Victims, surprises and illusions.
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"Well I guess we're going to have to go home and get some rest" Doyle said "Sticking around the underworld kinda makes an angel wanna snooze for a while"
"I don't think I could after going over the river Styx, I think I saw a devil floating in it that kinda looked like Penn" Gunn said "That guy gave me the creeps from day one"
"Well looks who back" Xander said as he strolled in then gave Anya a quick kiss "Got anything from the gift shop in deadworld?"
"They happen to be closed when we got there" Gunn drawled.
"But if it makes you feel any better the Furies seemed to have taken an interest in you" Doyle said.
Anya looked a bit pissed at that but Xander seemed to shrug it off, the only woman he will only want would be Anya. Strange that his choice in women were mainly those who gave out commands and show strength. Buffy, then Cordelia and Anya all had those traits but only Anya could make him go nuts if something happens to her, very nuts.
"Huh" Xander just shrug then turned to the gang "So what's up?"
"Well Buffy is either going to kick some First ass or her kid would, assuming if we find her soul mate" Gunn said.
"Hold it. Soul mate?" Xander inquired.
"Yeah Xand, see I got a soul mate out there that would either give me power boost or get me knocked up" Buffy said "which both would end the First's happy go lucky life"
"Go soul man!" Xander said cheerily then remembered Willow becoming sad as he said "Oh Oz is looking after Will now, did you winged-up-halo-boys find anything for her?"
"Yes but not necessarily good" Doyle said.
"What is it?" Xander asked, preparing for the blow.
"Well a devil wanted to go into Willows nightmare" Gunn said.
"So a devil is behind this?" Xander said.
"No, if they were we would have sensed them" Angelus said.
"So why would they be?" Xander asked.
"Could be that Willow has the power to find the soul mate and they don't want that to happen" Giles said "But Willow isn't that powerful yet"
"I think you'll be finding that Willow is very powerful" Gunn said "She found me and magic can't track angels no matter how strong or good it is"
"So how could she?" Buffy asked.
"The universe has its secrets" Angelus said.
"I hate the universe" Xander muttered
Doyle suddenly felt a sharp pain in his gut; it hurt like, well, hell as it sliced through his veins. Angelus and Gunn didn'tseem notice it, telling Doyle is wasn't a connection thing it was something. He gasped for air as the pain intensified, holding his gut as it grew everywhere. What was going on?
"You alright Doyle?" Cordelia asked.
"No" Doyle said "I think someone's in trouble, someone before their time"
"Well go" Cordelia barked.
In a flash of light, Doyle left and appeared right next to Willow.
"Oz, please don't leave me" Willow sobbed, gripping Oz's shirt desperately.
"Willow what happened?" Doyle asked.
Willow slowly looked up at Doyle, the tears streaming down her face. How could she say that she was the one that did this to Oz? That she was the one that used her deadliest magic's on him.
"Tara wanted to kill Oz and I…I don't how this happened" Willow whispered.
Doyle took one look at Willow and made mental note to let her explain properly after he save the werewolf.
He pushed her away from Oz only to get a cry from her and she tried to get to Oz again "Do you want me to save him or not?" Doyle snapped.
Willow sobbed and nodded at the same time. Doyle ripped Oz's shirt apart to inspect the damage before doing his rightful duty as an angel as he placed his healing hands over Oz's chest. Save his life.
Giles sent everyone home after Doyle left. Everyone was tired and exhausted and he did not want a grumpy bunch of people to do some research but he did make some of them take a book and do the research at home. Xander and Anya however were doing a snack run for him since everyone felt a little guilty of letting him do all the work on the key. However they were taking there sweet time in bringing the snacks, he did not want to know why they were sidetrack. Rubbing were his glasses rested he turned another page of his book, still he carried on. Being an ex-watcher did not mean he stopped being one, he was in everyway a watcher but a fatherly one. After all Giles was the surrogate father of Buffy, Xander and Willow and Joyce was the mother when she was needed. It was still awkward between them, if it was not for that candy maybe Joyce and Him could have been better friends instead of looking in each other's eyes finding that they've both go red all of a sudden. Funny how memories seem to pop in to ones mind without a hesitation. But if Giles was honest with himself he would find himself telling him that Joyce was indeed an attractive woman as well as a strong one too. Must be a hereditary thing in the Summer's Women.
Sighing silently, he knew it was going to be a long night before he could find anything that could help the gang. What baffled him was why did his slayer have a soul mate? Slayers don't have soul mates, it was a rule, but like most rules, it had been broken. So why did she have one? However, something occurred to him. Maybe the devils had been mistaken, maybe Buffy wasn't the slayer that had a soul mate and Faith was. It would be the most unlikeliest thing yet those things seem to be right. However, Faith was in jail and so it came back to Buffy. The thing that bothered him the most was Riley's death, Riley and Buffy were together for almost a year and then they wanted him to die. If the First knew there was a prophecy about the slayer and it, why didn't it kill all the boyfriends the slayers had, after all there had been slayers who had boyfriends, heck, even husbands and the First ordered Riley's death pretty much now. Maybe there was a date that the First didn't want something to happen. Yes, that had to be it.
Giles frowned for a moment when his eyes picked up something in his book.
"…The Mage, Morgan Keana, was well known for her battle against the hellgod Glorifica. She fought the hellgod in the struggle of power and revenge for the hellgod had slain her sister for the blood of the slayer. Glorifica had immense strength to defeat the mage but it was her undoing to use the amulet she possessed. It was in this amulet that Glorifica could control the heavens and earth, destroying those who apposed her. The battle was fought over a dimensional rip between two worlds, one of earth and one of hell. The battle wenton into the night and the early hours of the morning until when all hope was lost Keana tricked the hellgod into thinking that she was dead and took the amulet away from her neck. It was at that moment Morgan Keana threw the hellgod into the dimensional rip. Luck was on her side that it sealed behind the hellgod and so that if the hellgod would ever come back she the hid the amulet in a box. The key to this box was then hidden to ensure that if the hellgod came back she would never find it…"
He turned the page and saw the key. The key that was identical to the key in front of him. The key that Buffy and Angelus brought to his attention.
"Bugger" Giles swore placing the key into his pocket.
As he got up to counter to quickly get out of magic shop, the doorbell tingled. He felt the hairs of the back of his neck prickled when he heard the familiar growls and hisses of the vampires. It was them; Glorifica's little vampires were back. Giles pulled out a crossbow out from under the counter and aimed at the closest vampire. There was an explosion of dust before the vampires stopped to think; maybe this was going to be a little difficult to submit the Watcher. Of course, they didn't know this watcher happened to be extremely resourceful and full of tricks; years of being in Ethan's little gang and on the Hellmouth had taught him to be continuously on his toes. However, that didn't stop him getting his head knocked about.
"Give us the key and we will give you a quick death" one of them said.
Giles made sure he counted six all of them with blankets to protect them from the sun, after all Cordelia didn't like the fact that he didn't count properly the last time.
"I think not" Giles said pulling a large cross, if this amulet was as power as the book says then all is lost.
The vampires hissed at the foul religious symbol but that didn't stop the incoming attack. They wanted that key; their loyalty to their master was undeniably doglike.
Faith drummed her fingers on her lap. She had a visitor. Maybe this was Buffy, pretty much doubtful but then again could be. Wesley had visit her two days ago for his monthly visit since he was her watcher and he was the one that helped her out. She didn't know what made him change but when they met, she wanted revenge on him and he brought her back from her lost ways. She owed him. Him, the tweed little man from England that screamed like a little girl, so was a bit of a brainteaser how he change over a couple months. But she knew for a fact Wesley wasn't coming, so who was it?
Her question was answered when a woman that looked like she was a model from vogue dressed in a deep red dress, jacket and matching shoes with golden curls and dark grey eyes came and sat down in front of her picked up the black phone against the bullet-proof glass. The woman gave her a smirk, a trademark known for arrogance or in control people gesturing to Faith's phone. Faith finally picked up her black phone once she assessed the woman as the bad kind.
"Sorry I'm late sugar doll" the woman said "Traffic was like hell and believe me that's the truth. LA has changed since I've last been there. I mean the shops and the buildings have change but the general area is still the same. Much better city I've been around was in Venice but-"
"Are you my lawyer or a fan of mine" Faith interruptly said "Cause I did need neither"
"Ooh spunk" the woman said her smile growing "I like that in a slayer"
Faith narrowed her eyes at her. She knew she was a slayer, how? Was she from Wolfram and Hart? Were they going to kill her again or was this a sick joke from the Watchers Council? Either way if they pulled something in this place the bullet-proof glass would probably keep her safe. That is if that woman in front of her wasn't a demon of some kind.
"What do you want?" Faith asked.
"I wanted to find this lady" the woman said "See she took something from me and by the time I found her I find out she's dead and thing she took from me got hidden right underneath your sister slayer nose" she sighed "Do you know how annoying it is to have something that you made and then suddenly taken away from you all because you did something to piss off that woman"
"Wow how did that happen?" Faith asked sarcastically.
"I killed her sister" the woman said an evil twinkle in her eyes sparkled brightly like stars "A slayer just like you"
Faith froze, her suspicion confirmed that this woman wasn't human. Humans couldn't kill slayers and slayers suppose to protect humans. She felt her legs getting tense to run, adrenaline pumping through her blood. Tight spaces were the end of slayers, it had been proven if they were against an adversary stronger than them. If she was in the open she'd have a fighting chance against whatever the hell this woman was. Kakistos was stronger than her and she kicked his ass but that was because she had space and she grew back her backbone.
"In fact you look like her. Maybe this won't be so boring" the woman continued.
"Boring?" Faith said, mentally placing a map in her head of the prison for a quick escape.
"Yeah" the woman said.
"What you going to do? Break through the glass and grab me?" Faith said, her heartbeat getting faster as she fought to maintain control.
"That isn't such bad idea" the woman said.
Faith instantly dropped the phone and pushed the chair away from the window but at the signal of smashed window and lack of moving backwards Faith knew the woman caught her at a tremendous inhuman speed. She felt herself being hauled through the broken window in a blur and smacked against the wall that was in front of her, sliding down to the floor. Faith looked up to the woman who was now dealing with the guards and they were swatted away like flies. She groan as she tried to get up, the pain throbbed all the way through her body.
Damn this woman is stronger than B Faith thought when she got up.
Faith looked over the woman, it may have been selfish of her but the guards were going to protect even though it was in vain and to repay them for their service she was going get out there. If this bitch wanted her she wasn't going to let her have that easily. Spotting a window that happened to barless, the first one she'd seen in a year, she made a run for it.
"So what would you like to eat?" Buffy asked to find no answer.
She looked over to the bed from her kitchen area, Angelus was sleeping soundlessly on her bed. Angels rarely sleep but it could be one of those rare times.
"Angelus?" Buffy said, testing it.
She walked over to him with a little wicked smile growing on her face.
"Angelus?" Buffy said, trying again. Nope he was diffidently asleep.
Buffy smiled then using her slayer grace and stealth she straddled Angelus, pinning him on the bed between her legs. He maybe asleep but that didn't stop her being curious. She reached over and undid his shirt from top to bottom until his flesh was exposed. Every muscle shown to it's perfection, a perfection she very much liked. Elegantly she traced every muscle that begged to be kissed and licked. She had only seen his chest once and that was one very heated seen. If her phone didn't go off she would have been in a position that would make any girl jealous and she was that close too. She pulled the material further apart gently to see more only to find his hands stopping her. Angelus opened his eyes lazily and look at her up and down in a teasing way as she pout at him.
"Care to explain Ms Summers?" Angelus asked.
Buffy smiled and then swapped the stance of who was gripping who and pulled him up to meet her kiss. She liked she had control over him, that she had caused him to groan in pleasure, that a little moan from her would make him pull her closer to him. She didn't she would want it any other way, after all it was a primal feeling for a woman, they just love having the power over a powerful man because in the end they were just powerless just like them when it came to love.
"Don't need…to….explain" Buffy said between kisses.
She loved getting lost in him even it was for a little while he was like chocolate a comfort factor and ever since Riley's death and Willow's problem with Tara bringing all those old feelings she had on the gentle witch, she just wanted to indulge in him. She wasn't a bad friend or using Angelus, she just needed someone to carry her for a while, a girl could take so much and Angelus was always there.
"Huh" Angelus smirked, he pulled away from lips to her neck scraping his teeth lightly along the column of her neck before leaving a trail of kisses there "You sure?"
"Positive" Buffy moaned when he hit the right place. He always hit the right place every time.
Doyle had walked into the almost destroyed Magic Box with Willow and Oz behind him. It was a close one. Oz was so damn close to go to the other side Oz commented that he felt very floaty and out of body kind. Willow wouldn't stop saying sorry to a bit shaken Oz and kissing him every inch of his face. Love was shown in the most delicate way from Willow and Oz was the proud owner of it. Oz was lucky enough to not have a scar otherwise it would remind Willow of what she almost did to him. Doyle told Willow that she should be surrounded around people that loved her and there would be fewer accidents for him to clean up. Except he didn't say that in those words but she realised Tara would be less likely to hurt her if she had support and had some super pals that could stop her.
"What happened? I left an hour ago and now look at the place!" Doyle exclaimed.
The place looked smashed, books where scattered, magical items either broken or looked like it had been thrown at something.
"We must have had some vamps" Willow said noticing four dust piles and swords and knifes by them "Where's Giles?"
"Under there" Oz pointed to a self that had a turned on it's side.
Doyle charged over there quickly, grabbed the top of shelf and easily threw it off the unconscious Giles, letting it crash on the other side. Doyle put Giles on his back and began to check him over like a professional doctor. He had a broken arm, couple bruises on the head and a cut lip, a lucky thing if you were against some vampires.
"Is he alright?" Willow asked by their side with Oz.
"He could have got worse than this" Doyle said placing Giles in the recovery position "He's a lucky bloke"
"Why would they attack at day?" Willow asked.
"They must of figured out your patterns and decided to attack at day, when the slayer wasn't about" Doyle said now healing the watcher.
Five minutes later.
"So let me get this straight" Doyle said "You took on six vampires, dusted four before the ringleader decided ta throw stuff at ya and de other threw you over there when ya weren't lookin'" he points to shelf "resultin' you havin' a ceremonious black out and ya don't have the key that would have stopped the bloody hellgod from destroyin' you lot"
"Yes" Giles said.
"Marvellous" Doyle shouted sarcastically.
"He was trying to stop them" Willow defensively.
"I know that lass" Doyle said.
"What the hell happen?" Xander shouted when he came in to drop the snacks for Giles with Anya.
"The hellgod vamps came and took the key" Willow said very quickly "Which is a very bad thing since this key is suppose to open this box that holds an amulet that could pretty much bring on Armageddon-" but she didn't get to say anymore when Xander gave Anya the snacks and pulled Willow into a bear hug.
"I'm so glad to have you back Will" Xander said hugging her like his life depended on it.
"Glad to be back Xand" Willow said.
"What changed?" Xander asked when he finally let go of her.
"I nearly killed Oz" Willow said then added as his eyes widened "I tell you later"
"So what is this I hear about an Amulet?" Xander asked to change the subject.
"This amulet happens to destroy anything and anyone if the hellgod gets her hands on it" Giles said "Erm Anya would you know of the hellgod Glorifica?"
"Please don't tell me she's the one behind this" Anya said almost nervously.
"Well…" Giles began.
"No no no!" Any exclaimed "You cannot be serious!"
"I am bloody well serious Anya" Giles snipped.
Sighing Anya said "I don't know much about her but I know that she is really bad and really old. If she gets her amulet back you'd want to find the closest hiding spot and pray she doesn't go looking for you"
"Well I guess Buffy is lucky that she has a guardian angel protect her" Giles said.
"Why?" Xander asked.
"To activate the amulet you would need blood of the slayer" Giles explained.
"Oh crap" Willow said.
"Crap indeed" Giles said.
"No crap for Buffy, crap for Tara" Willow said pointing to Tara but no one could see her.
Tara's angry eye blared right into Willow as the poor red head began to shrink. She looked over to Oz and smile all the while being watched by Willow.
"Healed him did we, Willow?" Tara said "Couldn't do that for me could you?"
Doyle looked over to the spot but couldn't see anything, how could he not see them either? If she was a ghost he could see them because he sends souls to the better place. If it was magical being that was being invisible to all but Willow he would see them and if it was a demon he would still see them. Willow wasn't insane, he knew that so what was happening to the poor witch? Thinking of the only way to sort this out he walked over to Willow, touched her hand and looked over to were Tara was.
"HOLY SHIT!" Doyle cried out so loud the widows rattled and broke.
It wasn't the beautiful, loveable witch everyone loved and missed. It wasn't the shy blonde that the scoobies got their revenge on Adam for. It wasn't that soft kind heart that made Willow smile and Oz jealous. It wasn't a magical creature or a demon that wanted to play cruel tricks. No it wasn't her ghost at all that made Doyle want to swear colourfully for the rest of his life. It was the First.
GOT YA!
C'mon I got you didn't I? Be honest I got you big time!
Ha ha!
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