Chapter Ten
Willow sat and listened to the night. With her mind, she began to reach out, plunging into the unseen world. She pushed away her pain, focusing on the warmth she could feel emanating from the natural world. Gradually it began to envelop her, cosseting her in its acceptance like a mother welcoming a long-lost child. Willow began to smile, lifting back her head as if caught in the soft patter of April rain. Then she felt it. Something was wrong. She was not as safe as she seemed. Someone was coming.
Willow fell out of her meditation hard, the previously soft lamp light harsh and stinging to her eyes. Scrabbling to her feet, Willow began to move towards the door, her head groggy. Just then, the door opened, and Willow stumbled out of it straight into Xander's arms.
"Woah, Will, are you alright there?" Xander asked her, concerned.
Brushing Xander's arms from her, Willow pushed herself up and tried to concentrate on staying steady. "I'm fine," she told him sternly, beginning to move forward again.
Xander caught hold of her arm and held her fast. "You don't look it," he stated brusquely. As Willow frowned at Xander's rudeness and struggled to break free of his grasp, Xander swiftly apologised, "Will, I'm sorry, I'm not much with the tact. I'm sorry about earlier-"
Willow defiantly tugged her arm free and looked back at Xander evenly. "I don't have time for this now," she told him firmly. "I've got something important to do."
Xander looked on as Will moved boldly towards Buffy's door and knocked. When Buffy finally answered, her hair ruffled by sleep, there was no time for pleasantries.
"Buffy, we've got trouble. Wolfram and Hart are coming here and soon," she stated. It was then Xander really realised just how wrong he had been about his bestest and oldest friend.
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As Buffy set off on patrol, she had an overwhelming sense of foreboding. Strangely it had absolutely nothing to do with Willow's warning and everything to do with the fact the two Angels were joining her. Clutching her stake tightly, she tried to will her anxiety away and focus on the job in hand. However, as the other Angel took her hand tightly in his and smirked at LA Angel, she realised that really was not a viable option.
"So, Angel," she began tentatively, both Angels listening attentively. "Sorry, I mean Angel from LA," she mumbled awkwardly, glancing apologetically at the other Angel. "Umm, what's the big on Wolfram and Hart?" She finally asked. LA Angel gave her a wry grin, as the other Angel protectively wound his arm around Buffy's waist.
"They're basically an evil law firm, emphasis on evil, who've hated me from minute go because I'm not evil, and I have a pesky habit of messing up all their plans," he replied, becoming increasingly distracted by his alterego's efforts to flaunt his relationship with Buffy.
From under his breath, the other Angel muttered, "So some things never change." Buffy gave him a sharp dig in the ribs, warning him not to continue this rivalry with LA Angel. In response, Angel shrugged, leaving LA Angel fuming.
He walked on for a while in front of the couple, then casually commented, "I hear you've had a rough time just lately, needing Buffy's help and all. Maybe you ought to leave the tough stuff to me and Buffy."
Angel's grip on Buffy's hand stiffened, and his face became an impenetrable mask as he rounded on LA Angel. "Well maybe if you ever stayed around long enough, that would be an option," he riposted spitefully. "But then we all know you also have that pesky habit of leaving."
"Better than hanging around too long, I guess," was LA Angel's tart response.
Buffy looked on in horror as these two muscular, articulate and menacing vampires began to descend into childish bickering. It was all becoming too much. Finally she could stand no more and she jumped between them.
"Stop!" Buffy yelled, stopping their arguments in midsentence. Both Angels looked at her expectantly, still nonverbally tussling for her attention and approval. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at their mutual male patheticness. "Look, right now we need to focus. I don't want to hear anymore," Buffy warned them sternly.
Other Angel smiled contritely and gave Buffy a tender kiss. "I'm sorry, love," he told her sincerely, and Buffy hugged him in return.
"Oh can you believe him?" LA Angel cried in disgust. "He's manipulating you, Buffy!"
Angel threw a look of derision over his shoulder. "Sounds to me like you're beginning to see just what you're missing out on."
Before LA Angel could open his mouth to reply, Buffy had torn herself free from Angel's arms and was walking off towards the cemetery.
"Buffy, where are you going?" Angel shouted, beginning to chase after her.
"To patrol," she answered firmly. "Alone."
"Buffy!" Angel pleaded, catching hold of her arm.
"No, I'm done!" she screeched, removing her arm briskly from Angel's grasp. "Sort it out between you - you sound like little old ladies or something."
Slightly defeated Angel let her go. LA Angel was smirking, gladdened by what he perceived as friction between the happy couple.
"I don't know what you're smirking at, it's your fault she's gone," Angel sneered.
LA Angel took a moment to consider this, and shook his head. "Whatever. I'm going back."
Angel took one last look at the path Buffy had gone. If he followed her, he knew he would infuriate her even more. No, she needed time to calm down and he needed time to come up with a good apology.
"Coming?" LA Angel called irritably. Slowly Angel turned round and began to trek back. He only hoped he and LA Angel had not upset Buffy too much.
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Later that night, Buffy returned home. She had found nothing out of the ordinary on her patrol, and so, reluctantly, and more than a little disappointed, she had decided to call it quits. After all the tension between the two Angels, she had been hoping for a fight to let off some emotional steam but no such luck. Instead she had to come back empty handed to be piggy in the middle between them yet again.
Hoping to avoid both of them for the present, Buffy made the unusual move of entering the house through her mother's bedroom window. In there she could see Willow sat on the bed, her laptop in front of her, furiously tapping away at her keyboard.
"Hey Buff," Will greeted her, a mischevious grin on her face. "How was patrol?"
Buffy gave her best friend a hunted look. "That bad, huh?"
"You don't want to know. I sent them both home," Buffy admitted.
Will stopped typing for a moment. "You know, when Oz came back, I was confused. It was a hard time but you told me I just had to be honest."
Buffy sat down on the end of the bed, amazed at Willow's ability to always get to the heart of the matter, but right now, Buffy was not ready for that discussion. "No, it's not that… I want to put things right but I don't know how to without losing Angel and I'm not doing that," Buffy stated decisively.
Will fiddled with her hands nervously, not wanting to upset her friend. "We've already talked about this Buffy, and I know how important Angel is to you, but - you know, what I mean," Willow bumbled. "Look, Buffy there are only two options here-"
Buffy flopped back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "Don't tell me - keep him or lose him."
"Yeah," Will admitted. "But it might not be that bad. I think there might be a spell I could do, but I've got to do a lot more research on it. It might be the solution we're looking for."
Buffy shot up. "What is it? Could you do it now?" she pressed.
Will smiled at her friend's sudden eagerness. "Really not," she answered. "It's only an idea but I think I might be able to join their essences or something…"
Buffy shook her head resolutely. "No, absolutely not."
"Buffy..." Willow reasoned.
"You remember the first time he left? You remember how much it hurt me?" Buffy said quietly, a tear beginning to trickle down her face. "Well you're not turning the love of my life back into the person who did that, the person who convinced himself he was so over his soulmate that he could move onto Cordelia, while I was dying inside. No way."
Willow gently held Buffy while she composed herself again. Will understood how important it was to her that neither Angel saw how this situation was tearing her apart, how she had to be the strong one in front of them both for different reasons - one for pride, the other for love. However Will knew that once she convinced Buffy to trust her, that her idea would work - and it would not leave Buffy on her own.
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Dawn felt a little uneasy as she sat watching the two Angels sitting side by side researching. The similarity was of course uncanny - they had the same smirk, lopsided grin, and the same soulful eyes. Most scarily of all, they both had the same way of eyeballing at her when they sensed she was being nosy. Luckily Willow appeared, giving Dawn ample chance to escape. She gave Will a grateful smile, as she scampered up the stairs to see Buffy.
Will stood before both Angels, hands on her hips. "Guys, we need to talk," she said.
"Okay," replied other Angel, a little unsure of what was going on.
"You both know we've got a lot of work to do. You two aren't exactly the best of buddies. And there lies my problem," Will explained bluntly.
Both Angels gave Will an odd look, as if not understanding what her point was. "We don't have to get on. We just have to solve this problem," LA Angel retorted, as other Angel nodded in agreement.
Will crossed her arms determinedly. "So here's where you're not understanding. You're going to make up, no ifs, no buts-"
"But-" Other Angel objected.
"No, you make up," Will replied emphatically. "Now I'm going to go, and you boys are going to have a little chat. Got it?" The slight menace in her eyes gave neither Angel room for argument.
"So," began LA Angel, a little uncomfortable.
"Look, I'll say it for both of us," other Angel said coldly. "I don't like you, you don't like me. You broke my girl's heart, moved on and shut her out of your life. So I think that says it all."
LA Angel was a little taken aback by his counterpart's open hostility - and strangely, a little hurt. "It wasn't like that," he answered quietly.
"So what was it like? You got bored with the soulmate thing and decided to head for the big lights?" other Angel taunted.
LA Angel felt a twinge in his heart, remembering all those painful memories and suddenly he was right there again.
I want my life to be with you.
I don't.
He still couldn't believe he had actually said that without his heart breaking in two. It had not though and his life had somehow gone on. Until now.
"No, I made a huge mistake," LA Angel responded, surprising the other Angel. "I thought I was protecting her, from the pain of our relationship, from doomed love and from Angelus. I thought I was making the right decision, doing what was right for her."
"And who were you to decide that?" other Angel questioned him ruthlessly.
"Her soulmate," Angel said simply. "I loved her more than anything. She was everything to me. You must know that - you're me. You have no idea of what we went through after I came back from hell, and I could see us killing her."
Other Angel considered the heartbroken look of the vamp in front of him, and felt pity. "So when did you stop believing?" he asked.
"Excuse me?" LA Angel said sharply, caught off guard.
"You must have stopped believing in her and in love," other Angel elaborated. "That's a shame. You missed out big time."
LA Angel glanced at his counterpart sadly. "And don't I know it."
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Spike was almost deliriously happy. He and Vince had just enjoyed one of the most satisfying bits of violence Spike had experienced in weeks - okay, more like days, but still! Not only had Spike had the chance to inflict serious pain on a no good poxy Chaos demon, he had made the demon grovel and beg and plead. That had been the best part, as he had made that demon pay for every drop of humiliation Drusilla had put him through when she had left him for one of those slimy lowlifes. Of course, he had also found out the location of the robed demon, which was, in Spike's book, a pleasant coincidence. However as always, things were far from simple.
Taking out his cell, Spike pressed the speed dial and waited for someone to answer. He secretly hoped it would be Buffy, but as her heard the voice on the end of the line, he knew it wasn't her.
"Is that Fred?" Spike barked. "Yeah, it's Spike. Well Twig, we got news. Wolfram and Hart have got the demon who cast the spell, and if we don't get him out, we won't know why there are two Angels."
Spike listened slightly baffled as Fred began to rabbit on about the need to hurry and form a plan. "Course I got a plan," Spike covered lamely, mentally cursing himself for his failing in that area. As Fred continued to berate Spike for so obviously not being prepared, Vince tapped him on the shoulder anxiously.
Spike swatted his hand away, but Vince persisted. "Boss, you should really see this."
As Spike turned round, he was stunned to see Wesley Wyndham Pryce glaring at him impatiently.
"Gotta go, Twig," Spike said, hurriedly switching his cell off. He raised his eyebrow quizzically at Wes. "So what's a good little watcher doing in a big nasty place like this?"
Wes bristled at the insult, but kept his expression suitably unimpressed. "Heard you needed help getting into Wolfram and Hart, and that's an area I know a lot about."
"So I hear," Spike drawled suggestively, further irritating the former watcher. "Okay, Wes, let's have a little chat - we never did get to have one of those did we?"
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Torture was truly an artform, Lilah decided. In her time at Wolfram and Hart she had seen her fair share of acts of depravity and violence, but there was nothing like seeing a double-crossing demon receive its comeuppance. Especially when that comeuppance was so achingly slow and painful in its completion.
She frowned at the way the demon sagged from the metal stakes that pinned it to the wall, slightly disappointed that the demon's breaking point was looking imminent. She gestured to a guard, who savaged kicked the demon in its face. The demon groaned, barely lifting its head. Lilah grabbed its chin, forcing it to look at her.
"It's been a long day and as great as it's been, it would really be better for you if you just told me what I wanted to know," she posed amicably. "So what do you say?" It dropped its head in defeat. "Good."
"The Slayer, I did it to distract her," it said raggedly. "I was to raise Gwah Ra Kal, as part of another deal."
Lilah paused at this new information, and suddenly another plan was forming in her mind. "Perhaps I won't kill you after all," she offered sagely. "As long as you're willing to share."
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Willow was making a grand job of rallying the troops, except, she noted sourly, for the main they all seemed rather distracted. Whilst Dawn, Fred, Lorne and herself had already began to knuckle down to do more research on the the spell and possible antidotes, Gunn and Xander were having little luck in engaging Buffy, the two Angels or Cordelia in strategy planning.
Willow put on her most grown up, sternest voice and addressed the others. "This is serious! You all better get your asses down to some work or…" Willow paused as she scrambled around for a suitable threat. "Else," she finished, barely keeping her fierce composure at Buffy's amused expression.
"Willow, trouble is always coming, yadayada," Buffy countered, lacing her fingers through other Angel's hair. "I don't think you guys really need me and this Angel right now just to come up with a plan to see whether Wolfram and Hart are here. You guys from LA could handle it eyes closed. Right guys?"
Xander went to object, but a sharp look from Buffy made him quickly retract. She smiled gratefully at the gang and began to lead other Angel out of the room. Before too long Buffy's shrieks of laughter could be heard as other Angel chased her to her room.
"You with us, man," Gunn prompted LA Angel.
"Huh?" Angel replied, his eyes all too fixedly trained towards the stairs Buffy had just disappeared up with her boyfriend.
Cordy frowned at Angel, a little perturbed at how much attention he was giving Buffy. As soon as Buffy had called her in LA, she knew there would be trouble. There always was when Buffy was involved. Cordy just hoped that they could leave Sunnydale before Hurricane Buffy hit them all again.
To be Continued.