Title: Destiny: Unknown

Author: Electra - Sadie@antisocial.com

Part: 1/?

Rating: R

Summary: Willow has a destiny that involves saving the world, and a mystery girl. *Lame I know, just read it!*

Disclaimer: I own none of the BtVS or Angel cast, but I do own Sydney and the story itself.

Notes: I'm not sure where I'm going with this, so bear with me ok?

Pairings: Willow/Angel Spike/?

Feedback: YES PLEASE! I need it badly!

**********

Willow moaned in her sleep, visions of death and destruction flashed behind her closed eyelids. A voice spoke clearly above the chaos, "This is the future of humankind. You can change this, follow your destiny." A face shifted into focus, and Willow found herself looking at a girl no older than her with dark hair and dark eyes. She smiled and started to say something.

Willow's eyes snapped open. Sitting up, she looked around the room. Buffy was sound asleep in her bed, snoring softly and the clock beside her read 4:08. Willow groaned, flopping back down onto the bed. *It's four in the morning! I thought the prophectic dreams belonged to Buffy. Oh well, Giles'll know something...I hope.*

**********

After Willow had finished explaining her dream for the fifth time to Giles, the door opened and the rest of the Scooby Gang walked in.

"So, what's this emergency meeting about?" Buffy asked rolling her eyes, it was *way* to early for this!

"It seems Willow had a-a prophetic dream last night, Buffy." Giles explained, collapsing into a chair.

Buffy's eyebrows shot up, "Way-to-go Wills! Yay! Does that mean I won't get them anymore?"

Giles glared at her and Willow couldn't hold in a smile, "I'm not sure, but it was gory and violent. That's pretty much all I can remember though except there was a voice saying my destiny could change the future and a girl."

"A girl?" Xander gestured for Willow to go on.

"Ya, um, well she had dark hair, kinda blackish and really shiny, dark eyes and pale skin. Almost vampire pale. She was gonna say something but I woke up."

"Sucky." Buffy nodded. "I hate it when those dreams cut out the important stuff."

"Well," Giles broke in, "I think we have quite a bit of research to do yet, so let's get started shall we?" He brought out his 'special' books. "Dig in."

*************

"Angel Investigations, Cordelia speaking, how can I help you?"

"Cordy?"

"Willow? Oh my God! It's so good to hear from you, what's up?"

"I need some help."

"Help? How?"

"I kinda need to be there to tell you, can I come down?"

"Oh! Sure.... you could stay with me." Willow could hear the smile in her voice even over the line.

"Ok, I'm heading down tonight, I should be there by 11 or so?"

"Great! I'll let the boss know you're coming so he won't be to shocked."

"Alright, bye Cordy! You sure it's alright?"

"Oh, of course!"

Willow grinned, "Ok, bye!"

"Bye, see you tonight!"

Cordy smiled. Wont Angel be surprised? She stood up and started towards the elevator down to his apartment. "Oh Angel, I have something to tell you..."

~END PT 1~

**********

Willow sang along with the popular song blaring from the radio as she sailed down the freeway towards LA, and Angel. She let her thoughts drift towards him as she drove.

They didn't know each other very well, after Angel had gotten back from Hell, he pretty much steered clear of everyone but Buffy, which meant she didn't see him very often. When Angel left for LA, everyone, even Buffy a little, was relieved. Except her. She had *the* biggest crush on him, had since she first met him. Of course he'd never know because that would be too awkward, expecially since they'd now be spending quite a bit of time together.

A horn blaring brought Willow back to reality, she had strayed to the other lane. Quickly steering the car back to her own lane, she let out a breath in relief. *I've got to stop doing that! Goddess, Willow, you're so out of it!*

She drove a while in silence, having turned off the radio, but decided that she liked the noise. Instead of turing it back on however, she put in a CD. Rammstein's voice and the hard beat flooded over her and Willow grinned. No one knew she liked this kind of music. They would think she'd gone mad, because none of them liked this, they liked the sappy crap. Grimacing at memories of having to listen to that stuff, she turned it onto her favorite song and bobbed her head to the beat.

Once again, Willow's thoughts drifted towards the dark-haired vampire as so many times before. But this time, Spike entered into the picture. *I wonder what their relationship was like before Angel got his soul? They were probably really close.* Spike sometimes told stories of funny things that happened during their time together. Like when Angelus had been dared by Spike and Drusilla to climb the mast on a sailing ship and hang by his feet, but hadn't realised that a storm was brewing, so he had to be rescued, nearly being swept out to sea once or twice. He suffered though a lecture given by the captain on why that was very dangerous. He probably would have killed the man, but that would have been suspicious and they were already being watched because of their inability to go out into the sun. Willow chuckled as she remembered the story.

When the CD ended, Willow put in a new one. The sounds of Brooklyn Bounce filled the small porsche boxter. The car had been a graduation present from her parents, but she had never needed it until now because Sunnydale wasn't exactly huge. She was thankful for it now, though, because it had an awesome sound syestem. Two built in subs and two amps in the back and eight large speakers made for a happy Willow. She loved loud music, always had, but it seemed better now somehow. Louder. Clearer. *Oh well, why argue with a good thing?*

A small Miata pulled up beside her in the next lane over. Willow was already going 20 over the speed limit, but this person beside her was pulling ahead. *No way! I bet my car can go way faster than that little thing...* And with that thought, Willow stepped on the gas and shot past the Miata, laughing. The Miata couldn't match her speed, and soon fell back. *Wow, I'm really moving!* Willow gasped as she saw her speed, but couldn't muster up any urge to slow down, so she kept her speed. *At this rate, I should be in LA in about 20 minutes.....yay me!* She smiled and turned the music up louder.

~END PT 2~

**********

"What do you mean Willow's on her way here?" Angel sputtered as he listened to Cordelia chatter excitedly about shopping with the redhead.

"What's not clear about that?" Cordelia raised a brow, "Plus, I know all about your not-so-little crush on her, so don't even try and deny that you're happy about it, buster!"

Angel grimaced, "I'm that transparent?"

Cordelia nodded, "Why are you so nervous anyways? I mean, she *so* likes you too!"

"Yeah right. Keep dreaming, Cordy." Angel laughed harshly, "She'd never want me, plus, isn't she seeing that Tara girl? Proof enough she's not playing for the same team anymore."

Cordelia rolled her eyes, "They mutually parted, neither was getting enough out of the relationship, so Willow said in her last email. Like that isn't obvious, their relationship was lacking alright, lacking that vital male organ that women just don't have."

Angel had just taken a drink of his coffee and was planning on swallowing it too, but that last comment shot that plan to hell as he snorted the coffee right up his nose.

"Gee Angel, could you be a little messier?" Cordelia asked sarcastically and walked out of the office, avoiding the still sputtering Angel. She called back over her shoulder, "By the way, don't you think you should clean up that office a little? Willow's due here in about an hour of so!"

Angel groaned. *Sometimes, I could really hurt that girl.*

**********

Angel had just finished cleaning up his office, for the third time, when he heard the door open in the outer office.

"Willow!" Cordelia cried and enveloped her in a bear hug.

Angel walked out into the main office and blinked at the sight before him. Willow had changed from the shy, fuzzy hacker he'd known, into a beautiful, confident young woman. Gone were the pink sweaters and overalls, she now wore a tight, tiny little tank top and a pair of very short shorts. It was then Willow noticed him, turning from Cordelia to hug him with a force he didn't know she had.

"Angel, it's so good to see you! Wow, still into black I see?" She teased, throwing him a brilliant smile and a wink before turning back to Cordelia, "So, what have you got planned for us?"

"I thought you said you needed help with something?" Angel asked, still slightly stunned by the change in Willow's wardrobe and attitude.

Willow sighed, "Yeah, but that can wait until tomorrow, it's not going away anytime soon. What I want to do now, is hit the malls, there are some things you just can't get in Sunnyhell!"

*****

"So, Wills, what's with the attitude adjustment? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it's kinda sudden, don't you think?" Cordelia asked as they sat at a little table by a drink stand, they had just finished two hours of shopping for clothes and accessories.

"I'm not sure, the closer to LA I got, the more confidence I gained. I'm not complaining either because, you know, I've never been very confident in myself." Willow sipped her iced mocha thoughtfully.

"Well, now you've got lots, I saw how you flirted with Angel today!" Cordelia grinned.

Willow smirked, "Yeah, that was fun. Just seeing the look on his face..."

"Changing the subject, you think you've got enough clothes? I mean, you bought a whole new wardrobe, where'd you get so much money, girl?"

"Well, I've always had it. My parents opened an account for me, complete with fifty grand. I call it guilt money, for not 'being there' as I grew up." Willow rolled her eyes, "But, how can I complain? I mean, why not take full advantage of their guilt and buy myself some awesome stuff?"

Cordelia raised a brow. This was not the Willow she had known before. *She's changed a lot, but is it really that bad? She has confidence now, something she's never had much of before and it's obviously doing some good..* She was interrupted by Willow's voice.

"Hello? Earth to Cordy...are you in there?"

She blinked, "Sorry, drifted out. I haven't done this much shopping since my parents lost their money."

"Well, it was for a good cause, the 'Help Willow's Wardrobe' shopathon," Willow laughed.

Cordelia grinned, "Well, I can't wait to show Angel what I got, and what you got. I wonder how he'll react to the nightwear?"

Willow thought hard, "Positively I hope."

They looked at each other and started laughing, they both knew Angel would react better than positively.

**********

Angel had just finished cleaning up his office, for the third time, when he heard the door open in the outer office.

"Willow!" Cordelia cried and enveloped her in a bear hug.

"Angel, it's so good to see you! Wow, still into black I see?" She teased, throwing him a brilliant smile and a wink before turning back to Cordelia, "So, what have you got planned for us?"

"I thought you said you needed help with something?" Angel asked, still slightly stunned by the change in Willow's wardrobe and attitude.

Willow sighed, "Yeah, but that can wait until tomorrow, it's not going away anytime soon. What I want to do now, is hit the malls, there are some things you just can't get in Sunnyhell!"

*****

"Well, now you've got lots, I saw how you flirted with Angel today!" Cordelia grinned.

Willow smirked, "Yeah, that was fun. Just seeing the look on his face..."

"Changing the subject, you think you've got enough clothes? I mean, you bought a whole new wardrobe, where'd you get so much money, girl?"

"Hello? Earth to Cordy...are you in there?"

She blinked, "Sorry, drifted out. I haven't done this much shopping since my parents lost their money."

"Well, it was for a good cause, the 'Help Willow's Wardrobe' shopathon," Willow laughed.

Cordelia grinned, "Well, I can't wait to show Angel what I got, and what you got. I wonder how he'll react to the nightwear?"

Willow thought hard, "Positively I hope."

They looked at each other and started laughing, they both knew Angel would react better than positively.

**********

"We're home!" Cordelia yelled as Willow an her stepped into the office.

Angel appeared in the doorway of his office, "Have fun?"

Willow smiled and nodded enthusiastically, "Thank God for 24 hour malls, however strange that concept is... who thought of that?"

Cordelia shrugged, "Not sure, but with the hours I keep, sometimes it's a lifesaver!"

Angel broke in, "Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but you did say you had something to talk to us about?"

"Yeah, I'll explain it in your office. You know, for privacy?" Willow gestured to the open door.

Angel blinked, "Oh. Right." He moved out of the doorway to allow Willow and Cordelia to pass.

"Nice one, Boss." Cordelia murmured, amused, as she walked past. He scowled at her and shut the door behind him.

Willow watched the scene before her with puzzlement. *What did Cordy say to him?* Her attention was once again drawn to the dark vampire as he sat on the corner of his desk and stared pointedly at her. She sighed unconsciously, *He'll never be interested in me, but there's nothing I can do so just buck up Willow! Buck up? How lame is that? Where the hell did that co-*

"Willow, are you alright?" Angel interrupted her thought process with the concerned question.

Metally shaking herself, Willow gave a smile, "Yep. So alright, where should I start?"

"How about at the beginning?" Angel smirked.

"Uh, that's a good place." *Oh you idiot! Where's all your new-found confidence now, huh?* "Well, I started having these violent, gory dreams involving this one girl and a voice. The voice kept telling me 'This is the future of humankind. You can change this, follow your destiny.' And then a girl would appear above the images of war and chaos, she'd smile and start to say something but then I'd wake up."

Angel was frowning. "Is this be a prophecy?"

Willow gave a helpless shrug, "That's the thing, I don't know, none of us do! Giles couldn't find anything in his books and I searched for hours on end on the net, but still we found absolutely nothing. No mention of any prophecy involving me or the girl."

Cordelia sat beside Willow, deep in thought while Angel had stood up from his position on the desk and was now pacing slowly in front of them, making Willow dizzy.

"Well, anyone have any suggestions?" Willow looked hopefully at both of them.

Cordelia grimaced. *It's gonna be a long night...*

**********

"What if we could find this dream girl?" Cordelia asked wearily. Willow and herself had been researching for hours while Angel went to all his usual sources to see if they knew anything.

Glancing up, Willow said, "I've thought about that, but it'd be *very* hard since I have no clue what her name is, how old she is, or anything about her except for her appearance."

"Oh, yeah. Guess it might take a while huh?" Cordelia sighed, "It must be frustrating, huh?"

Willow leaned back in her chair and stretched, "Yeah, it is, but I console myself by thinking if I'm supposed to meet this girl, I will. When...I'm not sure about though."

It was then Angel walked in and said hello, startling the stretching Willow and causing her to actually *fall* off the chair.

Cordelia stared at Willow sprawled on the floor and couldn't contain her giggles. They turned to an all-out laugh when Willow glared at her.

<P>

Meanwhile Angel just shook his head and giving a small smile he made his way over to Willow to help her off the floor.

"Thanks," Willow smiled and went to sit back in her chair, glaring once more at Cordelia who was still chuckling.

"Find anything?" Angel asked.

"No, absolutely nothing," Cordelia groaned having finally controlled her mirth.

"Me either, well, what now?" Angel sank down onto Cordelia's desk chair.

Willow opened her mouth, about to speak, when the door opened and a girl stood in the doorway. Willow's mouth hung open in shocked surprise. It was the girl from her dreams.

**********

The girl stood in the doorway framed by the light from the streetlamps. "Um, hi?" she shrugged and gave a small smile.

Willow gasped, "You--you--wha--but--?"

The girl smiled wider, "My name's Sydney. I think you know who I am, because I know you. From my dreams I mean." She hastily added the last part as Willow's face scrunched up in confusion.

Angel stood up, "Willow, is this the girl you described?"

Willow nodded faintly, "Wow, I mean, yeah. I never actually thought I'd meet you, or that you were even real. This is kind of a shock."

Sydney nodded, "We've been sharing dreams apparently, so I just followed the trail of the magic signature you left behind in every one."

Willow's eyes grew large, "You know? How do you know? We've never met!"

"I'm a Sentra. I have the ability to do things like pick up on magic signatures. Yours is very unique, Willow, it's nothing like I've ever felt. It's almost...Sentra." Sydney tried to explain.

"What's a Sentra?" Cordelia asked, finally coming into the conversation.

"I second that." Angel folded his arms and looked at Sydney suspiciously.

Sydney looked at Willow, and Willow nodded for her to explain further. "Well, a Sentra is a type of demon that possesses their own individual abilities. I know that sounds confusing, but every Sentra has different abilities, it's like fingerprints. We're all unique. One of my unique abilities is being able to pick up on the signatures people leave everywhere they go. Am I talking weird? I think I'm talking weird, I feel like my grade 9 english teacher."

Willow grinned, "You're not talking weird, just trying to explain a hard-to-understand thing."

Sydney smiled, then frowned, "Where do we go from here?"

"You don't know?"

"Nope. I was hoping you did so that's why I've been trying so hard to find you."

Angel was deep in thought trying to figure out what the term Sentra translated as, he'd heard it before. *Individual Demon....no, way wrong there....Fate Demon....no, not quite....Realm Demon--yes, that's it! Now where did I hear it?*

"Angel. Angel?" Willow was tapping him on the shoulder lightly. Angel's eyes darkened and closed as her scent washed over him; vanilla and....strawberry. Yum.

Willow shook him. Hard. "Angel? Hello? Earth calling Angel are you there?" *I wonder what he's thinking about so hard?*

Angel smiled at her, "Yeah. Sorry. What were you saying?"

Sydney gave him a strange look, then continued, "Well, I was saying that maybe if we were together, as in the same room, when we slept, we'd have another dream."

Cordelia leaned forward in her seat, "It makes sense, since now you two are together which is where you are obviously supposed to be. Maybe now the dream will show a little more of what's going on and what this whole thing is all about."

Angel nodded in agreement. *Maybe as they sleep I can find out where and why I heard about the Sentras.*

Willow got up, "First we have to call Giles and tell him how we found Sydney. Actually, how she found us."

"True, how true," Sydney laughed, "I haven't felt this at peace in a long time. There's always been some sort of knot in my stomach, but now it's gone. Odd."

"Are you coming, Angel?" Willow gave him a slow smile.

Angel's eyebrows shot up, "Why not?"

Willow's grin got wider and she walked down the hall towards his elevator. *This'll be fun. Operation 'Get Angel To Notice Me' is now underway. With a slight change in the blueprints.*

**********

Willow lay awake, staring at the smooth whiteness of the ceiling above her bed, but not really seeing it. Her thoughts centered around one man, Angel. His thoughtful and handsome face floated in her mind as she thought of ways to get his attention. Her musing was interrupted by a weird feeling, it was like something was pushing at the edge of her mind, trying to get into her thoughts. Like anyone else would, she resisted it, pushing it back out of her mind in a panic. But the force pushed on relentlessly and finally it wormed it's way in.

*For someone who's face reads like an open book, you sure have your mind closed tighter than prison doors!* Sydney's voice huffed. Willow's eyes darted around the room, but saw no one else but her. *I'm still in my room, so stop looking for me.* She sounded amused.

Shocked, Willow said out loud, "How are you talking to me in my mind?"

Annoyance and exasperation floated over the link, *It's easy, we're bonded and therefore are able to communicate through telepathy...neat huh? So stop speaking out loud 'cause I can hear your thoughts just as well, but no one else will.*

Willow grinned, maybe the whole bonded thing wasn't so bad after all, ~You can hear this?~

*Yep.*

~This is _so_ weird! Cool too.~

*So what's this about getting Angel to notice you? And don't act all huffy because it's too late. I already heard.*

Willow flopped back down on her bed, sighing softly. ~I really like him, but he treats me like the barely-tolerated little sister! It's so annoying!~

*Little sister? Ha! Yeah, right. Jesus, the way he looks at you could melt diamonds, girl!*

~Sure there, Syd. Be delusional.~ Willow rolled her eyes.

*Hey! I know you just rolled your eyes at me! Fine, if you don't want to believe me, then just go right ahead, but don't come crying to me when he loses interest because you're acting all un-you.*

~'Un-me?' Does that statement even exist in the english language?~

*Shut up.*

Willow giggled at the defensive tone. ~Woo-ee, someone's a little touchy tonight. So how about Spike? He's a looker isn't he?~ She changed the subject.

*I wouldn't know, I didn't even notice him much.*

~Now why don't I believe that?~

*Because you're delusional as I've said before?*

~Some--one's be--ing defen--sive!~ Willow sing-songed in her mind, then giggled at the little growl she recieved as a reply. ~Face it, you're hot for his bod!~

*Am not!*

~Are too!~

*Am not!*

~Ok, this is getting us nowhere. Own up Syd or else I'll have to beat with you my imaginary wet noodle!~

Stifled laughing floated over the link, making Willow smile. *Wet noodle? Oh God Wills, that's bad. I'm _so_ scared!*

~You should be!~

Both girls started laughing, then Sydney yawned, the sound echoing in Willow's head. *I'm tired, I need sleep. See you tomorrow ok?*

~Kay. Night Syd.~

*Night.*

*****

Angel stopped to check in on Willow before he continued on to his room, and smiled as he saw he sleeping peacefully with a slight smile on her face. Shutting the door, he walked across the hall into his own room, jumping a little when he saw Spike sprawled across his king-sized bed trying to take off his boots.

"Spike, what are you doing in here?"

Spiked raised his head to glance at Angel, "Getting ready for bed, mate. This is how, isn't it?"

Angel rolled his eyes, "Nice try, but this is _my_ bed, so you're taking the couch."

"I don't think so, I'm a guest so _you_ can take the couch."

"I mean it, get off the bed, Spike. I am not sleeping on that couch!" Angel hissed angrily.

Spike took off his boots and stalked over to Angel, "Neither am I. Guess we're at a stalemate then, hmm?"

Angel glared at his insolent childe before saying, "Fine, get in then," and walking into the bathroom.

Spike smirked, he always won. Removing the rest of his clothes, Spike slid under the soft covers and relaxed. He was about to drift off when he felt the matress shift. "Hey!"

Angel smiled innocently at Spike, "What? I'm not taking the couch and obviously you're not either so we're both sleeping here tonight. You don't mind, do you Spike? You could always leave, you know."

Spike growled softly, but flipped over so his back was turned to Angel, ignoring him. Angel smiled, it was fun playing with Spike's mind sometimes. He layed down and closed his eyes. He soon fell deeply asleep, image of fiery red hair dancing in his thoughts.

PART 8

Angel awoke, and listened for whatever had woken him up. Then he heard it, giggling coming from Willow's room at the end of the hall. Softly spoken words and more laughter reached his ears and he smiled. 'I wonder what they're talking about?'

Rolling over, Angel glanced at the clock. 3:47pm. He hadn't slept that late in ages! Staring blankly at the ceiling, he weighed his options. Warm, comfy bed or cold, hard floor. Damn. 'Floor it is.'

Angel slid out of bed, flinching slightly when his sensitive feet met the cold floor. As he moved closer to the door, Angel could make out bits and pieces of the conversation between Willow and Sydney.

"...is Xander...so cute...a goof..."

"Here's a picture of...mom always said...good memories..."

"Who's that? Looks...you."

"Oh that's...we're twins. That's...six years old. Isn't it odd...blonde and...not?"

"They must be looking at pictures," Angel murmured, smiling, and went to take a shower.

*****

Willow was laughing so hard she was nearly in tears, "Are you serious? You guys _actually_ did that to your science teacher? That's so cruel!"

Sydney grinned evilly, "Yeah, we were evil little kids! Me and my brother were so close."

"What happened?"

"We...well, we grew apart after our parents died. He moved to Europe for school and I moved to LA." Sydney smiled sadly, "I miss him."

"Were you close with your parents?"

"Not really. They kinda left us alone a lot, so we never really knew them."

Willow raised her eyebrows, "Another thing in common! My parents are never here, they're always off somewhere for conferences, etc. But, I also never had a sibling to spend the lonely hours with. The closest people I had were Xander and Jesse."

"Jesse? Who's Jesse?"

"Oh, he died a long time ago. He was mine and Xander's best friend since I can remember. We all grew up in Sunnydale together." Willow sighed.

"Gee, this conversation has gotten depressing. Let's go make something really chocolatey!" Sydney bounced off Willow's bed and dragged the redhead out of the room.

*****

"So, Sydney, what other special abilities do you possess?" Willow asked, her mouth full of double-chocolate-fudge brownie.

Sydney gave a crooked smile and shrugged, "I haven't really discovered all of them yet, and the only way that happens is by accident. Like the magic signature thing? I came across that ability while chasing you."

Willow's eyebrows rose, "Weird. But, last night you said something about my signature being almost Sentra...what did you mean by that?"

Sydney shrugged again, uncomfortably this time, "The patterns in your signature were unique, like a Sentra's. Every other magical being has a signature that relates to all other signatures. Sentras are the only ones who don't relate to any other being, not even other Sentras."

"So are you saying I'm a Sentra?"

"No, but it is possible," Sydney cast a glance at Willow, who had turned pale, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to even go there but you have a right to know who and what you are, right?"

Willow swallowed, "Yeah, you're right. But there's the chance I'm not right?"

"It's definitely a possibility."

"Is there any way to be sure of it? How did you know you were a Sentra?" Willow asked.

"I just knew. My mother was one and so was my grandmother, so it was natural that I'd be one." Sydney grabbed another brownie and sat down at the table across from Willow.

"Does it only run in women?"

"No, but it runs in one gender for every family that it affects. Did that make sense?"

"Not really but I understand, sort of. I wonder if there's a spell or something to find out if I'm a Sentra or not...we could look?" Willow jumped up from the table.

"So, you'd be okay if you were?" Sydney asked carefully, "Not everyone would be so easygoing about finding out they're a demon."

"Well, as long as I'm not evil. Am I evil? Are you evil?" Willow bit her lip.

Sydney giggled, "Not as far as I know."

Willow relaxed slightly, "Well, that's good." She frowned, "Where's Angel?"

"Sleeping?"

"I heard him get up, so he must still be in the shower. Geez, waste all the water much?" Willow smirked.

"Hey! I needed to take a shower!" Sydney made a face. Willow's giggles turned into laughter as Sydney ran down the hall to bang on the bathroom door.

Part 9

Willow, Cordelia and Sydney breezed through the door to Angel Investigations, laughing, their arms full of packages.

When no greetings came forth from any part of the house, Cordelia's eyes narrowed, "Where's Angel? It's daytime so he should be here..."

"Maybe he went to talk to one of his sources, you know, use the tunnels?" Sydney offered.

"I guess..." Cordelia reluctantly drew out the words and allowed Sydney and Willow to lead her furthur into the building.

Willow stopped at the door to Angel's office and listened. Hushed voices could barely be heard talking rapidly, but she couldn't figure out what was being said. Turning her head to look at Cordelia and Sydney she gave a small shrug. "Should I knock?"

"No, let's wait and see if he comes to see us. It probably isn't about you two," Cordelia said, glancing at the other two.

Sydney shrugged slightly, "Well, anyways, I'm in the mood for some ice cream!"

"Me too!" both Cordelia and Willow gushed together. They all laughed and carted their packages down the hall.

*****

Willow and Sydney shuffled uneasily into Angel's office. He'd called them there as they were putting away their purchases.

"Sydney, Willow, sit down." Angel motioned somberly to two chairs and glanced at the room's other occupant, Spike. He too looked deadly grim.

"What's this about Angel? Is it about the dreams? Because we haven't had any lately..." Willow trailed off, her gaze growing alarmed when neither Spike or Angel answered her right away.

"What is it?" Sydney asked forcefully.

Angel sighed, "That's the problem, Willow. You're not having dreams anymore."

"Am I just dumb or does that not make _any_ sense?" Sydney growled, "Just spit it out!"

Willow nodded, "We need to know this Angel."

As Angel struggled for the right words, Spike cut in, "We found something out. This thing you're experiencing? It is a prophecy. A very old and very serious prophecy that includes you, Willow and you, Sydney." He paused for a moment and looked at Angel, when he nodded for Spike to continue, Spike returned his gaze to the girls, "The prophecy states that the chosen two will battle the root of evil himself for control of this realm."

"Hence you, Sydney. Your demon title translates into 'Realm Demon' which I'm sure you already knew. The only thing that confuses us is why Willow is involved."

"You're not a demon. Or, at least I don't think you're a demon..." Sydney took a deep breath.

Willow frowned, "How did you find all this out?"

"A source. He has a copy of the book that holds the prophecy, but he wouldn't loan it to me." Angel said quietly, staring intently at the wall.

"Well, we'll just have to get it then, won't we?" Willow's voice was low and intense. A small, un-willow-like smile graced her features as she slowly raised her head from it's downward angle.

*****

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Sydney asked nervously, looking around.

They were outside of the club at which Angel's source both lived and worked. The window to the room containing the book was directly above them...4 stories up.

"Why shouldn't we? We need that book, Syd!" Willow hissed, resolve lacing her voice and set in her features.

Angel nodded, "I don't usually agree to B&E but in this case... I can make an exception."

"Plus, it's not as if we're going to steal it, just borrow it for an indefinite amount of time," Spike reasoned with a straight face.

Willow smiled, "Ok, we need to get up to the window. Can you guys jump that far?" She asked, giving Spike and Angel a questioning glance.

"Too high, no leverage."

She frowned, "Well, I could use magic to help?"

"No, Willow. This guy," Angel jerked his hand towards the door leading into the club, "can smell magic a mile away if it's used."

"Then how the hell are we going to get up there?" Sydney crossed her arms.

"Good question. I think I have an idea..." Spike grinned.

Part 10

"You want to what, Spike?" Angel looked at the blonde incredulously.

"Jump up there." Spike folded his arms, smirking.

"Didn't you just tell me that you couldn't do it?" Willow frowned in confusion.

"Peaches did. Not me."

Angel sighed, "There's no leverage, Spike. Remember that little catch?"

Spike snorted, "You're thinking we both jump. I'm thinking I use you for leverage and that'll allow me to get enough height to reach the ledge."

The rest looked at him in surprise and he rolled his eyes, "I _can_ be useful sometimes, you know."

Sydney spoke up, "But how are we going to get in then? You'll be up, but we won't be."

"How about we man the fort down here? A single person inside would be quieter than 4 people, and add to that he has vampiric stealth and silence." Willow gestured to Spike.

"Good idea, get ready to be propelled to that window, Spike, I promise to not to cop a feel." Angel flexed and grinned evilly.

"Piss off, poof." Spike all but snarled.

Sydney giggled and whispered something to Willow, which the vampires didn't catch.

"What'd you say?" Angel asked.

Sydney looked at him with the 'like-I'd-tell-you' expression, "Never you mind, boy. Now get your ass in gear."

Spike laughed silently at Angel's lecture. Sydney cocked her head, "You too, bleached wonder."

Angel smirked and crouched down. Spike made a face and got into position, his foot in Angel's grip.

"Remember that time's an issue, so hurry in there alright? Just grab the book and go, you remember the name of it?" Willow chewed her lip.

Spike nodded, "Got it, can I go?"

Willow gestured for Angel to go, and watched with Sydney as Spike flew up to the window and grabbed ahold of the edge. He got a foothold and gave them a thumbs up before silently opening the window and dissappearing inside.

*****

It was merely five minutes later when they heard a small noise off to the side of them. They heard voices and soft footsteps heading directly for them.

"Hide!" Angel hissed and motioned for them to follow him behind a thick bush.

A split second after they hid themselves from view, two figures emerged from the trees opposite the large building, talking rapidly in a language they didn't know. The people took a quick look around them before disappearing into the side door to the club.

Looking up, they saw Spike flattened against the wall, holding a book to his chest. Angel gave a small nod, and pulled Willow and Sydney out from behind the bush.

Spike jumped down and landed with a barely audible sound, standing to brush imaginary dust from his duster. At their looks, he shrugged and said, "Piece of cake."