.....Xander and Willow walked slowly along as they made their way towards the high school where they had planned to meet with Buffy and Giles in the library to discuss whatever new threat had reared its ugly head in Sunnydale. Usually it seemed like things tended to happen at an almost breakneck speed. That wasn't so unusual as being on top of the Hellmouth certainly was a major contributing factor. If it wasn't vampires, it was some other sort of demon that wanted to destroy the world or do in the Slayer and the Scooby gang. In fact, being a friend of Buffy Summers was quite a dangerous prospect as both Willow and Xander were well aware of. However, despite this, Buffy was special to both of them and it was this special bond they shared that made all of the danger and accompanying horror worth it.

....."You know Will, there was a little something sexy about the vampire you," said Xander with a wide smile on his face. Even though he had been startled by the way the vampire willow had hugged him, he had to admit that it was exciting from another viewpoint.

....."Yeah right," responded Willow who was still feeling guilty about her evil twin and the chaos she had caused earlier in the week.

....."Well, sure she was evil and all, but she did know how to touch, you have to admit that," he quirked back at her. "Oh yeah, all the right spots."

....."Xander, I know you are talking about her, but that line of thought will only take you someplace that we can't go, I can't go there, there is Oz to consider," she said back with a far away look on her face. She almost brought up Cordelia, but was able to hold it back seeing that they did not experience the same sort of reconciliation that she had experienced with Oz.

....."I know Will, I am just being Xander, you know that quirky guy that says all the wrong things," he replied trying to show off a look of innocence which was hard to do around Willow as he realized that she had been hurt from learning about him and Faith. He had been hurt just as much, though in a more physical way when Faith had tried to strangle him.

....."Xander, what do you think happened to the other me?" It was a question that Willow found her mind kept wandering to as if it was a unresolved issue for her.

....."I don't know, but whatever she is doing, I am sure I would find it exciting," he said back to her with a slight chuckle imbedded in his voice as he remembered the embrace once again.

.....The two vampires moved rather slowly to make sure that the humans did not know that they were there. The Rosenberg girl was their target and the fact that she was not alone was of no importance as a single mortal was certainly no match for them. They would wait for them to cross into the shadows and then they would make their move. The mayor would be pleased when Rosenberg was dead and they had not failed like the last assassins had.

....."I never want to become like her," said Willow with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Xander, if I ever get bitten, promise me that you will kill me, promise me that you will never let me become like the other me."

.....Xander was about to respond when the calm night exploded into the sound of growling as the two vampires charged at them. Xander was completely taken off guard by the vampires and all he would remember later was the yellow eyes coming out of the darkness and then how one of the vampires had just shoved him aside as if he weren't worth the effort to kill. He also could remember hearing Willow scream and he had seen that the cause of her scream was the same thing that would end of her life, she was being bitten and there was nothing he could do about it. He landed heavily on the side of the road and rolled down an embankment losing consciousness on the way.

.....Willow had tried to fend off the vampire attack, but there simply was not enough time to react, to defend against the demons. She had seen them push Xander aside as if he were but an insignificant rag doll, something so insignificant that it was to be discarded like common trash. They then advanced on her in almost the same instant as everything had occurred so fast, and before she even knew what was happening, she found herself being held in a vice like grip. Then she felt fangs on her neck, no not on but rather in her neck. She had been bitten, they were draining away her blood, her life force; she felt so dizzy.

.....She desperately tried to hold on to within her mind, but things were simply changing, things that had mattered to her just moments ago no longer seemed to mean anything. Why was she fighting with Buffy? This was an act that was certainly beyond silly, in fact, it was downright wrong; she wouldn't help the Slayer anymore. Buffy had hung her as well as Xander out to dry much more than one time. She was not a friend, she was bad now as she was the Slayer. Buffy was a vampire Slayer and now Willow was a vampire, would Buffy try to slay her too? No, she couldn't allow that to happen, she would kill Buffy before Buffy had the chance to slay her. Willow smiled at the two vampire attackers as she rose to her feet, her eyes glowing yellow in the night, her fangs gleaming in the moonlight and the ridges on her forehead reveling in the glory of the beast within.

....."I understand the other me now," she said to no one in particular. "I have a plan to kill the Slayer, but it will only work if I keep the element of surprise to my advantage. I think it is time for sweet Willow to pay Buffy a visit and maybe give her a kiss on the cheek, or neck."

....."Um Buffy," said Giles as he walked out of his office looking so proper as he usually did. Buffy sometimes wished that he would learn to lighten up some, but she had come to love him as he was and deep inside didn't really want him to change. Though, she would never admit that to anyone else, especially him or Xander as Xander would take that information and run a mile with it joking and teasing all the way.

....."Hey Giles, so what is the deal on Wesley and Cordelia?" Buffy had noticed that her new Watcher seemed to be almost, or possibly totally, infatuated with Cordelia of all people. In a sense it was good since it allowed Giles to unofficially act as her Watcher. In fact, no matter what the Council said, Giles would always be her Watcher as far as she was concerned.

....."Well, um, I really am not certain," replied Giles not really wanting to get into that topic, as the subject seemed to make him uncomfortable. "However, whatever the deal is, I am sure it is between them and besides I think our time would be better spent on figuring out what the Mayor is up to."

....."Well, he was nice and chummy with Mr. Trick and I think I saw him in the sewer when I was saving those babies from that nasty snake thing," she said wondering why she had forgotten about that and had not recalled it sooner. The mayor had to have been the one behind the entire band candy event.

....."Well, he definitely has something to do with a lot of the, er, troubles we have been having around here. Hopefully once Willow breaks into his computer we will have a better understanding of what is going on around here."

....."Did somebody mention my name," said Willow as she came through the double doors marking the entrance to the library. She tried to make her smile look sincere, as she had to make sure they believed she was the regular old Willow, well until it was too late for Buffy.

....."Where's Xander?" Buffy noticed that there was something odd about her friend though she suspected it were her imagination after the whole mess they had just dealt with concerning the vampire Willow from Anya's other Sunnydale. She would never be able to look at Willow without remembering the horror of that night, at least on some unconscious level.

....."He saw a pretty girl and wanted to get touched,' she said wishing she had not added the last part. She had to be careful that she maintained the reserved mask of her old self.

....."Um, err, well, I see. Anyway Willow how about trying to break into the mayor's files again. We really do need to figure out what he is up to," said Giles as he fiddled with his glasses.

....."Okay, I will do it in a few minutes. Buffy, I am really concerned about Faith, I think she plans to kill me," lied Willow hoping to open Buffy up for a sympathetic attack. Her old self didn't like Faith very much and her bluff should work based on that fact, or so she hoped.

.....Xander moaned as consciousness slowly crept back into his somewhat muddled brain. He tried to remember where he was, but everything was still rather fuzzy. He opened his eyes to see that it was still sometime in the night and that he was in a ditch, what was he doing in a ditch? He had been thrown there, but by whom or by what? He tried to push off the ground using his hands, but his right one slipped on something causing him to fall back down onto his butt. He looked at the object he had slipped on and saw that it was a lamp, like in Aladdin or some other fairy tale. He unconsciously picked it up as he pulled himself up and then climbed up over the embankment back onto the road.

.....The road was empty except for a very dark stain on its surface. There is something about the stain that nags at his memory; a growl, he remembers a growl. He walks over to the dark stain and crouches down so that he can dip one finger into the liquid. As he brings it back to his face so he can see what it is, he feels a sense of dread fill him as he knows it is blood even before the red becomes visible to his eyes in the light; Willow's blood.

.....Standing there holding the lamp in one hand and staring off into the night his memories come crashing back and he screams echoing the dismay and horror he feels. He let her down, he let Willow down and now she was dead. He was so stupid and he wanted to be a member of the group, the insignificant one, and the only one without powers. Angel was a vampire, Oz a werewolf, and Willow was a witch. What was he? A great big zero and now Willow was dead thanks to his lack of powers. If he had had powers, things would have been different.

.....In his dismay, he failed to notice that he had started to rub the lamp and as such, a slight purple haze formed around the spout of it as his rubbing began to summon the inhabitant of the lamp. However, as the haze grew and the lamp warmed up, Xander felt the heat of the lamp's surface as it warmed and then he looked at it in astonishment as the haze left the lamp and began to form a humanoid shape. It was not just humanoid but rather the shape of a woman. Within seconds, the genie took the form of a beautiful blonde woman wearing very little clothing in the typical genie style.

....."I have lost it, or I went to heaven," said Xander trying to ignore the guilt and despair that cloaked his heart.

....."Neither," the genie said in a seductive voice. "I am a genie as I am sure you guessed by now, and since you have freed me from my lamp, you shall receive a single wish."

....."Just one, I guess they don't make genies like they use to," he replied not quite being able to get back into the banter that is characteristic Xander.

....."Well, I am a real genie, not one that you may read about in a fairy tale, so yes, you get one wish, let me see what could you possibly want? Powers, isn't that it, you want to have powers like the others so that you could have saved poor defenseless Willow?"

....."Yes, that is my wish exactly. I am so sick of having nothing to contribute, as there is nothing special about me and just look what it did to Willow. I wish for powers, the type of powers that would have saved Willow."

....."Well, I would like to grant your wish, but you will have to be more specific, what sort of powers do you want?"

....."Let me think," said Xander as an image flashed into his mind, an image of the trailer for the new Star Wars movie. "I want to be a Jedi, now they really kick some serious butt."

....."Very well Xander Harris, you are now a Jedi Knight," she said and then vanished as quickly as she had appeared. The lamp also vanished with her and Xander was left alone in the dark again, but he felt different, he felt stronger as he should considering the fact that he was a Jedi Knight. He also noticed that there was something hanging from his belt, it looked like a flashlight, but he knew it was in fact a light saber.

....."I am a Jedi," he said to himself. Almost instantly he saw an image flash into his mind, it was Buffy and she was in danger. Willow, she was still a vampire and she was going after Buffy. Xander realized as he began to run towards the school that his wish had not undone Willow's death as he had hoped, and he would still have to deal with the death of his friend. However, if he didn't get to the library fast enough he would have two deaths to deal with.

....."I don't know, there is something about Faith that is disturbing me," said Willow with a slight tremor in her voice. "She is just so darn bad Buffy, she really is just so bad."

....."Willow, I know that you and Faith don't exactly get along," replied Buffy with a hint of concern in her voice. "But I am just not willing to give up on her yet. You are letting her get to you, don't give her so much power, she is only a girl."

....."Well, she almost killed Xander and what if I'm next," she quickly shot back knowing that Buffy was falling into her trap hook line and sinker. "I appreciate your assurances, I really do, but I think that a nice old warm hug just might make me feel better."

....."Oh, sure," replied Buffy as she opened her arms to hug her best friend. "You should know that you don't have to ask me for a hug." Willow just smiled as her eyes began to turn yellow and her fangs moved in on Buffy's neck. Giles looked up and his face became etched in a look of total surprise and horror as he saw the ridges form on Willow's forehead and her mouth open to reveal two long fangs, fangs she intended to bite Buffy with.

....."Buffy," screamed Giles as he leapt to his feet. He continued to holler out to her and Buffy started to turn her head to see what he was going on about which only revealed more of her neck to Willow who moved in to bite her friend. The doors to the Library then burst open and Xander bolted into the library yelling a warning to Buffy. He noticed everything as if it were in slow motion as Willow's fangs were almost touching Buffy's neck and if he was going to do something, it had to be at that instant as Buffy was not about to have any more instants if he didn't stop Willow.

.....Xander raised his hand towards Willow and then he used the Force as it became like an extension of his hand and it pushed Willow away knocking her heavily into the door of the cage. Buffy looked at Xander for a second in confusion and then looked at Willow as she began to growl and advance back on her. Buffy raised her arms into a fighting stance still in shock, but not about to give Willow another chance to bite her. She swallowed her shock and let her Slayer instincts take over.

....."Oh my God Willow, how did this happen?" Buffy was wondering if the vampire Willow had returned and the real Willow was still off somewhere safe and sound.

....."We got attacked on the way here from the Bronze," said Xander as he moved in to face Willow. "I'm sorry Buff, I wasn't able to save her. However, I am able to stop her now, everything is different."

....."Um Xander, how did you stop her? Telekinesis?" Giles was also a little stunned by what he had seen so far.

....."Talking, overrated," said Willow as she charged Buffy. She had lost her surprise and easy prey thanks to Xander. However, she still had one advantage, they would not be playing to kill her, they could not easily stake poor little Willow. This was to her advantage and she would press it.

.....Buffy side stepped Willow letting her run into the table where only hours ago, she had sat with Giles talking about her suspicions concerning Faith. As Willow got back to her feet, the door to the cage opened all by itself, well with a little help from Xander and his new Jedi abilities. Willow made another lunge for Buffy and this time Buffy grabbed her by the arm and directed her body into the cage with enough force to make Willow hit the weapons locker with a loud clang. Xander used the Force to close and lock the cage as Buffy and Giles stared at him with open mouths.

....."You have never seen a Jedi before?"

....."A Jedi, I don't understand," interjected Giles. "What is going on Xander and more importantly, how did this happen to Willow and why do you have a flashlight hanging from your belt?"

....."It's not a flashlight, it is a light saber or have you forgotten that I am a Jedi?"

....."A Jedi, like from Star Wars? Xander you can't be a Jedi, they are fictional," said Buffy not feeling as confident about her statement as she would have liked to.

....."Okay, as I said we were attacked on the way from the Bronze. There were too many of them, they overpowered me and threw me over the embankment. Willow was not so lucky. Anyway, I found a genie's lamp and was granted a wish. I knew if I had powers like you or Oz or even Willow for that matter, maybe I would have been able to save her. So, I wished I were a Jedi Knight and voila, I am now a Jedi and ready to kick some vampire butt."

....."A genie, Xander are you completely daft?" Giles had a tone of annoyance etched into his voice. "Xander, it is almost unheard of for a genie to ever grant someone what they wish for. There is more to your wish, we can be certain and somehow it may be a bigger problem than the new vampire Willow."

....."What are we going to do with her?" Willow growled once again as Buffy posed her question, almost as if it were for effect.

....."How about letting me go so I can go out for supper," inquired a sarcastic Willow from within her cage?

....." Hi Oz," chirped Cordelia as she waded through the crowd in front of the stage. "Are the other's here?"

....."As hard as it may seem, no I think they are at the library, I was about to head over there in few minutes if you want a drive?" Oz figured she would since there was a chance that Wesley would be there and it seemed as if Cordelia were trying out for the role of his shadow.

....."I wonder if Wesley is there?" A dreamy look drifted across Cordelia's face, as Oz had to give her a half smile as she was at least amusing him somewhat. "Is Angel coming too?"

....."Angel, I haven't seen him around tonight," said Oz just as he caught sight of Angel slowly making his way through the crowd towards them. "Well, speaking of the Devil, or Devil with a soul as it may be."

....."Hi Oz, have either of you seen Buffy?"

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