~Part: 31~
Saturday night
"Bloody Hell," groaned Spike as he found himself back in the stone circle. Angel and Willow were both lying on the ground, and he reached down to wake them up. Angel sat up first, then Willow slowly blinked, recognising her dreamscape as her mates helped her to her feet.
"I hope you're not still driving," she said nervously to Angel, who couldn't resist giving her a quick but forceful hug.
"Don't worry, we're safely parked" he reassured her, keeping one arm around her as he placed his free hand on Spike's shoulder.
Thus united, the three sensed a presence surround them. Willow felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, and she saw that Angel and Spike were looking around as if trying to locate an enemy.
Willow could feel the presence as though it were calling to her, singing a song that was just too soft to hear. For a moment she was scared, and she was tempted to retreat, to close her ears, but she felt the reassuring presence of her mates next to her, and she chose instead to send her mind out, to try to find the source of this strange, silent music that called to the fire flowing in her veins.
At once Willow felt the music fill her. She recalled Angel's words about drowning in a sea of love, and she realised what he had meant. But this was not love; it was power, and knowledge, and it rushed at her and swept her away.
She could feel herself start to panic at the sensation, and she feared she would be lost, overwhelmed by the flood of feelings and energies washing over her. But her nerves calmed as she felt herself anchored by the presence of Angel and Spike, both physically as the vampires stood with her and mentally, through the bond.
The strength of the bond was another surprise to Willow. She could feel it supporting her, holding her tight, and she knew that its strength came from them, the three of them, and their love for each other. She could feel the rightness, the balance, the absolute harmony that existed between her and her bond mates, and she welcomed the power that would help her to protect her mates and keep them safe.
As suddenly as it arrived the sensation stopped, but Willow could feel the silent hum of the music in her mind, moving in harmony with the fire that she still felt burning in her veins, and knew she could call the power forward if she needed to. But how to use it - that was another problem entirely.
Opening her eyes to get her bearings, she found herself still standing in the stone circle, and turning to her companions saw from their dazed expressions that they had felt the same thing that she had.
She also noticed that they had company; Ms calendar was silently observing them, obviously waiting for the trio to recover.
Willow waited for the vampires to regain their senses before asking their visitor, "Is that it then? I mean, that was the whole getting of the powers thing?"
"Yes. Your bond was strong and you have made the transition into your Servant state safely. Now you must learn to use the power within you."
"And how do I, or we, do that?" asked the redhead.
"You have the answers to all your questions within you. You must learn only to trust yourself, and your mates. You have learnt that the strength of your bond comes from the unity of the three. So too will the use of your power flow from the bond. Remember the words you have spoken - the three shall be one."
"Fuck, I hate this cryptic dream shit!"
Willow smiled in sympathy at Spike's words then blinked twice, suddenly aware of a pain in her neck and that she was lying on the back seat of Angel's car ... safely parked as promised.
~Part: 32~
Saturday night, Sunnydale
Giles, Wesley and Cordelia had arrived at Sunnydale Memorial, spoken to Buffy's mother and checked the Slayer's condition, and were now waiting for Angel and company to put in an appearance.
"I do hope they're all right," Wesley muttered.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. In her opinion, Angel had probably stopped off at a motel for some quality time with his mates, but she kept her thoughts to herself as she watched Giles continue to pace.
Wesley sipped at his coffee, finding even hospital cafeteria coffee a delicacy after Cordelia's usual stomach-melting attempts. He heard someone call his name, and looked up to see Angel headed towards him, with Willow and Spike close behind. Something about Angel seemed different. Wesley puzzled over it for a moment before realising the vampire seemed more relaxed, as did the others.
Hearing Angel's voice Giles rushed over, reassured to see the trio had arrived safely. He quickly updated Angel on Buffy's condition, and suggested that they all go back to his apartment to research the demons who had injured the Slayer.
"OK," said Willow, "but before we go I want to go in and see Buffy." Angel nodded his understanding, and Giles led her to Buffy's room where Mrs Summers was seated next to her unconscious daughter.
Giles left Willow at Buffy's bedside, and he and Mrs Summers went outside to give her some privacy. Willow looked at Buffy sadly. Her face was not badly burnt, but most of her body was heavily bandaged. Tears in her eyes, the redhead remembered the many times Buffy had saved her life. She wondered how it had come to this, her best friend now her enemy and the Slayer reduced to this fragile, damaged girl.
Willow left the room slowly, indicating to Giles that she would join the others as he continued to comfort Buffy's mother. As she walked, lost in her thoughts, she suddenly realised she had gone the wrong way. She didn't recognise where she was, and she looked around for a nurse. She saw one go into a room, and after hesitating for a moment she followed.
The nurse looked up as Willow entered, and gave her directions back to the waiting room. Willow thanked her, and was about to leave when she looked down at the patient lying silently in the bed. It was Faith.
The nurse saw Willow's face blanch, and put a gentle hand on her arm. "Are you OK?"
Willow swallowed, and said huskily, "It's Faith. I mean, I knew her ... I know her," she corrected herself. "Has there been any change in her condition?"
"No," said the nurse with a sad glance at the girl on the bed. It seemed such a waste, a young girl with her whole life ahead of her, now doomed to lie in this bed as the years passed unnoticed.
Faith's face seemed so serene, Willow thought. She wondered if the Slayer were dreaming, or if she somehow knew what had happened to her. Willow reached out her hand and laid it on Faith's warm cheek, wondering at the strangeness of fate that both Slayers should once again be in this hospital, unconscious.
Slowly removing her hand, Willow thanked the nurse again and headed back to the others, her mind ticking over with ideas
*****
As soon as the group had reached Giles' apartment Willow took charge, distracting Wesley and Giles from their excited conversation; having just learned about the arrival of Willow's powers, they had, in the redhead's opinion, lost sight of the immediate problem.
Getting herself into research girl mode, she declared "OK, Servant stuff can wait, let's try to find out some more about these demons," she declared, her words spurring Giles and Wesley into action.
While the Watchers searched through Giles' library, handing useful looking books to the vampires to examine, Willow hooked up her laptop and showed Cordelia her demon database. Less than two hours later they had a winner.
"Yep, that's the one. A Kventsu demon. Hmm," said Cordelia as she read through the meager information in the computer. "OK, able to extract electrical energy from the air and use as a weapon - that would explain the explosions and burns. Cannot be killed by use of magic. That's going to make things a bit more tricky," she said in gloomy tones as Willow nodded in agreement.
<Finally got my powers and I can't even try them out> she reflected, deciding maybe it was a good thing given that she had no idea how to actually use them.
The girls read the rest of the paragraph together, and as they finished Willow raised her eyebrows. "Well, that doesn't sound very difficult. Wear a crystal that's been magically enhanced to absorb the demon's energy beam and kill them by decapitation. I can't believe Buffy didn't at least try to contact me. I mean, she could have e-mailed. How could she risk her life like that? And even if she wouldn't want to call me, it's not like I'm the only witch she knows.
Tara could have done the spell for her."
Cordelia snorted. "You're assuming Buffy even knew what kind of demon it was."
Willow mentally slapped herself. "Of course, it was probably the first time she seen one. Poor Buffy. But how am I meant to decapitate one demon, let alone three?"
"You're forgetting something," Angel interrupted, reminding the girls that the others were closely following their conversation. "Cordelia saw someone with you. I can kill the demons for you. And Spike and the others will be there, helping. Perhaps Cordelia just didn't see them in her vision."
Willow thought that seemed like an excellent plan, until she heard her least favourite sound.
"Oh dear," muttered Giles, looking sadly at the ancient tome in front of him as five pairs of eyes focused on him. "We may have a problem."
~Part: 33~
Saturday night, Sunnydale
"What?" asked Willow nervously, as Giles seemed reluctant to continue speaking.
"Ah, well, there is an immediate problem regarding these demons. The magically enhanced crystal will protect a living creature from the demon's energy beam, but it will not assist a vampire. Their lack of a life force will make them vulnerable to, ah,"
"Incineration?" Cordelia suggested helpfully.
Spike turned to Cordelia, his eyes tinged yellow, and Angel hastily interrupted before the blonde could add his own comments.
"So that definitely rules out Spike or I from being present at the attack. But I still don't see why Cordelia's vision had Willow there."
"Well, that leads me to our second problem," said Giles slowly. "Willow, do you remember the last time we had a full research meeting?"
"Sure," said the redhead, wondering where this was going. "We were researching some demons Buffy found on patrol, um, not usually from this dimension and, mmm,"
"They had entered through a portal from another dimension, yes, and I was worried that they may be the harbingers of some more serious trouble."
No-one spoke, for they could all see where this conversation was headed.
Finally Wesley sighed and said "And they were, I take it?"
"Yes," Giles nodded, "they certainly were."
And Giles explained at length the problem that they faced with the Kventsu demons. Aside from heir immediate problem of how to decapitate three demons without the assistance of the vampires, there was a reason that the Kventsu had appeared after the earlier demons.
"Those first demons were not poewrful, and could not have come here themselves. Something made a temporary portal for them between dimensions, by disrupting the energy between the dimensions. This is a very difficult thing to do, and only a very powerful demon could do it. Kventsu are one type of demon, rarely seen, who have such power. They would have exhausted themselves creating the portal."
"So why did they do it?" asked Willow nervously. she had a feeling it was not going to be anything good.
"Well, I can only guess," said Giles slowly, but it seemed to the others that he did not have much doubt that what he was about to say was true. "I would say that the other demons were acting as scouts. The Kventsu are not from this dimension. It may be that some disturbance in their own reality has forced them to look for a new home. The forward scouts, met by Buffy, must have given a favourable report to their masters, and now the Kventsu are here to open a permanent portal to allow more demons to come. They are probably now gathering energy, to make that permanent portal."
There was silence as everyone digested this news.
Giles cleared his throat. "I'm afraid there's more. The Kventsu must have already amassed large amounts of energy. When they are killed, this energy will be released. Without the Kventsu to direct it, this energy will distort our reality and could well open an uncontrolled portal to some other reality."
"Like a Hellmouth?" Willow questioned nervously.
"Exactly," was Giles stark reply. "And I fear that is why Cordelia's vision saw Willow at the scene. She will be needed to control the energies released as the Kventsu are killed."
Spike moved closer to Willow, wrapping his arms around her with a low growl. Bad enough for Willow to have to be there, but with he or Angel to protect her? How the hell were any of these humans going to decapitate three demons and keep the redhead safe?
Angel looked over at Spike's angry growl, sharing his concern for their mate. Then he noticed the look in Willow's eyes. "You have a plan," he said, almost accusing her.
"Well, sort of," she admitted. "None of us can kill these demons, not without magic or vamp strength. We need a Slayer."
Everyone looked shocked.
"Willow," said Wesley giving her a strange look, "even if Buffy were not unconscious surely you don't think she would help you?"
Willow merely smiled. "Buffy is not the only unconscious Slayer we have handy."
"Faith?" said Angel, turning the idea over in his mind. "But can you wake her?"
"We can try," said Willow, her emphasis on the "we".
She looked at Giles, and he nodded slowly as he considered the possibilities. "But what makes you think that Faith will help us either? She was after all trying to kill us all before she went in to her coma."
"I saw her at the hospital, and I felt ... I don't know, something. Anyway I think it's worth a try."
"But how will you do it?" said Giles, still unclear on how well Willow understood her new powers.
"I have no idea," the redhead admitted blithely, "but I have a good idea where to start. Let's all get some sleep, and discuss it again in the morning."
Weary heads nodded their agreement, and Giles supervised the sleeping arrangements, letting the mates have the use of his room. When the trio were finally alone, Spike reached for Willow, but she batted his hands away.
"Not now, Spikey, we have work to do." And as her mates watched curiously, Willow had them sit on the floor in a circle, and indicated that they should join hands.
Each heard words sound in their mind - "and the three shall be one" - before they found themselves in the stone circle again. But they were not alone. Ms Calendar was seated cross-legged on the floor, holding in her arms a sleeping Faith.
~Part: 34~
Saturday night, Willow's dreamscape
Ms Calendar looked at the trio without speaking, and Willow decided it was up to her to get the ball rolling.
"So," she said in her best "take charge" voice, "I guess you know why we're here."
"You need the Slayer," responded Ms Calendar, holding the motionless girl in her arms.
"Yep, but it's more complicated than that. We need her conscious, but we also need her willing to help."
Ms Calendar stared at Willow for a moment, then said simply, "Watch."
As she spoke the stone circle around them dissolved, and they were sitting in Buffy's hospital room. But there was something very strange about the scene; Buffy and her mother were both glowing, their bodies giving off swirls of light.
"Watch", Ms Calendar repeated, and Willow and the vampires obediently looked again. Willow could see that Buffy's aura was much brighter than that of her mother, despite her unconscious state, but there was something, well, distorted was the word that came to mind, about the way the colours were flowing.
Willow looked over to Faith, still in Ms Calendar's embrace, and saw that her aura mirrored that of Buffy - it was as if the flow of the energy was being impeded.
Before Willow could formulate a question the hospital vanished and they were back in their familiar setting.
Ms Calendar looked at willow, waiting for her question.
"What was wrong with the Slayers? Is it because they are unconscious?"
"No," responded Ms Calendar. "The problem existed before they were injured"
"It's because there's two of them, isn't it," Spike interrupted, earning amazed glances from his mates. "What, I can't have a good idea? It's bloody obvious, isn't it? I mean the Slayer, the Chosen One, not the Chosen Seven. Having a mob of them running around is throwing everything out of whack."
"Your mate speaks wisely," replied Ms Calendar, drawing a hastily muffled snort of derision from Angel. Spike, wise? Not two words he would have ever associated with each other.
"The energy and power which is the right and inheritance of the Slayer has been corrupted by the presence of two Slayers, and as time has gone by this disturbance has worsened. It is the basis of the problems which both have suffered. For these problems to be solved, a choice must be made. There can only be one Slayer."
And with this piece of advice ringing in their ears the trio found themselves back in Giles house.
Spike jumped to his feet, grinning like a maniac and rubbing his hands in glee. "We're going to kill a Slayer, we're going to kill a Slayer," he sang, drawing a concerned look from Angel and an amused glare from Willow.
His face settled in it's normal broodin expresson, Angel spoke quietly but firmly. "Willow, despite everything that she has done, Buffy was your friend, and my lover. She is unconscious now, she can't hurt us anymore, and I just don't think we can callously kill her while lies there, defenceless."
"Of course we're not going to hurt her," said Willow, trying to get Angel to focus on her words as she saw him heading for a full-on brood. "Angel, Ms Calendar told us there can only be one Slayer. That is not the same thing as killing Buffy."
Angel looked at her blankly, and Spike started to lose some of his exuberance as he sensed the delicious prospect of a dead Buffy sneaking out of his grasp.
"Look, Buffy is a person and a Slayer, right?" Seeing that Spike was about to add his own insights, Willow hurried on, "so all we need to do is de-Slayer-ise her. Make her a normal person again, so Faith has her full Slayer powers and Buffy can have what she always wanted - a normal life."
Angel and Spike both pondered this new idea, Angel with relief that Buffy would be able to survive without being a threat to them, and Spike depressed by the thought of missing out on watching another Slayer die.
But still, he decided, there was bound to be some great opportunities ahead to watch Buffy agonise over her lost "Chosen One" status. Of the three, he was the only one who foresaw that Buffy, despite all her comments about wanting a normal life, was not going to be pleased to find herself de-Chosen.
"Now all we have to do," declared Willow, "is find a way to do it". Angel smiled and pulled Willow into his embrace. "Don't worry, little witch," he murmured against her skin, "I have every confidence in you. First thing tomorrow - after dusk, of course - we'll head back to the hospital and try out those powers of yours. But in the meantime, what was that you were telling me in the car earlier?"
Willow smiled, her expression changing to one of pure lust as she felt Angel's teeth suddenly graze against the sensitive skin of her neck.
"Umm, I'm not sure, maybe you could remind me?"
Willow squirmed a little as she felt Spike press his body against her back, and his cool mouth started to suck on the tender skin at the nape of her neck, causing her to shiver uncontrollably, much to the delight of her mates.
"Looks like Red has a sudden memory loss, Peaches," Spike purred as he slipped his arms around Willow, one hand dropping to rub teasingly against the apex of her thighs while the other did the same to the growing bulge in Angel's trousers.
"It would be my pleasure to help her remember," growled Angel as he thrust against Spike's fingers, and he was as good as his word - although with a reminder like that, Willow decided dreamily some hours later, as her languid form lay sandwiched between the slumbering forms of her mates, she was definitely going to have to have more memory lapses from now on.
~Part: 35~
Sunday midmorning, Sunnydale
Spike frowned in his sleep, then gradually opened one eye, trying to identify the source of the uneasy feeling that had roused him from slumber. He soon realised the cause - he was alone. His mates must have woken earlier, and left him by himself in Giles' rumpled bed.
Spike frowned, and was about to reach for a cigarette when the door was flung open and a cheery looking Willow waltzed in, brandishing a mug of warm blood.
"Ah pet, now that's what I call a bloody good way to start the day," he growled, downing the blood in a single gulp then pulling Willow on top of him for a good morning kiss.
"Yuck, Spike, blood breath!" Willow squealed, but Spike noticed she wasn't making much of an effort to get away from him.
"Where's His Broodiness?" Spike asked as Willow finally managed to free her mouth, although she continued to squirm deliciously on his lap.
"He's downstairs talking to the others, we told them we have an idea but we're waiting for you, so-o-o " said Willow as she tried without success to coax Spike from the bed.
"Bloody Hell, I'll be glad when this is over and we can have a bit of peace and quiet. Always knee deep in Watchers and cheerleaders, sodding unbelievable. Bad enough I'm fighting evil, at least I could get some shagging time," Spike moaned dramatically, but he could see he was not impressing the redhead.
"Oh poor Spike, feeling hard done by? Well maybe Angel and I can think up a reward system for you, mmm, let's see," said Willow with a serious voice as she watched Spike's intrigued expression surreptitiously from the corner of her eye.
"I know!" she exclaimed brightly, looking entirely too innocent. "If you behave yourself, we'll cover you in chocolate and lick you clean, and if you don't, I'll do the same to Angel and you can watch me lick him clean!" And smirking at Spike's strangled groan, Willow slipped off the bed and headed for the door, saying, "Five minutes. Downstairs. That will give me time to tell Angel about our new reward system."
And she left Spike alone, trying to work out which one of those options was meant to be the bad one.
***
Giles' patience was nearly at an end by the time Spike raced into the living room, looking as though he had just crawled out of bed. < Honestly>, thought Giles, <why didn't he take the time to clean himself up? It's not like another few minutes would have made any difference>. On the plus side however Angel and Willow had stopped whispering to each other, although Angel had the strangest look on his face. Giles shook his head to try to focus his thoughts on the matter at hand.
"Well," he muttered, after polishing his glasses one more time, "perhaps now you'd like to share this plan of yours with us?"
So Angel explained to the others what had happened the previous night, as Spike sat down beside Willow and made a production of asking her what time it was.
There was a moment of silence once Angel finished, then Wesley nervously cleared his throat. "Well, even assuming that you can wake Faith and somehow take Buffy's powers, what makes you think that Faith will be a willing helper? I mean, as far as she is concerned the last thing she will remember is being our enemy."
Willow curled a piece of hair nervously as she tried to answer. " I know exactly what you mean Wesley, and believe me I have the same fears, but somehow I feel that Faith will be different. I don't know if it is because of being the only Slayer, or having been in a coma, or something else, but," and Willow shifted on the sofa as she tried to express her thought, "I guess it just feels right to me, like this is what we are meant to do."
"Anyway," added Cordelia on a more practical note, "she could hardly be any worse than Buffy is at the moment. And if Faith's still psycho, we'll just put her back into the coma."
While Wesley and Giles looked a bit nervous at the prospect of trying to capture a renegade Faith, Willow spoke up. "It seems to me that we don't really have a lot of choice. Those demons are in Sunnydale now, and I'm guessing we don't have much time. If we can get to the hospital at dusk and wake Faith, then we may be able to go to find them tonight."
"Please try to remember that Faith has been in a coma for several months. She will no doubt need some time to get her bearings," Giles pointed out.
"Too bad," was Spike's blunt reaction. "She's no good to us in a month's time, we wake her and she slays the demons. She's got all those super powers, let's see her use 'em."
Seeing that Giles was on the verge of starting an argument with the blonde, Angel quickly intervened. He knew first hand that once Spike got started, they could be there for hours listening to his views on Slayers, none of which would really be appreciated by the two Watchers.
"There is no point discussing this now. It seems to me we could go to the hospital now, if Giles can bring the car to the door, Spike and I can use blankets for cover. That will give us more time to see Buffy, and try and rouse Faith, and if we succeed she will have a few hours to recuperate before dusk. We can then decide whether we think she's ready."
"Assuming Willow can actually wake her up," Cordelia pointed out helpfully, ignoring the hurt look on Willow's face and the nervous glances the redhead received from the Watchers.
"Of course we can do it," said Willow, sounding much more confident than she felt. But as she leaned more heavily into Spike's cool body, and felt Angel give her hand a reassuring squeeze, she felt a little of her nervousness dissipate. Maybe they really could do, she mused. Anyway, there was only one way to find out.
~Part: 36~
Sunday midmorning, Sunnydale Hospital
Xander paced nervously as he waited outside Buffy's room. Willow had called him and told him to meet her there, and he was anxious to get an update from her on what was going on.
He hadn't even known that Buffy was in the hospital, hadn't spoken to her since Cordelia had dragged him along on her "Mission: Impossible" book recovery.
He had a feeling he and Willow had a lot of catching up to do.
Xander had gone in to see Buffy, and was horrified by her condition, although he had done his best to hide his reaction from Mrs Summers. Xander was unable to wrap his brain around recent events, and he just wondered what the hell had happened to rip everyone apart in such a short space of time.
But the more he thought about it, the more Xander realised that whatever problems had surfaced in recent days had been around for a lot longer than that. Irritated with his own introspection, Xander was relieved to hear his name called, turning to find himself enveloped in a bear hug as Willow flung herself at him, squeezing him with surprising strength.
"Wills! What the hell is going on? Buffy looks like she's on the menu for Thanksgiving, Cordelia's turning into SuperGirl, you're involved with Deadboy and Deadboy Junior, and, and," Xander's voice trailed off as he realised his words were becoming increasingly high- pitched, and he tried to take deep breaths.
Willow gave him a sympathetic look. "I know, I know, it's too weird for me as well, but look, we have to d something," and she gestured casually to the two vampires who were standing close behind her, keeping a careful eye on the reunion, "you stay here with the others and they can update you."
His mouth half open as he tried to organise his thoughts sufficiently to form a coherent sentence, Xander's brain belatedly advised him to stop bothering, as he glimpsed the door to Buffy's room swinging shut behind Willow and the vampires.
***
Willow walked to Buffy's bedside, nervously rubbing her hands together as she wondered what she was supposed to do next. Maybe wave her hands in the air and yell "Abracadabra"?
Sighing, Willow turned to Angel, and looked at him hopelessly. "I don't know what to do," she said in a dejected voice. Angel quickly moved across the few steps that separated them and slid his arms around her small frame. "Don't worry, we can work this out," he said soothingly, while wondering how on earth they were going to find out how to activate Willow's powers.
He heard a snort, and looked in displeasure at his grinning grandchilde, standing next to them and snickering.
"Something funny, boy?' Angel asked in a dangerous growl.
"Sod off Peaches," said Spike lazily, fully aware that he was fairly safe from Angel's temper with the Watchers outside and Willow here. "If you want to play hide the sausage with Red here, I am definitely in, but I thought we were meant to be doing a job. You know, Slayer, Buffy, demons rising, is any of this sounding familiar?"
Angel started to growl, but the feel of Willow in his arms, her hands rubbing his back in what he guessed was meant to be a soothing way - although to tell the truth that was not exactly the effect it was having on him - anyway, the end result was that his mood was swinging more towards lust than anger at the moment, despite his childe's provocations.
"Don't mind Spikey," Willow said playfully, "he just wants to see you get covered in chocolate." Enjoying the golden tinge that entered her lovers' eyes, Willow freed herself from Angel's arms and looked down at Buffy, trying to gather her thoughts.
"Spike, do you have any idea what we should do?"
"Bloody Hell, it's so obvious," said the blonde, a smug smile firmly in place as he enjoyed a brief moment of power over his mates.
"Well are you going to enlighten us, then?" asked Angel, shaking his head to try to clear it of images of chocolate and Willow's pink tongue and ... <focus, focus!> he repeated to himself.
"Well...." said Spike, still enjoying this chance to irritate his sire too much to let it go quickly.
"For Goddess' sake Spike, do you want to spend all day in this hospital with unconscious Slayers, or will you just help us so we can do what we have to do and go back to Giles house. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I can think of something more interesting to fill the hours before dusk than arguing with Angel."
Willow's flashing eyes and irritated tone convinced Spike it was time to play nice. "Alright, alright, no need to get upset pet," said Spike, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Look, it just seems like the whole emphasis here is on the three of us, you are one, blah blah blah, if I've heard it once I've heard it a hundred times. Last night we did the holding hands thing, and that worked, so it seems bleedin' obvious that's the way to go."
Angel looked dubious, but Willow smiled slowly. "Well, well, well, Spike, looks like you're behaving after all. Now what was that reward system again?" As Spike made to lunge for her, Willow laughed and dodged to the other side of the room, leaving Buffy lying on her bed between them. Angel sighed needlessly. "Children," he said sternly, watching them both glare at him for interrupting their fun, "I believe we have a theory to test?"
So the three linked their hands, Angel standing beside Spike so that the circle of their arms formed on top of Buffy's still form. Nothing happened.
"OK, well maybe we need to focus," said Willow, trying to concentrate on the power she knew was humming within her. She closed her eyes and visualised the centres in her mind that were Spike and Angel, smiling slightly as she caught the happy glow that both were giving off. As she concentrated she could feel their presence in her mind grow stronger, could almost see the bonds that bound them together.
She slowly became aware of the soft strains of a wild music humming through her mind gradually becoming louder, and she felt the strange sensation of her power start to move, flowing through her to her mates and then back, each time returning stronger than before.
Willow opened her eyes to see that both Spike and Angel had their eyes shut, and both had dazed expressions, completely overwhelmed by the power surging through the bond. She looked down at Buffy, and she focused on the Slayer's still form, until she saw the same energy patterns that she had noticed in her dream start to become visible.
"A Slayer no more," Willow muttered, and she suddenly saw that a part of the energy swirls on Buffy had become more vibrant. Somehow Willow knew that this was the centre of the Slayer's powers. Focusing as hard as she could, Willow repeated, "a Slayer no more," and watched in amazement as the energy patterns burned brightly then disappeared, leaving the remaining colours to run together over the removed patch.Willow also noticed that the colours were swirling in a different, more harmonious way.
Willow felt a sudden emptiness as the energy within her dissipated, and in her surprise she let go of her mates' hands, rubbing her head to shake out the strange sensations. She slumped slightly, feeling exhausted and almost hollow now that the music of her power was once again muted to an indistinct hum.
Two sets of cool hands suddenly descended on her body, and Willow found herself embraced and soothed by her mates, who gently stroked her trembling frame until she calmed, regaining her equilibrium as she enjoyed the attentions of her mates, made all the more welcome by the love she could feel flowing through the bond.
"Willow?" asked Angel, wondering what had happened. He had felt the link come into place, felt the power that had flowed between them, but he was not sure what exactly Willow had done. "Did it work?"
The redhead leaned back against Spike as she looked thoughtfully at Angel. "I think so," she said, torn between doubt and amazement. "I think so!"
Angel smiled and leaned down to feather a kiss against her lips. "One down, one to go," he reminded her, and Willow nodded in agreement as the trio slowly left the room, arm in arm.
~Part: 37~
Sunday midmorning, Sunnydale Hospital
Xander's head was still reeling from the unbelievable - yet supposedly true - story that Cordelia had just told him. He was inclined to think the whole last week was just a big joke, some elaborate game that Cordelia had cooked up to drive him crazy - and quite a job she was doing of it, too.
But somehow he couldn't quite imagine Wesley and Giles getting involved, which lead to the even more disturbing thought that perhaps it was all real. A thought that was made somehow much more likely when he took a good look at the three figures walking towards him. Willow was between the two vampires, her arms intertwined with theirs, and their relaxed body language left no doubt that they were more than just good friends.
Xander strangled back a groan of frustration, and stood to the side as Giles moved forward to ask nervously, "Well?" He knew what Willow had been trying o do - Cordelia had explained it to him - and he was still trying to understand how anyone, least of all his pal Willow, could take away a Slayer's powers. Seemed like kind of a dangerous thing to him.
"Um, well, Buffy's still asleep, so I can't be sure of course, but-" Willow's ramblings were cut short by Angel.
"She did it," he said calmly and confidently, leaving Giles and Wesley looking both relieved and nervous.
Cordelia seemed unsurprised by the news. "Well duh, she's the magic power girl, now she just has to fix Faith and fix those demons, then it's back to LA." Cordelia looked meaningfully at Willow, urging her to get on with it.
Giles gave Cordelia a reproving glare, which had no obvious impact on the brunette. "Willow, perhaps you would like to rest a little, or wait before going t see Faith?" Giles asked, not sure of exactly how taxing the use of her powers was for the redhead.
"No, I'm fine, really," she reassured him. Actually Willow was as anxious as the others to get it over and done with. If it worked they could go to the cemetery tonight - and even if it didn't they would probably have to go anyway, because those demons needed to be stopped. But if they didn't have a Slayer.... Willow stopped that train of thought, and tried t be positive. <I mean, OK, no idea really if it worked with Buffy but it seemed to, so there is no reason we can't fix Faith.> And putting on her brightest smile, although she had the uneasy feeling she was fooling no-one, Willow led her mates off to Faith's room, praying to whoever was listening that they could do this.
***
"OK, let's do that thing we do," said Willow, "it will be just like de-Slayer-ising Buffy". Once again the trio joined hands, this time across Faith's bed, and having learnt a little more from their last experience about how the bond worked all three focused their energies, making a quick transition to what Willow was starting to consider her "powered-up" state.
<Yay us,> she decided, letting her pleasure at their emerging skills briefly flow through the bond to her mates. Then she turned her attention to the still figure on the bed before her, again concentrating until the energy flow of the Slayer became visible.
Willow noted that the flow was very different to that she had seen last night, and hoped that Faith was already benefiting from now being the only Slayer. But how to wake her?
Willow decided to start with something simple, and tried to speak to Faith with her mind's voice, but there was no reaction from the sleeping girl.
So Willow instead focused on the energy swirls, trying to make them stronger. She had to struggle to maintain her concentration when she saw that the colours were actually getting brighter, and had started to move more quickly.
<I hope that's a good thing,> Willow thought nervously before putting as much energy as she could muster into visualising an awake Faith. The colours glowed like jewels, but the Slayer slept on.
Frustrated and exhausted, Willow broke the circle, bracing herself as the power flow slowed down, leaving her feeling drained.
Angel and Spike opened their eyes to see a dejected Willow and an unconscious Faith. "Never mind pet," said Spike as he gave the redhead a quick hug, "we can have another go in a bit. Just like a Slayer, eh, never met one with any manners or a decent sense of timing. Always interfering where they're not wanted, and when you need them, bloody bints-"
"What's your point Blondie?" interrupted a croaky voice, and Spike nearly lost his balance as he swung around to face a confused, tired, but definitely awake Slayer.
*********
"But is she evil?" whined Cordelia, trying to get to the crux of the problem. The Watchers had somehow managed to liberate Faith from the hospital in less than an hour, despite the many strong requests from the medical staff that Faith be kept for further observation at least overnight.
Faith had made no comment to the bustle around her, signing release forms when asked, and as soon as she arrived back at Giles' place she had been whisked away by the Watchers, who were presumably now updating her and trying to find out the answer to Cordelia's pertinent question.
"Well, she hasn't tried to kill anyone - yet," Spike pointed out helpfully.
Cordelia gave Spike her patented "look of death", to which he politely responded by giving his co-worker the finger. Before Cordelia could retaliate, Willow intervened. "Oh, oh, Cordelia! I just realised we need you to, to.."
"What?" the former cheerleader snapped, ready to give the redhead a piece of her mind. Visions or not, she had better things to do than sit around her watching two gorgeous vampires fawning over Willow, while a dazed Xander sat and gaped as though they were performing some kind of weird show for him.
"Go shopping!" exclaimed Willow in delight as inspiration struck.
Cordelia's automatic retort died on her lips as the words "shopping" penetrated. "Shopping? For what?"
"Well, we need to make these magic crystal things for tonight. We have some of the ingredients, but I can give you a list. You can take Xander with you." Seeing that Cordelia did not look overjoyed at the prospect of browsing in a magic shop with Xander, Willow played her trump card. "And of course you can have Angel's credit card."
*******
"Thank bloody hell those two are gone. The moron seems to have dropped a few rungs on the food chain since the last time I saw him," Spike noted sourly as the door closed behind the man in question. He looked around to see Willow disappearing into the kitchen, and took the opportunity to lean over to Angel.
"Not too keen on Red's whole fighting the demons by myself idea, Peaches."
Angel nodded his agreement, being careful to keep his voice low. "I don't trust Faith at all, and there's no way Willow can take on three demons without magic."
"Got some ideas then?" Spike asked hopefully, knowing the answer already from the brooding expression forming over his sire's face.
"Now, now, have a little faith," said Willow as she handed them each a mug of warm blood. "A little faith - get it?"
Spike snorted into his blood but Angel's brooding expression didn't alter. Obviously desperate measures were needed. Willow had no intention of spending the next few hours watching Angel work himself into a full-on depression about something none of them had any control over. As far as she was concerned they had done what they could, and now they could do nothing else until tonight.
"Spike, come upstairs and help me clean up Giles room," said Willow casually.
Spike was about to protest - bad enough being on the same side as the Watcher, he didn't have to do his bloody laundry as well, chip or no chip - but he saw Willow wink at him from her position behind Angel's back and quickly changed his mind.
"Right luv, let's go and do our boy scout thing, eh." Leaving his mug on the table he followed Willow out of the room, Angel noticing them leaving but not giving it much thought as he tried to figure out a way he could fight tonight without ending up flambeed.
Spike pushed Willow into Giles room and shut the door behind them. "Always happy to do some work in the bedroom pet," he leered dramatically, covering her giggles with kisses as he backed her towards the bed.
"No, wait, I have a plan!" she gasped out, trying to hold him off but finding it difficult to fight her own hormones and Spike's wandering hands.
"Does you plan end with us naked on the bed?"
"Yep," was the reply.
"Alright then, hurry up and tell me."
Listening to Willow's idea, Spike grinned. Eternity was going to be fun with this one around to keep him on his toes. Obeying instructions, he stripped down and sat on the bed, watching with pleasure as Willow followed suit then dropped to her knees to crawl towards him.
She stopped before him, placing her hands on his knees and moving his legs apart, then positioned herself next to his body.
"Ready?" she asked, ignoring the obvious evidence in front of her eyes that he was more than ready.
"Bloody hell pet, just get on with it" was the muttered reply, so Willow leant forward and started to slowly run her tongue along the throbbing veins on Spike's shaft, enjoying his groans as she slowly increased the pressure of her tongue, then settling herself to slowly lick at the top of his cock, tasting the faint salty tang of his pre- cum as she finally gave in to his muttered pleas and sucked him into her mouth, relaxing her throat muscles as much as possible before taking him into the hilt. Spike growled with pleasure, and tried to follow the Plan.
Downstairs Angel suddenly jerked to his feet as he felt something warm move against his cock, <What the Hell?> he wondered before feeling the definite sensation of someone sucking his dick. And not just anyone. Someone with a hot, wet mouth, someone who - someone who was Willow.
The events of the last few minutes suddenly flashed through Angel's mind. Spike was going to help clean Giles room? "I don't think so" the dark vampire muttered, knowing exactly what was going on upstairs and pretty sure that those two were using the bond to issue him with an invitation.
<This bond thing is really kind of interesting> Angel decided as he moved quickly to join his mates.
Willow and Spike smiled as they heard the door open and close, and Willow purred around Spike's shaft, the vibrations rewarded by a guttural moan from the blonde which drew Angel across the room as he quickly shed his clothes.
"Starting without me? Now that's not fair," Angel drawled as he sat down on the bed. Willow reluctantly moved off of Spike's cock, and looking into his blue eyes they shared a moment of complete understanding before turning as one to Angel, and reducing him in a matter of seconds to a moaning, quivering - and definitely non-brooding - mass.
*******
"So where're the vamps and magic girl?" Faith asked as she headed back into the living room, having satisfied the Watchers that she was happy to kill their demons for them. She had no real idea what she wanted to do, but she didn't really feel an overwhelming urge to kill anyone in the immediate vicinity.
She was sad that the Mayor was dead, but she knew that he would have killed her without a second thought if he had needed to. And Willow had apparently made her the only Slayer, and finally freed her of Bitchy, which meant as far as Faith was concerned she owed the redhead big time - plus it was also the redhead who had gotten Faith out of the coma. So kill demons she would.
As Giles and Wesley looked around the room blankly - <what do they think, that they're hiding behind the curtains?> Faith wondered incredulously, she heard a lot of muffled moaning and groaning coming from upstairs, and saw the embarrassed expressions on the men's faces. "Go Red," she drawled, laughing out loud at the look of horror on Giles face. This was just too good!
Wesley cleared his throat, then speaking a little too loudly suggested, "Why don't we go and check out the mausoleum area? The demons will be hidden during daylight hours but it will be useful to have some idea of the terrain for tonight's attack."
"Excellent idea," agreed Giles hastily, and they bundled Faith out the door as the moans continued to drift downstairs.
<I am definitely buying new sheets. Maybe a new bed,> Giles decided as he closed the door behind him.
********
Spike heard the door shut downstairs, and chuckled. "Alone at last," he declared, and he and Willow went back to their self-appointed task of seeing just what it took to make Angel scream.
~Part: 38~
Sunday late afternoon, Giles house
Faith was starting to enjoy herself. Cruising around town, albeit with the Watchers in tow, was fun, and she was starting to remember all the stuff she had liked about being a Slayer: the hunt, the adrenaline rush, the violence, and even that feeling when the demons were slain that you had done a good thing.
They had checked out the ruins of the mausoleum, and there had been no sign of any demons, but Faith had been getting major bad vibes from the area. The three of them had decided on the best angle of approach for the girls tonight, and they had located a good protected spot for the rest of the group to wait in relative safety.
Giles and Wesley were starting to relax around her a little, and she was noticing differences between the men with her and her memories of them. Wesley especially seemed much less uptight, and they were treating her, not exactly in a friendly way, but also not as if she was something they needed to clean off the bottom of their shoes either.
Faith had a gut feeling this was a new chance for her, amongst people who knew the worst she could be and were still prepared to give her a second chance. And she was surprised at how good that sounded to her; a chance to try and be the Slayer she could have been, not Buffy but not anti-Buffy either, just Faith.
Still musing over these ideas Faith realised that their tour was over, and they had arrived back at Giles house. She smirked, wondering exactly what state the vamps would be in - after all that moaning earlier, she was ready for almost anything except what she saw when she walked in: Angel looking serious as ever, reading a magic book while Spike and Willow sorted through shopping bags, with Cordelia chatting on about something or other and Xander looking blank - same old, same old.
Giles breathed a sigh of relief to see that the trio had finally come up for air, and closed the door behind him. He had been pleasantly surprised at the new Faith - she seemed just a bit more reserved, a bit more willing to think first and act second, and while she was still very, ah, outspoken she seemed just a bit more comfortable with herself.
He knew this probably had a lot to do with now being the only Slayer, and not feeling the same need to prove herself against Buffy. He sighed sadly; he was ashamed to admit that when Faith had arrived in Sunnydale he had done very little to make her feel welcome, and had indeed compared her to Buffy, without trying to view her as her own kind of Slayer. No wonder she had felt so second-rate, when everyone had been expecting her to become a Buffy clone.
Shaking off his somber thoughts, Giles resolved to accept Faith as she was, and to look to the future rather than the past. He knew he would have a lot of thinking to do about Buffy, and what was to become of her now - if she ever woke up. But first things first. They had some demons to kill.
"Angel, are we ready to do the spell on the crystals?"
The dark vampire looked up at Giles, nodding his head and handing over the book he had been examining. "It seems very straight forward, we have all the ingredients and Willow is going to do the spell now."
"I want Faith to sit with me when I do the spell," Willow added as she started to put piles of herbs on the floor. "One of the crystals is for her, so it will help if she is part of the spell, you know, to make a connection."
Faith shrugged, and went to sit next to the witch, giving her a small smile. Willow smiled back, and said "Right, now I don't want to make anyone nervous. This is a very simple spell, but I haven't done any spells since the, uh, the powers thing arrived so let's take it slow, OK?" And ignoring the suddenly panicked look on most of the faces around her - although not, she noted with interest, on Faith's - Willow started to chant the simple words that would enable the crystals to protect them tonight.
It started off normally. She felt the swell of power that accompanied her spells, but as she neared the end of the spell she felt her Servant powers surge to life, flowing into her and threatening to disrupt the spell. Willow fought hard for control, and momentarily lost hold of her powers, feeling terror start to build until suddenly the flow was stabilised, and she felt the presence of Angel and Spike in her mind.
Quickly finishing the spell, Willow thrust the softly glowing crystals into Faith's hands and jumped up to throw her arms around Angel, feeling Spike move in behind her.
"A group hug! Angel, you are definitely improving on your whole 'I'm so depressed watch me brood thing'. Huh. And Spike, never figured you for a touchy feely kind of vamp," said Cordelia casually, drawing an embarrassed grin from Angel and a growl from Spike. Willow ignored all the drama, and looking sheepishly at Giles, said, "Note to self - do not attempt any magic spells without bond mates on hand."
Giles looked interested, but before he could ask any questions Angel said firmly, "It's dusk. Time to go." And with that the group picked up their various paraphernalia and headed outside, to save the world - again.
********
"Now just explain to me again why the vamps aren't fighting?" Faith asked dubiously as she and Willow headed towards the crypt. The rest of the group were standing some distance away, partially sheltered by some trees, as Willow looked up at Faith, grinning in response to Faith's question.
"You noticed they wanted to fight, huh?" she said slyly. Spike and Angel's growls could still be heard across the grass separating them from their mate, and Faith smiled back at the redhead. "It's a vamp thing - the crystals don't work on them, so they would get dusted by the energy beam. So - you get to chop off three demon heads and I get to try and control the magic so we don't end up with a new Hellmouth on our hands."
"Another day on the job, then" said Faith with a feral grin as she got closer to the ruins of the mausoleum and felt her slayer sense go haywire. Nodding to Willow for silence, the two girls stepped forward until they were close enough to see that there were a few extra lumps amongst the rubble of the collapsed building.
<No pain, no gain> thought Faith philosophically before running across the remaining distance towards the lumps which seemed just a bit too rounded. As she neared she saw three pairs of eyes turn towards her.
She swung the sword in her hands in a gleaming arc - and then there were two.
Willow felt the static electricity fill the air, but she had no time to scream a warning to Faith. As soon as the demon's head had landed on the ground she had felt a stab of magical energy hit her, and not the energy she was used to dealing with. This energy was dark, its touch almost slimy, and Willow had to fight not to recoil from the disgusting sensation. She felt the bond glowing in her mind, a centre of strength and light, and let the darker magic flow into her, feeling it gradually lose its character and merge with the energy whizzing through the bond.
She opened her eyes, momentarily unsure of how much time had passed. She saw Faith was turning to face the remaining demons - only a second or two had passed, although she could have sworn it was much longer.
Suddenly the static electricity in the air seemed to solidify, and an arc of blue fire flew towards Faith from the demons who were only a metre or so away from her. Willow held her breath, then released it in a gasp as the energy went straight for the crystal. The impact knocked Faith off her feet, but she jumped up quickly, apparently unhurt - until Willow heard her swear violently.
Still some 10 metres away from the Slayer, Willow couldn't tell what was wrong. "Faith?" she yelled.
"Shit, Red, the crystal! It's cracked."
<Uh oh> thought Willow, before acting instinctively. Grabbing the crystal around her neck, Willow visualised it on the Slayer. As she tried to focus the bond energy, three things happened: the crystal around Willow's neck vanished, Faith reduced their enemies to one, and Spike and Angel screamed and started to run across the space between them and their now unprotected mate.
Willow saw the remaining demon fire another burst of energy at Faith, but she had no time to watch the result - she had felt another surge of dark magic as the second demon died, and she was focused instead on absorbing the dark magic, letting it flow into the bond and gradually lose its dark essence.
So the redhead was unprepared when she opened her eyes to see Faith on the ground, unmoving, and a blue streak of lightning heading towards her from the remaining demon.
Sunday evening, Sunnydale, cont.
Afterwards, Willow thought it strange that real life could be so much like a movie. everything slowed down, and sounds became muted. She saw the energy beam aiming straight at her unprotected chest, and she knew she didn't have time to evade it. She could hear the screams of the others, but they sounded so far away, she could barely make out the words.
As she tried to think of what to do - <don't just stand there!> her mind screamed to her unco-operative limbs - she felt strong arms grab her from behind, and as she fell she watched in numbed horror as the energy beam struck Spike full in the chest, and he burst into flames.
Suddenly the slow motion stopped, everything speeded up, and her ears were assaulted by the noises around her, suddenly turned up to the maximum volume. She could hear Spike's screams as his clothes incinerated, and Angel's panicked voice as he leapt on his childe, rolling him on the ground to try to extinguish the flames, only succeeding in setting his own clothes on fire.
Willow felt a sudden clarity in her mind, and ignoring the pain and panic that was flooding through the bond she said in a voice that rang through the minds of those around her, "Rain."
And the heavens opened, a monsoon that doused the flames covering the bodies of the vampires. Feeling no emotion, Willow walked over to where the remaining demon was looming over the Slayer's prone form. She picked up the Slayer's sword, and as the demon turned to her and raised his hands, she swung the sword with all her strength. The demon's head fell, and she braced herself for the onslaught of magical energy. Seconds later, satisfied it had been defused, she slumped unconscious next to the Slayer.
******
<How much did I drink last night?> Spike wondered as he cautiously moved his head, causing a renewal of the thumping that was making even the smallest movement a nauseating task. Spike gave up the fight, and lay still, trying to gather his thoughts.
<OK, um, Sunnydale - SHIT!> As his memories flooded back Spike tried to get out of bed, only to fall to the floor as his head made it clear he was not going to be upright anytime soon. <Fuck, it feels like that soddin' chip is trying to fry my brain> thought the blonde as he staggered back to the bed, whimpering in agony as he struggled to stay conscious.
His eyes were squeezed shut against the pain, so he was surprised but relieved when a pair of cool hands grabbed him and helped him back into the bed, before settling him down and gently stroking his head.
"Going somewhere?" asked a familiar voice.
<Shit, I'm in hell,> Spike decided, managing to force one eye open and seeing the smiling face of his grandsire.
"Fuck Peaches, please don't tell me I'm dead and this is hell, cos I'm not going to last a day stuck here with you, let alone eternity."
Angel just laughed, and bent down to brush his lips against Spike's. "Now don't try and hurt my feelings, boy," Angel smirked as Spike opened his other eye and started to look a bit more coherent.
"What the fuck is going on?" asked Spike. "Why aren't I a pile of ashes?"
"No idea," said Angel, "but I have an idea we will get some answers once Willow wakes up."
Spike jerked and tried to sit up, again falling to the bed with his hands clutching at his head. "Willow! Is she alright?" he ground out.
"Can't you fell her through the bond?" Angel asked, and Spike obediently closed his eyes and focused on his witch. He could feel her there, he wasn't getting any particular emotion from her but she was definitely there, and just the knowledge that she was alright seemed to ease his headache a little.
Angel heard his sigh of relief and smiled. "Sleep," he said as he slipped into bed beside the blonde, pulling the smaller man into his embrace. "Sleep." And Spike closed his eyes, and slept.
******
Willow opened her eyes, and noticed there seemed to be a crowd of people in her bedroom. <Ah, not my bedroom,> she realised, sitting up on Giles couch and stretching with a grimace as every eye in the room turned to her.
She waved shyly. "Hi."
Spike and Angel separated from the crowd to come and sit with her, one on either side, and their arms slid around her waist to squeeze her hard. Willow sighed happily. They were OK! And why wouldn't they be, she wondered, then suddenly she remembered - demons, Spike on fire, eep!
And there was something else, something that she knew she should remember, something important, hmmm.
Giles interrupted her thoughts. "Willow! Willow, thank heavens you are alright, what an extraordinary evening, how do you feel?"
"Ah, well," and Willow stopped to think about it. "Actually, I feel pretty good," she decided. "What happened?"
"Well, we were rather hoping you could tell us. Faith is fine," he said, indicating the Slayer who was curled up in an armchair, an ice pack held to her head but a jaunty smile on her face.
"All the demons were killed, and I presume you were successful in tapping the released energy?" He smiled at Willow's nod. "Excellent. However we are rather puzzled as to what happened to Spike. He was struck full on with one of the energy beams,"
"Saving me!" said Willow, as she looked at her mate with awe. Spike smirked and kissed her, only pulling back when Giles showed he was not going to be delayed by such distractions.
"Yes, yes, saving you, but" Giles stressed in a serious tone, causing Willow to pull her gaze reluctantly away from Spike's mouth, "we are not really clear on why he is still alive. Well, undead, anyway," Giles amended. "He was on fire, and that is one of the, ah, traditional ways of killing a vampire. Yet although his clothes were incinerated, Spike himself was unharmed."
"Oh," said Willow in a small voice. "Ummm, I just remembered something."
"Yes?" said Giles in a very British voice.
"I'm not sure if I mentioned that in one of my dreams, I was told that the bond mates are actually immortal. Like, you know, fire proof, stake proof, sun proof?"
"WILLOW!" said several voices at once, and the redhead blushed as she hung her head.
"I forgot!" she said, drawing snickers from Spike.
"You forgot? How could you forget that pet? Bloody hell, what else are you keeping to yourself eh? Immortal!"
Angel looked bemused. "You forgot?" he repeated in a dazed tone. "So Spike and I could have just killed those demons ourselves?"
"Umm, I guess," said the redhead nervously. Looking at Angel, Willow gulped as she saw his eyes tinge golden.
"Bad Willow," he said softly, and Willow had to concentrate to hold back her whimper. It seemed like Angel had decided to channel his inner Angelus.
Angel rose to his feet in a smooth gesture. "We are going to LA, now," he said in a voice that brooked no argument. "Cordelia, Wesley, take your time coming back, I don't expect you back in the office for a few days," and he looked at them each in turn to make sure his point was clear.
"Ah, but Angel, we must talk to Willow about this, it is really most remarkable-"
Angel cut Giles off smoothly. "You certainly will have an opportunity to talk to Willow, and myself, at length, but not now," he said with a faint growl, and with that he grabbed each of his mates and stalked towards the door, the trio quickly disappearing into the night.
"Well," said Giles faintly, trying to work out what had just happened.
"Oh man, Red is really in trouble now!" said Faith with glee, and just a little bit of envy. She figured if she kept her window open tonight, she'd probably be able to hear the moans, all the way from LA.
~Part: 39~
Sunday night, leaving Sunnydale
Willow struggled to keep up with Angel as he strode towards his car, his long legs making her jog along next to him - she had little choice if she wanted to keep her arm, which he was dragging with him.
She noticed that Spike also seemed to be having trouble staying on his feet; she had never seem him look so pale, and with every step he took he winced slightly, as though even such small movements were too much for him.
Just as she was about to demand that Angel slow down, she found herself being bundled into the passenger seat of Angel's car. As she sat, silently cursing the bad tempers of demonic mates [OK, so I made a mistake, no need to go all cave-vampire on me!], she noticed Angel gently helping Spike lay down on the back seat, the younger vampire taking the opportunity to immediately curl into a fetal position and pass out.
Willow immediately forgot her annoyance with Angel, and turned as the brunette slid into the seat next to her. "What's wrong with Spike?" she asked with concern.
"I expect he's going to have a headache for a while. After all, he did get more or less struck by lightning, and set on fire. He's already better than he was before, I'm sure he just needs to rest."
Willow tried to make eye contact, but Angel was keeping his eyes fixed on the road as he steered them towards LA.
"Sooo, I guess you're a bit mad at me?" Willow asked in her cutest voice, deciding she might as well try to lighten the mood a little. After all, Angel was occupied with driving, so it was a relatively safe environment to have The Talk.
"I am not going to talk about this now," Angel said in flat tones. "We will discuss it when we get home."
Willow wisely kept quiet, and for the entire journey to LA the silence in the car was only broken by the occasional groan from the sleeping Spike.
By the time Angel pulled up in front of his office Willow's nerves were at breaking point. For a girl whose preferred method of stress relief was babbling, two hours of silence next to a broody vampire were guaranteed to bring her to the brink of madness.
Even worse, Spike was still semi-conscious, so Willow was without the comforting presence of her partner in crime, who could always be guaranteed to take her side in an argument with Angel.
So now she and Angel were going to have The Talk one-on-one - those were definitely not Willow's kind of odds.
Angel still said nothing as he man-handled Spike from the car, finally managing to get the smaller vampire in his arms and carrying him into the office. Willow trailed nervously behind, joining Angel in the enclosed space of the lift and feeling her heart rate start to soar. [A plan! I need a plan! Cannot face an angry vampire without a plan] Willow decided, but her brain seemed unable to come up with anything more helpful than [Hide!].
As Angel took Spike into the bedroom, the redhead decided that at least she could make sure Angel's demon was sated, so she went to the kitchen and warmed two mugs of blood, arriving back in the bedroom in time to give one to Spike before he slipped back to sleep.
Angel had stripped the blonde and put him in bed, and Willow held the mug to his lips as he drank the thick liquid down, his eyes flickering gold as his ridges appeared. He licked his lips to catch any stray drops, and Willow smiled, feeling herself calmed by the sight.
She rubbed one hand along his ridges, moving her fingers more confidently against the strangely soft skin once Spike started to rub his head against her hand, growling softly. Willow barely noticed as Angel swallowed his own blood while watching the pair, then removed Spike's now empty mug, taking them both back to the kitchen.
Spike caught Willow's wrist in his hand, stopping her soothing movements. He fastened his golden gaze on her, whispering, "Glad you're OK, pet."
"Same here, glad you're OK," Willow whispered back, the two exchanging grins.
"Peaches is kind of pissed with you," Spike murmured sleepily. "Me too."
"I just forgot," Willow said softly, her sheepish face bringing a chuckle from her mate.
"We don't like to worry about you, is all," was the response. "Wish I wasn't so tired, I really fancy a shag," Spike said regretfully, then his eyes closed and he fell asleep, his ridges fading until his human mask was revealed once more.
Willow gently stroked his face, and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "Don't worry, you'll get your shag later," she told the sleeping vampire, and she could have sworn that his lips twitched into a smile at her words.
Sighing softly, Willow decided she might as well face the music, and she left the room to find Angel. It didn't take long; he was seated on the sofa, the fingers of one hand drumming on his leg as he met her tentative smile with a burning gaze.
"Time for our talk," he said in what could only be described as a growl. Willow mentally sighed. There was no way she was going to spend the next few hours, let alone eternity, being treated like a naughty child. Angel might have a few hundred years on her - [just get over it!] she decided. Everyone makes mistakes, and her mates would need to learn to live and let live [does that still work for vampires?] she wondered. [Not now brain, need to focus!]
"Angel, I know you are upset," said the redhead calmly as she moved across the room to stand in front of the glowering male. "I don't blame you; I couldn't stand the thought of you being hurt either" she said as she moved to sit astride Angel's legs, the brunette automatically adjusting his position and putting his arms around the warm curves of his mate before realising that this was not really the best position to lecture in.
"Willow," Angel said sternly, trying to maintain the rage, shuddering slightly as he felt a silky redhead start to, well "snuggle" was the only word that came to his mind.
"I was so worried about the two of you getting hurt, I can't believe I didn't remember about the immortality thing earlier," said Willow in as guilt-ridden a voice as she could manage. "You must be so disappointed with me, to have made such a terrible mistake", she said in sad tones as she continued her physical assault, twining her fingers in the hair at Angel's nape and shifting several times on his lap in an attempt to get more comfortable, each time being sure to cause maximum friction.
Angel tried to ignore the tightening of his trousers, and hastened to reassure Willow. "No, of course not, you were so brave Willow, I'm proud of you, of how you've handled everything. A lot has happened, and so fast, no-one expects you to deal with everything yourself, that's why you have Spike and I to help you."
"So you're not angry with me then?" Willow asked innocently, gently moving one hand to his chest and fingering open his buttons, one by one.
Angel groaned. [That minx! How the hell am I meant to stay angry at her?] he wondered, trying to decide whether there was any point in trying to finish his lecture. Willow helped him to decide by sliding his shirt off one shoulder, and dipping her head to suck gently at one of his nipples, flicking the tightened bud with her tongue and then biting down, before moving to repeat the action on his other nipple, leaving Angel with more pressing concerns than trivialities like forgotten immortality.
"Willow," he growled, grasping her hips and pulling her tight to him, so she could feel his erection throbbing against her, "I know what you're up to.".
"I should hope so," she said cheekily, rocking her pelvis against him and gasping at the delightful sensation. [Wow, he is so hard - I did that!]
"Willooow" was the answering growl from her mate, and the redhead smiled. [Now this is how I plan to spend eternity] she decided.
"Mmm, yes?" she purred. "What's wrong Angel? Am I going too fast? Or maybe," she said with a wicked smile, "too slow?"
And with that Willow slid off Angel's legs onto the floor, reaching for his zipper and holding his gaze as she slowly pulled it open, before urging Angel to stand. She remained on her knees, and pulled down his trousers and pants, removing them along with his shoes and socks as Angel quickly pulled off his shirt.
"I guess I'm over dressed," Willow said huskily as she pushed Angel back onto the sofa, rose gracefully to her feet and proceeded to strip, her eyes struggling to stay on Angel's face and not on his enormous, glistening cock, which he was slowly stroking with one hand.
"Allow me," she murmured, capturing Angel's eyes as she dropped to her knees once more and crawled to her mate, giving him a splendid view of her body and leaving him struggling to maintain some kind of control.
[Want this to last] he told himself, only to find his eyes rolling back in his head when a wet, warm mouth swallowed his rock hard dick in a single gulp, and he felt his sensitive tip scrape along Willow's throat.
[Where the hell did she learn that?] his demon demanded, before Willow began to bob her head up and down on his shaft, and Angel's mind was reduced to [yes, yes, more, more, more]. The vampire felt his balls tighten, and was about to surrender himself to the orgasm he could feel churning through his body when a very small but strong hand grabbed the base of his cock and squeezed, halting his release.
Angel's brain struggled to form a sentence. "Whaaat?" he said in a dazed voice, his body still jerking slightly in a phantom orgasm. "Willow?"
When he got a good look at the slim beauty kneeling at his feet, Angel wondered how someone in such a subservient position could be so in control. His demon went quiet - if there was one thing a bad-ass demon like Angelus loved it was being dominated.
"So am I forgiven?" Willow asked sweetly as she slowly released her death grip around the base of Angel's shaft, and began to run her fingers lightly up and down the thick member. She leant forward to run her tongue delicately over the tip, but refused to comply with Angel's gasped requests "Please, Willow, ahhh", merely smiling in a very feline way and asking again, "Am I forgiven?"
"Yes, yes, please Willow," Angel moaned, trying to move her mouth where he wanted it, but Willow was too quick for him, batting his hands away and moving quickly onto his lap.
She moved her mouth against his in a searing kiss, and Angel felt his body start to burn with the heat she was giving off. [So good, so good], his whole body was humming in pleasure.
Angel had the surprising thought that just one thing could make this better [wish Spike was here] then all thoughts were again forgotten as Willow shifted position, raising herself up slightly to position the tip of his cock at her entrance, She wiggled slightly, letting him feel the thick juices that were coating her nether lips, before plunging herself down on him, drawing a gasp from both their lips.
"Angel, please, I need you" she begged, and Angel was only too happy to oblige. He spun her around and down onto the sofa, and then he was pounding into her, releasing the tension of the past few days, the agony of his uncertainty over Willow's feelings for him, his fears for her safety ... all of his emotions were transformed into pure desire, and Willow screamed her pleasure at the treatment she was getting.
"I have to, Will, I can't stop" Angel gasped, knowing he could not hold off for long.
Willow grunted as he thrust hard into her, feeling his balls slap against her as he pushed his cock impossibly deeper. She was going to be sore tomorrow, super healing or not, but this was so good she couldn't bring herself to care.
She opened her eyes and took in Angel's expression, he was pure demon, and she was proud to have been able to bring him to this point. "Come for me, my Angel," she growled, and Angel let go of his demon, thrusting wildly as he slipped a hand between their bodies to pinch at her clit, bringing them both to release.
As soon as he felt Willow's muscles start to spasm with her orgasm, Angel dropped his head and bit into her neck, letting the blissful taste of her blood prolong his own orgasm until his head began to spin, and he reluctantly withdrew his fangs.
He shifted them until he found a relatively comfortable position, he on his back of the sofa and Willow nestled on top of him, her head at an angle allowing him easy access to the bite mark, which he contentedly licked as the puncture marks slowly closed over.
"Love you," said Willow contentedly.
"Love you too," said Angel, feeling his whole body become light with the knowledge that this time, happiness was not a trick for him, but a reward, and that there was nothing that could come between him and his mates.
He looked down at Willow, and noted her sly expression.
"What?" he said nervously.
"Well, I was just thinking."
"Yesss?"
"Remember the reward system? Spike saved my life, so if he's feeling better later..."
"We need to buy chocolate?" Angel ventured, sharing a conspiratorial grin with his mate.
Life was sweet indeed.
THE END
read the sequal 'Chocolatey Goodness'