CH.8

The next day was brutal for Ryan. First, he woke up to pure agony as he felt a few people using his name. Normally it only hurts a lot when it's used in malice but it compounds when it's used multiple times in a row and by multiple people. -Damn you shadow!- he thought really hard.

When he went to pick up Willow and buffy he found out Xander had stopped by an hour earlier and took them to school. Swearing in his head he fought through nerve-racking pain and headed there as well.

By the time he got there, the bell rang for class. He noticed Willows continued absence and by the time the lunch bell rang he was ready to face the music. He headed to the library finding it destroyed and drops of blood everywhere. He immediately sent out his MS as far as he could without risking exposure.

He felt them twelve blocks away towards the warehouse district. Heading there faster than even his car could take him he arrived in time to see Willow and the rest being saved by a vampire and Xander.

When he was about to approach he thought better of it. He'd done enough damage and she was safe that was good enough for now. He watched as Buffy took her anger out on a vampire dressed as a preacher wielding a sledgehammer.

When she was done there weren't any vampires in the vicinity not already ash. Sighing to himself he went back to the library to await judgment. When the Scooby gang plus one vampire showed up they found him meditating in astral form above his physical body.

When he heard Giles start coughing he opened his eyes and returned to his body. " Sorry about that, I do it sometimes to clear my head of doubt and worry."

For the next few minutes of awkward silence, he took it as a reprieve before the storm. To show his sincerity he intoned:" Veritas!"

They watched as his skin lightly glowed from the self-application:" I take it Willow informed you of last night's events?"

" Indeed," Giles said automatically.

" You got it buster, Willow told us all about your super-secret plan to... What was it again Willow?"Xander accused almost comically.

" Fall in love" she whispered so low it was almost inaudible. Only the vampire and Buffy were able to catch it besides himself.

Buffy looked back and forth between her best friend and the possible threat. The vampire chose not to comment but he held a smirk on his face from there on out.

Eventually, Giles said:" What was the spell you cast on yourself."

Before Ryan could answer Willow did it for him:" It's a high-level truth spell that forces the recipient to speak the truth it also makes those with weak constitutions to feel as if there inebriated. I looked it up first thing this morning to confirm what he told me last night."

"What she said is correct" Ryan answered anyway.

Seeing that he could find more answers about the past Giles asked:" Why are all the recorded records of you wrong or incomplete."

" The records were written by being that hated and despised me because of my power and their inability to beat me. So they chose to destroy any future feelings of goodwill later generations may have for me out of petty vindictiveness and their own self-importance," he answered.

Giles raised an eyebrow at this." Who would do such a thing." he asked no one in particular but since the spell was in effect Ryan was forced to answer.

" The gods as you know them or as later generations came to know them as the powers that be. The rest was done through the influence of the old ones and their ties to this realm. Though some may have been written down from the surviving shadow men."

Giles looked intrigued and even the vampire perked up at this. Giles continued:" What relationship do you have with the gods or PTB and the old ones?"

" The old ones were vermin that fed on their own kind though for a while one did have my approval until it tried to rule the earth and every realm it could get its hands on. You may know it as Illyria. As for the gods they are other-dimensional beings that came here in the age of the old ones proclaiming themselves gods and demanding worshippers. They seemed to feed off of the faith of their followers and eventually one of them grew bold and tried to kill me. In the end, he waged a war that lasted a thousand years each year he would feed off of others of his own kind until he felt strong enough to beat me and when he struck I killed him before his blow landed. The rest scattered defeated and licking there wounds their number had fallen by to large a margin to ever be on top of the food chain again during that age so they hid among the early humans and performed minor miracles trying to consolidate whatever power they had left. From what I understand it now they struck a Faustian bargain with the remaining old ones that still had influence in this dimension." as he answered he saw the vampire get more and more pale by the second.

When he couldn't take it anymore the vampire asked:" What would the PTB want with a vampire at this point."

Raising his own eyebrow now Ryan answered:" The same thing they've wanted since they got here. They feed on faith and belief in them to be higher than themselves. If they have been manipulating you it means you have something they want or they can use you to get something they need. Either way, none of it would end well for you. My suggestion to you is to find out as soon as possible or play along until you figure it out. Someone as weak as you wouldn't last long against their followers. Much less a direct confrontation."

Giles looked at the vampire for a minute before turning back to Ryan and asking: "Would you be willing to help us fight if necessary? What side would your allegiance lay?"

Trying to fight the spell he said: " That isn't up to me anymore. My allegiance is to Willow, after that it's up to her."

This time the entire room looked at Willow and even Cordelia spoke up:" Well that's not fair. Why does she get to have a super-powerful boyfriend?"

Smirking at this Ryan said: " Because she's Willow." as if it answered everything.

Blushing up a storm Willow said:" Quite you! Or you'll be out of Willow kisses for the next week!" she said cutely.

Looking as if he'd been struck by the sledgehammer Buffy was wielding earlier Ryan stared at her and ignored everyone else for the remainder of the conversation. Only answering if asked a question.

By the end of it, everyone had agreed to meet back here tomorrow after school. To make her feel safe he gave Willow his car keys and decided to run home as it would be faster and less stressful on her.

The next morning after his routine he went outside to see Willow sitting in his car in the driveway waiting for him. He got in the passenger side and waited for her to speak. Right when he was about to say something about the awkward silence his mouth was covered by hers.

Without even realizing it by the time they broke apart she was in his lap with her arms around his neck and his hands up her shirt groping her breasts.

When they finally came back to reality she checked the dashboard clock and realized they were late to school by more than an hour. She brought this up to him and he said:" We are already late, if it means so much to you I'll donate some more money to the principal's office and get us excused from today's classes. Now more Willow kisses please."

They were back at it again for the better part of the day. Only stopping when her stomach started rumbling. This time when they came to, both their shirts were missing and her bra was hanging on the back of the car seat.

Somehow they had found themselves in the back seat of his car with her laying onto of him. Getting up started the hunt for missing clothes. The found his shirt the from seat floor and hers on his front lawn.

They went inside and he cooked her a homemade stuffed crust pizza with the works. And sat down with her while she ate when she asked he wanted any he said:" I only ate before as a way of blending in. My body doesn't require sustenance. But if it makes you uncomfortable I'll eat a piece slowly."

After they finished he drove them to school to sort out their class absences. One quick donation for ' the Principles fundraiser' later and they were free the rest of the day.

They went to the library to wait for the rest of the Scooby gang and use the extra time for filling out patent applications. In the end, Willow couldn't find anything to improve on.

When they finished the applications he called his 'uncle ' to pick them up. When Lindsey left Willow asked:" Who is he really?"

Ryan shrugged and said: " He's a guy I found working for the old ones still influencing this world. After I removed their hold on him he followed me in exchange for power and immortality."

Willow's eyebrows shot up:" He used to be evil? How do you know you can trust him? And how did you give him immortality and power?"

"Depends on how you define evil. He's no more corrupt than any other guy. I bound him to me through soul magic. He can channel my full power so long as it's not against my will." Ryan answered honestly. In his opinion, such a small matter never really bothered him. If Lindsey would be dead with a thought on his part.

Willow looked a little disturbed by this revelation but didn't say anything about it. Thinking for a second Ryan said:" After your properly trained I'll set myself as your anchor and you can channel my power whether it's against my will or not. We will be equals. Though I don't know what such a direct link to my core power would do to you so we'll have to be very careful."

Hearing this Willow went beet red. " T-that's, I-I, ok."

Seeing her all flustered he leaned forward and kissed her. Twenty minutes later the final bell rang as Giles and miss Calendar walked into the library. When they rounded the corner of the checkout counter they stopped and Giles took off his glasses muttering" Good Lord!"

Needless to say, it took him another ten minutes to stop as he didn't speak loud enough to interrupt them. Jenny must have found it funny as she kept poking fun at the scared librarian.

Every time he went to put his glasses she would whisper:" good lord" in a seductive voice. When everyone was fully clothed again they sat in silence waiting for the rest of them to show up.

Twenty minutes of awkward silence later Buffy was the last of the group to come in and considering the vampire had to wait till sundown that was quite the accomplishment in Ryan's mind.