Buffy and Angel strode into the little bar, big smiles plastered across their faces. Upon entering, their jaws dropped to the floor. What had happened to Willy’s?
The entire place was decorated in red velvet. The seats in the booths were clean and soft, and the tables had a new finish on them. The lamps in the room provided a soft glow, and the scent of fresh flowers wafted from vases in the center of every candle-lit table. Soft piano music drifted through the room, and both Angel and Buffy were rooted to the paisley-print carpet. Then they saw Willy behind the bar, wearing, of all things, a dark red tuxedo. With tails. His hair was slicked back nicely, and if he wasn’t such a sleazeball, Buffy would have said he looked respectable. He glanced at the door and noticed them, then showed his true weaselly nature.
“Slayer! Angel! How nice to see you in my humble establishment. I cleaned the place up! You like?” He said smoothly, though his voice was nervous.
“How on earth…?” Buffy trailed off, looking around the room again.
“Well,” Willy said, “Some people, when they come to get information from me, they pay me. They don’t always beat me up, unlike a couple of people who haven’t even been around to visit their old pal Willy for what, two, three years?” He sounded indignant at the last part.
“Pal?” Angel muttered. “Wouldn’t really go that far.” He shook his head, getting over the shock of seeing Willy’s fancy new digs. “Speaking of information…”
“Listen. I know you kids usually like to come and hammer me around a while before I give you the scoop, but I’m not looking to get this place trashed. I happen to like it. So I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what you want to know for a very, uh, reasonable offer.”
“And what’s that, Willy?” Buffy said sweetly.
“Well, I was thinking along the lines of… a thousand bucks?”
Angel took a menacing step forward.
“I’m glad you like to barter!” Willy said quickly, backing up a step. “Maybe a thousand is a little steep. Seven hundred?”
Buffy stepped forward this time. “I don’t even recall asking you a question, Willy,” she said, still sounding sweet.
“Oh! Uh, right. Sorry. It’s just, that, I’m so used to you two coming in here to start something, I forget the pleasantries. What can I do for you?”
“Well, since you seemed to be ready to give out information, I’m assuming you already know why we’re here,” Angel said. He took another step toward Willy. “Now, I’m a little short on cash here, and I promised my girl here a good show for our date, and I was thinking, you know, if you just give us what we want right now, then I won’t have to rough you up in this lovely establishment you’ve built up here.”
“I love I when you talk rough,” Buffy simpered from beside him.
“Okay, okay!” Willy said, taking a few more steps back from Angel. “You’re here about the prophecy, aren’t you?” Buffy and Angel said nothing, neither wanting to tell Willy how much they really didn’t know. Willy sighed. “The Witch. Your friend, the witch. She’s got this whole, mystical power thing going on. With her soul and all. I’m sure you guys don’t have the prophecy yet, or you wouldn’t be here.” He looked at them for a moment, then nodded knowingly. “Thought as much. Fine. All I know, is that the local demons, though most of them are moseying outta town, seem to think that your witchy friend is the hottest thing on the market. There are a few bounties on her head, but seeing as she’s a real powerful witch, with two slayers, two vampires, and about ten other people looking out for her, she’s not exactly the easiest target. Most of the demons in this town are doing their best to stay as far from her as possible.”
“Why are they after Willow?” Buffy said.
“Because of the prophecy. I don’t know the details, but there’s a warlock out there, looking for a book. According to the prophecy, if he gets the book, everything goes to Hell, literally, of course, and he gets to be the ruler. Of course, if your friend gets to it first, she gets to do some spell, and the world is saved. For the last time.”
“The last time?” Angel said quietly.
“Yeah. Well, not immediately, but her spell will cause something to happen, and that’s going to eventually rid the world of all evil.” He suddenly raised his hands in a defensive stance. “And before you ask, no, I don’t know what’s going to happen, or where the book is. It should all be in the prophecy, and I don’t know where that is either.”
Buffy and Angel exchanged a look. Then they walked out together. Once on the street, where things were dingy, bleak, and messy like they were supposed to be, they began to get their bearings. They took a few steps, absorbing their new information, when Buffy suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Angel ran back to her. “What is it, Love?” he asked, concerned.
“Did we just let Willy push us around?” she asked incredulously. Angel thought about it for a moment.
“Oh my God, we did.” They stared at each other before quickly walking back into the bar. They both stalked straight to Willy, and Angel’s fist flew out and caught the shady man right in the jaw. He landed on his butt with a thud, and Buffy smiled sweetly at him.
“Thanks!” she said happily. Then she and Angel walked back into the night air, heading towards Giles’ store to tell the gang what they knew.
***********
Faith stalked through the cemetery. Spike followed a few steps behind, taking a drag off his cigarette, his duster billowing in the wind. He would have walked beside her, but from that angle he couldn’t see her walking away from him. And that was the best view he’d ever seen. Except, of course, seeing her naked. Which he’d seen plenty, but never tired of. So why had they broken up again?
“Get your undead skinny white ass moving, Spike. I’m not waiting for you,” Faith said rudely.
Oh yeah. She was a bitch.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, you twat,” Spike said snidely. Faith whirled around to face him angrily.
“Who said I was wearing knickers?” she said saucily, before whirling away and striding off again. Spike stared after for a moment, and with a low growl, both of lust and anger, started after her again.
They only got a few steps before a few vampires jumped out at them. Spike quickly counted five, then started with the fighting. He punched a vamp in the face, sending it flying.
“Maybe you should start wearing a bra, though,” Spike told her sarcastically. “Your jugglies are going to get all dangly.” Although, upon closer inspection, they weren’t at all dangly. They were anything but dangly. In fact, they were quite perky, and they pushed together just so… His inner musings and leering were interrupted rudely by a vamp’s fist in his face. He snarled and reared up, backhanding the vamp and sending him flying.
“Your parts aren’t exactly all un-dangly all the time, either, Blondie,” Faith shot back, glancing suggestively toward his lower body. She kicked one of the vampires in the face.
“Well, nobody sucks the life out of a man’s jolly like you do, you bint,” Spike replied as he staked one of the vamps.
“I seem to remember you liked my sucking,” Faith said, raising an eyebrow as she staked another.
Spike stopped, suddenly, looking at her. Then he shook his head and pulled his battle axe out from under his duster. Then he promptly beheaded one of the vamps. Two were left. In a flurry of kicks and punches, Faith quickly had one of them on the ground, and shoved her stake through his chest, and he was nothing more than dust on the wind. Spike threw the vamp he’d been fighting in her direction, and the two played a little game of ping pong by punching the demon. He was knocked between them for a few moments, when finally Faith caught him. “Nice playin with you, Fangface,” she told him sweetly, before pushing him back at Spike, who had his stake ready. The vamp disintegrated between Faith and Spike, and they locked eyes for the first time since Angel and his crew had arrived at the store earlier that evening.
Without a word, the brunette and the vampire took the necessary steps to become locked in a tight embrace, their mouths pressed together passionately, tongues dueling. She wrapped one arm under his arm and around his shoulder, and the other hand threaded its fingers through his gelled hair. He pressed one hand against her back, and the other cupped her buttock. He took a few steps forward, pushing her back, until her back rested against a tree. She moaned into his mouth, and he purred, not taking his mouth from hers.
***********
“Well, that was a waste.”
“Still nothing?” Buffy asked as she and Angel walked into the shop.
Willow nodded forlornly.
“Don’t worry, Willow. We managed to get some info from Willy the Snitch,” Buffy said.
“Really? What did Old Willy have to say?” Xander asked.
“Did he give you money for Xander?” Anya cut in quickly.
“Sadly, no. But he did give us information on an IMPORTANT PROPHECY,” Buffy said, glaring at Anya. The ex-demon looked slightly chagrined.
“What did you find out?” Giles replied.
“There’s a prophecy about Willow, and there are some people who would like to see it not fulfilled, basically.”
“So you mean, there’s a prophecy about me blowing up, and people don’t want it? But that’s a good, right?”
“Well, he didn’t know what the prophecy was about. We still have to find it,” Angel told them.
“Well, at least we know we’re looking for a prophecy,” Gunn said, going back to his book.
“Gah!!” Cordelia suddenly cried out. Angel was at her side before she was able to fall, though, and held her up while the vision sent her body into convulsions. When she stopped moving and opened her eyes, she glared at the ceiling. “So NOW you decide to be helpful?” she yelled at no one in particular. She shook her head, then walked over to a book shelf on the left. She reached for a large gray book with a dusty spine, and pulled it out. Then she handed it to Giles. “Check out page 563,” she said, smiling sweetly.
“That’s the vision the Powers sent you?” Wesley asked, interested.
“Apparently they want us to find this prophecy sooner rather than lately. Uh, thank you, Cordelia,” Giles said thankfully, opening the book. He glanced over the pages, then sighed.
“What?” Willow asked quickly. “What does it say?”
“Well, I’m not really sure. In isn’t exactly in English.”
“Oh, perfect,” Xander muttered. “Then what language is it, G-man?”
“I, uh, I couldn’t really say. It’s, er, unfamiliar to me,” he replied, taking his glasses off and cleaning them with a handkerchief. Wesley stepped up to the book.
“Do you recognize it, Wes?” Angel asked, also stepping forward to look at the pages.
“No, I don’t. It’s rather an old language, though.”
Angel looked at the text for a minute before sighing audibly. “What?” Buffy asked him, stepping forward.
“I recognize that,” he said, waving at the page.
“Then you can translate it?” Giles asked hopefully.
“No. I don’t know what the language is, or what it says. I recognize it, though.”
“From where?” Gunn replied.
“Back when I first got my soul, and I was still with Darla, Spike, and Drusilla… Spike used to write me notes in this language. It was a joke. I’m sure he said some pretty crude things, but I never understood. He thought it was hilarious. He’d do it just to annoy me.” Angel smiled faintly at the memory.
“So Spike knows this language? He could translate it?” Wesley asked.
“I think so,” Angel replied.
“Speaking of Spike… shouldn’t he and Faith have been back by now?” Dawn asked innocently.
The group looked around, noting that neither Spike nor Faith had been seen for several hours.
***********
Faith flopped down and snuggled her head into Spike’s cool, hard shoulder, one bare leg thrown carelessly across his bare thighs. She was breathing heavily, but a happy smile was on her flushed face.
“Missed you, luv,” Spike panted happily. Faith leaned up to kiss his lips again, the smile still on her face. The couple broke apart quickly and pulled the blankets on the bed up to their chins as the door to Spike’s crypt was roughly thrown open.