Angel and Willow flew gleefully through the night. They had both
fed,
Willow with a passion Angel had only caught glimpses of in her
human
form. It was exhilerating to both of them. He took her back
to his
ocean house, sure Buffy wouldn't find them there. Willow went
out to
the beach and stared up at the stars. With her new eyes, they
were even
more beautiful. <The look on her face was priceless!> she
thought,
thinking of Buffy. <Let's see..who could I kill of "the gang"?
Giles?
Then they'd have to rely on Buffy only, and she's an idiot,
so...hmm,
maybe Xander or Cordelia? Nahh, waaayyyy too easy...> She couldn't
go
after Oz, she still loved him too much, and she was smart enough
to know
she couldn't face the slayer...at least not yet. <So, Giles
it is.>
Decision made, she sat down on the beach to absorb the waves,
sand, and
stars.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"She's a WHAT?!" Xander exploded. It was the first reaction he's
had
to anything all day. "This never would've happened if you would've
killed him." he said to Buffy.
"Do you think I don't know that?!" she yelled, advancing towards
him.
Giles came out of his office.
"Stop it!" he said sharply. "Now is NOT the time to get at each
other's
throats. What we need is a plan. Now I have found something
in one of
these-"
"Can we change her back?" Cordelia interrupted.
"Maybe." he said.
"How?" Xander and Buffy said in unison.
"There is an ancient ritual that hints at "Death to Life." It's
un-clear, but it seems to involve draining her blood and replacing
it
with new, human blood, as well as the reciting of the, uh, magic
words."
he explained.
"Could it kill her?" Xander asked, terrified.
"Well, technically, she's...already dead, but yes." he said.
"First,
we need to find a way to capture her."
"She'll come after one of us." Buffy said.
"Most likely yes, but we need to figure out who."
"You." Xander said to Giles. Everyone looked at him. "She won't
go
after Buffy, she's too smart for that. There'd be no point in
going
after me or Cordelia. Too easy. And she's in love with Oz. Plus,
if
she kills you, all of our sources of information will be gone."
he
recited. He of all people knew how her mind worked. He'd had
access to
it for long enough.
"Ok. We'll set her up here." Buffy said.
"Here?" Cordelia asked.
"This is where she'd look first. That, and she can't get into
his
apartment." she added. "Come on, let's go. She'll be here tonight."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was sun-down on Sunday night. Willow woke as soon as it was
safe.
She'd always been an early riser...She'd woken up that first
evening-was
that only yesterday?-with terror at being the very thing she'd
been
fighting for two years. Once she thought about it, she discovered
she...well, she liked it. It was exciting and different, and
she had
power. Oh, she had power. It was incredible, like nothing she
could
even put into words, to know that when someone looked at you,
they saw
death. And to know that she had cheated death. She never wanted
to go
back. Ever. Feeling a presence behind her, she spoke up.
"Are we going hunting?" she asked him.
"Yeah. I thought we'd head up the coast and try out a new town,
I
heard-" Angel said.
"No." she said. "We're going to Sunnydale."
Slightly surprised, he said "Who put you in charge?"
"I did." she replied and walked out the door. Knowing she would
walk
if she had to, he followed her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The two arrived in Sunnydale about two hours after the sun had
gone
down. Angel went to visit Spike and Dru at their new home, and
Willow
headed to Sunnydale High, in search of her prey. He was exactly
where
she'd hoped he would be. <He needs to get a life.> she thought,
and
almost laughed at the irony of it. He was at the table, surrounded
by
books. She quietly advanced on him, and was about to reach out
and grab
him by the hair of his head when several movements around the
cavernous
library made her stop and look around the stacks. Up on the
main area,
Buffy stood with a cross-bow aimed directly at Willow's heart.
Willow
turned to run, and was greeted by a serious Cordelia and a heartbroken
Xander, each sporting a stake. <They won't be able to kill
me if I have
my "Willow the Human" face on...> she thought frantically and
changed
back.
"Hi guys." she said. Xander felt his heart break a little more
at the
sound of her voice. Silently he asked Willow, *his* Willow,
to forgive
him for what he had to do.
Within seconds, Willow was surrounded. Buffy hit her *hard* on
the head
with a cringe, and the world darkened yet again.