Remembrance: chapter 26
by Selene
I have to thank Spikes Bint for once again beta-ing me. She’s the best.
Chapter 26
The surface of the table was scattered with opened tomes and Giles was peering down at one, looking in vain for some sort of prophesy regarding Angel and the sudden resurgence of his evil alter ego. No matter how many times Willow had tried to tell him that Spike knew that it was Angel not Angelus he refused believe it. It seemed that Giles wanted Angel to be Angelus again.
She sighed, “Giles I need your help. We don’t have much time left. Angel is on the loose out there and we have to try to seal as many of the Coven’s rooms from him. I checked up on Margaret and saw that she is doing slightly better but there are all so weak. Giles? Are you listening to me?”
Giles had his face close to a book, scanning rapidly through paragraph after paragraph his finger lightly touching the tome. “Hmmm?... Oh yes, quite right.”
Willow felt her anger rise. That had been close to a dismissive ‘yes, dear’ comment. “Hey! I’m big with the books too Giles but, we have to do something. There are people that need us!”
Giles, glanced up only for a brief moment, but in that moment, she read the fear in his eyes. Evil Angel was back and he had shattered his life once before. The thought that it could happen again terrified him.
She instantly regretted her words and closed the space in between them swiftly. Putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, she felt the connection spring up between them once again. Feeling the need to touch him she shyly leaned into his chest and entwined her arms around his neck. Giles looked at her in surprise and then crushed her to him his arms wrapped tight around her. Tilting her head back, he brushed his lips against hers so lightly, asking permission to continue.
Her eyes fluttered shut and she revelled in the sensations coursing through her. The slightest brush of his lips had her trembling. Giles waited, hoping that he hadn’t made a mistake. When Willow tentatively opened her mouth against his it was as if the world had exploded. The loud groan that rang through the room was hers. Shocked at her overwhelming response she stepped back and put a trembling hand to her mouth. Giles ran his hand soothingly down her arm as he tried to control himself from pulling her back into his arms. A huge smile lit up her face and Giles ended up chuckling too.
“Well that was unexpected?”
She nodded her head and whispered, “But nice. Extremely nice.”
Giles caught her softly spoken words and growled half hopeful, “Unless you want to continue where we left off, I suggest that we gather the ingredients for the warding spell and get on with it.”
Willow noticed that his hands were shaking ever so slightly. The realization that she had affected him, made her smile grow. Turning her thoughts to the task in front of her, she motioned to the stuff that she wanted Giles to go through. She heard him sigh and almost laughed at the resigned look on his face.
She was glad that he was here with her. Having gone through one episode with Angelus was enough. Even now with her power to help her through it, this time she felt a thrill of fear snake through her when she thought of Angel and evil together.
What Giles was feeling had to be a thousand times worse. The physical pain that Angelus had put him through was horrible. The bruises and cuts had taken months to heal completely. It was the mental torment that he had been put through that had left a lasting mark.
After Jenny’s death, it had been a very rough time for them all. Willow had loved her and they had become very close friends. Buffy had felt responsible. Giles, well, he had gone through each day afterwards but he had seemed empty. Her heart ached for him knowing how he had felt when he lost Jenny. Tara wasn’t such a distant memory.
She shook off her thoughts and focused on her task at hand. She walked over to the cupboards where the coven kept some of their extra supplies. She snatched up some charcoal for the brazier, holy water, some amber, obsidian, sardonyx and a perfect blood red ruby. Trying to balance all of the supplies, she didn’t notice the library door open and close. Giles was placing the items he had gathered in a small box and turned to help her.
Willow saw the look on his face and froze. All the blood had drained from his countenance and he leaned heavily on the table next to him. The feeling of ultimate terror overcame her. She always wondered why, in all of the movies she had seen, that the victim never ran or did anything to save herself.
She finally had the answer. Her mouth opened, but no sound would come out. A small squeak was all that she managed. She could feel his presence behind her; though he had made no more to even touch her. The stones that she had grabbed fell out of her hand and rattled as they hit the floor. The sound startled her from the fear-induced inaction. She grasped the holy water vial and flipped off the stopper in the confusion of the moment. She felt strong hand caress her cheek.
Giles was trying unobtrusively to locate anything he could use as a weapon on the tabletop. He couldn’t begin working any spell. One word and Angel would snap her neck like a twig. He stopped moving. Angel would love the fact that he was causing as much pain as possible and would hopefully draw this out. Each second that passed was another chance for Willow’s survival and he wasn’t going to jeopardize it for anything.
Angel smiled coldly at Giles. Willow was the only one he had to worry about and one word from her and she would be history. Now that the Coven’s magic had been expended from Giles at the battle site he wanted to toy with him a little. Giles, the Watcher, always lording it over everyone else. Never admitting to his own mistakes and blood that was on his hands was no less red than the blood singing through his veins.
Slowly leaning into Willow’s small frame, he draped an arm around her chest hovering over her vulnerable neck. “What’s the matter guys... Aren’t you glad to see me?”
He had felt the tension in the air between the two of them since he’d snuck in and they practically reeked of each other. This was going to be sweeter than doing Gunn. He knew that he didn’t have much time, but he figured that Spike would be trying to help out Gunn. Out of the people that had survived Wolfram & Hart, Gunn was the closest to Spike. They had hung out at some local dive after work and surprisingly for Gunn he had no problem getting along with that vampire.
‘Yeah, Spikey-boy won’t be coming to help them anytime soon. Time for play...’
“What do you think you are doing Angel?” She tried to play dumb hoping that he would play along.
“What does it look like I am doing Willow? Hey, Giles, I know that you like to watch so I thought that you might want to see what happens when a vampire tastes a witch.”
His head dipped low and he ran his tongue along the throbbing vein in her neck. He could smell the fear coming off her and there was the faint scent of strawberries. “Ummm... Yum!”
Eyes locked on Giles, he noted the pained reaction that he tried to keep hidden. The subtle clenching of his fists and the muscle ticking at his jaw was the only give away. He had to hand it to the old Watcher’s Council they really had drilled control into this one.
Dredging up old memories that he had locked away in shame, Angel went for the figurative jugular, “You know what I am thinking? Roses are out of season this time of year I might have some trouble getting them from the garden. We might just have to make do with a nice chilled bottle of Champagne. I can tell that Willow is going to look so good all snuggled up in your bed Rupert... What do you think?”
His eyes became golden and his face shifted to reveal his true nature. Grasping a fistful of her hair he yanked her head to the side and lowered his head to sink his fangs in.
That Angel had the nerve to mention what he had done to Jenny was almost too much for him. Alluding to what he had in store for Willow made him sick to his stomach with fear. Giles hand came up in supplication, the black feeling of terror churning through him. A horror laced, “No...” slipped past Giles lips before he could stop it.
Angel hesitated soaking in the agonizing fear that was coming from Giles. There wasn’t anything sweeter than that. The pain and sheer terror before the kill was what he lived for. Having someone that cared for the prey only heightened the overall sensation bringing undiluted ecstasy.
Willow had waited until the last moment to use the holy water, knowing that if she missed him then she would have no other weapon at her ready disposal. Her head was pulled painfully to the side so she figured that she would have a good chance to hit him if she tossed the contents straight back. Hoping for the best she flung it over her shoulder.
Angel felt the red-hot liquid sear his flesh. He should have known that the little bitch would try something like that. The smell and the feel of his flesh bubbling and peeling brought back the terrifying memory of being consumed by the dragon fire and his hold on her faltered for a second. He could feel her frantically struggling to free herself and almost laughed in spite of the pain.
The laughter died in his throat when she was pulled out of his grasp. Looking out of his good eye, he saw Spike standing in front of him.
A/N: Please review...
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