As Willow pulled Xander's body to hers, she forced his head to one side,
  exposing his neck. Slowly she bent over him. As she did so Willow whispered

  into his ear, "Play dead!"

  Xander didn't comprehend Willow's words at that moment, and as soon as he
  felt her fangs pierce his throat he stiffened and struggled instinctively.
  But when he didn't feel her sucking his blood, he hoped beyond hope he
  understood what her whispered words meant.

  < Play dead? Well, here goes nothing. > Making his body go passive, Xander
  began to slump over and then collapsed at Willow's feet.

  Soon he heard Willow say loudly, "I'll take his body up. I have a slayer to
  trap."

  Xander felt himself being picked up, but kept himself very limp and
  boneless. It was easy to do because he almost ready to pass out with relief
  anyway as he realized that Willow was carrying him out of there.

  They went through a maze of tunnels. After what seemed like a very long
  time, Xander guessed that they were safe but he daren't open his eyes to
  check and Willow wasn't taking any chances. She had not only gotten them
  out of the tunnels but far from the exit into the dawning sunlight before
  she finally put him down.

  "Xander?"

  Xander opened his eyes cautiously and found himself looking up into
  Willow's face. Her eyes were looking worriedly down on him. She didn't say
  anything else, but she didn't have to. The mask she had worn for the
  Anointed One's benefit had fallen away and Xander recognized the same soul
  he had always known…

  His best friend.

  His heart welled up with unadulterated joy and he immediately clutched her
  to him. "God Willow, it's really you. I've missed you so much!"

  "Oh me too, Xander. You don't know how much!" Willow hugged him back
  fiercely. "Are you alright though? I didn't hurt you did I? You had me
  worried. You play dead really convincingly." She pulled away fretting over
  him.

  "ME! Convincing?!?!" He rubbed his neck absently. "Look whose talking. I
  really thought that you had-had, well, become one of the bad guys."

  "I'm so sorry about that Xander. I just didn't know how else to get us both
  out of there alive. I just played along letting him think I had my demon
  back," she trailed off hesitantly.

  Willow had taken an enormous chance, but seeing Xander in such danger,
  she
  had had to take it. In the moment of indecision before she agreed to the
  Binding the words of the prophesy that Brother Lugo had read to her what
  seemed so long ago echoed in her mind < 'Vanquish the demon lest thy soul
  succumb and be destroyed by the evil of thy sire.' >

  She was sure that it was this very situation was what the prophesy had been
  warning her about. With desperate faith that the Binding Ritual wouldn't
  work, she had decided to go ahead with it. And she had been right. It
  hadn't worked.

  With no demon to awake, she had been in complete control the whole time.
  That had only been one part of it though. She had had to fool Colin as
  well. And she'd done it by taking her rage and hate for him and directing
  those feelings toward maintaining an act. Yet Willow felt self-conscious
  about having played her role to the hilt. It didn't sit comfortably with
  her that she had been able to take on the persona of her demon so
  effortlessly. Its presence within her for so many months had left more of a
  mark than she might have wished.

  "You did what you had to do," Xander reassured her tenderly. Overwhelmed
  by
  truly having her with him again, he pulled Willow once more into a hug.
  "You have no idea how much I've needed to see you again. Ever since you
  left I've kicked myself for not telling you how I feel about you. After you
  left sometimes the only thing that kept me going was your letter and
  knowing that you loved me despite the fact that I took you for granted."
  Xander pulled back a little and laid his forehead against hers while still
  holding onto her. "It nearly killed me to think that you might not know how
  much I care about you and how much I need your friendship, how much I'll
  always need it. I do love you, Wills. You know that right?"

  "I know Xander." Willow's eyes were damp as she answered him. "I do."

  They both sat there for a moment basking in the loving renewal of their
  friendship. The events of the last year had left an indelible mark on both
  of them. There were changes they had not yet had time to explore in each
  other, but they knew their friendship had not faded. Instead it endured
  all, and tested, it was stronger and deeper than ever.

  Xander, horrified at a sudden thought, asked her, "We had heard from Angel
  that you had left Rome about a month ago, you-you haven't been here with
  the Anointed One that whole time have you?"

  Willow flinched, a hollow ache pervading her body at the very mention of
  Angel.

  "No," she replied in a small voice. "I was taken last night. They found me
  in Ireland just after Angel did." Willow had to swallow hard before being
  able to get out the next part. "They killed Angel."

  Xander heard the heartbreak in her voice. "I'm so sorry Wills."

  "Yes," she whispered in a husky voice. "Me too."

  "I wanted you back, but I only wish it had been under better circumstances."

  Pushing the pain back into a compartment within her heart to be dealt with
  at a later time, Willow turned to the crisis at hand. "You know I was lying
  about Buffy. If she's already heard you've been taken, she'll be going on a
  rampage. Giles won't be able to keep her from coming. We have to warn them

  about Colin's trap."

  "They'd be at the library. I just hope they haven't left yet," Xander
  prayed fervently.

  *~*~*~*~*

  Buffy, Angel and Giles silently made their way down through the tunnels.
  Angel's experience guided them unerringly. Suddenly, Angel held up his hand

  signaling them to halt as they came up to where the tunnel diverged into
  two directions.

  Angel pointed to one of the tunnels, "This is the way to the main cavern. I
  found Willow there when the Anointed One first took her. She was
  practically unguarded. I don't think the Anointed One will make the same
  mistake. He might have her and Xander secreted away in one of the side
  chambers, which are this way." He pointed in the other direction.

  "Fine, we'll split up," Buffy decided. "You take the other chambers since
  you know the tunnels better than we do. Giles and I will go to the main
  cavern."

  Angel nodded and headed off, leaving Buffy and Giles to continue on.

  By the time they reached their destination, the only sounds were of their
  own footsteps and breathing. It was eerily quiet. Buffy motioned Giles to
  wait. Peaking around from the entrance, she saw that the main cavern was
  empty. Torches flickered all around and lit the large cave area with a
  menacing light.

  Buffy shivered. The last time she had been down here. She had died. The
  only reason she was even here now was that she had been found by Angel
  and
  resurrected by Xander. Involuntarily the fear rose like bile in her throat.
  She took a deep breath, praying < Please let Xander and Willow be alright! >

  Buffy and Giles made their way tentatively down to the floor of the cavern.
  They surveyed the area closely. But it was obvious neither Willow nor
  Xander were being held here.

  Buffy, knowing there would be a trap had been acutely aware of everything
  around her. And now alarm bells were going off in her brain. < We haven't
  seen any vamps. There should have been some guards, something so far. > "I

  don't like this Giles," she said aloud.

  "No, nor do I." Giles agreed.

  "Oh, but I do!" a voice rang out.

  Colin stepped out of the shadows from a secret entrance and mocked them,
  "It looks like the party has come to us after all." Behind him emerged
  dozens of vampires.

  Backing off slowly, Buffy and Giles found that more vampires appeared
  closing off their exit and surrounding them. They had been prepared for
  this, but knowing it was a trap and dealing with it were two separate things.

  They both fought valiantly against the odds. Even without a slayer's
  skills, Giles managed to kill a couple of vampires. And Buffy, kicking and
  punching in seemingly all directions, destroyed the first wave of vamps
  that came at her. Yet there was no way they could fight the sheer number
  of vampires that were present. Giles was soon overpowered.

  Seeing that they didn't have a chance, Buffy tried to get off one last shot
  with her cross-bow. She aimed directly at the Anointed One. If this was
  going to be a suicide mission then she wanted to at least take out their
  leader. But the other vampires reacted immediately in defense of him,
  knocking the bow out of her hands. They swiftly converged on her, and
  having subdued her, they brought both Buffy and a battered Giles before the
  Anointed One.

  "Don't try anything stupid Slayer." Colin warned as he carefully watched
  Buffy approach him.

  "Stupid? Listening to anything *you* say, now that would be stupid," Buffy
  spat out.

  "I'm merely warning you that if you killed me, in that instant you'd also
  be killing your friend Willow for she and I are now linked. And you
  wouldn't want anything to happen to her would you?"

  Appalled understanding swept through Giles. "The Binding ritual, you've
  performed it already?"

  "Ah so you've figured it out. Impressive. I heard you were intelligent. For
  a Watcher. And in case your blond hair isn't out of a bottle," Colin
  insulted Buffy, "let me explain. If I should inconceivably ever die, Willow
  is but a step behind me on the path to hell. She is mine. Body and soul."

  *~*~*~*~*

  When Willow and Xander arrived at the library there was no trace of Buffy
  or Giles. Xander made phone calls to both of their homes in the desperate
  hope that they were other than where Xander and Willow both feared they
  were. Neither were home.

  Xander cried aloud in frustrated anxiety. "We must have missed them. Buffy
  and Giles might have taken another route down to the caverns. We have to go

  after them." He was already turning for the library exit.

  "Wait. I have to find something." Willow had quickly read through the
  translation of the prophesy that Giles had written out. Then she began
  looking for something else. Something very specific. She was rummaging
  through piles of books, hastily discarding them to the side when they
  weren't what she was looking for.

  "Willow we don't have time to do research! They could be walking into the
  trap right now!" Xander said urgently.

  "We'll never catch up to them in time. Colin probably even has them
  already. But he won't hurt them or do anything until I get there. He wants
  to sacrifice Buffy, not kill her. He still thinks I'm on his side,
  remember? We need to take advantage of that and figure out how we'll rescue

  them, because we won't be able to take out all his followers. But if I…"
  Willow's voice trailed off as she snatched up a text that lay in the pile
  of books Giles had not yet gone through. She scanned the text finding the
  passage she hoped for.

  "Here it is!" she said excitedly. Reading it carefully, Willow began to frown.

  "What is it?" Xander asked.

  She didn't answer him right away. Willow read for a few more seconds and
  then finally put the book down. She tried to keep her expression a
  deliberate blank as she merely told him, "It's what I need to stop the
  Anointed One once and for all."

  Not liking the look on her face, he demanded, "Willow what are you going to
  do?"

  She hesitated, "I'll tell you when we get there."

  He looked as if he wanted to say something further, but instead Xander
  nodded.

  Relieved that he didn't press her, Willow led him back to the entrance of
  the passageways which they had so recently escaped. But once there, she
  stopped him. This was as far as she was letting him go.

  "So what's the plan?" Xander turned to ask her.

  Steeling herself, Willow said, "Please forgive me." And with that she drew
  back her fist and cold-cocked him.

  Willow dragged him a bit aways from the entrance. Guilt was etched onto her
  face. Although it was the safest spot she could think of, she hated to
  leave him here like this. Yet she couldn't allow him to come with her,
  because what she had to do, he could have no part.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered to Xander's inert form, taking one last look at
  his face before squaring her shoulders and going down the passageways that
  would lead her to her destiny.

  The moment Colin had announced his plans for the eclipse, some inner part
  of Willow recognized that the events surrounding the eclipse were a part of
  her fate. There was no thought in her now to avoid it, for if she tried to
  fight it, her friends would most likely die. The man she loved was dead,
  and if her friends died too, what good would her eternal life be when there
  would be no one she loved left to share it with?

  It was time to meet destiny. Alone.

  As she boldly entered the main cavern, Willow constructed a carefully blank
  façade that would hopefully serve her purposes. Quickly she assessed the
  situation which was worse than she had thought. There were enough vampires

  assembled to wipe out the entire town of Sunnydale. And on the far side of
  the cavern, Buffy and Giles were being held captive. At least they were
  alive.

  Seeing her sauntering in, the Anointed One rebuked her sharply, "You're
  here FINALLY!"

  Buffy and Giles' attention turned toward her at his words, both of them
  visibly blanched.

  "Willow? My god….!" Buffy croaked out.

  Colin cut her off, "Whatever! I don't have time for reunions, explanations
  or good-byes. You'll just have to die without all that."

  Willow turned to her friends. "Buffy, Giles," she greeted them in an
  off-hand manner that showed none of her inner longings to throw her arms
  around them and sweep them away from all this. Willow threw a look at Colin
  that told him he should let her handle this her way. "Tell everyone to step
  back from the circle. Far back," she ordered.

  Colin nodded and made it so. The vampires all gathered into the corners of
  the cavern, far from the center which had an outlined circle that marked
  the edges of the Hellmouth. Colin too withdrew, placing Giles near his
  side, exactly where Buffy could see him to act as a kind of warning or
  deterrent. So only Willow, Buffy, the two vampires holding Buffy remained
  in the center and as Willow took ahold of Buffy herself, she dismissed even
  those two.

  Buffy began to try and break free when Willow pulled her over to the inner
  part of the circle, but Willow held onto Buffy with enough strength to
  subdue her but not hurt her.

  Willow whispered fiercely, "Please don't fight this Buffy."

  "You're kidding me right?" Buffy replied bitterly, still squirming slightly
  within the iron like band of Willow's grasp.

  "I can't explain right now. There's no time. Xander's alright. I got him
  out of here and I'll get you and Giles out too. I promise." Willow spoke
  close to Buffy's ear, her words were conveyed with a fierce sincerity that
  gave Buffy pause.

  "Willow, I don't understand," Buffy begged for some sort of an explanation.
  She so much wanted to believe Willow.

  Solemn and intense, Willow stared straight into Buffy's eyes and said
  quietly, "Look at me. I am ME and if you ever loved me or called me friend,
  trust me now. Help me end this."

  What Buffy saw in the depths of Willow's eyes shook her. Her feelings
  warred with her rational voice that said that this was all a trick. But she
  couldn't dismiss the genuine throb in Willow's voice nor the frank
  sincerity in her whole demeanor. If this was truly Willow, Buffy wouldn't
  have hesitated to do anything that she asked of her.

  < But how am I supposed to know for sure this is Willow? > Buffy asked
  herself, her mind whirl with doubts. Then it struck Buffy that only
  Willow's gentle soul would be so concerned that she believe her. Willow
  didn't have to ask. At that moment she had the power to do as she pleased.
  A demon would have taken what it wanted without a second thought. < This
  has to really be Willow. > Maybe it didn't make much sense, maybe she was
  seeing and believing what she wanted but a sudden calm pervaded Buffy's
  spirit as trust welled inside her. In a single word she related that trust
  to Willow.

  "How?"

  "I need some of your blood."

  Buffy closed her eyes and silently offered her neck.

  Intense.

  It was the only word that Willow could use to describe the feeling as she
  drank blood from a human being for the first time in her life. A feeling of
  a tremendous high ran through Willow as the intoxicating power of Buffy's
  blood surged through her.
  Another vampire would never have been able to pull away from the addicting
  flow of Buffy's blood, but Willow didn't have a demon to push her over the
  edge into mindless feeding. She stopped when she had taken all she safely
  could.

  Automatically checking to assured herself that Buffy was alright, Willow
  laid her friend's unconscious body at the edge of the encircled Hellmouth.

  Then Willow began the Rite of the Eclipse.