AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS IS A SEQUEL TO GILLIAN'S SECRET!! Sorry for the caps.This happens about two weeks after Gillian’s Secret, and Gillian's living in what was Angel's apartment. The third season never ever ever happened. As faras this fic is concerned, Angel is still in Hell. Although Joyce knows about Buffy'sslaying and stuff.

"I’d give my all to haveJust one more night with youI’d risk my life to feelYour body next to mine‘Cuz I can’t go onLiving in the memory of our songI’d give my all for your love tonight."

-My All: Mariah Carey

Gillian shifted uncomfortably on the bed and her eyes snapped open

she thought to herself, shaking the images of the strange dream she had just had from her head.

she told herself

Gillian sniffed the air warily.

The vampire sat up and looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary

Then she saw it. An orange flame was flickering by the door, inching its way to a stream of liquid on the floor

Gillian thought, shocked. The place was soaked in it, and that was what she had been smelling

She frantically glanced at the clock and cursed. 2:03pm. The sun was up, greatly minimizing her chances of escape. Now how was she supposed to get out of here?

she pleaded. She always talked to her dead family when she was in trouble

Then, suddenly, Gillian heard a crack and a panel in the wall behind her that she didn't even know was there opened. She whirled around and saw a figure wearing in dark jeans, a dark sweatshirt, and a ski mask.

"Gillian, come with me."

Gillian was unable to tell whether the voice was male or female, much less who it was. But still she obeyed. She was crawling towards the panel when she remembered

"The paintings!" she cried. "I need them."

Gillian started crawling across the floor to the desk where she had found them nights before.

"Gillian, stop!" the figure cried, still disguising its voice

The flames hit the gasoline and began to spread rapidly around the room. Gillian grabbed the two paintings and, just as her hand left the desk, the desk burst into flames.

Gillian looked around and realized she was trapped. The fire was cutting off her means of escape

Just then the dark figure burst through the flames and scooped the Slayer vampire up in a fireman's hold and ran towards the open panel with her, shutting the door behind them

"God, why'd you do that?" the figure panted

"I needed them. W--who are you?"

The figure ignored her question. "Go this way," it pointed, "and you should find a sewer system. As soon as the sun sets, you can get out."

Gillian looked in the direction the figure was pointing. "But who--" she broke off when she turned around. The figure was gone. Vanished into thin air

"You say he knew who you are?" Giles asked Gillian, that night at the library. Buffy was also there

"I didn't say I knew it was a he," Gillian said

Giles sighed. "Well, then IT knew who you are?

Gillian nodded. "Uh-huh. And it seemed pretty intent on my getting out of there alive."

"We need to figure out who it is," Giles said

"I think that is the least of our concerns right now. We need to figure out who tried to kill me last night," Gillian pointed out

"No one tried to kill you necessarily," Buffy spoke up

"Oh, they weren't trying to kill me, they were trying to keep me warm," Gillian said sarcastically

"No, Buffy has a point," Giles admitted. "It could easily have been arsonists, or maybe a vampire who doesn't know Angel is--" Giles paused, remembering the tender feelings of the girls in the room, "--not here and has a grudge against him."

Gillian shrugged in semi-acceptance

"Did you have a theory, Gillian?" Buffy asked

"I kinda sorta thought it was Spike. He hates me as much as I hate him. I have no clue why, though."

Giles sighed. "Possibly. I had Willow come to the library today and she helped me with the spell to get Angel out of Hell."

"Does she think we can do it?" Buffy asked hopefully

Giles sighed. "Yes, we just need a little more information about the exact ritual. All we know is that it has to be done on a special day, and that day is next Saturday."

Buffy and Gillian both sat up straighter and smiled excitedly at each other. Right now they didn't care that Angel would eventually have to choose one over the other. They were too intent on getting him back

"But . . ." Giles said

"Uh-oh," Gillian said. "But is the one of the worst things to say."

Buffy nodded. "Right up there with as long as nothing bad happens."

Giles sighed, not in the mood for jokes. "It involves some--sacrifices."

"As in killing people?" Gillian asked, raising her eyebrows. "We could always use Spike."

"No," Giles responded. "Not as in killing people. Whoever performs the ceremony will have to suffer greatly. I'm still not sure how, though. It has to do with facing their worst nightmares."

Buffy shrugged. "Call me Gillian, but we could tie up Spike and force him to do the ceremony."

Gillian laughed and Giles put in, "It has to be done by someone who loves him."

Gillian and Buffy sobered and looked at each other.

"That would have to be one of us," Gillian said

Buffy nodded. "I guess."

Giles sighed and looked at the clock. "Didn't I hear the two of you talking about Bronze plans?"

The Slayers also looked at the clock. "Oh we're late," Buffy said

"See ya tomorrow, Giles," Gillian added as the two girls walked out of the library

"And where have my two favorite Slayers been?" Xander asked as Gillian and Buffy walked up to the Scooby Gang's table at the Bronze

Gillian smiled at Willow, Oz, Cordelia, and Xander in greeting, then said, "Talking to Giles. Someone burned down Angel's apartment."

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Willow asked, concerned

Gillian nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Some dude in dark clothes came and saved me. It was weird."

"Giles said you helped him with the spell," Buffy said to Willow

Willow nodded, but Oz said, "Spell? What spell? I think I missed something again."

"Giles found a spell to get Angel out of Hell," the vampire supplied for the werewolf

"So . . . you're going to do it?" Xander asked, a hint of . . . well, something in his voice

"If we can figure it out all the way, of course we are," Buffy said, a hint of . . . something else in her voice

"Did Giles tell you about the . . . sacrifice thing?" Willow questioned

The Slayers nodded and Cordelia said, "Eww, sacrifices?"

Gillian sighed impatiently. "Not sacrifices. The person who performs the ceremony has to--in Giles' words--"suffer greatly." They have to face their worst nightmares or something."

"Either Gillian or I has to do the ceremony, since we love him," Buffy said

"Well, I'll come to the library tomorrow so we can finish this discussion, but that's not why we came to the Bronze, now is it?" Xander asked, shaking his finger at the three girls caring about Angel

Gillian smiled. "Guess not."

"You wanna dance?" Xander asked Gillian

Gillian glanced at Cordelia, who said, "I'm used to it," then shrugged

"Sure, Xander."

Gillian and Xander walked out to the dance floor, and the figure watched. It watched Gillian, happy to see her so happy. But it worried. It worried what would happen to Gillian when the ritual was performed. What they didn't know yet was this: whoever performed the ritual could easily die. It didn't want that for Gillian. It had known Gillian forever and looked after her just as long. No, it sure didn't want that for Gillian. Never

"Oh! Oh!"

Gillian , Buffy, and Xander looked up from their books at Willow, who was sitting at the computer

"What?" Gillian and Buffy asked

"Oh."

This 'Oh' was as worried as the first had been excited

This time Xander asked, "What?"

Willow looked up at her three friends with a worried expression on her face. "Oh, it's just that, well, ughh."

"Oh. Okay," Xander said. "I get it now. It's ughh!"

Gillian got up and stood behind Willow, reading over her shoulder. "I woulda gone with dyuua!"

"Just tell us what it is," Buffy pleaded with the two

Gillian took a deep breath, then said, "Well, whoever performs the spell has to actually go into Hell and convince Angel he isn't seeing an illusion, then get him back out the same way they went in."

"That sounds--kinda hard," Buffy said

Gillian chuckled. "Oh, that's not all. To get into Hell, you have to shed blood, and to get back out, the two of you have to shed fresh blood."

"Which one of you decided to do it?" Xander asked. "I mean, if you both love him, it can work either way."

"No, they don't have to actually love him," Willow spoke up. "But they do have to be able to convince him that they aren't an illusion, and quickly. You have to do the spell during the witching hour, so we have to do it in between midnight and one."

Xander shrugged. "Well, what happens if one of these guys gets in there and doesn't get out by one?"

Gillian took a deep breath. "You only get one shot. If we don't make it this time, whoever goes in there is stuck in there forever."

"What do you mean you're more in tune with him?" The outraged voice of the Slayer rang through the cemetery

"All I'm saying is that I might be able to convince him better than I'm not an illusion," Gillian replied softly. The two were sitting on the ground by a grave out of which a vampire was about to rise

"Excuse me, but he thinks you're dead--remember?" Buffy said

"Yeah, well, I still think I can convince him I'm alive and I'm real, and have him out of there before you can convince him you're real," Gillian replied, anger slowly seeping into her voice

"Are you saying that you love him more than me?" Buffy cried, standing up

"I never said that!" Gillian also stood up

"But that was what you were thinking, wasn't it?" Then in an imitation of Gillian, "Oh, little Buffy has no clue what she's talking about. She's just a child!"

"I wasn't thinking that!"

"Oh, yeah? Me and Angel were perfectly happy until you had to come and ruin it!"

"Well, where's Angel?! For you to be happy, he'd have to be out of Hell and, let's face it, Buffy, he's never gonna get out of Hell without me!"

"Oh, sure! I could do this on my own just as easily as I can with you in my way!"

"What about when he DOES get out, huh? Who's he gonna choose? Someone he met a year ago or someone he's known and loved for seventy-some years? I sure know who I'd choose!"

"You wanna make something of it?"

"Come on, right here!"

At that moment, the vampire in the grave popped out and tackled Gillian. Too bad he didn't know that this was the WRONG time to mess with her

Gillian slammed his face into his own grave and kicked him hard in the groin before staking him. Then the Slayer vampire turned to Buffy

The Slayers looked at each other. "I--I'm sorry, Gillian," Buffy finally said

Gillian smiled. "Me, too."

"I just--I want Angel back so bad."

"I know. So do I."

The Slayers smiled at each other, not quite accepting the truce, as they headed back towards the library

"So, do you know which one of you is going to endure blinding torment and pain to go into Hell and bring out someone you’re not even sure will love you afterwards?" Cordelia asked the next night at the Bronze

"Is the word ‘tact’ even in your vocabulary?" Xander asked his girlfriend, shaking his head

Buffy got a somewhat worried look on her face, as if suddenly realizing just what this was going to take. But Gillian’s face and eyes were determined.

"Cordelia’s right," Gillian pointed out. "This is gonna take a lot. But I’ll do whatever it takes."

Buffy shook out of her thoughts and said, "Me, too." Fortunately for her, no one heard the fearful tremor in her voice

"Giles said he wanted all six of us to meet at his house tonight so we could talk about stuff," Willow said

"I’m there," Oz put in

"Yeah, me too," Xander added. "Cordy?"

Cordelia looked around at the five looked at her expectantly. Then she sighed and said, "All right. Fine. I’ll go. But if I have dark circles under my eyes tomorrow, it’s your fault!"

Gillian walked through the cemetery, alone. She had told the others to go ahead to Giles’ house and she’d make a few passes in the cemetery before catching up with them

Now as she stalked through the older section of the cemetery, she stumbled over a rock. Gillian glanced down and rolled her eyes at herself for being so retarded

As she looked back up, her gaze traveled over the gravestone next to her. She slowly sank to her knees in front of the grave

It read: "Joshua Michael Richardson 1912-1924 Beloved son and brother Rest In Peace."

It was Gillian’s little brothers’ grave

"Oh, look. It’s a family reunion."

Gillian’s eyes widened and she took a deep breath before standing up. "Hello, Spike." Only then did she turn around to face him

"You’re supposed to be dead."

"You should know by now that fires and me really don’t mix. Not very original of you, Spike."

"Well, I panicked. How would you like to know that right after you get rid of one mortal enemy, you have to fight his girlfriend—s?"

"What are you doing here, Spike?"

"I have to kill you, Gillian. It’s my destiny."

"Can we lay off the small talk and get to the killing, then?" Gillian asked sarcastically

"Not tonight, Slayer. But your time will come." And with that, he was gone

"You’re imagining things, Buff," Xander said. He Cordelia, Buffy, Willow, Oz and Giles were all at Giles’ house

"No, I’m not! C’mon guys, you can’t tell me none of you noticed her dangerous obsession with Angel!" Buffy cried

"Oh, you know, like yours?" Cordelia asked

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! This is different! There’s at least SOMETHING weird about her!"

"She loves Angel, and so do you," Willow pointed out

"Yeah, two people in love with that freak is pretty weird to me," Xander stated

"That’s not my point. My point is that you guys are bound to argue. I mean, if we get HER alone, she’ll probably end up talking about you."

Buffy was about to say something, but just them the doorbell rang

Giles headed towards the door and said, "Hello, Gillian, you may come in."

Gillian smiled at the Watcher and walked into his apartment. "Hey, guys," she said. "What’s up?"

Buffy shrugged. "Nothing."

"Now, I’ve done some thinking," Giles spoke up, sitting down, "and I think I’ve decided which of you two should, ahum perform the ceremony."

Gillian and Buffy looked at each other

"Now, personally I feel that since Gillian is, after all, Angel’s, ahum, soulmate he would be more likely to believe—"

"Excuse me, but he thinks she’s dead," Buffy broke in

Giles held up a hand. "That is only one of my points. Another is that, with no offense to you, Buffy, that Gillian is stronger and would probably be more able to face the demons that are sure to be lying in wait for her."

"Why would they be waiting for her?" Xander asked

"Saturday is the one night out of the year in which someone from Earth can enter hell. Without something like Acathla, of course. And all the demons know it," Giles said

"B—but Gillian’s lived longer than me and she probably has more nightmares to face," Buffy said

Giles sighed, trying to come up with an answer for that one

"He’s right. I should go," Gillian put in

"But I think that—" Buffy protested

"Without Angel I’m nothing," Gillian said quietly, staring at nothing. "You have something to live for, Buffy." The vampire looked up at Buffy. "Your friends, your family. I don’t have any of that—not anymore. Whoever goes after Angel could die, and if anyone’s gonna die, it’s gonna be me. I’m the one who should go after Angel. Believe me, I have nothing left to lose."