Part 20

Willow slowly awoke to the strange sensation of lying against a hard male body.  It took a moment for her sleepy brain to process the events of the previous night, but once the memories returned so did her smile. With her eyes still closed her lips quirked into a smile and she snuggled deeper into Rupert's embrace. A warm hand softly caressed her back and Rupert placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Mmmmm, this is nice." Willow mumbled as she opened her eyes.

Rupert smiled down into her sleepy face, "What?"

"Being lazy with you. What are the odds that we can spend the day here?"

Rupert opened his mouth to answer when a knock sounded on his door. "Rupert? I'm sorry to wake you but Amy, Robert and Stacy from the Council are on their way here. They need to speak with all of us."

"They couldn't wait a couple of hours?" Rupert mumbled into Willow's neck. "Right. We'll be right there, Wes."

He turned twinkling eyes to Willow, "Rain check on the all day in bed?"

She placed soft kisses along his jaw before softly nipping at his earlobe. "You betcha."

Before Rupert could pull her closer she rolled out of bed and looked at him over her shoulder, "Wanna conserve water?"

A very Ripper-like smile spread across his features as he stalked his way to the bathroom. He didn't have to be asked twice.

~~~~~

Faith looked up at the sound of the door opening and winked at Rupert as he and Willow entered. "So what did you two kids do last night while we were out patrolling?"

Some things were a constant in all realities, Willow thought.  She just smiled, "Talked about the Shapeshifters. I had a lot of questions and Rupert was nice enough to answer them for me."

"Damn, Red. I thought for sure I'd get you to at least blush."

Tara shyly smiled at Willow and gently kicked Faith's ankle who turned wide innocent eyes at Tara, "What?"

Jesse covered a laugh with a cough and Wesley just rolled his eyes at the others.

Rupert narrowed his eyes at Faith and then turned to Wes, "Speaking of Shapeshifters is that what the Council wants to talk about?"

"Amy didn't go into specifics but my guess is yes and also about Ethan's plans. I gathered that their informant had more to say."

"Can they trust whoever this informant is?" Willow asked. "I mean it seems that Ethan is very particular who he has close to him."

"Oh he is very particular some would say paranoid and yes the informant can be trusted. He's one of ours and volunteered to go undercover and rise through the ranks."

"Wizard?"

Wes nodded, "Very powerful. Not as powerful as Gwendolyn or you but very powerful in his own right." He glanced at his watch, "They should be here shortly."

Giles turned to Jesse, "How did Xander do last night? Is his magick very different from before?"

Jesse nodded, "Very. It's much more powerful and he has better concentration. Wes thinks that over time he'll become a high level wizard. And as much as I love Xan he never would have made it that far before. His concentration never was the best."

"How does it affect his vampiric abilities?"

"Angel says that his ability to jump great distances and climb buildings is above that of a new childe but his hearing and vision isn't any different."

"Makes sense. When I went all Darth Willow I could harness the elements more securely than when I was just Mojo Willow. I felt more solidly connected to everything. I bet his demon heightens his senses."

The ringing of the doorbell interrupted their conversation. "That should be Amy and the others." Wesley went to escort them in.

Willow wondered if any of the Watchers Council members were Wizard Council members in this reality. Not that she had met that many of them but she was just curious to see if there were any similarities.

A distinguished older gentleman and an older woman followed Amy and Wes into the room. Neither looked familiar to Willow but that didn't mean they weren't Watchers in her world.

Amy smiled at Willow, "Willow, I'd like for you to meet Robert and Stacy. They've been very anxious to meet you."

Robert held out his hand for Willow to shake, "It's very nice to finally meet you Miss Rosenberg. I would love to discuss what you're world is like."

Stacy smiled at Willow as she held out her hand, "Don't mind him. He did his thesis paper on inter-dimensional travel and its applications. He'll talk your ear off if you let him."

Willow turned to Stacy and shook her hand. As soon as their hands connected Stacy's eyes glazed over and her spine stiffened. Robert yelled Stacy's name and when there was no response he reached down and pried their hands apart.

"What happened?" Willow asked anxiously.

Stacy's eyes began to clear and she came back to herself. Her eyes filled with tears and she rapidly blinked them away. "I'm so sorry, Willow. That hasn't happened to me in a very long time. Your aura must be as strong as your magick. I'm an Empathic witch in that I feel others' emotions. My shields normally block unsolicited readings. I haven't had that happen since I first developed my shields."

"Are you all right?"

She nodded and raised a shaking hand to her chest to calm her racing heart. "I'm fine. It was just unexpected."

"Should I leave? Is it too much?"

"No! As long as I don't touch you until I strengthen my shields I'll be fine."

Willow leaned in so no one could overhear them, "You didn't see flashes of events did you?"

"No, nothing like that. I just feel your emotions, past and present."

"That's good, I wouldn't want you to have to suffer through my dark period. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Stacy just smiled shakily. She couldn't bring herself to tell Willow it was worse experiencing the emotions without the knowledge of what the emotions were linked to. She had felt deep love, deep hate, anger, and loss. The only thing that saved Stacy from collapsing earlier was the happiness and love that were at Willow's surface. Willow's aura was very draining to her.

"Right. So what's the urgency that brought the Council here on a personal visit instead of a phone call?" Rupert asked. "Why send the DSN to Sunnydale?"

"Well, you don't waste time on small talk do you, Mr. Giles?" Stacy replied. "Very well, we'll get down to business. Our informant in Ethan's army has relayed to us that he plans on pushing his timetable forward. He's going to do a full frontal assault on Sunnydale, Los Angeles and assorted Hellmouths around the world. Ethan, of course is going to concentrate his efforts here. He's going to go after the mirror and I'm sorry to say you, Willow. Since Gwendolyn made it clear that you probably wouldn't desert Rupert he's decided to put a magickal hit on you. The DSN are going to assist in disturbing Ethan's plans and protecting Willow."

Rupert reached over and pulled Willow into his embrace.

Faith narrowed her eyes at the Council. She hadn't gotten real close to Willow but she did like her and she could tell that Giles was falling for her. No WAY was she going to let the Bitch from Hell and Ethan ruin that. "How are they going to help protect Willow? The Shapeshifters don't have any combat skills other than shifting."

"Ah, but if there are three or four or more Willows how will Ethan or the others know which one is the original?"