When she woke up again, the first thing Pat noticed was that her head hurt; the second was a queasy feeling in her stomach, as if she was close to throwing up, and the third was cold metal around her wrists, that last fact bringing her out of her half-conscious state quickly and into full alert- and awareness.
"There you are again", Morgan's voice came as she sat up quickly, the chain around her wrists clinking softly, binding her hands in front of her, "I already wondered if my friends might have hit you too hard. I apologize if they injured you."
Ignoring him, not even bothering to look at him, Pat glared around, not surprised when she found herself in the cellar of the old High School, close to the Hellmouth; and moments after that realization, her breath caught in her throat as she spotted her wife, lying flat on her back on some sort of stone table, bound to the rough surface with chains as well, her eyes closed, her slow, calm breathing showing that she was out cold.
"She's alive", Morgan told her, having noticed what she was staring at, "for now. In half an hour, the alignment will end, so in about twenty-eight minutes, I will have to kill her."
He briefly glanced at the lifeless witch, then at the demon again, merely smiling at the hatred in her gaze, confident that he had them both and that his plan would work out just the way he had intended it to.
"Surely you wonder", he went on after a moment, figuring that he might as well spend the remaining minutes talking, "why I haven't killed her yet. Why I haven't taken her power yet."
"No", Pat snarled, trying not to let him notice as she flexed her muscles, trying to judge how well that chain and especially the wall it had been secured to would hold once she'd use her full strength on it, "but surely, you'll tell me anyway."
"It'd be too much power to contain for much longer", Morgan did just that in response, "even with the magic being disabled thanks to the equinox and the alignment. As you surely noticed, I'm no weakling myself, and that darkness she carries within her is merely unable to act out now, but not gone. Can't have that whispering into my ear during the shut-down so it can take over once the alignment ends."
"So, then what", the demon demanded to know, figuring that she might as well keep him busy for a few more minutes, "you kill her, take her power, and then explode anyway when the alignment ends?"
"Of course not", the man replied at once, shaking his head, "then I jump into the Hellmouth. It has been prepared for what I plan to do, it will take me where I intend to go, and you'll all… the whole world… will be in for quite the surprise."
As if in response to his words, there was a distinct rumble from the Hellmouth, making the demon flinch; he chuckled at her reaction, a merry glint in his eyes as he got up and walked over to it, peering inside it, strange longing in his voice as he went on. "Even during this alignment, it is active and waiting… Ready for me. See how much power it has? I've been waiting so long for this. You fought bravely, and your protectiveness of your wife is admirable, but I will not let you stop me. I worked too hard and waited too long for this to let a former assassin who now discovered her good heart stop me."
Turning to look at her, he chuckled at her surprised look, then smirked, moving away from the Hellmouth again, passing the unconscious witch; and while he missed it, Pat noticed how just for the briefest moment, her breathing changed, become a bit faster, showing her that she wasn't as out cold as she wanted Morgan to think.
"Of course I know who you are", he told the black haired woman, stopping at a safe distance, "I did my research before I came here. Not to mention that your wife and you are quite well known amongst the demon community. Along with the Slayer, of course. I have to say though, your activities before you came to this town were much more… impressive. Some of those kills…"
"Thank you", the black haired woman dryly replied, now eager to keep his attention on her, figuring that Willow was working something out and not wanting him to notice, "it really warms my heart that someone like you would be impressed by what I did before I came here."
"Ah, sarcasm", Morgan nodded in response, prompting her to raise an eyebrow, "something you are very fond of, I've been told. I appreciate that."
"I don't give a fuck what you appreciate", Pat shot back at once, making him chuckle yet again, "but hey, at least you'll die after having a good laugh, that must be worth something."
"Your threats do not scare me", he told her, obviously unimpressed, "time's almost up, you're chained, your wife is chained and out cold on top of that, and in a few minutes, you'll have to watch me kill her. I'm sorry that'll also kill your child, but means to an end and all that."
"Yes", Pat agreed, prompting him to look at her in surprise as this had been the last answer he had been expecting, having been sure that she'd rage at him and threaten him, "and all that."
And with the last word, she shot forward, her muscles bulging as she gave the most powerful pull she could; just as she had hoped, the ring holding the chain at the wall was torn out of the concrete with a loud snapping sound, Morgan's eyes going wide as he took a step back, but before he could do more than that, she had tackled him, her assumptions that he wasn't much good at hand to hand combat being proven correct moments later as all he could do was flail helplessly beneath her.
"You know", the demon snarled as she brought the chain between her wrists down and across his throat, cutting off his flow of air, "the best chain is worth nothing if the wall you mount it to is old and crumbling. I'd say remember that for the next time, but there won't be a next time for you."
"Don't kill him!" Willow cried out, having given up her ruse and struggling against the chains, finding herself cut off from all magic; to her relief, her partner's anger clearly wasn't big enough to cloud her judgement, since she let out a vaguely agreeing noise, not taking her gaze away from the man though, keeping the pressure on his throat up, smirking when his face started to redden.
"Give in to it", she then told him, ignoring how he feebly swatted at her legs as she crouched over him; moments later though, she had to bite back a curse as his fingers landed on the hilt of the dagger she still had in her boot, but before she could stop him, he jerked the weapon free, swinging it blindly at her, only to have her bring up both hands and grab his arm, stopping the dagger inches from her side.
Gulping in a deep breath, he strained against her hold, fighting to injure her after all; snarling back at him, she easily held him at bay, the seconds ticking away, with her knowing that all she had to do was hold on until the alignment was over, and could easily kill him then, without any danger for her or Willow.
Gritting his teeth as well, Morgan kept trying, sweat having formed on his brow by now; having enough of his feeble tries, Pat pushed his arm further away from her, simultaneously forcing him to bend it so she wouldn't break it, the dagger pointing downwards now, right at his chest, fear in his eyes now as he realized how close he was to being killed.
"Not yet", the demon grumbled at him, "make no mistake, I will kill you. So enjoy your last few minutes."
In response, his strain against her hold increased even further, his arm trembling; and then, he suddenly smiled, giving her just a second to wonder what he was planning now – before he stopped pushing back at her so abruptly that it left her no time to react, and before she knew what was happening, the dagger had plunged down, straight into his heart, killing him within seconds.