*~*~*~*
"Well, the vision can't come true until we figure out what this demon is," Wesley said.
"I think we should go out and bloody kill it! *Now*," Spike growled, his game face on. It had been on about twenty minutes, as soon as Wesley said they needed to do research before leaving.
"It can't hurt Willow if we have her here in our sights," Wesley sighed, pulling off his glasses. He glanced around with a frown. He put his glasses back on, the frown deepening. "Where is Willow?"
Spike spun around with a growl. "Red," he said, the growl becoming dangerous. His eyes settled on Xander, who paled. "Where is she?"
Xander shrugged. "I don't know! I've been reading!"
"Angel and Xand are gone as well," Wesley frowned. "Why wouldn't they tell anyone they were leaving?"
Cordelia glanced up from her computer, where her and Gunn were researching the demon. "They did. They told me. You two were too busy fighting. Xander was wrapped up in his book. Angel wanted to get your attention, Spike, but you were too busy yelling at Wes." She shrugged. "Anyway, it's a Malcafecian Demon, and when it touches you, you have horrid nightmares, pretty much until you die, or the demon is destroyed. They went to go destroy it."
Spike's growl turned to a roar. "She left *without* me?" he howled.
"They *tried* to get your attention, Spike. You were too busy yelling." She pulled out a piece of paper. "Here, here's where they are."
Spike snatched the paper away from her. "Thanks, chit. Wesley, come on." He grabbed the Watcher's arm as hard as he could without the chip going off. He hauled him out of the office.
*~*~*~*
"WILLOW!" Angel cried, anger running through his veins.
The demon had Willow, holding her against his scaly purple body. He was running his long black fingernails down her tear-streaked cheek. She cried out, closing her eyes. "Make it stop!" she sobbed, her entire resolve coming apart. All she could see in her head were her friends dying, over and over. She clawed at his arms, trying to get him to release her, but it wasn't working. He was much too strong for her.
There was a dangerous howl, and then a blonde streak slammed into the side of the demon. Willow was thrown away from him, landing on her knees. She cried out, pain lacing through her body. Wesley ran to the girl, picking her up. She looked at him, eyes glassy. "Wesley," she whispered, almost looking past him. "Make the pain stop. . .Make the deaths stop, please. . ." She was begging for release.
Wesley held her close, watching as the three vampires descended on the demon, ripping it to shreds for hurting Willow. As soon as the last breath was inhaled by the demon, and his body slumped in death, Willow blinked. The repeated scenes of gore and death vanished. She wiggled a bit in Wesley's arms, then looked up at him. "Put me down," she whispered.
He set her down. She wiped at her cheeks, then ran to Spike, throwing her arms around him. "Are you ok, pet?" he asked.
"Yea," she whispered. "Just tired. That took a lot of energy out of me."
"I don't doubt it," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "I'm glad you are ok, Red."
She smiled up at him.
Angel's cell phone went off. He pulled it out of his jacket and answered, "Hello?"
"Deadboy, Xander. Don't kill the demon yet."
Angel stopped dead in his tracks, causing Wesley to run into him. "What?" Angel asked, suddenly worried.
Spike and Willow turned around, frowning. "What is it, Peaches?" Spike asked.
"You have to kill the demon with some special dagger, the Dagger of Omethis, or something. You have one, Gunn recognized it. Anyway, if you don't, if you kill it another way, and he's touched someone, then the person will continue to have nightmares, at night, you know. And the one that killed the demon will be pulled into the nightmare too. Just hold it off till Gunn gets there. You have to stab it through the heart. Make sure Willow doesn't get touched."
"Holy, shit," Angel whispered. "That's not a good thing at all."
*~*~*~*
Willow paced back and forth. "I'm not too keen on the idea of having nightmares. And you know that means all three of you will be in them. So all four of us will have them." She sighed, looking from Angel to Xand to Spike.
Spike wrapped his arms around her. "Maybe they won't be that bad. You've seen some pretty scary stuff in your life," he whispered in her ear.
"I don't know, Spike. I don't do too well with nightmares."
"Don't worry," Xand said, his protective nature of this frail human coming out. "We won't hurt you. I promise."
She smiled up at him, then yawned. "Come on, I'm tired. Let's go to bed."
Spike wrapped his arm around her. "Yea, pet, you've had a long draining night." He smiled sadly at Angel, then led his witch upstairs to the huge bedroom they had decided to share.
Angel watched the two leave, then turned to Xand. "Tonight isn't going to be good."
"What makes you say that?" Xand asked.
"I can already feel it," Angel replied smoothly. "I can feel the trouble my demon wants to cause for her. This isn't a good thing. We are going to have to fix it."
Xand clapped Angel's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go to bed now. Nothing you can do at this hour, and besides. Your little Xander is down there all alone, waiting for us."
Angel allowed himself to smile. He followed Xand downstairs to spend the first night in his bedroom with his two new pets.
*~*~*~*
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