"So, how do you think you did on your exam?" Willow asked Oz as they made their way towards the library.
"I'm not sure. I think I passed, and you?" Oz replied. He pushed open the library door, letting Willow enter first.
"I know I passed. It was easy. I gave my computer class their exam and they did well on it." She smiled, please at how well she taught class. And they actually listened.
Oz smiled back. He was proud of her. He knew she was close to Mrs. Calendar and it amazed him how she could still teach her class despite of that. He set his books down on the table and Willow did the same.
Giles walked out of his office into the main room. He had a fairly thick book in his hand.
"Did you get any leads on where they might be?" Willow asked the Watcher.
He adjusted his glasses. He sat on the table, looking at Willow and Xander. "No. Not yet." He then started flipping through the book, looking for something. Or trying to.
"What are you looking for?" Willow asked. She was curious, wondering if she could help.
"N..nothing really. I'm just browsing through the old watcher diaries." He got up and walked over to the check out desk.
"Oh."
"Where's Kendra?" Oz asked. He was used to seeing the Slayer around. Either Slayer.
Giles nodded towards his office. "Sleeping," he took a sip of his coffee.
Willow made a sorrow-filled face. "She must of had a hard night. How many vamps?" She knew that if Kendra was sleeping, she must of had one hell of a workout last night.
"None." Giles spat out. Willow and Oz looked at him, confused. "She was too busy using me as a practice dummy. He turned and walked to his office. It was then that she saw dark blue and black bruise on his neck.
* * *
The sun shined on a building. A mansion made out of gray stone, stood alone in the country. The yard was over grown with tall weeds and grasses. The few flowers that were scattered about barley added any color to the plain scene. Vines grew up the walls of the mansion, reaching towards the sky. Sone covered large sections of the wall, letting none of the wall show.
Inside, the place was beautiful, despite it's outer appearance. Candles were lit to give off a dim glow, but just enough for someone to see around the place. A figure walked across the main room to a corner. A crib was nestled into it.
Buffy placed the baby into the crib. A girl. She bent down and kissed her. A song came to her head, not knowing where from, but decided to sing it. She always sung to the baby when she put it down to nap or sleep. Despite if she was off tune.
***From this moment life has begun
From this moment you are the one
Right beside you is where I belong
From this moment on
From this moment I have been blessed
I live only for your happiness
And for your love I'd give my last breath
From this moment on
I give my hand to you with all my heart
Can't wait to live my life with you can't wait to start
You and I will never be apart
My dreams came true because of you***
She gasped as hands encircled her waste. She turned around to face Angel. Now was good of a time as any to ask him all of her questions. She took his hand and pulled him over to the couch and sat down.
"Angel, why can't I go outside?" Buffy asked.
He'd been planing this answer for a while, now. "Because," he began, "I don't want anyone to get you." *Or you to run away.*
"Oh. And why is it that you only go out at night?" she asked. She had always wondered this for a while, but never thought of asking him until she had flashes of what she thought to be her life before she lost her memory.
"It's less crowded when I go out. I don't like a lot of people around me." he replied, smiling. He wasn't prepared for that question. *She's getting her memory back.* It took him a while to figure it out. *I'll have to do something about that.*
"I see." she understood, but she didn't quite believe it. She couldn't. Something inside her told her that he was lying, that he's been a fake.
Angelus planned this moment. The moment when he's make her one of him. Letting her remember everything and then 'killing' her. He didn't want another Drusilla. He didn't need one. "I have a surprise for you." he smiled, fooling her.
"Really?" Buffy smiled and her eyes lit up, forgetting for conversation they had. Her eyes always did when someone wanted to give her a surprise. She pushed the conversation on, wanting to know what her surprise. "And what's my surprise?"
"Follow me." They got up and he led her to a door. It was made out of steel with a window, bars covering it. "It's right in here. Just go on in." He opened the door and the room was dark.
"But it's dark. I can't see." Buffy protested. Something didn't feel right about this.
"That's part of the surprise. Don't worry, nothing will bite." he said. Buffy had a deja vu. A vision. Her in an alley, standing over someone who looked like Angel. *Don't worry, I don't bite.* She shook it off and went into the room. She walked in farther, wanting to find her present. Suddenly, she heard the door shut. She turned around quickly, only to see that Angel was on the other side.
*That stupid slayer. Soon enough she'll remember, and then she'll remember what it was like to die.* He locked the door. Angel peered in, watching her rush up to the door.
"What are you doing?" she cried. Buffy grabbed the bars with both hands.
"I can't let you out. I'm afraid you might go outside. I wouldn't want you to go away." he lied.
"Let me out! I'm not going to go outside!" Tears fell from her eyes. She didn't understand why he would do this. He turned away and walked half way across the room. And then he turned around, facing her. "Oh, and if you need light in there, there's a candle in there and one match. There's a bed in the corner if you need to sleep." Angel turned away and started walking, until he was out of sight.
Buffy cried, still holding onto the bars. Hopeful that he would return, only making this a joke. She waited, crying out his name. After a while, she stopped. *He's not coming back* she thought. She turned away, slowly making her way to a corner, hoping that there was a bed there, like he had said. She found it, laid down and cried herself to sleep.
* * *
"I want you all to read chapters fifteen through seventeen in your books. You will be tested on those chapters on Monday." Willow said to her class. The bell rang, signaling the end of school, and all of her students filed out the door. Willow went and sat at her desk, grading some papers.
Oz entered her class. He looked at Willow. She was bent over her desk, writing something down. "Hey." He said, walking towards her. Willow looked up, smiling at Oz. "Oh, hey. What's up?"
"Nothing really. I was just hoping that we could hang or something."
"Yeah. I just have to grade a few papers," she gestured towards the papers on her desk. "if you don't mind waiting. You can pull up a seat."
"Thanks." he pulled a seat up to her desk. "So how are things going?"
"Just fine." she graded a paper and set it aside, and then graded another. "I'm getting the hang of this stuff. I love it."
"I'm glad. You seem to be doing well." he smiled. He loved the way she did things, even grading papers. Her face was just so cute.
"Thanks." she finished grading the last one she had. Willow put them in a folder and sat there, thinking. She put her hands on her desk.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked, curious what was on her mind.
"Just think. Buffy has her baby, right now. It's probably around a few weeks old, isn't it great?" she asked smiling. Her eyes were bright, glowing almost. She was so happy for Buffy, if only they knew were she was.
"If she's still alive. We don't know even if she alive." he said, trying to get her to realize that. Willow glared at him, making her arm shove some of her stuff off the desk. She and Oz bent down, picking up the things quickly. He set everything on top of her desk, where she put the other stuff. "Sorry." he said, apologizing for upsetting her. "Willow, we don't know if she is and you have to accept that." Oz was always the reasonable one.
"I know. I just don't want to think of that." she said.
"What's on that disk?" he asked, looking at the yellow disk. He didn't notice it on the desk before.
Willow put on a curious face. "I don't know," she replied. She took the disk and slipped it into her lap top. "It probably belonged to Mrs. Calendar." They both waited for the computer to bring up what it had on it.
"What do you think is on it? I know you probably went through most of her disks for class."
"Probably just some assignments." They both watched the screen as it brought up a file. "Oh my god." Both of their eyes widen with surprise.
* * *
"Giles!" Willow and Oz walked into the library. Willow had the disk and a printout of something in her hands.
"Yes?" he said coming out of his office. Kendra was right behind his with a stake in one hand and a knife and the other. Xander entered the library, walking right past Willow, Oz, and Giles. "Nice knife," he told Kendra as he passed her and sat down at the table.
"This is it. The curse. Mrs. Calendar was working on it." Willow handed him the printout. Giles looked over it.
"Yes. She seemed to want to restore Angel's soul." Giles said, not wanting to remember Jenny.
ander stood up. "But Angel killed her before she could curse him. Not surprising."
"I want to try this curse. I want to restore Angel's soul. I mean if he's with Buffy, he wouldn't hurt her or anything, if we did this in time." Willow said.
"Yes, it seemed that Jenny wanted to do that, but didn't get a chance to." Giles held back tears. He didn't want to really do this curse because Angel killed her. But he would do what Jenny wanted to do.
"Are you saying that you want to curse him so we can get soul-boy back?" Xander said angrily. "That's all everyone would want. He murdered Mrs. Calendar. He should pay." He was disgusted.
"Xander, it wasn't his fault." Oz said, trying to calm him down.
"Oh, so now everyone's for him, huh?"
"Angel's suffered enough. Don't you think that's why he has a curse? He'll only be killing more if we leave him as he is." Willow fought back.
"I think we should try the curse." Kendra spoke up.
"You all make me sick." Xander said as he got his stuff and went out the library.
"I need an Orb of Thesulah." Willow said, getting back on topic.
"I have one. I've been using it as a book holder." He went into his office and brought back the Orb. It appeared to be just a glass ball.
"Okay. Once we have all this, we need a place and then we can do this curse. How about Giles' house?"
"Okay. I'll get all the stuff required and we meet at my place tomorrow night at seven." Giles said. Willow handed Giles the printout. They all agreed and left.
* * *
Buffy awoke. She opened her eyes, looking into darkness, except for the little light coming through the bars. She sat up, remember her dream. Perhaps they were from her previous life. She remembered a word that someone had said to her. Umpire? No. Vampire. Yes, that was the word. Her dreams showed her faces. Hidious and disfigured faces that went away when the sun rose. That she supposed, was a vampire. She also fought these vampires, killing them with a...stick? That sounded stupid, but it was what she dreamed of. She knew she must of did this often for her to remember it.
And people. An old guy wearing tweed. Her father? She shook her head. She couldn't remember. She stood up and walked to the door, peering out the bars. She looked to the corner to see Angel playing with the baby.
"Angel," she spoke softly. "Let me see her. Let me see Dominique." she begged. He placed Dominique down and walked towards where Buffy was. "I see you're awake."
"Let me see her." Buffy said angrily. "I don't care if you lock me up, but let me see her."
"You can't tell me what to do, can you? Nothing you can do, either." Angel smirked. He could care less about her. As soon as she remembered everything, he would kill her.
"Angel, at least tell me what time it is. I'm getting hungry." she said. Buffy was going to find a way out. Since he only went out at night. Then, something clicked. Night and vampire. Was Angel a vampire? Maybe.
"Why, it's early morning. Six o'clock." he replied. He turned and went to go get her something to eat.
Buffy watched him leave and then scooted over to the end of the bars. She saw only the crib. Disappointed, she walked over to the bed and sat down. She looked at the solid gray wall the surrounded her, looking for a way out. She sighed and held her head back, closing her eyes. She opened her eyes and noticed a window. It was blocked with boards. It was high enough to where she could jump, but she had no way of getting the board out.
"Here." Angel said, startling her. He held a couple of fruits and a glass of water. He watched her get up and walk over to the door. He handed her the food and water through the bars. "Eat. I'm going to bed." With that, he left out of her sight.
"Thanks for nothing." Buffy murmured. She walked back over to her bed and ate the fruit. After she was finished, she tried to think of a way to get the board out. It wasn't tacked into place, but just sitting on the seal. She got up and looked around the room. All she saw was the bed. There was nothing she could use. Buffy sighed. There had to be some way, there had to be.
Buffy walked over to the opposite wall and leaned against it. She held her head back and closed her eyes. Perhaps if she could just think. She put her head back down and opened her eyes slowly. The bed. The posts on the bed. That's it. She walked over to the bed and put her hands on to a post and pulled. The bar came right off, as if it was never on there before. Buffy was surprised. *I never knew I was the strong.* She grabbed a sheet and wrapped it around the bar so it wouldn't make any noise while hitting the board.
She took a step back from where the window was and threw the bar at it. Sunlight suddenly poured into the room. Buffy shielded her eyes with her arm. She slowly put her arm down as her eyes adjusted to the light.
Buffy walked underneath the window and jumped. She grabbed the windowsill and pulled herself up. Once she was up, she was amazed at her strength that was in her. She pushed herself
over and landed on the ground rolling. She got up and dusted herself off.
She looked around and gasped. All she saw were trees. They surrounded her, like a prison. She didn't know how far she was from some town, but she did know that she had to hide. Somewhere
to get away. "Great. I get out and I can't go anywhere." Buffy sighed. She picked a direction and started walking.
* * *
It was dark and Angel awoke. He walked over to the room he was keeping Buffy in. He peered in and didn't see anyone. He yanked opened the door, nearly ripping it from it's hinges. He looked around the room, searching for any sign of where she could be. After all, it was a small room. "Damn it!" he yelled. He punched the wall before noticing that the window's boards were gone.
He stomped out of the room. When he returned, he boarded up the window with steal, nailing it to the stone. Then, he set out to find Buffy. Before leaving the mansion, he checked on Dominique to make sure she was okay. He went outside, smelling for any trace of Buffy. Once he had found it, he set off running, hoping to find her. The smell seemed to be getting strong, which meant he was closer. He ran faster, but he was quiet. Finally catching up with her, he grabbed her by the arm. Buffy screamed, hoping that someone would hear her.
"Don't worry, no one will hear you. We're too far from civilization." He held onto her wrist tightly, not wanting her to run from him.
"Stop! You're hurting me!" she cried. She tried pulling away, but his grip was too strong for her. She screamed.
"Shut up, Bitch!" Angel yelled, angrily. He slapped her with his other hand, knocking her unconscious. Angel then started his way back to the mansion, where he would lock her up to prevent her from escaping again.
* * *
"Okay. We have everything. Now we just need to read it, I think." Willow said. She was sitting on the rug. Giles, Xander, Cordelia, Oz, and Kendra surrounded her. She look around. "Everyone ready?" The Orb was surrounded by the candles within a circle. Xander stood on one side and waved burning herbs and incense over the Orb.
Giles stood on the other side with a Latin book opened.
Willow sat there, with a copy of the curse in her hands. She casted the stones in her hands. She nodded to Giles.
Xander kept waving the burning herbs and incense.
"Quod perditum est, invenietur." Giles spoke. (Translation: What is lost, return.)
"Not dead... nor not of the living. Spirits of the interregnum, I call." Willow spoke her line.
* * *
Buffy woke up with her jaw aching. She slowly got out of what was left of the bed and walked towards the far wall where she knew there was some water. Maybe some asprin too, if she was lucky. When she she reached the table, she drank the water and found that there was two pills. She popped them in her mouth, not caring if they were really asprin or not. If they'd only make the pain go away. *Where am I?* she thought. Suddenly, everything came back to her. How she lost her memory, the months with Angelus, and her past. *Great time to remember.* She looked around for a way out. Remembering the window, she looked up only to find it shut with metal. She sighed. She looked up and noticed a pipe. Buffy stood right under it and jumped. She grabbed onto the pipe, pulling herself up. "Angel," she called out.
Angel appeared at the door. He looked in, noticing that she was gone, once again. He open the door and stood there looking around. He was confused. How could she escape? Buffy dropped down, kicking him in the chest. Angel flew out into the main room. Buffy stood in front of him, hands on her hips.
"It's good to be me." she quipped. Angel quickly got up and threw a punch at her. She blocked and kicked him in the stomach. He put on his vampire face, making himself feel stronger. He ran towards Buffy and she back flipped out of the way. "You don't go through five hours of practice for nothing, you know."
He made a low sweep with his foot, tripping her. He then stepped on her chest, pinning her down. Buffy quickly pulled his foot, making him fall. Both Angel and Buffy got up at the same time. Buffy threw a punch at him, but Angel caught her arm and twisted it behind her back. He stood behind her, one arm holding her behind her back, and the other holding down her other arm. He lowered his head to her ear and whispered, "I hope you had a fun time, Buffy. It's going to be your last." He then lowered his head to her neck.
* * *
At Giles' house, Willow is still chanting, but she looks weak. "Gods, bind him. Cast his heart from the... evil... realm." Willow spoke slowly.
* * *
Angel pierced the delicate skin on her neck, slowly drinking her blood. The warmth of a Slayer's blood! It tasted so good, rich in salt. This blood game him life. Buffy didn't let one tear fall. She wouldn't let him see her fear. She cried inside for him to stop, but she didn't dare say it out loud. She stood there as he drank her blood.
* * *
Willow is breathing heavily as she chants. She looks weaker than before. "Return." Willow takes a deep breath. "I call on..."
"Willow?" Oz asked worried.
Willow's head snapped back and her eyes are wide open. Her head snapped back down and her eyes stared at the Orb. Willow than starts to chant steadily in Rumanian, as if she was possessed. "Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte." (Translation: I implore you, Lord, do not ignore this request.)
"Giles, she freaking me out." Cordelia said, still looking at Willow.
"It's alright, I think this is supposed to happen." Giles replied to calm her down.
Willow continued to chant. "Nici mort, nici al fiintei..." (Translation: Neither dead, nor of the living...)
"Giles, you can't think. You have to know." Cordelia said, still freaked out.
"Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul la el." (Translation: Let this Orb be the vessel that will carry his soul to him.)
* * *
Buffy was loosing control over her body. Her body was weak and she could no longer hold it up. She let her body relax, knowing Angel was almost finished. She closed her eyes and then she let the tears fall.
* * *
"Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum!" (Translation: So it shall be! So it shall be! Now!) "Acum!" (Translation: Now!)
The Orb light up, as if there was a fire inside. It was only for a second before it returned to it's original state. Willow relaxed and looked around at everyone, blankly.
* * *
Angel pulled back from Buffy, letting her fall to the ground. A fire light in his eyes and then disappeared as quickly as it had come. He seemed to gasp for breath, even though he didn't need it. He then looked around where he was at. Then he spotted Buffy, lying lifeless on the floor.