part twenty-one

Willow woke in the center of a big bed in the middle of a large, open room. It was dark, lit only by candles. She didn't know if it was midnight or morning - all the windows were covered with heavy drapes. Red, velvet curtains hung all around her bed, and satin restraints bound her wrists and ankles. Though she wasn't exactly sure where she was, she knew who her captor was. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for any sign of him.

"Finally awake," he said and leaned forward in his chair. He had been only two feet from the bed, yet he was hidden by the shadows. "I was beginning to think I'd made a terrible mistake," he said, "I'm not exactly a wizard when it comes to medicinal concoctions, I thought perhaps I'd put you into a coma." Ethan lifted his hand slowly and smoothed back a fallen strand of hair from Willow's face. She flinched and he pulled back quickly, his feelings actually hurt. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly and his ego kicked into overdrive. He responded to her reaction by saying, "You'll come around."

"You're insane," Willow said.

He smiled wickedly and winked at her. "Call me an optimist," he said and took her hand in his. She jerked her hand back as best she could, but there was little movement in her limbs because of the restraints. When Ethan began running his thumb over the crest of her knuckles, Willow actually felt her stomach tighten as if she was going to throw up. She clenched her teeth and breathed out hard and fast through her nose.

"I have something for you," he said and stood up. He walked to the other side of the room, the candlelight casting his shadow on the wall across from her bed as he moved. When he returned to her side, he was carrying a small, black velvet box. He showed it to her and smiled when she flashed him a look of disgust. But Ethan was always unfettered. For a villain, he was very charming. Willow let the thought enter her mind briefly and then silently cursed herself for it. She forgot - Ethan was jacked into her thoughts somehow. All she could do was hope he wasn't constantly monitoring her.

"It's just a little something," he said, "I rather hope to bathe you in diamonds one day, love, but for now...modesty reigns." He opened the box, but Willow refused to look into it.

Instead she was focused on the words he used with her, "Don't call me that," she stated calmly.

"Call you what?" He knew damn well what she meant, but he felt like toying with her.

"You're pathetic you know that?" Big talk from girl who was tied to this man's bed.

"Actually, I'm not. My therapist said that I was...well... misguided. " He said the word as if it were some magical prescription for erasing all the bad he'd done during his lifetime. "Not enough positive reinforcement as a child or some drivel like that..." he dismissed the notion himself, knowing it was hooey. "Well, anyway..." he changed gears.

He sat down on the bed, one knee tucked underneath of his body, the other foot planted firmly on the floor. He pulled the gift from the box, a single diamond tear drop on a simple platinum chain. As he fastened it behind her neck, his lips grazed her cheek and he kissed her skin softly before he sat upright again. Ethan reached over and stroked the side of Willow's face. "I've something else for you, but it's a surprise. I'm afraid it will have to wait until this evening."

"Bummer," Willow said sarcastically.

"You see," Ethan replied happily as if Willow was really disappointed, "I knew you'd be upset. I tried my damnedest, I assure you, but still...you'll have to wait." He leaned over and kissed her forehead, "Soon."

"Soon, what?"

"Aren't you just dying to know?" He snickered and left the room.

"Dammit!" Giles screamed. "It has to be here! Why haven't we found it, yet?"

"Giles, calm down," Buffy said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down??? Do you have any idea what Ethan Rayne is capable of? Do you, Buffy? Because I don't think you understand." Giles tore his glasses off of his face and dropped his head to his free hand. "It's been three days. Tomorrow night is the new moon Jenny warned of."

"What about the coven," Wesley asked.

"They're working on it from England," Dawn said, "But it...doesn't look good."

"If anything happens to Willow..." Giles didn't finish his thought. He stood and left the room, all the while shaking his head in disbelief. The man was exhausted. And he'd run out of options.

They were at Buffy's gathered around the dining room table. Three nights they'd been trying to break through the barrier at Ethan's. At one point they did. Or, at least they thought they did. The door opened without electrocuting Giles, but when he tried to cross the threshold he was thrown out the door and into the courtyard by an invisible force, just as Buffy had been that first day.

Between the five of them, they had been monitoring the door to Ethan's place around the clock, but neither he nor Willow ever set foot outside the building. Xander had a brilliant idea - send Ethan some certified mail so that he would have to sign for it and then pounce on him when he opened the door. Ok, so maybe 'brilliant' was too strong a word. The others poo-pood it, anyway.

"Giles is about to lose it," Buffy said to everyone after he was out of ear shot. "If anybody's got any more suggestions, now's the time to share."

"You know what we need," Cordelia said, "We need Willow. Her power is the only one strong enough to fight this."

"And thanks for pointing that out," Xander said, annoyed at her observation. "Don't you think we know that," he snapped.

"Xander!" Buffy cautioned. "It's ok, Cordy, I was about to say the same thing."

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. Everyone was so deep in thought that none of them wanted to break the silence. Fortunately, someone did.

"I'll go and relieve Angel, he's been watching the monitor for quite some time." Wesley looked into Dawn's eyes and smiled before he left the room.

It was after 9 P.M. when Ethan entered the room again. Willow had no idea what time it was, of course, because there were no clocks around for her to see.

So many things had run through her mind. Why did he want her? What was he going to do to her? He'd had her there for days, but he hadn't hurt her in any way, not since that first day. And where was Buffy? And Giles? Had they been captured, too?

"How are you feeling? Hm?" Ethan sat down next to her on the bed and folded his arms across his chest. "Still groggy?" He cocked his head and looked into her eyes.

"Let me go," she said.

"Very unlikely," he said, shaking his head 'no.'

"Why? What the hell do you want with me?" She was still restrained, but she was seated in an upright position. Ethan had even allowed her to read - he enchanted a book so that it drifted in front of her face and turned its own pages when she commanded. At first she ignored it, but she was so bored she eventually gave in. Damn that Harry Potter.

"I'm glad you ask," he said and stood up to retrieve the gift he'd promised her earlier. When he returned he was carrying yet another syringe, this one full of green, glowing liquid.

Willow's eyes grew wide. She was helpless. There wasn't anything she could do. Ethan was coming at her with that needle and it looked like it was full of something she didn't want running through her veins.

"You know, the first time I met you, I knew you were different. You were special," he said as he made his way back to her. This time he pulled up a chair and sat down to tell her a story. "You were a skinny young thing, nose in a book all the time, but there was something about you..."

"That was just my loathing and disgust of you shining through," she said.

"Possibly. But I think it was something else." Ethan smiled, almost as if he were a proud father. "You had a gift. And Ripper denied you the opportunity to use it, didn't he?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Willow was looking at him quizzically. Clearly she was interested in what he had to say, though she made it sound as if she wasn't.

"Ripper held you back. He knew your power and, instead of teaching you how to harness it, he bridled you like a wild filly, didn't he?" She didn't speak or react in any way. "It's ok, you don't have to tell me. I know how it happened."

"You don't know the first thing about me." She was growing defiant, her anger building inside.

"Oh, but I do. I know what lives inside of you. I know that guilt and rage consume your inner self. Your soul is in constant turmoil. Fortunately for you, I'm here to help," he said and slapped his knee like an encyclopedia salesman who had just made a sale.

"Giles helped me," she said, "He sacrificed everything to get me through a dark time in my life. If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have made it."

"Yes, but it was too late. He'd already broken your spirit." He leaned close to her and whispered, "I'm here to help you get it back."

"Get what back? I was evil. I was killing people. Giles saved me."

"Giles stifled you, darling. He took the very fire of your soul and tamped out the flames like an old Chesterfield." Ethan held up the vial and flicked the air bubbles out of the tube. "You'll thank me tomorrow." The glint in his eyes grew stronger, almost glowing bright green like the liquid he prepared. He took an alcohol pad and wiped clean the bend inside of Willow's elbow. She was helpless, restrained to no movement at this point. Ethan leaned forward and said, "It's for the best," and sunk the needle into her flesh.

 

part twenty-two

It was 7 am. The sun was shining, the grass was green, and the gang at Buffy's house was already up and hard at work. The fact that they were out of options and almost out of time didn't deter them. Something had to be done. They weren't going to lose Willow.

Buffy was at the dining room table with Angel looking over architectural diagrams, seeing if there was a way into the place from one of the other apartments or possibly through the roof. "It's worth a shot," she said, "I mean, maybe he only protected the front door, since it seems to be the only logical entrance."

"I'm sure Ethan's cloaked the whole thing. Logic isn't exactly in his vocabulary - he's sneaky, so he thinks like a sneak." Angel said.

"You're probably right, but we really should try everything. It's now or never," Wesley said, serving breakfast to everyone.

Dawn was in the basement with Xander. They'd gone back to Ethan's the night before and hooked up audio to the camera in the courtyard. Dawn thought they might be able to tap into phone conversations or something. Giles thought it might be beneficial in case Ethan was casting spells. It was a longshot, but they might be able to hear him and relay the information to the coven for counter spells.

Cordelia was helping Wesley with breakfast. She hadn't done much since she arrived in Sunnydale. She hadn't spent any time with Angel, that was for sure. But still, she felt like she was helping. After all, she and Xander had become the co-babysitters for Vivienne while Buffy and everyone else worked on finding a way to save Willow.

Giles was standing beside Cordy, watching on as she cooked, asking her to explain her visions again. "So you don't really see the entire picture?"

"No, it's more like snapshots. Two-second blurbs. I wish I could tell you something more," she said.

"I understand." Giles reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. He was always so good at deciphering cryptic messages, but this...

Dawn walked into the room from the basement. "Xander's working with the audio, trying to break it down with a few different filters. We thought maybe the barrier is electromagnetic...maybe it's working on a radio frequency that we could jam."

"Xander came up with that?" Cordy asked skeptically.

Dawn just shrugged and sort of nodded affirmatively. She didn't want to say where she got the idea, but she knew she would have to. "Listen, guys...I hate to point this out, but we need help. We've gone through all of our resources, I know, but..."

Just then little Vivienne ran into the room, still in her jammies. "Mommy!" She jumped into Buffy's arms.

Buffy planted a big kiss on her cheek and smoothed back her daughter's bed hair. "It's about time, sleepy head!" Vivienne just giggled. "How about some breakfast? Mr. Wesley made..."

"Pancakes!" Vivienne shouted when Cordelia held up a plate for her. "Yummy! My favorite."

"Ok, sit over here next to Mommy." Buffy pulled a chair up to the table next to her and put Vivienne down. Giles had poured a small glass of orange juice and walked over to hand it to Buffy. She gave him a warm smile and took the glass and set it in front of her daughter, "And don't forget to drink your juice." Vivienne looked very content.

Buffy turned her attention back to Dawn and the rest of the group. "Sorry, Dawn - you were saying?"

Dawn wasn't sure how to tell them that she had called for help. She knew she'd better do it soon, though. "Well, I was just saying that I thought we needed help, someone with a fresh perspective."

"Yes, that's a very good idea, Dawn." Wesley had really fallen for her over the past few days. They'd spent so much time together. He found himself impressed with the woman she had become. "Our eyes are looking at everything with ideas that have already formed...our judgment is tainted."

Angel was mostly quiet during this whole thing. He knew his place, and he knew his value to the group. He was there to help, but not to interfere with their lives. It was a difficult balance, but he managed. His feelings for Buffy, well, they would never die. But what was difficult was paying so much attention to the others when Cordy was right there with them. Too many unresolved issues. Cordy would have to wait.

Vivienne was having a peek-a-boo contest with Angel from behind a large flower arrangement that sat in the middle of the table. Nobody was watching the two of them, but Angel was enjoying the moment.

"What did you have in mind," Giles asked, leaning back against the counter with a cup of coffee in his hand. Things had gotten so rough that tea wasn't cutting it for him anymore.

"Brut force," Dawn said, very matter-of-factly.

"And by brute force you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Me." The voice came from the archway to the living room. He stood there in front of them, tall and handsome, ready for a fight.

"Daddy!" Vivienne said and jumped off the chair and ran into her father's arms.

Willow leaned back against the padded headboard of the bed, her mind swimming, her heart racing. But something was missing. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it didn't bother her much. She almost felt... good.

"Ah, you're awake!" Ethan clamored into the room, breakfast tray in hand for Willow. He set it down on a large, antique dresser and walked over to his victim. "Sleep well, then?"

"Not really," Willow said. The sarcasm was gone from her voice. The anger was, too. She was...indifferent. Nothing mattered one way or the other.

"Hmh...how 'bout that. One dose!" He was surprised that she was already feeling this way. Ethan thought it would have taken two or three before Willow would reap the rewards of his creation. At this rate, though, one more dose and she would be the woman he planned on sharing his life with.

He sat down next to her on the bed and smoothed back a fallen strand of her hair. "Please forgive me for keeping you restrained a little while longer. You see...I've not tested this on someone like you before. I'd like to observe for a while before I let my guard down."

"Fine." She said.

"Well, I brought you some breakfast, I'll just go and fetch it," he said as he stood and retrieved the tray he'd carried into the room. When he returned he pulled up the chair next to her and sat to feed her, "Here we go."

Ethan displayed everything for Willow, holding up each item as if taking an inventory, "Fresh glass of orange juice, a nice cuppa, blueberry scones, half a grapefruit, a bagel..." he caught her gaze and smiled, "I wasn't sure what you'd like so I brought it all."

"That's very thoughtful," she said. "But how am I supposed to feed myself?"

"Trying to trick me into untying you, little one?" He said with a smile.

"No, not trick you. Just wondering."

"Well I suppose I'll feed you. No objections, right?" He was ecstatic with her progress. And there wasn't any place else in the world he would have rather been at that very moment.

"Ok."

Riley picked up Vivienne in his arms and held her tight. "Hey, how's my girl?" He buried his face into the crease in her neck and gave her a good squeeze. After he kissed her cheek, he swung her to one side and rested her on his hip. "Hello everyone." He saw Angel across the room and forced himself to smile.

"Riley," Buffy said, surprised. "What...how..." She didn't know what to say.

"I called him," Dawn said. "Sorry I didn't tell you guys, but I didn't want to mention it in case he..." she realized she shouldn't be saying what she was about to say. After the way Buffy treated him, she wasn't sure if Riley would want to help. Also, she wasn't sure Buffy would want him around. But she had no choice. They needed him.

"It's ok, Dawn. In case I changed my mind, right?" Riley said.

"Well, yeah." Dawn smiled.

Riley looked around the room and knew that the bonds were strong between these people. If they were back in Buffy's life, then he knew they had no secrets. "It's ok. I'm good. I'm here to help."

Giles walked over and shook Riley's hand. A part of him felt sad for the things that Buffy said she did to Riley. A part of him was angry that this man chose to leave his wife and daughter because of his ego. But at a time like this, things like that didn't matter. "Riley, thank you for coming."

"You're welcome." Riley was dressed in full military regalia. "So, listen, I brought reinforcements. They're setting up all around Ethan's place right now."

"What's the plan?" Wesley asked.

"Explosives. Lots of 'em." Riley said.

"Good plan," Buffy said. "When?"

"Right now," he said.

Buffy stood up and walked over to Riley and took Vivienne out of his arms. She held her daughter the same way Riley did, relaxed on her right hip. "Cordy?" Buffy didn't even have to ask.

"Sure, I'll stay with her," Cordelia said.

"Thanks." Buffy looked into Vivienne's eyes. "We have to go, but Miss Cordelia and Mr. Xander are going to stay here with you, ok?"

"No, I want to go with you and daddy."

Buffy's heart almost broke. "No, honey, you can't, not this time."

"We'll be back soon, sweetheart," Riley said and walked over to her.

"Promise?" Vivienne looked sad and scared.

Buffy stared into Riley's eyes, flashing him one of those I-hope-this-works looks. She answered her daughter without even looking at her, "Promise."

"We have to go," Riley said softly.

 

part twenty-three

Ethan sat feeding Willow her breakfast and she found herself relaxing around him. Almost enjoying their conversation. "Why are you being so nice to me," she asked, craning her neck forward to sip from the glass of tea he was holding for her.

"Willow it was never my intention to harm you. I'm sorry about the other day, but I knew you would have run away with Buffy. And I couldn't have that." He lifted a linen napkin to her lips and blotted lightly. "You're too important to me."

"I don't understand," she said.

"There's nothing to understand. You have this essence about you that should be allowed to be free. Ripper shouldn't be allowed to control you. He can't see what's inside of you. He's always been so bloody stubborn and arrogant." Ethan was sounding petty, now, his jealousy of Giles shining through.

"You know Giles doesn't hate you. He doesn't pity you, either. In fact, he talks about the friendship that you two used to have."

Ethan was shocked to hear her say such things. "Ripper? Speaking fondly of me? Now you're just telling me fairy tales, little one." He smiled and stood up, removing the tray from her lap. "I haven't been to hell..." he paused and added, "...yet...but I'm sure it hasn't frozen over." He placed the tray back on the dresser and returned to her side. "Now, tell me - how are you feeling?" His gaze was intense, and when he asked how she was feeling, he truly wanted to know. He wanted her to be comfortable.

"Fine, I guess." She was dazed, a little confused. Her attention was drawn inward, into the recesses of her mind. For over three minutes she sat in silence with Ethan by her side. She was feeling fine and then suddenly she felt remorse and pain...sorrow so deep that it pierced her soul. Finally, she whispered, "Oh, no..."

Ethan glanced at his watch and realized it was time for her next dose. It was literally like clock-work and, if he had noticed what time it was just two minutes earlier, he would have been prepared. "What is it?" He took her hand in his.

"I...oh my God," Willow said, face scrunched up, forehead crinkled as if she were watching a horrible scene play out in front of her. "What did I do?" She was staring into space, watching her memories unfold before her. "To Warren...I...I killed him." A tear fell from her eye. Not for the loss of his life, but for the loss of herself. For how weak she was at that time.

"I can make it go away. Just say the word." Ethan was perched beside her. He wanted her to beg for it. He wanted her to need it. Goddamn the pusher- man.

"And Giles...how can Giles love me...after those things I said to him? After those things I did to him?" She was still staring straight ahead.

"He loves you because you're beautiful and powerful." Ethan lifted his arm and wiped away her tears with his thumb and, when he finished, he rested his hand on her shoulder. "But you've been corrupted. You should be free. Free to exercise that power, free to explore the world, not end up here in Sunnydale selling Magic with Ripper. Magic he won't even allow you to use unless he supervises you. What kind of man would dare put limitations like that on such a creature as you?"

He leaned closer and kissed her tenderly, mildly shocked that she kissed back. Ethan pulled away barely a fraction of an inch, the heat of their mouths mixing in the air between them, "Say the word and the pain and the guilt stops...all of it stops." A moment later he added, "With me you can be free."

Willow couldn't bear it. She hated feeling those things all over again. It was long done, but it felt like it had just happened. Somehow whatever he had given her had worn off and when her system began to detox, it had churned up the memories of the bad things in her life, and blotted out the good. She hadn't felt anything before. In fact she had felt numb. But this pain, the pressure of this guilt coursed through her veins and seeped out of her pores. It brought all the horrible things she'd done to the surface, so much so that she couldn't breathe because it hurt so bad. "Ethan?"

"Yes?"

"Make it go away."

His breath caught in his throat. "Of course, darling." He leaned over and picked up the box that held the syringe. Liquid chaos he called it. Wait 'til the blokes back home get a dose or two of this.

When he lowered the needle to her flesh he said, "Are you sure?" It was sweeter when she begged.

"Yes."

Outside, awash in the sunlight, Riley stood in command of about 80 operatives. They surrounded the building and the entire area. They had evacuated everyone within a four block radius. Some residents protested, especially those whose places had been targeted as points of entry. They weren't told why they were evacuated, only that someone was being held prisoner inside the ground level apartment.

"Finn to base, Finn to base, come in."

"Go ahead." The walkie-talkie squawked in his hand.

"Confirm status of evacuation," Riley said.

"We're five by five."

Buffy just raised an eyebrow toward Giles when she heard those words. She wasn't sure if Riley was aware of what that phrase meant to her. He knew Faith, but he hadn't spent enough time with her to gain the full understanding of her catch-phrase. By his lack of reaction, she assumed he didn't know or didn't realize.

"Ok, everyone's out," He said to Buffy and Giles, "Our engineers have planted the explosives in each unit that is attached to Giles' place..." Riley cringed as soon as he said it. "Sorry, I meant Ethan's place...force of habit."

"Can we please refer to him as something else? All this first-name-calling is minimizing the threat of this man. He's dangerous." Giles crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sorry. Any suggestions," Riley asked.

"Didn't he have a number or something when you had him in captivity," Giles was outwardly annoyed.

"Hostile 2-4-6-0-1," Riley said.

"Wow," Buffy said, "2-4-6-0-1? Spike was only number 17, you guys must have been busy the past couple of years."

"Well, the first time we took Ethan in, he was Hostile 63. Then he escaped and, while he was AWOL, we raided a few big nests. And I mean big, huge - like hundreds of vamps at a time. By the time we caught him again, we'd closed down dozens of Goth clubs in New Orleans and rounded up quite a few demons who were more than willing to exchange information for immunity." Riley thought to himself for a minute and then added, "Still not sure how he made parole."

"Hey," Dawn said as she and Wesley walked up to the group. "Angel's down in the sewers showing a couple of the guys around, just in case Ethan tries to flee underground."

"Hostile 2-4-6-0-1," Buffy corrected.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"2-4-6-0-1," Riley said, "It's his Initiative number."

"You guys are kidding, right?" Dawn said. Everyone looked at her, clearly unaware of what she meant. "Jean Valjean? Les Miserables?" Nobody batted an eyelash. She let out a heavy sigh and said, "Geez, turn on PBS once in a while." Still they looked on, quizzically. "Never mind."

It had been over two hours since her second dose. Ethan had left Willow alone so she could adjust at her own pace. He had actually crawled back into bed and gone to sleep for those few hours. Something about torturing Rupert Giles put Ethan at ease.

When he woke, he decided to jump in the shower before heading back in to see Willow. He stood in a cloud of steam in front of the mirror, a fresh white towel wrapped around his waist. As he raised a hand to wipe clean a spot on the mirror so that he could see, his razor fell off of the side of the sink and onto the floor. When he retrieved it and stood back up, the mirror had clouded over again. It was odd, but Ethan let it go. He lathered his cheek and chin and pressed the steel of the razor to his throat. Two strokes into his task and the razor slipped, cutting a shallow gash across his adam's apple. He dropped the razor into the sink, into the murky water, his blood dripping onto the white, foamy residue of his shaving cream. He'd never been so careless before. In fact, he wasn't careless this time. It felt as if something tugged at his hand just before he cut himself.

His senses peaked, his suspicion too, Ethan took a step back and slowly walked sideways out of the bathroom. "Whoever you are I suggest you leave. Just because I can't see you doesn't mean I can't hurt you." Silence.

A few minutes later, with his hair still damp, his freshly shaven face crisp with the scent an intoxicating after-shave despite his wound, he walked into Willow's room... and she smiled. "Hello, little one," he said. He made his way over to her and kissed her forehead as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Where were you," Willow asked softly.

"Miss me?" He sat facing her on the bed and rested his right hand on the outside of her left thigh.

She looked down at his arm. His shirt sleeve was rolled up to his elbow and his arm was covered with freshly closed wounds. "You're hurt," she said.

He followed her eyes to his arm and then smiled. "You don't remember?"

She slowly shook her head 'yes.' "It was me. I was hurt...You took away my pain," she said. She seemed to forget that he caused the pain to begin with.

"Yes, love." He moved his hand moved farther up her thigh, lightly grazed over her hip and then continued the motion so that his arm rested against her side and his hand pressed into the mattress next to her. It was almost an embrace. He didn't want to push his luck, but he couldn't help himself. Ethan leaned forward but stopped just short of her lips.

Willow inhaled deeply, the scent of his cologne stirring a million things in her brain. A million things that reminded her of Giles. She missed him. Only she didn't know that it was Giles she was missing. Ethan's lips looked soft and moist, his breath minty fresh. He lingered there in front of her hoping she would make a move. So desperate for affection, so desperate for someone to hold her, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his.

"We're gonna start small," Riley explained. "Buffy showed us the layout of the upstairs, we think it's our best bet."

"And the dangers?" Giles asked.

"That's why we're starting small. If we start blowing out all the walls the place'll cave in." Riley looked away from Giles, the Watcher's gaze too uncomfortable.

"And what do you have in place to break through the magic barrier?" Wesley was beside Dawn, both of them leaning against a three foot concrete wall.

"Our special forces are working on that. One thing at a time." Riley stood up tall and tried to corral the group. "Ok, everyone back there, behind that line." He pointed to a spot halfway down the block.

Giles protested and insisted he stay close by. "If Willow's hurt, I can heal her. The coven is working through me, they'll give me the strength I need when the time comes."

Riley allowed him to stay, but not the others. Too many risks.

After the others had left, Riley checked in with his walkie and reported back to Giles, "Everyone's in position."

"Ready." Giles stood expectantly by his side.

 

part twenty-four

"How about I loosen those for you?" Ethan held Willow's hand for a moment and then began untying her restraints.

" Tell him to take them off ."

Willow heard the voice in her head and thought she saw movement behind Ethan. She looked hard but didn't see anyone. "What was that?"

"What was what?" He was giving her enough slack so that she could feed herself with her one hand.

" Tell him to free you. "

"That voice. Didn't you hear it?" She was looking deep into his eyes.

"No, I'm afraid I didn't." Ethan was growing antsy. First the incident in the bathroom, now this. He was also afraid that Willow was hallucinating. Granted, he'd only tested the drug on a few people, most of whom heard voices to begin with, but he was a little suspicious of her confusion.

Willow felt something growing inside of her. A sense of overwhelming calm. Like nothing mattered. She felt safe. Like she was being watched over. She wasn't sure what it was, all she knew was that when Ethan was around, she felt protected. "You can take them off," Willow said, smiling crookedly at Ethan as he began tying the knot back in place.

He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "Against my better judgment," he said, "But what the hell, eh?" He untied her right hand, then her left. He lifted her dainty wrist to his mouth and kissed the inside of it, her pulse lightly vibrating on his lips. The restraints had left little black and blue bruises around her wrists, and he was doing his damnedest to kiss them all away.

When he pulled her wrist away from his mouth, Willow slowly leaned forward and snaked her arms around his neck. She pulled him close to her and kissed him, wildly, passionately, and then lowered her head to his shoulder. Soon he would give her what he knew she needed. But for the next hour, Ethan just held her.

"Are you sure?" Riley said into his walky-talky. The plan hadn't exactly worked. In fact, nothing happened at all.

"Affirmative."

"What's wrong?" Giles asked, nervous and jittery, afraid that every second lost was a second longer that Ethan had to hurt Willow. He wasn't accustomed to feeling this way. He was the Watcher, the protector, he always knew the answer. But he had run out of strength, courage, ideas, and soon, he knew, he would run out of hope.

"The explosives - they seem to be of the non-exploding variety." Riley picked up his walkie and pressed the button on the side as he held the device in front of his mouth, "I'll be right there." He looked to Giles and said, "I'm goin' up to take a look. Wait right here."

Giles wasn't sure he liked Riley's 'order' to stay put, but he was in Riley's territory now, and Riley was in charge. The Watcher could have taken offense to it, but decided his efforts should be concentrated on saving Willow. " Hold on, love. I'm right beside you. " In his heart he hoped she heard him, in his soul he knew she had.

After what felt like an eternity in his arms, Willow broke away from Ethan suddenly, the thoughts in her mind turning quickly and unexpectedly to Giles. She looked around the room, scanning every nook and cranny for his protective eye. On some level she felt it, but in the moment, it was Ethan who was there protecting her. She didn't fear him. But she should have.

"Are you all right?" His gaze was intense, unsure of her sudden change. "Little one?"

Willow leaned forward again and rested her again on his shoulder. "Please untie me...my legs."

This was not planned. Ethan had no idea what to think, what to expect. It should have taken longer, she shouldn't be this attentive to him. Not yet.

She was clinging to him, her face turned so that her warm breath spilled over his neck. His mind was shot. Logic and reason had left him the moment she touched him. He held her arms at her shoulders and pushed Willow away from him, meeting her gaze with a smile. "How could I deny you anything?" He said.

Before Ethan untied the restraints, he gave her another injection. Third time was a charm. Or so he'd planned. But the moment she was free, Willow ran for the door.

"No, no," Ethan said, already there before her. She had no idea how he moved so quickly. "You know what happens when you trick me?"

"I didn't trick you," she said softly through a veil of tears.

He was standing behind her, his body pressed up against hers, her body pressed up against the door. "Forgive me if I disagree," he whispered in her ear.

She said nothing.

Ethan lifted his hand and brushed her fiery, red hair aside. He lowered his lips to her exposed neck, which was already covered with goose bumps.

"Please stop." Her voice was barely a hoarse whisper.

But Ethan didn't stop. He slithered a hand around her waist and pulled her closer, his mouth hot on her skin.

"Please."

"Tell me why, little one," he breathed onto her flesh.

Willow couldn't tell him. She couldn't tell him that the reason she wanted him to stop was because if he didn't...she wouldn't. "Ethan," she whispered.

"Yes?" He kissed her softly in the sensitive spot behind her left ear.

She closed her eyes and turned to him, sinking like a lead balloon into his embrace.

Giles stood beneath the burning, unbearable sun, eyes shielded only by the hand he held in a mock salute above his glasses. Two hours had been wasted re-setting the explosives. Riley was walking toward him. "Well?"

"Set to go again." Riley pointed and then situated himself beside Giles, behind a makeshift barricade that would keep any flying debris away. His walkie squawked again. "Finn," he stated into the small box in his hand.

"Riley we gotta put this on hold - someone's inside the unit next door. The boys are heading in right now to retrieve her. You know we can't go until we do another sweep."

Riley was pissed. "Can someone please tell me how a civilian wandered into a confirmed evacuation site?" He didn't wait for an answer. He stormed off right away.

Giles followed.

As soon as Riley realized he was being followed he stopped and turned to Giles, "I'll be right back."

"I'm coming with you. Every second that we lose is crucial. I want to help." Giles wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

"Ok, let's go," Riley said, though he knew he was putting the man in danger.

Ethan scooped Willow up into his arms. She never broke their kiss. When he lowered her to the bed, she pulled him quickly down on top of her. He feared that she was mistaking him for Giles. And, though Ethan seemed to be an evil man, that thought was unsettling to him. Still, he kissed her.

"There's nobody here," Giles said, having checked every square inch of the place where the woman was said to have been.

"Ok, look, enough fooling around. We're gonna do this and we're gonna do it now." Riley ordered his men out, following closely behind them. Giles was the last to leave.

" Rupert. "

His heart stopped. When he turned he saw Jenny, basking in the sunlight, almost in human form. Her spirit was strong.

" It's too late. You have to find another way. "

"Jenny, what?"

" It's too late, " she said.

A moment of uncertainty turned to rage. "Ethan Rayne, you son-of-a-bitch, I'll kill you with my bare hands," Giles ran for the spectre, but passed right through it. He didn't want to believe that Jenny was telling him that nothing could be done. He assumed it was Ethan trying to ruin their plans to save Willow.

Jenny knew it would be hard convincing him. " Rupert, it's me. You have to trust me. It's too late to save her, the damage is done. You'll have to find another way. " She was fading now. " I've been watching...waiting. I tried to tell warn you, but you never heard me. "

Giles was torn. He wanted to believe it was Jenny. But he didn't want to hear what she was saying. Because if he believed her, then Willow was gone. "Tell me what to do."He was barely an inch away from her, basking in the warmth from the sunlight that bathed her spirit.

" I don't have the answer. But when you see her remember that Ethan changed her. She's not yours anymore, not now. " She flickered and almost faded away, like a light bulb that was dying out. " Don't give up, Rupert. She loves you. Her soul belongs to you, but her head and her heart are tainted. "

His heart ached. Ached for the love he never knew from Jenny, ached for the love she said he had already lost with Willow. "Give me something more," he cried.

" Love her, Rupert. "

Willow moved beneath Ethan hard and fast, her legs wrapped around him, his mouth working feverishly over hers. When she kissed him, she meant it. There wasn't one bit of hesitation or uncertainty in those moments. Ethan almost didn't know how to respond. He never imagined her passion would overtake him so quickly.

He closed his eyes and looked deep into her mind. As much as he wanted her, he needed to make sure she was with him, making love with him. When he found no thoughts of Giles in her mind, he swept into her with one fluid motion and it stilled both of their bodies.

Their magic collided, his power draining hers, her power testing his as long as she could. It was a blur of motion as they moved like old lovers in her bed, in his bed. She called his name, just as he said she would.

"Giles?" It was Buffy's voice. She entered the apartment and found him sitting alone, on the floor.

"It's too late, Buffy."

"Giles, come with me," she said and reached for his hand. "You've been here for fifteen minutes. Riley said you weren't responding to him when he talked to you."

"She was everything to me," he said, this shell of a man that sat before Buffy.

He didn't have to say anything else. Buffy knew it was too late. All she could do was hold him.

Ethan moved slowly and methodically in her arms, his passion and his magic driving their motion. He'd been skinny and scrawny last time she'd seen him, but now he felt solid above her, within her. Willow's mind was fuzzy, full of incoherent moments. When she finally opened her eyes, they were levitating above the bed, almost two feet. It felt like she was floating on a cloud in the arms of this man.

Giles and Buffy stood outside beneath the shade of a tree. Wesley and Dawn joined them after they called Angel and told him what Jenny said. Angel headed back to Buffy's to tell the others. Riley called off his men, but told Buffy he would be staying in town on an extended leave. He wanted to spend time with Vivienne, and he wanted to be there to help Giles. She wasn't going to deny him the opportunity to spend time with their daughter, but Buffy wasn't sure how the dynamics were going to work with Angel and Riley both being there. Not to mention Spike. He wouldn't stay away forever.

Buffy and the others waited for Riley at the site until the troops pulled out.

Willow lay motionless, her leg draped over Ethan's, her head on his strong shoulder. She felt, somehow, complete. She had no worries. No guilt. No responsibilities. No shame. No regrets. She couldn't argue that this was a good feeling. And Ethan had given it to her. Just five days earlier she had felt that feeling with Giles, when she lay in his arms, glad to be back in Buffy's life. But those thoughts were lost inside of her. Still there, maybe, but Willow couldn't access them.

"Do you know what I would love?" He said, stroking her bare back as he held her.

"What?"

"I would love to take you home. To England."

Willow lifted her head so that she could look into his eyes. Ethan almost melted from the look she gave him. "When?" She asked.

"Your wish is my command, little one." He leaned forward and met her in a kiss.

"Now," she said, the word almost lost in his mouth. "I want to leave Sunnydale. Let's get out of here," she said, her mouth meeting his more voraciously than before.

Ethan pulled away, smiling, and then reached both of his hands up to her forehead. As he ran his fingers down the length of her hair, each strand turned from red to black beneath his magical hands. Her pupils dilated and her smile turned into a sneer before she crawled on top of him and whispered something dirty in his ear. She took him again and again, riding out the euphoria of her new-found-freedom until she was sated.

It had been over an hour. Riley's men were finally gone, people were allowed back in their homes. Giles just wanted to get back to Buffy's and get started on a new course of action. He and the others stood in a circle, waiting for Riley to join them so that they could head home.

"What was that?" Buffy said after almost being knocked off her feet.

All eyes looked to the apartment building. It was shimmering, almost as if it were surrounded by liquid sunlight.

"The magic, it's disintegrating," Giles said, his heart suddenly full of hope again. He ran for the complex, Dawn, Buffy, Wesley and Riley quick on his heels.

He reached the courtyard and approached the door to his old place with caution.

"Giles, don't," Dawn pleaded, afraid for his safety.

"I have to," he said and lowered his hand to the doorknob. He heard a click and they all jumped, Giles pulling away from the door. It startled them all, but it was only the sound of the locks unlocking. He looked to Riley who was now holding his gun out in front of him, the sights trained on the door. Riley nodded an 'ok' and Giles proceeded.

He opened the door slowly and then stepped back outside for a moment. Coast was clear. He nodded, indicating that he was going in, and Riley nodded back, indicating that he had Giles covered.

All the lights inside suddenly turned on, the drapes flew open and sunlight filled the space. Ethan was standing in the middle of the room, on the phone, dressed in a robe. Hugh Hefner would have been jealous. "I'll have to call you back, an old friend just dropped by," he said with a smile and hung up the phone. "Well, well. Good to see you, Ripper." Giles flew at him, arms flailing, heart racing, but when got within a foot of Ethan he was knocked on his ass. "Now, we'll have none of that in here," Ethan said, smug as ever.

"Where is she?" Giles demanded, standing up and dusting himself off, eyes wide, heart pounding.

Buffy and Dawn took off up the steps, but Ethan called after them, "You won't find her up there."

"Ethan?" Willow entered from the hallway beside him. She was wearing one of his white dress shirts with the left sleeve rolled up to her bicep, her arm tied off with a stocking just above her elbow.

He looked toward her and then back at the crowd. His smile could have killed them all. "Come here, little one, say hello to old friends." Ethan held his arm out and Willow walked into his embrace. She never once looked at Giles.

"Willow!" Giles was smiling, glad to see she was still alive. He remembered what Jenny said. This picture of her in Ethan's arms wasn't easy to take, but he knew it wasn't real. The black hair helped him keep a cool head, but he was losing it quickly.

She refused to look at him. After a minute of hiding her face against the strength of Ethan's shoulder, she leaned up on tip-toe and whispered in his ear.

"Of course," he said and pulled a hypodermic needle from the pocket of his robe and handed it to her. It was glowing bright, the liquid strong and sure to please her. "Just like I showed you," he said softly and kissed her hand. He watched as she left the room.

"What have you done to her?" Giles was practically foaming at the mouth.

"Nothing she didn't want, Ripper...though you'd like to believe different." Ethan lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled through his nostrils.

"She doesn't want you, you ponce."

A devilish smile crept over his lips. Ethan raised his eyebrows and happily retorted, "I beg to differ."

Again Giles ran for him, forgetting that the man was untouchable. Or maybe not forgetting...maybe not caring. Maybe fueled by so much hatred he thought it wouldn't matter. He was wrong. He hit an invisible wall that stopped him in his tracks. "You son-of-a-bitch!" He screamed. Giles had never known anything so infuriating in his life. Here he was, inches from the thing he wanted to throttle and he couldn't touch it.

Riley quickly cocked his gun and fired twice at Ethan. Ethan just smiled and wiped the bullets away in mid-air when they reached him.

Dawn and Buffy stood still, not wanting to get involved in this war between Giles and Ethan. It was something Giles would settle himself. And they all knew better than to step in when it concerned his love for Willow.

Giles turned and frantically ran down the hall. He stopped at the bathroom door and tried to open it. It was locked. "Willow, I know you can hear me. I don't know what he's done to you but you aren't thinking clearly. I want you to come home with me, love. Willow, please. Whatever he's done to you wont' last. All you have to do is come with me, right now. Please," he pleaded. "I love you."

She sat on the floor, her ear pressed against the door, the ceramic tile like ice beneath her bare legs. Her head was swimming. On the floor next to her lay the empty syringe.

 

Next: Sex, Lies and Repercussions

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