Stolen Flame

As she felt the heavy fog slowly lifting from her head, she struggled

to open her eyes. Moving a little, she opened them as much as she could and looked around. She was lying on something cold and hard, she hurt all over, especially at her neck and her head was pounding. She was trying desperately to remember what had happened and where she was. Just as the horrifying memories of what had occurred came flooding back to her, she also noticed one other thing; There appeared to be a man, a very handsome man, hovering over her, looking down with deep concern in his eyes.

She jumped into a sitting position and immediately wished she hadn't as she felt the pain in her head intensify. She winced and reach up, holding her head, whimpering a little. She looked up at the man, fear radiating from her. He had deep, soulful eyes and smiled slightly at her.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, I won't bite." She stared at him in silence.

"Are you all right?" He still looked at her with concern.

She shook her head no, trying to hold back her tears. She nervously tucked a few loose strands of her long red hair behind her ear and looked around, trying to decipher exactly where she was. It appeared to be a large cage. Just where the cage was, she had no idea and other than what looked to be several instruments of torture hanging on the wall, she saw little else.

She also saw no sign of Xander, which worried her immensely. She just prayed that he was all right. Trying not to think of that just then, she turned her attention back to the strange man next to her.

"You're not...a....a...."

"Vampire?"

She nodded.

"Actually, I am, but I won't hurt you."

She gave him a look clearly stating that she did not believe him and quickly edged as far away from him as her shackles would allow.

"No, no, really...I'm not evil...I have a soul."

She looked at him doubtfully. "I've never heard of a vampire with a soul."

"No, I'm the only one I know of." He knew it sounded horribly unconvincing.

"Why should I believe you?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, doesn't look to me like you have much choice," he watched her as her eyes darted around the cage again and then her entire body seemed to slump down in defeat.

"No, I-I guess not." Again she felt close to tears. "Where are we?"

"The Master's lair." He said simply. She nodded. He was a little surprised that she knew who that was.

"That's what I was afraid of. Wh-why are you here?"

"I was supposed to meet someone here, stop The Master from rising, but she never showed..."

"The Slayer?"

He was shocked to hear that name. "Yes. How did you...?"

"I know she was supposed to come. Her watcher, we've been helping him fight..." She looked down, again, feeling the tears start to trickle down her cheeks.

"The Master kept me here, wanted me to suffer, to see what I wasn't able to stop."

"How long have I been here?" She asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"A few hours."

"Did they bring in anyone else with me?" She was desperate to know what had happened to Xander. He shook his head no.

"Oh." She had that defeated look again. She seemed so small and fragile to him. So shy and timid. He was amazed that she, this little

girl, had been helping to fight The Master. He was amazed that she had lasted this long. He knew what would happen to her, and wanted desperately to some how protect her, to keep her from being hurt, from the torture and death he knew was imminent and he inwardly raged at the knowledge that he would be able to do nothing. He couldn't even protect himself.

Several days had passed. The entire basement had been unusually quiet. Other than a few minions bringing down food, water and blood, and only just enough to keep the prisoners alive, no one had come down at all. Angel was extremely relieved that so far the little redhead had not been hurt further. They had spent many hours talking and though she seemed timid and quiet at first, he was quickly realizing what an amazing young woman she really was. She was strong and surprisingly powerful and amazingly smart. Apparently she was at the top of her class and a wiz on the computer and had been nothing more than a shy little bookworm. That was, of course, until The Master rose. From that point on, nothing was ever the same. She was

forever changed. One of her two best friends had been killed just before The Master rose. She and Xander barely escaped. After that, they had begun helping Giles, the librarian, fight the demons that were rapidly taking over the night. They learned of the Slayer and of demons and spent the nights fighting, trying to save the few that they could...until they were caught.

She was still quiet. She was still just a bookworm. She still felt weak and vulnerable. Especially now. It had been days, and she had

heard nothing of Xander. She prayed that he was just being held somewhere else, and was still alive, but with each passing day, that

hope was quickly dieing. She had started trusting the vampire in the cage with her. She believe what he told her about his soul. After

all, he hadn't tried to bite her, even once, despite the minimal amount of blood being given to him. He had told her that he would do

what he could to protect her, though they both knew that right now that was very little. They were both still shackled, locked in a cage and being held in a basement with no escape in sight. He was weak and she was weaker. She knew she would probably never see daylight again.

There was no day or night down there. Willow had lost complete track of time. She was hungry and weak and spent a lot of time sleeping. Nightmares plagued her mind while she slept and she often found herself snuggling close to Angel, both for the little bit of warmth she could get from his dead body and for the security and protection she felt in his arms. He couldn't help but enjoy the warmth and innocent radiating from the girl he held, and prayed that the powers-that-be would find a way for the little redhead to be saved.

One night, about a week after she had arrived, they were awakened by a loud group of vampires gathering in the basement, next to the cage. A couple of them were standing along the side, rattling the bars, and Willow huddled as close as she could get to Angel, as the door was opened and two more vamps appeared at the entrance. The two blocking the entrance suddenly parted and another figure walked in towards the prisoners.

"Hey, Willow," he said casually, smiling slightly.

"Oh my god! Xander!" Willow jumped up and tried in vain to make her

way to him. She made it half way across the cage, before feeling herself being pulled back by the chains and falling to her knees. Angel was not moving from the far corner, trying to understand what was happening.

Xander stopped in front of her and squatted down a little as she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Oh god! Xander, I thought you were dead! I'm so glad you're alive and you're ok!"

After a few moments, he let go of her and stood back up, resting his hand on her head, running his fingers lightly through her hair.

"Xander? What's going on? What's..."

"I am ok Wills. I'm better than ok," he said, suddenly giving her a sickeningly evil grin before morphing into his demon face and

grabbing a fist full of hair, yanking her head back to look further up at him. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with realization and

terror. "Not so much alive anymore though."

He suddenly shoved her back on to the hard ground and snickered as she scrambled back into Angel's arms.

"No, Xander, please no..." She was crying now, and begging him not to do what she could see he clearly intended to. Angel was holding her tightly in his arms, not sure how he could protect her from what was about to come.

Xander smiled and snapped his fingers, and without further warning, the two vampires that had been standing at the entrance advanced towards Angel and Willow. As one grabbed Willow and flung her away from him, the other let his leg swing out, quickly catching Angel in the ribs, causing him to double over in pain. Xander moved to where the girl had been thrown, as the two stronger vampires easily restrained Angel, despite his best efforts to break free. His demon howled as he saw Xander reach down, again grabbing a handful of hair, and yanking the redhead back to her knees.

"No, Xander, please don't do this," she sobbed, tears spilling from her eyes, her voice shaking. "You were my best friend, Xander,

please..."

"Come on Willow, it isn't that bad. You'll be strong and powerful. No one will walk all over you again or call you names. And afterwards, Willow, we can be together, forever, like we should be."

"No, Xander, please..." She desperately tried to plead, but he completely ignored her and yanked her head to the side before she

felt sharp fangs pierce her flesh. She gripped his arm, trying frantically to loosen his hold on her, as she felt him draining her.

All too quickly she felt darkness surrounding her, and just before she let her eyes finally close, she glanced over at Angel, and saw

the pain and guilt in his eyes as he mouthed the words "I'm sorry."

After he felt her lose consciousness, Xander dropped her body onto the cold ground and looked over at Angel. "Hey there Soulboy. Enjoy the show?" Angel just growled at him menacingly.

"Well, I'm ganna let you have a little choice. I think you and my Wills here have gotten pretty close over the last week. So I'm just

ganna leave her here with you. She's just about dead now. Didn't want to leave you with any hopes that she might get to live. I mean, come on, like THAT was ever ganna happen. BUT, I'm ganna leave it up to you. Either you can let her die, or you can turn her. But just remember now, if you leave her to die, then that was YOUR choice, and it will be on YOUR souly little conscious that you let sweet, young Willow die. Her death will be because of YOU." He smiled evilly at him, before turning and walking out, quickly followed by the other vampires.

Angel moved over to Willow's now still body, listening carefully to the faint heartbeat. He knew Xander was right, she was dyeing. He cursed that bastard for leaving him with this choice. He knew in the end what it would be. He was a weak, selfish man. He always had been, and he had already decided that although deep down he knew that this was an unfair decision to make, he would turn her to keep her with him.

He knew that if he drank a little bit from her, it would be enough for him to break the chains and hopefully get them out. Quickly, he grabbed her and bit above where Xander's marks were and drank greedily. After a moment he stopped himself and shifted her in his arms. Moving one of his wrists up, he bit into his own arm and tilted her head back, letting the blood slide down her throat. He gave her as much as he could, wanting to ensure that she would be strong.

Finally, he let her go and grabbed the chains, breaking them apart easily enough. Standing up, he moved over to the door and kicked it open, before scooping her into his arms and running as fast as he could out into the night.

Giles was standing in the library, alone, thinking about the small group of white hats that were left. He had seen so much death over

the last few months, but Xander and Willow had struck him especially hard. They had become almost like his own children to him, and their loss was strongly felt. Suddenly the doors burst open and a man rushed in carrying something in his arms. Immediately he saw that it was actually a vampire, in full demon mode, carrying a lifeless body with him. Grabbing a cross he held it out in front of him.

"Get back, demon! Leave here!"

"No! I can't!" Angel growled back. It was at that moment that Giles saw that it was Willow that he was carrying. Grabbing a nearby stake, he took a step towards Angel.

"You bastard. You'll die for this!"

"No! Listen. You have to listen to me. I didn't do this. I brought her here for you to help her."

"What?"

Angel shifted back into his human face and laid the girl down on a table.

"I don't have time to explain everything now. We don't have too long before she will wake. She's been turned, but I know of a curse...to restore the soul. I want to perform it, now, but I need a few things."

"A curse? What are you talking about? Who exactly are you?"

"Yes, a curse," Angel sighed in annoyance at the many questions. "It was used on me years ago...I was cursed with a soul, and...."

"Are you telling me that you have...that you are a vampire with a soul?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

"And, supposing that I believe all this, which I'm certainly not saying that I do, what would you need to perform this spell?"

"An orb of thesula." He looked doubtfully at the watcher, whose eyes widened at the name of the orb.

"Well, as a matter of fact I do have one of those. I've been using it as a paper weight. I'll be right back with it. But you ARE going to have to explain a lot of things to me afterwards."

"Fine, but first we do this," Angel replied as Giles quickly went to fetch the orb.

*****

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. It was dark and she was having difficulties figuring out where she was or what had happened. She felt different somehow but couldn't quite place why. Suddenly a figure moved next to her and she jumped a little.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Just noticed that you were waking up." Angel said quietly, running a hand through her hair.

"What happened? I-I remember Xander, and..." Tears filled her eyes as she began to remember all that had happened. "Did I...am I..."

He nodded. "I turned you after Xander drank from you." He looked at her, his eyes filled with guilt, waiting for her reaction.

"So...am I...I'm evil?"

"No, we escaped, and I restored your soul, with the help of the watcher before you woke up."

"So, I'm a vampire, with a soul...like you?" She looked up at him, still very dazed.

He nodded. "I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

She sat there for a moment, in silence, taking in what he had told her. She was a vampire. A demon, but she had a soul. It was too much to process all at once.

"Where are we now?"

"The watcher's house. I think we are safe here, for now."

"Oh." Again she became quiet and deep in thought. Her head was pounding and her stomach felt funny.

"Angel?" She spoke in a very quiet, timid voice, almost like a little girl. "I don't feel good. Everything feels funny."

"It will for a little while, Willow. And you need to feed." As soon as she heard him say the word feed, she began to panic. The thought of drinking blood horrified and sickened her.

She shook her head frantically. "No, I-I can't. I can't do that."

"You have to Willow," he spoke firmly, knowing that right now he had to take control and be a dominating figure. "You have to feed. I know it sounds horrible, but once you do it, you'll see, it won't be so bad."

"No, no I can't!" She tried to move away from him but he held her firmly in his grasp and pulled her back up against him. He spoke

lowly in her ear.

"Willow, I am your sire, and you will do as I tell you. Now I'm sorry to have to force you, but if I must, I must. You WILL feed."

She began to struggle in his arms but he held her tight and sighing at the guilt at having to force her to do this, he reach his arm up

and bit into his wrist before holding it up to her mouth.

"Drink Willow."

"No..."

"Drink!" Still she kept fighting him, turning her head away and desperately trying to ignore the strong pull the scent of the blood

was having on her. Finally, knowing he needed to establish his dominance and make her see that it was all right to feed from him, he leaned in and bit roughly into her neck. She squealed in surprise and pain but then began to moan as the pain mixed with pleasure. He then again held his wrist up to her mouth, as he still drank from her, and suddenly she gripped his arm tightly and latched on, sucking greedily from the bite mark he had made. She drank deeply until finally he pulled her away with a growl. She tried to reach out for his wrist, wanting more. But his growls stopped her and she suddenly realized what she had done. As the realization of it all washed over her, she began to sob and collapsed in his arms, horrified and ashamed of what she now

was.

"What do you plan to do, now?" They watcher questioned them, as they sat in the library.

"I'm not sure. We could leave, go to Europe maybe..."

"Angel, we can't leave. We have to stay and help fight, defeat the Master. We have to."

"Willow, you're strong, but you're still just a baby. You can't think that you can defeat him."

"Well, no...but maybe, together, we could...Angel, I have to try." He looked into her eyes and saw fierce determination.

*****

"Tell me you have news for me...good news."

"There hasn't been any sign of them yet. They seem to have disappeared. Probably left town."

"No, they're near...still in Sunnydale, I can feel it." The Master looked at his newest childe and smiled at him slightly, running a

pale, clawed hand up and down his cheek.

"He turned her, as I knew he would. She should not be wanting to stay with him, so long as he has that soul. It is only a matter of time before she comes to us, and then you will have your mate and I will get Angelus back, to sit at my side, as he should have from the beginning."

Xander nodded and grinned.

*****

He walked quietly into the room, not wishing to disturb her. Without looking up from the book she was reading she called out to him.

"Morning sleepy head." He smiled sheepishly at the little redhead.

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Too many thoughts jumbled in my head. Had to get up and do something." He had been aware the minute she had left the bed. Normally he woke to her huddled up against his cold body, cowering from the incessant nightmares, but today she had slipped out of bed early and wandered down into the watchers library. He walked up behind her and gently caressed the back of her neck, causing the younger vampire to purr softly to herself.

"What are you reading?" He glanced over her shoulder at the old book in her lap. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning her head back into his hand. She let out a sigh and opened her eyes, looking up and

back at him.

"Just curious about the restoration spell you performed for me."

"Curious? About what?" He sat down next to her and she leaned into his arms and snuggled up against his chest.

"Just wanted to see the particulars, how it worked, what was done." She tried to sound as light and casual as possible.

"Thinking about performing the spell on someone?" He knew already what she was thinking.

"Well, I just thought, maybe...if we gave all the vampires back th-their souls...then...pouf! No more trouble. World is saved, no more evil bad guys, and..." She stopped when she saw the look on his face. She had grown to know that look. She had said something wrong.

"What?"

"Willow. It's a powerful, dangerous spell to begin with. Even if you could perform it at all, I wouldn't want you to try. Besides that,

you would have to do one vampire at a time, and you wouldn't get

through more than maybe five before half of the vampire population would be out to have you staked. It may sound good in theory, but it can't be done. End of story."

She looked up at him and pouted a little.

"Well, what about if I just did one vampire then?"

"Willow, I told you, I don't want you to try and perform it at all. It's too dangerous. I don't want you hurt."

"But Angel..."

"Willow." He growled and she knew she should back off, but just couldn't. She needed to try.

"Angel, couldn't we just try...just Xander? If we could give Xander back his soul..." Her voice broke off and she looked down, tears forming in her eyes.

His face softened as he looked at her. He knew how much she missed her best friend. Gently taking her chin in his hand, he tilted her head up, to meet her eyes with his own.

"Willow, I know how much you miss him. I just don't like the idea of you performing such a powerful spell."

"But, with you and Giles there...please, Angel, just let me try. Please. We are going to end up going up against the Master any ways. At least this way, we may have Xander on our side."

Angel let out a long sigh. They had discussed the plan to attack the Master before and he had strongly forbade that she would have

anything to do with it. Of course, she had eventually worn him down and convinced him that they needed her there to help fight. He knew he was falling in love with her and the thoughts of loosing her now tore at him, but he had seen her resolve and knew she would never back down when she was fighting for something this important. This conversation, he knew would go no differently, and so, in the end, he decided to compromise.

"Okay, Willow, here's the deal. Tomorrow night, when we attack, as we are going in, you may, from HERE in this apartment, attempt to perform the spell on Xander. That means you stay here, you don't leave this apartment, you don't try to fight. Understand?"

She slowly shook her head while considering his proposal. Finally she smiled at him. "Deal." She wrapped her arms tightly around the dark vampire and snuggled her face into his neck before whispering, "Thank you, Angel," and kissing him softly on the cheek. She blushed a little and buried her face back in his neck.

*****

"Are you sure that you heard them correctly?" The Master questioned his minion.

"Yes Sir. The redhead has a soul. And she is planning to give one to Xander as well."

"Well," he turned to Xander and smiled at the boy, "I guess you know what to do, don't you?" Xander nodded and headed for the door.

*****

"Willow..." He spoke in a soft, hushed voice. "I'm very serious when I say that I want you to be very, very careful. You mean everything to me. If something happened to you, I don't know..."

"Angel, I know. It's all right. I'll be careful, I promise." She leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. "Now go."

Angel quickly headed off with the others, while Willow began to prepare herself to try the spell. She sat and placed the orb in front of her and leaned over to look at the book again, when she suddenly jumped up, hearing a knock at the

door.

Angel, she thought. "Did you forget something? Come in." She called out, assuming it was Angel.

The door swung open and she jumped back, her eyes wide in fright as she saw who was standing there.

"Hey, Wills, thanks for the invite." Xander stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. "So, whacha doin?"

As they neared the factory where they knew they would find the Master, Angel stopped suddenly and grabbed Giles.

"What? What is it?" Giles looked at the vampire in concern.

"Something....something isn't right. Willow. Something is wrong with Willow, I can feel it."

"Are you sure? I mean if you..." Giles was cut off as half a dozen vampires leapt out in front of the group, followed by at least as

many coming up behind them.

"It's a trap. They knew, somehow, that we were coming." Angel looked around, seeing that they were surrounded and fell immediately into a fighting stance, ready to take on as many as he could. Quickly the group found themselves battling the vampires, dust flying as they fought stakes to teeth, trying to limit the numbers as much as they

could.

As Angel staked one vamp, and turned quickly, grabbing another coming up behind him, breaking his neck, he yelled over to Giles, "We need to get out of here, back to Willow. She's in danger!"

"Yes, well I think we are in a bit of danger ourselves," he yelled back, as a large male vamp grabbed him around the neck from behind.

Angel was to him in a flash, his stake finding the vampires heart easily, dust settling around the librarian.

"As soon as you can retreat, go to her and help her," Giles whispered to Angel, before they both continued to fight.

*****

Trying desperately not to panic, she looked around for an escape. He started to slowly walk towards her, and she felt herself back up against the wall, no where to go. He was smiling evilly at her.

"Xa-Xander...uh...hey, um, what are you doin here?" She was trying to think of a way to stall him, distract him.

"Just thought I'd come by, say hi to my bestest pal." He stepped up to her in one quick motion, and she tensed against the wall, nearly nose to nose with him. He casually ran a hand up and down her arm and looked at her with a sideways glance. "I missed ya Wills."

"Xander," she felt her resolve begin to crumble, looking into the eyes of her best friend, "I miss you too....and...but wait....."

Suddenly she remembered what monster inhabited this body and tried to shove him away. "You don't care about me! You tried to kill me!"

Suddenly he morphed into his demon face and grabbed her arms tightly, smashing her hard up against the wall. "That's where you're wrong Willow," he snarled at her, growling deep in his throat. "I do care about you. You are supposed to be my mate. And instead, you're with HIM." He smashed her against the wall again and she began to shake her head back and forth in denial.

"No, no...not with him....not....WITH him at all, Xander really!"

"Don't lie to me Willow! I can smell him on you. He's all over you. And you, with that SOUL...how can you stand it?"

"Wh-what?" She looked at him in confusion.

"Come on Wills, it isn't natural. You're a demon, a killer. But instead of being wild and free, like I am, you let yourself be

leashed. You let yourself live with the self-loathing and guilt...it's pathetic." She shook her head again, as if trying to block out what he was saying.

"Me? I'm free," he continued to taunt her, still holding her roughly by the arms. "I'm free to hunt, to feed, to kill...to be who I truly

am. You've never been anything but what everyone else wants you to be. And now, even in death, you're still what _HE_ wants you to be."

He slammed her again extra hard against the wall and let go, watching her slump to the ground, before turning and looking at the table with the spell's ingredients.

"So, what's all this? Doin a little spell?"

"N-no...no spell," she shifted on the floor and winced at the pain.

"Again with the lying Wills," he looked over his shoulder at her. "You really shouldn't do it, you're not very good at all. Never

were. Now, what, I wonder, is this?"

She was him pick up the Orb of Thesula and toss it into the air a few times, like a base ball.

"No-nothing...it's just..."

"Looks like some orby thingy...hear these are good in restoration spells."

He turned around and looked her straight in the eye. "Did you ever hear that?"

Before she had a chance to answer, he pulled his arm back and then pitched it forward, grinning broadly as the orb smashed on the wall, next to her head. Her eyes teared up as she looked at it's shattered remains.

"Xander....that was your..."

"Cure? My cure Wills? Come ON! This was my cure. Death. For the first time ever, I'm free, and I'm strong and I'm powerful. People fear me, cower before me. I'm not just uncool, unpopular Xander Harris anymore. I'm something powerful to fear, to worship."

"They don't worship you....maybe yes to the fear, but worship? You're nothing more than a demon."

He pounced on her, crouching down and grabbing her, lifting her up by her already sore arms and holding her in front of him. "I am strong and poweful!" He yelled at her, his yellow eyes glaring at her fearful face. "You could be too, Willow. And you will be. You're meant to be MY MATE. Not to be with soulboy. And you will be strong and evil and just as much of a malicious killer as I am, once you realize that THIS time, good isn't going to win. You're playing for the loosing team right now, Wills. But I'll be waiting for you, when you figure out where you really belong.."

Tilting her head to the side, he grasped her tightly and bit harshly into her. She could feel him draining her and all too quickly, he

stopped and threw her violently against a wall, her head hitting hard before she slumped limply to the floor.

*****

"Willow, Willow...come on...you need to wake up....come on Willow."

She heard the voice. So familiar, so warm. She wanted to open her eyes and see the face she knew went with that voice, but the darkness was so comforting and she was able to just float along, no pain, no struggling. Finally, though, she gave in and slowly began to open her eyes.

She saw Angel, smiling down at her, worry in his eyes, stroking her face gently.

"Willow," he whispered, "I'm so sorry..."

"No, Angel," he tried to speak, her voice hoarse and barely audible. "I...I'm the one to apologize. Xander, he came here and..."

"Shhh, I know. I know. But I'm here now, and you're safe with me."

She tried to shift, to sit up a bit on the couch she was on, and winced in pain. He looked down at her with sorrowful eyes. "It hurts," she whispered.

"You lost a lot of blood. You'll heal fast if you feed from me," he told her gently, before leaning down a bit and pulling her up a

little towards him.

"What? Angel, I..." He interrupted her.

"Drink from me, Willow. Now. Do as I tell you, drink from me."

She knew that tone too well by now, and quickly obeyed, tilting her head, her game face slipping forward, and biting quickly into his neck, drinking deeply. He let her drink for as long as he could. Just before he started to feel light headed he pulled back and she looked up at him with greatful eyes. She slipped back into her human face after a few moments and smiled slightly at him.

"Thank you," she whispered, and then frowned.

"Willow? What is it?" He looked at her with concern.

"I just hate this. What I am, what I've become. He's right, I am a monster, same as him, nothing more...not something to feel love or to be loved, just a demon, a killer..."

"Willow, don't you DARE ever say that again. You are the most wonderful creature I have ever known. You are kind and loving and caring. You have a demon in you, because of me and my selfishness, but you are not just a demon, you have a soul and that makes you both loving and very lovable. Almost losing you today...I...."

She interrupted him by brushing her lips very softly against his. He was surprised at first, though pleasantly so. His want and need for the redhead had been growing infinitely each day, but he hadn't wanted to push her or make her uncomfortable, showing her how he felt. But now, it seemed that she was letting him know that she needed, wanted him as well. As she was about to pull back, grinning slyly at him, he tightened his hold on her and pulled her in for a stronger, deeper kiss. She felt his tongue part her lips and sweep in against her own. Soon they were locked in a deep, passionate kiss, her nailed running down his back as he held her tightly to him.

Finally breaking the kiss, he heard her whimper a little and saw her pout, before he swept her up in his arms and carried her back to the bedroom they were sharing. In a flash, their clothes were scattered across the floor, and he had her writhing beneath him on the bed. She purred like a cat and pulled him in as close as she could get him to her. She ran her tongue along the side of his neck as he was leaning down, placing soft kisses along her neck and chest.

Panting, she whispered in a horse voice, "Angel, please...I need you..please..."

He stopped for a moment and looked up at her, grinning slyly. "Tell me what it is you want, little girl."

She whimpered and bucked against his body. He bent down and ran his tongue very slightly over each hardened nipple, eliciting a grown from vampire beneath him. Stopping again, he looked down at her, waiting to hear her answer.

"Angel, please," she pleaded, wriggling beneath him. He pinned her body under him so that she could not move. She looked up at him, scowling in frustration.

"Tell me what you want Willow," he spoke in a low growl.

Not willing to wait any longer, she whispered, "I want you in me Angel, please. I need you in me."

That was all he needed to hear, and immediately, he plunged himself into her. She moaned deeply and gripped his shoulders as he slammed into her, over and over. She cried out and begged for more, until she finally felt herself about to fall over the edge. Just as her release spilled over, she felt him fill her with his own, biting into her neck and drinking deeply. After a few moments, he stopped the gentle lapping at the bite marks on her neck and rolled off of her, taking her with him in his arms. She settled against his chest, purring softly. For the first time since she had been turned, she felt at ease with who, what she was and content with having both the demon and the soul.

"I love you Angel," she murmured, just before falling asleep.

*****

She woke with a start, several hours later and shot up in bed, gripping her chest. The pain was unbelievable. It felt as though she

was being ripped apart from the inside out. She gasped and moved out of the bed and out into the hallway before falling to the floor. She couldn't even speak, the pain was so bad, and suddenly she realized what was happening. Tears rolled down her face and she tried to yell for Angel, though it came out as little more than a whisper, and he was sound asleep in the next room.

"No, no please, not my soul...please...." She whispered as she felt it ripped from her, her head dropping to the floor. She stilled for a moment before slowly getting up and looking around the dark hallway. As she glanced around she began to realize what had happened and grinned evilly at the realization that the soul was gone.

*****

When Angel had awoke later that day, Willow was no where to be found. Several hours later, he had received a phone call at the watchers house from her, asking her to meet him near the warehouse, telling him she had found something there that he had to see.

He was infuriated that she had gone there by herself, putting herself in that much danger, and immediately took off for the factory.

When he arrived there, he saw no sight of Willow and frowned at the unsettling quiet and stillness in the air. Something was definitely not right.

Before he had a chance to further ponder it, several vampires ambushed him, knocking him out before he even knew what had happened. Shaking the fog from his head, Angel tried to get up and look around, only to find that he was once again in that same cage in The Master's lair, shackled to the wall. There seemed to be no one around, and he had no idea how long he had been there for.

Suddenly he felt as though it had all been a dream, from the moment he had met the red head there and onwards had been nothing more than a wishful dream. He looked up suddenly, hearing footsteps coming down the stairs and around the corner. He peered into the dark, trying to make out the blackened figure and gasped as the cage door swung open and he looked up at the person swinging the keys casually around one finger.

"Hey there, soul boy, thought I might introduce you to someone," Xander said, as he stepped to the side. Another figure came around the corner, and Angel choked back a sob as he saw her step in front of him.

"Bored now. Puppy, wanna play?"

End