TITLE:  A Long Week (1/1)
AUTHOR:  Tienco (tienco@msn.com)
COUPLE:  Willow/Spike, in a 'round about way.  Mentions (sorta, an a screwy
AU type way) W/X
RATING:  R
DISTRIBUTION:  My site!!  www.oocities.org/tienco_21 and various lists.
Ask if you want it, I'll let you have it.  Oh, Jinni, Kylia, and Jai can
always have it. . .if I've given you permission for something else, you are
welcome to this.
DISCLAIMER:  All belongs to Joss Whedon.  I want Xander though.  And Spike,
and Angelus.  Perhaps Willow and Faith can come play too.
FEEDBACK:  Of *course*.  Makes me write more.
SPOILERS:  Not really, that I can think of.
SUMMARY:  Whoo boy!  Willow and Xander have to stop. . .a really bad enemy
from killing Buffy. . .
NOTES:  Ok, this is so AU it's not even funny.  I wrote it a hellova long
time ago (like, on paper, you guys. . .), like probably a year ago, and
finally got around to putting it on the 'puter.  So anyway, Angel and Co.
live in Sunnydale, for this fic.  And he and Spike get along, and Spike
helps the scooby gang.  It would take place. . .probably at the beginning of
the fourth season.  So like, everything you know about cannon Buffy?  It's
not really in this fic.  *smirk*
DEDICATION:  To MP, who liked this story so long ago, and to Jinni, who told
me she wanted it typed out so she could read it.

**Sorry this is so long, I didn't want anyone to get confused if I broke it
up.  *Plus* I hope you don't get confused.  *smirk*  It's a strange story,
but coolie.  :)**


~*~


"We should have told them, you bloody wanker."

Angel turned, growling at his childe.  "Don't you think I know that?" he
asked, running his hands through his hair.

The two vampires sat there in Angel's home, shifting uncomfortably.  The
blonde finally spoke up.  "Word is that they will be here in a couple of
days."  He glanced down, picking at his red shirt.

"Damn," Angel swore.  "Come on, we've got to tell them."

Spike sighed unnecessarily.  "I almost staked her, the first night I saw
her.  It had been so long since I'd seen her - I saw red, and knew her
scent. . .I almost staked her."

"I know," Angel said softly.  "We really should have told them before this."
He stood up, a frown marring his features.  "Come on."

The two vampires drove in silence to Giles' apartment.  They wearily made
their way to the door.  Angel glanced at Spike before knocking.

Willow opened the door, smiling up at her two favorite undead friends.  "Hey
guys!  Come on in!"  She moved to the side, allowing them to walk in.

They both moved to the couch, and sat, identical looks of brooding on their
faces.

"Oh, come on!" Willow exclaimed playfully.  "You are both brooding now!"
She nudged Spike.  "Don't let tall, dark and broody here get to you."

Spike smiled at her.  "Red, I love you, you know this, don't you?"

"I. . .I. . ."  She shut her mouth, red quickly spreading over her cheeks.
"I. . ."

He put a finger over her lips.  "Don't say a bloody thing, pet.  No response
is needed.  I just wanted you to know."

Willow gulped, then turned away from them to face the rest of the group.
"Ok," she said softly, trying to make her blush go away.  "We are all here.
Angel and Spike, you called the Scooby Gang meeting.  What's up?" she asked,
sitting on the floor and looking up at them.

Spike took an unnecessary deep breath.  He turned to his Sire.  "Peaches?"

"In a couple of days," Angel started, his voice sounding dark, "we will be
getting visitors of the most despicable kind.  They are heartless cruel
demons - vampires.  They are childer of mine."  He glanced away, not wanting
to continue the story.  Spike put his hand on Angel's shoulder, urging him
to continue.  "A few days after that, Willow and Xander go back in time to
stop them.  There are. . .circumstances to which they attempt the traveling
spell.  The Slayer gets killed."

Everyone in the room gasped.  "How do you know this?" Buffy whispered.

"You'll find out," Spike growled angrily.

"Who. . .who are these two visitors?  These vampires?" Xander whispered,
worried about his friend's life.

"You and Willow," Angel replied softly.

~*~

"Let me get this straight," Cordelia said, shifting slightly, trying to make
sense of everything.  "Buffy dies at the hands of two vampires - who will we
say are Willow and Xander, for all intents and purposes.  Now, Wills here is
so grief stricken, she and Xander go back in time."

Buffy chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the carpet.  Her voice was soft
when she spoke.  "Now, they try to save me by going back in time.  They went
to knock some sense into Angelus and Spike," the Slayer continued.

"And instead of knocking your asses over," Xander added, "Angelus turns both
of us into vamps."

"Who are coming to town to kill Buffy," Giles said, leaning forward.

"You catch on quick," Spike nodded.  "I'll stake her as soon as I see her.
She made me do crazy things.  Even for my standards."

Angel chuckled slightly, remembering all the crazy things his William did
for Willow.

"You hated her?" Buffy asked, looking up at the blonde vampire.

"I loved her with all my undead heart," Spike said, his icy blue eyes
meeting the hazel ones of the Slayer.

Willow looked up at him, understanding why he said what he said to her
earlier.  He turned, catching her eye.  She smiled softly.  The blonde felt
himself smiling back.  He growled softly after a moment and shook his head.
He crossed his arms and sat back, brooding.

"She was before Dru," Angel whispered.  "Willow and Xander - inseparable.
Even after being killed 150 years ago, they are still best friends to this
day.  Xander, you used to crack us up."  He looked up at the ceiling,
smiling at memories past.  "We'd be feasting, and you'd be joking, just like
always."  He looked back down, staring at a spot in the wall, past everyone
sitting there in front of him.  "When I started tormenting Dru, Willow said,
'Me or her'.  You see whom I chose.  Willow gave Xander the choice to stay,
but he didn't.  He wanted to be with her, at her side."

"I was glad," Spike said.  "As much as I liked the wanker, looking at him
made me think of Red.  I think that's why I sheltered Dru so much, so she'd
stay with me forever.  It killed me when Red left. . .I wanted to stake her.
. .and still will if given the chance.  She broke my heart more than Dru
ever bloody did."

Angel reached over and patted his childe's back.

"How do they kill me?" Buffy asked, her voice tiny.

"I don't know," Angel whispered.  "We caught them off guard, and carried
them to our lair.  She cried, begged for us to not kill them, mumbled about
how it would destroy the fabric of time.  And then, right before I drained
her, she looked at Xander and promised him they'd be together for eternity.
We were going to let him be her first kill, but something made us turn him
too.  They wanted to be together."

Spike stood up and started pacing.  "Once they were vampires, and we were
back from their first kill, she began her fascinating story.  Of course, she
wouldn't admit how they killed the Slayer, nor did she tell us about
Drusilla, or Peaches losing his soul."  He went to the window and looked
out, peering into the darkness, wishing that she were there so he could get
the upcoming battle over with.

Willow chewed on that information.  "She didn't want you to change the
future," she whispered.  "If she told you about the soul, or any of that
stuff, then you could have stopped it, or changed it.  I. . .I would have
done the same thing.  Well, I guess I did."

"You never told us Buffy's name," Angel said.  "You wouldn't tell us who the
Slayer was.  Neither of you ever said any of your friend's names here."

"But we weren't stupid," Spike continued.  "As soon as we saw the two of
you, we knew Buffy was the one."

Giles spoke up softly, his head still reeling from the revelation.  "So what
are we going to do?"

~*~

Over the next few nights, the group was on edge, waiting for the upcoming
battle.  The vampire activity was getting worse, but neither Willow, nor
Xander, showed their faces.  It began to wear at the edges of everyone in
the Scooby Gang, and their had even been an incident where Willow
accidentally walked up on Buffy and she almost got staked.

Giles prayed something would happen soon, as all his charges were tired and
grouchy, wanting to defeat the newest evil and move on.

Finally, four days after finding out Buffy was going to die, all hell broke
loose.  The Gang was surrounded by a huge group of vampires.  They fought as
well as they could, until it was finally over.  They had defeated the
vampires.

Buffy's head was spinning.  It had been one of the hardest battles she'd
ever fought.  She *knew* they were Willow and Xander's vampires, as they
knew all of her moves, and countered almost everything she threw at them.
But they had won.  Though she was still a little on edge - never having seen
the vampire version of Willow *or* Xander.

Angel and Spike were interrogating a vampire they had caught and not dusted.
Giles was off to the side, talking softly to Cordelia when. . .

Buffy heard whimpering.  She focused her hearing, and her heart broke into a
million pieces.  "Xander," Willow's soft voice was saying, "Xander, please
don't die."

She glanced over, her hand flying to her mouth.  "Oh, god!" she cried.
Xander was lying in the grass, a large knife in his stomach to the hilt.
Willow was cradling his head, begging him to live.  Tears came to her eyes,
and she rushed to them, wanting to save her friend from death.

Willow looked up at Buffy.  The Slayer couldn't see her very well through
the haze her tears caused.  "You are letting him die!" Willow cried.  "I
tried to protect him, but I couldn't!  It's your fault!  You take us for
granted, and then let him die!"

"Willow, oh, god, Willow, I'm *so* sorry," Buffy sobbed, leaning over to
cry.  She sobbed, listening to Xander's pain filled moans.  When Xander
gasped, she opened her eyes.  They grew wide.  Willow had pulled the knife
out of Xander's stomach.

Buffy wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.  She froze as she saw
Willow lean forward and lick Xander's blood off the knife.  She paled,
realizing that these were the vampires, and she was about to die.  "W. .
.Willow?"

"Gotcha, Slutty," Willow smirked evilly, thrusting the knife into Buffy's
chest, where she'd staked so many vampires before.

Pain exploded around her.  She blinked her eyes, tears streaming down her
face.  "Willow," she croaked, her hands going to the knife.  She knew she
was dying, that she would never see day again.

"Xander, my poor baby," Willow cooed, helping him sit up.  "I'm so sorry I
had to stab you, love."

"S'ok, beautiful," he leered, running his fingers through the blood pooling
at his stomach.  "Can I have some Slayer's blood to help me heal?"

"Certainly," Willow purred, brushing her lips against his.  The two slid
into game face, grabbing the dying Slayer.  They sank their fangs into her
neck, drinking the girl dry.

~*~

"Buffy!" Willow screamed, watching in horror as a vampire her drained her
best friend.  She struggled against the vampire who held her in the shadows,
keeping her out of the fight.  She glanced over at Xander, who was being
held by his own vampire.  He was staring at the sight of Buffy's death with
horror.

The two vampires stood up and dropped the Slayer's lifeless body on the
ground with a thud.  Tears filled Willow's eyes.  Rage replaced the
emptiness in her heart at losing Buffy.  She stomped on the vampire's foot
and broke out of his grasp.  She stormed across the cemetery and stopped
behind the two retreated vampires.  "You stupid *bitch*!"

The vampires turned around.  Xander smirked, and Willow walked to her human
counterpart.  She grabbed the human's arms and pulled her flush against her
body.  "You realize," she whispered, "that the circle has begun.  You are
going to try to find Angelus, stop him from turning you.  Instead, you find
us.  You and your petty little human life will cease to exist."

Willow felt a cold body press against her back.  "Will," the rough voice
said, "she's so pretty. . .so warm.  Smells delicious. . .can we keep her?"

"Xand, baby, if we keep her, then we will cease to exist!  We can't have
that!  Think of all the fun we will miss!" the evil version of Willow
pouted.

Xander smiled.  "When you put it *that* way. . ."  He smirked.

Willow closed her eyes and turned her head as the two vampires pressed
against her to kiss over her shoulder.  "I'm going to be sick," she
muttered.

They parted, Xander's cool breath in her ear, "Get used to it, Red.  You
have me for eternity."

Willow hung her head and started to cry.  The two vampires slinked away,
their laughter echoing off the tombstones.

Willow turned to find all of her friends kneeling at Buffy's side.  She
pushed through them and dropped to her knees next to the blonde's bloody
body.  She pushed the Slayer's hair out of her face, sobbing.  "I will
avenge you, Buffy.  I will save your life.  I promise," she whispered.

Angel stood, pulling Willow up with him.  "I don't want you to go," he said.

"I have to," Willow said sullenly, the emptiness in her heart returning.
She crossed her arms and looked away.

"I don't think you understand, Willow.  If you go, I will kill you.  I will
make you into. . .her," he whispered.

"And if I don't go, Buffy will still be dead," she whispered.  She left her
mourning friends to deal with Buffy's body.

~*~

Willow didn't answer her phone, or her door.  She just sat in the dorm room
she once shared with Buffy.  The first two days she sat on her bed, staring
at a spot on the wall, not moving.  The next to days, she researched.

On the fourth day, she smiled triumphantly.  "Found it!  I'm going to save
you, Buffy. . .or die trying."

She left her room to get the supplies she needed for the time traveling
spell she found.

An hour later, she returned, dragging Xander with her.  Her best friend
noted that she looked like hell, and was acting crazy too.  She had dark
circles under her eyes, and she hadn't spoken to him once, except to say,
"We are going to meet our destiny."

Willow started putting all the items for the spell together.  Xander moved
to the phone, picking it up to dial Giles' apartment.  "Giles," he asked,
when the former watcher got on the phone, "can I talk to Angel?"

After a moment, Angel got on the phone.  "Xander, what's up?" he asked.

"She's crazy," Xander whispered softly.  "She's setting up the spell,
Deadboy, and she's determined to take me with her."

"Xander, she's going, whether you go or not.  Go with her."

"What?" Xander asked, completely shocked.

"She will need someone to take care of her.  Please take care of her," Angel
whispered.  "Try to fight them.  Stake them if you have to."

"I. . .I can't," Xander faltered.  He'd grown to become friends with the two
vampires living in Sunnydale, and couldn't bear the thought of staking them.

"Shh. . ." Angel whispered soothingly.  "I know.  Take care of Willow.  See
you a few years ago."

Despite himself, Xander chuckled.  "Bye, Deadboy."  He hung up the phone and
walked to his best friend.  She looked up at him with big green eyes.  "What
do I do?" he asked.

She flashed him a smile.

~*~

"Where are we?"

Willow glanced around, wondering that herself.  "Looks like a back alley of
some. . ."  She screamed as an intense pain pelted her shoulders and neck.
"Help. . .Xander. . ." she croaked, falling to her knees.  She fell forward,
the intensity of the pain knocking her out.

When she came to, she was mumbling, "Please don't kill us, oh goddess,
please don't kill us."

A figure came into her line of sight and she gasped, realizing that it was
Angelus.  "Oh, goddess," she whispered, tears filling her eyes.  "We didn't
even have a chance."

Angelus leaned down and licked her jawbone slowly.  She struggled, but the
binds holding her to the bed wouldn't allow for much movement.  She glanced
around and saw Xander, being held against a brown haired Spike.  "Willow,"
he gasped, fully waking up.

"Xander," she whispered, her head slamming into over-drive.  She watched as
Xander squirmed against Spike, as Angel said that he had.  "Goddess, Xander,
I'm so sorry," she whispered.  She turned back to Angelus, a wild look in
her eyes.  "Angelus, if you kill me, you will destroy the fabric of time!"

Angelus frowned.  "You know me?"

Willow swallowed, tears coming to her eyes.  "Sorta. . .another lifetime."

"Well," he smirked, "we've got an eternity to get to know each other again,"
he laughed evilly.  He leaned in to slip his fangs into her neck.

She glanced at Xander, who struggled with all his might against Spike.
"Xander," she whispered, "I love you. . .We will be together for eternity."

"I'll even let him live, as a childe of mine, just for you," Angelus purred,
sinking his fangs into her neck.

She screamed in pain.  "Willow!" Xander cried.  She blinked several times
before darkness overcame her.

~*~

Willow blinked, coming back to reality.  She looked down at her hand, which
was being held and stroked by another hand.

She followed the hand, up the arm, to the concerned face of Xander.
"Xander!" she cried.  She looked around the room warily, sitting up slowly.
She had no clue where she was, or where she should even be.  "Giles' house?"
she asked softly when her eyes focused.

Xander ran his fingertips on her cheek.  "Wills, you ok?  We stood up to
leave, and you passed out."

She was still disoriented, nothing felt right.  She finally threw her arms
around Xander, hugging him tightly.  "I love you, Alexander," she whispered.

He shifted uncomfortably in her arms.  "Willow?" he asked, pulling away.

"I just feel like I shouldn't be here," she whispered.

Xander studied her strangely.

"Willow?"

Willow turned, relief flooding her system.  "Buffy!" she shrieked.  She
scrambled over the couch, attacking Buffy, hugging her tightly.  "Oh,
goddess, Buffy, oh goddess!"

Buffy pulled away, looking at her best friend with a frown.  "Are you ok?"
she asked.

"I thought you were dead!" Willow whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"What?" Buffy asked in horror.  "Why?"

"I. . .I don't know," Willow sniffed.  "Extreme grief when I thought of you.
What. . .what happened?"

"Well, Angel told us the story of you and Xander being all grr. . .we stood
up to leave, and you passed out."  Buffy chewed her bottom lip, looking
down.

"Oh, goddess. . .I had visions. . .feelings. . .grief, when I saw you lying
there dead, Buffy. . .and Angelus," she said, turning to Angel.  He
flinched.  "I was tied to a bed and you were promising me eternity. . ."
She hugged herself, trying to chase away the feelings of wigginess she had.

"I did tie her to a bed," Angel whispered.  "Do you think. . .do you think
that the spell somehow messed up?  That she's caught in a loop or
 something?"

"It is possible," Giles said with a frown.  "I wish I knew which spell she
used."

"This didn't happen the last time," Willow murmured, her eyes unfocused.

Spike took her hand, wanting to comfort her.  "What's that, pet?"

Willow focused her eyes and looked up at him.  "This didn't happen last
time.  I don't think I passed out.  These feelings. . .they are new."

Giles sighed.  "We have to break the loop."

~*~

"Where is she?" Angel hissed.

"Who?" the vampire Angel and Spike were interrogating asked with a smirk.

"The Bitch!" Spike growled.  "Your bloody Mistress!"

The vampire turned to Spike with a fang filled grin.  "My loyalties are with
Mistress Willow, not you and the former Angelus.  I owe nothing to you."

Spike roared, ripping the vampire's through out.  Angel smirked at Spike,
the dust settling between the two of them.  "That was one way to take care
of him," he chuckled.

Spike smiled, and opened his mouth to speak, when he heard another voice
break the silence of the cemetery.

"BUFFY!"

They turned, Angel's heart jumping out of his chest.  They watched as the
vamped out Willow and Xander dropped the lifeless body of his former love.

Everyone came together to rush the two vampires when Willow beat them.  "You
stupid BITCH!" she cried out.

Angel reached out, grabbing Spike's arm.  "We can't go.  Willow won't hurt
herself."

They watched in horror as Willow and Xander pressed the human between them,
then kiss, then walk away.  The group all rushed to Buffy's dead body to
mourn the Slayer.  Willow broke through, crying, mumbling about vengeance.
Angel tried to tell her not to go, but it didn't work.  The witch was
determined.  She was going anyway.

~*~

"Where are we?" Xander asked, glancing around at the dank alley they were
in.

"Dark alley. . ." Willow whispered.  She automatically tensed her shoulders
out of reflex, right before she felt something slam into her neck and
shoulders.  It was only a moment before her entire world went black.

She woke up, mumbling to herself.  "Spell. . .gotta stop the hoax. . .oh,
goddess," she whispered, tears filling her eyes.  "The pain. . .make the
pain stop. . ."  Her neck and shoulders were throbbing in agony.  She opened
blurry eyes, instinctively knowing that Angelus was smirking down at her.
"Angelus. . ." she choked on her sobs, "make the pain stop. . ."

"That's precisely what I plan to do," Angelus said, leaning in to bite her.

When his fangs entered her neck, she sighed contently.  It hurt, but it was
different than the last time.  < What last time? > she thought, her thoughts
starting to drift from losing blood.

She glanced over, seeing Xander watch her with wide tear filled eyes.
"Xander," she whispered, nuzzling Angelus the best she could with her arms
tied.  "Love you. . .spend eternity with me. . ."  Her world went black.

~*~

"Angelus. . ." a soft voice whispered.

Angel spun around, his eyes going to Willow, who had passed out after the
Scooby Gang called the meeting closed.  Xander was holding her hand, cooing
at her to wake up.

Everyone went to the couch, watching Willow as she cradled her neck, rubbing
her cheek against her shoulder.  < Where I bit her so many years ago, >
Angel thought.

"Oh, Angelus," she whispered, arching her back slightly.  "Your fangs. .
.oh, dear goddess. . ."

Angel stared at her.  If he could go pale, he would.  It was those words she
murmured to him so many years ago.  He never understood them, or how she
even knew who he was, but figured it had something to do with the magic she
possessed.  He softly repeated her next words, saying them along with her.
"Oh, Angel, me and you and Xander and Spike are going to be together
forever.  Now I wish we hadn't killed the Slayer, so she could be here too.
. .so we could all live together for eternity."

Everyone stared in shock at Angel.  "Those were her last words before I
killed her," he whispered.

Willow gasped for air. . .then nothing.

"Willow?" Buffy asked, turning back to her best friend.  She dropped to her
knees next to the redhead, shaking her.

"Oh, bloody fuck!" Spike cried.  "That is a last breath kind of breath!  I
know, I've heard it many times!"  He felt for a pulse, looking up at Xander'
s wide eyes with alarm.  "She doesn't have a soddin' pulse!"

Xander pushed Spike over and started to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,
trying to get air to go back into Willow's lungs, to try to save his best
friend's life.  "Come on, Wills. . .you gotta live. . ." he murmured against
her lips.  "Please?"

Spike took her hand, stroking her wrist softly.  "Come on, pet. . .wake up!"
He pushed Xander out of the way, putting his head on her chest.  He growled
deeply, then let out a low depressed moan at the lack of heartbeat.

Suddenly, Willow's chest expanded, and she inhaled sharply, then exhaled.
"Pet?" Spike asked anxiously, sitting up to look down into her wide green
eyes.

She smiled slightly.  "Spike!  Are Xander and I vampires yet?"  She frowned.
"I don't feel the surge of bloodlust that's supposed to happen right about
now. . ."

"You aren't a vampire," Angel said quietly, wondering why she was having
this reaction.  Wondering why she had relived her entire death, when to her
it hadn't happened yet.  "It's the year 2000."

Willow moaned, covering her face with her hands.  "Damn it," she muttered.
"It's the loop again.  I've got to stop this *now*."

"What loop?" Giles asked curiously, appearing in Willow's line of vision.

She sat up, her head in her hands.  "I'm not sure. . .but I remember. . .I
remember Angelus turning me."

"Perhaps. . ." Buffy said thoughtfully, "perhaps the loop starts when she
wakes up and stops when she dies."

"She *was* reenacting the entire time I bit her," Angel murmured.

Willow looked up at the brooding vampire.  "What happened?  The moment you
captured us?" she asked.

"You and Xander were trying to figure out where you were. . .I hit the both
of you with a two-by-four.  When you came to, you were mumbling about a
hoax, but you couldn't tell me anything, because there was too much pain."

"I have *got* to remember to duck," Willow murmured, looking at her friends.
"I can sorta remember some things from the last loop. . .they are hazy, but
I know Buffy died. . .and we did it.  I just have to figure out when Angelus
and Spike get us, so I can change it.  We've got to get through this.  We've
*got* to save Buffy."

The gang spent the next few days researching spells for Willow.  She wanted
to remember as much as she could through this loop, so hopefully she could
break it soon.  They also found the time travel spell that would take her
and Xander to meet Angelus and Spike once again.

~*~

The vampire version of Willow Rosenberg watched as the Slayer approached her
and Xander.  "Ok," she murmured to her lover, "here she comes."

Xander smirked before screwing his face up in pain.  "Oh, god," he
whispered, "make the pain stop. . ."

Buffy dropped to her knees next to them.  "Xander!" she cried, tears
streaming down her face.

< Does she not sense that we are vampires?  Damn, she's dense, > Willow
thought, frowning slightly.

Moments later, it was over.  Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, was dead.  Willow
and Xander walked away.  Willow turned her head, almost expecting the human
version of herself to come to her, to yell at her.  But she didn't.  The
vampire frowned, then shrugged.  She wrapped her arm around Xander's waist
and the two walked off into the night.

The human Willow sat back on her heels watching the two leave.  She was next
to Buffy's body, as were all her friends.  They were saddened by the fact
Buffy was gone, but could feel the electricity in the air, knowing that it
wasn't going to always be like this.  "Soon," she whispered down to her best
friend's cold body.  "Soon, I'll break the loop and you will be alive."

Instead of being alone this time, Willow allowed herself to be surrounded by
her friends.  They worked for four long days, making sure that the spells
were correct, that this would help Willow and Xander save Buffy's life.

They finally did the spell to send Willow and Xander back into the past.
Everyone gasped in amazement when the two of them disappeared.

~*~

They ended up in an alley.  "In an alley, alone," Willow thought.  She
glanced around, the hair on the back of her neck standing up.  "No," she
moaned.  "It couldn't happen right now. . ."

*THUD*

Willow gasped as the two by four slammed into her body.  She struggled to
stay awake.  However, she was losing the fight.  "Duck," she whispered,
closing her eyes to the inky blackness.  "Duck. . .duck. . ."

She finally woke up, waves of pain washing over her.  Tears filled her eyes.
"Duck, duck, duck," she whispered.

"Excuse me?" Angelus asked, looking down at the strange human he'd captured
for dinner.  There was something special about her, he could feel the magic
radiating off her.  Spike wanted to keep her, so he was going to embrace
her.

"Duck. . .duck. . .duck. . .come on, Angelus," she moaned softly.  Another
jolt of pain washed over her body.  "Bite me. . .change me. . .get this over
with!" she cried, tilting her head to bare her neck.

Angelus glanced at Spike, who was holding the boy that had been with the
redhead.  He was staring at her with wide dry eyes.  He wasn't fighting, he
didn't even appear to be scared.  "Dinner gets stranger and stranger, my
boy," Angelus murmured before sinking his fangs into Willow's neck.

~*~

"Duck. . .duck. . ." Willow murmured, coming out of the unconsciousness that
she'd slipped into as the Scooby Gang dismissed the meeting.  "Duck. .
.duck. . DUCK!" she screamed.

Everyone dropped to the ground, not knowing what the girl was screaming
about.  Willow curled into a ball and started crying softly.

Angel stood up first, pulling Buffy up.  The two went to the redhead.
"Willow?" Buffy asked softly.

She looked up, smiling through her tears.  "Not the right time to duck," she
whispered.

"You were saying that when I turned you," Angel frowned, not knowing what
was going on with the Wicca.

"We are close," she whispered, wiping her tears away.  "I think this might
be the last time."

Everyone frowned at her, not knowing what she was talking about.

~*~

"This is the trap!" Willow hissed at Xander, struggling with the vampire
that held her tightly.

"Yea, I would tend to think so," Xander nodded, glancing back at the
vampires who wore his and his best friend's face drain and drop the Slayer's
dead body.

Willow sighed, turning away.  "Goddess, I'm so glad this is about to end."

A few days later, after Buffy had been buried, Willow promised everyone this
would be the last time.  They were performing the time travel spell.  She'd
also performed a forgetful spell, so she would forget about the hoax after
telling Angelus about it, if she had a chance to.

She looked around the dark alley, muttering under her breath, "Duck. .
.duck. . .DUCK!" she screamed, grabbing Xander's arm and pulling him to the
ground.  They felt the air where the two-by-four passed above their heads.

They quickly stood up and backed away from the two vampires standing in the
back of the alley, glaring at them with full game faces.  "Angelus!" she
cried.

Angelus tilted his head.  "You know me?"

"Angelus, listen," Willow said, nodding her head.  "You will get to turn
Xander and I, I promise.  I just need to tell you something.  Something
important.  When you see Xander with a knife in his stomach, and I'm crying
for him to be ok. . .it's a hoax."

"What?" he asked, frowning.

"But you can't *ever* talk about this again," Xander nodded.  "Ever."  He
chewed his bottom lip.  "Trust me.  It would be of the bad."

Willow bared her throat.  "Ok, turn me now."

Angelus shrugged and glanced at his childe.  "Dinner gets easier and
 easier."

~*~

Willow blinked.  She sat up slowly, looking around at the worried faces of
her friends.  "Are you ok?" Xander asked.

"Yea," she whispered.  "I'm fine."  She glanced around.  "What happened?"

"You just fainted, luv.  Are you sure you are ok?"

"Yea," she whispered.  She yawned.  "Come on, we've got a lot of work to do
before our vampire selves get here."  She left Giles' place, wondering why
she had fainted.

~*~

Angel and Spike were interrogating the vampire about Willow when Spike
glanced up.  "Bloody FUCK!  Xander has a knife in his stomach, Peaches!"

"It's them!" Angel cried, shoving his stake into the vampire's chest.  He
grabbed Spike's arm.  "Come on!"

The two slinked around, moving to the kneeling form of a crying Buffy.  As
Willow pulled the knife out of Xander's stomach, Angel reached down and
grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her away from Buffy and Xander.

"Angel!" Buffy cried, not understanding why her ex was hurting Willow.

Willow turned slightly, looking up at Angel.  "Angelus!" she said,
surprised.  "You are back."  She pressed against him, enjoying the feeling
of being next to her Sire again.

Xander sat up slightly, on his elbows, ignoring the bloody wound in his
stomach.  "Well, fuck," he said.  "I've got to share her with Angelus
 again."

Realization hit Buffy like a ton of bricks.  These weren't her two best
friends, but the vampires Angel told them about!  She whipped out her stake
and promptly introduced it to Xander's chest.

Willow watched in horror as her lover and companion for over 150 years
disappeared in a poof of dust.  "Xander," she moaned softly, closing her
eyes.

"Stake her, Buffy," Angel growled, holding the redhead close to him.  He was
stronger than her, and her struggling didn't bother him.

"No, no, pet, let me," Spike purred.  He grabbed the stake from Buffy and
slammed it into his former love's chest, smirking as she went up in a poof
of dust.  "Well, that made some of the sting of her existence better."

Angel laughed slightly, not feeling bad that two of his childer had been
dusted.  He liked the human versions of them better.

Spike perked up.  "I can hear crying," he said softly.

The three of them made their way to Willow and Xander, standing in the
shadows.  Xander was holding Willow and the girl was sobbing into his chest.

"Hoax?" Buffy asked warily.

"No," Angel said.  "They are human."

Spike stepped forward, placing his hand on her elbow.  "Red?" he asked
gently.

She turned to him, sobbing.  "They. . .they came back.  All the visions. .
.the loops. . .everything.  I can't stop seeing Buffy die, over and over
again."

Spike scooped her up in his arms, inhaling the sweet scent of his innocent
Willow.  "It's ok, Red," he purred.  "You will be fine. . ."

Willow looked up at him, wiping her tears away.  "Spike," she whispered.
"Oh, my precious Spikey.  I'm so sorry for all the pain I caused you. . .you
do know it was the Bitch Demon that did it. . .not me."

"Yea," Spike whispered, his eyes unfocusing as he remembered the years of
being with Willow.  "I staked her," he purred, looking back at her.  "Did
you see that?"

She took comfort in his arms, shrugging the images of Buffy dying out of her
mind.  Her best friend was standing in front of her, and wasn't dead.  "I
did. . .I was proud.  I know it was hard, with the way she made you feel."

"Do you know, Pet?" he whispered.

"I do," she nodded.  "For some reason, I know.  I have her memories. . .I'm
so sorry for the cruel things she did to you."

"Angelus. . .He enjoyed them."  He smirked.  "Who am I to take pleasure away
from my Sire?"

"Angelus," Willow said wistfully.  "Now he was a bastard."

Angel raised his eyebrow, glancing at Buffy.  He shrugged, then moved to
Xander.  He helped the boy stand up.  "Xander?  You ok?" he asked.

"Yea," Xander sighed, rubbing his face.  "It's just been a long week.  I
think it's time to go home."

The three agreed, and walked out together, thankful that everything on the
Hellmouth was right once again.

END


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