"So what's the deal?" Gunn asked, not trying to sound too pushy.
Xander kept his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. He used his fingers to gently massage his temples. "Willow… She's gone crazy with her magic. She's floating around, sucking the life out of things…"
Over at the window, Wesley stared at the environment. No one walked the streets except for shady characters, almost promising to be evil. He closed the curtains and turned to face the rest of the group. "She must wear down soon, she's not powerful enough."
Anya sat up straight and raised her hand. Wesley looked at her confused, but then gave her a nod of approval to speak. Anya stood politely and stated, "She's one powerful Wicca. And-and when Xander said she's sucking the life out of things, he meants literally." Anya took her seat with a smile on her face, proud for knowing the answer.
Touching his lip, Spike winced in pain. He looked down at his fingers to see blood, but simply rubbed them together to rid of it. "Not to mention she's dragging her lover's body with her to drain her powers." Spike touched his lip again, but stood tall and tolerated the pain. "That's what I call Wicca love…"
Everyone glared at Spike with a touch of disgust. He gave them the same stare back, knowing he was telling the truth. They all agreed, but it only made Xander angrier.
He looked up, giving everyone the eye, tired of all the talking. "It doesn't matter! Okay? We just need to help Willow."
"What's driving her to do this? What does she want?" Angel asked with a touch of confusion. The flowing image of Buffy appeared again in Dawn's vanity's mirror. Angel got lost in her beauty, and Buffy returned the stare with a gentle smile.
Xander looked at Angel as he sees his distraction. Xander cleared his throat and muttered, "Buffy."
Shocked, Angel directed his attention towards Xander. He flashed glances between Xander and Buffy, hoping that he might have seen her too. He took another quick glance at the mirror, but Buffy was gone. He continued staring into the mirror, wishing she could come back, but terrified that she would follow his wish.
"No reflection," Spike whispered to Angel, referring to the mirror. "Still not used to seeing your beautiful face, huh?"
Loud crashes came from Dawn's closet. Pushing her way through all the bits and pieces in the closet, the Buffybot slid the closet door open and asked, "Did you call for me, Xander?" Frayed wires popped out of her head, sparking every now and then. Her stomach was slashed open, revealing her circuits.
Spike shook his head with little ease, looking downwards. "No. The real Buffy…" He brought himself to look up at her, "Not you."
The Buffybot smiled, her facial expressions never changing a bit. "But I am real. You're so silly, Spike." She took a minor break as her wires sparked like crazy. "And you look really good naked."
Swallowing hard, Angel asked angrily, "What the hell is that?"
Raising her arm again, Anya waited patiently in her seat. Angel stared at her blankly, which she took as a sign of authorization. Anya stood and answered, "It's the Buffybot. We used is to slay, so the demons wouldn't know that she's…" A little choked up, Anya's perky attitude went away. She couldn't help but feel a little less than usual, remember why exactly they needed the Buffybot.
"So this Wicca wants to kill the Buffybot?" Gunn quickly asked, not understanding everything.
Feeling responsible for Angel's sudden hit of sadness, Anya replied, "No. She--"
Once again, Xander broke out, tired of listening to everyone's mindless chitchat. He rubbed his neck with his right hand harshly. "She wants to bring Buffy back from the dead."
Wesley stepped away from the window, closer to the rest of the group. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with the bottom of his shirt. He unexpectedly felt like a Watcher again, picking up some of Giles' mannerisms in Sunnydale. "That-that's a very dangerous procedure."
Xander looked over in Wesley's direction and replied, "Hence the, 'We Need To Save Willow' campaign."
"Wait… I still don't understand." Angel stated.
Counting on her fingers, Anya sat up and said, "Willow… Wicca… Evil… Wants Buffy--"
"I get that," Angel interrupted. "I just don't understand why she called me."
Xander looked up at Angel, forgetting about his pain. As did Spike, he quickly whipped his head around to look at Angel curiously. Anya now slouched, not knowing the answers.
Wide eyes, Xander commented, "I thought you came on your own. Will called you?"
Hesitantly, Angel answered, "Yeah. She sounded weird, and I could hear screaming in the background. She said she needed my help."
Cordelia stood now, pacing from one end of the bed to the other, between Xander and Wesley. She paced back and forth three times before she came to a shocking conclusion. "This can't be good. Willow might be evil, but she's smart. She must have some kind of plan."
"And whoever said Cordelia Chase isn't smart?" Xander joked.
Making her way back down to Xander, she stopped. "Hey!" Cordy quickly backhanded Xander slightly in the stomach as she plopped herself down to sit next to him. She placed her worried head into her hands.
First chuckling, his banter with Cordelia brought him back to the old days in Sunnydale. Until a minute later, when pain swam over him. "Ah… Chya-- Injured!"
Taking her hands off of her head, Cordelia turned around to face Xander. "Oh… Yeah… Sorry?"
Holding his stomach, Xander breathed hard. "As pathetic as that was… I'll take it!" Xander gave Cordelia a grin, glad to see her again.
With a slight roll of the eyes, Wesley cleared his throat. "back to the problem at hand. Do you guys have any idea why Willow might need Angel?"
"No," Xander replied with a serious face.
Angel watched Xander, trying to think of all the possibilities. Without delay, he got distracted as Buffy's image appeared behind Xander.
Wesley watched the floor, thinking hard. He then murmured, "Maybe I can find something in resurrection spells."
Anya raised her hand again, this time not so happily. "I'll help you. There should be some books in Willow's room." She stood as she left the room with Wesley.
"So how long has this been going on?" Gunn questioned, trying to get some clues.
Xander closed his eyes tightly, trying to deliberate the right answer. "Everything's been… Different… Since Buffy…" Looking up, Xander saw Angel staring at him pained.
Still, Angel was only staring at the image of Buffy. As Xander returned his hand to the back of his neck, he swatted Buffy's image away, and brought Angel back into the conversation. "So, Willow's been like this for almost a month?"
Doubtful to continue, Xander sighed deeply. "She's been acting strange. Avoiding us, spending a lot of time in her room. The real bad started about four days ago."
Spike moved towards the window, and peeked out of the curtains. "Got all dark and veiny."
"What if it happens?" Cordelia blurted out. I'm not trying to start anything, but why is it so bad if Buffy comes back?"
Xander sighed. He calmly replied, "Other than maybe hurting Willow, I'm not sure."
Spike flashed around, closing the curtains behind him. "You know damn well what could happen. You just don't want to admit it."
Tired of listening, Xander cried, "Spike--"
"All you want is your precious Buffy back, even if it's not right," Spike stated. He then whispered, "Even if she's not right."
Waving her arms to get everyone's attention, Cordelia questioned, "What are you guys talking about?"
Staring Xander down, Spike cleared his throat. "Resurrection spells are tricky. In this process, there is chance she could come back different. Wrong."
"But having Buffy back--" Xander fought back.
Angrily, Spike yelled back, "It doesn't matter!"
Buffy's image suddenly reappeared. She stood across from Xander, between Angel standing at the doorway, and Spike standing at the window. Her expression was less than happy as she looked at the entire room. Tears filled her eyes as she looked directly at Angel. He stood tall and added, "It does. You said she could come back wrong. Could. That doesn't meant she will."
