Part Sixteen
Willow stretched as she sauntered down the hall, purposefully ignoring the attention she was silently receiving from Spike's men as they passed by her, on their way to complete various different tasks.
It was nearly dawn and she had been up for the past several hours, carefully devising a plan for the next few days and essentially taking over as mistress of her grandchilde's motley group of vampires. Although Spike stayed relatively out of her way, she knew very well he was far from being submissive. He was clever and sneaky by nature and up to something. She'd just have to wait to find out exactly what that was. In the eyes of his men, however, she reigned supreme.
It hadn't escaped their notice when their sire, sporting some vicious injuries, was half dragged into his own lair by an unknown female vampire. The very mystery and strangeness of the situation was what made them wary of her. There was no telling what she could do and since Spike was putting on an obedient front, they all followed suit.
For the time being at least.
If there was anything she could count on, it was the fact that in addition to being cocky and sometimes careless, Spike was also unruly and unpredictible.
She'd just have to make sure not to wake up with a stake to her chest.
Sighing dramatically, she pushed open the door to her chamber and entered.
It wasn't until after she'd sat on her bed and was dutifully kicking off her heels that she noticed it. Her posture snapped to attention and she closed her eyes.
Without turning around, she let out a quiet moan.
"You've GOT to be shitting me."
Buffy was gone.
**
"Get dressed!"
Amy nearly fell out of bed when Giles came storming into the room.
"What's going on?" The witch asked blearily, shooting a glance at her watch.
It was past 8 in the morning. They'd overslept.
"Dammit!" She groaned, half throwing herself and half tumbling over the side of the bed. She reached forward to snatch clothes out of her overnight duffle bag.
"I need your help." The librarian responded simply. "We have a lot to prepare for tonight."
"Oh God…" Xander merely flopped back down, the adrenaline rush from Giles' entrance was wearing off and he felt sleep overtake him, "I thought someone was dead or something…"
The librarian removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose, "Not likely."
"Get up, Xander."
"But Buffy, we went to bed, at like, 5 or 6 in the morning, yester-," He paused in mid-whine and sat up again. "Buffy?"
"In the flesh." The slayer grinned at him, holding up her white bandaged wrists, "Or what's left of it."
Leaping out of bed, he stumbled through the sheets entangled between his legs and engulfed her in a huge hug.
"What's going on?" Robin and Carrie poked their heads into the room, half awake.
"Buffy!" slow, sleepy smiles spread over their faces and they attached themselves to the Slayer as well. "We knew you'd come back."
"Where's Willow?" Amy asked, looking over the other girl's shoulder.
"In a lot of trouble." Buffy responded softly. "And we don't have a lot of time. We need to move tonight."
"What do you mean Willow's in trouble?" Laura poked her head into the room, a scowl already planted firmly on her face.
"Why don't the three of you go wake the others?" Giles glanced at the girls, "We're going to need everyone's help to get ready."
His words hit home and the three teenagers scampered off obediently.
Amy, now fully dressed, took a moment to fully regard the slayer. "Buffy, what happened? Why were you gone for so long and why isn't Willow back with you?"
Xander's sleep-addled brain also caught up with the situation just as he got one leg into his khakis. Pausing, he nearly fell over before hopping back and falling into a seated position on the bed.
"Is she hurt? Did Spike kidnap her? Where the hell is she?"
"I couldn't bring her with me." Buffy sighed, "Why don't you guys finish getting ready and then meet me in the kitchen? We really need to talk."
**
The minion let out a short howl of surprise as he felt the stake enter his heart. Seconds later, he vanished.
"Bloody incompetent bastards. How fucking many of you are there? I didn't nearly get indigestion turning you pathetic lot to have you stand around and stare at me."
Spinning around, Spike grabbed another underling, "Pillocks!! All of you are bloody pillocks!" Frustrated, he shoved the quaking vampire aside.
"Nice to know that you have everything under control, Spike." Willow smirked at him from her position reclined on a sofa across the room.
His jaw muscles clenched visibly as he turned to look at her, "I wouldn't start just now, Darla."
Her eyes glittered dangerously, "If I was starting something with you, Spike, you wouldn't have time to warn me not to."
Cocking his head to one side, he narrowed his gaze, "Don't get smart with me. I've had about enough of you."
"Oh come on, it's barely even been a day." She rolled her eyes dramatically before shooting him a playful smile, "Whatever's happened to that magnificent stamina of yours?"
There was a pause as everyone crowded in the room looked to their sire for a response.
"Out," He howled, pushing several of his men towards the door, "Get out and find the slayer. All of you! Get out now!"
"But sire, it's dawn already, how ar-," The vampire's question was cut off with the rather abrupt appearance of a stake in his chest.
In seconds, the chamber cleared.
Stalking silently over to the door, Spike slammed it shut before pacing back to his position in front of the long mahogany table stretched out across the back wall of the room. It was several moments before he spoke again and when he did, his back was to her, his words strained and clipped.
"Never question my authority in front of my men, Darla. Angel didn't put up with it and neither will I."
Chuckling to herself, Darla walked slowly over to the table and stopped beside him.
"Oh, Spike," the red-head spoke with disappointment in her voice, "that's very vanilla of you. Don't tell me that those few months you spent fighting with the kinder, gentler version of your Angel have left you...soft," Willow glanced at the blond vampire's crotch to reenforce her double entendre. "Maybe Spike isn't the right nickname for you anymore. Maybe we shoud try something more apropos -- like '3-penny nail' or 'screw' -- oh wait, that won't work anymore, either. How silly of me, pouring salt into fresh wounds like that."
"How about 'stud'? Does that work better for you," Spike bit out.
"Well...well...well," Willow commented, accentuating her lofty tone with one elegantly raised eyebrow. "Welcome back, junior. I was wondering when the Spike I know and love...to torment...would put in an appearance."
"The real me has always been here, which..." the blond vampire's baby blue eyes roved down the slender body before him, "...is more than I can say for a few others around here."
The close examination of her scantily dressed form was duly noted by Willow. With only a passing nod to subtlety, the red-head shifted. The adjustment forced her weight to one leg, which in turn thrust her hip forward like a supermodel on a fashion runway. It was, in fact, an open invitation for a closer examination of her body.
And one which Spike did not turn down.
"So, what do you think?" Willow asked.
"Not bad," Spike answered honestly.
"A little bit skinnier compared to what I'm used to," she pouted.
"Well," Spike waved a dismissive hand. "You know how these humans are today. All those stupid fad diets. I mean look at this body," he nodded in Willow's direction, "I tell you, it's thinner than a bloody Chinese waiter.
"And you know what they say about eating Chinese..." Willow began the old saying
"...an hour later, you're hungry again!" Willow and Spike chorused together.
"Spike, Spike, Spike," the red-head chanted. "You've always been a rotten grand-childe, but there have been a few nanoseconds where I have missed you. But, then again, I was going through some pretty heavy immortal damnation, so, I may have just been out of my mind."
"Hmmm," Spike commented, taking a small step forward to press his larger body tightly against Willow's back. "You know, I can remember a time or two when I *did* drive you out of your mind."
She grinned, "Well, I see at least the ego is still intact."
He spun her around suddenly, capturing her wrist in his cold vice-like grip, "There's a lot more than just that, Darla."
She gasped in surprise as his other hand snaked around to rest at the base of her back and he jerked her forward, pressing their bodies tightly together.
A slow smile blossomed on her face, "You never were big on foreplay were you, Spike?"
The feral glint in his blue eyes deepend, "As I recall, neither were you."
His face changed and he kissed her roughly, his fangs gently clicking against her own as their tongues mated almost violently. Pulling away from her just as abruptly, he merely smiled and hefted her up so she was seated on the table.
Leaning forward, she blew softly into his ear. "Tell me, Spike, exactly how much do you recall?"
She brought her legs up around his waist, intimately joining them while her hands rose up to stroke the ridges near his temple.
"More than you'd think, pet."
His cold mouth descended to her neck and she moaned at the sensation, arching her back slightly. His tongue swept across her clavicle and up towards the base of her jaw with almost human tenderness. His lips sensuously skimming across the soft, velvety skin of Willow's neck. In a gesture of acquiescence, she eased her head to one side, exposing her throat for Spike's attention. Smiling at his success, he slowly but surely brought his hands up, using his fingertips to trace down her arms. Shifting into his 'game face', the vampire used his sharp incisors to nibble down Willow's throat, taking care not to break the skin...yet.
"Tell me something else, Spike…" She whispered.
He nipped gently at her exposed flesh without responding.
"…do you ever recall my fucking you when Angel was around ?"
He paused in his ministrations to look up at her.
She stared back at him emotionlessly.
His eyes darkened but he didn't release his grip on her neck.
"As a matter of fact, luv, no."
"So what exactly makes you think I'm going to start now?"
Unperturbed by her challenge, he shrugged, "Simple, pet. Your golden son's been dead for nearly a century. Angel's a gutted, simpering, pathetic nancy boy now. And that's before I even laid a finger on him."
"And I take it that Dru's gone?"
"Yep." The pain that flickered over his features over the mention of her name belied the casual tone of his voice. "Which leaves just you…and me." He leaned forward, his lips hovering a few tantalizing inches from her own. "So what do you say, luv?"
Willow regarded him through half-lidded eyes. "I say that you should pick your allies very carefully, Spike."
"Really? And why is that, Darla?"
"Because, Spike…"
His mouth brushed against hers gently.
"Your jacket is on fire."
Her words took a full second to sink in and once they did, he jerked away from her as though stung.
"I never was one to settle for second best, Spike." With a flick of her wrist she procured the small book of matches from some hidden compartment in her shirt and flung it at the startled vampire. "Never forget that."
Glancing behind, he noted the growing flames clinging to the back of his long duster and quickly began shrugging off the offensive garment.
Scooting off the table, she jumped to the floor. "I'm going to go to bed."
Grunting in frustration, he stomped on his still-smoldering jacket as she calmly turned and walked out of the room.
As if thinking better she paused at the door, "Oh, and Spike…"
His head snapped up yellow eyes glowing angrily.
"Don't even think about waking me up."
**
"You want to blow up the cave." Xander stared at her in disbelief, "Okay, I'm sorry but how exactly is that a plan?"
"Not just blow the whole thing up, I think we can specifically take out certain exits leaving only the ones we want open. Instead of going in and trying to maneuver through the tunnels in the dark, we can flush them out."
"How can we be sure that we don't kill or trap Willow and Angel?" Whistler spoke up for the first time in several hours. Ever since Buffy had returned without his charges, he'd become silent and sullen. Now however, he appeared to be considering the slayer's plan.
"Well, I was kind of hoping…" Buffy darted a look at Amy and the witch sighed.
"Magic?" Julian supplied.
"Yeah."
"Uhm, hel-lo, but didn't we already try using magic less than a day ago and look how that ended up!" Xander stared at the group, slightly wild eyed and shocked.
Placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, Giles sighed, "We may not have any other options."
Pressing her head against the firm coolness of the kitchen table, Amy covered her ears with her hands, "I just can't deal with this anymore." She whimpered miserably, "I want them back."
"So do I, kid. So do I," Whistler said softly, "All I can tell you, though, is that I can still feel her. She's okay."
"But she's hurting," Julian added. "A lot."
A few of the Slayers in Training sniffled softly from their position at the entrance to the kitchen. The girls were lacking the confidence and luster they had gained over the past few weeks and as a result, the group as a whole looked haggard and worn out. Being young and inexperienced they sorely needed leadership and encouragement. With Willow missing and Buffy and the others too caught up in the whole mess to spare time on them, they felt inadequate, unneeded and generally helpless.
Taking in this depressing scene, Cordelia felt something inside her surge forward.
"Okay people, let's do this."
It took a few seconds, but she waited until she had everyone's attention.
"The longer we sit here and mope, the less time we have to-to do something." Furrowing her brow, the dark haired girl put on her best determined smile, "We've been in worse places than this before. I mean, does anyone else remember graduation day? Big icky mayor snake? Hey, I still have nightmares!" Her smile faded somewhat at the memory, "Uhm…anyways, what I'm trying to say is look at us! We have a witch, a slayer, a vampire, a demon, tons of little slayer wannabes not to mention as many stuffy librarians as we want!"
Xander raised his hand.
"Oh! And we have Xander too, which is…uhm….good because he can go out and get us food!" With growing enthusiasm, she slammed her fist down on the table, "Bottom line is that we kick ass! We're smart, we're strong and man are we good at blowing things up! I mean, we've done it before, haven't we?!"
Thoughtfully, Giles nodded, "That's true."
"Exactly! And what do they have? Vampires….lots and lots of vampires….but who cares? Buffy knows vampires! She kills them all the time!"
The slayer shrugged, "Girl's got a point."
"And hey, Buffy's little fan club knows vampires! They've been training for years. And let's not forget that vampires might be strong and look all badass but fundamentally they're stupid," Cordelia paused, "Present company excluded."
"Of course." Julian nodded graciously.
"What I'm trying to say is even though you all might be inadequate losers individually, together, you're great!"
"I was so with you up until that part." Xander sighed.
"We need to stop acting so pathetic, quit complaining, get up, and get this show on the road."
A wild cheer went up from the slayers in training as they took off from the kitchen.
"Where are they going?" Giles asked.
"Not a clue," Amy shrugged, standing up, "Infectious enthusiasm does weird things. Okay, I have a few spells in mind but it's going to take some time."
"I'll help." Julian nodded at the witch and the two quickly exited the kitchen.
"I should probably call the Council. They'll most likely want to stay informed if we plan on detonating high quantities of explosives near the Immortal Watcher." Rubbing his glasses vigorously, the librarian headed for the living room.
"Doughnuts anyone? I can do doughnuts! Giles, do you have the rat-mobile?" Xander scampered off after him.
"Way to go Cordelia." Whistler limped over to where the tall brunette was standing and put a friendly arm around her waist.
"Watch the skirt and yes, thank you, I know how great I am."
"Not to mention a big rah rah to Sunnydale High. Who would have though that all those years of cheerleading would have come in handy?"
"You know that I'm fully capable of hurting you, don't you?" She smiled at him sweetly.
"Already so violent and I didn't even get to my pom pom joke. You wouldn't really hit a poor man who was already in a weakened physical state, would you?"
She made a face but allowed him to lean on her for support as they too left the kitchen, "Do you really want me to answer that question?"
He smirked at her, "Probably not."
**
When she awoke hours later, it was to the screams.
The commotion in the hall was reaching an almost deafening level as vampires ran in every which way, trying to avoid heavy piles of stone and mortar which rapidly fell from the ceiling.
Vaguely, Willow thought she heard Spike shouting her name, but she couldn't be sure. Not waiting to find out, she grabbed her necklace, slipped it over her head, and headed out into the din, dodging the occasional hysterical fledgling running in the opposite direction. She forced her way against the current of fleeing vampires, down to the torture chamber.
And to Angel.
She almost made it to her destination when an iron clad grip encircled her upper arm, abruptly jolting her to a stop, "Mistress Darla, the cavern is collapsing! Where are you going? There's an alternate opening this way!"
She paused to look at one of Spike's older men who was, no doubt, worried less for her safety and more for his own hide if she were to die.
The floor lurched again, causing him to lose hold of her arm.
"I'm going to get what's mine. Out of my way." Pushing past him, she rounded the corner into the chamber and slammed face first into a solid wall of flesh.
"Angel?!"
He stood over her and paused for a moment, his eyes slightly unfocused as if he wasn't quite comprehending who she was or the source of the ruckus surrounding them. His chains, broken but still hanging from the iron circlets around his bruised wrists, swung gently in place.
She glanced down at his arms before looking back into his eyes, "I came to get you, Sp-,"
"Bitch." He snarled suddenly, backhanding her across the hall and into the wall.
The metal links caught her neck, causing blood to run freely down her throat.
"Angel.."
"You kil-killed her." Hours of torture, both emotional and physical, had clouded his ability to reason. All that was left was pain, hurt and complete and utter fury. One thing was certain in his mind, though. Darla had tricked him. Willow truly was dead.
He stared at her as she tried to scramble up off of the floor, narrowly missing being pinned by a falling rock.
Limping forwards, her game face firmly in place, she shook her head and growled.
"Willow!" He howled in misery.
"Stop!" She screamed back as he geared up for another shot at her. As if to accentuate her words, she made a shoving motion with her hands. The force of the magic that hit him seconds later sent him flying backwards down the hallway.
A heavy cloud of dust blew from behind her signaling that a major chunk of the cave had collapsed and time was running out.
As his head hit a piece of rock jutting from the rear exit of the cave, he thought he heard her scream again.
"Angel…RUN!!"
Drifting towards unconsciousness, he could do little more than moan as strong hands suddenly reached under his arms and hefted him outside into the cold night air.
"Angel? It's okay, it's Buffy. I'm getting you out of here."
His vision rapidly fading, he tried to get a look at the blonde slayer hovering over him.
"..Willow…" he whispered softly.
"Willow? Angel, where is she?" The Slayer glanced up past him, "Did you see her? Did she get out?"
"She's…."
Just then the entrance to the cave fully collapsed with a rather impressive deep rumble which shook the ground under his body.
"Willow?!" Buffy screamed, quickly dropping Angel to the ground and running back, "Willow!! NO!!"
Unable to help it any more, he succumbed to an exhausted sleep, plagued with horrible, vicious images and painful memories of the past few days.
In his minds eye he was haunted by his last few moments with the demon that wore Willow's body.
The terrified look in her dark green eyes outlined by the viscious ridges of her face.
The sharp gleam of her fangs.
The trickle of blood that ran down her slender throat after he hit her.
But perhaps worst of all was the one thing he hadn't seen-at least not until it was much too late.
For, as she had geared back to hit him with her wave of magic, the top button of her shirt had come undone and he had caught a quick glimpse down her blouse.
It was right about then that he saw the cross around her neck.
It shone brightly against the untouched paleness of her skin.
Part Seventeen
Amy sighed and rolled her head forwards.
"It wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself." Julian gently worked into her shoulders and back, trying to relieve the seemingly boundless tension the young witch was suffering from.
"I should have known better." She responded quietly, "I gave Willow so much flack about holding her concentration…I should have known better. I acted like a novice out there."
"If anyone is to blame, it's me. Not you." The blonde vampire paused in mid-massage, "If I hadn't-,"
"Don't EVEN say that. Unlike me, you couldn't control your reaction."
Amy's thoughts returned with a vengeance to the events of a few short hours ago and she let out a soft whimper.
Whistler, Julian and she had been in perfect synch and the spell was working beautifully. Each was concentrating on their own part and a delicate yet powerful balance had been achieved. Yes, things had been going exactly according to plan up until the unexpected cave-in close to the rear exit.
With a shout, Julian had fallen backwards and out of their circle causing Amy and Whistler to be hit full-force with magical backlash.
Caught entirely off-guard, the situation went from bad to worse and the other two were unable to hold the spell, causing a complete collapse of the cave's structure which effectively trapped Willow inside.
"Amy…Julian…Angel's awake." Robin whispered the words from the doorway, her gaze downcast, "He's asking for you guys."
Her heart leaping to her throat, Amy's dark blue eyes briefly met her counterpart's paler ones before they both made their way into Cordelia's bedroom.
"Amy." Angel's tired gaze regarded her carefully the instant she walked in, "I need answers."
She took a deep breath, "Angel, I think you should rest…"
"Evidently, I've been resting for the past 2 months." He tried to keep the edge of bitterness out of his voice but it was getting harder. With years of practice and experience he managed to force his own feelings of betrayal aside so as to focus on the task at hand. What was important right now was saving Willow. As long as he kept that goal firmly in sight, he could concentrate on not getting violent. "I need to know the truth. I need to know if she's dead or alive or some strange hybrid or what. Tomorrow I'm going to go and visit the oracles and I need all the facts."
"The oracles?" The brunette looked confused.
"A direct connection to The Powers That Be. Sometimes they'll intervene if the case is important enough." Julian slowly emerged from behind Amy and deliberately brought himself into the dark haired vampire's line of vision.
"What…" The question died in the Angel's throat and his eyes became almost black with rage, "You…I thought you were….you killed her didn't you? This is all your fault!" Within seconds, Angel was lunging out of bed, "I'll kill you!"
Completely shocked, Amy had little time to do anything but watch the scene play itself out.
Luckily, Whistler entered the room with Buffy in time to stop the enraged vampire from further injuring himself.
"Down boy, down." Placing a halting hand on Angel's chest, Whistler shot him a warning look. The demon's small size belied his strength and Angel soon found himself being firmly pushed back towards Cordelia's bed.
"Whistler, do you have any idea who that is?" His question came through clenched teeth, "Julian was Darla's-,"
"Consort," Whistler finished, motioning for Buffy to come and help him put the vampire back under the covers. "Yes, I know. And you would have found out that I knew that if you'd given us a chance to explain before pulling an Angelus."
The insult had it's intended effect and Angel lapsed into a shocked silence long enough for Buffy and Whistler to finish their task.
Much like a sage master addressing his young, inexperienced charge, Whistler started talking. "Okay, so where was I?" Sitting down on the bed beside the injured vampire, he looked thoughtful, "So yeah, we're on Julian. Maybe you'd be better off hearing the explanation from the man himself." Gesturing at the other vampire, he nodded his head.
"Hello, Angel." The blonde man's polite and calm salutation seemed to ignore the fact that the object of his greeting had threatened his life mere minutes before. "Even though we never really knew each other, I'm sure that Darla spoke about me to the point that you have a pretty good idea of the person I was." The comment was made without a hint of pride or smugness, merely a statement of a fact.
Still eyeing the other man warily, Angel rewarded him with a curt nod.
"However, she probably eliminated the part about how I was, in fact, only acting as her consort to gain information for the Council Of Elders."
At the revelation of this piece of information, Angel's eyes flew up to Whistler for affirmation.
To his credit, the demon kept his features completely neutral.
Pausing to glance at Whistler as well, Julian continued, "I figure she did that because she didn't have a clue of my real intentions. I'm guessing that she was starting to get some indication of my lack of loyalty, be it from familiarity or some vague intuition a few decades later and that's probably part of the reason why she turned you."
Angel snorted, "So you're trying to tell me that you were really playing for the other team all those years you were with her?"
"Hard to believe, huh?" He shrugged casually, "I had a lot to atone for on terms of my own past. I think being with her was a way of assuaging my own guilt." A sour look crossed his handsome features, "God, that woman was SUCH a bitch…"
Coughing slightly, Whistler chose that moment to break in, "So basically, that's the extent of Julian's involvement. He's been a member of the C.O.E. since well before you were born, Angel, and he spent most of his earlier time with us gathering intelligence on Darla. His term obviously ended when she chose another consort, namely you, and Julian risked getting killed if he stayed any longer. Since then, he's mainly been working with younger C.O.E members as a trainer and going on short reconnaissance missions. So, when this whole thing with Spike went down, I felt he was the best person to call in."
"You used him to link Willow to Darla?" Angel asked incredulously.
"No, nothing like that." Amy shook her head, "There was never any direct link between them."
"*I* was linked directly to Willow." Julian responded. "Throughout her time with Spike, I've been privy to her thoughts and emotions. I've been actively feeding her information on how Darla would react in certain situations and helping her to play Spike until the two of you could escape."
With a jolt, Angel thought back to how she had kissed him while he was in the torture chamber. Had Julian ordered her to do it? Was it all a part of the manipulative game she had to play as Darla? He had been so sure…
Refocusing on the other man, Angel's heart swelled with hope, "Wait…if you're in contact with her, then you know where she is?"
A grim look on his face, Julian shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. I lost contact with her during the cave in. It was so unexpected that I fell out of formation and the spell we were performing backfired. I blame myself f-,"
Amy put a hand on his shoulder stopping him, "It was no one's fault. What we think happened is that Willow got knocked unconscious unexpectedly while in the hallway and that severed her connection to Julian."
"So she's dead?" Angel said softly, barely able to believe that the statement came out of his mouth.
"No," Whistler shook his head firmly, "Even though Julian lost contact with her, I didn't. She's most definitely still alive."
"What do you mean?"
"That's the rest of the story. Giving Willow an unlimited amount of information on Darla was one half of our plan. However, she also had to look the part. To get her to appear as a vampire we needed to use the usual spells and glamour. But, to give her the strength and speed to back it up, she was sharing in my demon." Whistler paused. "And as far as I can tell our bond is still intact. If she were dead, that wouldn't be the case."
"Can you pinpoint her location?"
"No. My connection isn't as specific as Julian's was. In time, though, I might be able to hone in on her."
"Why did you send her in alone?" This time, Angel couldn't conceal the accusation in his eyes, "Why not go in as a team?"
"We couldn't guarantee your survival if we just hit Spike's lair with brute force. We brought it up, as a matter of fact, and Willow vetoed it then and there. She wasn't willing to risk anything. This whole idea was pretty much hers."
"Besides," Buffy spoke up for the first time, "She didn't go in alone. I went in with her."
"What happened?"
The Slayer held up her still-bandaged wrists, "For most of the time, I was chained to her bed. Not very comfortable, might I add."
The vampire simply stared at her blankly.
Sighing, Buffy elaborated, "She used me to get into the building. I had left ahead of time so I didn't really know what the plan was. She took me by surprise and knocked me out. I'm guessing she presented me to Spike as a 'housewarming gift'."
When Angel's eyes widened, the blonde girl held up her hand.
"I thought she was evil too, up until I tried the handcuffs she had me chained to the bed with. Remember the pair with the inside release latch we used to trick Faith?"
Angel nodded.
"The ones she had on me were one and the same. She made sure I was put into her room and then scared the living daylights out of all of Spike's men so they left me alone. It wasn't until I got out of there that I had to deal with anyone but by then, I was almost free. It was so quiet outside that I almost got the impression she was off running interference in order to give me a chance to escape."
His mind racing with all this new information, Angel closed his eyes and leaned back against the pillows that had been laid out for him.
"We need to find her," he said softly.
"We will." Amy reaffirmed.
"I'm going to get her back, Whistler." The vampire opened his dark eyes and they were filled with determination, "I'm going in no matter what."
"Right now you need to rest and we need to regroup," The demon responded, the tone of his voice allowing for no debate. "Like I said, she's okay now, I can feel her."
"But Spike-,"
"Won't lay a hand on her until she's immortal, Angel. Don't be stupid. He isn't about to risk everything now, even if he has figured out what we tried to do."
Unconvinced, his protégé merely shook his head. "That still doesn't leave us a lot of time."
Whistler sighed, "We'll work with it. And believe me, until then she's okay. Confused and a little hurt, but overall, okay.
**
Spike couldn't help but smile.
Yes, he'd lost over half of his men in the recent destruction of his lair.
Yes, he had also lost his only home.
But now, lounging in his new temporary abode-an abandoned apartment building, things were finally beginning to look up.
Willow sat across from him, a puzzled look in her pretty green eyes. She was bruised and scratched from her ordeal and had a nasty bump on her head but otherwise, she seemed all right.
"Darla…?" She murmured softly.
"That's right, pet." He responded tenderly, "Darla."
The name sounded vaguely familiar, yet foreign on her own tongue, "And you're sure that's what my name is?"
Letting out a short laugh, Spike leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, "Sweetheart, I've known you for years. I'm positive."
"And you're…Spike?" She asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Yes, pet, very good." Spike nodded at her, barely able to conceal his excited energy.
The vixen and her friends had tricked him once already. He didn't know how they'd trained Willow to act as Darla so well but it didn't matter. None of that pettiness mattered because they'd failed miserably and he still had exactly what he wanted.
"And we're…vampires?"
"Yes, luv, sad but true."
In fact, he had more than what he'd originally wanted. In a few days she would be immortal and he would be able to turn her in actuality. But until then, he could play their game as well. For some reason or another, Willow's fall in the cave had wiped out her memory. He had noticed it the instant he'd pulled her body from the rubble and she'd gazed upon him without any recognition or fear. Her mind was like a clean slate, just waiting for information to be etched upon it. He could mold her into anything he wanted. The options were endless.
"And we live together in here?"
"Well, actually, pet, this is just somewhere to tide us over until we find a more comfortable place. Our old place was destroyed by…hmmm, we'll talk about that some other time." Patting her cheek lightly, he stood up, 'Let's get you to bed now."
Allowing herself to be lifted into his arms, she continued to stare up at him, her green eyes wide with curiosity, "So are we…brother and sister? Like, related or something?"
Spike paused in mid stride, to give her a pained look, "Why…no…no we're not." He ducked his head and turned away as if to conceal the hurt in his eyes and she rushed on.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry if I've said something to-,"
"Don't worry, luv." He gently lowered her to the bed before sitting down next to her, "Your memory will come back eventually, I promise that."
"I'm sorry, Spike. I must really be freaking you out right now seeing as how I can't remember anything."
"It's okay." He said softly, staring off at a corner of the room, lost in thought.
She placed a comforting arm on his shoulder, "Maybe if you tell me what our relationship was in the past, it'll help me to remember."
There was a pause and he turned to look at her, his gaze seeming to pierce into her very soul.
Breaking eye contact, he stood abruptly.
"We were lovers, pet. You were my consort."
And with that, he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before turning out the light and leaving the room.
"Goodnight, pet. Pleasant dreams."