Chapter 52

"Last night was the worst of my life," Xander said with feeling. Pale, eyes bleary, he rested his chin in his hands and looked across the table at Faith.

Faith shuddered. Giles and Xander had brought her and Cordelia up to speed, and even though she knew what happened and had seen Willow go all open-the-Hellmouth-crazy -ass -witch once before, Faith still had trouble processing everything. That the Willow she had met when she had first arrived in Sunnydale; quiet, geeky, sidekick Willow, could have that sort of power at her disposal was mindboggling. Frightening. And, Faith had to admit, she was a little bit jealous.

Suddenly Slayer strength and speed didn't seem all that when compared to the power of a witch.

"So Willow's evil now?" Cordelia's eyebrows lifted, a look of scepticism on her face. "Well I'm sorry, but I don't believe it. No-one who wears orange sneakers and corduroy skirts can be evil."

"It's Willow, of course she's not evil," Xander snapped. "She's just, um, confused at the moment. And Spike probably isn't helping." He checked his watch. "Oz should be here soon. Maybe he'll have some ideas."

Faith snorted. "I hate to rain on your dumbass parade, Xander, but Oz isn't going to click his fingers and make everything the way it was before. She's a new Willow now. A Spike loving Willow and you're just gonna have to learn to deal."

"Faith's right." Cordelia sniffed and frowned. "And just why are you getting so involved in Willow's love life? It's none of your business who she dates."

"She's my best friend. I'm always gonna worry about Wills," Xander said defensively. "Although," he looked again at his watch. "Amy going MIA is kinda wigging me out too."

"Have we still not heard from her?" Cordelia asked, and Xander shook his head in response.

Faith busied herself with taking a drink of soda. Every time Amy's name was mentioned, and Xander had been mentioning it a lot over the last hour; Faith felt a prickle of unease moving over her skin. Every Slayer instinct she had told Faith that Amy was a lost cause. She knew, what the others didn't; Spike and Willow had been aware of Amy's presence in town.

It said something, Faith thought, that she honestly couldn't say whether it was Spike or Willow who had taken care of Amy. She was a problem for them and Faith had seen enough of them together to know neither one of them would be willing to sit back and let Amy get busy with the magic.

Was Amy dead?

Had they killed her?

If she was any kind of Slayer she'd tell Giles everything she knew. If she had just one shred of decency inside her she'd confess all and help Willow's friends restore order to their lives. But Faith said nothing. If she started talking it would be an all or nothing situation, she couldn't keep anything back, including her own murderous secret.

Willow was happy with the way things were. As Willow's friend, Faith wanted her to be happy.

She also didn't want anyone finding out what she had done.

Ignorance was bliss.

Silence was golden.

Best to keep quiet.

Faith took another drink of soda. She glanced up when Buffy arrived, actually glad to see the other Slayer; she was a welcome distraction from Faith's own thoughts. Xander's chair legs scraped the floor as he jumped to his feet at the sight of Buffy's companion.

"Oz! You're back."

"Hey," Oz greeted the room as a whole.

"Did you find Amy?" Cordelia addressed Buffy who had gone back to Amy's house to look for her.

"No," Buffy shook her head. "Something's wrong though. Something is really wrong. The lights are still all on at her house but there's no-one there. I went all through the house and I saw her suitcase in her room, she hadn't unpacked yet. She was definitely there last night to have switched the lights on, but she obviously hasn't been back which tells me something's happened to her. Where's Giles?"

Giles came out of the back room a china cup in his hand. When he came closer, Buffy realised it was not tea he was drinking. "Whiskey? Before noon? Giles?" Buffy had passed officially worried when she had failed to find Amy the previous night. She had passed wigging out when she saw Willow all dark and veiny. Now she was in full blown panic mode and a whisky drinking Watcher was not helping her stay calm.

"I was hoping there would be a way around it, but I haven't found anything yet." Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and took a seat at the table. "Last night I knew we were up against some very serious powerful forces."

"We've dealt with powerful forces before," Cordeila pointed out. "We're still standing. Everyone remember the Judge and that no weapon forged to kill him thing? We found a way around that."

"I think you mean I found a way around that," Xander interjected with a proud lift of his head.

Cordelia sighed. "The one time you did something useful."

Xander made a face and Faith grinned.

Giles closed his eyes, head bowing over his cup. "I fear we're out of our league at the moment. I've delved deeper following last night's incident, especially after seeing that Spike was able to physically interact with The First."

"So we're sure Angel was right about that?"Cordelia asked.

"Oh yes," Giles nodded. "Angel was right. No doubt about it."

"How do we help Willow? Buffy explained," Oz added when Xander gave him a questioning look. He had met Buffy outside the school building and she had taken some time to update him. Oz figured Buffy thought it would be easier for him to find out about the extent of Willow's relationship with Spike without everyone else staring at him, waiting for a reaction. She wasn't wrong. Oz couldn't say he was particularly surprised. Spike had played a major part in the deterioration of his relationship with Willow, but it still hadn't been easy to hear about it.

"I'm not completely sure how we help her," Giles admitted. "It seems that without her whole soul Willow is susceptible to dark magic and nowhere is magic darker than on the Hellmouth. I believe that the Ascension was not only meant merge Willow's magic with the power of the Hellmouth, but, after seeing Spike fighting with the First; I believe that the deeper into the Ascension Willow went, the more corporeal the First became. It was using her magic and energy to manifest."

"Manifest?" Buffy whispered horrified. "But that means..."

"A very real First Evil," Faith finished.

"Precisely." Giles took a sip of whiskey to help fortify him. "She would, in essence, join forces with The First and her soul would depart completely; not just from her but Spike too."

"You mean, completely soulless Willow?" Oz said quietly.

Cordelia gave Buffy a pointed look. "And we all know what that means."

Xander's eyes went as wide as saucers. "No more Wills?"

"There are many witches and sorcerers who practice dark magic," Giles spoke slowly, he felt as though his energy had been sapped. "But they are still human, they still have their souls. This wouldn't be Willow practicing dark magic, this would be Willow without a soul at all. A soul is our connection with humanity. Without those things a person becomes..." he trailed off, unable to continue.

"A demon," Faith finished for him. She could hardly believe it. Willow and not the Mayor was to become the pure demon. And this is what happened when you listened to a two bit wheeler dealer demon, Faith thought crossly. That Skylar had everything backwards. The Mayor must have wanted the books to keep them out of the hands of the Slayer's in town. Or, Faith figured that as the Mayor was immortal perhaps he had thought he could be part of the Ascension and rule the town, clearly he'd been wrong.

"What do we do?" Xander demanded. "You said we couldn't kill The First Evil, Giles. Well, if we can't kill it, what do we do?"

"We could send her out of town," Oz suggested. "The First won't be able to reach her if she's not here."

"She was going to leave anyway," Buffy's voice was a broken whisper. "It'll be better for her if she goes now."

"What?" Xander looked confused. "What are you talking about, leave? When was Willow leaving?"

Buffy took a few minutes to explain how Ira Rosenberg had secured a new job in Boston and Willow's parents were leaving town for good very shortly. It still made Buffy ache to think of her best friend leaving her, but she loved Willow enough to know that Sunnydale was not the place for her. Until they found a way to restore Willow to her usual soulful self, leaving was the best option for all of them; Willow most of all.

"Well," Xander threw his hands in the air. "I can't believe she hasn't told me about this. We're supposed to be best friends." He scowled darkly. "I bet Spike knows about it."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I think he does."

"Look," Faith sat forward over the table. "Let Spike take her away. He'll look after her, you know he will. Just let them leave together and live the life they want to live."

Buffy looked up her brow furrowing. "You mean, with each of them having half a soul, don't you?"

Faith nodded. "Yeah, B that's exactly what I mean."

"That's not an option," Buffy said firmly. "We have to find a way to put her soul back."

"Why?" Faith glared at her, "Because that's what you want? Well to hell with you, B. Who gave you the right to dictate Willow's life? What about what she wants?" Faith snorted and shook her head. "But you don't want to hear about that, do you? You don't want to listen to what Willow wants because she doesn't want to hang around in your shadow any more. Because she's got the vampire she wants and you can't have the one you want. Because she wants a life away from you. You just can't stand it, can you."

"That's not true!" Buffy was on her feet, her face flushed with anger. "I want what's best for Willow."

"Who the hell are you to say what's best for someone else?" Faith demanded. "Willow's still Willow. She can still think for herself and she's told me she doesn't want her soul put back together. Why don't you just let her live her own life? You can't control everyone B. And not everyone needs saving."

"Enough!" Giles rarely raised his voice, and the two Slayer's fell silent, each glaring at the other across the table. "It's commendable that you both want to help your friend. It is also understandable that you'd each have different ways of going about it. I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong, all I'm going to say is that Willow's wellbeing is our first priority and until we can figure out a way to stop The First connecting with her, Oz is right, she has to leave town. That is one thing I think we can all agree on."

"I agree," Cordelia said.

Faith nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"She might not want to go," Xander said. "And if Spike's happy partying on the Hellmouth there's no way she's going to go and leave him behind."

"She has to go!" Giles slammed his fist on the table. "Whatever happens, Willow must leave Sunnydale."

"Giles!" Buffy blinked, her jaw dropping open in utter surprise. She'd never seen him behave like this before; and there was an undertone she was only now picking up on. Having been so focused on Willow it hadn't immediately been apparent to her. "There's something else," she said, peering intently at him. "I can see it in your eyes, Giles. There's more to this than you've told us so far."

Xander groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "Can there be more?"

"I'm such an idiot!" Giles shook his head, gripping his skull tightly for a moment. "After last night I was worried so I called The Watcher's Council in the hopes they might have further information, or be able to assist in some way." He groaned, his eyes closing. "I'd have done better to say nothing. To do nothing at all. They said they'd look into it and they called me back around three o'clock this morning to say that Willow is a threat and must be eliminated."

A horrified look crossed Buffy's face. "Eliminated? Giles, that can't mean what it sounds like."

He nodded. "As the Slayer's they want you and Faith to eliminate, as they put it, "the witch". As she only has part of her soul, and the Ascension would rid her of her soul completely, they consider her within the Slayer's jurisdiction."

"No!" Buffy cried vehemently. "I won't do it."

"Me neither!" Faith scowled. "Screw The Watcher's Council!"

"If you won't do it," Oz said thoughtfully. "They'll send someone who will."

"Exactly," Giles said. "That's why Willow has to leave and disappear. Spike I'm sure, will know how to disappear, he's been around a long time."

Xander got up and went to the phone, heart heavy. "I'll call her, ask her and Spike to meet us here when the sun goes down."

As he dialled Willow's number Xander found himself slightly cheered at the thought of Spike. He might be a vampire, but with Willow's soul in him he wasn't completely evil any more and he did take really good care of Willow. Spike had taken on The First Evil for her and he had won. If Willow was going to be safe with anyone it would be Spike.

"How come Spike could see The First and the rest of us couldn't?" he asked, leaning against the counter as the phone rang.

"I believe it's because they share a soul. To a certain extent, they are one," Giles explained. "I'm sorry," he looked from Buffy to Xander. "I thought The Council might be able to help. It never occurred to me that they'd want Willow dead."

"Spike too I expect," Cordelia murmured.

"Absolutely." Giles took another swig of whiskey. It wasn't really helping, but tea just wasn't going to cut it.

"Machine," Xander informed them a few moments later. He cleared his throat. "Hey Wills, it's me. Xander. Um, listen, I really need you and Spike to meet us at the library tonight. It's important, Wills. Like life and death important. We'll all be here waiting for you. I... I love you Wills. Ok, bye."

"Nothing more we can do," Oz let out a sigh.

Buffy stood and went to Xander, catching his hand in hers. "Tonight might be the last night we see Willow for a long time."

Xander squeezed her fingers tightly. "Tonight's gonna be the worst night ever."

XxX

Willow had managed to drag herself from bed and get dressed to spend some time with her parents before they left. They had eaten a nice breakfast together, even though eating had been the last thing on Willow's mind.

They had hugged goodbye at the door, her father insisting she come to Boston during the next school holidays so she could check everything out for herself. Willow had promised she'd go; although Willow had the weirdest feeling this would be the last time she saw her parents, that they would never meet again. She couldn't say where that feeling came from, but it had persisted all morning.

When her parents had finally left, Willow had staggered back to bed, just sitting around making idle small talk had really taken a lot out of her. She knew it was because she had used so much magic the previous night.

"They're gone then?" Spike asked sleepily when she went into the bedroom.

"Yes." Willow unplugged the phone beside the bed, she didn't want any double glazing salesman waking her up. She undressed and climbed in beside him. "I couldn't have stayed awake much longer."

"You used a lot of magic."

"That's part of it," she agreed, snuggling into his arms. "Then there's you."

He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "Needed you, love. Get used to it." Dipping his head he nuzzled her neck. "I love shagging my girl."

"Me too." Willow frowned, "You know what I mean."

Spike chuckled again. "I know, pet. Now go back to sleep. We'll 'ave another go around later, hum?"

Yawning Willow made an agreeable sound. "Sounds good, Spike."

They were both sound asleep when Xander called.

Willow slept deeply, but it was a troubled sleep. The only thing she could see, no matter how she tried to fight it, was Spike's death. She saw him staked by each person she loved; especially Buffy. She saw other demons tearing him to pieces. She saw the sun rising.

She saw Spike turning to dust over and over again.

She screamed and screamed, but nothing changed. She tried to help, but couldn't move. She was helpless to do anything other than watch Spike come apart before her eyes.

Then suddenly things changed and Willow saw herself getting older. And older. And even older until she looked like Spike's grandmother. Heck, his great grandmother. The older she got the more Spike turned away from her, the more she saw the love and lust face from his face until she was ancient and wrinkled and he didn't look at her at all.

When Willow could take no more and was nothing but a weak ball of pain and tears, Jessie appeared.

"You can prevent this from ever happening, you know. If you want to, you can be with Spike for eternity and keep him safe. You'll grow old, Willow, and you'll die; while Spike will be forever young. But it doesn't have to be that way. You have the power to change it, what nature would take from you, you can keep and be with Spike forever. And," Jessie smiled brilliantly. "You don't even need to vamp for it."

"How?" Willow gasped through her tears. "How do I stop this from happening?"

Jessie's smiled deepened. Love, it was the most powerful of all the emotions and the most destructive. So many people had done terrible things in the name of Love. Love was the easiest thing in the world to twist and bend and manipulate for someone else's own ends.

"You even have the power to see me again too. You can bring me back, it can be like it used to be. Don't you miss me, Wills? Don't you wish I was still here? I miss you. I want to be The Three Musketeers again."

Even in sleep Willow could feel her power growing to enormous magnitude. It infused every nerve, every pore on her skin until she was vibrating with it. Her eyes closed to better absorbed the feeling, little black veins materialising beneath her eyes. When Willow opened her eyes again she was out of her dream and awake in bed.

Leaning over Willow gave Spike a shake. "We have to go, Spike. It's time to go."

Spike groaned. "Go where? It's the middle of the day. Go back to sleep, baby."

Climbing out of bed Willow went to the curtains and pulled them open. Spike heard the rattle of the curtain pole and jumped up, looking for someplace to hide. He stood there, naked, with the sun coming through the window; but he wasn't burning. Willow was chanting quietly, her eyes fixed on the sun and the sun, was he imagining it? Was the sun getting dimmer?

Spike stared at her in fascination, she was forcing the day into darkness. The magic rolling off her was so strong he could feel it all over; in every cell of his body. "Willow love?"

Turning to look at him, Willow took his hand. "Come with me, Spike. I know what to do now."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

She smiled, eyes shining. "I know how we can be together for eternity, and I don't have to die for it."

The veins were visible around her eyes and seemed to be popping out all over her face, but her hair and eyes were only slightly flecked with black. This wasn't like last night, Willow was in control; Spike could feel it.

"It's been back, The First." It wasn't a question, Spike somehow just knew.

Willow nodded. "You and me, together forever. I can make it happen now, Spike. I know what to do, It showed me. I know how to get unlimited power and destroy anything that ever threatens you; or us."

"How you plannin' on doin' that, love?" he asked warily.

"I love you," she said softly. "I want to be with you. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to get what we want. I'll give up my soul for you, Spike."

"What if you won't love me?" He hadn't felt this ridiculously insecure in years; but he was happy now and losing Willow's love was one thing he was not prepared to risk.

"You don't love with your soul," she said simply. "I love you with everything I am, and my soul is not everything I am. Nothing will change how I feel about you."

"We're talkin' about The First 'ere, love. It's not just gonna help you out of the goodness of It's heart. It doesn't 'ave any goodness in it. An' It tried to kill Angel, remember?"

"Do you trust me?"

"'Course I do!"

"Then will you come with me, Spike? Will you help me by like you?"

Spike nodded. He was more than willing to go with her when she offered him everything he could ever want.

XxX

Angel felt the darkness and he woke with a start. Disorientated he looked at the clock to find it was the middle of the day. Every instinct he had told him it was dark.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed Angel went to the window and carefully peeled back the edge of the curtain; shocked when he was greeted by darkness. Pulling the curtains apart he stood in the window staring up at the sky, but there was no sun to be seen.

He got dressed hurriedly, his worry making him clumsy and it took a few moments until he could do up his belt properly.

Where was Spike?

Where was Buffy?

What was happening?

Angel raced down the stairs, skidding to a halt in the hallway when he came face to face with himself. Angel blinked, his body tensing as he eyed this newcomer warily. It was him. They had the same face, the same long hair, the same clothes he had worn back in the day. Angel remembered that suit, Angelus was never really one to bother about clothes, that was Darla's thing, but he had enjoyed that red brocade jacket.

"You're time's nigh."

The Irish brogue startled him. Angel realised he wasn't looking at himself as such, he was looking at Angelus.

There was only one entity he knew of that could take another's form, and only one who'd been pulling that particular trick lately. The First Evil was still here.

Ignoring it, Angel tore out of the house; he had to get to the library. He had to find out what was going on.

The streets were in uproar; humans were running everywhere. Angel didn't stop to fight with any of the demons he came across, there was no time. Besides, they didn't seem to be causing any trouble, they were just standing around staring at the sky. They looked as shocked by the current situation as he was.

Rounding a corner Angel came across a vampire in the act of dragging a screaming woman from her car. Pulling a stake from his pocket Angel sped up, jamming the stake into the vampire's back as he passed. The vampire exploded and Angel kept running. "Get home and stay there!" he yelled over his shoulder. "And don't invite anyone in!"

Before he left the street Angel hear the car come to life and the squealing of tyres as the woman wheel spun the car from the curb. One person at least was safe and they were one vampire down. That could only help.

Everyone was at the library when Angel finally arrived. Xander was talking, waving his arms around. "We didn't get anywhere near the doughnut shop. The sun just went," he clicked his fingers for emphasis.

"And then there were demons everywhere," Cordelia continued. "How does the sun just disappear, Giles?"

Buffy made a sound which was rather close to a growl. "Willow's life is on the line. Amy's disappeared off the face of the earth and now the sun has gone down in the middle of the afternoon. What is going on around here?"

"Buffy!"Angel hurried across the room. "Are you alright? What's happening?"

"I'm fine," Buffy smiled at his concern. "We aren't sure what's going on to be honest."

"Did you notice anything unusual on your way over here?" Giles asked as he scurried into this office and began to pull books from the cupboard.

Angel shook his head. "No, nothing. Other than the sun."

It was at that moment when Faith and Oz arrived. He sported a cut over his eyebrow and there was a bruise forming on Faith's cheek. Xander went to meet them. "What happened?"

"I was half way home when it went dark," Oz explained. "So I figured something was wrong and I turned to come back. I ran across Faith taking on three vampire's and stopped to help."

"That's the last time I go for lunch. From now on I'm ordering take out," Faith muttered, poking at her stinging cheek. "Someone wanna catch me up? It's like a demon playground out there, shouldn't we be slaying?"

"Yeah," Buffy nodded. "We should. Xan, you, Cordelia and Oz stay here and help Giles. Angel, Faith and I will hit the streets."

"You might wanna look up The Dark Queen," Faith said. "One of the vamps I was fighting said "You can't stop it, Slayer. The blood of the innocent will run when The Dark Queen rises." Whatever that means."

Angel, who was in the book cage with Buffy loading up on weapons, froze with his hand half way to an axe. "Oh no," he whispered, his hand dropping to his side.

"Angel?" Buffy touched his arm, she couldn't resist. He didn't love her anymore and she knew it, but she couldn't help still loving him; with Spike's upcoming departure from Sunnydale, Buffy couldn't help but hope things would go back to how they should be where she and Angel were concerned.

"Something wrong?" Cordelia asked, eyeing him through the bars.

Giles looked up, clutching a book tightly to his chest he headed towards Angel. "Do you know something, Angel? Does it ring a bell with you?"

Angel's mind was racing. It couldn't be right. He had to be wrong. Surely this couldn't happen. "I... I made a wish," he said slowly. "To a Vengeance Demon. I ended up in an alternate Sunnydale."

"Another Sunnydale?" Oz looked interested.

"Yeah." Angel's worry kicked itself up a notch as memories assailed him. "Things were very different..."

"Were we there?" Cordelia interrupted.

"Yes," Angel replied distractedly. "You two," he indicated Cordelia and Oz, "were engaged."

Cordelia and Oz exchanged surprised looks. "Us? As in me and Oz? Engaged?"

"Well that's nice," Xander said crossly "Where was I when all this engaged-ness was going on?"

"You were a vampire," Angel said bluntly. "You and your friend Jessie."

"Oh," Xander was intrigued in spite of himself. For the first time in a long time he thought of Jessie, experiencing a sharp stab of pain and regret. He missed his friend. He would always miss his friend. Maybe having vamp Jessie around wouldn't have been that bad. He looked at Angel, if only they had known about the soul restoration spell back then, they could have performed it on Jessie and he could have been like Angel; only not as brooding and boring.

"Spike was there," Angel continued. "He and Willow were together. Spike ran Sunnydale; he had killed The Master and The Anointed One and had the respect of the demon community. I know Spike killed The Anointed One in this reality but obviously he didn't kill The Master. I could feel the darkness in the other Willow, it was her magic behind Spike that let him do anything he wanted to do. She used her power for Spike." He paused and looked at Giles with troubled eyes. "Spike called Willow his Dark Queen and they kept talking about an Ascension."

"Ascension?"Buffy gasped. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Why?"

"Of course," Giles shook his head. "You haven't been here." He explained to Angel what he had found out.

"You don't think she's behind the sun setting, do you?" Buffy asked, her stomach clenching.

"No... um, does she have that much power? I don't know," Giles admitted.

"When I was in the alternate Sunnydale, Willow had immense power. She and Spike..." Angel paused, searching for the right word. "She and Spike were intimate, and when she, um, peaked, her magic shook the whole room."

"That amount of excess magic is concerning," Giles said.

Angel nodded. "I thought so too."

"From what you've just told us, Angel. I fear that Willow was always meant to ascend."

"I don't know if its relevant, but, well, Xander had been sired by Spike. Willow asked Spike to do it."

"Willow asked Spike to turn me into a vampire?" Xander was incredulous.

"You weren't just a vampire," Angel said. "You were part of the inner circle; you, Jessie, Darla and Drusilla."

"Wow," Xander's lips pursed. "I was an important vampire."

Buffy cleared her throat. "Were... um... were we all there?"

"No," Angel, hated to hurt her. "There were no Slayers."

Buffy flinched. Angel's heart went out to her. The Slayer was ready to go out into the street and kick butt. She was ready to fight and go down fighting if she had to. But the teenage girl was hurting because she was not in alternate universe created by the man she loved.

"It would be better for you if you hated me," he said quietly.

Buffy flinched again. She was aware of the confused looks her friends were exchanging; she hadn't mentioned to anyone that the man she loved no longer loved her.

She swallowed past the painful lump in her throat. She would never stop loving Angel and Buffy knew it. He was the first man she had ever loved. He was the man she had given herself to heart, body and soul. The first time she had made love with man it had been with Angel, and it had been special and wonderful and everything she could have hoped it would be. He was in her heart and he was there to stay. Angel might be right; it might be better for her to hate him, but it wasn't that easy, even knowing that he now loved Spike the way he loved her, that he wanted to touch Spike the way he had touched her. It was hurtful, and when she thought about it Buffy felt as though she would never be happy again; but she couldn't hate Angel.

"No Slayers and no Watcher's huh?" Faith guessed, desperate to break the awkward silence that had descended upon the room.

"Giles was there. He and Jenny were there."

Giles started. "Jenny?"

"You were all still fighting, the four of you and you're friends Amy and Devon." Angel wasn't sure if telling Giles about Jenny was a good idea or not, but he didn't know what exactly was going to be relevant information, if anything in an alternate reality was even remotely relevant.

"Devon was involved?"Oz looked suitably impressed.

"And your Principle."

"Snyder?" Xander exclaimed loudly.

"Snyder was the good guy?" Buffy's eyes widened.

Angel smiled at their disbelieving looks. "From what you've told me, he wasn't that different." Angel didn't think he would forgive the Principle for pretty much calling him a complete and utter idiot.

Pulling himself out of thoughts of Jenny, Giles cleared his throat and gestured towards the doors, it was time to bring some order to the proceedings. "Buffy, Faith, Angel; off you go. Everyone else, with me."

There was a shuffle of bodies as they all moved to their assigned tasks. Buffy had just finished tucking a stake into the top of her boot when Willow and Spike arrived. "Willow!" she stepped out of the book cage. "I'm glad you're here. Do you have any..."

Willow ignored her completely, hand in Spike's she went straight to the middle of the room. A strong wind sprung up, and a shimmering shield of magic separated her and Spike from the others Buffy's blood ran cold. This was not looking good.

"Wills?" Xander got as close to the wall of magic as he could. "Willow, what are you doing? This isn't you. You aren't evil Willow, you're our Willow; the same Willow who cried because you broke the yellow crayon on the first day of kindergarten. Willow please don't do this."

Magic poured from Willow, filling the air with purple and green spirals. Red lightning flashed and the floor gave way, black smoke rising from beneath, the ground shivering and shaking. Hair flying behind her, Willow turned to Spike tilting her head back and offering her neck.

The First Evil appeared taking the form of Jenny Calendar. It watched Willow's offering and tried to stop Spike from sinking his fangs into her throat, but Willow's magic fought It's own. It gave a shriek when Spike pierced her throat and began to drink; Willow's magic grew stronger and The First could feel Itself getting weaker.

Spike drew back, licking her blood from his lips. Her eyes were flecked with black but he still felt that reign of control from her; whatever was happening, Willow knew what she was doing; that glazed, zombie look was absent from her face.

"We'll be together forever," she whispered, touching her fingers to his throat. "If you offer me what you have."

"Take it," Spike drew a nail across his throat, excitement thrumming through him at the mere thought of her lips on his skin, drinking his blood.

Willow pressed her mouth to the cut and Spike groaned, cradling her back of her head in the palm of one hand and stroking her back with the other.

"No!" The First sent a wave of magic at the entwined couple, but it rolled over them without causing even the slightest damage. Willow had connected with the Hellmouth as she was supposed to, but her connection with Spike went deeper; she could block It's attempts to merge with her.

As Willow's connection with Spike and the Hellmouth became absolute and her soul departed, The First saw It's chance disappear. It had thought It could twist Willow's love for Spike to It's own ends; but Spike had a stronger hold over her than The First ever could.

As he had felt the soul enter his body Spike now felt it leave. It was a less painful experience. His chest grew warm, he felt the familiar squirming of the soul and then it was gone; he felt like his old self.

Drawing back from Spike's throat Willow smiled, stroking his cheek. "It's done. Nothing can touch us Spike."

He still loved her. Even without her soul Spike could still feel that all consuming love for her, and he saw it in her eyes; she still loved him too. What life they would have together; travel, destruction and bloodshed. It would be glorious.

He kissed her softly. "Clever girl."

Willow's eyes narrowed and she looked at The First. "You will not control me."

Spike grinned, rubbing his cheek against hers. "You got that unlimited source of power now, love?"

"Yes. I've got it, Spike." Willow had known Spike was right when he told her The First had a reason for helping her and she'd also figured out what It was up to when she had seen Spike was able to physically wound it.

Willow hated being used, it reminded her of her old self; pathetic, geeky, doormat Willow. It had occurred to her that if The First wanted to possess her body then her magic had to be strong, The First would want as much power as possible. It was her body, her magic, her power and Willow wasn't about to let someone or something else take it and take Spike too. Spike had said her love for him was stronger than the power of The First and Willow was inclined to believe him; especially as The First kept circling back to her feelings for Spike, hoping to use it as her weakness, as a way to control her.

The First had fallen into the same habit as everyone else; focusing on what It perceived to be her weakness and forgetting that she was smart.

Spike had always believed in her magical ability and Willow had started to do the same thing. She could not take the power of The First, but she could use the power of the Hellmouth. Witches were all part of nature and The Hellmouth belonged to the earth; it was all one big circle which allowed her to draw power from an unlimited source.

The First had gambled and lost. Willow had gambled and won.

As Willow drew from the Hellmouth and set a blast of magic outwards to shatter the windows and shake the building, The First felt Itself grow weaker. It could not be killed. Willow would not destroy It. But she could keep It in Its weakened state. It retreated into the Hellmouth to where It could nurture Itself and build It's power back.

Still siphoning magic, Willow turned her attention to Faith. Faith felt the pull of her friend; it came from deep inside her, something that twisted and recognised a kindred spirit. Willow smiled and Faith stepped forward, trusting that she could pass through the wall of magic which had kept them all back.

When Faith came abreast of them, Willow touched her face. " Our fierce warrior. The ultimate Slayer."

It was not the time for stupid jealousy, but Buffy felt the sting of Willow choosing Faith over her. More than that, she felt the unbearable pain of losing her best friend. As she stared at Willow, Buffy knew it was over; Willow's soul was gone and she was no longer human. Tears stung her eyes. Buffy felt useless and a complete failure. She hadn't managed to keep her best friend safe and now she was gone. They would never dance at The Bronze again, or study, or have a sleep over, or spend a cosy night curled up with a movie, chocolate and popcorn and talk about boys.

Buffy didn't have much time to mourn the loss of her friend, for suddenly there were vampire's and demon's pouring into the library, headed by Johnny. She gathered herself for the fight, but before she could so much as lift her sword she was hit by a ball of magic and she went tumbling backwards. Buffy grunted when Cordelia landed on top of her.

Winded, she lay there a moment trying to catch her breath. She could see Oz over to her left lying face down, eyes closed. Xander and Angel were in a tangle to her right, but she couldn't see Giles with Cordelia's body pinning her down.

Giving Cordelia a shove, Buffy sat up and made a quick surveillance of the room. She noticed the demons who had arrived weren't alone, they had struggling humans with them. Clambering to her feet Buffy ran to help, but found herself stuck on the opposite side of the magical barrier. Frustrated to turned to Giles who was just getting to his feet. "Can't you do something about this wall?"

"No," Giles replied, equally frustrated. "Willow's magic is far too strong. Any spell I could cast wouldn't make a dent."

The sound of Willow's voice brought a pause to the conversation. "With the blood of the innocent they shall rise again."

Buffy watched horrified as the vampire's bit into the necks of the humans they had brought with them and the other demons used claws to slit the throats of the human's they held. There was blood, so much blood. It spread over the smooth wooden floor, dripping down into the opening of the Hellmouth.

"What... what the hell?" Xander demanded, coming to stand at Buffy's shoulder.

"That blast of magic Willow sent out was a call," Angel said from behind them. "As a demon I could feel it. They've been waiting for this, somehow they knew about it. They've answered her call."

There was more smoke coming from the Hellmouth and then suddenly a figure emerged. Buffy's eyes went wide and she heard Xander suck in a breath as Jessie appeared. He wasn't the only one to come back, Buffy watched helplessly and strangely fascinated, as Billy Ford arrived and then Theresa, Buffy remembered vividly how Angelus had turned Theresa. Next came Sheila, Buffy recalled how she had joined Spike in stalking her through the school. She felt it as if she were watching a parade of her failures.

The resurrections weren't complete as Luke, Dalton and then Darla were next to appear and finally The Master.

Buffy took a step back, her heart lurching. The Master had killed her and she had killed him. Seeing him standing there sent a chill through her.

The Master grinned, stretching out his arms. "It's so good to be back."

Willow touched Spike's arm."Go Spike, he can't touch you."

Fangs still stained with her blood, Spike grinned wickedly. He went straight to The Master, accepting a stake from Faith as he passed her. Plunging the stake into The Master's chest Spike watched with a sense of satisfaction as he disintegrated. "Always was a pompous git."

The vampires knelt before Spike, Darla and the newly risen vampire's following suit. Heads bowed they chorused a respectful "Master."

"We need to get out of here," Giles said grabbing Buffy's arm. "There's too many of them and Willow's too strong. We need to leave, now."

"How is this happening?" Xander sounded dazed as he staggered backwards. "Why is she doing this?"

"Because she can."

Buffy turned, fully intent on giving Angel a piece of her mind, maybe even punching him in the face. He wasn't helping. Buffy swore her heart stopped. Her stomach dropped to the floor. Angel's lips were covered in blood, Cordelia and Oz lay sprawled on her floor, bleeding from the neck.

"I saw The First earlier, told me my time was nigh. Didn't know what It meant until now."

She had seen so busy focusing on Willow that Buffy hadn't given a thought to Angel and his soul. Now she was stood face to face with Angelus.

"I liked that other Sunnydale, you know, the one without you in it. No Slayer. No Watcher. Sounds good to me." Angelus' hand shot out and he caught Buffy by the throat. "I owe you one, don't I, Buff." Angelus clicked his tongue against his cheek. "You did send me to hell, remember?"

Buffy struggled, trying to see what had happened to Giles and Xander. Angelus obliged her. Spinning Buffy in tight to his chest, pinning her arms to her side. The new position allowed her to see what was going on. Darla had hold of Giles, her fangs in his neck and Buffy could see the life draining from him. His eyes fluttered and then he went limp. Darla dropped him at her feet and smiled. "Delicious."

Buffy's eyes darted away from Giles prone form looking desperately for Xander. Her lips parted and she looked on helplessly as Spike held Xander against his throat. She could see the blood from Xander's neck wound staining his shirt.

"First time I've ever turned anyone," Spike said, dropping Xander into Jessie's outstretched arms. He curled an arm around Willow's waist. "I did it for you."

"I know, and I love you for it," Willow reached up on tip toes and kissed him.

There was a sudden sharp, savage pain in her neck as Angelus bit down, tearing into her flesh. Buffy jerked in his arms and grit her teeth, she would not give him the satisfaction of screaming. As he drank her life essence and her eyes slid out of focus Buffy caught sight of Willow and Spike. Willow was smiling, looking up at him, her arms around his waist. The last thing she heard was the voice of her best friend, the friend she had failed to protect.

"You will rule from on high, my Spike. You will walk with your head among the stars, use the moon as a sceptre, the town is yours. A new era is born."

fin