A/N: ^_^ Reviews are nice. Me like reviews.
Phidan: Remember Buffy's 18th birthday? Remember how very much not happy she was? ^_^ But you're right—the Council really hasn't got a clue.
Spike: I was a little confused by your review, so I'll try and answer your questions as best I can. Angel is not dead—at least, not anymore than he usually is. Since he's a vampire, Ashton could get away with saying dead and not be lying, since he knew that Willow was alive around the time Angel was in Sunnydale and he didn't know whether or not she knew him ^_^ Dru…Dru's not in this…I have no idea whether Dru's been dusted or not on Angel, but she's not in this. And Spike—did you watch the Buffy season 7 finale? As for memory—she died. Her memories are fuzzy, and what happened in the finale is kinda important. If you haven't watched the finale, watch it. It was good. Not as good as season 5 finale, but there was no way they could top that and it was good. And then start watching Angel ^_^
Did anyone watch last week's Angel by the way? I have decided on a name for that expression Spike gets—you know, the one where he sniffs and purses/smushes his lips together? I don't know how else to describe it—it's the one he gets before a fight usually, if he's not grinning. I have dubbed it his "I'm not scared---really" look ^_^
Chapter 5
After the meeting, Willow started to follow the Slayers out. Angel stopped her though, asking, "Are you busy?"
Willow blinked at him then looked at Damon and Ashton. "Uh—Damon? Am I busy?"
Damon looked at her, then at Angel, then at Ashton. "No, I don't think so."
Willow looked at Angel. "Apparently not."
"Do you want to talk? We have some catching up to do," Angel said. Willow nodded. "Sure. Sounds like a plan."
"I'm inviting myself along," Spike said. Angel gritted his teeth, obviously counting to ten, then looked at Spike. "Sure, Spike."
Willow smiled. The rivalry between Spike and Angel was legendary for the Scoobies, and now with five hundred years added…she frowned at Angel. "After five hundred years, you two still haven't learned how to get along?"
"We get along," Angel protested. "Just with lots of arguing and—"
"Fighting," Spike volunteered. "Sure, we get along fine."
Willow just shook her head. Angel and Spike fighting was less worrisome than Angelus and Spike, but was she really going to have to listen to these two go at each other for the rest of her not-quite-natural life?
"If you'd learn how to take orders…"
"If you'd figure out that you're not the big boss…"
Oh yeah. This should be interesting.
Angel led the way down to floor four, down a hall, and opened a door. Willow looked around the room appreciatively then frowned at the large window. "Uh—Angel? How do you not go all…you know, dusty?"
Angel smiled. "It's treated. I discovered it when I acquired Wolfram and Hart."
"Neat," Willow said, looking out the window at the street. She turned around to look at Angel and Spike. "So. Um…what happened? A-after I, um, died, I mean."
"We fought the good fight," Spike volunteered. "As usual."
Willow smiled. "Well—that's—that's good and all, but it doesn't really answer anything. What happened with Buffy and Xander and Giles?"
"They rebuilt the Council," Angel said, settling in a chair. "Would you like to sit?"
Willow sat in another chair, looking at Angel intently. "I figured that, since it's all—here, and all—but—"
"How did they die?" Angel supplied softly. Willow nodded.
"I know it's kinda—morbid, but—"
"It's not," Angel assured her. "Buffy was averting another apocalypse."
"We do seem to draw them," Willow murmured.
"She succeeded, but—it was like with the hell god you told me about."
Willow nodded. "Mr. Ashton said she was 38 when she died."
Angel nodded. "She lived a long life, especially for a Slayer. Since she had help, it makes sense, but—"
"Yeah, Faith," Willow said, frowning slightly. "What happened to her?"
"Same apocalypse," Angel said, his frown more pronounced. "And I wasn't just talking about Faith."
Willow looked at him, confused. "What?" The sense that something was missing tickled at her again.
Angel looked at her oddly. "Buffy told me about the spell that you cast—during the battle with the First."
Willow continued to stare at him. Spike snorted. "Don't tell me you've forgotten."
"Okay, I won't tell you," Willow said slowly, looking at Angel. "First what?"
"Being dead scrambled her brains," Spike remarked. "It didn't affect Buffy like this."
Angel shot him a glance. "Buffy was only dead for a few months. That may make a difference."
"May?" Spike snorted. "Did." He looked at Willow. "Don't tell me you don't remember the next generation. Kennedy? Hello? Am I ringing any bells?"
Willow continued to frown. "Ringing, yes. Hearing? No." She shook her head. "Just tell me—maybe it'll help."
Spike sighed. "First Evil, killing Potential Slayers, the Summers house became HQ against those buggers, the Bringers? You and Kennedy shacking up? Are you not remembering anything?"
Willow looked at him blankly. "Some of it. I remember the Bringers. I don't remember the potentials. The First Evil? That's—a really bad name."
"Not if you understand the context, as the lil' bit put it," Spike grumbled. "Bloody Evil, dressing up like any dead person it wanted. Do you remember Caleb? You have to remember Caleb, he put out your boy's eyes."
Willow stared at him. "Xander lost an eye? Hang on…" She frowned in concentration. It was floating back to her. Caleb, a servant of the First…the house had been full of teenagers—she remembered that now, unfortunately. Faith…resouling Angel…a fight in a—a vineyard? Right—that's where Xander lost his eye, poor guy.
She looked up at Angel and Spike, still frowning. "It's—it's starting to come back, but not all of it. I cast a spell?"
Spike snorted. "You cast a whopper of a spell. You don't remember that either, do you?"
"No."
"It's the spell that saved our necks," Spike pointed out. "Well, yours at least. With that—weapon thing?"
"Weapon thing," Willow repeated. A picture flashed, of a red and gold weapon. Buffy holding said weapon, saying she felt something. Willow's eyes flew to Spike. "Oh God."
"You remember now?"
"Not completely," Willow said tensely. "Where is it now?"
Spike shrugged. "Lost. Gone, for a couple hundred years now actually. Someone stole it from Council headquarters."
Willow stared at him. "Why?"
"Because they didn't know how important it was," Angel said. "Spike and I are the only ones who know, and even we don't know all of it. As the years pass, things get lost. Important things. Traditions, by-laws get interpreted differently."
Willow nodded. "I get it. The Council's changed since you joined."
"Not necessarily for the better either," Spike grumbled.
"The spell though," Angel said. "No one understood why the spell ended."
"It ended?" Willow asked blankly. "What did it do in the first place?"
Angel glanced at Spike, who said, "You activated all the potential Slayers, love. We had an army of Slayers, from all around the world."
It was like a light had come on—or maybe more like something had sliced through a veil that had kept the memories back.
Willow stared out the window, remembering everything. She remembered the spell, the scythe, the potentials—including Kennedy—her magic. Buffy's speech about her power, where the power came from (she winced at that). It all came back.
Willow stared at Angel and Spike, her mouth open slightly in shock. Now she knew why this rise in demon activity was bothering her more than just because demons were not of the good. "The Slayers should have kept them back."
"What?" Angel demanded, lost, but Spike nodded.
"They should have. But the spell went wrong somehow. After the first activation, no more were activated. The numbers dwindled over the next few decades until we were back to just one. Buffy—as usual—was the last remaining besides the active Slayer. Her last apocalypse really ate up the last five or so Slayers we had left."
"But—" Willow protested. "I cast it so that all Slayers for the rest of time would be activated. What went wrong?"
"I don't know," Spike said. "Neither did Giles, or any of that coven he knew—the one you went to."
"Oh my God," Willow murmured. "That—oops."
"Oops?" Angel repeated. "Why oops? What's oops?"
Willow raked her fingers through her hair, looking at him sheepishly. "Um…it means oops? Like—I worked the spell wrong?"
"How?" Spike demanded. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Yeah, it worked," Willow agreed. "But—" She shook her head, trying not to giggle. It was not a giggling matter. Really. "I—I think I tied the spell to the wrong thing."
The two vampires stared at her. Willow continued to look sheepish.
"Tied it to—oh." Angel sighed. "Oops."
"Oops," Willow agreed. "Big oops."
"Someone fill me in?" Spike said.
Willow looked at him. "Um—when I did the spell, I felt the power come through me. Actually, it was cool. It purged all the dark magic out, which was neat."
"Willow," Angel said.
"Oh, right. Well, it went through me, not the scythe. The spell was tied to me. So when I died…"
"The spell ended," Spike finished. "Bollocks."
"Yeah," Willow agreed. "I didn't realize that, or I would have concentrated on tying it to the scythe."
"And since we don't have the scythe," Spike said. Angel finished, "We can't redo the spell."
"Not yet," Willow agreed. "But I bet we can find the scythe."
"How?" Spike demanded.
Willow was back to looking sheepish. "Same reason I was able to be brought back? I think I kinda connected myself to the Slayer line in that spell?"
"Yeah, but—how did they end up with you?" Spike asked. "I mean, didn't they need blood or something?"
Willow shrugged, trying to remember what she had seen. "I'll have to ask. They may have just called the Slayer from a particular year—which meant they had a one in three chance of getting Buffy instead of me or Faith—or would that be a one in several hundred chance?"
"Probably one in three," Angel said, frowning. "That—that's interesting…"
"I know you meant to say bad," Willow said, frowning at him. "That's the reason there's been an upswing in demons. Oh God—will my magic never stop messing things up?"
"Oy," Spike said, frowning at her. "It didn't mess things up. That was a good thing you did, you just never had a chance to refine it, that's all. Now, we just find the scythe, redo the spell, and all will be as right as rain. So. Where's the scythe?"
Willow looked around. "Um…on Earth?"
Spike sighed. "This is going to be a long hunt."
A/N: *snicker* Gotta love Spike. Well, you don't gotta love him, but he's very loveable, even when he's being bad and I am going to stop right there. ^_^ Until next chapter!
