"Give me the keys," a cold voice hissed at her.

  Claudia felt hysterical laughter building up inside her. A vampire was car
  jacking her? She shakily handed the keys to him. He pushed her inside to
  the passenger side and got in after her. She sat quietly, daring just one
  glance at the driver. He was breathtakingly handsome. As he pulled away
  from Willow's house, Claudia turned to look back. Lights still shone from
  the house and she could see Willow and Xander sitting in the front room.
  {God let them be okay. And while you're at it, I could probably use some
  help too.}

  Claudia's eyes widened in surprise as she realized the car was pulling into
  the spot in front of her hotel room. {Okay, so I've been abducted by a
  polite vampire who's going to let me get my things first. This is odd.}
  The car stopped and both got out. The vampire unlocked the room door and
  stood aside and allowed Claudia to enter first. It took her a moment to
  realize that he hadn't followed her in and was still standing just outside
  the door. {Definitely odd.} Curiosity got the better of her and she heard
  herself invite the demon into her room. {Okay, that's it. I get the award
  for stupid move of the night.}

  He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He strode over to
  the table and sat down wearily. He looked over at Claudia.

  "Well?" she asked. {Could this get any stranger?}

  "Why are you here?"

  "Me?! What about you? And who the hell are you anyway?" Claudia knew
  that getting upset with a demon probably wasn't the smartest thing to do,
  but was confused and tired and she wanted answers.

  He smiled. "Angel. And you are?" He replied conversationally, a smirk on
  his face.

  "Oh, so you're Angel. Well, I'm Claudia. Nice to meet you. Wasn't there
  an easier way to introduce yourself? I mean abducting someone seems a
  little extreme." Claudia had relaxed considerably when she learned that
  this was Angel, the vampire that Willow had told her about. Still, she was
  wary from the way he had brought her here.

  "I need to know why you're here. I need to know what you know and you're
  not telling them. And I need to know if you're going to try and hurt any
  of them. Because if you do, I'm going to kill you."

  "What? Why would I hurt any of them?" Claudia was really confused at this
  point.

  Angel looked at her closely trying to determine whether or not her
  confusion was genuine. "You know about the curse. The Vessel. I'm not
  going to let anything happen to Buffy or her friends. So I want to know
  what you're doing." His voice was calm and quiet, but Claudia could hear
  the dangerous undercurrent that it held.

  "Why would I…" her voice trailed off as understanding dawned. She looked
  at Angel wildly, hoping he would say something to contradict the
  conclusions she was coming to. He said nothing; merely sat and waited for
  her to answer his questions. He was sure now that she hadn't known of her
  fate. He sighed, not knowing how he could offer any advice to the young
  woman before him. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at him.
  Her eyes shone brightly with unshed tears.

  "I'm the Vessel?" her voice was barely above a whisper.

  "Yes."

  "How? Why? I don't…" she looked down at her hands. Struggling to keep
  herself together, she rose and walked over to the door. "Let's go talk to
  Rupert. He'll know what to do." Claudia began to reach for the doorknob
  but the sight of her shaking hand stilled her motion. She looked back at
  Angel. The tears that had only been threatening before now began to roll
  silently down her cheeks.

  As Angel watched her grapple with her emotions, he began to feel sympathy
  for her. He rose and went to her, enveloping her in his arms. As if the
  physical contact was a signal that it was okay to let go, Claudia's silent
  tears gave way to gut wrenching sobs. She clung to Angel, his arms the
  only thing keeping her from falling to the floor. Angel simply let her cry
  as he attempted to utter soothing words. He began to realize that she was
  repeating the same thing over and over as she cried.

  "I came here to help him. He'll hate me now."

  Having overheard her conversation with Willow, Angel knew that she was
  talking about Giles. He knew from experience that letting down someone you
  loved was a terrible thing to go through. And he felt a kinship for this
  woman. Any pain she caused as the Vessel would not be under Claudia's
  control. Rather it would be the spirit acting through her body, and the
  part of her that was Claudia would be powerless to stop it. Angel knew all
  about that. He held her until the tears stopped and then guided her over
  to the bed. They sat together; Claudia still huddled in Angel's embrace.
  Finally, Claudia pulled away from him and looked up.

  "Do you know how to stop it?" she asked without any real hope in her voice.
  Angel shook his head sadly. "Okay, well then I guess I need to let them
  know, so that they can stop me." Her voice wavered and tears threatened
  again, but she angrily brushed them away.

  Angel took her hand. "It's not you that will try and hurt them. It's the
  power that will possess you. You can't fight it. You can't stop it. But
  it's not you. Hold onto that knowledge, and don't let guilt for anything
  you may do destroy you. Tomorrow go to the rest of them and tell them
  what's going on. They'll help you. And give this to Giles," Angel handed
  her an old leather bound manuscript. "This is the most complete version of
  the curse that I could find. I know it's better than anything the Watcher
  has so this should be helpful. I'll contact you if I find anything else."

  Angel moved to leave and Claudia walked him to the door. As he left he
  placed a small kiss on her cheek. "I know what you have to go through.
  I'll try to help you. But know that if it comes to a choice between
  killing you and saving Buffy…"

  "You'll do what you should," Claudia interrupted. "I know. And I want you
  to stop me. Please. Don't let me hurt any of them. Don't let me hurt him."

  Angel smiled grimly. "I promise." With that he turned and fled into the
  night. Claudia closed her door and moved back to the bed. She felt the
  tears surface again, and cried herself to sleep. Neither had seen the car
  parked across the street from the motel, or the man who had been watching
  them.

  **********************

  Xander had returned from the kitchen with a container of ice cream and two
  spoons. He settled down on the couch next to Willow, silently handing her
  a spoon. Willow accepted it and just watched Xander as he began to eat.
  Not knowing how to approach any conversation, she reached over and took a
  spoonful of ice cream. After several minutes of this Willow set her spoon
  down and turned towards Xander.

  "Okay, what's up?"

  Xander looked at her innocently. "Mrrphmmb"

  "Nothing? Then why did you lie to Claudia about staying over here? What's
  going on?" Xander looked up sharply at the tone in her voice and instantly
  recognized the 'resolve face.' He sighed. {You got yourself into this.}

  "I just wanted… I mean… well, you and I haven't really been spending that
  much time together and I just wanted to spend the night with you." His
  eyes widened when he realized how that sounded. "No that's not what I
  mean, I meant I just wanted to sleep… wait no, that's not what I mean
  either…" his voice trailed off as his embarrassment grew. Willow took in
  his red face and decided to take pity on him.

  "I understand what you mean Xander. I just don't understand why you had to
  be so secretive about it. Claudia wouldn't have thought there was anything
  wrong with that."

  "I guess it's just that I didn't know that I was going to do that until the
  words were coming out of my mouth. It was like all of a sudden I had this
  feeling that if I left, I'd never see you again." He set the ice cream on
  the table in front of them and then turned back to Willow. Taking her hand
  he pulled her towards him until he was lying back on the couch with Willow
  wrapped in his arms, her head tucked beneath his chin. She closed her
  eyes, listening to the steady beat of his heart. {It feels like it's right
  in tune with mine.} They remained that way for several minutes before
  Xander spoke again. "Wills, I'm a big idiot. I never saw what was in
  front of me the whole time. The most perfect girl in the world, and I
  couldn't even see her."

  Willow pulled away and sat up. She couldn't believe her ears. {I swear to
  God, if he's talking about Cordelia I'll kill him.} "What are you talking
  about Xander?"

  Xander heard the wary tone in her voice and sat up. Looking deep into her
  eyes, he spoke the words that she had all but given up on ever hearing.
  "Willow, I love you. I… I guess I always have. It just took me so long to
  realize, but when I did, Wills, it was like I could feel everything click
  into place. My whole life suddenly made sense."

  She said nothing, just stared at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
  Xander looked down dejectedly.

  "I'm sorry Will. I thought that… well I guess you don't feel…" Willow
  placed a silencing finger on his lips.

  "Shhhh," she said as she moved her hand away. She leaned towards him and
  placed a feather light kiss on his lips. "I still feel Xander. I still
  feel everything. I've never stopped loving you Xander…" her voice trailed
  off as Xander brought his arms around her and touched his mouth to hers.
  The kiss was deep and passionate, tender and loving. It spoke of all the
  things that neither of the two participants had ever been able to clearly
  define but had always felt. They pulled apart and gazed into each other's
  eyes for a long moment.

  "I love you Willow Rosenberg."

  "And I love you Xander Harris."

  Xander pulled Willow down on the couch so she was lying in front of him.
  Both were content and in the silence of the night, they closed their eyes
  and fell asleep in each other's arms.

Back To The Labyrinth