SPOILERS: This takes place after Angel loses his soul but before Becoming, which never happened in my 'verse. I will keep and discard Buffy lore as I see fit.

Part 6

Willow awoke the following morning feeling more relaxed and refreshed than she had in weeks. Stretching languidly, Willow slowly arose and made her way into the bathroom adjoining her bedroom. Willow smiled a secret grin meant only for her as she realized she as in dire need of a good shower. Whatever her dreams were of last night, she knew they had been good ones. The physical evidence lay between her legs and on her panties.

Willow carefully stripped out of her sweaty nightgown and damp panties and stepped into the shower. The hot water felt great against her skin and Willow took time and care in washing her body with the scented oils and bath gels Lydia kept stocked in each bathroom. It was an indulgence Willow didn’t normally partake in, but she found that, every once in awhile, it worked wonders on making her feel sexy and beautiful. Today it worked on making Willow feel as if she was a different person. She felt different, as if today was the first day of the rest of her life. Willow knew she was on the road to recovery.

Stepping gingerly out of the bathtub, Willow dug her toes into the white shag carpet and wrapped herself in a huge terrycloth towel. Using the palm of her hand to wipe the steam off the ornate, gilded mirror, Willow stared at her reflection for a moment before reaching for her brush. Humming softly, Willow began to gently comb the tangles from her long hair, brushing the strands away from her face. Willow quickly became lost in thoughts of what the rest of the summer would bring and whether all her credits would transfer over to her new high school in London when she began the fall semester. She was jarred back to the present by a small trail of blood that had begun to form on her neck. Panicked, Willow gathered a wad of toilet paper from the roll and quickly smeared the blood away, leaving the porcelain white skin of her neck tinged rose.

A deadly calm stole over Willow as she raised trembling fingers to lightly caress the twin bite marks that marred her flawless skin. With each brush of her fingertips, flashes of memory eclipsed all of Willow’s thoughts. Images revealed themselves in succession, dropping light stones in the clear pools of Willow’s mind. Strong hands on her body, dark eyes filling her field of vision. Fingertips on her eyelids; an all consuming fire building from the point of contact of Angelus’ thrusting erection and Willow’s quivering vagina, spreading though out her belly until her entire body felt as if it was going up in flames. And finally, the familiar burn as fangs pierced her skin and blood flowed like wine.

Willow rubbed at the twin wounds, feeling baffled by their presence. Last night had only been a dream, hadn’t it? Willow could have sworn it had been, but then that didn’t explain the physical evidence to the contrary. <Maybe I’m just hallucinating. Yeah, that could be it. To many moccachinos before bed- that always does it. >

As Willow relived the previous night’s dream in her mind, the memories of her brief waking moments before dawn came back to her. Bursting through the bathroom door and back into her bedroom, Willow raced over to her stereo and, fumbling, pressed the CD eject button. Her breaths coming in ragged bursts, Willow could only stare at the silver Phil Collins CD starring up at her. As a numb shock coursed through her veins, making her blood run cold, Willow automatically closed the CD player and, after 2 quick movements, waited numbly for the song to begin.

Willow let the song play as she quickly dressed in clothes she found strewn against an armchair in the corner of the room. Barefoot, Willow left the room in search of Lydia. Though Willow was on the verge of hysterical terror over what all these signs might mean, she refused to break down until she had spoken to Lydia. Even if Lydia did not give her the answer she wanted to hear, she would be able to calm Willow down, as always.

Willow found the Watcher curled up on the red damask sofa that adorned the mansion’s main living room. She was engrossed in the readings from a standard manila file folder, undoubtedly the latest update from Giles, possibly even copies of his recent entries into the Watcher’s Diary. Lydia would never let Willow read them, though she always let Willow know any pertinent Angelus information they contained. Willow wondered if there was any new info now.

"Lydia…" The Watcher glanced up at the young witch, removing her eyeglasses as she closed the folder and placed it on the table beside her. When she had her attention, Willow continued. "Have you heard from Giles this morning?"

"Why no Willow, I haven’t. But I wasn’t expecting to. Why do you ask?"

Willow’s let out a trembling breath, her words strained. "Well, could you please call him and ask him if Angelus has left town in the past couple of days?"

Lydia, realizing how upset and serious Willow was, immediately reached for the phone and began to dial. She kept the conversation short, with one of the usual flirting and quick repartee that usually accompanied Lydia and Giles’ conversations. When she hung up, Lydia turned to Willow. "Angelus is still in Sunnydale. Buffy last had an encounter with him last night. There is also no talk of him planning any trips of any kind and no unusual movements on his part. In other words, there is no sign that he suspects where you are hidden. Now, do you feel like telling me what’s gotten you so upset this morning or would you rather not talk about it."

Willow knew Lydia wouldn’t press the issue, but she wanted to tell her, to try and make sense of the whole thing. Allowing what Lydia had said to sink in, Willow sat down and collected her thoughts before speaking. More confused, and perhaps more terrified than before, Willow told Lydia the whole story, leaving out only the part about her pledging herself to Angelus.

Willow had never admitted to Lydia the desire Angelus invoked inside her; or the fact that there were times, late at night, when Willow would think about Angelus and feel that familiar kindling of desire that only his touch could induce. Or that, mixed up with her hatred, and fear, and self disgust, lay an insane, irrational, and powerful schoolgirl crush on a creature that could be described as no less than a monster. Willow knew better than anyone that there was no changing Angelus’ nature. He was a creature who didn’t know the meaning of compassion or gentleness. But it was the Neile old tale, one that women had fallen victim to for ages: The taming of the wild beast by the beautiful maiden. Though she’d never admit it, and she doubted anyone wold ever believe smart, shy, little Willow could have such foolish fantasies, in her silly romantic heart, Willow ached to be Angelus’ lover and demon tamer.

Not that those secret desires prevented Willow’s rational mind from working. She knew they were only part of a fantasy- one she didn’t think she’d ever even want to fully act on. They were the dreams of a romantic heart, born from the repressed part of Willow’s psyche that craved danger and excitement that kept Willow close to the slayer despite the life threatening existence it supplied. There was a wild and sexy aspect to Willow’s soul that was just waiting for the right moment or the right person, to open the door on and release into the wild. The part that Angelus had begun to tap into with his games. The part that couldn’t help but become turned on when Angelus had handled her roughly and drained her to the point of unconsciousness.

Last night, that side of Willow had taken control, which was okay if it had all just been a dream. Dreams didn’t have to affect your regular life and so a person could give themselves over to unbidden desires, as Willow had. As Willow finished telling Lydia her story, she waited anxiously for Lydia to reassure her that everything was all right and the old, reliable Willow had nothing to fear from her brazen counterpart.

When Lydia finally spoke her words came out carefully, as if she was carefully considering each thought. "It sounds to me like a form of magic. We know Angelus couldn’t have been in Sunnydale last night and in your bedroom this morning, at least, not physically. The only way he could have done what he did is by some form of magic. I’ve heard of stories such as this one before. I’ll have to pull up the accounts from the Council database. Typically, the person performing the ritual to project themselves across space and time is an experienced witch or at least has a witch in their service. Most of the accounts are almost identical to yours- young women who were visited in the night by a vampire who proceeded to seduce them in order to steal their blood. The women always thought it was a dream but the following morning they’d awake to find bite marks on their skin. The last account I can recall of this ritual actually being used is centuries old, but again I’ll have to search out the specific reference from the database." Lydia paused to collect her thoughts. "What worries me about this is the fact that, despite all our knowledge, we’ve underestimated Angelus once again. For one, it is obvious he has a very powerful witch in his service. Second, we’ve kept you physically from him but now even physical distance is not keeping you safe. And finally, I think we all underestimated your importance in Angelus’ eyes. We assumed that you were merely a pawn in his game to pay Buffy back, and that if you were taken out of the picture then he’d just use some other way to get to her. But it seems that’s not quite the case. Angelus is obviously not letting you go. He’s either considering you property that was stolen from him, or he became quite attached to you during your captivity. From the encounter you described to me last night, I’d lean towards the latter, but then who can ever really believe anything a demon says. That could have just been another game to torment you."

Though Willow was listening quietly, her thoughts were racing a mile a minute. She didn’t say anything but, deep down, Willow knew Angelus had spoken the truth to her. She had felt the truth of his words as he had said them. Lydia went on.

"I’m very worried about this Willow. I’d like to go straight to headquarters where I can consult with the other Council members and do some research. Then we can sit down and decide how you want to handle this. If you want to leave here, I’ll understand and make sure we find a safe place for you, but no matter where you go we’re gonna have to find a spell to shield you from any magic Angelus may try to use on you."

Willow nodded, not saying anything because she really wasn’t sure what to say. Her mind was still jumbled with all that was happening. After 6 months of being haunted by nothing more than the demons in her own mind, Willow was too shocked to believe this was all real. Without saying a word, Willow followed Lydia out of the living room to prepare for the drive in to London.