out once more.
Finally, his face set into a cold, stony mask, he answered. "Nothing."
Willow felt her chest contact as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat, willing her tears not to fall. She had been so sure that…
Nodding sadly and turning away, not willing to allow him to see her cry again, she headed toward the ladder. "I have to go," she whispered, starting the ascent up to the crypt.
"Willow," Spike called after her. The redhead turned her head slightly, looking back for a moment. "You shouldn't be out there alone," he told her.
She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, before answering. "I'm always alone," she said sadly. "Besides, the one thing that my mother taught me? Never talk to strangers."
At those words, she turned back and climbed up the ladder. Spike watched as she disappeared into the crypt and listened as he heard the heavy stone door open and slam shut.
~Part: 27~
Walking aimlessly, Willow wiped at her eyes, forcing the tears away. She didn't understand. She was so sure that she and Spike had some kind of connection. He was so hot one minute and then cold another and…
As she wandered down the street, her thoughts were suddenly cut off as she ran into a man walking in the opposite direction.
"Sorry," she mumbled, trying to move aside. Her head shot up and she felt a hand reach out and grip her arm painfully.
"Hey! I said sorry, rude-o!" She complained, looking up and suddenly paled. A large figure loomed over her, dressed as a knight or some kind of soldier. Willow tried to yank her arm away, but his grip only tightened.
"The key is the link. The link must be severed," he shouted out. Suddenly, Willow saw a flash of light and began to feel dizzy.
"Not now," she mumbled, feeling another flashback coming. Why did they always have such bad timing?
She stumbled as the man pulled her closer to him and suddenly there was a flash. It was dark outside now. She saw a knife being held to her throat and heard herself call out for Spike.
Again, she saw a flash, and found that not only was it light outside again, but there was no knife to her throat, though the man was still holding onto her tightly and mumbling something about the key being the link and the link needing to be severed.
Suddenly, Willow stomped her foot down as hard as possible. The man bent forward slightly and she used her elbow to hit him hard in the face. His grip on her loosened enough for her to pull away. As she went to run, there was again another flash, and she stumbled forward, grabbing her head.
She tried to scream as she saw Spike through the darkness, doubled over, holding his head in pain.
"The key is the link. The link must be severed. Such is the will of god," the man mumbled as Willow struggled to free herself. She had no concept of what was real and what was a memory at this point, and closed her eyes tightly, trying to will away the flashback.
The redhead heard herself yelling out the word release, but felt nothing happen.
"Willow!" Hearing her name called, she opened her eyes again, squinting at the sunlight, and turned, seeing Buffy now punching her attacker.
"Buffy?" She whispered weakly, not understanding anything.
"Willow, go! Run!" Buffy called, but Willow didn't seem to hear her.
"I thought I told you guys to get lost a long time ago," Buffy said, turning back to the knight, remembering them from the fight with Glory.
"The key is the link…" The man began, before Buffy punched him hard, again.
"We've all heard the song, buddy," the slayer told him, delivering a roundhouse kick. "But it's been years since that one's been on the charts."
Again, Willow saw a flash.
"Kill me, and let legions follow!" The man yelled. "If you do not kill me, I will destroy you."
"Then I guess I'll just have to send you somewhere else," she heard herself say.
The man disappeared. "Red? What did you just do?" Spike asked. She opened her mouth to respond, just before there was another flash. The world was spinning around her. The sunlight was nearly blinding and Willow fell to her knees, holding her head.
"Willow!" Buffy ran up to the redhead.
"What? Where…where is he?" Willow asked weakly.
"Gone. Took off. They tend to do that once they realize they're gonna get beat by a girl. For knights, they don't seem all that brave, really," Buffy told her, attempting at a smile. "Are you okay?"
Willow shook her head. "No," she mumbled. "I'm really not."
"Let's get you to Giles," Buffy said, helping her up and walking with her toward The Magic Shop.
~Part: 28~
Buffy and Willow entered The Magic Box and the slayer called out for Giles. Getting no response, she told Willow to wait in the shop while she went into the basement in search of the watcher.
As she waited, Willow began to look through the books and magical ingredients on the shelves and tables. Stopping at an open book on the counter, she looked down, reading it.
This was it. This was the spell they had used to alter her memories and bind whatever power it was that she had. Apparently, whoever casted the spell didn't do a very good job, seeing as how she was remembering things at the worse possible moments.
Flipping the page, her eyes widened as she took in what looked to be the counter spell. She quickly scanned the list of ingredients. It looked like a simple spell, something that would only take a few minutes.
Willow's head shot up as she heard the door bell chime and she saw Xander and Anya come walking into the shop.
"Willow!" Xander greeted her, surprised to see the redhead standing there. "How are you?"
"I'm alright," she said distractedly, glancing around the shop. She wanted to know more about what had been done to her. These people didn't seem willing to talk and this book looked like it held the answers.
"Buffy went down to the stock room to look for, um, Giles," she told him, quickly grabbing the book and holding it behind her.
"Everything alright?" He asked, taking a step closer.
Willow took a step back nervously and Xander frowned, feeling that all too familiar pang of sorrow shoot through his heart.
"Yeah, uh, she just wanted to talk to him, I think," she lied. "I-I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to just, um, go away for a while."
"Are you sure?" He asked. "Do you want me to walk you somewhere, or…"
"No! No, I, uh, kinda want a little time to myself," she told him, inching toward the door, not turning her back to him. "I'll be back later," she promised, before spinning around quickly and heading out the door.
"Willow, I found Giles. He was…" Buffy paused as she looked around, seeing Xander and Anya, but no sign of Willow.
"Where's Willow?" She asked in alarm. "Did you see her here? She was just here, and now…"
"Yeah, Buff, we just saw her. She just left," Xander told her.
"She was in a big hurry, and all nervous and not Willow-like," Anya explained. "But then, I guess she isn't really very Willow-like at all anymore, is she?"
"Where did she go?" Buffy asked.
"Didn't say. Just mumbled something about needing time to herself," Xander replied.
"And you let her leave? Just like that? Xander how could you be so stupid?" Buffy yelled.
"Hey!" Xander and Anya both shouted defensively. " I didn't realize we were trying to keep her here," he told the slayer.
Buffy let out a frustrated sigh, giving him an apologetic look. "Willow was attacked today by those knight guys."
"The ones that were here when we fought Glory?" Anya asked.
"The very same," Buffy confirmed.
"What are they doing back?" Xander questioned.
"From the looks of things," Giles stated, "trying to destroy the key again."
"Seriously! Is there ANYONE out there that is NOT after the key?" Xander shouted.
"We need to find her," Buffy told them. "She's not safe out there alone."
The others nodded before they all headed out in search of the redhead.
~*~
Willow waited until everyone had left the magic shop before heading in through the back door. She sat down on a couch in the training room and began to read the book, absorbing any and all information that she could on the spell that had been performed on her.
~Part: 29~
"We searched the entire town. Where could she have gone?" Xander said, sounding defeated as he walked back into the shop.
"I don't like this, Giles," Buffy stated. "Something could have happened to her. Someone could have…"
"Hurt me?" Everyone looked up in surprise, seeing the redhead standing on the other side of the shop. She was near the large, round table, which now had several magic ingredients on it.
"Willow, we thought that…"Giles began, before she interrupted him.
"That someone had attacked me? Hurt me?" She said, arching an eyebrow. "They have. I've been attacked no less than four times since I got to this town. You people are not telling me everything, except that you did some spell to change my memories and I'm some key thing. I keep having flashbacks to things I don't remember and every time I'm attacked, I have no way to defend myself." She looked toward Giles with an angry glare. "You said that I have power, that I'm a witch, but the spell bound the power. I want it undone."
"It's not as simple as just…" Giles began, stopping as Willow pulled a book out from behind her and tossed it onto the table, opened to the page with the reversal spell.
"Turns out I'm really good at the whole occult research thing," she told them. "Did a lot of reading while you were away and it looks to me like a simple reversal spell will do the trick. If I'm going to defend myself and survive whatever the hell is happening to me, I need to remember, and I need whatever power I have to be unbound."
"Willow, you don't know what you're asking for," Giles told her. "You need to understand that…"
"I NEED to know who I am," she replied. "Your advice is not worth anything. You're not my friends. You're nothing to me. No, actually, that's not true. You're keeping me from being able to protect myself and knowing who I really am. You're worse than nothing. You're a threat to my life. Now, undo it."
~Part: 30~
Before anyone had a chance to reply to Willow's command, the front door opened and everyone looked up to see a blond vampire walking in. Willow looked toward Spike and saw him staring at her, a contrite, pained expression on her face and she quickly looked away.
"Willow, I-" he began, taking a few steps toward her, but stopping when she held her hand up.
"Save it," she told him. "No one wants to tell me what's really going on? Fine. I'm about to find out. Giles, undo it."
"Willow, I really don't think you understand what you're asking for," the watcher told her. "Reversing a spell like this, at the very least will cause severe overload to your senses. You'll remember everything all at once."
"Good," she told him. "Do it."
"Do what?" Spike asked curiously.
"Willow found the spell that we did before she left," Xander told him quietly, "and the reversal spell. She wants Giles to undo everything."
"Is that a good idea, Rupert?" Spike questioned, suddenly not wanting to face the redhead knowing what had happened between them but knowing that she was not real.
"No, Spike, it is absolutely not a good idea," Giles told him, not taking his eyes off of Willow. He let out a deep sigh. "But it is the right thing to do."
All at once, everyone started to object but Giles held up a hand, silencing them all.
"Willow is right," he told them. "What we did was unfair and though it was with good intention, it appears that what the Hellmouth wants the Hellmouth gets. For whatever reason, she has been brought back here and her life is clearly in danger. She deserves to know who she is and to be able to defend herself."
A slow, stunned smile spread across Willow's face. She couldn't believe that he was going to actually do it. The redhead had been all prepared for a long fight. She had even practiced a resolve-face in the mirror, sure that no one would be able to say no to that.
Looking around the room, she again caught the gaze of the blond vampire. His expression was unreadable but she knew that he was not happy about this. There was something about him that no one seemed to want for her to know and whatever it was, it was about to come out.
"Spell's all set," the redhead told Giles, gesturing toward the magic ingredients on the table. "Just say the magic words and poof. All done."
"I really do hope you understand what you're asking for," Giles said, one last time.
"I do, Giles. Do it."
At that, the watcher stepped up to the table and read over the reversal spell one time to himself, being sure he knew exactly what he was doing before he cast it. Holding the book up and standing a bit straighter, taking a moment to clear his throat and straighten his glasses, Giles called out a few words in Latin, and then put the book down again.
Everyone looked toward the redhead, who was standing in the middle of the shop, a dazed look on her face.
Willow looked around in confusion as a million memories suddenly hit her.. It was as if a tidal wave had just crashed into her and all at once, she found her knees buckling as she began to gasp for air.
Everyone watched, unsure of what to do, as the redhead stumbled a few feet, holding her head, her eyes tightly shut. Her mind was swimming with the onslaught of memories and her body hummed with magic.
When, at last, she finally opened her eyes again, they were full and black, unimaginable amounts of magic coursing through her. She looked around and it felt as if she was seeing everything for the first time. Her mind was hazy and her stomach felt sick. The redhead closed her eyes again, trying to control or block out the feeling of magical currents flowing through her. Panting and concentrating for several moments, she finally opened her eyes again. They were green this time, much to everyone's relief, though the utter pain that radiated from them was nearly unbearable.
"Willow," Buffy said softly, taking a step toward her friend.
The redhead turned and backed away, stumbling slightly as she did.
"No, Buffy," She whispered. "I can't, not-not now. I can't be here. I need to go and…"
At that, Willow turned and ran out the door. The rest of the group looked around in silence, no one having the slightest idea of what to say about what had just happened. Well, almost no one.
"You see what you've done?" All eyes turned toward Anya, wide in surprise at the sudden out burst.
"Anya, not now," Xander mumbled, his voice breaking with emotion.
"I'm sorry, Xander, but you need to hear this. Look at what you just did to her. Look at all that she is going through because you didn't trust her with the truth from the start. Willow's a smart, strong girl. You should have known she'd figure it out in the end." Turning toward Giles, she glared at him. "And you! What are you going to do now? Did you even think about that? Now that she knows, my god! She knows that she is the key, she knows that she is being hunted, she knows that you all betrayed her and she probably even knows that Spike claimed her!"
Suddenly, Spike's head shot up, realizing that what Anya had just said was true. She knew. Willow knew and now she was out there, alone. Without another thought, the vampire turned and ran out of the shop.