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      Angelus pulled into the driveway in front of Willow's house.
Her parents didn't
appear to be home.  His anger had cooled a little on the ride over.
He looked over at
the little witch.  The smell of her blood was almost overpowering in
the enclosed space.
He hadn't fed yet which made it even more enticing.  And now that he
could smell
Spike on her, the urge to bite her and stake a claim was quite
irresistible.  He leaned
closer to her, trying to control the urge.  Ah, to hell with it.  He
hauled her into his lap
and buried his nose in her neck.  She won't notice one tiny bite.
I'll hardly draw blood.  I'll
say a huge mosquito bit her.  This is the Hellmouth, it could
happen!  His face shifted.  His
fangs grazed her neck.  Ow!  Ow, ow! Owww!
      Willow stirred.  Angelus clamped a hand over his mouth.  What
the hell had just
happened?  Freak migraine?  He was the undead, he wasn't supposed to
get headaches.
Obviously, his unconscious must be trying to tell him that it wasn't
the right time.  It
was okay.  He would feed on one of the G.I. Joes.  For a moment he
stopped to ponder
how he would look in camouflage.  Maybe he would take an outfit and
try it on.
      He got out of the car and crossed to the other side.  He
scooped Willow out of the
passenger side and headed toward the porch.  Once inside, he lay her
down on the
couch again.  He covered her up and stretched out beside her,
brushing stray tendrils of
hair from her face.
      "Willow?" A voice called from the foyer.
      Angelus growled.  Curses!  Did she really have nothing better
to do than stalk him ?
He hastily stood up as she walked into the room.  "Buffy." He said
through gritted
teeth.
      "Angel!" She said, a bright smile appeared on her face.  Then
it turned into a
puzzled frown. "What are you doing here?  I thought you were going to
get some
information."
      "Yes, well. Plans change.  People move on.  Maybe you should
leave now.  Can't
you see that Willow is tired?"
      "From what?" The slayer crossed her arms and looked at him
petulantly. Angel
was being overly solicitous with Willow lately.
      "What are you doing here anyway?" He grumbled.  "Willow ran
into Tara and
she was incredibly cruel to her.  I just happened to be driving by
when I saw the
confrontation."
      "I didn't know." She said, ignoring his earlier question.
Buffy went to the couch
and leaned over Willow. "I've been so preoccupied, I didn't even
notice how upset she's
been.  Poor Wills."
      Angelus let his game face appear.  He'd had just about enough
of blondie.  A
malevolent grin spread across his face. The blood lust was raging
through his veins,
urging him to drain her.  He  would blame her death on the Initiative
or a wayward
vampire, perhaps.  He lunged at her only to be stopped short by a
blinding burst of
pain.  He sank to his knees. "Ahhhh!!!"
      Buffy turned around, startled.  "What happened?"
      Angelus recovered quickly.  "Pain! The pain. . . of being
near you and not being
able to touch you."  And bite you and drink your blood.
      "Oh, Angel."  Her eyes swam with tears and  she reached for
him.
      Angelus stood up and scooted around the coffee table.  Not
again. He'd have to
have a talk with her about sexual harassment. After he found out what
the hell was
wrong with his head.
                             *******
      Spike whistled to himself as he walked down the sidewalk.
Last night with Red
had been fabulous.  Spike had never imagined that underneath that
cool facade lay all
that fire. Spike was looking forward to seeing her tonight.  Maybe
even having a
rematch on those darts.  He and the witch had so much in common.
She'd been terribly
hurt by Tara, just like he still suffered wounds from both Drusilla
and Buffy.  Spike
wasn't sure where this attraction to the witch was leading but he
knew he would enjoy
the ride.
      Together, they could work through all their hurts.  Heal
themselves.  Spike was
happy, he hadn't even though of Buffy all day.  His thoughts were so
focused on the
young witch, the slayer hadn't even been able to intrude on them.
      Spike began to sift through his memories of the Willow.
He'd been such a fool
to let her go when he'd had her at the factory.  He should have gone
with his initial
instinct and taken her then. If only he hadn't been distracted by her
blood. And the
night in her dorm room. . .if he weren't chipped Red would have been
his childe, his
lover.
      Once he'd gotten himself into their little do-gooder gang
he'd decided to wait
before he approached her.  She was still so wounded by the wolf.  And
then Tara got in
the way.  Spike had decided to wait that out as well. . .everyone
experiments in college.
The idea of the two young women together didn't exactly bother him.
He would triumph over
Tara in the end anyway.  Why would the Willow choose the witch when
she was offered a sexy
hunk of a night thing like himself?  No contest.  Then the damn
slayer had ruined
everything.
      Barging in on his dreams, his thoughts.  She actually had him
thinking he
wanted to be good.  Good!  He, the Big Bad, a do-gooder!  Spike, now
coming out of his
obsession with her, decided that this had simply been a reaction to
being around his
sire's soulmate.  Spike had always competed with Angelus.  He wanted
to be faster,
better, stronger.  He'd hoped that Buffy would choose him and he
could flaunt that in
his sire's face.
      He was actually glad the appeal of the slayer was starting to
wane.  He must
have been out of his mind. A vampire and a slayer?  Please!  But, a
vampire and a witch?
That sounded like a match made in Hell.  Spike smiled.  Willow
wouldn't be able to
resist him.  He'd make sure of that.

                             *******
      Buffy had gone home. Thankfully, Giles had called and
requested her presence.
Evidently, there were some papers she needed to sign in regards to
her mother's estate.
Angelus had been relieved to watch her go, he'd nearly been forced to
kiss the slayer.
He returned his thoughts to the red haired beauty on the couch. Why
had she been with
Spike?  His worthless childe. He'd make that ungrateful welp sorry he
was ever born to
darkness. It's not like it mattered anyway.  Spike had no real chance
with Willow. In the end, she would adore him.  Every
woman he'd ever pursued did.
      He cupped her chin and examined her face.  There were circles
under her eyes.
She looked vulnerable and much younger than her years. It made
Angelus went to
protect her, shelter her from the world.  He shook his head in
disbelief.  How did she
get to him?  No one had ever gotten the better of his emotions.  Not
Darla or Dru or any
of the many women he'd been involved with.  Buffy didn't count,
having been
Soulboy's lover.  Willow was something special.  He gently shook her
a little.  "Wake
up, little one." But she didn't react, still soundly asleep.
      "Hey, Wills.  Are you home?" Xander called as he entered the
Rosenburg
residence.
      Angelus stood up, his face was enraged. There would be no
more interruptions this evening! He should have locked the door
behind the slayer.
He stood against the wall, close to the entrance to the living room.
Xander walked in,
oblivious to his presence.  Angelus grabbed him by the throat and
pinned him to the
wall.  The boy was terrified, his eyes wide, his breathing
shallow.  "Guess who's
back?" Angelus said, relishing the fear that was rolling off the boy
in waves.
      "Angelus?" Xander managed to croak out.
      "Yes.  Did you miss me?" He could only stare at the vampire
in horror.  "I had
planned on drawing this out more.  Playing a game.  But,
unfortunately for you, I'm
starving." His demonic visage emerged and he moved his hands to
Xander's shoulders.
      "No!" Xander thrashed a little, but he was completely
overwhelmed by the
vampire's strength.
      "Shh!  You don't want to wake up Willow, do you?"  But Willow
was already
awake.  She had been since she'd heard Xander's voice. The vampire
attempted to bite
him and screamed in agony as the pain exploded in his brain.  Angelus
flung the
young man away in disgust and spun around.
      "Hold it right there!" Willow shouted, she was brandishing a
stake she'd found on
the floor.  It must've fallen out of Buffy's jacket. Xander, reacting
swiftly, clocked
Angelus over the head with a marble statue he grabbed from the side
table.
      "Thanks Wills!" He rushed over to give her a big hug.  "Did
he hurt you?'
      "Nope.  Well, he was angry about Sp-" She
blushed. "Uh. . .something."
      "Oh----kay." Xander said, not getting it. He regarded the
large vampire passed
out on the plush carpet.  "The bigger they are. . ."
      "Ha ha." Willow said.  "I say we tie him up before he comes
to."
      "Sounds like a good plan."
      Willow and Xander managed to drag Angelus upstairs to
Willow's bedroom.
She found some sturdy ropes out in the garage to bind him to the
chair.  "You know, I
just realized that in the past couple of years, I've gotten kind of
good at tying up
vampires." Xander said, accomplishing the task with precision and
ease. He gave her a lopsided smile.
      "Maybe you should put that on your resume." Willow teased.
      Xander stood up, surveying the results.  Angelus was bound to
a chair, he was
still unconscious.  There was a small trickle of blood from the wound
he'd inflicted but
it already appeared to be healing.  Angel would just wake up with a
small headache.
"Lets call Buffy and tell her what's going on."
      "We can't!"
      "And why not?"
      "Think about it.  Angel's been acting strange since he
arrived in Sunnydale,
Xander.  I'm willing to bet Angelus has been here the whole time.  He
listened to Buffy
pour her heart out about her mom's death, probably plotting how he
would kill all of
us."
      "Ouch!  That would hurt to know that you just spilled your
guts to your worst
enemy. Buffy isn't doing so well right now anyway."
      "Right.  And I don't need her for the ritual.  With any luck,
I can perform it
before he wakes up. Then, Angel can tell her in his own way at the
appropriate time."

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