In Thrall by Frau Hunter Ash

Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The storyline, however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices. "Buffy vs. Dracula" Written by Marti Noxon, directed by David Solomon.

Author's Note: A Special "Thank You" to Joan the English Chick (pisces@englishchick.com) for her transcripts.

Summary: Adam has been defeated and the gang are recovering. In this one Willow uses her magick to help things along with major consequences for two couples and there's a 'guest' appearance here.

Buffy walked back into Willow's room as she toweled her hair with a smile, expecting to find both the red haired and blonde witch still sleeping. The Slayer lost her smile when she saw Willow lightly shaking Tara, a concerned look on her lover's face.

Buffy was beside their lover immediately and quickly checked Tara's pulse and then the girl's neck and wrists for bite marks.

"Her pulse is good," Buffy muttered and began to gently shake Tara as Willow brushed the brown-blonde hair out of Tara's eyes.

"What's going on?" Giles asked from the open doorway, tying the belt to his robe closed.

Any other time the girls would have found his appearance adorable, hair spiky from sleep, no glasses, and a puzzled but gentle look on his face.

Giles quickly wheeled himself across the room and examined the witch, the same as Willow and Buffy had and added in checking the girl's eyes.

"Her breathing is regular, heartbeat is normal and her eyes respond to light," he commented as Joyce appeared in the doorway. "I'd say she is in something like a coma or trance."

"She came out of that ritual fine last night!" Willow protested. "Tara was groggy but we all were."

"Could it be from the ritual, Giles?" Buffy asked as she glanced at the clock. Since they had all been out until past midnight slaying demons, werewolves, vampires and evil cyborgs, the Slayer wasn't surprised to discover they had all slept in and that it was now 11a.m.

"I don't know, did she eat much last night after we got back?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Willow. "I don't remember a lot."

It had been a mass of confusion for each of them for different reasons. Buffy had been busy fighting and the others performing the ritual that led to the defeat of Adam, the cyborg/human/demon hybrid.

After the ritual Willow, Joyce, Xander, Giles, and Tara had been groggy and exhausted from the energy backlash they had suffered when the spell ended abruptly. Fortunately, Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia had driven everyone back to the Summers home and forced the magick workers and Buffy to eat something to help rebuild their energy and help ground any residual magick.

Willow remembered someone waking her up at the dinning table and trying to get her to go to bed.

"Carson carried you and Tara up, Angel carried Giles and Buffy up," Joyce answered from the door. "Anya put Xander on the sofa and helped me up the stairs. Cordelia cleaned up the kitchen."

"Do you remember anything different about Tara, Mom?" Buffy asked, gently stroking the witch's forehead and cheek.

"She seemed more quiet than the rest of us," Joyce said, frowning as she tried to remember.

"Tara?" Willow whispered when she noticed Tara's eyes moving behind her eyelids and felt her lover's body jerk slightly. "Tara?" she said a little louder.

"Come on, my love," Willow insisted and Tara opened her blue eyes with a small smile until she noticed the concerned looks on everyone's face and the fact that Giles and Joyce were in the room.

"Come on, stay with us, Tara," Giles urged firmly. "Sit her up," he instructed and Willow and Buffy pulled the young woman into a sitting position on the bed.

"Energy back-lash," Giles announced. "We need to get some food and probably some caffeine in her. We need to treat this like a case of exhaustion. Some food, caffeine and then a long nap this afternoon."

"Should we let her sleep now?" Buffy asked as Tara's head dropped forward, asleep again.

"No, I don't think so," Giles said thoughtfully. "She… she could slip away and her spirit… well, it could detach from the body."

"Yes, we need to keep her at least semi-aware until her body has a chance to ground and focus on this realm," he explained to Buffy and Joyce.

Anya looked up from the easy chair she had slept in with a frown at all the noise until she took in the concerned faces of Joyce and Willow and the fact that Buffy was practically carrying Tara down the stairs. The Slayer put Tara down in one of the chairs and dashed back up to grab Giles from the wheelchair and carried him down as well. Willow brought the wheelchair down the stairs behind them.

"What is wrong that you are dragging Tara down the stairs?" the former Vengeance Demon demanded.

They somehow got the semi-conscious witch into the kitchen and found Cordelia already making coffee. She looked very surprised at the small group dashing in all at once.

Over the next hour, with Joyce and Cordelia doing the cooking, everyone was fed and Tara became a little more coherent. Buffy and Willow began to relax as Tara started to focus more on her surroundings.

"What the heck happened?" Buffy demanded, looking to Giles and Willow for answers.

"I'm not sure why she was affected more than the rest of us," Giles began. "We didn't ground properly last night after the ritual and it drained all of us. Eating and resting should have rebuilt that energy."

Tara was sitting at the kitchen bar with Buffy on one side and Willow on the other. Buffy was holding one hand and Willow had her head resting on Tara's shoulder.

"I g-gave more… more energy t-than everyone," Tara said softly, dropping her head and letting her hair hide her face.

The Slayer and Willow were still concerned; there was a distance in Tara's eyes that disturbed them. Everyone in the room sensed that she would fall right back to sleep if left alone for even a few moments.

"I knew t-that drawing on the basic…basic powers… that you'd be v-vulnerable to t-the wolf," she stammered.

Buffy was dying to demand answers from both of them but didn't want to break in on the revelations either.

"Yes…I thought d-during a circle…I m-might be able to k-keep the wolf back," Tara answered.

"Buffy," Giles said softly, motioning for her to be quiet for a moment, listening closely to the two witches.

"I d-didn't want to w-worry you," Tara answered, looking deep into Willow's green eyes. "You…you were the only one…strong enough to c-call the power. If y-you knew the w-wolf might c-come out, you wouldn't do it."

"Tara," Giles interrupted the conversation finally. "You knew Willow might turn into a werewolf in the circle and didn't say anything?"

Tara's head dropped. "I-I knew Buffy needed the r-ritual and I knew I could k-keep the w-wolf back."

Giles frowned deeply and most everyone in the kitchen knew he was extremely upset. Buffy pulled Tara into her arms and reached over to touch Willow's hand, trying to reassure her mates.

"I could have killed all of you and the magick rush would have killed Buffy," Willow muttered, her eyes distant and fearful.

"It didn't happen!" Buffy snapped. "We aren't going to beat ourselves or each other up over what might have happened!"

Buffy growled and slammed her hand on the counter, catching everyone by surprise.

"Listen! Everyone!" she snapped. "We aren't doing this! Willow didn't turn into a werewolf last night! I wasn't fried by magick! I wasn't killed by Adam or a demon! Tara didn't kill herself spending all her energy!"

"Buffy is right," Joyce said firmly. "Giles, you can lecture them later about taking the chances they did. I'm sure they are already aware of the danger they were in."

Giles looked over at the two witches and could see how miserable both were, thinking of what might have been and how Tara had taken a major chance with the magick.

"Yes, of course," he agreed. The ex-Watcher was smart enough to agree with his fiancée, that this wasn't the time to scold and lecture either of them. Everyone's nerves were too raw. "We'll sit down and discuss the ritual and how it might have been handled differently for future reference. We'll also discuss keeping things from each other."

"Yes, Giles," Tara said softly, accepting the slight scolding for endangering everyone.

"You didn't!" Buffy snapped, pulling Willow out of her thoughts. "We're all fine!"

"Buffy's right," Joyce repeated. "I suggest that we gather everyone up and pile into the cars. I suggest a day out of Sunnydale."

"I think that's an excellent idea except for the dead boys," Xander agreed from the kitchen doorway.

"They can ride in the trunk," Joyce suggested. "We're heading to the beach for an overnighter."

"Okay, we can head back to Los Angeles from there," Wesley said thoughtfully. "Now that Adam is taken care of, Willow is home and in safe hands, and the Initiative is out of town."

"Totally cool," Cordelia agreed. "I'm running out of things to wear," she complained.

Buffy shook her head and got up between Willow and Tara and grabbed them in a hug.

"Come on, guys, let's grab the sweats," she suggested. "It'll be cold on the beach."

"Great, we can have a barbeque on the beach at night so the vampires can attend, like in those beach movies on bad day time television," Anya said enthusiastically.

Buffy shook her head again and grinned for the first time in weeks. Her mom was right, Buffy thought, they needed a day or more spent as friends. They had saved Sunnydale and maybe the world again and they needed to do something other than research, planning the end of the world or actually fighting.

Tara and Willow moved slowly up the stairs, holding hands as Buffy walked behind them, smiling at the sight of her groggy lovers.

The Slayer stopped at a knock at the front door. "Go on, guys, I'll get it," she said and bounded down the stairs. There were advantages to being the Slayer and one of them was the need for very little sleep and rapid recovery time from exhaustion, wounds, and illness.

Buffy's smile faded when she opened the door to find Riley Finn standing in front of her.

"Riley?" she asked softly, not sure if she really believed he would either be stupid or brave enough to approach her or the Scooby Gang.

"Yeah," he answered, shifting uneasily on his feet. "I just wanted to tell you that they've shut down the Initiative research part of the program. The only thing left is the strike teams and only when there is a problem with demons. Sunnydale is now off limits and I'm leaving."

"Thank you. We heard that from an inside friend," Buffy said, keeping her voice neutral.

"I also wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything that happened. I was a jerk and I was wrong about all of it," Riley said, his eyes downcast. "I could blame it on the drugs they were feeding me but it was me and I know that. It hurt when you left and I wanted to hurt you. I know none of you will ever forgive me but I am sorry. Please tell Willow that."

"Riley," Buffy began but wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She had thought at one time she might even love the man in front of her but now she didn't even feel the anger she had the day before. It seemed like Riley and the entire Initiative was far away even though it had been less than nine hours. "I'll tell her. Good luck, Riley."

Buffy looked over at her mom and grinned, failing to notice Xander dodging past Carson just in time to tackle the Slayer to the sand.

"Hah!" Xander shouted as he jumped to his feet and leaned down to help his friend up. "Not watching where you were going, Slayer!"

"Yeah, and which team is creaming you guys?" she demanded, brushing the sand off her jeans after tossing the football to Angel.

Buffy reflected that her Mom had been right; they all needed this trip. She was even seeing a side of Angel that she never knew existed. A playful and relaxed vampire with a soul that could actually smile and have fun playing football on the beach.

The Slayers' eyes gleamed in the moonlight when she saw Giles get the fire in the barbeque pit going and Willow walking along the edge of the water with Tara. Carson had easily carried the Watcher from the car onto the beach. Angel had brought the chair along and some boards to put under the wheels so it wouldn't sink into the sand. It was killing everyone to see how much pain the Englishman was in and it was worse dealing with the wheelchair.

Buffy lined up with her team for another round as Willow led Tara towards the dunes.

"Feeling better?" Willow asked softly as they wandered among the sand dunes and finally settled on a picnic bench near the parking area.

"Yeah, the sleep in your arms on the way over h-here helped," Tara said, leaning over onto Willow's shoulder.

"I know and I trust you and your power, but Giles is going to yell at you," Willow said with a small smile.

Willow smiled and raised Tara's chin up and lightly brushed her lips over Tara's and felt the other woman shiver from the contact as Willow lightly ran her fingers into Tara's hair.

"Yes," Willow answered, letting Tara see her eyes darkening with desire. "It's been so long," she whispered.

Tara whimpered and pulled Willow lips back to her and the kiss quickly became heated, almost desperate. The blonde witch and Buffy had gone nearly insane when Willow disappeared. Having her back home seemed almost like a dream, having her in Tara's arms was sparking a fire within the blonde witch's body.

"As long as you're home n-now and don't d-do it again," Tara said softly, leaning forward to lightly nibble on Willow's earlobe. The redhead hissed and drew her head back.

Accepting the invitation to Willow's neck, Tara moved off the table to stand in between Willow's legs as Willow wrapped her arms around Tara's neck. Tara moved her lips from Willow's ear to her neck and began kissing her, exploring her again as her hands worked their way inside Willow's jacket to hold the red-haired witch closer.

"Oh goddess," Willow whispered, her own hands working under Tara's jacket and shirt to find bare skin.

Tara whimpered again and bit down on Willow's neck, causing the young woman to gasp with the shock running through her system and settling in her sexual center.

"Never!" Willow promised, her hips jerking in response as one of Tara's hands went between her legs to stroke Willow through her jeans. Willow cried out and clung to her lover. "So long, please!" she begged

Tara's lips moved down the neckline of Willow's shirt to continue kissing the other side of Willow's neck and she tightened her hold when she bit down and Willow's body jerked against hers.

Tara increased the pressure of her hand against Willow's sex and the young woman whimpered and thrust against her. Willow grabbed Tara's head and pulled her back to Willow's lips, her tongue demanding and pleading.

Tara felt her own body melting at Willow's hands and tongue and willed herself to stay upright.

Both froze when Joyce's voice calling for them worked past their sexual desire-fogged brains.

"Yeah," Willow agreed, trying to catch her breath, her body was shaking so badly. "What you do to me, woman!" she teased and then her body jerked with loss when Tara moved her hand away.

Giles glanced up from his plate as he finished off the last of the potato salad Joyce had packed along for their beach dinner of steaks, potato salad and other assorted goodies. He frowned as he caught Willow's intense green eyes observing him.

Everyone else, caught up in jokes or story telling, didn't notice the sudden tense reaction from the ex-Watcher. He watched carefully as Willow squeezed Tara's hand and got up to walk around the circle of friends and family to sit next to him.

He was sitting on the sand along with everyone else with the wheelchair behind him.

"Giles," Willow said softly, seeing Joyce grow quiet, noticing the young red-haired witch and her fiancée apparently getting serious about something. "Do you trust me?"

"No, I need total honesty," Willow insisted, her voice quiet but intense. "You've been afraid of the magick and you're not sure about what I've been through over the last couple of months. Can you trust me totally?"

Giles frowned and gave the question the soul searching that Willow was asking. After a few moments he looked up into Willow's green eyes and pulled off his glasses, angrily swiping at the emotions trying to fill his own eyes.

"I don't know," he admitted. "You invoked such strong dark magick, Willow. I know you did it to save Buffy but you could have damned your soul. I have a feeling that whoever runs the universe took pity on you and gave you a benevolent werewolf spirit but it could have easily have been a monster."

"I know and I knew the risk I was taking," she said softly and glanced over at Buffy. The Slayer was laughing at something Anya had said, Xander was blushing a bright red and Angel was trying not to fall over from laughing so hard. Buffy was holding Tara's hand now and Willow's face softened at the sight of her two lovers. "I would do anything for them."

"I would have killed myself, you already know that," she said calmly, ignoring the gasp of surprise from Joyce.

"Yes, I figured you had that planned," Giles nodded. "That's why waking up covered in blood freaked you so badly."

"Yeah, I couldn't think and Carson took care of me that first day," Willow explained. "He took me someplace warm, cleaned me up and let me sleep. I was trying to figure out how to come back to all of you when Buffy mentioned the Initiative was still in town."

"I wish you had reached out to us," Giles scolded, his voice soft and kind though.

"I know and I realize I was trying to run away from myself and the wolf," Willow agreed. "I somehow knew something was wrong but I wasn't sure if it was the wolf. I knew I had killed so I convinced myself that it was that."

"And now we know the wolf killed the other werewolf because he was attacking the girl and your wolf isn't evil," Giles deduced. "So now do you still feel something is wrong?"

Joyce immediately realized how much Willow was revealing as the young woman slipped back into her shy geek-mouse behavior from early high school and frowned.

"Yeah, been working on it instead of sleeping today after the ritual last night," Willow smiled a quirky smile. "Buffy and Tara were so out of it they didn't even notice me not sleeping this time."

"Giles, I have a sense of incredible power inside, neither good nor bad," Willow frowned, trying to explain. "Tara didn't need to shield me, though I understand the fear. I opened a door with that transference ritual, Giles. It was a doorway that would have taken years of study and development to reach. That door was blown wide open when I killed that werewolf and tasted human blood."

"I think so and I'm not sure I'm ready for it," Willow admitted. "It's calling to me, beckoning. Like chocolate or something. A thing that's really good but you could overdose on it real quick."

"Guidance but also trust," Willow smiled and touched his hand. "I would like to try something if you'll let me."

"I want to tap into the power of the Mother Ocean for something and I want you to open up, totally," Willow said vaguely.

Giles continued to frown and looked at Joyce, the question unspoken but loud enough for the Slayer's mom.

Giles could see the worry in her eyes but something else too, confidence. The ex-Watcher leaned forward and lightly stroked her cheek lovingly, his eyes drilling into hers, as if he was trying to see into her soul.

Willow, sensing a shift in emotions from across the fire, held up her hand, motioning Buffy and Tara to stay where they were. She could sense Giles' own mental and magick probes touching her shields and mentally lowered hers.

Buffy had glanced up and was surprised to see Willow and Giles in obvious deep conversation and the somewhat worried look on her mom's face.

Tara's head snapped up and glanced over at Willow a moment later when Giles reached up and began stroking Willow's cheek, gently, almost like a lover.

"He's trying to… to sense her," Tara tried to explain. "Like when we drop our s-shields for each other."

Buffy frowned and started to get up when Willow's hand shot up, signaling them to stay where they were.

Tara tightened her grip on Buffy's hand and Buffy could feel the concern radiating from the blonde witch.

"She's opening up to him but not us?" Buffy whispered, her voice reflecting the hurt and confusion.

After a moment they saw Giles draw back, pulling his hand away from Willow's cheek. They were very surprised when both red-haired witch and ex-Watcher wiped tears away from their cheeks. Both of them appeared lost in thought for a few moments.

Slayer and witch watched Giles nod to Willow and lay back onto a blanket on the sand and Willow sit up on her knees.

Buffy's eyes quickly sought out her mom's face and Joyce tried to smile a reassuring smile to her concerned daughter.

"Willow?" Tara suddenly questioned and Buffy's attention snapped back to her other lover as Willow's head fell back.

Willow's eyes were closed and her arms extended out from her body slightly to the sides, palms facing up, as if she were about to beg someone for something.

"Tara?" Buffy questioned and glanced around the circle. So far only Carson seemed to have noticed something had changed but he was staying in place.

Willow felt her head fall back as she opened up her shields totally and extended her senses, her connection. She felt her energy form reaching out, like branches and roots on a tree. Willow, using the imagery of a tree, sent her "roots" down through the sand, through the hardpan and earth, hitting underground water, bones, dirt, and finally the heat. Her "branches" extended until they were touching the sky, absorbing the energy from the moonlight. Finally, she sent her "self" over the sand to the ocean and sank into its depths.

Buffy and Tara tried not to flinch when Willow's body jerked violently, almost falling backwards but Willow managed to right herself.

"Willow?" Cordelia's voice sounded across from the fire and everyone's attention focused on the witch.

"Tara! What's happening?" Xander demanded, jumping to his feet but staying next to Anya.

Willow felt the massive energy hit her system, almost throwing her to the ground and almost overwhelming her body and mind. She cried out with the pain as her face reflected her torment.

"Wills?" Buffy said softly and Tara quickly wrapped an arm around Buffy's shoulders.

Willow felt like she was on a boat in the middle of the raging sea and tried to find her balance. She knew instinctively that she was in the middle of an energy overload and struggled to find her center, her balance.

She felt her breath torn out of her in ragged gasps and finally found the solid ground inside of her and clung to it. Willow forced herself to focus and pulled the energy in around her like a blanket. She could feel it swirling all around, still trying to pull her off balance.

Willow felt their energies joining hers, balancing and stabilizing her. The swirling of energies became calmer and the red-haired witch began to focus.

"Guys, what's going on?" Xander asked softly as they watched Buffy and Tara apparently join Willow in whatever was happening.

"Some kind of major magickal working," Carson commented and began rubbing the back of his neck. "Goddamn energy! Making my skin crawl!"

Angel nodded and ran a hand over his spiky hair as well. "I think Carson and I should get away from here," he commented as sparks began to fly from Willow's outstretched hands.

"Why?" Joyce asked, watching her daughter and lovers closely, trying to squeak or react when blood began flowing from Willow's nose.

"We're vampires," Angel said calmly. "Willow is drawing up some major nature energy; it sometimes goes crazy with vampires and attacks us."

"Because they aren't part of the natural order of the world," Anya said easily. "Demons, vampires and werewolves belong to darker realms than this, sometimes magickal energy zaps us, I mean, them."

"Then won't it zap Willow?" Xander demanded, suddenly very worried for his best friend.

"Possibly, she is a werewolf but also a witch," Anya said calmly. "The witch might be powerful enough to hold the energy or it might fry her."

"She's right and we need to get out of here!" Carson snapped as he leaped to his feet. The sparks flying from Willow's hands began to shoot out towards the two vampires across the fire.

"Come on," Angel urged as he scrambled to his feet and the two vampires ran away from the small group and finally settled on watching from about fifty yards away.

Willow concentrated and opened her eyes. She wasn't aware of Joyce squeaking in surprise and fear as the mother took in the sight of Willow's totally black eyes. The witch looked down at Giles and smiled slightly.

The Englishman appeared unaware of what was happening around him but he was very aware of the energies building in the young woman next to him and fought to control his concern and building fear. He knew if he let the fear overtake him, that energy she was about to direct his way could do more harm than good, whatever she was planning. He struggled with his own magickal training to stay focused, open and trusting.

Willow's head snapped back and one arm shot up and hand pointed to the sky and the other at Giles.

Joyce, Anya and Cordelia screamed as lightning hit the young witch and traveled through her into Giles and Angel, blinding everyone.

Xander blinked and sat up slowly. Anya was shaking her head and looked confused.

Cordelia quickly scrambled across the sand to help Angel with Buffy and Tara as Joyce looked over at Giles as he sat up blinking along with everyone else.

Buffy and Tara moaned slightly and opened their eyes reluctantly as Cordelia and Angel held them.

"Willow? Hey, Scarlet," Carson said, urging the witch to wake up as he wiped away the blood from her face.

Buffy frowned and pulled out of Angel's arms to crawl across the sand to look down at Willow.

"Oh, thank God," Buffy muttered and pulled the red-head up into her arms. She looked over Willow's shoulder into Carson's concerned eyes.

"I think she's okay," she said softly, beginning to trust that the vampire truly did care for her love in some way.

Cordelia helped Tara to her feet with Angel and they guided her over to Buffy and Willow.

They turned and found the Englishman's face looking confused as he reached down and felt along his legs and back.

"My God, Willow," he said softly, looking over into Willow's green eyes as the girls broke their embrace to look at the ex-Watcher. "What did you do?"

Joyce thought she looked like the Willow she had first known when they moved to Sunnydale, the young woman eager to please and to do good, especially for her friends.

"Yes, if you meant to cure my back and legs, then I think it worked," Giles said softly, sounding like he didn't believe it.

Giles slowly brought his legs up to his chin and then moved slowly, with Joyce's help to a kneeling position, testing his legs and back. Leaning on Joyce, he slowly got to his feet.

Willow watched closely, looking for any sign of pain from him and her face broke into a grin when his eyes widened with the knowledge that there wasn't the constant shooting pain from his back and down into his legs. Giles stood on his toes and then rocked back onto his heels. He cautiously did a slow knee bend and stood back up.

"Oh God," he whispered and began to grin himself. Joyce laughed and melted into his arms in delight.

"Willow?" Angel asked slowly, asking the question everyone but Giles wanted to know.

"I tapped into the energy from the earth, the moon and the ocean to cure Giles' injuries," she explained.

"Like in that movie The Craft?" Xander demanded. "Are we going to find dead whales and sharks on the beach in the morning?"

Willow lost her smile and began to frown. "No, I didn't take the energy; I just channeled it and directed it. Any price was mine."

"You're not going to start floating across the floor and throwing daggers are you?" Xander demanded and Anya grabbed his hand. She wasn't surprised to find it trembling.

"Hey, I thought I just did a good thing here," she protested, her voice getting sullen.

"I, for one, am pleased," Giles announced and grabbed Willow into a hug. "I know how powerful that was and how dangerous. I think you also knew the risks going in. Thank you."

Buffy and Tara glanced at each other, still trying to process what had happened.

"Wills, what happened with us?" Buffy asked and Willow left Giles' arms and went back to Buffy and Tara's.

"I was hooking into a lot of raw and primal energy," she explained as everyone began to sit back down around the fire, pulling their coats tight in the cold night air. "I almost got caught in the whirlpool. I found my center but I couldn't hold the focus and balance. I called out for both of you."

"Yes, we k-keyed into Willow and helped b-balance her and she was able t-to control the energy with our help," Tara said softly.

"If you two hadn't joined in, what then?" Angel asked, still frowning. He had seen a lot in his years as a vampire and powerful magick was among his experiences. Angel knew he was looking at some dangerous and powerful levels in the young woman.

"I could have been lost in the energy," Willow said softly, not meeting Buffy and Tara's eyes. "I knew I could get back out but I would of h-had to abandon the healing. With Buffy and Tara's help I did it."

"That was quite a rush," she admitted softly. She leaned into Buffy's arms as the Slayer sat down behind her and Tara leaned over to kiss her.

"I suggest we head to the hotel," Carson urged. "Have a drink at the bar, decide our futures, talk about nothing significant and let the humans sleep."

"Karnstein, you are truly warped," Angel grinned as he wrapped an arm around Cordelia's shoulder.

Willow caught the soft sigh the former cheerleader gave as she leaned into the tall vampire.

Everyone carefully watched Giles as they set about gathering everything together and trekked across the sand to the cars and were pleased that he showed no sign of his previous crippling pain.

Willow tossed the football to Buffy and the Slayer laughed, catching it with one hand and grabbing Tara around the waist with the other. Both lovers laughed and began racing to the cars.

The red-haired witch wasn't surprised when Angel lingered behind the others and fell into step beside her.

"If it worked, and that's a big if. No guarantees that it worked, nope, not with this one. Especially since it wasn't a spell, but kinda a healing thing…"

Angel stopped and Willow wasn't sure if he was going to fall on his ass from the shock she had just delivered to him.

"If it worked, I sealed your soul to your body," she explained. "No more 'happiness, lose soul' clause."

"Oh God," he whispered and sank to his knees in the sand and Willow knelt beside him. "Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not and that's the tricky part," she admitted. "To test the theory…."

"I'll leave you to talk," Willow said softly and kissed Angel on the cheek as she stood up. "Don't take too long."

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In Thrall

By Frau Hunter Ash

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