Obsession
by Bwriter
part 20
[reviews]
"Quod perditum est, invenietur" Giles spoke the Latin, his voice flowing strong and clear as Jenny followed with the English.
"What is lost, return. Not dead... nor not of the living. Spirits of the interregnum, I call. Gods, bind her... Cast her heart from the... evil... realm," everyone turned to Jenny in shock as her head shot back and the Latin for the spell flowed from her mouth, her wording and translation perfect.
"Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte... Nici mort, nici al fiintei... Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul la el...Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum!... Acum!"
Giles caught her as she fell.
Everyone saw the Orb of Thesulah glow golden, before it disappeared completely.
The spell had worked.
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Willow caught Buffy as she pitched forward.
Everyone had seen it.
Her eyes had shone a deep rich red, before settling back to their usual hazel.
Buffy looked wearily at the people around her.
What had happened? The last thing she remembered was running from a man, he wanted something but... she...couldn't...
As memories from the last three century's hit her, Buffy's mouth opened in a silent wail.
From her very first kill, which happened to be the Priest of her village, right up until the present day.
Willow held her tightly as her Mate rocked back and forth, denial falling from her lovers lips, though she made no sound.
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Everyone waited for something to happen.
Giles had resumed pacing, Xander copying after ten tense minutes.
No-one knew what to expect, though they were hoping for some word from Willow.
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Buffy finally seemed to come out of it long enough to push away from Willow and stand up.
There was movement by the door, before Angelus whipped around and growled for the minions to leave.
As usual, everyone wasn't watching what they should have been watching, and that was Buffy.
As soon as everyone had turned towards the noise, Buffy had run from the room, Willow shouting for her to stop.
The Vampire's and the Slayer ran after Buffy, the Vampire's having to stop when their Sire ventured into the one place they could not follow.
The sun.
Willow screamed and pushed her body harder, her stomach turning at the smell of burning flesh.
Seeing Buffy on her knees in the sun, her skin catching fire, Willow finally reached her Mate.
Picking her up, ignoring the burning of her own skin, Willow carried Buffy back inside, handing her to Angelus when her own strength gave out.
She couldn't wait for the poison to be out of her system.
After patting the flames out, Angelus carried his Sire up to her room and lay her gently on the bed.
Wes ran in with a crate of blood and Angelus took the first packet off him before ripping it open with his fangs and bringing it to Buffy's mouth.
The demons survival instinct kicked in and Buffy drank packet after packet until they were gone. Each one healing her body more than the last.
As he surveyed her burns, Angelus lifted his wrist to her mouth and sighed in relief as she latched on, her fangs breaking the skin.
She drank from him until he pulled his wrist away, immediately being replaced by Wes, then Penn and finally Gunn.
By the time Buffy had drank from her Childer, most of her burns were gone, only a few vicious ones remained.
Willow took Gunn's place and lifted Buffy's upper body off the bed, before turning her neck and placing her lover's mouth where her mark was.
Buffy tried protesting, but she was still out of it and the demon once again latched on.
Willow tried not to moan out loud as her lover's fangs broke the skin. The feel of Buffy pulling on her blood threatened to send her into climax.
The only thing stopping her, was her worry for her Mate.
Finally, Buffy's fangs left her skin and her tongue came out, lapping at the mark and closing it.
By the time Willow had laid her back on the bed, she was sleeping, the burns on her body totally gone.
Willow moved a piece of hair off Buffy's face before turning to Angelus.
"What are we going to do?"
Angelus looked from his Sire to the Slayer before his gaze hardened.
He knew first hand what she was going through, and he was going to do everything in his power to help her.
He left the room and went to his own, grabbing a cell phone and taking it back to Willow.
"Phone the Watcher."
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Everyone jumped as the phone rang.
Giles reached it first.
"Hello?"
Willow sighed at hearing his voice so full of worry.
"Giles, its me."
Giles gave everyone in the room the thumbs up.
Willow heard the cheers in the room and felt sick as she looked at Buffy.
The other Vampire's heard the cheers as well, each one growling their displeasure.
"Willow, thank god, I take it the spell worked." It wasn't a question.
As Buffy moaned on the bed, Willow grew angry.
"Giles, you have no idea what you've done."
On the other end of the line, Giles frowned.
"We gave her back her soul."
"Giles, she tried to kill herself."
Giles paused, the thought never having entered his head.
"Has she let you go?"
"I... I can't leave her like this, Giles, there's a reason Vampire's don't have souls."
Giles couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Willow, we did it for you. You are in danger there, you need to get away from them."
Angelus had had enough. He snatched the phone off Willow.
"Watcher, if you don't find some way to fix Buffy, I am going to torture your Slayer, slowly, for years."
Willow shrank back from him but when he shook his head at her, she caught on to what he was doing.
"You've read stories of what I can do, the rape, amputation, mental and physical torture, do you really want that to happen to Willow?"
Giles face paled as he listened to Angelus. He knew that the Vampire would make good on his word.
"Angelus, you know yourself, there is no cure."
"Buffy found one for me, you fucking look for one for her, as will we." he growled and slammed the phone closed before tosing it on the bed.
"I think that made him think a little."
Willow resumed stoking Buffy's hair and looked up to Angelus. As her oldest childe, he was in charge for now.
"What do we do first?"
Angelus looked at the Slayer and sighed before his gaze locked on his Sire.
"We go back to the Hellmouth."
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When Buffy woke up, the first thing she was aware of was Willow.
The Slayer was running her fingers through Buffy's hair, when the Vampire ripped herself away.
"Don't touch me."
Buffy looked away at Willow's hurt look and looked out the limo's window, not seeing what was in front of her.
Willow locked her jaw, determined not to cry and caught Gunn's eye.
He gave her a sympathetic look before his eyes moved back to his Sire.
Buffy wasn't in the car with them, she was back in her own village, reliving her first few days as a demon, thinking about how good her family tasted as she killed them.
The thought made her sick.
Wes handed Willow a syringe and nodded towards his Sire.
She looked from it to him, to Buffy before reaching over and taking her lover's arm.
It was a testimony to how spaced Buffy was that she allowed the contact.
Willow plunged the needle down with no reaction from the blonde and sighed before handing it back to Wes.
A sign caught her eyes through the window and Willow finally realised that they had been in Sunnydale for a while, and they had now pulled into the school parking lot.
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Giles had told them all of Angelus' threats and his demands.
Jenny looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped before the words could leave her mouth.
They didn't need to know about the loophole in the curse. There was no way that a soulful Buffy could reach perfect happiness, therefore, she couldn't loose her soul.
Xander looked up when the library doors opened, wondering who it was as it was the middle of the night, and everyone they knew was already there.
All but one.
Who was now standing before them, flanked by Vampire's.
"Giles."
Giles turned at Xander's voice, and froze.
Standing in the doorway, was his Slayer, in her arms, Buffy and by her side, Angelus. There were also three other men with her, who Giles could only assume was Wes, Gunn and Penn.
"Willow?"
Willow sent a smile over to her watcher but a groan from the bundle in her arms had her attention back on Buffy.
Gunn stepped up and Willow handed her lover over to him, shaking the stiffness from her arms.
Her strength was finally back to normal, but she had been holding Buffy in the same position for over two hours now.
"Where will I put her?"
Willow turned to the still silent Scoobies, waiting for one of them to suggest something. When they remained silent, she sighed and turned to Penn.
"There's a leather couch in the office, drag it out here."
He moved to follow her command, when suddenly five crossbows and one stake were levelled at him.
Giles glared at the Vampire, Xander's hand shook but otherwise he was steady, at the other three crossbows belonged to the Council Special Ops team.
Faith was looking between her sister Slayer, and the hot Vampire beside her, though she was ready to use her weapon of choice.
Penn turned to look at Willow as Angelus stepped forward with a growl.
"Giles, tell them to lower their weapons." The strong voice of the Slayer came through.
Giles hesitated before throwing something at her.
When she caught it, she looked at the cross amused but sent her watcher a smile.
"Lower your weapons." Xander looked like he wanted to argue, but he did as he was told.
The Council boys kept their raised though, as did Faith.
Penn shrugged at them and went into the office to get the couch.
Gunn laid Buffy down gently and Angelus took off his leather duster before draping it over his Sire.
"What have you found out?"
Giles eyes widened as Willow sat on the floor by Buffy's head and began stroking the blondes hair.
"You mean in the last twenty four hours since we spoke? Nothing."
Angelus growled and vamped out, stalking over to Giles.
"Angelus."
He stopped at turned towards his Sire's Mate. He had sworn to respect Willow as he would Buffy, so he would respect her wishes.
They had all surprised Willow with their attitude towards her, but Angelus was the wildcard.
She knew how much he cared for his Sire, and she knew that he would do everything and anything to help her.
And that meant playing nice with humans.
Anything Giles was about to say, was cut off by the whimpering that came from the sleeping Vampire.
Giles took a step closer, only to step back in surprise when three growling Vampire's blocked his path to Willow.
"Willow, forgive me but, why are they here? Surely you could have escaped."
"Wes, would you sit with her?"
Wes nodded his head and took Willow's place at Buffy's side.
"Giles with me,"
Penn moved to go with her, but Willow stopped him by raising her hand.
"Giles."
Giles followed his Slayer into his office and sat on a corner of the desk.
Willow went to sit down when she jumped up and stuck her head out into the library.
"Guys, try not to kill each other for five minutes."
Closing the door, she sat on Giles chair and looked up at her watcher.
"Willow, what on earth is going on?"
Willow rubbed at her temples before looking back up at him.
"Giles, I understand why you did what you did, really I do. But it was wrong."
"Wrong? Willow, the most vicious of Vampire's had you as a prisoner."
Willow stood up and opened the blinds, showing him the blonde lying on the couch.
"What about Buffy?"
Giles frowned at his charge.
"Frankly, I don't care about Buffy. She is nothing more than a demon, evil to its very core."
Willow rounded on him in fury.
"No Giles," pointing at Buffy, Willow's voice rose, "she is an innocent. You tore her soul from wherever it was resting and forced it back into a body that rejects it. She remembers every little thing the demon has done for the past three hundred years, and nearly all of it was violent."
He looked out the window again, seeing Angelus pacing, Wes and Penn were talking and Gunn was staring right at him.
""Why do you care so much?"
Willow followed his gaze, noting that Gunn was on edge and looking for any sign that Giles was not to be trusted alone with the Slayer.
"It's a long story, but here's the short. She is my Mate."
Willow left Giles in the room, open mouthed and returned to her lover's side.
Buffy was awake, but she kept her eyes closed, assessing the situation around her.
"Well?"
She could tell from the tone of his voice, that Angelus had just about reached breaking point.
Willow must have sensed it as well.
"The sun will be up soon, we're done here for tonight. We'll stay at the mansion."
The humans protested at that.
"Will?"
Willow looked over to her oldest friend.
"Xand, its complicated, but I'm not leaving Buffy."
The person in question flinched, but no-one noticed.
Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What do you mean?"
"Buffy, is my Mate. I'm not leaving her."
Xander's forehead creased as he worked out what she was saying. When he did, he exploded.
"You Whore!"
Buffy jumped up and stopped Gunn, who had just lunged at Xander.
Willow turned away from her friends, not wanting them to see her tears.
Angelus stood stock still, knowing that if he moved, blood would be shed.
"Buffy?"
Buffy flinched and turned around to face Willow.
"You should stay here, where you belong."
Willow's already flowing tears fell harder as Buffy turned and walked out of the library.
Wes was the first to follow her, then Penn, then Angelus.
Gunn stayed where he was. He had sworn to protect his Sire's Mate, and he was going to make sure she was okay.
He was the one to catch her as she fell.
By this time Giles had come out from his office and he frowned at seeing her on the floor, crying in the arms of a Vampire.
"Willow?"
Willow looked up at him and he sighed at the misery he saw on her face.
He alone in the room, apart from the Vampire and the Slayer, knew what it was to take a Mate.
"You should go see your mother."
Willow nodded and stood up with the help of Gunn.
Leaning on him for support, she left the library.
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Buffy ran as fast as she could, trying to get as much distance between her and the screaming.
It wouldn't work.
No matter how hard, how fast, or how far she ran, she could never out run them.
They weren't out in the open for all to hear.
They were inside her.
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Angel, Wes and Penn all followed Buffy closely, the former knowing what his Sire was going through.
He hoped she didn't use him as an example.
He had run away, but it had taken him a hundred years to realise that running was futile.
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Joyce woke up to hear banging on her back door.
Getting up, she slipped on her dressing gown and crept downstairs, a baseball bat in her hands.
"Who's there?"
"Mommy?"
The bat fell to the floor as Joyce yanked open the door.
"Willow? Honey is it really you?"
Willow's tears fell harder as she fell into her mothers arms.
Gunn watched from outside as he was unable to enter. He hoped Willow remember soon that the sun was starting to rise, but he wouldn't interrupt this moment for her.
"Mom, can Gunn come in?"
Joyce looked up in alarm at the man... Vampire... before looking into her daughters tear stained face.
She knew Willow could have invited him in herself, but she had asked her mother, out of respect for her.
"Gunn was it? Come inside."
Gunn sighed in relief and dashed in before closing the door, blocking the now dangerous rays of the sun.
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Between the three of them, they had managed to knock Buffy unconscious. None of them believed that she wouldn't try to kill herself again.
They reached the mansion just as the sun broke through.
Before it had risen fully, Buffy was locked into the chains in her old room, for her own safety.
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Everyone in the library watched the sun rise.
Everyone of them dreading what the coming days would bring.
None of the Scoobies saw as one of the Council's men left to make a phone call.
None of them heard his whispered conversation about a Slayer gone rouge.
As the sun rose over Sunnydale, the town seemed to realise that the coming days, weeks and months, were not going to be easy.