Crawford Street Mansion, Sunnydale.
The last thing that Angel saw before feeling an invisible wall pushed him backwards into the air was Willow's eyes and hair turning a deep black. He could feel rage just coming off her as he flailed his arms before being slammed against the far wall meters away from the front door. He hit the stone wall, and then dropped to the floor while Gunn and two of his team lifted their crossbows at the former redhead who took a few steps into the foyer of the mansion, beyond which was the living room, at which end Angel was slowly getting up while groaning from the pain.
"I get it that something happened to you," said Gunn as he aimed the crossbow at Willow's chest while the other two were moving to either side of Willow, making sure they weren't in a crossfire situation, "but he's not Angelus anymore. The person who hurt you was Angelus, not Angel."
Willow just tilted her head at the dark-skinned man, and then at the other two on either side of her. She then turned back to looking at Gunn, and a smile formed on her lips.
"The three of you have one chance to leave," Willow said as she stared at Gunn, her smile vanishing. She then looked at the other two, and then back at Gunn once again. Looking over the man's shoulder, Willow formed a smile once again as she watched Angel placed one hand on the far wall to help him up to his feet. He then stood up, and looked at Willow before telling Gunn and the other two to stand down.
"Get out of here, Gunn… now!" ordered Angel as Willow took a step forward. Gunn stepped towards Willow with his crossbow aimed at Willow. Angel barked at him again, telling him and the other two to leave… that Willow had a problem with him and not with them.
"Leave," whispered Willow as she stared at Gunn with her black eyes.
"Gunn!" yelled Angel as he took a step forward away from the wall, "get out now! You need to check on the others… please."
Gunn looked over his shoulder at the ensouled vampire, and then back at Willow who was staring right back at him. The young man slowly put his weapon down, and nodded at the others to head outside. They asked Gunn if he was sure, and that made Gunn look over his shoulder at Angel again and ask if he was absolutely sure.
"Go," said Angel before Gunn turned back at Willow. He nodded his head reluctantly before rushing past Willow who followed the young man with .her eyes before turning back to Angel, who was looking back at her. Once the front door was closed behind her, Willow looked over her shoulder and mumbled a spell which magically sealed the door, a spell that only she could disperse.
"You brought me back," said Willow turning back to Angel, "at least that's what I heard."
"What I did to you was unforgivable, Willow," said Angel as he took a step forward, and stopped when Willow mentally picked up five swords; three of which were on the table among other weapons.. weapons that had been used to kill any remaining vampires that escaped from the destroyed warehouse earlier, and two more from the wall over the fireplace. Willow smiled as she mentally made the swords orbit around her while walking towards Angel, who himself was walking to his left side.
And Willow slowly followed the man, while he told her that he had spent every waking moment searching for a way to bring her back, in collaboration with Giles, "I'm sorry about everything, Willow. About what happened to you, Giles, Buffy, Xander…. I'm sorry about Oz, and…"
"You wanted to make me a hero," said Willow as one sword darted towards Angel; the man sidestepping it before ducking from it being mentally swung over his head. The sword was then mentally pulled back by the black haired young woman, the sword now orbiting around her once again. Angel slowly got up and saw the swords being a barrier, preventing him from getting to her, "and you did. You killed someone I loved and… Oh, before you say it was Dru.. you ordered it. Speaking of which, now, where's Spike and Dru? After I'm done here, I want to pay them a little visit."
"This isn't you, Willow," said Angel gently as he held up his palms, letting them face her to show that he meant no harm, "you're home, and…"
"My home is gone," said Willow softly as she mentally threw him against the wall again, and then slammed him hard onto the floor. Once he hit the floor, Willow threw two blades at him, which he managed to miss in the last moment, the blades sparking as they slashed against the stone floor. Angel rolled away to one side knowing that Willow was simply playing with him; he knew that she could have simply held him still with her abilities, and then cut off his head. Angel slowly got up to his feet as the blades orbited around Willow once again, "my parents are gone, the man I loved is gone, you took away everything I could be… my mind, my humanity… everything."
"I did it," said Angel as the dark eyed Willow stared at Angel without any expression on her face, "and it's something that I can never expect you to forgive me for. I just wanted to see you and make sure that you… you're going to be alright. I wanted to say I'm sorry… but I didn't know how to come to you. You have every right to be angry… I sent you to Hell, and…"
"Let me give you a feel of what happened to me," said Willow as she mentally grabbed Angel, and then flung him behind her to the wooden front door.. which he was slammed into with a bang, and then his feet were spread out, along with his arms out by his sides. Willow smirked as one blade darted into his hands with such force that the blade was run through the wooden door… followed by another blade through his other hand, and then through each of his feet, and the last sword went through his chest.
Angel screamed in pain as Gunn and the others, who were looking to their friends outside in the courtyard, looked back at the door only to see five bloodied blades sticking out of the door. Frowning, before cursing at himself for listening to Angel and leaving him alone with Willow, Gunn told his team to grab some of the fired arrows and crossbows.
"Come with me," he said motioning at them to follow him.
It was just then that there was a screech of tyres from the stairs that led to the parking lot. Gunn loaded his crossbow and ordered his team to wait for whoever it was before he head past the front door, and into a alley leading to the back yard. He ran past the long walls,, before making a turned, and then entered another courtyard. Gunn then ran through in the room, and then in another hallway which led to a dining room, beyond which was the living room where Willow was located, along with Angel. He crept behind a wall as he heard Angel scream, followed by the sound of flesh sizzling and burning, and then a stench wafting in the air. Gunn peeked out past the wall, and heard Willow mutter a spell while holding her hand to her side. Her palm faced upwards as a fireball the size of a penny appeared, and then she threw it at Angel who was stuck to the front door with the swords.
"I'm actually taking it easy on you, Angel," said Willow as she looked at the pained expression in his face before she walked towards the table, and saw a bag of crossbow ammunition. Smiling, she reached in and picked one arrow up just as Gunn stood up and went into the room. He fired an arrow at Willow with the crossbow, towards her left shoulder blade.
"Gunn!" yelled Angel. However, it was too late as the arrow went through Willow's shoulder blade. She fell forward, her hands against the table top as a burning sting went through her body from her shoulder. Hissing, Willow turned and glared at Gunn with her jet black eyes as he loaded another arrow into the crossbow. Angel yelled at Gunn to leave just as he brought up the crossbow again, and told her to stand down.
Willow dropped the arrow she was holding on to, and then reached behind her, wrapped her hand around the shaft of the arrow, and then pulled it out of her shoulder.. yelping out loud in the process before she mentally dislocated Gunn's shoulders. The young man screamed in pain following sickening cracks as his arms just fell downwards. Willow then mentally flung him to one side while feeling the blood flowing down the wound in her shoulder. She then turned, the bloody arrow in one hand as she approached Angel.
"Now where was I?" asked Willow.
"Willow," said Angel as he looked at the blood flowing down the front of her shoulder, "please, we need to get you to a hospital."
"The pain on my shoulder is nothing compared to what I experienced in Hell, Angel," said Willow before she stabbed him with the arrow, and then pulled it out slightly before making slow and deliberate cuts into his flesh with the arrowhead. The vampire was already bleeding profusely from the stab wounds, and Willow knew that the cuts she was making would make it hurt even more as she looked up at the pained expression on his face while he tried to keep from screaming, "they kept my soul, Angel. Did you know that the demons in Hell loved my meat, my organs, my bones as a delicacy while my soul was in my body? I had my body ripped apart, eaten alive, dipped in acid, destroyed…. Most common was when I would be shackled form the ceiling, and this horned demon would cut me up slowly. You can't imagine the pain, Angel… the pain remained after I was resurrected. And then I'd die,… and resurrect… die… and resurrect. It was a vicious cycle."
"I'm sorry, Willow," panted Angel who was trying not to doze off from the loss of blood, before Willow began cutting his arms.
"I don't know how long that went on for," said Willow as she made a gash on his left arm, from the elbow to the wrist, and more blood began to drip down onto the stone floor, "eventually, Borzan made me an offer…."
Angel then opened his eyes and looked at Willow.
"Yes, that Borzan," Willow said, "the one we killed. He said that I'll still be tortured, but he would take away the pain. He would take away the pain in exchange for me torturing humans who made deals with Borzan for their souls. So I accepted… I had dreams about Buffy, Giles, and Xander… but by this time I didn't remember who I was.. or who they were. All I knew was that they were important to me, that they could help me… but there was no help coming. Borzan took me down, showed me the way to torture someone. I didn't like it… I puked so many times. And then.. and then when it came time for me to become demon food, there was no pain. So I tortured human souls and eventually, I liked it. I liked it so much that I found ways to extend their pain without them dying. They practically begged me to die… but I wouldn't let them."
"Willow," rasped Angel as he tried to stay awake, "I…"
"You're gonna say that you're sorry?" asked Willow sarcastically while she heard Gunn's groan, and told Angel about the years she spent enjoying torturing her victims. She told Angel that her entire body would be covered in blood, before they were resurrected and Willow continued their torture, that the brand on her chest was that of Acatha's Jailer, at least one of them; signifying that she was responsible for torture.
"Someone who was supposed to be honoured, feared, and respected in Hell," Willow hissed as she stabbed Angel before reaching up and getting a grip on his lower jaw. She took the bloodied arrow and made slices close to his jugular vein and watched as blood dripped down. She then made a few more cuts that had Angel stifle a scream before the former redhead stepped back while glaring at Angel, her powers holding the swords in place so that the weakened Angel couldn't move.
Willow told Angel more about her time in hell torturing her victims, but didn't hear Buffy and the others creeping in, hearing the entire confession as she made another cut on Angel, whose eyes were now closed… his body and clothes covered in blood, "so you see, Angel. Sorry won't take any of that away. I could feel myself losing my humanity, it wasn't gone… only nearly. I could hear it calling me… my humanity. It was calling me… giving me some warmth. And then I heard about a possible escape being whispered among the other demons and jailers, and I ran… I betrayed my brand and I was caught. It was Borzan's test, and I paid for it. He placed a brand on my shoulder, the brand of a traitor, the day he caught me. And you know what? All the times I had been tortured… all the times my insides where eaten away and my body torn up? All that pain when I couldn't feel it? It returned a hundredfold.. a thousand fold. The pain took over my mind.. you cannot imagine! The Pain! I'd die screaming in pain, and I'd resurrect screaming in pain until my mind broke! Until I became an animal… I had no sense of…."
"Willow?" said Buffy as Willow stiffened, and then looked over her shoulder at the blonde Slayer, and behind her were a stunned Althanea and Tara who were teared up at the thought of what Willow had admitted, Faith, and Giles. Althanea, Faith, and Tara were staring at Willow while Giles was heard whispering 'oh dear God', and Buffy's eyes brimmed with tears. Buffy looked up at Angel hanging from the door, and then back at Willow who was staring back at her with black eyes, "please. Don't do this."
"I've already done it, Buffy," Willow said with a smile as she tilted her head, "so many years of torturing human souls… so many years that it's nothing to me now. Did you know that when I first saw you again, I imagined you on my rack screaming?"
"Willow," said Althanea holding back the sob gathering in her throat as she took a step forward, "we're asking you to stop."
Buffy looked at Willow with her eyes wide open at the candid admission from her best friend. And a chill ran up her spine.. but she pushed it away and took a step towards the former redhead. Buffy reached her hand out behind her and told everyone to stay where they were while she approached Willow. Buffy then grabbed one of Willow's hands, and then reached for the bloody hand that still held the arrow. She looked into the black eyes and placed the arrow head on her own chest.
"Buffy!" exclaimed Giles who was about to run to the Slayer, and pull her back. Faith was about to do the same thing as well, a plan had already formed in her mind, and she was about to carry it out when Althanea told the both of them to stop. Giles and Faith turned back to Althanea wiping her eyes, and were about to protest when she told them to trust Willow.
"She's angry, hurt, I can feel her anguish," whispered Tara who also wiped a tear away while looking at Willow's aura, "how did she hide this much rage, it's over whelming… like it's falling on me like a thick blanket."
"She won't harm Buffy," said Althanea as she looked at Giles and Faith before telling Tara that she was right, she could feel the rage and anguish from Willow… emotions that seemed to have physically manifested itself in causing her hair and eyes to turn black. While Althanea asked the others to trust Willow not hurting Buffy, the Slayer placed the bloodied arrow head on her chest, right above her heart, and told Willow to push it in.
"I know I should have killed Angelus when I had the chance, Willow," whispered Buffy as a tear fell down her face when she looked into Willow's eyes, "so here's your chance for revenge if it makes you happy. If it gets rid of your anger… kill me, or torture me… do what you want, Willow. Ultimately all of this is my fault."
"I…" said Willow as her hand started to shake. She imagined stabbing the arrow into Buffy's heart, she imagined Buffy screaming in pain from the cuts she wanted to slash into the Slayer's skin. Willow knew that there was a part that wanted to end it all… but there was another part stopping her. Another part screaming at her to stop… that what happened already happened, that killing or torturing Buffy would create no sense of peace for her.
"Don't be angry at Giles and the others, Will," whispered Buffy, "kill me, torture me, but not them."
"I…" whispered Willow as her body trembled while tears gathered in her eyes as she remembered their first meeting in Sunnydale high. Willow's hair turned back white, and her eyes went back to their natural green as more tears fell down her cheeks.
"I can never forgive Angel for what happened," whispered Buffy as she took a step forward while Willow put her hand over her eyes and sobbed, "and I can never forgive myself. But he helped get you back, and despite how angry I got at him…. I am grateful for that. I am grateful for knowing you… for being my best friend."
Buffy then wrapped her arms around Willow as she started to sob heavily while the doors were unsealed, Willow unable to concentrate on the magic that kept it shut. Faith and Giles then ran past Willow and Buffy, and pulled the swords out of Angel, who then fell onto the floor while Tara ran out the front door and told Wesley to get some blood packs. She then turned back to see Giles and Faith dragging Angel away to one side before turning to Buffy sniffing as she held on tight to Willow, who was screaming in anguish with Althanea placed her hand on the former redhead's back. Tara could tell from the shock that remained in Althanea's aura that she didn't know everything about Willow's time in hell.
'Now that we do, we can begin healing,' thought Tara to herself as Willow hugged Althanea while Buffy wiped her eyes.
With the injured and Willow being attended to, a figure in white robes was standing in one side of the room watching everything taking place around her. She was just outside this dimension, making sure that no one could sense her presence. The figure with the long brown hair and brown eyes stared at Willow, and then at Tara, Buffy, and the others including Xander who had just rushed in from the outside where he was helping tend to the injured, and back to Willow again before whispering to herself.
"Your true healing can now begin, Willow," whispered the woman, "I sense the Matrix trying to hide within the Earth. It is trembling in fear at the Beast that is searching for it. I have seen what is yet to come, I have seen the Monks adding the Matrix to my essence, and I have seen myself being sent to the Slayer. Despite that, despite knowing that the monks will change reality to fit their narrative… know that you are my champion even if I do not remember it. Know that when it comes time, you will be there to save me and the world. You are my champion… my Willow."
TBC.