Part 20

Astrote came to stand behind Doc. This slight red head is the favored child of Gaia? He could feel the power just rolling off her. Now he understood why Doc wanted her. She and Angelus would rule this realm when Doc opened the portal between dimensions.

Doc just smiled kindly at Angel and Willow. With a twinkle in his eyes he clapped his hands twice.

Angel watched in horror as Willow went down. He could barely feel the bond and her heartbeat had slowed to an almost stop.

"WILLOW!!"

Doc held up his hand and Angel bounced off a barrier. It was then that he noticed the dark haired man that he assumed was Astrote had also fallen to the ground.

"She is beyond your reach now, Angelus."

Angel vamped out and hit Doc. Doc's head snapped to the side and then back still wearing a gentle smile on his face.

Angel looks on in shock when a long tongue comes shooting out of Doc's mouth. He ducks out of the way just in time and the tongue misses him.

"Thanks for the offer but I think it's too early in our relationship for any tongue action."

Angel kicks out and hits Doc on the back of the knees causing him to stumble. Doc quickly recovers and backhands Angel. The force of the hit throws Angel into a nearby wall.

"Don't flatter yourself."

As Angel stands back up he feels a pull on the bond and he smiles.

Doc smiles too thinking that Astrote got Willow to pull on the bond with Angelus making it easier for her to be tempted.

~~~~

Willow heard Doc clap and then everything went black. She heard a soft voice say, "I'll always be with you" just before becoming aware of her surroundings.

Willow stood alone in a meadow surrounded by trees. Glancing around she didn't see anyone else but she felt a malevolent force to her left and in the shadow of the trees.

Stepping out of the trees was a handsome dark haired man.

"You must be Astrote."

"And you must be the favored childe of Gaia. Let's see if you deserve that honor."

A bolt of energy was released from Astrote's hand and aimed straight at Willow's heart. It barely missed her as she duck out of its way.

She knew he was only playing with her like a cat with a mouse. If that energy bolt was the least of his talents she would need every bond she could get and then some.

Concentrating on Sue she felt the bond with the coven leader intensify.

In this plane of existence anything was possible so she played on that. She visualized fire and in the palm of her hand was a small fireball. She threw it with deadly accuracy and it bounced off the barrier that he had built.

"So, you want to play with fire. That can be arranged."

In the blink of an eye a wall of fire surrounded Willow. Trying not to panic as memories flooded her mind of being tied to the stake, Willow called on Hecate to change her.

Astrote watched in astonishment as Willow morphed into a tiger and charged through the flames straight at him. He had taken down his barrier in order to make the fire and he didn't have time to erect it again. He quickly changed into a snake and went down a hole.

The tiger morphed back into the slim red head, "Who would have thought the right hand of an evil hell god would turn tale and hide?"

"Not hide, Willow. Just regrouping."

Willow yelped and turned to see Astrote standing behind her. Using the bond with Buffy she kicked and hit knocking him back.

"First your bond with your coven and now the bond with the Slayer. When are you going for the big guns and using your bond with the vampire? Or couldn't you bond with Angel?"

'Well, obviously someone wants me to pull on the bond with Angel. Why is it that evil guys are never subtle? You'd think they'd learn.' Willow thought.

Willow tentatively pulled on the bond with Angel so he would think she fell for it.

Willow turned vamp face to Astrote, "We not only bonded we mated."

Astrote smiled a slow smile, this would be easier than he thought if they mated.

Astrote held out his hand like he was grabbing Willow's throat and raised it.

Willow felt a tightening around her throat as her feet left the ground.

~~~

Angel watched in horror as Willow's body began to twitch and he felt the bond begin to fade.

Just as he screamed NO! Wesley, Gunn, Cordelia and Fred jumped through the broken window.

Doc waved his hand and a blue light began to fill the room. The light soon swirled and energy crackled along the edges.

"Look out!" Wesley yelled.

Fred turned sheet white as the dimensions between Doc's world and theirs opened. Nightmares of being sucking into the portal that led to Pylea played over and over in Fred's mind.

Gunn grabbed onto Fred when he realized what was happening. He knew she must be reliving her hell and he wanted her to feel grounded here.

Demons and monsters of all shapes and sizes began to enter the room.

Cordelia yelled Angel's name and tossed him his sword. With a determined look Angel began fighting his way through the monsters toward Doc.

Doc watched with delight as Angel's friends tried desperately to fight the monsters.

Out of the corner of his eye Wesley saw Cordelia twitch and fall to the ground. Shit! Now was not the time for the Powers to send a vision. He quickly ran to her side.

Fred lessened her death grip on Charles' hand. Determined to never get sucked into a hell dimension again she decapitated the nearest demon with her ax.

~~~~

Astrote just grinned at Willow as he slowly cut off her breathing. "Don't you wish you had the power that the dark magicks could offer? Don't you ever think how much you could accomplish with all this power?"

Willow's eyes turn black and her hair began to bleed from red to black. Her muscles all contracted and her head was thrown back. When she looked back at Astrote he felt a chill go down his spine.

Willow smiled at him but it didn't reach her eyes. She had tapped into the bond with Cordelia, which tapped into the Powers that Be.

An unnatural wind began to blow around Willow. It lifted her out of Astrote's grasp and placed her by the woods.

"Why would we want the power of the dark magicks when we have the power of the ancients?" Her voice came out not as her own but of the thousands of entities that make up the Powers.

Astrote began an incantation that would bring him out of this plane. If he could return to the other plane before Willow and destroy her body she would die here.  He would apologize to Doc after. After all, it's easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

Willow shook her head like she could read his thoughts. "Ah, ah, ah. No running away and cheating."

Willow flicked her wrist and a limb separated from a tree and headed straight for him. "Stay!"

Astrote could not move. He watched in horror as the limb headed straight for his chest. The impact knocked him back and pinned him to the ground through his chest.

Willow walked over to see the damage that she had caused. When she reached his side Willow's hair and eyes returned to their normal color. She felt warmth as another being flooded her body. Willow opened her mouth and another's voice came out, "Astrote, we have fought many battles but you underestimated my child in this one." Willow's lips quirked in a sneer, "Be gone!" She waved her hand and Astrote's body was engulfed in flames and his agonized screams could be heard long after the body disappeared.

Willow fell to her knees panting. She jerked when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You have done what was expected of you, my child."

Willow glanced up and saw a beautiful woman in a long flowing gown standing in front of her. There was an otherworldly glow about her. Willow's brain could barely wrap around the fact that standing in front of her was Gaia.

"Is he finally defeated?"

"In this realm he is but you can never truly get rid of evil."

"What about Doc and Angel?"

Gaia smiled, "The Warrior for the Powers will not be defeated. Doc will no longer be a part of this realm." Gaia waved her hand and the last thing Willow heard before blacking out was "I will always be with you."

~~~~

Doc yells NO just as Angel makes his way through some demons. Without turning to see what Doc was yelling about he uses his momentary distraction and plunges the sword into Doc's chest.

He hears Willow mumble his name and he turns surprised eyes to see she is alone. The body of Astrote is gone. Quickly going to her side he never notices Doc pull the sword out of his chest.

Wesley helps Cordelia up. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. Willow used me to tap into the Powers but the Powers also left me with a little gift."

Turning she stalks towards Doc who has just removed the sword. Cordelia's eyes glaze over and she begins to glow. She opens her mouth and the voices of the ancients emerge.

The portal begins to shrink and as it shrinks it sucks Doc toward its center. Doc yells in frustration, as he can't escape the portal's pull. Cordelia's eyes clear and she smiles wickedly, "Buh bye. Don't let the portal hit you in the ass on the way out."

Fred and Gunn stand wearily next to Cordy and Wes. "So are you portal girl now?"

"Nope, just a one time deal."

Angel shakily caresses Willow's cheek, "You did it. You defeated Astrote."

Willow softly smiles as she looks at Angel and her friends over his shoulder, "No, we did it. I couldn't have done it without the bonds that we share."

Gunn smirked, "We are so kick ass. I mean how often can you say you went up against a hell god and his evil lord and kicked their sorry ass."

"Yep, it definitely calls for a celebration."

~~~~

Angel looked around the room at all their friends that had gathered there for the celebration. Willow had wanted a quiet gathering of friends but it had quickly turned into a massive celebration when news spread.

The year and a day had quickly passed and with their closest friends in attendance Angel and Willow had renewed their handfasting vows. The quiet celebration that was not, was in honor of the claiming ceremony that Angelus performed with his grand childe Spike in attendance. Willow was now an immortal.

The sound of a loud engine brought Angel out of his memories. Turning to the noise he watched as Spike and Willow drove up on Spike's gift to
Willow. He had given her a Zodiac motorcycle.

Angel came up behind Willow and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her back against his chest.

With a smirk and a toss of the keys to Willow Spike said, "If you're going to be tied to my poof of a grand sire for all eternity you might have need of a powerful machine between your legs."

Willow smirked back before turning in Angel's embrace. She tossed over her shoulder at Spike, "I already have a powerful machine."

Spike rolled his eyes and left the two lovers alone.