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William rattled the bars of his cell, though he knew it would do him no good. Even if he could manage to break through the iron, he was still trapped on a ship—from the British naval fleet, no less. He saw no chance of freedom.

Though William would be willing to accept his fate if only he knew that Elizabeth was safe…

"Stop the racket, you pirate scum," the soldier guarding him snapped. "We're not letting you out until we've reached land—and the gallows."

"I need to know about the lady," William said. "I need to know she is safe."

"She's away from the likes of you," the guard sneered.

"That doesn't answer my question," William replied, his patience nearing its end. "Where did Finn take her? Is she away from Angelus?"

"I've been given permission to rip out your tongue should you give me any trouble," the guard said, a cruel glint in his eyes.

William shoulders slumped, his hands falling from the bars. He was helpless here, unable to even be told of the welfare of his beloved. He hoped that Admiral Finn would be able to keep her safe, but the sinking feeling in his gut told him otherwise. That man was fool enough to trust Angelus. Not to mention the obvious ire in his eyes back on the island when he seemed to realize what may have occurred between William and Elizabeth.

William knew his love was in trouble.

And he was helpless to save her.

*** *** ***

Angelus prided himself on being a patient man. Nothing was quite as sweet as the rewards you had to wait for. Had to work for.

And nothing was quite as pleasing as seeing a plan in its final stages, when everything fell into place.

The ship was quiet, still, aside from the gentle rocking of a calm sea. Admiral Finn had, of course, ordered some of his men to stand watch, but not nearly as many as would be around during the day.

Not to mention the members of his crew Angelus had managed to hide in the hold combined with the number of Finn's men he had in his pocket, which would more than tip the scales. He'd have this nice ship all to himself within an hour. And the admiral had practically handed it to him on a silver platter…

Angelus chuckled as the time came to set his plan in motion. There weren't many things better in this world than taking advantage of a gullible, desperate man.

*** *** ***

Elizabeth had not slept since Riley had left her. She had been able to do nothing but cry, feeling her heart break for the man she loved so desperately. The fear that she would never see him again wrapped around her like a vice, and she could not bear to face the thought of the inevitable end of her darling William, swinging by his neck in the gallows.

As night fell, the ship grew silent like the grave, the only sound Elizabeth could hear being that of her own sobs.

Then it started. A scream pierced the night, followed by a gun shot. From that, a great commotion broke out, and Elizabeth knew something was happening on deck. She feared to think of what it might be, wondering in a panic if she was going to have to suffer yet another pirate attack.

As the noise above her grew, Elizabeth clutched her head, wanting to block out the horrible sounds. She wished even more to have her William. She knew that no matter what was happening outside the room, with his strength and love she'd be safe.
When the door to her cabin flew open, she thought for an instant that maybe she'd been lucky enough to have her wish granted.

Instead, she found herself staring into the cold, dark eyes of Angelus.

He grinned at her like a predator. "Miss me, wench?"

Elizabeth scrambled backwards, only to find herself against the wall. "You…you get away from me! You're a vile creature, and I won't have you touching me!"

Angelus chuckled. "Vile creature? I love it when ye talk pretty." He advanced on her, pinning her to the wall with his meaty arms on either side of her. He leaned in, licking the column of her neck and making her shudder in disgust. "Yer quite a delicacy, ye know that? I'm gonna have quite a time takin' ye." He pulled back, grinning like the Devil. "But first, I think we should go thank our good friend William fer breakin' ye in so nicely."

Elizabeth gasped in horror. "No…please. Do what you wish to me, but don't hurt William!"

"Well, aren't you the loyal lass? Sorry it won't do you any good. I've been waitin' too long to see the end of William the Bloody. Ye're just a bit o' extra fun." Angelus grabbed her arm. "Come on now, I want to kill yer lover so I can get around to rapin' and killin' ye. Be a good girl and don't make me wait."

Elizabeth screamed as she struggled to break his grip. "No! I won't let you!"

Her attempts to escape only made Angelus laugh again. "Don't see how much say you have in it, darlin'. Seems like ye're at me mercy—which is somethin' I don't have much of." He started dragging her out of the cabin.

Elizabeth knew Angelus was right. He had easily overpowered her, and she had no way of breaking his grip. Desperate, she did the only thing she knew to do.

She called for help.

"Riley!" Elizabeth screamed, hoping that her former fiancé would hear her and that he wasn't so disgusted with her that he'd leave her in the hands of Angelus. "Riley, please! Help me!"

Angelus laughed yet again, his tone mocking. "The Admiral's not gonna come fer ye, girl. See, it seems like the boy got himself in a spot of trouble a while back. Was takin' money from pirates, lettin' them line his pockets in exchange fer their freedom to roam certain areas o' the sea. Only problem was, he ran into one that wanted somethin' other than his gold." Angelus grinned. "I wanted this very fine ship here. And it looks like I'm gonna get it." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "And killing that lover of yours will be just the perfect thing to top off a perfect day."

Elizabeth struggled as Angelus took her to the brig, though she knew she had no chance at freedom. Angelus was going to kill William and then do things to her she couldn't even begin to think of. Her stomach turned, and she had to fight to keep down its meager contents.

"Oh Willie boy!" Angelus called as they entered the brig, the guard long gone in order to assist in the fray above deck. "Look at what I brought ye."
William snarled at the sight of Angelus's hand wrapped around Elizabeth's delicate arm. "You get away from her."

"If you insist," Angelus replied, throwing Elizabeth hard against the wall, smiling in satisfaction as she slid down, moaning in pain.

William grabbed the bars of the cell. "I'll bloody kill you!"

Angelus pulled out his sword, the blade glistening in the dim lantern light. "Will ye now? Seems t'me like that'll be a little hard since I'm the one with the weapon, and ye're the one in the cage." Angelus approached the cell, poking the sword through the bars and chuckling as William jumped back. "Scared, boy?"

"I've never been scared of you, Angelus."

"Well, maybe it's time you should be."

Elizabeth groaned, lifting her head up as best she could with the pain Angelus's blow had caused. She could see him now, using his sword to taunt a caged William. She watched as Angelus was able to draw blood, laughing as the red liquid began to show through William's shirt.

"That smart a bit, lad?"

William snarled, trying to move away from Angelus's blade, only to be nicked again. The cell was too small for him to really maneuver, and he knew as well as Angelus did that he was trapped prey.

Elizabeth saw the glint of a sword only a few feet away from her. Her only thought being to save the man she loved, she crawled slowly towards it, careful not to attract Angelus's attention. When she had the sword in her hands, she rose to her feet, feeling the weight of it against her palm. Despite the fact she never remembered handling a weapon before, it felt strangely right, familiar somehow. "Hey, Angelus," she called. "Why don't you come over here and pick on someone armed, you big bully."

Angelus turned, the sight of Elizabeth upright and with a sword obviously taking him by surprise. Soon, however, he seemed to decide the whole thing was amusing. "Do ye wish to play, too, wench? I suppose ye'd still be good t'me if ye were all bloody."

"I don't think that's going to what happens here, Angelus." She attacked then, lashing out with a skill Elizabeth didn't know she possessed. Angelus faltered for a moment, but quickly regained his footing, coming after Elizabeth. She blocked with ease as something instinctual seemed to take over, a sense deep inside of her that told her when and how to move.

"I see you have trainin' in the blade," Angelus said, his breathing heavy. "That's…surprisin'."

"As surprising as this?" Elizabeth quipped as she found her opening and plunged the blade into his gut. She frowned, a strange sense of déjà vu washing over her as she watched him slide to the ground.

Angelus choked and sputtered, blood coming from his mouth. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose as she watched him, gasping for breath as he clutched the mortal wound. She gave him a good kick, taking a moment of pleasure in his pain. "Who's all weak now, huh Angelus?" she asked with a grin.

Angelus looked up at her, groaning in pain. He flailed his arm out towards his dropped weapon, only to have Elizabeth kick it away from him. "Nope," she said. "You're gonna just sit there and die now. How's that for a perfect ending to your day, wench?"

"Um, darling? A little help here? We can taunt the dying man later."

Elizabeth turned, blushing a little as she realized that she'd almost forgotten about William in the excitement of the battle with Angelus. "Right. Keys?"

"On that wall, love," William said, pointing weakly. He winced in pain at the wound Angelus had given him on his arm.

Elizabeth ran and got the keys, freeing her lover. She threw her arms around him as he emerged from the cell. "Oh, William! I thought I'd never see you again!"

William held her close, the elation at feeling Elizabeth again allowing him to ignore the pain. "We have to get out of here," Elizabeth said when they finally broke apart. "Angelus's men have taken over the ship."

"We're in the middle of the open sea," William pointed out. "Where will we go?"

"Lifeboat?"

"We wouldn't last long, kitten."

"We won't last long here, either, William. We have to take our chances. Maybe we can make it back to the island…"

William knew their chances of a successful escape were less than slim, especially since that he had wounds that needed tending to. But he also knew they wouldn't last long on the ship either. Even with Angelus dead, Riley would still pose a problem—if he'd managed to survive Angelus's mutiny, that was. The way William saw it, he would either be faced with pirates or naval soldiers who wanted him dead if he stayed here—and neither of those outcomes let him stay with Elizabeth.

"We'll try to escape," William said. "But our chances aren't good, Elizabeth."

She took hold of his hand. "We're together, William. I know we can make it as long as we have each other. Our love is that strong."

William looked into her eyes, and the hope and love he saw there almost made him believe her words. "Come on, kitten. Hopefully we can use the chaos up there as cover."

Elizabeth nodded, clutching tightly to his hand. She glanced back at Angelus once, watching him as he struggled to take his last breaths. She knew she should feel guilt for killing a man, but she had none. Instead, she felt relief knowing that such a creature was no longer in the world with her.

"By the way, luv," William said as they crept out of the brig, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I didn't," Elizabeth replied. "It just…came naturally to me I suppose."

William raised his scarred eyebrow, but said nothing in response. As they left the brig, he noticed that the ship had grown quiet again, and his stomach clenched with dread.

"Going somewhere, are you?"

William heard Elizabeth gasp beside him as they walked out onto the deck only to come face to face with the pistol of one Admiral Riley Finn.

*** *** ***

"Um, Willow, you might want to hurry up with that spell," Anya said with a frown. "Angelus is dead, but Riley's got himself a pistol, and I doubt he's afraid to use it."

"Angelus is dead?" Xander asked. "How did that happen?"

"Elizabeth skewered him."

"Huh. Go Buffy," Xander replied.

"Well, she did it before," Dawn said. "And this Angelus is even nastier than the other one."

"Okay, all set," Willow announced cheerily, sitting in front of a circle composed of strong-smelling herbs. In the middle were three crystals, leaning against each other to form a pyramid. "Tara?"

Tara sat across from Willow, reaching out to take the other witch's hands. They both closed their eyes, chanting in unison.

Anya, Xander, Dawn, and Giles looked on as the three crystals began to glow, first dimly and then so brightly that they had to shield their eyes.

Suddenly, the crystals burst into flames, and Tara and Willow jumped back to avoid getting burned.
"That wasn't supposed to happen!" Willow exclaimed as Xander ran for the fire extinguisher. She coughed and sputtered as he put out the fire, then looked up to catch Giles's not-so-pleased expression as he looked at the burned spot on his floor. "It wasn't! It was supposed to create a portal that would pull Buffy and Spike back into this dimension."

"Maybe they're not in another dimension," Anya said. "Maybe the book simply creates a pocket within this dimension that allows them to both be here and not here at the same time. Which would make sense, considering the results we got from the locator spell."

"I thought you said the book created an alternate dimension," Willow said.

"Yes, but I never said it created a dimension outside of this dimension," Anya said, rolling her eyes.

"So let me get this straight," Xander said, rubbing his temples. "Buffy and Spike are trapped inside a dimension that's in this dimension?"

Anya nodded happily, glad someone was finally getting it. "Exactly!"

"That makes no sense!" Xander exclaimed.

"Yes it does, sweetie," Anya replied. "See, the book has to create a new dimension in order to allow Buffy and Spike to travel through it, yet due to its temporary nature, it doesn't get its own plane of existence. It has to exist here while not existing here. Makes perfect sense."

"In crazy land!" Xander said.

Giles's glasses were in his hand as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Willow, do you think you can find a spell that would allow you to pull someone out of one of these pocket dimensions Anya's speaking of?"

"I…I could try. It's going to take some more research."

"Fine. Let's get started then." Giles put his glasses back on, sighing heavily as he looked down at the burned spot on the shop's floor. "And do clean that up. It looks atrocious."

*** *** ***

Please review. I took a while to update here because of some real life issues, and I want to make sure I haven't lost my readers!

In response to the reviews asking for more Spike and Buffy scenes… William and Elizabeth are Spike and Buffy. They've become entwined, as several of the scenes and comments point to. As for them reverting back to thinking of themselves as Spike and Buffy while in the book—it's not going to happen. They've let themselves fall into the roles of their characters. But that doesn't mean that it's not Spike and Buffy. Spike is conscious in William and Buffy is conscious in Elizabeth—they're just not at the forefront. Sorta confusing, but those are the rules of the magical book. However, I can promise you that William and Elizabeth will not be the dominant personalities for the remainder of the fic.





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