Destiny

By PSUBrat

Puzzle Pieces

As the laughter from the living room continued to drift into the kitchen, William stood frozen in the doorway, watching the two darkened figures outside. He had been right; the poof was out back with Buffy. He could tell by her body language that she was upset. What could Peaches have said to her to piss her off so? Part of him wanted to run out there and tear the ponce apart for hurting her, the other part just wanted to stay put in the shadows and watch the show. Maybe if he were lucky, she would save him the trouble of beating Angel to a bloody pulp and do it herself. As he stood clenching and unclenching his fists, a bottle caught his eye.

"Lookie what we have here," he whispered to the empty room as he picked up the holy water that someone had left on the kitchen island. He raised an eyebrow, looked out the back door and smiled. His smile quickly faded as he watched Angel grab Buffy's arm and raise his voice. Okay that's entirely enough of that, he thought. Time to go play hero. Stealthily, he opened the back door and slipped out. He didn't want Angel to know he was there until he was right on top of him.

Neither had heard him nor sensed him, they were too emotionally charged to notice much of anything at the moment. He didn't like the pain he heard in Buffy's voice. Yep, he'd have to take the poof down a peg or two. "Everything okay?" He asked as he sauntered up behind them.

"Spike," Buffy said, jumping slightly at the sound of his voice. She hadn't expected him. She smiled as she walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I didn't hear you come out." How long had he been standing there? Not long, she hoped.

William placed his arm around her possessively; as he leaned down to let her lips brush his in a soft kiss. "Everything okay, Luv?" He asked again, smiling down at her.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Angel and I were just talking."

"Were you now?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and then tilting his head to look down into her beautiful hazel eyes. He could tell she had been close to tears. "I hope it was about the prophecy. Come up with any ideas on how to kill the Master?"

"No," Angel replied before Buffy could. He was trying to keep his demon in check as he watched the two closely interact, so obviously devoted to one another. "Shouldn't you be inside with your books trying to figure this all out?"

"I was, but now I'm out here," William said, glancing sideways at Angel and trying to gauge his grandsire's mood. "The others are in the living room with Lorne, singing."

"Singing?" Buffy asked puzzled. "Why are they singing?"

"Lorne can read certain things when people sing for him," Angel stated in a monotone. "He's an empath."

"Okay…and that means?"

"It just means he's trying to help us suss out who's who in the prophecy by having them sing. So far, he's found out that Fred and Gunn are not involved. Gunn's pretty relieved; Fred's kinda disappointed though, I reckon. The whelp's going to sing next. Thought I'd come out here and get you. Didn't think you'd want to miss that." That was partly true. He did think she'd want to hear Xander sing but he also wanted to check on Angel after noticing that the vampire had gone missing.

She laughed. "No way! I so don't want to miss that!" She grabbed hold of William's hand and tugged it as she began to make her way towards the back door. "Let's go."

"I'll just be a minute luv," he assured her as he stood his ground. "Go on ahead. Angel and I need to have a little talk."

Oh God. He had seen them, she was sure of it now, but exactly how much, she still didn't know. "Then I'm not going in," she stated as she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. "I think I should stay out here and run interference so that you two don't kill each other."

"Buffy, I'll be fine," Angel stated with a smile. "He's right. We do need to talk."

She shifted her eyes from one to the other, trying to assess the level of testosterone in the air. Finally, she realized she wasn't going to get either one of them to follow her inside. "Alright, fine. If you two kill each other, I'm going to kill you both." She knew they were going to fight, she could feel it. Despite how much she wanted to see the show Xander was bound to put on, she just didn't want to leave these two alone.

"Right then," William said, giving her a smile he knew would make her melt. "Go catch Harris's little ditty while you can and Angel and I will be in a few minutes."

"Remember what I said," Buffy warned as she backed up towards the house, "If there's any killing to be done, I'm gonna do it."

They watched as she made her way to the house, both giving her an exaggerated wave and smile when she turned uncertainly at the door. When he saw her disappear out of sight, William turned to Angel and glared.

***

The bedroom that had once belonged to Joyce Summers was quiet and peaceful. Tara and Willow laid snuggled up to one another under the covers, awash in the blue glow of the moonlight that filtered in through the sheer curtains. They had made sure the windows were closed so that their sleep would not be disturbed by nature's symphony. Instead, it was being interrupted by a constant thumping of bass emanating from below.

"Sounds like they're having a party without us," Tara commented as she turned on her side to look into Willow's eyes.

"Yeah and I'm this close to going down there to give them a piece of my mind. I wonder if Dawn and Cordelia are getting any sleep?"

"Sweetie, don't be cranky. I think they're just trying to relax before tomorrow night…"

"Well couldn't they do it a little quieter? Witch here…need rest so that I can use my powers effectively."

Tara smiled at her lover's comment. "Are you really tired?"

"No, but that's beside the point! I should be exhausted but my body's telling me that it's tomorrow morning already. I should be studying for my trials so that I can come home all healed and happy."

"We are home Willow. We're in our own bed back in Sunnydale and I think you're a lot stronger than you believe right now. The Coven wouldn't have let us go see Giles if they didn't think that."

"True, but I'm still not tired and I still don't think I'm ready to use my powers against the Master. What if I fail? What if I can't help Buffy or the rest of us? Tara, what if I can't help you? I can't lose you again!"

Tara wrapped her arms around her sobbing lover and cooed gently to her. "Shhhh. You'll do fine, Willow. I have complete confidence in you but I want you to promise me something."

"I'll promise you anything you want baby," Willow said as she turned her head to meet Tara's soft gaze.

Tara thought for a moment before she continued. She didn't want to sound too harsh when she told Willow what she wanted her to promise; the girl was already trembling enough and she didn't want to push her over the edge. However, she needed to hear Willow make the promise. Taking in a deep breath, she rushed forward with the words. "I want you to promise me that if anything does happen to me, that you won't go all Evil Willow on everyone else again."

"But…"

"Promise me, Willow. Please. This is important to me…there won't be a vengeance demon to wish to this time."

Willow quickly sat up and faced Tara, concern and guilt showing in her eyes. "I-I promise. I won't go all black magicy again. I swear. Just don't talk like that anymore, okay?" It was more of a demand than a request.

Tara smiled and nodded her head. "You know," she began with a sly smile as she sat up and put an arm around Willow, "I've heard that all over body massages are a good relaxation technique. Would you like me to try to help you relax?"

"I suppose if you have to get practice in on someone, that someone might as well be me," she replied, grinning widely while feigning annoyance. "Such a horrible job but someone's gotta do it."

"Mmhmm," Tara sighed as she rolled her lover over on her stomach and began to knead her shoulders.

"Ohhhh…relaxing good."

***

The almost full moon shone down on the two rivals as they stood glaring at one another. The crickets had stopped their music and the slight breeze that had stirred the trees earlier died down, leaving the night deadly silent. It was almost as if nature sensed that a confrontation of great import was about to take place and wanted to make sure there was silence so that it could be heard clearly. The usual sound of cars was also missing from the stilled night. William could only wonder if the residents of Sunnydale were now hiding themselves away from the chaos that had started. Slowly, and with purpose, he took a step closer to Angel, icy blue eyes staring coldly at the vampire before him.

"What?" Angel asked as innocently as possible while giving William a cocky grin. "Afraid she loves me more than you?"

"No," William replied with an even tone. "Just afraid that you're going to hurt her again."

Angel's grin slowly disappeared from his face as he realized that Spike wasn't there to taunt him into a fight. "Like you're not going to hurt her?" He demanded, taking a step closer to William, hoping that the younger man would give him a reason to start something.

"Let's get one thing straight, mate," William stated, standing up as straight as possible to face his grandsire. "I'm not threatened by your declaration of love for Buffy. I know where her heart lies and it's not with you."

"Don't be so sure about that," Angel sneered at him. "A man knows certain things from the way a woman kisses him…"

"And what do Cordelia's kisses tell you?" William asked quietly, his eyes never leaving Angel's. He had seen the kiss between Buffy and Angel and it had hurt his ego but he knew, deep down, that Buffy loved him and that thought brought him comfort despite the Angelus type remarks.

Shock registered on Angel's face as William's words sunk into him. Did all of the Scoobies know about his relationship with Cordelia? "That's none of your business!"

"Isn't it? Peaches, you can say what you want to try to get me to kick your ass…" He paused as he saw Angel's reaction to his words. "What? You don't think I can?"

"Spike, you're human now or have you forgotten that? I doubt very much that you could harm me." He shook his head and laughed to himself as he tried to picture Spike the Human inflicting pain on him.

William pulled the bottle of holy water out of his pocket and flashed it before the smug vampire. "Wanna test that?" His tone was serious, threatening.

"You wouldn't dare. If you even touch me with that, you know Buffy will never forgive you."

"Might be right about that," William conceded as he threw the threatening bottle on the ground. "But I don't think she'd be too upset if I kicked your ass the old fashioned way."

"Get a grip Spike. I could break you in two; kill you with my own hands. Actually, that might not be a bad idea. I could comfort Buffy after you're gone."

"Is that so? Give me your best shot."

"What?"

"I said give me your best shot!"

"Well okay, since you asked for it…" He stepped forward and threw a right towards William's face, but it never connected. "What the…?"

William smirked as he easily avoided the punch. "Is that all you've got, Angelus, cause if it is, I have to say…" He stopped short as Angel came at him, the vampire's head hitting him in the midsection, knocking him off his feet. "Alright then, let's have at it."

***

The two former scourges of Europe rolled around on the ground, beating each other senseless, like two young boys on a school playground fighting over a couple pieces of stale gum - the kind that came with baseball cards. Buffy watched from the kitchen door, covering her mouth and trying to stifle her laughter. At first, she had been concerned for Angel's well being when William had pulled out the holy water, but when he had thrown it down on the ground to fight the vampire hand to hand, she relaxed enough to enjoy the show they were now putting on for her. All she could do was shake her head at how stupid the two of them looked out there. The sounds of grunting and groaning when punches landed or knees connected drifted to her ears as well as snippets of conversation.

"Buffy?" A voice called from behind.

"Giles, hi. Everything going okay in there?" She asked, spinning around to face him.

He studied his Slayer intently. She looked like a child who had gotten caught with her proverbial hands in the cookie jar. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, trying to close the back door before he could catch a glimpse of what was going on outside.

He caught the door in mid swing and looked down at her. "Honestly Buffy, do you think I'm blind?"

"No. Just hoped that maybe you were…just a bit."

He glanced outside as William knocked Angel several yards with a back kick to the vampire's chest. "How long have they been going at it?"

"About ten minutes now. Think I should stop them?"

"No, let them go. Hopefully they'll get it out of their systems so that they can concentrate on defeating the Master." Placing his hand on her shoulder, he began guiding her towards the living room. "Come on, we'll go listen to Anya's song a while. Lorne is helping us put the puzzle pieces together."

"If her performance is as bad as Xander's just was, I'm gonna hurl."

"You and I both I'm afraid," he stated dryly as they reached the room and took seats on the couch.

"Buffy, Giles," Anya said with a grin. "You almost missed my turn to sing a little ditty."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," Giles stated with a forced smile while Buffy coughed loudly to his left.

"Go ahead darling," Lorne encouraged her. "Sing your little heart out for Uncle Lorne." While the others cringed, Anya managed to screech out the lyrics to a Shania Twain song. After a few lines, he finally stopped the slaughter. "Okay, I've heard enough. You're the Demon and you're going to be paired with your boyfriend the Loyal. Any more questions?" No one said a word. "Good. Who's next? We still don't know who the Betrayer is."

"I thought that would be quite obvious," Wesley stated as a disheveled Angel and William entered the room, looking exhausted and a bit worse for wear.

"Color me stupid," Xander stated, suppressing a yawn while the others in the room were still giggling over Anya's performance. "But I'm not following."

Wesley stood, giving Angel a cold stare. "The Betrayer…is me."

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