Wings in the Night: Prologue & Meetings

by Lucinda

Characters: Willow

Genres: Crossover

Warnings: none

Summary: Crossover with Gargoyles. Vampires aren't the only thing out after dark in Sunnydale. (1730 words)

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~Prologue~

Willow had desperately wanted to see the cartoon that Xander had been talking about. He'd been looking forward to it for over a month, talking about it during recess, and in the quiet times in their classroom. Everyone else in the second grade had known what it was as well, and they were all looking forward to watching it. Willow had been trying to figure out exactly what the Great Pumpkin thing was about. Something about peanuts as well. Who ate peanuts and pumpkins? Finally, she had managed to ask Xander, and he explained all about it. It was the Charlie Brown halloween special, with trick or treating and a pumpkin patch. After almost a week of effort and A's on all her tests that weak, Willow had managed to persuade her mother to let her watch it at Xander's house that year. Her Mother had promised to come over an pick her up right afterwards, because it wasn't safe for small children to be out alone after dark.

She had laughed so much during the show. Xander had been right, it was wonderful. Although she didn't like Lucy, and she kept feeling sorry for Charlie Brown, all he got in his pillowcase was rocks. How sad, and even Snoopy had a better costume. How exactly did he get his doghouse to fly? Or was it all his imagination? Did dogs have imaginations like that? She had so many questions!

"Willow? Are you going to be staying very long?" Xander's question interrupted her mental tangents.

"My mom said that she would be over to pick me up as soon as the show was over. She found it listed, and said that I should stay here, because it's not safe to walk." Willow's answer was quick.

"Oh. In that case, can you help me go over that math we did today?"

An hour later, Willow's mother still hadn't showed up. There had been no phone call from her, no knocking at the door. It was beginning to look as if Willow had been abandoned. Xander had crept off to his bed, leaving Willow sitting in front of the dark television, contemplating her evening.

"I guess my mother isn't coming." Willow's voice was just a sad, soft whisper into the darkness of the room. Her head low, she shuffled towards the door, letting herself out of the house quietly. She didn't want to bother Mr. or Mrs. Harris. They both got cranky.

She was making her way slowly towards her house, carefully walking on the sidewalk so that she wouldn't be hit by a car. She shivered slightly, it had gotten cold while she had been at Xander's house. The breeze shifted again, stinging her eyes with cold, and going right up the sleeves of her jacket. Her hair blew into her eyes, making it harder to see, and she could hear the leaves skittering across the road. She could also hear footsteps of something crunching over the leaves, and the something was getting closer. Her mind filled with half formed images of things that it could be, a stray dog, a stranger, a late night jogger, or even the Great Pumpkin... although there was no pumpkin patch near this street.

A twig snapped from behind her, the sound accompanying the next crunching of leaves. Her heart pounding, Willow turned, half expecting to see something harmless, a cat or maybe even a noisy rabbit. Something that would tell her that she was overreacting, being afraid needlessly. It wasn't a rabbit.

Standing on the yard was something shaped mostly like a large dog, although it was covered with dark, knobbly scales instead of fur. It had lines of drool running from it's huge sharp teeth, and it's eyes were a really ickky yellow, like half cooked egg yolks. It came almost to her shoulder in height, and it was looking right at her.

Willow screamed in panic and bolted away, her only thoughts a panicked insistence that her mommy had told her monsters weren't real, the fear that the thing would want to eat her, and the oddly out of place idea that if this ugly not-dog ate her, she could never grow up to be a doctor and marry Xander. She ran, her breath burning in her lungs, hearing the thing chasing after her, it's claws scraping over the sidewalks.

She couldn't stop herself from glancing back every few moments, afraid that it would get her, needing to look and see that it hadn't, each time a small part hoping that the thing would be gone. Instead, each time, the thing was closer, gaining ground as she fled.

Part of her wanted to yell at herself for being such a... scaredy cat that she kept looking to see if it was gone, especially since she could still hear it getting closer. Part of her was convinced that she was going to die now. A third part was stubbornly insisting that this had to just be some sort of nightmare. A fourth part was wishing that something, anything would happen to save her from the big, scary thing chasing her.

She glanced back again, just in time to see a huge dark shape, bigger than an eagle swoop down, and she had the impression of sharp claws scraping over the back of the nasty not dog, making it stumble to the ground, yelping in pain and anger. She looked back ahead, and kept running, hoping that she could get away. Wondering what the big thing had been.

She didn't look up in time. There was a big stick laying on the sidewalk, and she caught her feet on it, spilling down onto the sidewalk, heat and pain flaring in her hands and knees. Panicked, she scrabbled back to her feet, lurching forwards again, tears streaming down her face from fear, and now the pain as well. She could hear it still chasing her, and falling like that would only let it get closer. She could almost feel it's hot, stinky breath on her, and any moment it would sink those sharp teeth into her back, ripping and tearing...

It's hot breath was steaming against her jacket when a pair of strong hands grabbed her from above, and she was lifted up into the air, high over the street. She could see a pair of arms wrapped around her, slightly muscled female arms, although there were only three talon-tipped fingers to each hand, and the skin looked like a leathery bronze something, not at all like her own hands. She could see the thing that had been chasing her, and as she watched, something landed beside it, something big, with wings and a long tail. It had to be as tall as Mr. Tanner, the school gym teacher! Except that it as green, and had a face like a lion's, and of course, there was the matter of the wings... Willow had no idea what the green creature was, but it seemed likely that something similar had grabbed her up into the air.

The dog-thing growled at the green winged man?, and he roared back, just like a lion. He had a staff, and it was clear that he was intending to fight the not-dog. Willow hoped that the green man with wings won. He wasn't quite as scary.

The something holding her circled around, landing a bit farther down the sidewalk, and carefully lowered Willow to the ground. Her body shaking, Willow looked behind her to see what had picked her up. This was definitely a woman creature. Her skin looked all bronzed by the light of the streetlamp, and she had big wings, and a tail shifting slightly behind her. Her face looked almost like a humans, but she had sharp teeth, like fangs. Red hair almost the same color as Willow's tumbled down around a pair of curling horns, something like a ram's. She wore dangling gold hoops in her ears, which made Willow feel safer, for some reason.

Willow could feel herself staring. She had never imagined that something like this creature could exist. Forgetting the hungry not dog, she breathed a question. "What are you?"

The bronze woman with wings knelt down, making her eyes almost level with Willow's own, and Willow could see that her eyes were also green. "We are gargoyles. We protect... places, and people. We don't hurt people, it's not our way. Are you alright?"

"Gar... gargoyles? Like the waterspouts? I hurt my knees... I think I'm mostly afraid. That thing... it was going to eat me!" Willow could feel the tears multiply, and flung her arms around the gargoyle woman, wanting to feel comforting arms around her once again.

The gargoyle woman held the frightened child while her mate killed the hellhound. She rubbed soothing circles over the girl's back, and longed for the day when she would have hatchlings of her own. "Not quite the same, the waterspouts were inspired by tales of my people though. Were you going somewhere when it started to chase you?"

"I had been watching the Charlie Brown halloween special at my friend's house. My mom was supposed to come and get me, but she didn't. So I was going to walk home, and it was out there, and it tried to get me..." Willow began sniffling, trying to slow her tears.

"Don't worry, child. We will make certain that you get home safely."

They stayed back a bit, but followed the whole way as Willow made her way home, not leaving until they saw her open a door, and enter a nice looking grey house.

Looking at his mate, the green one asked a question. "Do you think that she will remember? That she won't view our people as an enemy?"

Sighing, the female's answer hung mournfully in the air. "I don't know. I hope that she would remember, but I just don't know. The humans here are so good at forgetting about things... This is why were exist, to protect them from the dangers of the night."

~Meetings~

Years had passed, and Willow had grown from a small girl to a young woman. She no longer had to run from all of the creatures that hunted in the night, and had been helping Buffy fight demons for four years. She had never forgotten the night that two gargoyles had saved her from what she had later learned was a hell hound. She hadn't spoken about it to anyone, first because nobody would have believed that it had happened, and later because nobody would have believed that the gargoyles weren't dangerous. Buffy tended to attack first, and ask questions later.

Occasionally, she had thought that she'd seen something in the air, heard a whisper of sound that could have been the gargoyles, but she hadn't seen them again. She'd never forgotten them though, or that not all things other than human had to be bad. The gargoyles, the female that she'd thought of as Ember and the male she'd thought of as Leo. Those probably weren't their names, but she'd remembered them so vividly, occasionally imagining finding them, and talking and then... but she had no idea where to find them.

It was because of them that she had been willing to believe that Angel might not be evil when the discovered that he was a vampire. It was because of them that Willow never attacked first on patrols, that she always waited for the vampires or demons to attack first. Different didn't have to mean bad.

But so many things had changed since she was little, and again since Angel had left for Los Angeles, fleeing from the temptation of Buffy, fearing the loophole that the gypsy spell contained, the possibility that he could loose his soul and visit terror and destruction on everyone around him, again. Oz had cheated on her, tried to attack her, and left. Spike had tried to kill her, but couldn't due to a chip in his head, placed there by a semi secret group of soldiers with a base somewhere underground and near the campus, a group that Buffy's new boyfriend Riley was a member of.

As if that wasn't enough, she had decided to check out the campus Wiccan group, in hopes of finding someone to teach her magic, to help give her studies direction. That was where she'd met Tara, the only other person at the meeting that hadn't seemed like either a complete flake or some variant of feminist looking for recruits. She didn't know quite what to think about Tara, but her mind had kept returning to the quiet blond. She'd be considering her psychology homework and Tara's face would pop into her head. A random person that she passed would remind her of Tara, the color of her hair, or the way she dressed.

She didn't understand it. Tara had been fairly quiet, and nothing about her appearance seemed as if she were trying to seek attention. Willow had never been sexually attracted to women before, so she didn't think that it was a new crush. But it had been useful to remember Tara on the night that the Gentlemen had come to Sunnydale, carving hearts from girls. She had combined her power with Tara's to move a refrigerator. Although, she wasn't quite certain why Tara had been at Stevenson hall anyhow, her dorm room was in Domingus.

Buffy an the others had seemed to accept Tara into their group. The only person who didn't seem to accept her was Spike, who had only recently been allowed to start going about untied.

Buffy had mentioned seeing a strange something on patrol, something that she'd described as really big, sort of bluish, with wings, a long tail, and horns. She'd also said that it wasn't like anything that she'd fought before. Giles had suggested that Willow and Tara use a spell, one that would reveal the locations of the assorted demons in and near Sunnydale, thus allowing Buffy to locate the creature from last night.

She'd found Tara's room, and while it was the same size as the one she shared with Buffy, it felt positively tiny. Dark posters covered the walls, filled with images of goddesses and oak trees. There was a tall shelf full of dark bound books, and a deep green, grey and blue rag rug covered most of the floor. The window was covered by long green curtains, making the room darker. In the corner, a stick of incense burned, filling the room with an unfamiliar scent, one that Willow remembered clinging to Tara on the other occasions that they'd met. The shelves, counters, every available surface had things on it, candles and paperweights and small statues, crystals and a painted peacock feather and dark pottery cups holding sticks of incense.

After a bit of social chatting over a cup of herbal tea, Willow finally mentioned that Buffy had thought she'd run into a strange new demon on patrol, and had wanted to ask Willow and Tara to cast a demon detecting spell. Tara had looked very nervous about the spell, and had murmured something about not having a lot of herbs, and what if... Willow hadn't quite caught all of Tara's words, but had definitely noticed the fact that Tara had become very nervous.

Willow had even brought a square of cloth to use as a map, with some of the key locations marked as references. Between that and the carefully prepared bundles of herbs, the spell should be no trouble at all. She couldn't think of anyone else that she would rather cast with.

Tara had finally agreed, her expression still nervous. Carefully, they placed the square of cloth on the floor, settling themselves on the floor at opposite sides, the 'map' spread between the. Willow closed her eyes, and they chanted the incantation, and it was time to toss the herbs and powders over the map, and the interactions of the two blends and the magic of the spell would mark the locations of demons. Because her eyes were closed, Willow didn't see Tara throw her powder not over the map, but under her bed, deliberately ruining the spell.

Willow opened her eyes, expecting to see points of green glowing on the map, the way that the spell would have dyed the locations of the demons into the map. Instead, the map held only a fine dusting of herbs and the few painted markings for locations. Baffled, Willow looked over the map, searching for even the tiniest hint of green. She didn't see the tiny smile that crossed Tara's face, or see the small spot of green glowing on Tara's thumb.

"M-maybe it was just... a little harder th-than you thought?" Tara's voice brought Willow back from her search.

Willow sighed, reluctantly ending her search. "I just don't understand. That spell is really simple, just say some words, focus on finding the demons, and throw the powder and the herbs together. It should have worked... Why didn't it work?"

"Don't w-worry so much. Buffy's good at what she does. I'm sure that she'll find all the dangerous d-demons just f-fine on her own."

They practiced a few very basic spells, the sort of things that Tara had explained were supposed to help build focus and control. They also talked about music and movies, having what could be summed up as 'girl-talk'. Over all, the evening went interestingly, and Willow left with a pleasant feeling. A new friend would be good, especially if it was someone that she could talk to about vampires and demons and spells.

It wasn't until Willow had returned to her room, and was once again staring at Buffy's rough sketch of the creature that she'd seen that it occurred to Willow that the description wasn't entirely new to her. Buffy's unknown creature had been about the same height as a human, with wings on his back, and a long tail. She'd also said that he'd only had three fingers. Picking up Buffy's rough sketch, Willow pulled out a binder with some of her own drawings. Included in the binder was a handful of the drawings that she had made as a child, most specifically the first sketch that she had made of the gargoyles that she had called Ember and Leo. Willow smiled as she remembered them, the two creatures called gargoyles that had saved her that long ago night.

She looked at Buffy's sketch, and then at her own crayon drawing. They looked very similar. Not quite the same, but Leo hadn't looked quite the same as Ember, what if this bluish green creature was another of their people? They hadn't been a danger, they had saved her. How was it that Ember had put it? 'We protect... places and people.' If the blue creature was a gargoyle, then it was no danger to them.

But what if it wasn't a gargoyle? What else could it be? Maybe she should check some of Giles' books for any other winged creatures that might have ended up in Sunnydale.

end part 1.
 

After a great deal of searching through Giles books, with Spike making a few comments from the stairwell. She had searched through big books, glancing over hundreds of pictures and drawings of demons trying to find something similar to what Buffy had described. She had been mostly able to ignore Spike's comments about her spending to much time with old books.

"What are you even looking for anyhow?" His voice sounded mostly bored, with a hint of curiosity. Perhaps he was hoping that bothering her would ease his boredom.

"Things with wings. That aren't gargoyles, and can exist outside of the lesser hells without regular bloody sacrifices... I started with his copy of the Thondrost Fiend Appendix. Never start with that... well, you might like some of the etchings of mass sacrifices." She hardly even thought about her words, they just slipped forth.

"Gargoyles? What about gargoyles? Why are you looking for..." With those fragments that would have been more natural from Willow, Spike leapt across the floor, yanking the paper with Buffy's crayon drawing of the winged thing that she had seen the other night.

Staring at the paper, he looked as if he'd seen something unexpected, some long lost memory. Folding the page and tucking it into his pocket, he looked at her, all traces of boredom gone. His words were incredibly serious, with a trace of urgency. "Tell me that the Slayer isn't trying to have you find how to kill him."

Willow stared at him, wondering exactly why it seemed so important to Spike that Buffy wasn't after the gargoyle. "She doesn't know what 'it' was, only that she saw it a few nights ago, and it vanished, She wants to be prepared if it's dangerous. I wanted to know what it might be if it wasn't a gargoyle. So far, the answer seems to be that it has to be a gargoyle by process of elimination, nothing else has the right shape and size."

"How did you know that he's a gargoyle, Red?" Spike's voice still had that serious tone that she wasn't quite used to.

Pondering things for a moment, Willow tried to sort things out. Spike had Buffy's picture, so he obviously knew there was a gargoyle in Sunnydale. He seemed to want them to stay safe, so it shouldn't hurt if she told him. "Look at the other page."

Giving her a look as if he was trying to puzzle her out, he picked up the other paper, her drawing which had been under the cover of the book, and looked at it, his eyes widening as he saw the yellowish orange female gargoyle with red hair and the green one with a lion head. Both clearly different from the one Buffy had drawn, the paper yellowed from the years. "Where did you get this?"

"I drew it, years ago. I went to Xander's to watch the Charlie Brown Halloween special... my mother didn't come get me like she'd said she would, so I started to walk home. They saved me from a hellhound, not that I knew what it was at the time. I thought it was a big scary dog-thing. She said that they were gargoyles, and that they protected."

He looked at her, his eyes intense. "Who else have you told about this?"

"Nobody. Well, not about them at least. Only that my mom didn't get me and I got my knees skinned up tripping over a tree branch. Who would have believed me if I'd mentioned anything else? Then I met Buffy, and she's more the attack first, then ask what it is or was..." Willow's voice trailed off. "How did you know he was a gargoyle?"

"I used to live in London. I ran into one there, back when I was mortal. Left a good impression on me." His voice was soft, as if he was reluctant to mention anything from his mortal life.

"Oh... well, I don't know how many there are, but... I'm pretty sure they're good guys. She said they protect, and they saved me, so I'm sort of inclined to think they should be left out of what we tell Buffy about. Sunnydale can use all the protection that it can get." She let one hand rest on his sleeve, a bit hesitantly. It almost felt as if she and Spike were having a bonding moment, and she didn't want to ruin it.

"Bloody right they're the good guys. It's in what they are, down to the bone. Good to know there's a few around... Are they even in any of Giles' books then?" Spike sounded almost wistful for a moment.

"Not that I've found... and I've been looking for hours." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear with a frustrated sigh.

"And exactly what made you spend hours looking through demon books? Avoiding Chubs and Fluffy? Got a stalker I could scare off?"

"Nothing so easily explained. It's Tara." Willow looked at her hands, remembering the feeling of the bag of powder in them in Tara's room, the gathering of energy, and the... fizzle from their spell.

"What about her? Finally decide that there's something seriously wrong with her? I know she's hiding something." Spike sounded interested, hopeful that there was finally someone listening to his dislike of the blonde witch.

"I'm not sure what. I keep thinking about her, and I'm not sure why. And I do think she's hiding something from the world, but... maybe it's just that she's really got some magic? I tried to have her help me cast a demon detection spell, but the spell didn't work. Not at all."

"Why not? You don't botch spells like that, not even if you have Chubs helping." Spike sounded as if he'd found a clue, some hint that his suspicions might be justified.

"I don't really know why. I mean, I felt the power gather, and then... it just sort of fizzled away. And that wasn't right, it shouldn't have done that. There's something not right about the spell not working, and something that Tara's hiding. I'm afraid the two might be linked, or maybe one or the other has to do with some big evil brewing over the hellmouth. I'd like to have as much advance warning as possible for some of that sort of thing, you know?" She looked at Spike, hoping that he didn't think her concerns were silly.

"Sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing to me. And I still don't trust her."

end part 2.
 

It was only a few days after the demon locating spell that Willow found Tara shaking in the campus library. Tara looked as if she'd just been utterly terrified by something, some unexpected trouble. Willow felt a pull to try to help Tara, a strong urge to try to make everything better for the other witch. Walking over, she tried to look for any clue that would tell her what was going on.

"Tara? What happened? You look... upset. Would it help to talk about it?" She wondered if it would be something simple to fix, like a dangerous vampire, or a problem with a term paper, but she doubted that it would be anything so simple.

Tara looked up, her eyes bloodshot from the tears that were still streaming down her cheeks. "W-willow. It's... I'm not sure what you could do."

"Please, I want to help. Tell me what's wrong." Willow couldn't try to help Tara if she didn't know what was wrong.

"It's... my father came her to take me home." Tara sniffled, new tears making their way down her cheeks.

Willow frowned slightly. Something wasn't adding up here. "What's so bad about your family visiting? I mean, you don't really talk about them."

"They... there was a reason why I chose a college half way across the country from my family. I had to get away, away from the place that they wanted for me. I couldn't spend my whole life cooking and cleaning and doing the laundry for my father and brother, knowing that they would never let me go out, never let me try to find happiness. They want me to go back and take care of them... for the rest of my life." The despair and fear in Tara's voice was horrible.

Willow felt something cold slither into the pit of her stomach. On the one hand, Tara sounded so afraid, so certain of what would happen if she went back with her family. But on the other, something about it didn't sit quite right. There had to be something that she was overlooking. If she was so afraid of her family, why would she go back? "Tara? How old are you?"

"A-almost twenty one. I will b-be in another month." Tara sniffled again, wiping at the tears on her cheek with one hand.

"So, you don't really have to do what they say. At eighteen, you're old enough to move out on your own, so twenty almost twenty one is more than old enough. Legally, they can't make you go back with them. Why don't you just stay?" Tara was a smart girl, why hadn't this occurred to her?

"You... you don't understand. They're big and strong... they won't let me just stay here. I'm not strong enough to fight them..."

Willow felt almost as if something was trying to pull her towards Tara, some emotional force demanding that she help. That she find a way to fix this as she had with so many of the problems that Buffy had encountered. "Actually, Buffy likes having you around too. Just tell her that you don't want to go, she won't let them kidnap you. She's really strong... remember?"

Tara gave a shaky smile, something dark and hidden in her eyes, possible more fear, possibly some other secret that she hadn't told Willow. "But... I have more faith in you. You can make everything better."

Willow smiled at her, oddly touched that Tara would rather have Willow protecting her than Buffy. She couldn't quite remember how afterwards, but she and Tara ended up at the Magic Box, helping Giles shelve some of the things that had arrived in his last shipment.

Tara jumped every time the bell rang, clearly expecting her family to show up and drag her kicking and screaming away with them. Spike had looked amused at Tara's obvious fear and unease, which had caused Xander to yell at him, demanding to know 'what sort of sick person delighted in scaring a girl?'

Spike had simply smirked, sitting down along the row of book shelves, flipping open a magazine about cars, apparently focusing his attention of it's pages. Willow noticed that he wasn't actually turning the pages, and he kept glancing at them, or rather, glancing at Tara. What did Spike know or think that he knew?

The bell rang again, and three large men entered the store, their postures stiff and hostile. One of them had a shirt that had a logo for some group called the QuarryMen, and a picture of a hammer. The older man looked around the shop, visibly sneering at it. "Tara! It's time to go home, you've wasted enough time on this college nonsense."

Tara shrank back in her seat, her face going pale at the sight of her family really here, glaring down at her. She took a few quick breaths, her lips parted as if to speak before the words actually came forth. "N-no. I d-don't want to g-go b-back with you."

The younger man in the QuarryMen shirt glared at Tara, his eyes narrowed. "What choice do you think you have?"

"I have f-friends here. T-they w-won't let you t-take me away." Tara looked so pale, as if she was scared to death.

The older man, her father shook his head, almost sadly. "You didn't tell them, did you? Do you really think they would help you if they knew? Would anyone?"

"What secret?" Xander's puzzled whisper seemed to carry to easily, to loudly in the tense silence.

"You didn't tell them. I can't really say that I'm surprised. They wouldn't want anything to do with you if they knew the truth. If they knew that you had demon blood." The man almost seemed to smile a bit at the stunned gasps from around the room.

Buffy spoke, her voice puzzled. "Demon blood? What sort of demon blood? Tara hasn't caused any troubles..."

The men glared at Buffy, as if angered by her refusal to just follow their imagined script. The one in the QuarryMen shirt spoke, his voice hostile. "What does it matter what sort of demon blood she has? We need to take her back home so we can make certain it never comes out. Keep her contained."

Tara looked terrified, shrinking back into the chair even farther, her knees pulled up until she had almost vanished behind her long floral skirt. She was shaking, and a small whimpering noise emerged from behind the curtain of her hair.

Spike spoke then, his question seeming to take Tara's family by surprise. "What's this QuarryMen thing? Some sort of band?"

Looking a bit surprised by Spike's question, the younger man gave this little condescending smile, one that raised lines of annoyance through most of the people in the room. "Not a band. They are the first line of defense against a danger that stalks the night. There are horrible creatures that only come forth under the cover of night, things so evil that their bodies turn to stone in the day. Gargoyles."

Spike narrowed his eyes, settling back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. Forgotten, his magazine fell in a slithering heap to the floor. He simply sat there, looking over the three men as if mentally sizing them up for weaknesses and the exact dimensions for a coffin. Willow was the only one with any idea what had cause that reaction from him, and was to busy being shocked and horrified in her own right. It was clear to both Willow and Spike exactly what these QuarryMen would do if they found a gargoyle by the light of day. Neither of them liked the idea.

Buffy glared at the men, her hands defiantly placed on her hips. "I am not about to let you drag Tara out of here just because you have some stupid story about her being part demon. Get over it and get out of my town."

The one who wasn't wearing the QuarryMen shirt glared at Buffy, his face gone red with anger. "Now look here, missy. It's not your place to be telling us how to manage out family. Clearly, your daddy never bothered to keep you in line very well." He swung his fist at Buffy, his hostile expression making it clear that he obviously thought that he could beat Buffy 'into line' and then drag Tara away.

Giles spoke, his tone shocked and appalled while he ignored the man attempting to hit Buffy. He knew that the Slayer could evade or block any blow from a normal man. "You never really believed it, did you? It was all just an excuse to keep the women in your lives quiet and obedient. How utterly vile and despicable..."

Between Giles, Xander, Buffy, Willow, and an infuriated Anya, Tara's relatives were pushed out the door. The left with a great deal of muttering, and there was a possibility that they might try to return.

end part 3.
 

"Tara? Are you really part... Why would your family try to say that you're part demon? Most people don't even believe in demons." Xander's voice was full of confusion.

Buffy glared at Xander. "Of course Tara isn't part demon. They were just saying that to try to make her obey them. We just covered that sort of thing in Psych class. It's mental manipulation, nothing more. Watch, I'll prove it. Spike, hit Tara, the chip will go off, and everyone will know that she's all human."

Tara's voice was filled with worry, and rose faintly from her chair. "I don't like the sound of that plan..."

Spike grinned, rising from his chair with astonishing speed. "It sounds pretty good to me." He moved closer to Tara, a predatory smirk on his face as he circled around, trying to find exactly the right opening. After all, he would only have a moment before the chip turned his head into a throbbing mass of pain, he'd best make this count.

Finally, he saw his perfect opening, and his fist moved out, connecting with her shoulder blade, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from Tara. Spike tensed, waiting for the pain that would surely follow... but it didn't. Slowly, a delighted grin spread over Spike's face.

"No pain. I think maybe this thing finally quit." The grin changed, and with a motion almost to fast to follow, he spun on his feet, his fist lashing out again, this time at Buffy, who had only threatened to stake him at least twice an hour daily since he'd got the chip. His fist impacted audibly, much louder and more forceful than the blow he'd given Tara, and it was immediately followed by Buffy's pain filled yelp and his own anguished howl as the chip activated, sending horrendous pain through his body.

For several long moments, the Magic Box was utterly silent. Tara was rubbing her shoulder, a small grimace on her face. Buffy had staggered back into the wall from the force of Spike's blow, and she was clearly in some pain from it. Spike had collapsed to the ground, his hands clutching his head so tightly that his knuckles had gone even paler.

"I guess the chip still works." Xander's words came slowly, seeming very loud in the silence. "If the chip works, then that must mean... Tara?"

Tara was looking at Xander, her face now showing another emotion, guilt. She took a slow step away from Buffy, her voice trembling with emotions. "I... it's n-not a s-s-serious problem... it's j-just a little b-bit..."

Willow felt something go through her, like a stab of pain. After a few impossibly long heartbeats, she identified it as betrayal. Tara wasn't surprised by this discovery, only afraid. That could only mean that she had known, that the demon-detection spell HAD been deliberately sabotaged. "You knew, didn't you? That's why the spell didn't work."

"But I'm n-not d-dangerous!" Tara's voice had a tone of panic in it now.

Slowly, Spike had regained his feet, his chest heaving as he drew unnecessary breaths in what had to be an effort to control the pain. His eyes looked almost red, the color caused by some of the tiny capillaries in the eyes bursting. The effect it had on him was terrifying, especially since he still had his fangs. He was looking right at Tara, his expression giving none of his thoughts away.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, Tara. I just... I thought you were my friend, that you could trust me. Obviously, you didn't. I... I have to go now." Willow slipped past Tara and out the door. How could she stay in the same room as Tara, knowing that the other girl had deliberately deceived her, tried to make her think the spell had failed through some fault or imprecision of her power when it had been Tara? What else had she concealed? Had her desire to help Tara been real or some sort of influence?

Spike glared at Tara, now feeling entirely justified in his distrust of her. "You may not be the sort who goes for mass destruction and carnage. Hell, you may even be mostly human. But that's a long way from being harmless. Right now, Red's pretty much in pieces because you lied to her. Because she thought that you were her friend. Now, it looks to me like you just wanted someone to help make sure daddy dearest didn't drag you back home with him."

His angry words spent, Spike stalked out of the shop. Maybe he'd best make sure that Willow was alright.

end part 4.
 

Spike left the Magic Box, hoping to find Willow. She had become something to him, not quite a friend, but certainly the closest that he had right now. She treated him like a person, a slightly scary person even. And she had just been betrayed by someone that she thought was her friend. That meant that she might not be paying as much attention to the dangers of Sunnydale.

He couldn't just be 'Spike the vampire' anymore. Because of the chip, he had to figure out who he was, who was Spike? The real Spike, not any of the masks that he had been in the habit of using. The only person that he thought would let him figure it out would be Willow. She would help him remember that he was still Spike, no matter what had happened this past few months.

He was also incredibly furious about Tara's relative, the one with the QuarryMen shirt. Considering gargoyles as a danger... what an idiot. Gargoyles weren't evil and dangerous, that was vampires, or demons. If it wasn't for this chip... he winced at the warning flicker of pain that throbbed though his head at the idea of what he would have done. If the idiot was actually hoping to hurt or kill gargoyles, it would be a good idea to try to make certain that he didn't find any. Ever.

Wandering around Sunnydale, he caught sight of a glimpse of red hair. Had that been Willow? He turned that way, moving faster. There were bad things out after dark, and he had this annoying protective streak, one of the reasons that he'd stayed with Dru all those years. He had needed to take care of someone. Lately, he'd been sort of helping take care of Willow, at least as much as he could safely manage. There was another glimpse of red, the right sort of motion to be long red hair. How long was Willow's hair?

Following the glimpse of red, he found himself in a park. There was a sudden shaking in the tree, and he looked up right in time to see a large winged shape soar into the night sky, something with a long tail and taloned feet. A gargoyle. Following the shape as the gargoyle flew through a patch of moonlight, he saw that it had long red hair, and bronze colored skin.

Willow was sitting on the merry-go-round, her feet dragging slowly across the dust. She could have passed for someone years younger in that moment, and she looked so lost and alone. How could he let her stay there like that? Settling beside her, he spoke softly, partly to see if she was even aware of his presence. "Red?"

"It hurt."

For a moment, he wasn't certain if she realized exactly who had sat beside her, she sounded so... calm, almost too calm. What was going on inside her head? "Tara, you mean?"

She nodded, a small movement. Something that glittered for a moment in the moonlight fell, sparkling briefly before becoming a dark splotch on her leg. "I thought that she liked me, that someone was finally seeing me for more than the homework buddy, or the Slayer's friend. That I had a friend. Then it turns out that she just wanted to hide behind me, that she wanted to use me as a defense. I can understand not wanting to go back, but... she used me. It hurt. Sunnydale hurts... and there isn't a lot of people that I can talk to about it, you know? I mean, Buffy, but she's all caught up in Riley. Xander is so busy with Anya... and I don't think Anya likes me. Ever since that spell to get her amulet... umm... didn't get an amulet. Giles is so busy with Buffy... and you have your own life, or ... umm, something. Who has time for Willow? Especially now that Oz... and Tara wasn't really wanting to be my friend either."

Spike put one hand over hers, feeling how chilled she had become in the night air. If anything, his hand might have been warmer than hers. "Willow? I have nothing better to do than listen to you. Besides, I know that if I listen to you be unhappy about the wolf, and whatever else is troubling me, you'll listen to my troubles. Even if you don't miss Dru, and seem a bit glad about the chip every once in a while."

She gave him a small smile, looking at him with green eyes filled with tears. "Sometimes, I just wish there was somewhere else that I could go. A whole new place, with no memories of Jesse or Oz, a place that won't have people who think I'm just Buffy's friend or the little geek. Just, somewhere that I could be Willow."

"What's stopping you?" He felt genuinely curious. She had depths to her that were amazing in their complexity.

With a small sigh, she looked at his hand resting on hers. "Where would I go? How would I get there if I had a somewhere to go?"

"Well, I can offer a bit of help with that. If you find somewhere, I'll take you there. Price is that I'll drive, and we listen to my music on the way. Deal?" Just smile again, let me know that there's someone to listen to about things other than demons and dating...

A small giggle escaped from her lips, and she smiled almost in spite of herself. "I can deal with that. Besides, I've rode in the car with Buffy, Xander and Cordelia. You have to be better. All we need now is somewhere to go. Anywhere."

* * * * *

Meanwhile, In Manhattan....
 

"Eliza. I hope things have been going better for you lately than they have for me." The voice was a bit rough, and carried the sound of exhaustion and frustration as well as a faint purring of the r's. It was the sort of almost ominous voice that sounded perfectly natural from a shadowy staircase in an ancient stone castle during the night. The fact that the castle was perched on the top of a skyscraper did nothing to make the voice out of place.

Frowning slightly, Detective Eliza Maza looked at her brother, who called himself Talon after he had been mutated into his present form. He now resembled a large humanoid cat with bat-like wings. "What's wrong? Trouble with you and Maggie?"

With a slight huff, her brother came closer. "I wish it was something so simple. Then all I would have to do would be grovel in apology, give her some flowers... no. It's a lot more complicated. Claw and Fang have been trying to run rampant, bullying some of the other people. And I haven't got time to keep them in line and teach the clones anything... although we have them using pronouns at last. I just... wish I had a little help." He raked his sharp claws through his short fur. "Not exactly like I can advertise in the want-ads anymore though, is it?"

Eliza smiled faintly, still feeling as if she should have been able to prevent her brother's mutation. "Well, it does sound a bit complicated. Are you sure there aren't any teachers in the Labarinth?"

"I checked." His voice sounded almost gloomy. "Not a single one. It's not fair to them not to have some sort of an education, something more than how to follow orders. If there was something more that I could do..." His voice trailed off into silence before resuming with an almost defeated tone. "I feel a bit out of my depth sometimes. But hey, say hello to the clan for me. I have to go... promised to meet Maggie for the moonlight music at the park."

"Bye, big brother." Eliza gave a small wave, wishing her brother all the luck he could get. Neither of them had noticed the small security camera that had caught their short conversation.

In a small room, David Xanatos sat watching one of the security screens. He had happened to be in the room when Detective Maza and her brother had had their little chat. If the truth were known, he actually felt a bit guilty about his part in Derek Maza's mutation. Guilty enough that he decided to see if there was a little something that he could do to help things out. "Owen?"

"Yes, Mr. Xanatos?" Owen Burnett's voice was emotionless, perfectly calm.

Xanatos turned slightly, looking at his assistant. He wasn't quite certain how Owen could always be exactly where he was needed, but it was a most useful ability. "It seems that Talon has a slight teacher shortage in the Labarinth. Do you think that you could find someone that would be capable and willing to assist with the education of the clones?"

Owen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It will not be the most simple of tasks. The person must be well enough educated to teach the clones, and open minded enough to deal with the fact that they are not human. It would also be wise to find someone that could deal with the level of... shall we say, strangeness that seems to have followed the gargoyles. I shall get right on the task, and I will find someone suitable. Are there any other criteria that you wish for me to use for my search?"

Shrugging slightly, Xanatos only had a single suggestion. "Someone that won't be unsettled and frightened by genetic mutations and possible hostile sorcerers, such as Demona."

With a slight bow, Owen turned to leave the room. "I will find someone suitable, Mr. Xanatos. You can count on me."

end part 5.
 

Three days later, Owen Burnett stood in front of David Xanatos' desk, a slender folder in one hand and a small frown on his face. "I have found several potential candidates for the position that you mentioned. However, the requirements were a bit... demanding, and there were very few possibilities. I have assembled the available information for all six, however, there is one that I feel would be by far the best choice."

Xanatos looked up, a bit startled by the last part of Owen's statement. He'd expected Owen to discover several possible candidates, but to actually state that there was one that he felt best for the position was something new. "Which person stands out, and why?"

Owen's expression changed slightly, becoming his version of a small smile as he pulled one file to the top, and presented it to his employer. "Willow Rosenberg, age twenty, currently a sophomore college student at the University of Sunnydale, a small town in California. She does not have the strongest academic education of the other candidates, but I feel that there are other aspects to her background that make her a better choice. First, she has few relatives, and less contact with her parents than you have, sir. She was approached by Microsoft for a programming position four years ago, but refused in order to finish high school. There is a very high occurrence of abnormal injuries and deaths in the town, a strong indication of what would most simply be termed paranormal activities. She is also the only candidate with any previous teaching experience."

Xanatos looked at Owen, surprise on his face. "If this girl is still in college, how does she have teaching experience?"

"One of the mysterious deaths in Sunnydale was the high school computer teacher, and Miss Rosenberg filled in as a temporary computer teacher until a new faculty member could be found. There have also been several mystical occurrences that she has had contact with, and she has shown no signs of mental breakdown. None of the other candidates have had this sort of definite exposure to unusual events." Owen's voice was cool and calm, as if the discussion of magical spells and possibly inhuman creatures at work happened every day. That was a slight exaggeration, they could usually go several weeks.

"Hmmm... You've never been wrong about a person's qualifications before. Do you think Miss Rosenberg's incomplete education would be an impairment for the position?" Xanatos was thoughtful.

"Not for the basic education that Derek's people will need. Especially not if you offer to pay for continued education, which would have an added benefit of being an excellent job perk, and not one easily found from other potential employers, who might be reluctant to hire someone lacking in a completed Bachelor's degree." Owen's voice was confident, and justifiably so. The amount of excellent jobs available for someone without higher education were slender, and the ones that were entirely legal were even fewer.

"I trust that you can come up with a suitable contract and benefits package? We should have a firm offer before contacting her." Xanatos' voice made the request less of a question and more of an assignment.

"Of course, sir." With a small nod, Owen placed the other files on the edge of the desk and left the room.

All he needed to do now was to come up with a benefits package and contract that would guarantee that the young woman would accept the job without it seeming so generous that she would suspect something illegal about the whole situation. Although, the legality of several of Mr. Xanatos' projects was questionable at best, this was just a simple teaching position. For a group of cloned gargoyles that shouldn't have existed in the first place, currently under the care of an illegally mutated former police officer... Well, perhaps there were a few questionable points to this position. Perhaps it would be best to minimize those aspects until she was actually here. Once she had left her home and traveled across the country for a position, the chances of her refusing it would be rather small.

Smiling to himself as he considered the rest of his day, Owen retreated to his seldom used office. There was quite a bit that needed to be done, and some of it absolutely could not be delegated. Who could he send to inform Talon that Mr. Xanatos had decided to find the clones a teacher?

* * * * *

Willow sat on the bed of her dorm room, alone because Buffy was once more out with Riley Finn. She had collected the mail, and there was a very official looking large envelope addressed to her. The return address was Xanatos Enterprises, a very large and powerful combined corperation based in New York. Xanatos Enterprises was influential, innovative, and on the up rise, despite a few minor and rapidly dropped from the media issues, and a few minor scandalous rumors about the founder, one David Xanatos. She had no idea why Xanatos Enterprises would have sent her a letter. Unless someone had detected her hacking into their cybernetics research section last month...

Carefully, her hands shaking, she opened the envelope, having decided that staring at it wouldn't answer any of her questions, but she might get some answers if she looked inside. She just hoped those answers weren't scary.

It took a few momements for the printed words to make sense to her as she stared at the cover letter. Then, once she read them, she still wasn't quite certain that she understood. They wanted to offer her a job? Doing what? The page seemed a bit vague, simply describing it as 'informational transfer and clarification'. Why her, out of the whole country? Why not someone that had actually applied to the company? What exactly were the 'unique qualifications' that she was supposed to have, and how did this Mr. Owen Burnett know about them? What DID he know about her?

She fretted about it for a while. Over her lunch which had no flavor, she came to a decision. She had wanted an opportunity to leave Sunnydale, to go somewhere that she could just be Willow, and an opportunity had opened for her. Shouldn't she consider the idea? And... hadn't Spike promised her transportation if she found a somewhere to go?

Decision made, she pulled out the packet of papers once more, looking over the proposed benefits, and a few of the mentioned contract clauses. The company would find and pay for a 'reasonable residence', she would have full medical and dental coverage from the minute that she signed the contract, and they would reimburse her for further education. It almost sounded to good to be true.

Really, it didn't sound too bad. Spike could get her to New York, where she would have no reminder of Tara, Oz, or Jesse. Nobody would know that she was the Slayer's friend, or that she'd been a nerd in school, well, maybe they might guess that one. But she could be herself. Maybe even with a job, a very high paying job, especially for someone with no college degree.

Filled with hope for the first time in longer than she could remember, Willow got up from her bed, the handful of papers carefully slid back into their envelope, and headed out the door. She wanted to tell Spike about this, and see if he had really meant it when he'd offered to take her away from all of this. If he had been, it looked as if they would be on their way to New York. Probably very fast, and with some swerving and the slaughter of helpless road signs, like the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign on the edge of town.

end part 6.
 

Still hopeful, but less confident, Willow walked across the cemetery. Spike's crypt was over there, although why he insisted on having a crypt... If he had always been asking for money, maybe he couldn't afford a nicer place? She'd never thought about how or even if normal vampires used money. Shaking her head, she decided that she had to many thoughts. His crypt was right there, so she carefully opened the door just enough to let her pass into the crypt.

It didn't look like any other crypt that she'd been inside. Working with Buffy, she'd actually amassed far more knowledge of crypts and graves than she'd ever really wanted. This was the first one that held a battered green sofa, and a faded blue recliner. The small table holding the television wasn't quite as unexpected, nor the deck of cards and empty bottles that looked to have held some sort of alcohol. But where was Spike? He had to be here somewhere. Carefully, she looked deeper in the crypt, hoping that he was here.

Reaching the back of the crypt, there was still no sign of Spike beyond the empty bottles and a pair of his boots. She turned around, about to leave the crypt, and there it was, a small opening, a narrow little staircase leading into darkness. She looked at it, part of her certain that Spike had to be below, and another part of her whispering that choosing to go alone and unarmed into the lair of a vampire had to be one of the stupidest things that she'd ever done, even if the vampire was Spike, who couldn't hurt her.

Drawing a breath to calm her nerves, she created a small light, a glowing pale green oval of light about the size of a walnut. Sending the light ahead of her, she began her careful descent, noting that the staircase was not part of the crypt's original construction, but a much more recent addition. The bottom was unfinished concrete, and there were several large support pillars, one of which had a pair of iron manacles dangling from the top, positioned perfectly for chaining someone up. One corner held a stereo and a disorganized pile of CD's that had tipped over to the floor, spreading across in front of the stereo. The far corner held a large bed, the deep red comforter just a few shades darker than blood rumpled into strange shapes over the mattress, and practically glowing from the contrast against the concrete walls. Moving closer, Willow could see that there was a section where the comforter looked as if it simply fell over something, instead of being curled over it's own twists.

Her voice seemed to be swallowed up in the deep shadows still left in the room. "Spike? Are you... umm, I'm really hoping that I didn't wander into the wrong crypt."

The comforter shifted, the movement combining with the feeble pale green light to look like ripples over a pool of blood. It moved again, and a pale hand slipped out, oddly reminiscent of some pale, blind spidery hunter in deep caves as it fumbled after the clock on the tiny table near the bed. Seizing the clock and holding it up for a moment before letting it fall with a muffled thump, there was a faint rumbling noise, not quite a growl.

Willow shivered, suddenly disturbed by the morbid twist her mind had taken. Bloody pools and blind cave spiders... she needed to calm down.

"Who's... Red? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Spike's voice, somewhat blurred by lingering sleep emerged from the blankets.

"ummm... Sorry? I didn't mean to wake you up..." She wasn't quite certain how to apologize.

The comforter suddenly leapt away from him, propelled by one pale arm. Spike was there, a great deal of Spike, parts of Spike that she'd ever seen before...

"eep" She closed her eyes, feeling her face burning with embarrassment. Closing her eyes did no good, the image had burned itself very clearly into her mind and memory. She hadn't known that Spike slept naked, but now? It wasn't something that she would forget, and he looked... very very good that way.

His voice echoed in the room, full of amusement. "I didn't think that I looked that bad, Red. Hope I didn't scar your eyes."

"You're mocking me. I just... didn't expect to see that much of you." She took a breath, trying to calm herself. "I wanted to talk to you about that offer you made. The one where if I had a somewhere to go, you would take me there."

Spike was almost at her elbow, his eyes full of curiosity. "What sort of somewhere do you have?"

Willow gave a small smile. "I got this in the mail. Apparently, Xanatos Enterprises has a position that a Mr. Owen Burnett thinks that I would be perfect for. Full medical and dental, coverage for continued higher education, housing provided or covered, and a 'generous salary'. It's in New York. How's that for a somewhere?"

"What's the catch? Other than the fact that it's across the country. What did the Slayer and the Watcher have to say about it?"

Settling on the edge of the bed, Willow shuffled the papers, looking at them while she organized her thoughts. "I haven't talked to them about it yet. No idea what the catch is either, but I do know they do a lot of research in several areas, like robotics, biological and medical supplies, advanced circuitry and electronics... oh, there's some high end weapon research in there too."

"If you decide to take the job, or to go there and talk about it with someone, I'll drive you. Just tell me if you want to go, this is your choice, not anyone else's." He sounded as if he was already planning something.

She smiled, feeling relieved that there was at least one person supporting her, someone who wouldn't try to make this decision for her. "Thanks. I suppose I should try to figure out which way to go with this. And I should definitely break the news to everyone else."

As he watched her leave, Spike just shook his head. Willow had already made up her mind to go. The decision had probably been made the moment that Tara's deception had been uncovered. Willow wouldn't be staying in Sunnydale. Hopefully, New York would be good to her.

end part 7.
 

Willow found Buffy, Xander and Giles all gathered at the Magic Box, with Anya working at the register. She felt her throat go tight as she entered the building, remembering how it had spilled out that Tara had just been using her. For a moment, her vision blurred, and she could only see Anya as a blur in a light blue shirt, a blob of darker something for hair. Blinking away the tears, everything focused again. "Anya? Are the others in the back?"

"Of course. Still talking about the Tara thing. I'm rather annoyed... they didn't want to listen to what I had to say and put me put here." There was a bit of frustration in Anya's voice. "Are you going to tell me that you don't care what my opinion on the matter is? Buffy did."

Willow paused, feeling quite curious. Anya had such a different perspective on some thing from everyone else. "Well, actually, what is you opinion on this? umm, Without the long list of how this relates to various wishes and curses?"

Anya almost visibly brightened, a delighted smile over her face. "Really? You actually want to know?" When she saw Willow nod, she came out from behind the counter to give Willow a quick firm hug before continuing with her words.

"She was using you because she was afraid. And that’s the part that hurt you, not the whole demon thing, which it didn't seem like you really got upset about. Other than the keeping it a secret. You feel that she was using you, and it hurts, and makes you feel resentful and angry, and maybe even wanting vengeance... I've seen that before." Anya looked serious, and it was obvious to Willow that Anya was probably thinking over times in the past when she had seen a similar situation develop into a Vengeance assignment for her, or possibly for another Vengeance Demon.

Willow blinked, feeling a bit surprised. "That... sums it up pretty well. She couldn't trust me with the truth, but she wanted to use me to protect herself. It made me feel like nobody really wants me for me, just for what they can get, you know? I mean, I really hope that that isn't how things work, but... worry and fear aren't reasonable."

Looking at Willow, Anya asked another question. "What did you need to tell them? Is it... work related?"

Willow paused, trying to determine how to answer that. "Well, not for Buffy's job. But... I don't know if I can stay here. Everything will remind me of Oz... or now Tara. No, you don't need to curse Tara."

"What would you do if you left? You don't have enough money to leave." Anya looked thoughtful, and a bit worried.

Willow remembered then that Anya had an amazing talent for economics, for business and sales matters. She pulled out the pages again, holding them out for Anya to look at. "I had a job offer. I'm not quite certain what they would want me to do, but..."

Anya glanced over the cover letter, making a little noise at the not so descriptive explanation of the position. "Wow... they are certainly offering quite a lot of perks. And a lot of money. Whatever it is, they really want you to take this job. And New York... how would you get there? It certainly wouldn't have any bad memories, you've never been there."

"I know. Spike said he'd take me there if I want the job. I was going to go back and tell the others about it. It wouldn't be fair to just.. be gone. I mean, if I decide to take it."

Anya just smiled, seeming amused by something that Willow had said. "Good luck with your new career making lots and lots of money."

Willow sighed as she reclaimed the now wrinkled pages and moved towards the back room with the rest of her friends. Willow wondered exactly how everyone would react. As she moved towards the back, she couldn't help but hear what was being said.

"I'm telling you, there had to be some reason why she wanted to stay here! Why does every not so human something show up? The Hellmouth!" Xander's voice was easily identifiable.

"You should realize that we might be a bit hasty in presuming some sort of sinister ulterior motive..." Giles words sounded reasonable, but they were being drowned out and ignored.

"What we need to figure out is what she is and if she's dangerous! Spike's right... oh, God, did I just say that? But he's right. Tara hurt Willow a lot with that, and that doesn't say harmless to me." Buffy sounded angry.

"Can we have Buffy slay her? What's the official policy on part demons?" Xander again, sounding a bit worried.

"We don't even know what sort of demon she's related to!" Giles was sounding more frustrated now.

"Excuse me?" Willow was in the doorway, looking into the room. Giles was standing by the bookshelf, a slender book open in one hand. Xander was leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest while Buffy paced, one hand firmly gripping a stake. Everyone looked over at her when she spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Wills!"

"She didn't cast any spells or anything on you, did she? No demony mind control stuff?"

"Willow, are you alright?"

The words were almost simultaneous, voices overlapping into a nearly indecipherable expression of concern that made Willow smile. "I'm not under any spells. It wasn't your fault. I'm not sure about the alright part. I don't know if I can be in Sunnydale right now. Everything that doesn't remind me of Oz and his leaving is reminding me of Tara, and the way she didn't trust me but tried to use me."

Buffy was suddenly there, her arms around Willow giving her a big hug. "I'm so sorry about all of this. Is there anything that I can do?"

Xander looked at her, his face shocked. "But... but where could you go? How could you leave?"

"Actually, I got a job offer. It would mean leaving Sunnydale and moving to New York." Willow tried to straighten out the papers. "I don't think I can stay here right now, it hurts too much."

Buffy looked as if she wanted to protest, wanted to object. Opening her mouth, she only got as far as "Willow, but you..." Sudden color darkened her face, and Buffy fell silent.

Giles looked at her, his eyes filled with understanding. "Will you be accepting the position?"

Xander looked upset that Giles would even think about Willow leaving. "She can't go! We need Willow, she's our dependable smart person with answers! How will we find information on the computer, or figure out the neat little technical tricks?"

Giles and Willow spent almost an hour trying to convince Xander that there was no reason why Willow couldn't leave if she wanted. Buffy didn't like the idea, that was abundantly clear, but she didn't try to tell Willow that she couldn't go. Considering the way Buffy had run away after the whole mess with Angelus and Acathala, it would have been rather hypocritical.

It only served to convince Willow that she really needed to leave Sunnydale. She needed to go and figure out who she was when she wasn't helping Buffy. Maybe learn what else she could do with her life. Most especially to give her wounded heart a chance to heal.

end part 8.
 

Willow made her way slowly to her dorm room, chewing on her lip as she thought. Her mind already trying to figure out how much she wanted to take with her, and what to do with the things she didn't want to take. She would most definitely want her computer, and the chest that held her magical supplies and the few weapons that she owned. She didn't need to take all of her clothing, and there had to be somewhere... yes, she could drop most of the rest off at a Salvation Army collection box. She didn't have that many books to take with her, she could probably fit them into a couple boxes... It was actually a bit sad that her life could be packed up so easily.

"Keep that up and you'll draw blood." Spike's voice distracted her from her thoughts.

Willow jumped, startled by his voice. "Hey... I didn't... wasn't paying attention very well, was I?"

"That could get you killed, especially in a place like this. So, how did your talk with the rest of them go?

Willow's voice was almost amused. "Anya's delighted. She says this looks like a great opportunity, and if this Owen Burnett can offer such a nice benefits package, they must really want me. Giles hmm'd, and I could tell that he was worried, but I think he understands why I can't stay in Sunnydale. Xander flipped, Buffy didn't want me to go either, but she didn't try to tell me that she couldn't. It would have been rather hypocritical of her. I was just trying to figure out what to take with me."

Spike nodded, apparently not surprised that Giles would understand. Looking over with a curios expression, he asked another question. "Why didn't Buffy say anything? What stopped her?"

Willow gave a half smile. "You remember the whole thing when... Angel wasn't himself and got... rather excessively out of hand?" Willow chose her words carefully, mindfull of all the other students around them, students that didn't know about vampires, demons, and the almost end of the world.

Spike's voice was rather dry. "I remember. I had that nasty fall not to long before that. How's that connect?"

Willow's voice sounded a bit bitter as she remembered the whole nightmare of Acathala. "You weren't there for the dramatic end of the scene. We had to piece everything together after the fact, but... They fought, Buffy won, because, hey, still here. But she didn't go home, or maybe just to pack. She was gone, and we found out later that she'd run away to somewhere, I think Los Angeles. She was away the whole summer, didn't come back until a bit into senior year. That's why she didn't tell me that I couldn't leave. Besides, it's not like I'm running out on any big responsibilities..."

Spike winced. "Oh, that's not very... You and Harris took it hard, didn't you? So, she didn't say you couldn't go because at least you're planning to leave a forwarding address?"

"Something like. I only stayed here this long to help my friends... I haven't got any big duties holding me here. Or family ties. umm, how big's the trunk of your car?"

Spike grinned, an expression full of dark humor. "Red, my car has a trunk big enough to put three or four bodies into, if they aren't too big. I'm sure we can fit all your stuff inside."

She nodded as she unlocked her door. "That's good to know." She opened it, stepping into the room, and after those few moments, she looked back at him, her eyes suddenly troubled. "You were joking about the bodies, right? I mean, it was hypothetical?"

He only smiled at her, choosing not to answer about the possibility of having put bodies into his car. "I'll make sure it's all cleaned out."

Willow only shook her head as he left. Hopefully he was teasing her, well, she knew he was teasing, but she could hope that he was only talking about bodies in the trunk to unsettle her. To remember the nights when he was the Big Bad, before the chip. The chip had changed him a lot, and not just because he couldn't hurt people any more. It wouldn't have done more than force him not to cause physical injury. Spike was devious and creative, if he'd really wanted to get rid of them, he would have been able to, chip or no chip.

But he didn't want anyone to know that he'd changed. To know that he wasn't just a bloodthirsty predator, although Willow doubted that he'd ever been JUST a bloodthirsty hunter in the darkness. He cared, passionately about things, like Dru, the continued existance of the world, and his enjoyment of the soap opera Passions. Spike was a lot more human than most vampires, which didn't automatically make him safe, just more than a near mindless killer. She'd seen some rather ugly things done by humans, and history class was full of more ugliness, done by humans to other humans. No, being human definitely didn't mean being nice or safe.

She was going to be setting off across the country, headed for New York to talk to someone about a mysterious position that hadn't been explained, but that Mr. Burnett thought that she'd be perfect for, in a car with Spike. She was leaving everything that she knew, her home town, her friends, her family, well, her town and friends at least, and traveling alone to New York with Spike. Maybe she needed to get her head examined.

Shaking her head, Willow glanced out her window. Frowning, she peered closer. Had she just seen two winged shapes go across the moon? Had she seen gargoyles in Sunnydale, again? A small smile crossed her face at the idea. Sunnydale needed all the protectors that it could get.

Willow suddenly frowned as she remembered Tara's brother earlier in the week. He'd said he was a Quarryman, well, not exactly said, but he wore a QuarryMan shirt and sounded like he fell in with their agenda. He had said that Gargoyles were evil and dangerous, said it in front of Buffy, who's destiny was to figth and kill dangerous evil things. What if Buffy thought that the gargoyles were dangerous? Willow sighed and picked up the dorm phone, dialing the number for the Magic Box.

The phone was answered by Anya, her voice sounding a bit distracted. "This is the Magic Box. We're closed now, but you can arrive promptly at eight in the morning when we open."

"Anya? Is Buffy still there? And Giles? I was thinking, about that guy, Tara's brother. The one in the Quarrymen shirt." Willow's voice betrayed some of her impatience.

"Willow. Are you going to go take the job? Will you send me a postcard from New York? Buffy and Giles are practicing with swords now, and the Quarryman was an idiot. If I still had my powers, I'd curse him to have festering boils filled with puss all over his body."

Willow's mind spun a bit at Anya's graphic imagry. "Umm, gross image. Not that he didin't sound like he'd deserve it, but eeeuuuww. Can you tell Buffy that the Gargoyles..."

Anya cut Willow off. "Gargoyles aren't evil. I've known about them since I was human the first time, and they were never evil. They keep places safe, and fight nasty things that humans can't. And if I find out about you or anyone else here trying to hunt any down and get rid of them, I'll... I'll"... I'll have to come up with something extra nasty."

Willow felt stunned for a moment, both by Anya's fiercely protective reaction and the morbid question of what could be so terrible that Anya couldn't immediately think of it? "Umm... that's not what I was going to say. I wanted to say that I think there are some gargoyles near Sunnydale, and someone should make certain that Buffy knows they aren't evil. Because, you know, Slayer."

"Oh. In that case, I can take care of that with no problem. So, are you taking that job?" Anya sounded much happier now.

Willow sighed. "I'm going to go to New York and find out a bit more about the job first. But... I'm considering it. Thing is, Spike's driving, which has me a little concerned."

Anya's laughter carried over the line. "Spike's told me all about his previous evil days. He's never killed anyopne by running over them with a car or by being involved in a traffic accident. You should be perfectly safe."

Willow could feel herself smiling. "That's reassuring. Now I just hope that his music doesn't drive me into a nervous breakdown, that the job is actualy legal, and that I can find somewhere to live in New York. Oh, no problems at all... Thanks Anya."

She was still smiling as she went to bed. She dreamed of dancing gargoyles in Times Square, and shimmering Christmas lights reflecting on a glimmering coat of ice. Spike was sitting on a bench watching, cigarette in hand, and he looked over at her before speaking. 'Welcome to the night, Red. Welcome to the future.'

end part 9.
 

Willow finished her packing in the morning, surveying the lonely looking room. She hadn't actually had that much to take down, but it seemed to make a huge difference. Her things from the dorm made a small collection, and most of it was books, magical supplies and weapons, and her computer things. Frowning, she made a brief trip to her parents house to see if there was anything there that she wanted. That only added another small bag of things. If she accepted the position, she would definitely need to buy more clothing, especially professional clothing. She sighed, wondering how it was that she had only a small collection of things and enough memories to give a normal person screaming nightmares for years.

She was still sitting there thinking things over when Spike arrived. He tapped on the door, opening it when there was no response, revealing Willow sitting on one of the narrow beds, her eyes towards a small pile of luggage, but something about her expression suggested that she wasn't really looking at the luggage. She also seemed to be unaware of his presence, lost in some sort of melancholy thoughts.

"What did I tell you about not paying attention to your surroundings? Is that all the things you want to take?" Spike's voice sounded amused.

Willow shook her head, as if something were bothering her. "That and enough memories to make a psychoanalyst into a millionaire. Surprisingly few physical scars though. I would have expected a few more considering everything...But I guess the emotional ones are the sort that cause the most damage anyhow."

Spike winced, well acquainted with emotional scars in his own existence. "So, does this mean we're going shopping once we get to New York? Considering that this isn't a big wardrobe, and I'm sure you'll want furniture."

A small grin touched Willow's lips. "Sure. We can go shopping, and you can help me pick good colors for my skin tone. Shall we start taking these to the car?"

Their trip across America started that night. Willow wasn't surprised when Spike ran over the 'Welcome to Sunnydale/Now Leaving Sunnydale' sign as they left town. It didn't surprise her that he didn't wear a seat belt, considered speed limits to be suggestions, and smoked while driving.

She was pleasantly surprised that while he did play his music loudly, it wasn't actually bad, and she even found herself enjoying quite a few of them. Spike sang along with many of his favorite songs, with varying degrees of accuracy. Some of them sounded very good, and others, well, sometimes Spike's singing just wasn't very close to the actual performance. It was oddly endearing, especially since when Willow occasionally sang along with a song that she knew, her own voice was frequently rather far from the actual singer's. She loved to sing, she just wasn't terribly good at it. Spike had teased her a little, grinning at her when she countered by pointing out some of his own 'improvised melodies'.

The trip practically flew by, and that wasn't entirely due to the speed that Spike drove at. They occasionally found places where there was nothing of interest on the radio, and so they talked, about life, about love and all it's painful failings, and about hopes and dreams. They were bonding, and learning more about each other. It was actually good for them both, learning more about each other, feeling that there was someone who could listen to their innermost secrets and not judge them. It was a refreshing feeling for them both.

It felt like barely more than a few days before they arrived in New York. Spike found them a hotel, not to expensive but more important to Spike, somewhere that didn't have much direct sunlight and didn't ask questions. The clerk looked human, but the cleaning person that they passed looked a bit... off. Nothing specific, but she just didn't look quite human to Willow. She had simply shrugged, confident that Spike wouldn't lead her to a place where she would be attacked. All she would have to do would be go out, buy something that she could interview for a corporate position in, and set up an interview with Mr. Burnett. For this position that he thought she would be perfect for. Willow had numerous doubts and suspicion about the job, but not enough to keep her from learning more about it.

She ended up starting her shopping without Spike, needing the daylight hours while he would sleep. The sooner she found something appropriate to wear, the sooner she could set up an interview, the better her chances that the position wouldn't already be filled.

After several hours of searching for the right sort of stores, and looking for things that she might be able to wear, she happened upon a store with the right sort of clothing. It made her feel a bit more confident that there was another red haired woman in the store, a tall, muscular woman with almost wild hair and the sort of confident and almost predatory movements that made Willow think of Slayers or vampires, except that Buffy and Faith were both alive, and the sunlight streaming into the store meant that the woman couldn't be a vampire.

Willow ended up leaving the store with a grey and a dark green version of the suit that the other redhead was wearing, and several light colored shirts. It had come to an appalling total, one that had made Willow wince inside. But she knew that without proper clothing, normal businesses wouldn't even consider a person for a position, regardless of impeccable credentials, which hers definitely weren't. Besides, whoever Ms. Destine was, she definitely knew how to dress for corporate success.

Spike was awake by the time she returned to the hotel, pacing the hallway impatiently, a lit cigarette clenched in his mouth, and his eyes flickering from blue to golden. He looked unhappy, and tense. Willow thought that just maybe he had been worried.

"Hey... I found a suit. I hope you didn't fret too much, I thought that you could use the rest after our trip." Her words were spoken softly, with the utter confidence that he would hear her.

"You could have been hurt. This isn't the safest city, Willow." Spike's voice held a bit of a growl, and anyone that hadn't got to know him would think that he was threatening her.

She sighed, knowing that he was right. "I know, but... I did stay in the nicer shopping areas, where there were plenty of people. I learned enough that I should be okay against a would be purse snatcher, and... I don't think I can afford to wait. What if the position has already been filled? What if I'm not what they need after all? I can't stay here without a job... and jobs don't just wait until you've had time to get every detail."

He just growled a bit, running his fingers through his hair, mussing the smooth pale locks. "I suppose... So, you have everything that you need now? No more sudden shopping trips?"

"I still need to call and set up an interview. I think I have everything that I need until I get the job, whatever the job is. Now, I should go inside and call to set this thing up..." Her voice trailed off, and she felt her stomach fluttering from pure nervousness.

Spike nodded even as he put one arm behind her back and began propelling her back to their room. "Right, go make your phone call, set up this interview, get the job. I've been trying to get some information about possible apartments. After all, we can't stay in a hotel room forever..." His voice trailed off as if an unpleasant thought had occurred.

Willow paused, glancing at him as he fumbled with the keycard. Spike seemed a bit upset at some thought that had occurred to him. It had been right after he'd mentioned an apartment... Was he worried about her being on her own, or about himself being on his own? She considered the possibilities as he unlocked the door and pulled her into the room with him.

"Spike? Would you want... I mean, maybe you could share the apartment with me? Like you said, New York is a dangerous city, I could be in more danger living alone. I wouldn't want to impose or anything..." She offered the question a bit nervously, hoping that he wouldn't get upset, hoping that she had read him correctly.

He looked at her, as if trying to read into her soul. "You really mean it? You wouldn't mind having me live with you... unlive... whatever."

She sank onto the couch with a smile. "Really. I mean, I hope you don't leave all your clothing on the floor like Xander, or leave a huge mess all over the dresser tops like Buffy... And I would really hope that you rinse your mugs after you use them. But I've had fun on the trip out here. And I've spent a lot of time living all by myself, even if I wasn't responsible for the bills before, and it's not the greatest thing. It's actually rather... I get lonely all by myself. And maybe you wouldn't be too lonely either."

His next words were rather unconvincing, especially with the big smile that was on his face. "I'm the big bad, I don't get lonely." He shuffled his feet a bit, and then in a more ordinary tone spoke again. "So... you need to call that Mr. Burns guy and set up an interview."

"Burnett, not Burns... and I have my letter right here." Her eyes were sparkling with barely restrained laughter, and Willow knew that this would turn out alright. Somehow, everything would be good.

end part 10.
 
 

It didn't take Willow very long to find the letter, or to place one slightly trembling finger by the contact number for Mr. Owen Burnett. She took a deep breath to try to inspire confidence, and carefully dialed the number, hoping that her voice would be steady when she spoke to whoever picked up.

:Hello? This is Owen Burnett of Xanatos Enterprises.: The voice on the other end was a man's voice, his precise words carrying no emotion. Despite that, his voice was a fairly pleasant tenor.

"This is Willow Rosenberg. You sent me a letter that stated there was a position that I might be qualified for? I was wondering if I could schedule an interview, or if the position had already been filled." Her voice didn't shake.

:The position is still open. Would Friday at two o'clock in the afternoon be acceptable? At the Xanatos Enterprises tower, the address should be included in your letter, in conference room three.:

"Friday at two, at the Xanatos Building... that's the one with the castle on the top? Conference room three... I can do that. I do have a few questions about the position... Will they be answered at the interview?" Willow nodded to herself, fully aware that Mr. Burnett couldn't see the gesture. If she could learn some more about this mysterious position...

:Of course your questions will be answered. However, there is a policy to attempt to keep the various projects and related activities confidential. I will have to ask you to sign a paper that you will not divulge any information to the media or potential business rivals.: The voice sounded cautious now, as if there had been serious problems with rivals in the past.

"That sounds pretty reasonable. I'll make a list of my questions, and I will be there at two." Willow felt anticipation and hope flutter inside her chest. The position hadn't been filled, she had an interview.

:I shall look forward to it. Good day, Miss Rosenberg.: The phone was hung up with a soft click.

Carefully, Willow placed the receiver back on the phone, and stood up with a smile. "YES!! I got an interview, the position hasn't been filled."

Spike looked over, a small smile hovering on his lips. "You seem to be in a good mood about that. To bad I can't go with you to the interview."

"I want a job, I need a job, I don't want to ever HAVE to go back to Sunnydale. I don't want to depend on my parents remembering that they have a child. I want to be financially independent, to not have to live in someone else's shadow anymore."

"Makes perfect sense to me. But if you don't keep your joyful noises down, people are going to start getting their own ideas about what we're doing in here." It was all he could do not to laugh at her suddenly crimson face and the small 'eep' that emerged as she sank back onto the couch.

end part 11.
 

Willow was very nervous by the time Friday rolled around. She had a page full of questions about the mysterious position, and was eager to have them answered. She had also used her computer to send everyone in Sunnydale an email to let them know that she had got here safely.

There were local news stations mentioning Gargoyles. They had been sighted in the air, and people were alarmed and confused. There had been interviews with QuarryMen, who had claimed that the Gargoyles were evil and a danger to the city. Some people agreed, citing several examples of vast property damage, although Willow and Spike had both thought it looked to have involved explosives rather than claws. Some people supported the idea of gargoyles, claiming that people should befriend them. There were also some scientist who had stated very carefully that 'if such creatures did exist, it would be of great interest to the scientific community, and they would be very interested in the study of these so called Gargoyles.' Willow wasn't quite certain what to think of that, remembering the Initiative's version of 'studying' demons.

Spike had had a few rather sharp things to say about both the scientists and the QuarryMen, things that had left him sitting in the corner holding his head in pain. Willow had felt so terrible for him that she had offered to try a spell to help with the pain. It didn't make it all go away, but reduced it from 'the mother of all lightning storms battling a rock drummer' to a simple 'stabbing headache'. He looked like it was a drastic improvement.

Nervously, Willow dressed in the grey suit, complete with the leather pumps that she'd picked up. She had managed to convince her hair to do something semi serious looking, and applied a very small bit of makeup, a hint of blush to give some color over cheeks pale from nervous, and some eyeliner. Walking over, she touched Spike's shoulder.

"Spike? I have to go for my interview now. I don't know how long it will take." She didn't want to worry him, so she also left a note saying the same thing, 'going to interview, not sure how long it will last. - Willow'.

She caught a cab to the Xanatos Enterprises tower, and fretted the whole way, hoping that she would look professional enough, hoping that she was qualified, and wondering exactly what they wanted her to do anyhow. She was so nervous that her stomach was fluttering and her hands were shaking. Eventually, the cab dropped her off at the base of a huge sky-scraper.

It didn't take long to gather her courage and go inside, and the sleek looking receptionist gave her directions to find conference room three. The high speed elevator ride didn't help her stomach any, but the directions were good, and she found conference room three. It was of a size to hold maybe a dozen people around the polished dark table, and the walls were lined with dark paneled wood. Most people would probably find it intimidating, but it reminded Willow of the old high school library, only without the books. She settled into a chair, placing the briefcase with her letter and the pad of paper with her questions on the table in front of her, almost like a shield against the world.

Willow had finally managed to calm herself to the point where she was no longer shaking when the door opened. A blond man in a pale grey suit walked in, his suit immaculately pressed. His pale blond hair was short and neat, and he had wire rimmed glasses over eyes the color of a winter sky. She stood up, mentally thanking whatever power watched out for her that she hadn't jumped or squeaked when he'd come inside.

"Miss Rosenberg? I am Owen Burnett." He held out a hand for her to shake, after which he settled into the chair across the table from her.

"Pleased to meet you." Willow's voice only shook a little, and it calmed her a bit that she recognized his voice from the phone call.

Settling himself, he pulled out several sheaves of papers, including a slender stack that he slid over to Willow. "I'd appreciate you signing the non-disclosure agreement, and there is a proposed benefits package for you to examine. After I have the signed non-disclosure form, I can start to answer your questions."

Willow read very carefully over the pages before signing, relieved to see that they were nothing more than a written promise not to reveal any business information to the media or to competitive businesses. Smiling slightly, she signed the page and slid it back to Mr. Burnett. "I guess my first question is what area is the position in? The letter didn't say, only that you felt that I would be qualified. Is it marketing, research, accounting... I'm a bit curious what sort of thing I would be doing. If I were to accept and be hired and all."

Mr. Burnett shifted his glasses slightly before answering. "There are a number of individuals that Mr. Xanatos feels... a measure of responsibility for. Some of these individuals are... unable to go through the public school system, and it was suggested that he find them an alternative education."

Wheels starting to turn in her head, Willow looked at him. "Surely your investigation made you aware that I do not have the required degree in education to be a qualified teacher. Since I'm certain there must be thousands of people in New York with degrees in education, I have to ask why me?"

Looking at her, he nodded, as if she had just confirmed something for him. "I am aware that you temporarily instructed a class at your high school after the death of the computer teacher. This is practical experience that would be very useful. But you are correct, you do not have a degree. That is why Xanatos Enterprises is willing to pay for your continuing college education, provided that you maintain at least a C average."

Willow got the feeling that he wasn't ready to tell her yet exactly why the people in question needed a special teacher. "There is something here about housing... could you elaborate? Does that mean there are... official Xanatos apartments for employees?"

He chuckled slightly. "No, although we might want to consider the idea. We will pay for or reimburse you for a suitable residence. Most likely an apartment."

Remembering Spike, Willow gave a small smile. "The city is a lot bigger than Sunnydale, and it makes me a bit nervous. Would it be a problem if I had someone else living with me in this apartment?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, although we might ask your room mate to sign a non-disclosure agreement as well, just to be cautious."

The discussion continued in that manner for well over two hours, Willow bringing up a point over the benefits and Mr Burnett explaining. The longer this went on, the more appealing the benefits were. It sounded as if she was being asked to teach some basic reading, without the emphasis on classical literature, and to cover a moderate amount of history and practical mathematics. Nothing was said about standardized testing. Willow was now almost certain that if it wasn't the actual job requirements or duties that was the potential problem, it must be the students. There was something about the students that he was expecting her to freak about, and he was reluctant to bring it up, or he was waiting for something.

end part 12.
 

Due to the lack of windows in the conference room, Willow didn't notice when the sun set. She also had no way of knowing that as the sun sank below the horizon, a handful of gargoyles awoke from their stone sleep on the castle. But David Xanatos was there, waiting and watching with a small smile of anticipation.

"You have no idea how impressive that looks. I'll have to have it taped at some point so you can watch." His voice carried easily.

The leader of the gargoyles, a large lavender male called Goliath looked at him, a small expression of dismay crossing his humanlike features. When he spoke, his deep voice held a small hint of a rumble, not quite a growl. "Xanatos. What brings you here at this time?"

"I understand that there is a bit of a complication in the education of the clones. I have a solution. Owen is currently interviewing a potential teacher for them if you want to see."

"Humans don't do very well with gargoyles. Why would this one be willing to teach the clones?" Bitterness was clear in the voice of the new speaker, the beaked red gargoyle that had taken the name Brooklyn.

"Partly because I'm willing to offer a generous salary and benefits. If you're worried, either of you, why don't you come downstairs and meet her?" Xanatos had a slightly smug expression, as if he was looking forward to something.

"I would be interested in meeting this person, especially if they are truly willing to help the clones." Goliath's rumble sounded far more thoughtful this time.

With a shrug, Brooklyn moved closer as well. "What's to loose? Might as well meet this person."

They would have been an interesting sight for anyone that happened to observe them as they walked into the castle, or emerged from the elevator to head for the conference room where Owen was interviewing someone. Xanatos was looking pleased with himself, and Brooklyn was muttering doubts and concerns as he followed into the office tower, a place that was wholly formed from modern technology.

Xanatos opened the door right in time to hear the young woman say "Mr. Burnett, I think it would be no surprise to you that I have to admit the benefits are impressive. But... exactly what have you been carefully not telling me about these people that need an education?"

It was too perfect of an opportunity to pass up. "Are you aware that humans are not the only intelligent species on this planet Miss Rosenberg?"

Startled, the red haired woman looked away from Owen to face the door, where she saw him and the two Gargoyles. Her eyes widened and her mouth shaped an 'oh' of surprise as she rose to her feet. Her expression showed no fear, only surprise. "Gargoyles..."

Xanatos frowned a bit, feeling a bit let down. "I would have expected a bit more..."

Brooklyn moved into the room, looking at the redhead with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. "You don't work in the entertainment industry do you?"

"Entertainment?" Puzzlement flickered over her face before she shook her head. "No. I'm a college student. But... I've seen gargoyles before."

Her words left the room in stunned silence so thick that it was almost amazing that anyone still moved. Xanatos stared at Owen, seeing that his second was every bit as surprised as he was.

"Other gargoyles? Where? When?" Goliath's rumbling voice held a blend of hope and concern.

She gave a small smile. "I was a child at the time, and it was in California. A pair of gargoyles saved me from... I guess you might say a mad dog. The male was green, and he sort of reminded me of a lion, and the female was bronze with red hair... One of my friends saw what had to have been a blue gargoyle a few weeks ago, but she didn't know what to call him."

"There are gargoyles... in California?" He sounded stunned.

"Allow me to perform belated introductions. This is Mr. Xanatos. The large gargoyle is Goliath, the red one is Brooklyn. Gentlemen, this is Willow Rosenberg." Owen's voice carried a faint note of something that they couldn't quite place.

Willow smiled brightly, and offered her hand to the nearest person, who happened to be Brooklyn. "Nice to meet you. I guess... I'm supposed to be teaching? And yes, there were gargoyles in Sunnydale, and I was pretty sure I saw something flying there right before I left."

Brooklyn spoke, his voice oddly nervous. "You'll teach our kind? You aren't afraid..."

There was sorrow in Willow's eyes as she spoke again. "I learned a long time ago that gargoyles protect. More recently, I learned that it isn't what's outside that makes someone a monster, it's what's inside. And some of the scary types aren't so scary once you get to know them. Are there any other surprises that I should know about?"

"Talon and the other mutates."

"Mutates? What happened... never mind. What was altered?" Willow looked as if part of her mind was already racing ahead.

Xanatos suddenly looked less stunned and more businesslike. "The actual work was done by Anton Sevarious, and their entire physical appearance was altered. They resemble humanoid cats with large wings. And yes, they have tails."

"Oh good... the last mutated people I ran into had fishy scales and... there was much badness. But I'm sure you don't want to hear about that." She actually looked relieved.

Xanatos found himself laughing, entirely unable to predict what Willow would say next, or how she would react. "I think you'll do just fine with us, Miss Rosenberg. Welcome aboard."

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