The Slayer And The Witch Chapter 15/? - You Won't Like Me When I'm Angry

["Stefan Akerblom" <nagarek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All.

Again, it's been a long time coming, life indeed is sometimes in the way
and makes you lose track of what's important, like updating the story!
:o) Anyhoo, here's chapter 15, hope the longtime waiters can forgive the
delay. Please enjoy.


Stefan Akerblom
<mailto:nagarek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> nagarek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ICQ: 156764542





The Slayer And The Witch - Stefan Akerblom - nagarek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Critique: Yes please, but no flames (I'm flammable)
Warning: Building to NC-17, f/f relations, possibly f/f/m
Characters: Willow, Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles, Tara, Angel, Dawn,
Spike, Wes, Cordy, Oz (?), nurse Becky Chapel, nurse Erin Lonsdale,
Main Pairing/s: Willow & Buffy, maybe Giles/Becky/Erin - who wants to
see that? :o) (not sure yet about Anya/Xander ... maybe) time will
reveal all!
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns all in the Buffy Universe, I have merely
played and embellished, not claimed any rights, apart from a couple of
nice nursies!

Brief: Buffy and Willow have both recently lost their partners, Willow
is hospitalised and Buffy is almost paralysed with guilt over it, both
Willow and Buffy realise how much they really mean to each other, they
embark on a voyage of discovery and figuring out a way to break their
new relationship to their friends while keeping the minions of the
hellmouth from taking over. Meanwhile solutions present themselves which
can have far reaching effects on Buffy and Willow's future.

Distribution: BuffyWantsWillow and MegaWitches (www.megawitches.net) get
automatic rights, anyone else who likes it enough to host it, just
please give me a link to where it's hosted

Many thanks go to:
Crys Loch (pagansoul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) for answering my email, and a lot
of inspiration and much encouragement (you said just the right things to
make me think while I channeled Willow),
Dan Spector (danspector@xxxxxxxxx) for some much needed help with
authenticity,
Casandra (jeepy91@xxxxxxx) for answering some silly and some very
awkward questions, you're very special
AmberBensonFan (amberbensonfan@xxxxxxxxxxx) for lots of additional help
and support and being there and just being a good friend
Thanks also to all the other great people on BuffyWantsWillow, you make
this worth so much to me,
and to Cairo (played at ear-splitting volume) for setting the mood.
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Chapter 15 - You won't like me when I'm angry

"Rack! I'll kill him, that ... that ... bastard!" Buffy was livid and
shaking, clenching her fists and looking around as if searching for
something to hit, "Will, he's the one, tell me how to find him, I don't
know how, with that ... that mobile invisible magic crack house of his."
Buffy began heading towards the cabinet at the back of the shop where
the weapons were stowed. Willow's eyes betrayed her panic at the
Slayer's words.

"NOOO Buffy, uuh ... you .. you can't ... he's too tough, you can't
fight him, I ... I should know." Buffy stopped in her tracks, and turned
to Willow frowning. "He's pure evil, and way powerful, a real big bad
... he ..." Willow blanched and swallowed "... he can ... reach into
your mind ... and he can take anything from you that he wants." Willow
shuddered unconsciously and looked very scared as she remembered her
times in the 'Rack And Rune Emporium'. She'd experienced some of the
worst moments of her life there, disguised as times of ultimate pleasure
while she was in the deepest darkest part of her addiction. " He ... he
uh ... um ... with ... my mind ..." She gulped and dropped into silence.
Buffy looked at Willow and saw that she still suffered from what Rack
had done to her, Willow hadn't gone into what had happened at Rack's
saying it was too horrible for her to think about, but had simply sworn
that Buffy need never worry that Willow would ever go near Rack again.
Buffy suspected now that Rack had literally raped Willow's mind, and for
that his life was forfeit, no matter what it took. And not one to be
easily put off, Buffy shook her head defiantly.

"He's just a man Will, and he'll go down just as easily as any vamp ...
easier ... I'll take him, I promise. You just watch me, he won't know
what hit him! He's never seen me angry ..." She dropped her voice to a
whisper and looked as though she was staring through Willow's chest,
"You hear me in there Rack? You won't like me when I'm angry ..." Giles
blinked and wiped a hand over his face, Buffy turned to look at his
movement and absently noticed a sheen on his cheeks, had Giles been
crying? He put his glasses back on and brushed fingers through his
unruly hair, he spoke softly, his voice quavering slightly.

"Uhm ... Willow is quite right, if ... if what I have heard on the
grapevine is correct, Rack is too powerful an adversary for you to go up
against like this."

"Huh ... what? Why? I don't get it ... what's the big? We ... we beat
Glory ... we beat a goddess and lived to tell ... uh ... s ... some of
us lived to tell about it, what's a man going to be able to do that she
couldn't? So he can cast a few spells, big de ..." Erin interrupted
Buffy.

"No Buffy, he's not just a man, he's a demon in the shape of a man, a
very powerful demon as well, nobody even knows what type he is, but he's
completely in his element when it comes to powerful dark magic." She
walked over to Buffy and stood before her. Buffy couldn't quite fathom
how someone could look and be so incredibly much like Willow, and yet be
so completely different as well, but then her mind drifted momentarily
back to the vampire doppleganger of Willow who had materialised out of
another time and dimension and stepped into Sunnydale, she couldn't have
been any more different if she had been deliberately trying to be. Erin
drew Buffy's drifting eyes into her own, concern etched on her pale
features. She spoke with conviction. "Everyone that I know who uses
magic, says to stay away from this guy, he'll tear your heart out, he'll
plunder your mind and eat your soul." Buffy looked at her, a little ill
at ease, but not completely convinced.

"Humph ... sounds like a real poser. That's just a sales pitch if ever
I heard one."

"I don't think so Buffy, I've heard of horrible things happening around
that place, people just disappearing, they walk into Rack's and are
never seen again." Buffy waved her hand at Erin.

"There you are! All the more reason to stop his little racket. He ...
he's violated Will, and I won't sit still for it. He'll pay for what he
did, and ..." Buffy looked from face to face for reassurances "... if
you don't want to help me then I'll do it on my own." Giles walked up
behind her and laid his hand on Buffy's shoulder, squeezing gently and
speaking softly.

"Buffy ... it's not a matter of us not wanting to help, you know that.
But you have to have a better plan than just attacking him in an all out
frontal assault. Rack is too clever by far to be taken that easily, his
place is likely to be heavily protected and his magic prevents it from
ever turning up in the same area for more than a night at a time. He
probably has demons and god only knows what else protecting it." He let
go of Buffy's shoulder as she turned to face him. He pushed the glasses
up his nose and leaned against the table, he still looked drawn and
pale, and his red rimmed eyes betrayed he was scared and worried, and
... sad? Disappointed? Something else? Buffy couldn't tell which, but
she registered on some level that something wasn't right with him. She
determined to find out what was bothering him when they had a quiet
moment together. Willow spoke with a quiet nervous voice.

"Amy and I walked into his place easily enough once we knew it was
there, once I knew what to look for. But I always felt ... eyes on us,
like ... like someone was watching us all the time, we weren't alone in
there at any time, and I suspect the place isn't entirely what it seems,
I got the feeling somehow that it's not only here, in Sunnydale, it's
also somehow connected to some other place, some other dimension." Giles
nodded as she finished, and looked again into Buffy's eyes.

"Quite right, a gateway or portal into some other place. Fighting and
slaying is all very well Buffy, but when dealing with someone like Rack,
you need a little more than simply pure muscle, although ..." he smiled
awkwardly at her and blinked "... that doesn't go astray even in a fight
such as this will probably turn out to be." Becky walked up beside Giles
then.

"All right! Maybe it's not the only weapon we have, but finally
something I can help with ... this magic and demons and vampires stuff
is for the birds ... give me something to punch and kick any day ..."
Becky looked around at the group who was staring at her "... uh, I ...
do a little bit of martial arts ..." Erin snorted softly and grinned.

"A little bit? Huh ... she's got more black belts and stuff in almost
any martial art you could pronounce, even some you couldn't." Becky
smiled softly, and looked a little embarrassed.

"Don't listen to her, she's exaggerating. But I know a little bit about
how to take care of myself, so if that can come in handy then I'm your
gal." Buffy looked at Becky with renewed respect, another fighter, good.

"Ok then, let's draw up a plan, Erin do you think you can find Rack's
place?"

"Sure, it reeks of supernatural vibes, any user of magic or anything
not human can sense if it's anywhere nearby, a location spell coupled
with some other stuff should give me a direction, then it's simply a
matter of homing in on him." She looked at Willow. "Didn't you feel it
when you were near Rack's place?" Willow looked perplexed.

"I felt ... something, but at the time I didn't know what it was I was
feeling, I thought it was just butterflies and the shakes, but ..." she
looked up, chagrined, "... now you mention it, there was a ... uh ... a
vibe, a feeling of ... something I can't quite describe." Erin sucked
her bottom lip into her mouth and nodded.

"That's about what I expected, you haven't quite got the training to
know what's what yet, you have the power but not the disciplines ..."
she looked up at Willow who simply looked back with sad eyes. "I don't
want to push anything on you but ... we have to get rid of Rack's touch,
not just for your own sake but for all of us, and I can do it for you,
you don't need to do much of anything, or ... I can show you how to do
it yourself, it's not something dark, it uses healing magic." She
hesitated when she saw Willow's resolute face. "We can talk about this
later." Willow looked up to Buffy who smiled at her and nodded. Dawn
walked up to Willow and knelt down in front of her. She looked up and
met Willow's gaze, and smiled a bit sadly. She placed her hand on the
edge of the table to balance as she knelt, her hand resting on Spike's
clothes. She felt the cool leather of his coat beneath her fingers, and
felt a comfort from the contact.

"I was in that place Will, with you. And I hated it, it smelled bad and
felt cold and empty and weird and ... just really bad. Please let Erin
help you get rid of it. I just want you safe from him, and us safe too.
Please do it Will?" She looked pleadingly, her eyes wide and eyebrows
arched high, she reached up to hold Willow's hand. "Please?" Willow
looked back at her, and sighed, closing her eyes.

"Ok Dawnie, I will, but after that I don't want anything more to do
with any magic, good or bad. I know wicca is good magic but I ... I just
can't trust myself ..." she drifted to an awkward silence. Buffy decided
to break the somber mood.

"Ok, we'll check on Angel before we leave tonight, in case he's already
turned, and so we can lock the sewer entrance. I'm gonna do a quick
sweep around outside first just in case. Dawn, you stay here please and
lock the doors after I leave. Damn, I wish Tara was here right now, we
could use some of her ... oh Erin, maybe ..."

"Sure, lead me to the supplies, I'll cast some warding spells and stuff
for the shop before I help Willow, that should keep out almost anything.
Hmm ..." she tugged her top lip and stared off pensively "... I might go
back home and grab some of my books." Giles spread his hands wide.

"I'm sure you can find almost anything you require here, our collection
is quite extensive and unique. Take anything you need to use." Anya
gasped and began to speak, but from out of nowhere a hand shot out to
cover her mouth. She looked around at Xander, who cringed and smiled
nervously, but kept his hand in place. Everyone began walking over to
the large table where they could begin planning their little war.

Dawn stood back up and looked down at the table at Spike's long coat.
Her eyes fell on the label inside the collar, blankly she looked at a
tear where the coat lining had come away from the leather of the collar
just above the label. Looking closely she saw something in one of the
folds, small metal filaments caught in the satin fabric. She picked at
it and had to pull it loose from where it was hooked into the thread of
the cloth, she got it free and brought it up close to to examine it. It
was a small electronic device no larger than a penny, a computer chip.
She knew instantly what it was, and pocketed it.

-------------------------------

Erin took a deep breath and put down some containers of ingredients
she'd been using, she put aside a large leatherbound book she had held
in her lap and rubbed her hands together to free them of herbs and dust.

"Ok, nearly there, last part, you ready?" She looked at Willow with a
confident smile. Willow licked her pale, dry lips which seemed dark in
her ghost white face, she nodded quickly and swallowed. Erin nodded back
and reached into a small pouch beside her knee, she withdrew her hand
and tossed a pinch of powder from it onto a fire burning in a copper
brazier before them both, Willow's eyes were drawn to the flame as it
fizzled and sputtered on the burning herbs. As the powder hit the fire,
the flames enthusiastically burst into a bright purple ball of magical
energy that subsided quickly into an intense cold sphere of dark blue
light. She spread her arms around the brazier and linked hands with
Willow who sat still with her on the floor. She began to chant.

"Hear my plea Diana, mother of all creation. Release this, your vassal
from the cloying touch of the hellfire, release this woman and cleanse
the earth of its taint." she took a breath, closed her eyes and began
reciting in a language that sounded almost like latin but was somehow
different. As she spoke the words, the blue flame brightened visibly.

"E-anta, liminae donaes quaedros aperte fenestras,
liberares quod vinaeam destudo entio antaeo reagum ..."

The fire had changed and was burning with a cool lambent flame with the
appearance of living ice, that didn't seem to be generating any heat
whatsoever. A tendril of ice-fire reached out slowly and headed for
Willow. The red-head's face bore a look of concern as the tendril began
to undulate in front of her like a snake. Suddenly it shot out as quick
as lightning and struck Willow in the chest above her heart. She gasped
and almost cried out in terror, but she maintained her silence and
clutched Erin's fingers frantically, not wanting to let her go. Erin
looked with approval at Willow and continued chanting.

"Expatriae sudiranam, querae ferenta,
mortant deliberatum sacrosantum ex filias patris ..."

The cold flame was now apparently buried deep in Willow's chest, and
she began to see the tendril pulsating and throbbing, almost as if it
was drinking from her. Up the tendril at an agonising pace crawled a
dark stain of cold and evil blackness that eventually reached the
brazier and was engulfed in the cool flame of the blue fireball, which
glowed more brightly as the blackness filled it. Eventually the darkness
began to diminish and dim, as if it was draining and becoming clear, the
blue tendril zapped back into the brazier, again as quick as lightning.
Erin's voice rose in pitch, and from somewhere a breeze lifted and began
blowing their hair around. Willow caught the scent of apple blossom and
calming smells like pine and sea breeze, a feeling of comfort descended
around the room. The breeze turned into a stiff wind that was tossing
loose papers around and pulling at their hair and clothes, Erin's voice
rose even more as she finished off her incantation.

"Exuenz malefarium, quandro madre Diana,
quod minimae existenz, malefarium, antaeus ... DESTRUCTUM!"

The fire suddenly went out and the explosive detonation as of a clap of
thunder rocked the room and set glasses and other objects rattling and
falling to the floor, the energy from the thunderclap knocked both girls
backwards off balance and onto their backs. The Scoobies came running at
full speed at the sound and coming to a skidding halt they found both of
the girls getting to their feet. Buffy rushed to Willow's side and
helped the struggling red-head to get up. Willow brushed her skirt off
with her hands and frowned.

"What happened, what was that ..." Willow looked up to her with a
crooked grin.

"Oh, THAT was just a last little parting gift Rack had left me in
there, a booby trap in case we did this. It was a little ... goodbye
present, from him to me. It was designed to kill us outright but Erin
safeguarded against it. It just took a lot to neutralise that much
energy is all, that's why the big kerblooie at the end!" Buffy looked
with wide incredulous eyes at Erin.

"K ... kill you ... outright? You didn't tell me it was dangerous! Is
... is it gone now, for good, or ... or will it return later anytime?"
Erin looked up to Buffy from where she was pouring water onto the last
embers in the brazier, she smiled and shook her head.

"Nah, Rack put that little piece in there, a ... uh ... call it a piece
of his essence, so I made sure it returned to him and gave him a touch
of ... spiritual heartburn. After this he was going to know anyway that
his little touch was gone from Willow, I wanted him to experience a
moment of discomfort for what he did." She looked at Willow who smiled
back at her, Erin's grin spread and she returned her eyes to Buffy.
"Trust me, he knows he's been nudged, it'll be a cold day in Hades
before he tries that little trick on Willow again!" She stood up and
grabbed Willow's arm and gave it a friendly gentle squeeze. Willow
smiled at her, and turned to look at Buffy, who nodded and swallowed and
looked into Willow's eyes, they both reached out at the same time and
linked fingers.

"You ok Will?" Willow smiled and sighed deeply. She moved forward,
dropping Buffy's hand and draping her arms over Buffy's shoulders, her
hands resting on the back of Buffy's neck, she leaned in and kissed her
lightly on the lips. Buffy reached out and grabbed Willow's waist,
pulling her towards herself, pressing her body into Willow's, deepening
the kiss, breathing hotly and moaning softly into Willow's mouth,
running her hands up and down Willow's back, momentarily completely lost
to the passion. Willow reluctantly pulled her face back and broke away
from the kiss, sighing again, licking her lips and grinning widely at
Buffy, her eyes shining and glistening, emerald green and deep as pools
of clear pure water, Buffy lost herself in their tranquility and she
felt the calmness that spread out from the red-head. Willow seemed at
peace and completely herself again. They both looked around at the
Scoobies, who were pretending to look away distractedly or be
pre-occupied elsewhere. Willow and Buffy turned back towards each other
and again locked eyes. Willow saw Buffy's adoration, saw how Buffy
worshipped her, and knew that Buffy would do anything to protect her and
care for her, including throwing herself mercilessly at Rack, knowing it
might be her life he took, not Willow's.

"Yeah, I'm really all right Buffy, I can feel ... Rack's touch, it's
finally gone, like another weight has been lifted from me. I feel pretty
darned good for a trainee cripple."

-------------------------------

"How come Willow, how come you couldn't feel it inside you? I'd have
sworn you could feel his touch, it was so obvious, if nothing else, Rack
is not a subtle demon, he lacks any kind of finesse." Erin poured Willow
a cup of peppermint tea in the kitchen, the rest of the Scoobies were
out at the table making plans for storming Rack's lair. Willow sat at a
chair and absently looked out to where Buffy was shaking her head and
discarding battle plans, the steaming tea broke her stare and she turned
back to look at Erin.

"I don't ... I ... can't ..." she sighed with a frown, confusion
written on her face. "... I think I could, but I didn't know what it
was, I didn't know if it was some residue from the spells I used to
bring Buffy back or not." Erin sat down beside her and sipped from her
own cup of scalding tea, the aromatic smell wafting throughout the
kitchen.

"Yeah, that blew my mind when you said that you brought Buffy back ..."
she looked back to Willow, the awe in her face plain to see, but Willow
was looking back into the other part of the shop, her mind focused on
the Slayer. "... I haven't heard of anyone trying that in recent years,
not since sometime in the 20's at least, and that went pretty badly, as
I read it the whole house collapsed on it's foundations and disappeared
into an almost bottomless hole in the ground, never to be seen again. I
think they build a shopping mall over it now or something, it was
somewhere in Detroit." Willow looked back to Erin and smiled.

"I read that, and no it was a factory, a car plant, and it's still
there today." Erin grinned, and chuckled throatily.

"Uhuh, I think you're right, some of those cars would have to be
designed by hell creatures!" Willow laughed quietly at that, and turned
to look back to Buffy.

"Well anyway, you're clean now, there's nothing to worry about in that
respect, Rack's not going to ever use you that way again, count on it.
And I'm pretty sure Buffy's going to lay siege on the guy, I think he'd
better leave this dimension and return from wherever he came from."
Willow smiled gratefully at the wiccan nurse.

"Thanks Erin, I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am, now finally
maybe we ... Buffy and I, stand a chance of ... of happiness. I was
always afraid something bad was going to happen, with the way I was
feeling, and knowing now that I had this ... this thing inside me, this
evil touch ..."

"Yeah, it's pretty nasty stuff, any time a mortal is touched like that
by a demon, it leaves a stain that's hard to wash off, no matter how
much spiritual bleach you use, it takes a darned lot of elbow grease and
sucking up to good spirits like Diana to clear it out, but they're
usually glad to comply cos it helps the earth to become pure again which
is what the good gods ultimately want, to bring earth back to how it was
before the demons took over, before they were banished to the hells and
man began to flourish. But it can be pretty tough on the psyche."

"I guess so." Willow turned to look at Erin, "You can do the warding
stuff with what Giles has here, I think you should be able to, I see
he's got just about everything you need." Erin nodded and sipped from
her tea.

"Yeah, should be cool, I just wanted some of my personal stuff but that
can wait, generic warding shouldn't be a problem." she looked pensive
for a moment then cast her eyes up to look at Willow. "Say what's the
deal with Angel anyway? A good vampire with a soul? Where but Sunnydale
does that happen?" Willow grinned. and drank a mouthful of her tea.

"Uh ... it's a kinda long story. Buffy ... and Angel used to be ...
were a couple at one stage ..." Erin's eyebrows shot up.

"You're kidding me, right?" Willow looked at her tea and shook her
head.

"Nope, they were quite an item together." Erin looked at Willow, and
paused, shaking her head.

"Like I said ... go figure, only here in Sunnydale. And I gather that
they finished their relationship seeing as Angel lives in L.A. now?"
Willow nodded. and wrapped her fingers around the cooling cup of tea.

"Yeah, they've got a paranormal detective agency run by Wes, Angel
Investigations. They 'help the helpless' ... that's their motto." she
looked up and smiled. Erin grinned crookedly.

"Gods how corny, who came up with THAT?" Willow absently tucked her
hair behind her ear.

"I'd say it was Cordelia who came up with that one, she was always a
bit that way, smart things out of a smart mouth sometimes. She's another
Sunnydale export living in L.A. she went to school with Buffy, Xander
and me. she left to pursue a career in film but wound up working with
Angel and Wes instead." Erin nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, life throws you curve balls like that all the time, I was on my
way to doing industrial design when I discovered I had wicca powers and
could heal people, I found my new vocation in life, and i trained
formally then and became a nurse, I moved here and got a position at
Mercy and I've been there for the last 3 years." Willow nodded and
rolled her eyes, a thin smile on her lips.

"I know all about curve balls, I was destined to become a nerd, a
computer geek, that seemed to be all I was good for, that and most other
forms of science. I was kinda the study buddy you had when exams were on
because of my academic scores, but I was mud for the rest of the term.
Then my life changed completely..." she looked back to the war room,
"... I met Buffy. She made everything change, when I found out she was
the Slayer." Erin swallowed some tea and waved her fingers towards
Buffy.

"Yeah how did she become that, I heard it's not normal." Willow
laughed.

"Depends on what you mean by normal, Buffy's pretty normal as far as I
am concerned, it's just her life that's not normal. But yeah she's kinda
like a superhero, she's built for fighting, she looks buff and tight and
she's super strong, even if she never bothers doing any exercise. It's
amazing, she burns calories like you wouldn't believe, she could eat a
whole chocolate fudge mudcake a day and never put on an ounce of fat!
Now you tell me THAT'S not an unfair advantage!" Erin laughed quietly at
the imagery. She looked out at the diminutive blonde with the bearing of
a leader, as she cast away bad plan after bad plan as they made them,
her arms waving as she drew maps and diagrams on the white board.

"Yeah that's pretty impressive, so how did it happen?"

"Well it happens when each Slayer is killed, the next one is called,
it's some mystical thing the gods cooked up back in pre-history
sometime. She's not officially the slayer any more because she's died a
couple of times in the past ..." Erin looked at her again, goggling.

"She's died a couple of times? I thought you brought her back fairly
recently." Willow drank the last of her tea and set the cup down with a
click.

"Yeah, more long stories, let's just say she died and Xander did CPR on
her and brought her back to life, but that meant the new Slayer was
called, or rather a couple were, one was killed, the other is currently
cooling her heels in prison in L.A. ... god this gets complicated, um
... Kendra was called and died, then Faith was called and committed
murder, Buffy nearly killed her and put her in hospital, when she got
better she fled to L.A. where she eventually gave herself up. So
technically speaking she's still the current Slayer, but she can't do
anything from a prison cell, Buffy's sort of Slayer by proxy these days,
unless Faith dies in jail which is possible I suppose, and a new Slayer
gets called." Erin looked at Willow and shook her head.

"Yeah, complicated is an understatement. Did Faith go after Angel in
L.A.?" Willow nodded.

"Uhuh, yeah she did, and then Angel saved her from herself, after that,
Faith gave herself up and went to prison." Erin looked like she was
trying to put together the pieces of a complex puzzle.

"Saved her from herself ... is that why Buffy and Angel broke up,
because of Faith?" Willow shook her head.

"Um ... nope, technically they broke up before that, Angel and Buffy
both figured because he was immortal and she wasn't, they could never
have a life together, he'd never grow old with her, and she'd die old
and wrinkly while he lived on, so they split up. Not to mention the soul
thing, if they uh ... if ... well if they ever experienced ... pure and
true happiness for even one second, Angel's soul would be ripped from
his body and he'd revert back to being one of the most evil vampires
that ever existed, Angelus, the monster with the face of an Angel. That
actually happened once and it was SO un-good!"

"Jeeze, that really sucks bigtime, but I guess in the end, you win
because of that little technicality. So how long ago was that, recent?
And what's this pure happiness thing, what does it mean, does it mean
what I think it means?"

"Well ... you know ... uh ... happiness, bliss, happy ... you know ...
if she gave him a ... happy ..." Willow blushed slightly and she
stumbled over her words in embarrassment. Erin smiled at the sweetness
of the innocent before her. She thought to herself ... she's so much
like me before I met Becky.

"You mean sex? But ... she's ... how long ago did he leave did you
say?" Willow looked up with a puzzled frown.

"A couple ... couple of years ... Angel's been living in L.A. a couple
of years now, this is his first visit here in ages. Why?" Erin shrugged
her shoulders and spread her hands.

"Well ... can't you tell? Now that you know what Rack's touch did to
you? Can't you feel the touch?" Willow's brows creased and she looked at
Erin with a stare of non-comprehension.

"The touch ... I don't ... I don't underst ..." Erin pointed out to the
war room.

"In Buffy? Can't you feel the demon touch in Buffy?" Willow's eyebrows
rose, her eyes betraying a look of concern.

"What are you talking about, Buffy's not been touched by a demon, well
not like Rack touched me ..." Erin shook her head and closed her eyes,
trying to explain what she meant.

"Nooo ... I mean she's been touched by a demon recently and strongly,
she's got the mark just like you did, hers is more subtle, not as overt,
probably just because of the contact ..." Willow looked out to where
Buffy stood and gesticulated at the whiteboard. Her brows cleared and
she smiled.

"Ohh ... I get it, that'd be Spike, she's probably got ... Spike's been
with us helping us fight against vampires and demons here in Sunnydale
... I ... uh ..." again her brows creased, her frown betraying her
suspicion of Erin's words. "... say what are you getting at anyway?"

"Well you don't bear that mark, neither does anyone else here, have
they been ... you know ... close?"

"Close, how ... how do you mean, how close do you mean?"

"Well that sort of touch can only be had by ... by ... oh goddess ... I
... I, no forget it ... I'm sorry Willow, it can't have happened ... not
that way."

"What do you mean, have they ... slept together? Pffttt! God, I
wouldn't think so! Buffy can be a bit weird sometimes, a nice weird but
not ... Spike was ... well ... blech! I mean he's been a good guy since
he had a computer chip implanted in his brain that stopped him hurting
humans, but he was still basically an evil vampire, and Buffy's been
under a lot of strain lately, what with the whole being dragged out of
heaven thing I did on her and all, so you could hardly blame her for
acting a bit strange sometimes, but ... her and Spike? She'd never ...
she wouldn't ... that is, Buffy wouldn't ... she ... uh ..."

Willow looked into the war room as she saw Buffy look back at her and
smile sweetly, then look away again as Giles said something to her.
Willow frowned, her brow creasing again, she slowly reached up and
touched her own lips with her fingertips, where a few minutes before,
Buffy had kissed her so passionately.

-------------------------------

A single sharp bright flame-coloured light like a dagger through the
mind, threatened to tear asunder sanity, and then just as suddenly as
the light had begun, it was gone. Darkness returned, and with it relief
from the agonising pain. A sudden panic ... where am I?

It tried to reach out and touched nothing, could feel no boundaries, no
walls, in fact it could feel nothing touching it's body anywhere, it was
as if it seemed to float in space, still or rotating, it didn't matter,
with the darkness there was no frame of reference, simply silence,
coldness which didn't hurt but wasn't entirely tangible either, almost
total sensory deprivation. What the hell is this? Hello? The voice
sounded just like it's thoughts, deep and with a tinge of insolence,
there seemed to be no difference to the sound. Had there in fact even
been a sound at all?

With things so dark and no sensations of any kind other than the
apparent coolness, and the rising anger at possibly being held prisoner
like this, it reached out again and tried to move forward to reach a
wall or barrier of some kind, and found that there was nothing to touch
and no amount of trying seemed to set it in motion, it was simply
existing in stasis or in free fall or some other bizarre fashion that
didn't make any kind of intelligent sense right now.

A rising panic then began to set in. It tried to reach up and touch
it's face then and faltered, arms didn't move, legs didn't seem to work
either, nothing seemed to be functioning as it should, it felt like it
was unconscious, and yet how could it be, and still reason and think in
this fashion? Was it dead, or in some sort of coma? It knew that it had
been unconscious before, but not often, with a mirthless mental grin it
knew it dealt out that sort of thing usually, not received it.

Ok, let's take stock of the situation, I seem to be conscious, although
I seem to be unable to move my body, so either I am in some sort of coma
or in shock or something similar, ok. What else? Well not sure if I am
seeing anything either, not sure if my eyes are open or shut, so again
that brings me back to being in some form of coma.

It felt odd to be assessing the situation in this disjointed and
disconnected fashion. how had it come to be in this situation? Well ...
the thoughts faltered again, I can't remember how, all I remember just
now was the bright light and waking up here. So maybe I'm in some sort
of hospital, or maybe I'm lying somewhere injured or ... again, lack of
pertinent detail and not being able to take sensory stock made any more
analysis impossible. Well sooner or later, if it's a hospital or a
prison of some kind, someone will come by and then I'll try to discover
more, until then I think I'll just relax as much as I can and gather my
strength, maybe I'll be in a better situation to do something.

With that final thought, it acquiesced and relaxed its mental struggle,
resting and biding its time.

To be continued in:

Chapter 16 - Ashes, ashes, we all fall down