Nocturnal Bravura Book Two: The Healing

The Alliance 6

William woke up in his bed with Dawn staring down at him in concern.

“RED!” He screamed.

“Giles! He’s up!” Dawn yelled.

Rupert ran in. “Thank God!” he muttered, making his way to his son’s bedside.

“Red? Is she okay?” William asked, his head pounding.

Dawn and Rupert exchanged a worried look. Their silence caused a sick foreboding to course through him.

“William, Willow is missing.” Rupert finally told him.

William tried to bolt out of bed, but the sudden dizziness from trying to move too fast made him fall back on the bed.

“I have to go find her!” William cried, desperate.

Rupert held his son down.

William buried his face in his hands. “This is all my fault.” He whispered. “I should have protected her.”

“Well, we know she’s not dead.” Rupert said. “I did a locator spell. From my calculations she is being held in this general area.” He unrolled the map he had used for the spell and pointed. “I’m afraid she is at The Master’s Lair.”

Spike. William thought. What on earth would Spike want with Willow?

“I don’t understand, Da. What possible use would The Master have for Willow? Why didn’t he grab me while he had the chance?”

“Because he needs her to perform powerful magic.” A voice said.

William looked and saw a large man standing in the door way. The familiar all too familiar tingling sensation crept up his neck.

Vampire....

William shot off of the bed, no longer conscious of the pain in his head. He pushed Dawn behind him and reached for the stake under his mattress. Yanking it out, he glared at the man standing in front of him.

“Da! Get away from him!” William yelled as he charged forward.

Rupert grabbed his son and fought to hold him back.
“It’s all right William! I know him. I let him in.” he explained.

“You let this thing into the house with Dawn?!!” William raged.

“It’s all right, William! He is a vampire, but he’s been sanctioned by The Council.” Rupert said, tensed to leap between them if necessary.

The vampire walked slowly to stand in front of the irate slayer and stretched out his hand. “My name is Liam. Most people call me Angel. I’m here to help...”

******

Willow woke up in a large bed. Without opening her eyes, she tried her best to “connect” with William or one of the other scoobies, but nothing happened.

Something or someone was draining all of her powers. When she looked around her she saw them. Hundreds of tiny little statues that cast a tingling cloak of energy all around the room.

“Kind of neat, innit? Makes this sort of like a magic dampening room.” The voice seemed familiar and she soon found the owner of it. Spike sat on a chair in the corner, staring at her intently.

Willow gulped then looked down at her lap, afraid to meet his eyes.

“Now, Red, I have to say I’m disappointed. I would have expected a eep! or one of your classic Oh my Goddess! exclamations, but nothing? Don’t tell me that my dear little brother let you in on his dirty little secret? Surely not! He enjoys torturing himself with it so immensely.” Spike smirked.

Willow crossed her arms in front of her. She had to remember this was no longer her friend. This wasn’t the guy that taught her how to drive or made Oz fess up to finally to being in love with her. This was evil. This was a demon.

Spike sighed. “Cat got your tongue, Red? You’re usually so polite.”

“What do you want from me?” Willow asked, quietly.

Spike stood up and began pacing back and forth. “It’s simple, really. I need you to work some magic for me.”

“Why me?” Willow demanded to know.

“Well given the limit of selection in Sunnydale, you were the obvious choice. You are powerful. The only powerful wizard in Sunnydale is Rupert, and I don’t trust myself not to not drain the bastard dry on sight.” Spike said, cracking his neck. “So, all you have to do is say a little ditty for me and you’ll be on your merry way.”

“Wh..what.....” Willow began. Before she could ask her question the door swung open. Willow gasped as an distraught Buffy ran through the door. “Lizzie.” She whispered, shocked.

“What’s this all about?” Spike asked, gathering Buffy in his arms.

Buffy held him tightly, shaking against him as she continued to cry.

“Did the pictures come again?” Spike asked, rubbing her back soothingly.

Buffy nodded furiously.

“Don’t worry, my Perfect Princess. Daddy will make them all go away.” He assured her.

For a moment, the site of Spike holding Buffy in his lap transported Willow back to their high school days.

Perfect Princess.

Willow stared at Lizzie, shocked and saddened by her appearance. They had been best friends for years. Memories of the two of them sitting in her room talking, watching movies swooning over their boyfriends filled her head.

Suddenly, Buffy’s head snapped up and she looked over at their guest. She got up from Spike’s lap and slowly walked over and stared at her.

Willow watched nervously as confusion crossed Buffy’s face.

Buffy frowned. She looked like she was trying to capture some elusive memory that floated just out of reach in her mind.

“You’re hands are cold and clammy.” She finally whispered.

“Lizzie?” Willow asked, her voice soft and gentle. “Do you remember me? It’s Willow.”

Buffy jumped back a bit. Holding her head in her hands she began to sink to the ground. Spike caught her, gathering her up into his arms.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Princess.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Willow asked, forgetting her fear for a moment.

“She’s sick. There’s a bloke that says she’s lost. He says we can do a spell and make some sort of sacrifice to a statue and it might bring her back from the darkness.” Spike said, resting his cheek on Buffy’s golden hair.

“I..I’m the sacrifice?” Willow asked.

Spike rolled his eyes. “No, you nit! I need you to do the spell part. We already have the bloody sacrifice!” he sneered, the harshness of his tone causing Buffy to whimper.

“There, there, Pet. Daddy didn’t mean it.” He soothed, kissing the top of her head.

Willow looked at Spike. “You still love her, even though you’re all grr and stuff?”

“She’s my world.” Spike replied, looking lovingly down at Buffy.

He suddenly glared at Willow. “Do the spell and I’ll let you go. I’ll even give you a bonus. You do the spell, she gets better, and we will leave.” he growled, holding Buffy tighter as she started to play with the buttons on his red shirt.

“You mean as in le...leave Sunnydale?” Willow asked.

“Yeah, that’s the idea. Don’t think she would want to stay. Just stuck around because she was safe here. When she’s better…” Spike stopped, getting all choked up. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers before he continued.

“When, she’s better, my brother and all you little Scoobies can go back to ridding the world of our kind.” He spat out.

Willow looked at them. Spike continued to stare down at Buffy, concerned. She looked at the girl that had once been her friend. Poor Lizzie. So broken and lost.

“I’ll do it Spike.” Willow said quietly.

Spike looked at her for a moment, shocked. He had been so sure he would have to threaten her or tell her he would kill Oz if she didn’t give into his demands.

They stared at each other for a moment.

Spike continued to eye her suspiciously as she reached out for Buffy.

Feeling Willows soft hand on her arm, Buffy turned and looked at her.

“Daddy she’s so pretty.” Buffy whispered.

Willow smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll make you all better soon.” she said softly, looking at Buffy with love and concern. She then looked at Spike for another moment before she cast her eyes down.

“Right.” Spike choked. He began to walk out the door with Buffy in his arms. After he opened the door, he stopped for a moment.

Willow could hear it. Two words, said so quietly that if she had not been listening so intently, she would have missed them...

“Thank You...”

**

William sat in bed as Angel talked to him.

“The Statue of Aradia was stolen from a private collection in San Diego two nights ago. At the same time a book was taken from a friend of mine. It correlates with the statue.” Angel explained.

“So what does the statue do?” William asked.

“It guides the lost. You make a sacrifice to it and Aradia the guardian helps the lost find their way home.” Angel explained.

Lost, Lizzie… William thought.

“We know why the Master kidnapped Dalton. He needed him to translate the book that was taken. What we don’t know is why he took your young friend. It’s well known that Mr. Giles is far more powerful than she is. It doesn’t make sense that he would take a novice over a Master Sorcerer. We were hoping you could shed some light on that.” There was a slight accusatory inflection in Angel’s voice.

William’s eyes narrowed, glinting dangerously at the vamp. “I don’t bloody care why, I just want to get Red back.”

“Just keep this in mind, then. Whatever the Masters plans might be, if your friend isn’t powerful enough, this could all blow up in The Masters face.” Angel said.

“How?” William asked.

“If Aradia does not accept the sacrifice, it will destroy the person seeking help.”

God, no! Willow and Lizzie! William thought.

“We need to get moving!” he said, jumping off of the bed.

“Are you accepting my help?” Angel asked.

“Why are you helping?” William asked. “What do you have to gain from all this?”

Angel sighed. “Because Dalton is in trouble. Dalton is a lot of things. Sniveling, a bit greedy, and at times he has a really screwed moral compass, but deep down he’s a man that’s done a lot of good. He has helped me in the past. I owe him. ” the vampire explained. He then extended his hand to William. “Do we help each other, or what?”

William looked the man up and down. Finally he took his hand and shook it.

“I accept.”