'That bitch!' Spike's mind screamed as he paced the hole in the crypt that served as his bedroom. 'That fucking bitch! How could she? How could she not tell me what she was gonna do? After everything I've done? After the way she caught me blubbering in Buffy's room the other night. She knew what I was going through and she knew then what she was plannin' and she said nothing.'
Sweet as pie Willow. Batting those big, green, artless eyes at everyone, that shy, innocent smile of hers. No one would ever suspect her to go around people's backs like that. It was all too easy for people to underestimate the poppet. Even he had been fooled by her, and he had been around long enough and seen enough to know you can't judge a book by its cover.
'Well, never again.' He vowed. "Bitch is off ol' Spike's Christmas card list.'
He was so angry at her. He couldn't remember the last time he was so pissed off at someone.
'Oh right, that would probably have been Angelus.' He realised.
But this was different from being mad at his grandsire. He had always hated that bastard, so it was nothing new. But Willow...
Well he didn't like admitting it, but over the last few weeks he had actually started to see the little witch as a friend. But that was well over now.
The bitch betrayed him. And Spike wasn't the forgive and forget type.
He let out a howl of rage and frustration and punched the wall.
Pain shocked up his entire arm.
He laughed and looked at his bleeding knuckles.
'Pain, huh.'
Guess this isn't some dream after all.
A noise sounded upstairs. He went on alert immediately and grabbed a knife ready to take care of whatever ooglie booglie it happened to be.
He would expected anything, anyone other than who he found.
"Buffy?"
Willow wasn't happy.
She couldn't understand it. She should be ecstatic. It had worked. The spell had worked. Buffy was back. She brought her back from eternal torture in a hell dimension.
So, why did Buffy seem so depressed.
Yeah, okay, so having been to hell, not something you just shrug off. But Willow had expected some kind of sign that she was grateful.
Not that she was looking for a thank you.
'Cause that wasn't it at all.
But, Buffy had been back almost a week now and she hadn't even smiled once.
Not that Willow had seen anyway.
Willow's cell phone sounded breaking her from her dejected reverie.
She flipped it open distractedly.
"Hello?"
No one said anything.
Her brow scrunched up.
"Hello?"
"Willow, don't hang up."
Willow's back straitened, she was now fully alert.
'Oh, goddess.'
"Angel?"
Angel had been pacing around in his office for so long now it was a miracle he hadn't wore a well in the floor.
He had been picking up the phone intermittently, he'd listen to the dial tone for a moment then slamming it down again.
Sometimes he'd even go as far as to punch in her number, well most of it, he'd always stop just before the last one.
But after about the millionth time he finally completed the call.
His fingers tapped imapatiently on his desk as he waited for the connection to establish.
Then he finally heard her voice.
"Hello?"
His eyes closed and let the sweet sound overtake him. God, he loved her voice.
"Hello?"
He heard again and realised he let the moment draw out a beat too long.
Suddenly his throat was very dry.
He straitened up and dove in.
"Willow," He said urgently. "Don't hang up."
Now she heisted. But she wasn't hanging up he could hear her breathing.
Then she said it.
"Angel?"
The sound of his name on her lips was like a song from heaven.
"Oh, god Angel." An edge of panic had crept into her voice that wasn't so pleasant.
"Willow?" He questioned suddenly sobered. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, god, Angel, I'm so sorry I was going to tell you, really I was." She was babbling and clearly upset. "Everything just got so crazy first there was the hitchiker from hell that made Anya cut up her face and Dawn breath fire, and then the pipes bursting and the demon coming to the house.-"
"Willow!" Angel broke into her ranting. "What the hell is going on? What did you mean to tell me?"
"I-it's Buffy." She croaked "Angel, Buffy's back."
"A-angel?" She asked after a few beats of dead silence on the other end. She could only imagine what he must be thinking. She really was going to tell him about Buffy. She just hadn't gotten around to it yet.
"Angel?" She said again.
He still didn't respond.
She wondered if he fainted or something from the shock.
'Do vampires faint?'
Well, Spike had talked about passing out before so she guessed it was possible that they fainted as well.
She was getting worried now.
This was all her fault if Angel was passed out cold on the other end of the phone. What if he hit his head or something.
Her tummy was starting to have that weird feeling like she drank too much coffee or something.
"Angel?" Her voice showed her panic now.
"Angel, answer me!"
"Hello?" A voice finally came on the line, but it wasn't Angel's.
"Cordelia?"
Cordelia walked into the Hyperion she noticed the light in Angel's office and was relieved that he was there and not locked up in his room. She smiled and crossed the room to say hello.
"Hey, Angel,-" She stopped when she saw him sitting there just staring off ahead of him a dazed expression on his face.
"Angel?"
He didn't say anything, didn't move. He gave no indication what so ever that he was aware of her presence.
She walked into the room and peered down at him.
"Angel, are you okay?" She waved a hand in front of his face.
Nothing.
No response.
If he wasn't a vampire she might of thought he had had a stroke or something.
She heard a muffled voice squawking and looked down to see the telephone receiver on the floor.
She picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Cordelia?"
"Willow?"
"What happened is Angel okay?"
"I was just going to ask you that question." She replied. "What the hell did you say to him? He's all zombified."
"I told him that Buffy was alive."
"What?"
Willow related the jest of the spell to her.
Cordelia let that sink in, now fully understanding Angel's state.
"We'll call you back." She said to Willow and hung up the phone.
"Angel?" Cordelia urged, gently but firmly. She gave him a shake. "Hey, Angel you need to snap out of it okay?"
"B-Buffy..." he uttered. It was a barely audible sound, but Cordy was relieved all the same, he said something.
"She's alive." He said.
"Yeah, I know." Said Cordelia. "Willow told me."
"W-willow." he murmured and then remembered what the purpose of his call had been in the first place. "I need to talk to her." he asserted, suddenly more alert.
"I'm sure she wants to talk to you too." Cordelia replied assuming he had meant Buffy. "Here I'll call her for you."
She picked up the phone and punched in some numbers. She handed off the ringing phone to Angel.
"Hello?" The familiar voice answered.
'Oh, god it's true.'
"Buffy?"