The rush of power was amazing to her, she felt like a Goddess. She could do anything, be anything, do *things* to other people… like Oz. She could finally hurt him like he hurt her, finally do what she had a hidden desire to do since he left. She could have revenge. And who better to give revenge than the newly born vengeance demon Willow? Of course, part of her was still good, telling her that revenge is wrong, and that killing Oz horribly wouldn't solve anything… but that part of her could be ignored, she reasoned. The evil in her had been let out after years of lying in wait, and it wasn't about to stop yet. And after Oz, there was always Xander, and then, the ones she's called to by their wronged lovers. Hmm. A busy time ahead indeed. But she felt ready.
Then she felt that she should get a personal planner, or some sticky notes or something.
"Giles? It's Anya. I have some very important, life-changing news for you."
The blinded ex-Watcher sighed dramatically. "What is it now, Anya? Have Spike and Buffy chosen their honeymoon destination?"
"No. Willow's a vengeance demon. But, more importantly, I get to be a bridesmaid for Buffy! And I get to wear lilac!"
"Ahh… please rewind a little there… Willow's a demon?"
"Yeah, purple, snarly, leather skirt, the works. Buffy, Spike and Xander are on the way over, they'll fill you in. But, anyway, what do you think about me in lilac? Would it go with my hair colour?"
"Um… of course… demon, was that?"
"But I did have the option of peach, d'you think I should have taken it?"
An unlikely trio were jogging quickly over the grass to Giles' house. A Slayer, besotted with a vampire, who had proposed not so long ago, was considering both her best friend's new demon-ish career, and her big wedding. Mostly the wedding. A dropout was considering how to remove the slayer from the vampire for a while, or at least long enough to come up with a plan to turn Willow back into her good-natured self. A vampire had mostly either forgotten or simply not cared about Willow's demon-ness, and was mentally working out a wedding invitation list. Since he'd killed most of the people he knew, it wasn't a long one.
Oz was sorting through boxes of his stuff, the stuff he called for from his dorm. It had been a tough struggle to decide whether or not to call Willow, but in the end, he figured that phoning her may only have added to the pain, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her even more. He should be back. Soon. All he needed to do was get his head on straight once more, work out what he was going to do. Oh, and sort out the whole lycantropy thing, that was a biggie too. He missed his home, his friends, his college, but mostly, he missed his Willow. Every part of him wanted to go back to him, but he knew, deep down, that it would be the worst thing he could do… what if he wolfed out and hurt her? Or worse? He shuddered a little at the thought of that last night with Veruca, if Buffy hadn't entered with the tranquilliser, he'd have…
No. No time to think about that now. Have to sort things out. Have to have a direction. Have to cure the curse, and then, have to go back. Soon.
"Darnit." Cursed Willow. Well, not really cursed, she was still partially herself, after all. "They should tell you how hard it is to find a person who hasn't called on you… I should so have some special demon radar screen, or something, but no, the darn demon dimension-y thing doesn't even have the darn budget for that." She slammed the phone book back on the tiny table. She was, at that moment, somewhere in LA, at a payphone, looking in vain hope for Oz in the directory. It was pretty much a given that he wouldn't be there, but it was worth a try. "And they could've told me how to work these special demon-y powers!" she snarled, hitting the table with her fist. A small mongrel dog looked at her interestedly.
"I mean, I'm not asking for a darn instruction manual, but they could've said, like, `wiggle your nose`, or `click your heels`, or `think happy thoughts` or something!" her hand slammed into the table again, a crack spread across the flimsy wood. The dog cocked its head to one side. Humans are strange, it thought. They break things, and howl in a funny way, and turn purple. I wonder why? Giving up its attempt to dissect the human psyche, the dog trotted off into the night to chase some rats and eat old fruit, which was probably more useful than anything Willow managed to do. After a failure to find him that involved checking all of the phone books in most of the main states, (as vengeance demons can easily skip long distances, this was one of the powers she had discovered) and a finding spell that ended in a wrecked hotel room and large chunks of molten ceiling sizzling through the floor down into the room below, the demon Willow was getting angry. There had to be a way to get to him, any way…
As Willow the new born demon was catching up on her phone book reading, there had been a session at Giles' house. It had involved lots of Buffy and Spike smoochage, lots of Xander telling Giles that for once, it wasn't his fault, and lots of Anya sulking about not being the demon any more. Giles wasn't entirely sure if it was a bad thing that he couldn't see, whenever Buffy and Spike were together these days, blindness was a blessing.
"We need to get our priorities in order." said the Watcher, casting a glare at what he hoped was Buffy and Spike. It turned out to be a lamp, but no-one wanted to point this out to him.
"True." Said Buffy, disconnecting with Spike for a brief moment. "We have to make sure she doesn't get to Oz."
"What we have to do," mumbled Giles, shakily standing up and leaning on Xander's shoulder for support, "Is summon Willow here. That way, she'll be distracted by us, and won't be able to, er… *get to* Oz."
Xander, who had been mostly quiet for a while, oddly enough, spoke up. "Y'know, I keep thinking, `let's get Willow to do a spell, or look something up`, and then I remember she can't. And then I think that she might be gone forever."
"She's still here." Frowned Anya. "She's just evil, that's all."
"Well, that's even worse! She seems like she's here, but it's not her. It's not Will. It's like the anti-Willow. Mean, bad, nasty Willow. Billy Bo Bubba Bob Willow." Xander slumped into the chair a little more, noisily grabbing a biscuit from the bag on the table on the way down.
"Oh, do feel free to take those." said Giles, pulling a face.
"I already had three, weren't we meant to?" asked Anya.
"I'd rather you hadn't…"
"I can give them back, if you like."
It was Xander's turn to pull a face. "Eww, Anya! That's gross! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Hey hey hey! Whoever ate the last digestive isn't our top priority right now, remember?" said Buffy.
"They were the digestives?!? I *really* didn't want you to eat those, I thought they were the custard creams!"
"I had one of those, too…"
"Oi!" yelled Spike, standing up carefully, as Buffy was still sat across his knee. "Now look, Slayer here is going to be pouty until we get back her friend, and I don't want that. So we have to get her un-demonised, now." He turned his face to Buffy's. "Not that I don't like that little pouty look…"
"Up until the `pouty look` part, Spike actually made sense. We're getting distracted from the point of the meeting." snapped Giles, with a second attempt at a scowl. This one hit home, and the others looked down guiltily. "I want Anya and Xander to look for a vengeance demon summoning spell. I want Buffy and Spike to *get away from each other now* and to research a way of turning a demon back into their original form. It'll probably be to do with her power source, like it was with Anya, please check. And I'll…" Giles hesitated. It wasn't nice feeling useless.
"You'll get some rest." said Buffy, gently helping him back onto the sofa, and placing the damp cloth back over his eyes.
"Yes… I suppose I can't do much at all…"
"I know you'll be here for us when the time comes."
The jobs were assigned, the research began, and Anya grabbed the custard creams on the way out.
Then she felt that she should get a personal planner, or some sticky notes or something.
"Giles? It's Anya. I have some very important, life-changing news for you."
The blinded ex-Watcher sighed dramatically. "What is it now, Anya? Have Spike and Buffy chosen their honeymoon destination?"
"No. Willow's a vengeance demon. But, more importantly, I get to be a bridesmaid for Buffy! And I get to wear lilac!"
"Ahh… please rewind a little there… Willow's a demon?"
"Yeah, purple, snarly, leather skirt, the works. Buffy, Spike and Xander are on the way over, they'll fill you in. But, anyway, what do you think about me in lilac? Would it go with my hair colour?"
"Um… of course… demon, was that?"
"But I did have the option of peach, d'you think I should have taken it?"
An unlikely trio were jogging quickly over the grass to Giles' house. A Slayer, besotted with a vampire, who had proposed not so long ago, was considering both her best friend's new demon-ish career, and her big wedding. Mostly the wedding. A dropout was considering how to remove the slayer from the vampire for a while, or at least long enough to come up with a plan to turn Willow back into her good-natured self. A vampire had mostly either forgotten or simply not cared about Willow's demon-ness, and was mentally working out a wedding invitation list. Since he'd killed most of the people he knew, it wasn't a long one.
Oz was sorting through boxes of his stuff, the stuff he called for from his dorm. It had been a tough struggle to decide whether or not to call Willow, but in the end, he figured that phoning her may only have added to the pain, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her even more. He should be back. Soon. All he needed to do was get his head on straight once more, work out what he was going to do. Oh, and sort out the whole lycantropy thing, that was a biggie too. He missed his home, his friends, his college, but mostly, he missed his Willow. Every part of him wanted to go back to him, but he knew, deep down, that it would be the worst thing he could do… what if he wolfed out and hurt her? Or worse? He shuddered a little at the thought of that last night with Veruca, if Buffy hadn't entered with the tranquilliser, he'd have…
No. No time to think about that now. Have to sort things out. Have to have a direction. Have to cure the curse, and then, have to go back. Soon.
"Darnit." Cursed Willow. Well, not really cursed, she was still partially herself, after all. "They should tell you how hard it is to find a person who hasn't called on you… I should so have some special demon radar screen, or something, but no, the darn demon dimension-y thing doesn't even have the darn budget for that." She slammed the phone book back on the tiny table. She was, at that moment, somewhere in LA, at a payphone, looking in vain hope for Oz in the directory. It was pretty much a given that he wouldn't be there, but it was worth a try. "And they could've told me how to work these special demon-y powers!" she snarled, hitting the table with her fist. A small mongrel dog looked at her interestedly.
"I mean, I'm not asking for a darn instruction manual, but they could've said, like, `wiggle your nose`, or `click your heels`, or `think happy thoughts` or something!" her hand slammed into the table again, a crack spread across the flimsy wood. The dog cocked its head to one side. Humans are strange, it thought. They break things, and howl in a funny way, and turn purple. I wonder why? Giving up its attempt to dissect the human psyche, the dog trotted off into the night to chase some rats and eat old fruit, which was probably more useful than anything Willow managed to do. After a failure to find him that involved checking all of the phone books in most of the main states, (as vengeance demons can easily skip long distances, this was one of the powers she had discovered) and a finding spell that ended in a wrecked hotel room and large chunks of molten ceiling sizzling through the floor down into the room below, the demon Willow was getting angry. There had to be a way to get to him, any way…
As Willow the new born demon was catching up on her phone book reading, there had been a session at Giles' house. It had involved lots of Buffy and Spike smoochage, lots of Xander telling Giles that for once, it wasn't his fault, and lots of Anya sulking about not being the demon any more. Giles wasn't entirely sure if it was a bad thing that he couldn't see, whenever Buffy and Spike were together these days, blindness was a blessing.
"We need to get our priorities in order." said the Watcher, casting a glare at what he hoped was Buffy and Spike. It turned out to be a lamp, but no-one wanted to point this out to him.
"True." Said Buffy, disconnecting with Spike for a brief moment. "We have to make sure she doesn't get to Oz."
"What we have to do," mumbled Giles, shakily standing up and leaning on Xander's shoulder for support, "Is summon Willow here. That way, she'll be distracted by us, and won't be able to, er… *get to* Oz."
Xander, who had been mostly quiet for a while, oddly enough, spoke up. "Y'know, I keep thinking, `let's get Willow to do a spell, or look something up`, and then I remember she can't. And then I think that she might be gone forever."
"She's still here." Frowned Anya. "She's just evil, that's all."
"Well, that's even worse! She seems like she's here, but it's not her. It's not Will. It's like the anti-Willow. Mean, bad, nasty Willow. Billy Bo Bubba Bob Willow." Xander slumped into the chair a little more, noisily grabbing a biscuit from the bag on the table on the way down.
"Oh, do feel free to take those." said Giles, pulling a face.
"I already had three, weren't we meant to?" asked Anya.
"I'd rather you hadn't…"
"I can give them back, if you like."
It was Xander's turn to pull a face. "Eww, Anya! That's gross! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Hey hey hey! Whoever ate the last digestive isn't our top priority right now, remember?" said Buffy.
"They were the digestives?!? I *really* didn't want you to eat those, I thought they were the custard creams!"
"I had one of those, too…"
"Oi!" yelled Spike, standing up carefully, as Buffy was still sat across his knee. "Now look, Slayer here is going to be pouty until we get back her friend, and I don't want that. So we have to get her un-demonised, now." He turned his face to Buffy's. "Not that I don't like that little pouty look…"
"Up until the `pouty look` part, Spike actually made sense. We're getting distracted from the point of the meeting." snapped Giles, with a second attempt at a scowl. This one hit home, and the others looked down guiltily. "I want Anya and Xander to look for a vengeance demon summoning spell. I want Buffy and Spike to *get away from each other now* and to research a way of turning a demon back into their original form. It'll probably be to do with her power source, like it was with Anya, please check. And I'll…" Giles hesitated. It wasn't nice feeling useless.
"You'll get some rest." said Buffy, gently helping him back onto the sofa, and placing the damp cloth back over his eyes.
"Yes… I suppose I can't do much at all…"
"I know you'll be here for us when the time comes."
The jobs were assigned, the research began, and Anya grabbed the custard creams on the way out.