What follows was going to be a seperate story - a sequel. But after some careful consideration. (based on the fact that it would be incomprehensible and confusing to anyone who hadn't read Awakenings) I decided to add it to the end of that instead.
Now comes the dissapointing bit: Despite the speed at which I've put up the 5 parts that are here, believe me when I say that I don't write that fast. I'll have the next parts up as soon as I can, but now that this has caught up to me there might be a little wait for them. I just wanted to warn in advance in case it took a while.
I haven't given up on this... It's just taking me a while to write it.
Anyway... Have fun... Enjoy.... Give feedback...
Awakenings II - The dawn
Giles studied the situation as he unsteadily got to his feet. The library was a mess. Books littered the floor from where one of the bookcases had been toppled during the fight. And more than one chair was shattered, strewn across the room in it's component parts. He scanned around the room to see that Oz, Willow, and Robert were similarly raising themselves off the floor.
With a sigh Buffy marched back in through the main doors. "Well I got one of them." She said. "But Spike and the other two got away with Xander in tow."
Cordelia was the first to speak up. "I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say... What the hell happened?"
"Well at a guess," Giles responded. "Spike and Xander just gatecrashed the ritual."
"Well... Duh!" Cordelia said. "What about the part where Xander collapsed on the floor and they all dragged him outta there?"
"Unfortunately I have to confess not being able to observe the events immediately preceding that." Giles responded. "They might provide some clue as to what caused that turn of events."
"He crushed the orb." Willow stated.
"Pardon?" Giles asked. Such a blunt statement being far too stark for his mind to cope with at the moment without prior warning.
"He crushed the orb." Willow restated. "He picked it up, and he crushed it in his hand."
"Oh." Was Giles' only response.
"That orb had his soul in, right?" Buffy asked.
"I think," Willow replied. "I felt something go into the orb."
"So what happened to the soul?" Buffy continued her line of questioning.
"That I don't know." Giles said, sweeping debris off the table to set a book down. "If it wasn't destroyed with the orb, then it has to have gone somewhere."
"Why wouldn't it have been?" Buffy likewise swept a portion of the table clear, and proceeded to perch on the edge.
"You can't just destroy a soul." Robert took a step forward from the edge of the room as he spoke. "It doesn't work like that."
"You..." Buffy said, her voice full of menace. She strode up to him, lifting him up by his jacket, and pushing him against the wall. "You knew about this, didn't you? You knew that something was going to happen." She shouted at him, holding him with his feet fully six inches off the ground.
"Why do you think I was here?" Robert replied. "Would you be alive now if not for me?"
"But you knew, and you said nothing about it!" Buffy shouted back. "We had no idea what was going to happen, and you did!"
"Buffy." Giles said quietly, giving her pause with a single word.
"We should hear him out." Willow added.
Seething with frustration, Buffy set him down on the ground, and walked back over to sit on the edge of the table.
Robert paused to tidy his clothing before taking a step forward. "I didn't know what was going to happen. I don't know who those people were, or why they were here. And I still have only the most vague idea of what you were trying to do here." He said calmly. "I came here because my duty demanded it. That's a concept you should understand."
"The blonde one with the English accent was Spike, also known as William The Bloody. The one they carried out of here is called Xander. He was a good friend, and helped me fight until he was turned a couple of days ago." Buffy spoke up. "We were attempting the ritual of restoration to return his soul to him."
"That ritual has been lost for over ninety years." Robert observed, trying to absorb all of the information in front of him.
"We found it again." Buffy said, the simplicity of her words contradicting the huge implication of the statement.
"So, let us pretend that we know you, and we trust you." Giles said curtly. "What are you going to be doing now, and where can we find you, should we need to?"
"Now I need to return for more information. I'll be more certain on what to do once I figure out which of you is the one. And if you need to find me, I should be here." He said, placing a piece of paper down on the table.
"So, what now?" Willow spoke up. "More books? Find out what happened?"
"Actually..." Giles responded. "I think we have just enough time to get this place looking like a library before people start arriving."
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Xander looked around. The blackness surrounded him. Plumbing his memories, he surveyed his surroundings for any variations, any differences, anything. Willow had been hurt, that's why he'd gone after Angelus. That was foolish, Angelus would have killed him if not for Spike. It hadn't made any difference, Spike had sucked him dry anyway. But Spike had made him drink too. I always thought I wouldn't drink, If this happened I'd rather die first. He thought to himself. You never really realise how hard that is until it's happening to you. . Nothing after that was clear, muddled and vague memories, blurred and distorted. Slowly returning to clarity.
When he turned from his thoughts back to his surroundings he noticed a figure facing him in the nothingness. The figure was his exact double, height, build, clothes, Exactly the same. Apart from the face, that is. It took only a glance to see that this was him as a vampire, and a glance was far more than he wanted to see.
"This is my home now, I live here." The thing spoke with exactly the same tones and inflections that he would have used had he said that. Save for the tangible aggression and menace in the voice it was exactly the same as his.
"I don't think so." Xander made as defiant stand against the demon as he could. He still had very little idea what was going on.
The demon chuckled as to their side, the inky blackness began to form into an image.
"I do." It said with an evil smile on it's face
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The early morning mist hung low to the ground, not yet dissipated by the sun that was just cresting the horizon. The gentle breeze in the air stirred the mist into small spiral patterns, raising it on occasion to waist height.
Although the museum was not yet open, pre-opening activity could be seen inside. Janitors and security guards going about their business whilst last minute adjustments and improvements were being made to some of the exhibits and dioramas contained within.
Now was the time of least resistance. Not that the security guards with their guns would provide much, but there was no need for the loss of life that increased resistance entailed. The figure moved forward. Indistinguishable at first from the mist from which it emerged. Even as the figure cleared the mist it gained no distinguishing features. In the shape of a man it strode forward, the fledgling sunlight exposing the pale blue hue bordering on grey that was the only distinct detail about it.
Pausing at the foot of the steps that lead up to the main doors, the thing observed the building. Attention focused on the second floor the thing seemed to tense itself, then with an explosive burst of movement it catapulted itself up into the air to land on the ledge of a second floor window. Again the thing gave pause. This time it seemed to dissolve into nothingness, only to coalesce on the inside of the window.
Once on the inside, the thing strode purposefully over to a particular exhibit. The silver dagger, handle encrusted with various precious and semi precious gems sat atop a velvet pillow inside the glass case. The side of the case bore a lengthy and inaccurate description of the blade's origins and uses.
In one swift movement the glass was shattered. The wailing of alarms and the flashing lights shattering the calm in turn. An ethereal hand reached down to pluck the dagger from it's perch just as a pair of security guards came running up the stairs from the floor below. The guns shouted out their warcry as they hurled metal death towards the intruder, but it strode toward the guards, unimpeded by the myriad impacts of the bullets hitting it. One swift blow all but tore one guard's head from his shoulders as the dagger tasted blood. The second guard started to back away, and a well placed kick sent him tumbling backwards down the stairs he had just ascended.
The figure turned and made towards the window. kicking it open, it then somersaulted down to street level as yet more alarms joined in the cacophony inside the museum. Striding away into the rapidly disappearing mist with the dagger in hand, the figure all but vanished.
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Xander groaned as he slowly returned to consciousness. Opening his eyes he saw the familiar faces of Spike and Drusillia staring down at him.
"He's a bloody liability, that's what he is." Spike said to Dru. "I'm starting to regret ever siring him in the first place."
"Don't spank him just yet." Drusillia replied. "He has a destiny. He'll make us proud, just wait."
"Did I miss anything?" Xander murmured as he came to.
"well as far as I can tell you got your ass kicked by a bloody weakling." Spike answered. "But I was to busy fighting someone who actually knows how to fight to give you the exact details. Maybe you could tell us how you managed to screw up that badly."
"She was strong." Xander said as he raised himself up into a sitting position.
"How strong?" Spike snarled. "Strong like a slayer?"
"Strangely enough I've never fought a slayer, so I couldn't tell you." Xander answered. "But I beat her anyway."
"Then why the bloody hell did you flake out in the middle of the fight?"
"The orb." Xander replied. "I smashed it. Then .... I don't know. That must have been what did it."
Spike paused in thought for a moment before extending a hand down to Xander.
"Figures... I think." He said. "Well, so long as you're still soulless and fancy free I suppose it wasn't a total failure."
Xander paused in thought for a moment. He could feel the soul within himself, deep down in the core of his being. If Spike discovered it there was no way to tell what would happen. The ritual couldn't have worked properly though, because although the soul was there, it had no purchase on his thoughts, no control of his actions. It didn't matter.
"Yeah. We'll have to pay them back for that though, and soon." He said.
"Don't worry, we will." Spike replied. "You just get my Armageddon ready to go. Let me worry about the slayer."
"We're going to have a party. They'll all be invited." Dru crooned in her usual melodic tones as she danced around the pair of them, seemingly floating on a carpet of air.
"They'll come to us?" Spike asked, scooping Dru into his arms and dancing around the room with her.
"And they'll bring a friend." Dru sang as Spike twirled her around and around.
"Perfect!" Spike smiled as he threw Dru down onto the bed in the corner of the room. "We're going to have some alone time now, would you mind being somewhere else." He said over his shoulder to Xander.
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"Youth, the stench of optimism. Doesn't it just disgust you?" Snyder spat the words out as if even speaking of it would in some way contaminate him.
"Well actually I...." Giles started to respond before Snyder's next tirade cut him off.
"Disgusting self centred slavering bags of hormones, with nothing better to do than go around spreading their filth and their germs and causing exactly this kind of disruption." He gestured around at the library, which was still in a terrible state of disarray.
"I'm sure those responsible will be apprehended, and brought to justice." Giles responded, concealing the deception from his voice with a practised ease.
"That Buffy Summers had something to do with this, mark my words." Snyder sniffed at the air as if trying to identify a particular scent. "I can just smell it."
"With respect I hardly think...."
"And when I find out exactly how this is all her fault." Snyder continued. "I'll kick her out of this school so hard she won't land until she's finished college."
Snyder was just about to continue his rant when the mobile phone on his belt started ringing in an ardent attempt to garner his attention. Plucking the device from it's perch, he pressed the receive button and held the phone up to his ear.
"Snyder." He said pre-emptively.
"The mayor's on line 1." The brusque voice could be identified as his secretary even through the distortion of the phone.
"I'll take it in my office." Snyder replied before hanging up the phone. Without so much as a word, or even a glance to Giles he started off in the direction of his office.
"What did the Fuhrer want?" Willow emerged only when Snyder had made a good distance down the hallway.
Giles concealed a smirk at that remark. "He's just up to his usual." Giles said. "So, how did your morning classes go?"
"Well, after I fell asleep in Biology I'm not so tired now..." Willow said, walking with Giles into the library.
Giles smiled. "Today has been a bit exhausting so far. But what I meant was how are you coping?"
"I'm okay.. I think." Willow replied. "I mean.. I'm not feeling good right about now, but I think I'll live."
"I think I have some good news..." Giles said, sitting down and beckoning for Willow to do likewise. "...About the ritual."
Willow perked up instantly. "It worked?"
"It may have done." Giles said, leafing through a book on the table. "I've spent most of the morning reading up about the ritual. And it seems to be that the ritual occurs in three distinct parts. The first of these calls the soul to the orb, the second empowers it and enables it to take control of the body it is sent to, and the third part sends it out to the body in question."
"Uh-huh." Willow said. "So how far did we get?"
"As far as I can tell we had just completed the first part of the ritual." Giles responded. "But here's where it gets interesting.... In the past, before the secrets of the ritual were lost there are accounts of castings that went awry. A common cause was when a third party interfered with the orb during the casting process."
"What happened then?"
"It seems that, as good a vessel for the soul as the orb is... It in no way compares to flesh and bone. In short, physical contact with the orb once the soul has been summoned to it will transfer the soul to the individual who touched the orb."
"Xander does have his soul back..." The hope on Willow's face was as plain as the light of day.
"Yes. However without the rest of the ritual, the soul has to fight for control. In past occurrences it created instant, incurable Multiple Personality Disorders. There is however no record of the ritual going awry with the specific events we experienced. All I can say for sure is that the soul is in the body. Whether or not it can exert any degree of control remains to be seen."
"Oh." Willow quietly said. The hope that had built up draining away, leaving her face much the same as it had been before. "I was talking with Buffy, she said something about leaving an amulet with you."
"Yes..." Giles said. "...She did. I've as of yet been unable to find it's origins though. She wouldn't tell me where she found it. Did she happen to tell you?"
"No." Willow replied. "I don't think she was even going to tell me about it at all, it just kinda slipped out when we were talking."
"A pity..." Giles looked pensive. "If I had some idea of where to start looking I might stand a better chance of discerning what it's purpose is." Giles paused for a moment. "I know you probably don't want to hear this from me, but it doesn't do for you to be sitting around here at lunchtime, you really should eat something."
"I don't feel up to facing the canteen at the moment."
"Well I can't go without food even if you can. I was going to bring myself some back from the canteen, I can get some for you as well if you'd like."
"And I can help with the research while I'm here."
"It's a deal then." Giles smiled. "I'll be back in ten minutes, give or take."
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Robert squinted as he looked at the sun, just now rising into full view above the neighbouring buildings. Leaning against the door, he pushed it open with his weight, and descended into his abode. Scanning visually across the room for Whistler he soon found him crouched in front of the open refrigerator.
"Well?... Do you still feel like thanking me?" Whistler asked, carrying a selection of food over to a worksurface where he was assembling an even bigger monstrosity than the one he was wearing.
"I'm not sure on that one yet." Robert replied. "You knew exactly what was going to happen didn't you?"
Whistler shrugged.
"Would it have killed you to have told me?" Robert continued.
"Possibly." Whistler said. "But if you're gonna carry on like this can we have some Tv so I'll be at least half interested."
"Whatever." Robert sighed. "But you'll be lucky if I can get any sort of a signal on that thing." He said, flicking the Tv on.
The picture sprang to life, clear with perfect sound and without the slightest hint of distortion. Robert looked back and forth between the Tv and whistler with an incredulous expression on his face until the programme caught his attention.
"This morning at approximately 6am the Sunnydale natural history museum was the Scene of theft and Brutal assault." The disembodied female voice spoke as the camera panned across the front of the museum, then upwards to reveal the broken window on the 2nd floor.
"That's fast reporting." Robert commented. "It's hardly eight thirty."
"Yeah." Whistler spoke between mouthfuls of his monstrosity. "For a town where this happens all the time they never cease to be able to make a big deal over it."
Robert turned his attention back to the screen where a picture of the stolen artefact was being displayed. A protracted and hardly accurate description of the item accompanied as an audible narrative.
"That's....." Robert started.
"It certainly is." Whistler answered almost before the question was begun.
"It was him wasn't it?" Robert turned back to Whistler as he spoke.
"Yep, that was his doing." Whistler confirmed.
"He can't be thinking of doing what I think he is with that...." Robert said, keeping half an eye on both Whistler and the Tv.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Whistler answered nonchalantly. "I thought you were expecting him to make a move."
"Not that move." Robert responded. "Does he even think he can pull it off?"
"Do I look like a psychic?" Whistler asked Rhetorically.
"Well you dress like one." Robert answered.
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It had taken time, but Xander had finally made sense of the images that seemed to be passing before him. His vampire counterpart seemed to float in the nothingness absorbed completely with the images, seemingly oblivious to him. This place, evidently was some part of his mind, and those images, clearly were what he was seeing with his eyes. With a little concentration Xander could focus on them and perceive the outside world through the senses of his body, although the lack of control was frustrating enough no make him not want to. He'd been like this before, when he was possessed by the hyena spirit, and his resolve to regain control grew with every passing moment. The newly returned memories of what he'd done during the time between his turning and the ritual merely strengthened this resolve. He'd been spending the last half hour steeling himself for his first attempt at control
"Shouldn't be too hard." He said to himself as if for reassurance. "It's your mind... You can do whatever you want here." Bending his mind to the task he focused on the outside, and willed his material body to take the action he wanted. Almost immediately he knew he had his counterpart's attention. It's thoughts seemed to intrude into his own as he felt more than heard his counterpart's response.
"Cease!.... Or..." Was the counterpart's message before Xander cut it off with his own.
"Or what?" Xander smiled inwardly as things started to become clearer to him. "You'll destroy me?.... Force me out?..... If you could have done that I'd be gone already. You can't do a thing to me, and we both know it."
"True...." There was a fair bit of surprise and a small amount of admiration detectable as the thing responded. "But neither can you do anything to me. I am the stronger of us... and you will not prevail"
"And I'm not gonna stop trying either!" The tenacity of Xander's response surprised even himself. "I'll do whatever it takes too."
"It'll take more than you've got." If it had been sound the thing would have been chuckling. "Do you need a display of my power?"
"Bring it on." Xander responded, resolute.
When the pain hit him though, he wished he hadn't. Wave after wave of agony that forced him to relinquish his attempt at control. Cast back into the void of his mind, he managed to regain enough composure that he was able to reduce the pain to a dull ache.
"guess you win this round." He muttered as vision blurred by pain began to clear. It was almost the same as it had been a few moments ago.
Except now he knew he could fight the thing.
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Buffy and Willow walked down the corridor to the library. Talking, as people are wont to do. To the casual observer they would appear no different from the average pair of teenage girls, having an impassioned conversation about whatever it was that was occupying them at the time. Of course, the casual observer wouldn't listen too closely to the conversation....
"So you really think Angel is alive?" Willow asked.
"Totally!" Buffy responded. "All that we have saying he's dead is Xander's word. And Xander was out to cause us major hurt any way he could. I think he faked it."
"I don't know.." Willow said quietly. "I just have a feeling about this, I think he actually did do it."
"It's easy enough to find out for definite." Buffy said as she and Willow entered the library. "We get another one of those orb things, and we do the ritual for Angel. We can find out that way can't we?"
"Unfortunately Orbs of Thessulah are exceedingly rare and rather expensive." Giles looked up from the table at the new arrivals as he spoke. "Although I'm sure there are other spells that will tell you what you need to know with far less expense and effort."
"Anyway mister knowledge, do we know anything about that Amulet I gave you?"
"Well, considering you told me nothing about the circumstances in which you found it I find my progress to be most fortuitous." Giles responded in a sarcastic tone.
"In English... You did find out about it right?" Buffy fought sarcasm with sarcasm.
"Yes." Was Giles' reply. "But as your Watcher I refuse to divulge the information until I know to what ends it will be used. How did you encounter that amulet?"
"Fine." Buffy sighed. "I got it off Robert. He dropped it, I don't think he's missing it yet. Now will you please tell me about it?"
"The amulet...." Giles began. "....Is a simple Adept's amulet. It signifies a level of proficiency in certain magickal arts, the amulet itself has little intrinsic value. You could think of it as a magickal earthing rod in that it affords a small degree of protection to the wearer, but apart from that it's just a symbol."
"Please tell me there's more than that." Buffy said.
"There is." Giles replied. "But you may not want to hear it."
"Well that's done it." Buffy said. "Do you realise that I *Have* to hear it now, no matter what it is?"
"Very well..." Giles continued. "...I can say with some certainty that the amulet bears the symbol of the Order Magus Phoenica."
"Phoenix mages?" Willow spoke up.
"Yes." Giles nodded. "Now, the Order have a history with the council going back several hundred years so far as I can tell. And the Order itself is almost as old as the council. The Order used to be allied with the Watchers Council up until not much over a hundred years ago. Some difference of opinion... I find it rather amusing that the specific incident isn't documented anywhere I can find. The two had always had their differences, but nothing that prevented them from working together. Following said incident the Council and the Order went to war.... The Order lost, they had individual power, but the Council had superior numbers and connections. Nothing's been heard of them for the last 20 or 30 years. Official word from the council is that the Order no longer exists."
"You killed them all." Willow put Giles' words into the most compact form.
"Or so we thought." Giles corrected. "If Robert is a member of this Order then he is extremely dangerous." Giles reached for a particular book, opened it and started reading from it. "In 1947, the Council's main American book depository in New York was raided by A member of the Order. He was identified as Zachary Morris, the then defacto leader of the Order."
"So he stole a bunch of books," Buffy said. "Notice me not...... No, wait, that is a bad thing isn't it?"
"Yes it is." Giles smiled at Buffy's remark as he read on. "He was confronted by the current Slayer. She barely escaped with her life, and the depository was burnt to the ground. It was never discerned which books were taken. Presumably he got away with whatever it was he wanted."
"This Order Magus Phoenica..." Willow started. "...They're all mages, yes?"
"Yes." Giles' tone had just a hint of curiosity about it.
"Well, what type of magick do they Specialise in?" Willow asked. "I mean... There's lots of different types. Divination, Witchcraft, Chaos magick......" Willow stopped when she caught sight of Giles' expression.
"I do hope you haven't been delving into such matters lightly." Giles said. "These magicks are very dangerous things."
"No..." Willow replied indignantly. "I've just been studying the black arts for fun...." A small pause followed as she read the expression now on Giles' face. "...Or education."
"The order utilise a kind of magic somewhat different than what you'll have read about." Giles continued with a slightly worried look on his face. "Most magick as you know it is static. It is requiring of somewhat lengthy rituals, specific ingredients or incantations. The magick practised by the order contravenes almost all of this, Magickal effects are created by thought, sometimes gesture, and with far greater speed than is possible by more conventional methods."
"Effects?" Buffy asked.
"You may have wondered where he gets his fighting ability from." Giles responded. "As near as I can tell it comes from an augmentation spell of some kind. Also, telekinesis and thermal kinetics are effects that have been documented."
"Sounds kinda dangerous." Buffy observed with a hint of sarcasm. "Y'know, it makes you wonder why there wasn't more of them."
"Quite simply, very few have the level of magickal attunement necessary to achieve said effects." Giles said.
"So now we know what he is..." Buffy said. "...Any ideas on why he's here?"
"I was at a loss until early this afternoon." Giles replied. "The news however, contained a rather interesting article about a recent theft at the Sunnydale natural history museum."
"Surely you don't mean the news on the Tv..." Buffy said with mock horror. "Giles, tell me it isn't so!"
Giles turned a deaf ear to Buffy's comment as he continued. "The article stolen, as near as I can tell was this:" Giles pointed to a picture on a page of one of the open books.
"The hand of Tyrael..." Buffy said, reading from the page. "Tell me, is there a single one of these artefacts that doesn't have such a lame name?"
"What does it do?" Willow stared in wonderment at the picture of the dagger.
"Glad you asked..." Giles said in response to Willow. "Legends tell that 'the hand' is a powerful natural conduit for magickal energy. As well as serving as a reservoir of power, it has it's uses in the casting of certain rituals that require a large throughput of energy."
"Okay, so it's your basic copper conductor with a Duracell in the middle." Buffy said. "We just pay Robert a visit and make him give it back."
"First off..." Giles raised an eyebrow as he responded. "...It's much more than your predictably concise analysis would indicate. Second... I'm not sure that Robert did actually take it. Entrance and exit were by a second floor window, which I don't believe he could have managed. Also the theft took place at 6am, give or take."
"To make it all the way over there in time he would have to be moving at car speed." Willow observed.
"Mean speed required would be about 60 miles per hour: Car speed and then some considering the intervening roads." Giles clarified. "Still, I do think the theft was something to do with him. You two should pay him a visit. If he knows anything, it's important that we find out what."
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"You really think Willie knows where to find him?" Willow eyed Buffy suspiciously as they walked into the bar, empty save for Willie himself at this time of day.
"If he knows, he'll tell us." Buffy said knowingly. "Anyway Wills... That amulet, why do you insist on wearing it?"
"I don't know really, it just seems right." Willow responded. "Plus, Giles said it was for some kind of protection. I reckon I could use all the protection I can get."
"If it helps..." Buffy muttered, striding up to the bar.
"Welcome ladies!" Willie proclaimed as they approached. "I'm afraid the bar's closed at the moment. But if there's anything else I can do for either of....." Willie stopped his speech as soon as he recognised Buffy. "....Oh, it's you." He finished, all of the enthusiasm draining from his voice.
"Well, seeing as you asked so nicely..." Buffy purred, leaning on the bar as she spoke. "...I'm looking for someone. And I know you can help me with that."
"W..Well,... You know I can't go around betraying the confidences of all my associates." Willie procrastinated. "I have a reputation to think of."
"Do you *want* me to hit you?" Buffy raised a fist as if to emphasise the point.
After the slightest of pauses, Willie sighed. His shoulders sagging visibly. "Fine..." He said quietly. Reaching underneath the bar for a glass whilst retrieving a bottle of whisky with his other hand. "What do you want to know?"
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Robert grimaced as he pored over the lone book he'd had the foresight to bring with him. Whistler had left a good couple of hours ago. Something about going to shoot himself in the head because it would be more interesting, Robert shook his head. Demons could have strange priorities.
"He has the focus..." He mused to himself. "...But to focus what?" The book although a myriad source of knowledge, contained nothing that could help with his present dilemma. "What could he possibly hope to accomplish in the time he has left?" He muttered, leafing the page over as he searched for anything that could be of use to him.
Sensing a disturbance in the flow of energy he looked up at the door. When there was a knock at it a moment later he was not surprised, he was already part way across the room to answer it.
Buffy looked down at Robert quite taken aback, her hand poised to tap on the door for only the second time. Willow peered over Buffy's shoulder at him.
"Okay..." Buffy began. "Either that room is way smaller on the inside, or you have absolutely no life."
"It's you....." Robert said, almost beyond speech as realisation dawned on him.
"Yeah, regular little old me." Buffy responded
"....I think you'd better come in." Robert finished, no reaction to Buffy's words apparent in his own."
Buffy shook her head as she traversed down the three steps and into the room, looking round to absorb the full tragedy of the situation.
"Wow, I was right." She said. "You really do need a life... And an interior designer."
Willow glanced round the room. The disbelief on her face betrayed the incomprehensibility of such living conditions to her.
"You really live here?" Willow asked.
"It's only temporary." Robert answered. "I don't think I'll be here long."
"Doesn't look like we were interrupting anything." Buffy said. "We have a few things we need to discuss."
"I'm glad you came,..." Robert said. Turning to Willow he completed the sentence. "...If you hadn't I might not have known it was you."
"Huh?" Was the only verbal response Willow could deliver to that.
"You are the one." Robert's clarification left much to be desired.
"Okay, again.... Huh?" Buffy said.
Robert turned to look at Buffy as if she was a minor annoyance. "Presumably you're here because you found out some things about me that didn't sit well with you. If your watcher hasn't yet told you about the order then he doesn't deserve to be a watcher."
"No." Buffy corrected. "He has. Which is part of why we're here."
"The other part?" Robert asked curiously.
"The hand of Tyrael." Buffy said. Robert winced at the mispronunciation.
"I'm surprised." Robert responded. "Truth be told, I didn't think you'd pick up on that."
"We picked.... So spill." Buffy said plainly.
"It's a long story." Robert said. "Do you have an hour or two?"