Part 20

Angel closed Connor's door with a soft click. Connor had finally fallen into a dreamless sleep after Wesley had given him a bit of a sleeping potion. Jasmine's death had taken care of any 'deprogramming' that needed to be done for her followers. As soon as her body had fallen the most stubborn of her followers blinked as though they were coming out of a haze.

Now that some of his worries for Connor were slowly fading, Angel could concentrate on what Willow had meant when she'd said that Zalana had plans for LA. He had known that with the defeat of Jasmine, Willow would be going back to being an assassin for the demon. Angel would still catch glimpses of the 'old' Willow but she was quickly buried again under the indifferent mask of Red Death. He had too much on his plate to try and unravel the enigma that Willow had become. Maybe he would pass on his concerns to Giles and let him try to reach Willow before she was too far down her road of destruction.

Lorne looked up from behind the desk as Angel entered the lobby. "Bad news, Angel cakes.  We're not the only ones celebrating the death of the beloved Jasmine. Word on the street is that Wolfram and Heart had a little party of their own and guess who one of the guests of honor was?"

"Willow."

"Well, how's that for timing? You speak my name and I appear."  Red Death shut the door behind her with a wave of her hand.

Angel turned at the sound of Willow's voice and his heart broke a little more as he saw the emotionless mask she was wearing. He didn't really want to have to kill Willow but he would if it meant saving the others. "You know I can't let you do whatever it is you're planning."

Graham had agreed to let Willow handle this next phase of the operation on the stipulation that he could use any means necessary to protect her. She had reluctantly agreed and a little more of her soul died at the thought of one of her friends being harmed.

The click of a bolt being strung onto a crossbow accompanied Graham's entrance. He leveled the weapon as he kept both Lorne and Angel in sight. "I didn't miss anything did I?"

Willow didn't take her eyes off Angel when she answered Graham. "Nope, just Angel's puffed up hero warning."

"Oh good I missed the cliché."

"Actually, Angel I came to give you a little something and to say goodbye. Hunter and I have been reassigned so I'm afraid our epic battle will have to be at another time. We're no longer working for Zalana. Whatever he has planned for here it doesn't include us."

Angel swiftly looked at Lorne who merely shrugged. Maybe the rumors were wrong.

Willow smirked. "No, Sir Galahad, you didn't miraculously change me back to the 'good' Willow.  How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not Faith. I don't want or need your approval. I don't want to be redeemed. I like the new me, the old Willow was weak and pathetic."

"That's where you're wrong, Willow. Red Death is the weak one. Power is only an illusion, it doesn't make a weak person strong."

"Blah, blah, blah." Willow tossed the envelope to Angel. "Here, think of this as a small thank you gift."

Angel opened the envelope and pulled out a report. It contained what would have happened if Jasmine had succeeded. World Peace. "How is this a thank you gift?"

Willow's smirk turned into a smile. "Well, okay not really a thank you to you more of a thank you to me. As a thanks for a job well done Lilah let me be the bearer of the news. She wanted to be here to see the look on your face but she said it was gratifying enough to know that the news was coming from me."

Lorne's brow furrowed in confusion. "Thanks for what? Angel, what does it say?"

"Nothing."

"Now, Angel it's not nice to lie to your friends." Willow turned to Lorne. "See, Jasmine's victory would have assured world peace."

"World peace? Yeah, if that meant mind numbing slaves."

"Ah, but slaves that were happy and spouted love."

"She was killing people."

"Oh, and you've never sacrificed anyone for the greater good have you, Angel?"

"Not innocents."

"Ah, so you don't think a billion souls achieving world peace are worth a dozen or so innocent lives?"

Angel held an inner debate on Willow's fate. That he had to stop her was no doubt. He wasn't sure if she really was silently pleading for him to stop her or if she was so arrogant that she didn't think that she could be stopped.

It was killing Willow to do this to Angel but it had to be done. She considered this confrontation to be a dress rehearsal for the main event. Xander, Buffy and Giles.

Angel's eyes slid over to Hunter, he knew with his speed he could get to Willow before Hunter could fire the crossbow. No, his biggest threat was Willow's magick.

So many years of fighting and staying alive in the demon community had given Graham an almost preternatural ability to know when an enemy was about to attack. A shiver slid along his spine and the hair on his body stood on end as if electrified. He just knew that Angel was going to attack.

Without conscious thought Graham dropped the crossbow and raised the shotgun that had been hanging on his hip. He fired a warning shot close to Angel's face. "Next one blows your head off. I hear decapitation works just as well as a stake to the heart."

Angel schooled his features to mask his surprise as he heard Willow's heart beat accelerate and her breathing get shallower.

Willow knew her mask was in place but inside her stomach had dropped and a part of her heart broke. It wasn't that she hadn't expected Angel to make a move, she had. Actually she was surprised that he had taken as long as he had before he had tried to attack her. No, what surprised her was that she had seen death in his eyes just before Graham had fired his shot. She NEVER thought that Angel would kill her. This was a bittersweet ending. It had proven that she was truly immersed in her role.

"Hold."

Angel and Lorne struggled to move but found their bodies were magickally bound.

Willow cocked her head to the side and looked at Angel. "As much as I'd like to see Hunter shoot you, it'll have to wait for another time. We really must be going, duty calls."

Xander gazed up at the Hyperion Hotel. Angel. God he hated Angel and he'd hoped to never come in contact with him again after Angel moved to Los Angeles. Unlike Willow he'd never been able to forgive or forget his time as Angelus. But if contacting Angel meant he would get closer to Willow then he'd swallow the bile and do it.

The sound of the front doors slamming caught his attention and he glanced up to see a flash of red. Willow? Xander quickly ran toward the red.

"Willow? WILLOW!" Xander yelled as he realized it really was Willow.

Willow tensed, she couldn't help it. Xander's voice had been so unexpected and to have it happen now, after her confrontation with Angel, she wasn't sure she could hold it together.

"Xander."

To anyone other than Graham, Willow's voice held no emotion. However, Graham had felt her tense and saw the very slight paling of her cheeks.

"God, Wills I've been looking everywhere for you."

OHGODOHGODOHGODOHGOD.  She couldn't deal with this now but she didn't have a choice. The mission couldn't be destroyed, not now, not with the end so close.