I know. I know. It has been a while since I updated. I'm working on it. Just so many new ideas in my head. Anyway, any suggestions is helpful and enjoy reading.
Prophesy After the Fact
Part Seven
By Marie Nomad
"Will!" Buffy yelled as she, and everyone else ran out of the bomb shelter. Will's car was gone. "Where's the attack?" Buffy demanded as she grabbed Spike by the shirt.
"I don't know. They don't give me an address this time. Could take place in the future." Spike said as he pulled himself away. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to your boyfriend."
"He's not my- forget it, just run around and sniff for Will. That vision thingy must be sent for a reason. Do you remember the surroundings?"
"It was dark, the demon looks like Doomsday, that monster that killed Superman. Not a lot to go on." Spike said as he rubbed his head.
"Damn it! What's William doing out in the middle of the night?" Leia asked, "Oh my god, he's worried about me. He went off to find me and then that demon..." She started to panic wildly.
"Leia!" Buffy grabbed her and shook her. "Calm down! Right now, your brother needs you calm and focused! We're slayers; this is part of the job!" Leia nodded and relaxed. "Good. We'll go off and split up. Giles and Leia, you two check out the park. Gunn and Illyria, try to see if you can find Will's truck. Spike, you come with me and we'll look around here."
The group nodded and ran off. Gunn and Illyria jumped into Gunn's truck as Buffy and Spike looked around.
"I don't know if I can do this any more." Buffy sighed as she and Spike scanned the area for any signs of demons.
"Do what?"
"Sacrificing my life for the slayer lifestyle. It's been years since I met a guy that I'm interested in that has a pulse and has a relatively normal past. Now, he will die."
"Not if we have anything to do with it. I won't let anything happen to your boyfriend. I won't let you get depressed again." Spike vowed.
Buffy smiled slightly. There has always been a weird relationship between them. It wasn't romantic despite all the sex, it felt more like the relationship between Xander and Willow. "He's not my boyfriend."
Spike just smirked knowingly. He paused. "I smell Will's scent. This way." He pointed to an abandoned shed.
The slayer and vampire rushed at semi-supernatural speeds to the shed and Buffy yanked off the door. "Will!" She screamed as she saw the man huddled on the floor holding bloody rags. "You need to go to-" She stopped when she saw that Will was fine with a small puppy wrapped up in rags. "vet. Awww… what happened to him?"
"I found this guy and I thought I should I save him." Will replied as he smiled in a goofy way. "I was going to the vet as soon as the puppy's condition stabilized."
"Let us come with you." Buffy insisted as she glared at Spike. Spike shrugged in confusion. "Did anything else weird happen to you?"
"You mean, besides you two?" Will tilted his head to the broken off door. "What happened to the shed door?"
"Oh…" Buffy blushed as she saw the door's remains. "Those doors are so weak. They could barely hold my weight." She laughed as she tapped on the wall and it fell apart. "See?"
"Ah. Well, as soon as Josh comes back with my truck, we're getting this little fellow to this emergency vet that he knows." Will explained as he cradled the puppy in his arms. "What are you doing here?"
"Well…" Buffy looked at Spike who looked back. "Uhh… you see… we heard of this psycho in a costume on the loose and we were worried about you."
"A psycho in a costume?" Will repeated as he raised his eyebrows. "That's nice but I doubt that a psycho would come after me. He might try to go after you two more than me since Buffy is a girl, no offense, and Spike's radioactive hair just yell 'attack me'."
Spike ran his hand through his hair. "Radioactive?" He repeated.
"We'll be fine. It's that… it's safer in numbers." Buffy grinned at him. "Come on; let's go back to your house." She grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the shed.
XXX
"Oh, thank god." Leia sighed as she and the others gathered in the bomb shelter. "I was so scared that Will is…"
"He's not, not right now. But, that vision hangover isn't leaving so Will is still in trouble." Spike said as he rubbed his temples.
"Vision hangover?" Buffy repeated.
"A headache that comes from the vision. If the vision isn't resolved, the headache remains until then." Gunn replied as he handed Spike a bottle of aspirin and a pouch of blood.
"Ouch." Leia winced.
"Not that bad." Spike took down the aspirin and the blood. "All we have to do is kill the demon and my headache goes away."
"That… is harder than it sounds." Ryoma said as he opened up a scroll. "We had dealt with this type of demon before with tragic consequences."
"Great. Now, we have to not only find the poofhead but also protect Will and his puppy."
"Puppy?" Leia stared at Spike. "Will doesn't have a puppy. He hates dogs."
"Not what we saw. He was coddling the pup like a baby." Spike recalled and then he frowned.
"A puppy. This is not going good." Leia twisted her hands as she paced. "Will always hated dogs, he felt like that they are always watching him. This is not good. He stopped teasing me, cleaned his room, plays with puppies and listens to Barry Manilow! He's gone evil!"
"Listening Barry Manilow does not mean that he has gone evil." Buffy said as she clamped on Leia's shoulder. "I had plenty of experience with good guys going evil and I can personally say that Will is not an evil man just a normal human being with a bad case of amnesia."
XXX
"I am not evil, I have amnesia." Angel said as he gazed into the mirror. His new puppy was asleep in a box full of newspapers. He could not help but feel guilty for making Buffy and the others worried about him. He didn't expect to find the puppy all alone but he wanted to help it. The former champion in him just loved puppies. He picked up the puppy. "What should I name you? I can name you 'Lindsey' or 'Angelus'. Heh…" He chuckled to himself.
XXX
"Something is telling me that man is not my brother." Leia held her head. "I wish someone would believe me."
"We have done all the tests." Ryoma comforted as he put his hand on Leia's head. "If there was something wrong with William, we would have seen it by now."
"And if there is anything else, I can sense it." Willow said as she came in. "Hi."
"Will! Glad you could make it." Buffy said as she smiled at her old friend. "How was Tibet?"
"Tibety." Willow chuckled, "Giles told me what happened." She looked at Spike and his friends. "Spike, Gunn, I'm sorry. If I had known, I would've come much sooner."
"I know. You're not the type to ignore anyone." Spike smiled slightly at her. "So, can you help us out with Blue?"
"I do not wish to go back to the Deeper Well." Illyria said as she stepped forward.
Willow's eyes widened as she gazed at the ex-old god. She could sense great power within the figure. Although it had weakened, she had never seen anything like it before. She shifted her eyes to normal sight and then gasped. "Oh my god… Fred?"
"I am Illyria." Illyria cocked her head and the two studied each other. "You are stronger than most of these humans." She paused for a moment. "You lust after me."
Willow blushed brightly as she turned away feeling like the old awkward nerdy Willow she was before she studied witchcraft. The others looked on interested and she said, "It's the leather. Don't tell Kennedy."
"We won't. Can you help her?" Spike asked, "At least, is Fred really gone?"
"Hard to say." Willow's eyes turned white as she circled Illyria. "I never saw an Old God before, Glory was the closest I've seen. I don't believe that Fred's gone, I can sense her a little." Her gaze returned to normal. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out and maybe William too."
"What is there to figure out?" William asked as he came in carrying his puppy.
"You and… what's the deal with the puppy?" Leia asked as the group glanced to see Illyria back to being Fred again.
"I was thinking of adopting him. I just need to convince Mom and Dad, get a bunch of pet supplies, and… name him." He said as he held up the little brown puppy up. "Isn't he cute?"
"Adorable. Reminds me of Oz." Willow giggled, "Oh, I'm Willow."
"William." Angel said as he smiled at the redhead. He remembered someone named 'Oz' but it was vague. "Who's Oz?"
"An old boyfriend." Willow replied, "We kinda broke up because of his condition."
Angel paled. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten Oz. True, he hadn't seen the werewolf in years but he should've remembered him. "Oh."
"Will." Buffy whispered and then Willow and Angel looked at her.
"Yeah?" The two said at once and then looked at each other.
Buffy chuckled and amended. "William."
"Yeah?" Spike and Angel said at once and then glared at each other.
"She's talking to me." Angel said as he looked at Buffy. "Yeah?"
"We need to get the name thing down. Look, don't go out at night. Stay inside where it's nice and safe and there's no chance of you getting killed by some demony creature." Buffy advised, "Not that there are any demons out there. Ha ha."
"Ha. You really take this role playing thing seriously." Angel observed as he quirked.
"It's an obsession." Buffy shrugged. She had been slaying for over eight years. It wasn't an obsession, it was a way of life.
"I'll keep it in mind, Buffy." Angel said as he walked off with the puppy in his hands.
XXX
Buffy sat in the bushes just outside of Will's window. She couldn't help but feel guilty for stalking Will. After all, she had been stalked many times by love sick vampires, first Angel and then Spike. Still, there was no other way. She had to stay outside and keep an eye on him.
"Here you go." Willow said as she came up and handed Buffy a thermos. "Something to keep you going?"
"Thanks." Buffy accepted and started to pour a cup. "Did you sense anything from Will?"
"Nada. He's a nice normal human but… there's something familiar about his soul." Willow pondered. "Hard to explain. But, he is human."
"Good." Buffy looked through her binoculars. "We just have to keep an eye on him while getting Angel back. Where ever he is."
XXX
Angel was a stalker in his past life. He made it an art when he was Angelus to cause terror in the hearts of women all over Europe. Despite his human status and somewhat fading memory, he still had his skills.
"Buffy makes a lousy stalker." Angel mused as he looked out his window to see the two camping out under his window. He couldn't help but feel the irony that Buffy was the stalker and he was the stalkee. Before, he was the stalker and she was the stalkee. While he could see the humor in it, he was worried. Buffy and Spike were scared for him, what was it? Was it a real demon trying to get him because he was Leia's brother? Or was it some demonic goddess? He had enough of those in his lifetime.
"Too much worry is bad for the skin." Shanshu said as she appeared in her whirlwind.
"I can't help it. Buffy and the others are coming and Willow… she will know." Angel whispered as he closed the curtains.
"Not yet." The prophesy shook her head. "Willow is a powerful witch, she could even be considered a goddess but she is still human. Humans are naturally short sighted. There's no way that she could 'see' who you really are. Unfortunately, there's still a chance that you could expose yourself. I must do what I have to do." Her hands and eyes glowed brightly as she stepped forward.
"No." Angel whispered, "You can't. Don't, I don't want to lose myself." He tried to step back only his legs refused to move. "Shanshu, please, don't."
"You won't feel a thing." Shanshu promised and put both hands on his chest. The two are surrounded by a bright light and the young man collapsed onto the bed. She stared down at him and kissed him on the cheek. "I should have done this a long time ago. I would have asked you to forgive me but to forgive, one must first remember. Sweet dreams, my champion."
XXX
Meanwhile, Buffy felt a faint stab in her heart. "Angel." She whispered as she put her hand on her chest.
To Be Continued…
