"No, no no. Cordelia you must kick higher than that. This is completely unacceptable. And when you *do* attempt the kick, stay more centered. If I was really attacking you, you_d have lost your balance and fallen by now," Giles was trying his best not to lose his temper, but Buffy was now lying on the bed, fast asleep, and Cordelia wasn_t showing much promise.
"What? You think this is easy or something?" she replied tauntingly, "*You* wanna give this a shot? Fine by me, it_s all yours," she dropped her arms to her sides in a show of frustrated defeat, " _Kick higher Cordelia_, _punch harder Cordelia_-"
"Don_t fall on you ass Cordelia," offered Xander from his seated postion next to Buffy.
She shot him a bloody glare, "Look Jeeves-"
"Giles!" the librarian interrupted in exasperation.
"Whatever," she said simply, "Are you sure that you didn_t maybe make a mistake or something? I mean, just cause I kicked *his* butt," she threw a glance at Xander, "that really isn_t saying much."
Giles stared at her for a few minutes before his blood pressure finally subsided to normal levels and he was able to respond in a rational manner, "Cordelia. I can_t prove to you that you_re the one who inherited Buffy_s powers tonight. All I can say is that I feel it_s too big a coincidence that your sudden physical outburst against Xander coincided with Buffy_s loss of energy. I really don_t see how we have any choice. There isn_t time left to question it, all we can do now is prepare for the worst. Look Cordelia," he said, his gaze softening slightly, "I realize how hard this must be for you. How scared you must be. This can_t be easy, to learn in a few hours what it took Buffy to learn in that many months. Please, we need to trust one another, Cordelia. You may be our only hope in surviving this."
Cordelia stared back at him blankly. An eternity seemed to pass as she absorbed what Giles had said.
Suddenly, much to everyone_s surprise, she let out a long, hard, bloodcurdling scream which jolted even Buffy awake. The screaming stopped as abruptly as it began and Cordelia blew furiously at a stray piece of hair in her eyes. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she returned to her attack stance.
Giving Giles a determined smile she said, "Sorry about that, let_s begin again."
"Oh..uhh..yes, of course," he replied, shaking his head in confusion.
*****Willow was in a dangerous mood. A very dangerous mood. She knew she
should probably be on the internet, hacking away at her computer, being the dutiful and loyal research assistant whom Giles always counted on...
"Aha!" she shouted to no one in particular, "victory."
Picking up the clothing she_d been seeking, she ran into the bathroom,
firmly locking the door behind her. < Let_s see...where to start? >
This was so insane, here she was, probably in life-threatening danger,
and she was playing dress-up. < Well, at least I_ll die looking hot >
she thought with a cynical smile. She paused for a moment, guiltily
considering her actions
Angel was late. He should have ripped out the page from the telephone book where he_d gotten Willow_s address. Now he was lost. *He* was lost. If it hadn_t been so important to find Willow, he might have stopped long enough to feel a bit embarassed.
< Over two hundred years and I really don_t learn much, do I? >
Quickly turning into an alley to take a short cut, he rammed head first into a relatively strong male. < Vampire...I can smell it. I was so preoccupied with finding Willow that I let my guard down. > He cursed himself silently. And this wasn_t just any vampire..this was...
"Hello Angelus."
"Spike," he breathed.
*****The Dark One simply stood at the center of the red, circular room, looking in disgust at the two sniveling vampires at his feet.
He cleared his throat, "Do you mean to tell me, that you *had* her? You had the girl *alone* in the gymnasium? You had her isolated from her friends and *bereft* of the knowledge that she had gained the powers of the Slayer, and you imbeciles LET HER GO?" he bellowed suddenly.
"But..b-but sire, the orders were to retrieve the blond haired one.. th-the original Slayer. You never said anything about the red haired one..." the smaller vampire_s voice slowly faded as the Dark One loomed in.
"Are you really that stupid? No, I mean it, this isn_t a rhetorical question, Alec, are you *really* that completely devoid of any type of sense? How did you survive this long, being so stupid? Please do respond, I_d be interested in hearing the answer to this, " he sneered.
"Sire," spoke up the larger vampire, "sire, she wasn_t exactly defenseless. Even though she didn_t realize that she had the Power, that doesn_t change the fact that she could still use it. She threw *me* against the wall, without even meaning to. She was still a threat, sire. It took us all by surprise. I was hardly in a condition to attack her again and Alec definately couldn_t have defeated her alone. It may have been wiser to flee than to fight. If she had been successful in defeating us, she would have suspected the truth. According to the information you provided us with, sire, this friend of the Slayer-Willow, is highly intelligent. She would have immediately guessed the source of her power and.."
The Dark One cut the vampire off with a slice of his hand, "I see your point Jason. Very good." He leaned forward, grabbing Alec by the collar, and staked him.
Jason flinched slightly as his friend disappeared into a pile of dust.
"That doesn_t change the fact that Alec was unacceptably stupid. Now Jason, I see that you have the greater half of the brain you shared with your counterpart. Do yourself a favor, find the original slayer, the blond, and bring her to me. If I_m correct, that alone should lure the other one back here."
Jason nodded and quickly leapt for the exit.
"Oh, and Jason," the Dark One offered, stopping him in his tracks, "if you happen to see the new slayer, the red-head, on the way to get the other one, please *do* bring her in as well. The more the merrier."
Jason simply bowed, purposefully averting his eyes at the pile of dust which had been his companion. He turned and left the room.
"Idiots..." muttered the Sire, "Someone come in and clean up this mess!"
*****He managed to reach Willow_s house after an additional 10 minutes of wandering. Cautiously looking around, he pressed the doorbell.
Inside the house, the sound of the bell reverberating through the halls sent chills through Willow. She jumped down the stairs to the front door and paused to look through the peep-hole, stake and cross in hand.
"Angel!!!" she cried out, flinging open the door, all of Xander_s warnings flying from her mind, "Is something wrong? Where_s Xander? How_s Buffy?"
Angel_s eyes widened and he hissed immediately at the sight of the cross.
"Whoops," Willow repied sheepishly, as she hid the offending sign behind her back.
There was a pause as Angel_s eyes remained wide open. They traveled very slowly from Willow_s feet up to her head and then back again. If he had had the necessity to breath in the first place, he was sure he wouldn_t be doing it right now, anyway. It took him an additional minute before he realized that his mouth was open, and he abruptly closed it.
She looked truly spectacular. Her clothing was sleek and seductive. Very simple and yet highly impressive. The dark sweater clung very favorably to her figure < Since when did Willow even *have* a figure? > he wondered in awe. < That Xander is truly stupider than I originally thought. >
Her green eyes regarded him worridly, "Uh...Angel?" she asked again, "Oh," realization dawning on her, she smiled, "you can come in Angel." No response. "Angel? I_m *inviting* you to come in," she repeated.
He contined to stare at her, completely oblivious to the fact that she was addressing him. Her dark garb set off her hair which literally seemed to blaze atop her head with an almost unholy fire. Her make-up was simple, pale greenish eye-shadow which sparkled slightly and pale pinkish lipstick. She was just so..so...he couldn_t quite place it... perfect? elegant? incredible? It wasn_t just the clothing. It was something else too. It was an aura. A brilliant aura of something.. confidence? Yes, she was simply radiating energy and confidence.
"Angel!" she said sharply raising a delicate eyebrow and narrowing her eyes.
He looked up, startled for a moment, "Uhh, yes, sorry. You need to come with us, Buffy needs your help."
Suddenly, he saw her pretty face pale as she looked past him.
"Ohmigod, Angel look out behind you!" she cried fiercely. Almost automatically, she shoved him behind her, into the house, and swung out her arm which held the stake. She leapt outside and spun around to kick the second vampire in one fluid motion.
"No!! NO Willow, wait-don_t!" shouted Angel as he barely managed to reach up and restrain the girl, her stake falling just inches away from her target_s heart.
"Spike..?" she sputtered in a confused voice as she shook off Angel_s grip, panting for air.
The second vampire looked up at her in complete surprise, barely having enough time to fully absorb the attack, "Well Angelus," he gasped, a vicious smile creeping onto his face, "I should count myself lucky that she_s only a temporary replacement. She appears to be twice as vicious as Buffy."
Willow shuddered at Spike_s appreciative stare. She turned back to Angel, "You can explain on the way, let me go get my shoes."
The red head walked back into the house, followed by her friend.
"But-" began Spike as he stood up.
"What? You think I_m inviting *you* in?" she asked coldly, spinning around and pinning him with an icy glare.
"No, I suppose not, " Spike replied, giving her a small salute as he sat back down on the steps.
"So, what is *he* doing here?" she asked once they got into the house.
"Whoever is planning on hurting Buffy made the mistake of antagonizing Spike. The vampire, the Dark One, as he_s called, *stole* Drusilla."
Willow looked up at Angel in surprise, "How in the world did he get away with that?" she asked as she pulled on a pair of low top, flat boots, having decided against the heeled ones which would have been almost impossible to manuever in.
"It certainly couldn_t have been easy," Angel sighed softly, "But he did it anyway. Evidently, he approached them both about helping to kill Buffy and whomever inherited her powers. Willow," he broke off, "that person is *you*. It_s up to you to stop all of this. We need to find Buffy and your friends before the Dark One can kill them. Murdering the current slayer, you, and the original one, Buffy, results in the escape of all the Slayer_s power. At midnight, the excess energy will be in transit, between both of you, and will have nowhere to go if you_re killed. Instead, it_ll radiate outwards and serve as a catalyst to break open Hellmouth. After midnight, however, Buffy regains her powers, and the chance to open the gate is gone. Spike and Drusilla obviously jumped at the idea of doing away with Buffy, but they wanted to do it according to their own rules. Fortunately, the Dark One_s main weakness is his greed for power. He thought that by kidnapping Drusilla, he could force Spike into submission. It backfired. Instead of going to him, Spike came to us."
"But can we trust him?" asked Willow, as she looked deeply into Angel_s eyes.
He looked away < it_s like she_s staring into my soul > he thought uncomfortably, "He_s given me his word not to cause any problems for us up until he manages to free Drusilla, but beyond that...." Angel met her gaze again.
Willow simply nodded, "Gotcha," she said with a cynical grin, "No guarantees. Well, let_s go then." She went out onto the porch and locked the front door securely behind her.< This is too weird.> she thought shaking her head as they dove out into the darkness together.
< Gosh, I hope Xander is okay. >
*****