Amy paced the sandy cavern floor, the expression on her face
clearly murderous. "What's taking so long?" she finally growled.
The black cloaked wizard looked up at her as he said softly,
"You are here only as a courtesy, because of your past efforts on behalf
of our master." He paused a moment before adding with a grim smile,
"Don't push it."
"Hmph," Amy crossed her arms.
The wizard chanted, power flowing all around them as he
searched, using his spell to find the perfect tool to attack the mystic
champion, Willow Rosenberg. Finally, in a displacement of air and a
flash of light, it arrived.
"Again?" the leather clad and quite vampiric incarnation of
Willow asked. She blinked, looking around her curiously, her eyes
lighting up when she saw Amy.
The wizard gulped softly, "Amy?"
"Yes," the blonde answered, seemingly hypnotized by Willow's
sultry gaze.
"You've stepped out of the protective circle," he pointed out
softly.
"Oh, shit," Amy looked down, realizing that yes, she had indeed
stepped out of the circle meant to protect them from the summoned
creature. She looked up to see where Willow was, only to see that she
was gone.
"You're really rather cute," the vampire murmured from right
behind her. Before Amy could try to run away, the vampire wrapped her
arms around the girl's waist, holding her fast. "I'd really like to play
with you but," she whispered into Amy's ear, "I'm hungry."
Amy cried out, when the fangs dug in to her throat, then she was
mercifully silent, cradled with surprising gentleness in those strong
arms.
'Oh, well,' the wizard thought, 'she was irritating anyway. And
this way, the vampire will be at full strength for what we want her to
do.'
Finally, the vampire finished her feast and simply let Amy's
lifeless body fall to the ground with a thump. Willow licked her lips,
then she looked over at the wizard and asked curiously, "You brought me
here. Why?"
"I, and my master the First, want you to kill someone for us,"
the wizard said nervously, 'your counterpart here, the living Willow
Rosenberg."
The vampire looked thoughtful, "I remember her. She was fluffy."
The wizard suddenly had a bad feeling about this...
In the middle of Sunnydale, two young women looked up at a cute
little shop with a finely done, hand painted sign. "The Watcher's Den,"
Willow read the bookstore's sign aloud, an odd little smile on her face.
Tara chuckled softly, "I guess Giles was right. It is easy to
find."
Willow had called up Giles this morning to talk, and in his
polite English way he explained he had to go into work. He offered to
meet them at work, and when they asked where it was he actually chuckled
before saying it would be easy for them to find.
Willow shook her head with a smile, "Let's go in."
The bell set above the doorway rang out softly as they went in
and the scent of well cared for old books quickly washed over them.
Piles of books were in stacks on some of the tables near the front
windows, and full book shelves lined the walls. It was a little cramped,
but in a pleasant, old fashioned sort of way. As they moved deeper into
the store they were both mildly surprised at the sheer variety the
little place stocked.
"Good morning," Giles smiled, putting a few books up on an upper
shelf with the assistance of an old ladder. He climbed down carefully,
dusting his hands off on his pants.
"I'm impressed," Tara admitted, looking around admiringly.
Willow blinked oddly, seeing a trade paperback novel slipped
into one of the shelves. "Hey, there's one of mine," she murmured
softly.
Both Giles and Tara looked at her in surprise. "One of yours?"
Giles echoed.
Willow shrugged, "Well, I have to support myself somehow."
Tara pulled the book in question out to take a look at it.
"Love's Test," was the title, the picture on the front of a tall woman
holding an obviously swooning lady in her arms with the sun setting
behind them making the romantic image complete.
"Willow Rosebloom?" Tara read the author's name with a smile.
"I'm not putting my real name on that," Willow sighed.
Tara let the book flip open, coming to an often read portion.
Her eyes widened as she began to read, "... she kissed her, a wanting
kiss full of passionate intensity. Her lips slid down the jaw to the
throat, a tongue flickering out to tease the base of the neck. Hands
gently stroked the round breasts, even as her lips found each of the
nipples..."
Giles reached over to close the book, blushing slightly. "I have
to admit that it's one of the best sellers in the erotica section," he
noted.
Tara blinked at the several books that were all written by
Willow Rosebloom. "Passion Night, Sapphic Interlude, Angel's Touch..."
she read off the titles with a smile. She looked over at the brightly
blushing Willow to ask, "How did you start writing these?"
"Being a champion doesn't really pay well," Willow shrugged. "I
was a bit.. frustrated at the time, and relieved that by writing about
what I wanted to do. It seems that I have a knack for this sort of
thing," she finished.
"Now that you're not so... frustrated," Tara gently took
Willow's arm, "I hope it won't impact on your writing."
Willow blushed again.
Giles had to smile slightly as he led them to the rear of the
store, where a few soft chairs and a couch waited to be used. "So what
did you want to talk to me about?" he asked curiously after they had all
sat down.
Willow gently took Tara's hand in hers, "We just wanted to let
you know that we're planning to remain in Sunnydale. If you or Faith
need any help, just ask."
"It will be good having you both around," Giles admitted. "I
rather like Faith, but I've missed the intelligent conversations we used
to share," he smiled. He looked thoughtful, "Have you mentioned this to
Kennedy or Faith yet?"
"Faith's our next stop," Tara smiled.
They talked for a while, and as the two young women were leaving
Giles lay his hand gently on Willow's shoulder. "Be careful around
Faith," he said quietly, "she cares a great deal for Kennedy, and will
do whatever she must to protect her."
"I understand," Willow nodded.
The office they went to was also in the downtown, a second floor
business suite. The glass in the door was frosted slightly, and letters
had been etched in there: Angel Investigations. They opened the door to
see Kennedy sitting at the secretary's desk, dressed quite nicely.
"Hi," Kennedy smiled at them both, "I'll let Faith know you're
here." She picked up the phone and pressed a button, murmuring softly
into it.
"I didn't know you worked here," Willow admitted. "Do you like
it?" she asked.
"It's pretty interesting, actually," Kennedy admitted as she
listened to the phone. She put it down and said, "Go right in."
"Thanks," Tara smiled gently as they went into the inner room.
They opened the inner door to see Faith, in a black women's
business suit, come around from behind her desk. "So what do you think?"
she asked.
"I almost expected to see you in a fedora and trench-coat,"
Willow admitted.
Faith laughed softly, "I guess I hung around Angel too long."
She looked at the two of them curiously, "What can I do for you?"
"Just a courtesy call," Tara shrugged.
"We're planning to stay in town," Willow explained, "and I
wanted to offer our assistance if you need it in the future."
"Thank you very much," Faith said, but there was an odd look on
her face.
Willow gave Tara a look, who picked up on it easily. "I think
I'll go out and talk to Kennedy for a bit," Tara smiled and left the
room.
"I may not be putting this very well," Willow met Faith's eyes
steadily, "but I'm not here to mess up what's between you and Kennedy."
More softly, she offered, "And if you want, I'll even try to avoid the
Summers house."
"That's not fair to Dawn and the others," Faith sighed. She
smiled slightly, "I won't deny that this is all a bit weird, but I'll
manage."
"It's a bit strange for me, too," Willow admitted. She blushed,
"I treated Kennedy rather badly, honestly, and I've always felt terrible
about it."
The phone on Faith's desk rang, and she picked it up smoothly,
"Yes?" An odd look appeared on her face, and she nodded a few times.
"I'll be right down," and she hung up.
"What's wrong?" Willow asked as Faith quickly grabbed her coat.
"A call from the Bronze," Faith said, "I've got a contract to
assist with their security." She still had that odd look on her face as
she said, "The manager says that you're in there, leading a gang and
busting the place up."
"Me?" Willow blinked even as she followed Faith out the door.
"Trouble at the Bronze," Faith said to Kennedy.
"Should I call Giles and the others?" Kennedy asked.
"Let's check this out, first," Faith said, She looked over at
Willow, "You ever have an evil twin turn up before?"
A strange look crossed Willow's face, then came back and settled
down there. "It couldn't be," she groaned softly.
Over at the Bronze, the vampire Willow looked around her with a
satisfied smile. The place was packed, just like she had hoped. With her
servants blocking the front and back doors, it was almost an all you can
eat situation.
'Better keep a few alive,' vamp Willow thought regretfully, 'I
may need hostages.' She didn't know exactly why the wizard wanted her
other self dead, but it didn't really matter. This was fun, and that was
good enough for her.
There was a disturbance at the front door. Vamp Willow turned to
look, and her eyes widened as the door creaked, beginning to bend
inward. The vampires guarding it backed away slowly, when the door
suddenly was completely torn off it's hinges.
"Quite a improvement from simply floating a feather," Willow
said seriously, then smiling suddenly as she added, "I've always wanted
to do that."
Vamp Willow's looked at her twin and quietly said, "I'm
beginning to understand why the First wants you dead."
Around the back Faith smoothly staked the guard vamp, then tried
the door. "Locked," she said, and backed up to kick it open.
"Let's try something quieter," Tara stopped her. With a single
finger she directed a thin stream of fire and cut the bolt off. She
pulled it open, "Let's go."
"Nice," Faith smiled.
"So what's the plan?" Kennedy asked.
"You help the innocents out of the building," Faith ordered her,
"while I and Tara take out the hench vamps."
"And Willow gets to stop her counterpart," Tara said, her eyes
worried.
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