The Bonds that Tie

Hidden Emotions part 3

Author: heather

Parts: 11 - 20 (End)

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~Part: 11~

"How is he?"  Willow asked, studying her caged friend from a safe distance.

"The same, more or less.  We've fed him, taken him to the bathroom and let him change his clothes.  He didn't give us any trouble.  We put a mild sedative in his food.  It's keeping him relatively calm.  Willow?"  Wesley studied the witch carefully.

"Huh?"

"Your skirt appears to be on backwards."  He promptly gave his full attention to the book in front of him, sparing them both further embarrassment while Willow twisted the offending article around to its proper position.

"Um, thanks," she said, letting him know it was safe to make eye contact again.

He declined the hint, keeping his eyes down and asked, "Have you located Spike?"  The tone in his voice suggested that he knew very well that she had, but luckily he didn't see the mixture of guilt and horror on her face that would have confirmed it for him.

Gunn saw it.  "I'll betcha she did a lot more than locate him!  I think old blondie got himself a taste of witch!"

Willow's face became flushed and she turned away.  Wesley made an impatient shushing gesture in Gunn's direction and gave Willow his full attention.  "Willow?  It's important that we know where he is."

"I found him.  Well, technically, he found me, but I've seen him.  He's here, at Wolfram & Hart."

"Here?  But why?  Oh, yes.  I see, never mind."  The conclusion all but drew itself.

"No, that's not it.  Okay, maybe, but that's not the only reason.  He's waiting for us.  He wants us to restore his soul."  She held up her hand for him to be quiet when he started to respond, sure he would mention the curse.  "He doesn't want to be cursed.  He wants his soul free and clear, like he had it before."

"Well, barring another trip to Africa, I don't know how we will provide him with that.  We ought to simply use the curse.  We can't bow to the wishes of a -"

"Do NOT say a soulless demon!"

"-a vampire, who is temporarily lacking a soul?"  Wesley amended.

"It's not just his wish.  It's mine too."

"Oh yeah.  They're definitely fucking."  Gunn nodded to himself, pleased with his own powers of observation.

"Can't you shut him up!"  Willow glared at Gunn, seriously considering a muting spell.

"He's right, though.  Isn't he?"  Wesley stood up from the desk and reached toward Willow.  "Might I see the wound on your shoulder?"

She took a few steps back.  "What for?  I think it's pretty clear what's going on, even though I wish it weren't.  I don't love everyone knowing my personal life."

"I imagine not.  Yet your personal life is now a danger to us all.  It's imperative that you keep a clear head and don't let your feelings for Spike cloud your judgment.  If you're still. nourishing the bond - "

Willow yanked her collar aside, revealing her fresh bite and stalked towards Wesley.  "Yes, I'm still nourishing him, fucking him, whatever you want call it, and I'll keep doing it because he's mine!  His body is mine, his demon is mine, and wherever it is, his soul is mine.  So, if I say we don't curse him, we don't curse him!"

Wesley backed toward his chair and sat down hard with Willow towering over him, scowling.  Gunn let out a low whistle and moved to the back of his cage.  "I see," was all Wesley could come up with.

Relaxing, Willow hopped up to sit on the desk and peered at Wesley's notes.  "Now, what have you found so far?  Anything helpful for Gunn?  I was thinking that whatever we use for him might be helpful for Spike."

Seeing that she was through with the possessive sire role for now, Wesley also relaxed and pointed out a few passages that he thought might be of use.  "I've been studying the Blugara's dimension.  It would seem that the souls are trapped there.  When a creature from that dimension is killed, the soul of its slayer is sucked into their world to keep the balance.  A sort of eye for an eye scenario."

Willow chewed on her pinky fingernail, thinking.  "So not only do we need a way to put the souls back in their bodies, we need to open a portal?"

"So it would appear.  Fred is, in fact, working on the formula to open the portal as we speak."

"Really not much point in opening it until we know what to do next.  We don't need any more demons coming through."  Willow looked at her watch.  "Angel should be up soon.  I'll go tell him what we have so far and see if he has any ideas.  He's been around a lot longer than us, maybe he's seen something like this before."

"Agreed.  Let me know what he has to say."

~~~*~~~

Angel wasn't in much of a position to say anything when Willow found him.  Not with Spike's cock shoved down his throat and his arms chained behind him to one side of the headboard.  He kneeled on the floor next to the bed, naked, pleasuring his tormentor until his mate walked through the door.  His eyes went wide and Spike turned to see what had his attention.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"  Willow screamed, rushing forward and shoving Spike, who was already trying to zip his pants, away from Angel.

"Just having a little fun.  Angel here was working off his debt."

"His debt?"  Willow looked to the kneeling vampire who shrugged and gave his shackles an experimental tug.  They held firm.

"Don't tell me you forgot?  You were right there when he put my face through the wall, bloodied up my other end, and drained me half dry!"

"You said you were even on that!"  Willow wasn't sure if she was more confused or angry.  Either way, her childe was way out of line.

"When I said we were even, it was 'cause I felt bad about that little taste of you I had before Angel had the nerve to show his fangs.  Now I don't.  That takes us back to having a score to settle.  So, if you'll just step out for a minute, we'll be done with it"  Even as he said it, his voice wavered and Willow knew that Spike didn't believe for a minute that she would let him continue.

She advanced on him, her eyes blazing, her fists clenched by her sides, struggling to control her fury.  Spike did not back away from her and when she was face to face with him she said, "You will go in the other bedroom and wait for me there.  Then we will talk.  If you try to leave before I say, you will leave on fire.  Got it?"

He did not speak, only nodded and left the room.  Willow listened carefully to make sure the door that creaked open was to her old bedroom and not the front door.  Satisfied that he had obeyed, she turned to Angel.  "I don't even wanna know how he managed to do this to you."  She held her hands over the metal cuffs on his wrists and they snapped opened.  She examined his skin, but if it had bruised, it had already healed.  They stood up and Willow realized he was turned on.  "Hmmm, don't tell me you were a willing player in this little game?"

"No, I wasn't.  It's just.  it's Spike."

"Yeah, I get it.  Believe me."  She picked up the chains and gestured out the door.  "Want me to tie him up? Make him return the favor?"

Angel shook his head and wrapped his arms around her.  "I'd rather feel your lips than his."

"That can be arranged."  Willow smiled, happy that he didn't seem upset with her anymore.  She stood on her toes and kissed him, shuddering with a mix of excitement and weirdness when she tasted her childe on his mouth.  When she pulled away his demon was looking at her and she startled, wondering if he was angry after all.  She knew she must reek of Spike; there would be no denying how she'd spent the morning.  He grinned and that made her even more nervous.

"You know, I have this unpleasant taste in my mouth.  What could we do to get rid of that?"  Willow saw him eyeing the pink scar on her neck and realized what he wanted.  It wasn't about drinking her blood to cover up the Spike flavor.  He needed to know that their bond was still intact, that it hadn't been obliterated by the intensity of her bond with Spike.

Willow dropped the chains to the floor and wrapped one arm around Angel's waist to support herself and with the other, pulled his head to her neck.  She expected a serious bite.  She was even prepared for it to hurt, having never been bitten without the pain-killing endorphins produced by passionate sex flowing through her blood.  What she got was the lightest scratch of one fang along the scar.  Tiny droplets of blood seeped through the barely broken skin to be licked away by a cool tongue.  That was it.  No swoon-inducing blood loss, no scream-worthy pain or pleasure.  Just a pleasant sensation of having her neck nibbled and then Angel in his human face, kissing her again, no longer tasting of her childe.

A few minutes later, Angel released Willow and picked up the chains, handing them to her.  "Go teach your boy some respect," he said.  "If he doesn't have a soul to control him, you'll have to.  This,"  he indicated his former spot on the floor, "will not happen again."  The subtle threat was not directed at her, rather meant to assert his willingness to take over once again as Spike's sire, should she prove not up to the task.

~Part: 12~

Spike sat on the bed, smoking.  Willow walked up, tore the cigarette from his lips and opened the window, sending Spike diving for cover from the sun.  Paying him no attention, she glanced down to make sure no one was walking directly below and tossed out the cigarette.  When she closed the window and turned back, Spike was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed, effectively shielded.  She smiled.  Perfect.  The headboard in this room was a piece of solid wood.  No slats or posts on which to chain a wayward vampire.  Willow fixed her gaze on Spike, silently communicating that he was not to move.  She shoved aside the mattress and box spring and hooked the chains through the bed frame, then locked them around Spike's wrists so that his arms were pinned behind his back.  He would not be able to get off the floor without breaking the bed.

Willow shoved her hand in one of his front pockets, then the other, found the key to the chains and put it out of reach on the dresser across the room.  During this entire operation, Spike watched her, but said nothing and offered no resistance.  He had taken her threat of setting him ablaze seriously, which was lucky for him because she wasn't kidding or exaggerating in the least.  "Now, what are we going to do with you?"  She stood in front of him, just out of his reach, hands on her hips, looking down.

"What?  I'm not allowed to play with Peaches then?"  He batted his blue eyes at her, feigning ignorance.

"No, and you knew that.  I share you with him if I feel like it.  You're mine.  He will ask me, if he wants you. You do not go to him on your own.  I do not share HIM with YOU!"

"He shares you with me," Spike pointed out.  "Fair's fair."

"This isn't about fair.  You belong to me.  I don't belong to him.  We belong to each other, and that has nothing to do with this."

"Well that's just great!  So Angel can have a go at me whenever he wants and I get no say in it?  Not sure I'm going to stick around for that kind of treatment."

"Don't be ridiculous!  You know you have a say in it.  Do I force you to do what we do?  Don't I give you what you want?  All I ask is that you don't take what's mine."

"Well, aren't we just the possessive witch now?  I'm yours and he's yours and you're not sharing.  Must come from being an only child.  Really love, you need to learn how to share your toys."  He leaned his head back against the bed and smirked at her.

Willow closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.  He wanted her to get flustered and claim that he wasn't her toy.  She opened her eyes.  "There are rules, Spike.  I expect you to follow them if you want to stay in this family.  I hope for all of us that it will be easier for you when you have your soul back.  For now, for me, all I ask is that you stay away from Angel when I'm not around.  If you can find someone else willing to. do things with you, that's fine.  Key word there is "willing".  Tying someone up so they can't get away doesn't count.  Got it?"

"Got it.  Got her."

"Her who?"

"The willing someone else."  He tilted his head and wriggled an eyebrow until she got the idea.

"Right."  She took a step toward him, one hand reaching out, then stopped.  "No!  There will be none of that!  We're having a serious talk about your lack of respect for me."

"I think we're done talking, love.  Got all the rules stored away.  Think you were gonna punish me now, right?  Gotta show me how to behave?  Show me the things you want me to do to you. respectfully."  At some point while he spoke, Willow found herself on his lap, his last word cut off by her tongue plunging down his throat.  He squirmed underneath her, unable to bring his hands around to touch her, settling for kissing her back with equal passion.

Willow ran her hands all over his body, working him into a wild fervor in moments.  Her actions were all the more effective given his interrupted visit with Angel.  When he was sufficiently crazed and even nipping at her shirt in attempt to tear it off with his teeth, she removed his pants, found that he had gone without underwear that day, then stood up and walked away from him.  "Wha- where are you goin?"

"Nowhere.  What's wrong Spike?"  She asked, smirking at his bewilderment and feeling his intense frustration.  It was even worse than her own.  She did her best to hide it, not wanting him to know how difficult it was for her to walk away from him.  He didn't seem to  notice.  The only thing he cared about was how to get her back to what she was doing.

"Wrong?  You just. You- you know damn well what you did!  Are you just going to stand there?"

"Yep."  She pretended to be interested in reading a magazine on the dresser next to the keys, making sure to ignore him completely until she heard him start to growl.  "Oh wait, I'm feeling itchy."  She locked eyes with Spike, unbuttoned her shirt partway and slipped it off one shoulder.  Spike's shoulder.  She scratched at the scab formed from his earlier bite until the wound opened and a drop of blood formed on the raw skin.

Spike vamped.  "You know I could tear this bed apart."

"You know if you move, you'll regret it.  You will get yourself under control and show me those pretty blue eyes of yours.  You're not getting up from the floor until you've proven I can trust you to restrain yourself."

With great effort, Spike returned to his human features.  "Better."  Willow took a tissue and wiped her shoulder, then buttoned her shirt.  "I want to be able to let you up, believe me.  But I can't risk it if you're going to be a danger to people I care about.  I'm sure there's another room in this building with a cage like Gunn's.  Don't make me find it."

Spike bit his lip, crossing and uncrossing his legs a few times as if that would diminish his painful erection.  "Did I pass then?  Will you let me up now?"

"Not yet."  Willow left the room, hearing his cry of dismay, but not turning back.  Angel was waiting for her in their room.  She undressed and nodded to him.  He was still naked and still hard, having heard everything that happened.  She led him back to where Spike waited.

The blonde vampire looked up in surprise when Willow and Angel entered the room together, both totally nude.  "Hey, now!  Thought you said I didn't have to - "

"Relax, Spike.  He's not gonna touch you," Willow assured him.  She closed the door and pushed Angel against it, her back to Spike.  They kissed and he slid his hands down her body, squeezing her ass and watching Spike watching them.  Willow cooed over his every touch, pretending they were alone in the room.  She moved slightly to one side so Spike could see her caressing her mate.  Angel vocalized his pleasure as well, especially when Willow dropped to her knees and sucked him into her mouth.

Spike did his best to look anywhere but directly in front of him where his sire was apparently trying to kill him with lust.  He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away.  Every time Angel gasped at Willow's skillful touch, Spike's head snapped back to see what she had done.  Every time, he wished he hadn't.  It was bad enough that Spike could feel how much Willow truly enjoyed giving Angel such pleasure, seeing it was even worse.  It was too easy to imagine each stroke of her pink tongue moving up and down his own shaft, circling around his head, flicking across his tip.  Thanks to his lingering bond with Angel, he barely had to imagine it.  He could almost feel it himself.  Willow's tongue was definitely the worst of it, but Angel's cock was not the least of it.  Seeing him aroused and willing caused its own kind of ache in Spike.  He would never have admitted it out loud, but he was much more familiar with Angel's cock than Willow's tongue.  He knew what it could do, knew the kind of pleasure or pain it could give at its master's whim.  At that moment, he would have taken either one.

When Angel reached the end of his limited restraint where his mate's tongue was concerned, he tapped her on the shoulder.  Willow licked her lips and crawled over to her childe, smiling.  She reached between his legs and began stroking his nearly-purple cock.  Thinking she had come to relieve his raging desire, he sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes.  Those same eyes flew open when she removed her hand less than a minute later.  "You've been good so far," she said.  "I don't want to see a glimmer of gold eye or a hint of fang for the next hour.  If you can do that, I'll come finish this."

She did not stand up.  Shuffling back just a few feet on her hands and knees, she beckoned to Angel who got on his knees behind her.  Then, right in front of Spike, positioned so the he could see every thrust, Angel slid inside Willow, shuddering with pleasure.

Spike whimpered softly, but didn't move.  Every possible place he could wish to use for his own release was right in front of him, even closer than a moment ago, and yet so unattainable.  Angel's gorgeous ass swayed back and forth, pushing him into Willow's warmth, where Spike most wanted to be, though he'd settle for her ass too, or her moist, hot mouth, currently hanging open and panting.  He tried the trick with crossing his legs again, but that only made the soft hem of his shirt dance across his lap, further aggravating his condition.  Closing his eyes only allowed his mind to conjure images equally erotic as the one in front of him, prompted by the soundtrack of their moans and cries.

It was the longest hour of his unlife, and not the easiest for Angel either.  Being inside Willow was always a struggle if he didn't want to come too quickly.  Usually it didn't matter because he could just have her again in a few minutes, but he could tell that wouldn't work for her current plan.  Holding back his orgasm now after the amazing blowjob he'd just had was especially difficult and took every ounce of his willpower.  He tried to think about anything but his current situation.  His traitorous mind constantly returned to the unbelievable situation his found himself in, fucking the woman he loved in front of the childe he lusted for, who was looking at him with such a raging hunger he felt in danger of being consumed just meeting his gaze.  Yet somehow, maybe imagining how furious Willow would be if he didn't, he held back.

When Willow decided that Spike had nearly proved himself, she straightened up on her knees, pressing her back into Angel's chest, and tilted her head to present her neck.  This would be Spike's final test.

Angel wrapped his arms around her, unleashed his demon, and pierced his mark once more.  He growled against her skin and she screamed, sweet release finding them both.  Mindful of the freshness of her other bite, Angel allowed himself only a few mouthfuls of her blood before reigning in the demon.  Willow could see Spike twitching involuntarily.  Feeling her climax had brought him to the brink of his own, but not over, and he looked horribly uncomfortable, but maintained a smooth forehead and blunt teeth.

Willow gave Angel one last kiss and cuddle and sent him on his way, telling him to go find Wesley when he got dressed.  She was no longer in the mood to explain his findings herself.  Once he was gone, she fulfilled her promise to Spike, who exploded with her first, feather-light touch.  She saw him lean forward slightly towards her still bleeding neck, nostrils flared.  She shook her head.  "You can sniff all you want, but no licking."

He raised a scarred eyebrow, one corner of his mouth turned up to ask if she was sure about that.  "Oh, all right.  I guess you've earned it."  She released his arms and helped him up.  "You sure you want to, even after Angel."

He nodded vigorously.  Willow lay back on the bed and Spike joined her, burying his head between her legs, intent on proving what a good childe he could be.

~Part: 13~

"Does it really have to be a lamb?"  Willow scrunched up her face, remembering how she had once slain a fawn to save Buffy's soul from a hell dimension it wasn't even in.

"Two, actually.  One for each soul.  It's the traditional sacrifice in our world.  We can't risk the portal taking you instead," Wesley reminded her.  They were back in the room with Gunn in his cage.  Their soulless friend was content for the moment, munching on a turkey sub and a bag of chips procured by Fred, who had finished her portal opening equations and been called away to the lab to work on another case.

"Um, where do we even get a lamb, or lambs?  I mean, we're in LA.  Lambs, not that easy to come by, except maybe in restaurants as rack of lamb, and I'm thinking that kind doesn't count."

Wesley leaned back away from his desk, rubbing eyes puffy from long hours of pouring over ancient texts.  "I've already contacted a slaughter house just outside the city that provides for the butchers in the area.  An employee there was willing to supply our needs without asking any questions, for a price.  Angel and I can meet with him at any time once everything else is in place.  The important thing now is to determine how to call the souls back to our dimension."

"Right, 'cause we don't want to have to go in there ourselves.  Not like that would do much good.  What do we do?  Walk up and down the streets yelling, 'Here little souls, come to Willow!'?  It's not like they're lost puppies."

"You're quite right.  What we need is a way to draw them to us, no matter where they might be in the other dimension.  Ideally, they will come through the portal on their own.  As you say, it would be better if we didn't have to go in after them."

"Where's Angel?  Did you already talk to him?"

"Yes, he was here.  I mentioned drawing the souls out of the Blugara dimension.  Since we're not yet sure how to return them to their bodies, he went to find a Muo-Ping jar."

"Oh, no.  Bad memories there."  Willow sat down on the floor in front of the desk and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes.  There were no chairs in the room other than the one brought in with the desk for Wesley.  "That was not a fun time."

"I think Angel felt the same, though it isn't his soul this time, so that's one measure of relief."  He flipped a few pages of his book and tried to read some more.

"Let's just try not to lose it this time.  Can we fit two souls in one jar?"  Willow's head lolled to one side, letting her scratch absently at her shoulder.

"I don't see why not.  Souls do not actually occupy space, so "fitting" shouldn't be an issue."  Wesley closed the book and leaned over his desk, frowning.  "Willow?"

"Huh?"

"Are you feeling all right?  You look a bit pale."

Her eyes fluttered open.  "I'm ok.  Just tired.  I only slept a couple of hours and it's been a really long day."  She saw his gaze drift to the fresh punctures on her neck.  Her hand moved instinctively to cover the mark.  She smiled at Wes.  "Lost a little blood.  Guess that doesn't help, huh?"

"No, I'm sure it doesn't.  Willow, I know it isn't my place to say anything, but I consider you a friend and I'd hate to see you hurt."

"I know, Wes, Spike doesn't have a soul and he could kill me at any time.  You're wrong, he won't hurt me and even if he tried, I can take care of myself."  She waved the discussion closed.

"It's not that.  I know Spike doesn't mean you any harm."  Willow looked at him, surprised.  "I just feel you should know most human women don't survive very long with even one vampire lover.  To take two, well, I fear you're in danger of being. loved to death."

"Geez Wes, if you thought that, why didn't you say something before the handfasting!  It's a little late now."

He sighed, knowing she was right.  "At that time, Angel was not feeding from you, so the primary danger wasn't present.  Now I see he's bitten you this very day, and so soon after the first bite.  It worries me."

"Angel knows how to control himself.  He won't take more than I can afford to give."

"Yes, but is he taking into account that Spike is doing the same?"

Willow scowled up at him, not appreciating his presumptions about her childe, or that he was right.  "No, probably not.  It's not exactly the first thing on his mind when he - "  She stood up and moved to leave the room.  "Can we not talk about this?  It's kinda strange that you know any of it.  I should go prepare a soul finding ritual, or something."

"Willow!" He called after her.  She turned back at the door.  "Please just take care of yourself.  It's all I ask.  I don't know what any of us would do without you.  Especially your. unique little family."  He smiled, hoping there were no had feelings from his observations.

Willow returned his smile and made an X over her heart with the index finger of her right hand, promising that she would try.

~Part: 14~

Going through her notes, Willow quickly determined that she could use a variation on the spell that restored Spike's body to draw the lost souls back into their own world.  Just finding souls would actually be a lot easier than finding and piecing all of Spike back together again like some undead Humpty Dumpty.  A little blood from Spike and Gunn would suffice to focus the magic and attract their lost parts back through the portal.  Satisfied with her progress, she stretched her arms up over her head and began to think about dinner.  The stretching motion pulled on the bites on her neck, making her wince.  She tapped the area gently with her fingertips, relieved when there was no blood leaking out.

Willow was startled to realize that she had been bled by her vampires at least three times in the last twenty four hours.  Or was it four.  Losing count was a sure sign that it was too many.  She didn't like the idea of making rules about it.  What if she said they could each bite her once a week?  Then in the heat of passion, they would have to stop and mentally count off the days since their last bite?  Not very romantic.  And what if Angel didn't like it that Spike got to bite her as much as him?  It was bad enough that Spike had already bitten her more often.

Willow went to the lab, looking for Fred.  She hoped they could go out to dinner together, just the two of them.  As tired as she was, she needed food if she was going to recover from the blood loss.  She also wanted to be out of the way of the vampires for a little while, and she had a feeling Fred wouldn't say no to a putting some distance between herself and the men for a couple of hours.

Wesley put mother hens everywhere to shame.  As if worrying about Willow's love life wasn't enough for him, ever since Gunn attacked Fred, Wesley hadn't left her alone.  He constantly called her cell phone or popped into the lab to see how she was.  When Willow found her, she was more than ready to put the day's work behind her and get away from Wolfram & Hart.  They each took a moment to call and leave messages for their respective lovers to avoid further anxiety, should their absence be noticed, and then hurried out before anything else could happen to keep them there.

"Where did you want to go eat?"  Fred asked.

"Anywhere I can get a big slab of beef.  I need an iron overdose in major way."  Willow clicked the keychain remote at a sleek red Jaguar in the parking garage.

They climbed in and Fred said, "Oh, I know a steakhouse that's having an all you can eat special!"

"Perfect."  Willow sped through the dark streets, following Fred's directions, silently praying that they wouldn't come across Spike helping himself to the all you can eat buffet in the form of the multitude of pedestrians currently strolling along the sidewalks, blissfully unaware that they were not at the top of the food chain.  She wondered what he was up to.  All she could get through the bond was that he was alive and reasonably content.  He couldn't have made it too far away, the sun had only been set for a half hour.  She hoped to get through her dinner before he found his.

Settled in a booth in a brightly lit corner of the noisy steakhouse dinning room, Willow saw how easy it would be to pretend that nothing nastier than your average purse snatcher lurked outside in the night.  She and Fred each ordered the unlimited 16 oz sirloins and then worked their way through the basket of peanuts on the table while they waited.  Willow also asked for a pitcher of water, knowing she should stay hydrated.  After a few minutes of inane comments about the tacky western décor and how hungry they were, the conversation inevitably turned to shop talk.

"I feel kinda guilty being out like this when there's so much work to do," Fred admitted.

"Hey, we've earned it.  We got a lot done today.  Or you did, at least.  We know how to open the portal, where to put the souls and how to make sure we don't get sucked in doing it." Willow shelled another peanut and popped it in her mouth, dropping the remains on the floor where it joined the corpses of thousands of its brothers.

"Yeah, that's right we did.  Still doesn't help poor Charles though.  I hate to see him in that cage, but the sedatives don't make him any less dangerous, they just keep him from getting too restless.  I think Wesley might not trust him for awhile, even when he does get his soul back."

"He hurt you, Fred.  It's not his fault, and Wesley knows it, but it's still real.  It happened, and he'll have a hard time forgetting that.  I think Gunn's lucky to still be alive."

Fred nodded.  "It could have been a lot worse," she agreed.

Neither of them said what they were both thinking.  It would have been a lot worse if Willow had been in Fred's place.  Even with souls, Spike or Angel would have likely killed him.

Their musings were interrupted by the arrival of their first set of steaks, complete with loaded baked potatoes and steamed green beans.  Willow could hardly believe that only the night before she had been sitting down to dinner with Spike, just beginning to comprehend the changes in their relationship.  As if becoming his sire wasn't enough to deal with, now she was responsible for a soulless vampire roaming the city, and the deaths of at least two people and some demons.

When Fred, also known as The Incredible Eating Woman, ordered another steak, Willow did too.  Fred raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "How much blood did you lose anyway?"

Willow sighed and shook her head, "That's just it.  I don't know."

Fred leaned across the table and put her hand over the witch's.  "Willow, this is serious.  Don't they realize they could kill you?"

Something in what the other woman said struck her.  "They?  Wesley told you, didn't he?  About Spike, I mean.  Oh, he is so cursed!"

Fred withdrew her hand and darted her eyes around the room, realizing her mistake too late.  "He's just worried about you.  Now I see why.  If you can't keep track of your own blood, you can't expect them to.  I'm sure each time they don't take much, but it adds up and you don't heal like they do.  You'll have to talk to them."

"I know, I know.  I just don't want to deal with this right now.  There's too much else going on.  And to think, there was a time, a very recent time, when I thought a nice little love bite would be the answer to all my problems."  Willow adjusted the high collar of her shirt, making sure Angel's mark wasn't visible to the room full of nosy humans. "Course, I didn't have quite so many problems then," she muttered.

"Do you know your blood type?"

"Yeah, of course.  Why?"

"I can make sure the medical team keeps some on hand.  You know, just in case."

"Uh uh, no way.  Forget it.  Nobody at Wolfram & Hart is sticking a needle in my arm ever again, for any reason!"  Willow's hand moved unconsciously to cover the spot on her bicep where she'd been attacked with a syringe by a doctor at the firm carrying out some evil plot set in motion by the gone-but-not-forgotten hell bitch, Eve.

Fred sucked in air through her teeth, wincing at the memory.  "Right, the whole mind control thing.  Forgot about that, sorry."

"So, what else you got?  Transfusions are out, I don't wanna sit them down and say keep your fangs to yourself, what else is there?"

"They could turn you."  Fred took a bite of her new steak and chewed thoughtfully.

"What?!"  Willow nearly choked on her own mouthful of meat.

"Well, it is an option.  I didn't say it was a good one, but you asked what else there was, and that was all I could think of.  If you were a vampire, they could bite you all the time and it wouldn't matter because you would get more blood from your victims and heal really fast too."

"Fred, I know you have a very scientific mind and all, so don't think that I don't appreciate the genius in that idea, but it's not gonna happen.  Let's give up on the theoretical for now and stick to the practical."

"Well, what about a spell.  There's got to be healing spells.  You could use one of those."

"I am.  That's the only reason this shirt isn't full of blood stains," Willow said, and then quickly shut her mouth, realizing what she'd just revealed about her activities that day while Fred was hard at work.  Trying a different approach she added, "The spell helps heal the wound, but it doesn't replenish my blood.  The one that would is a dangerous spell and really only good for life threatening blood loss.  It's not one I'd want to do on myself every day, the power required to do it would be almost as draining as the blood loss."  Willow clapped her hand to her mouth, squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, vowing not to say anymore.  She was sure Fred didn't really want to know that she would need such a spell daily.

Fred smiled, but refrained from commenting on Willow's admission.  Then her face brightened and she said, "I hope I'm not out of line, but from what you said earlier, maybe they could, um, bite each other more?  It might help them leave you out of the fangy parts most of the time."

It took Willow a minute to figure out what she'd said earlier that would lead Fred to such an alarming, if accurate, idea.  The more she thought about it, the more she liked it.  Instead of asking them to keep their fangs to themselves, she could just let Spike and Angel be together without her when she needed a break.  Pale limbs tangled in the sheets, locked in a heated embrace, demons visible, fangs buried in each other's flesh, red lips sucking bared necks, yes, she could see the merit in the idea.

"Willow?"  Fred waved a hand in front of her face.

"Yeah?  Oh, right.  You know, that's not a bad suggestion.  I'll try it out.  Thanks!"

"Sure!  Glad I could help.  Let me know how it works out!"  Fred suddenly frowned.  "Or don't.  No, definitely don't."

Willow had no trouble seeing her discomfort.  "So, Fred.  How about those portal equations?  Bet it was hard to come up with all those, huh?"

Fred smiled happily and rambled off all the difficulties she had and how she had overcome them, clearly in her element.  Willow listened politely and tried not to let her mind wander to the conversation she would soon be having.  She didn't want to know how Angel and Spike would take the news that her neck was going to have to be considered a delicacy and not snack food.  One thing was certain, they would never consent to being in the same bed while Spike's soul was MIA.  The sooner it was restored, the better for everyone.

~Part: 15~

After a full night's sleep, and no unexpected visits from Spike, Willow felt ready for anything.  By the time she woke up, Angel had returned with the Muo-Ping jar.  He and Wesley had even gone to the midnight rendezvous with the slaughterhouse worker and picked up the two lambs.  They were currently being kept in a small pen in the upper level of the Wolfram & Hart basements.  All the elements for retrieving the souls were ready.  No plan for reuniting the souls with their respective bodies had yet been discussed, but just having them back in their own dimension would be a relief.

Willow gave the still-sleeping Angel a quick kiss, picked up the jar and left to find Wesley.  He would probably want to open the portal that very day.  Opening the door to leave the penthouse, she gasped and nearly dropped the jar in her surprise at seeing Spike lurking in the hall.  "What are you doing here?" She whispered, not wanting to wake Angel or alert him to the blonde's presence.  She shut the door quickly and motioned for him to follow her to the elevator.

"I wanted to tell you something," he said, puffing out his chest.  When the elevator doors closed behind them, Willow made a motion for him to continue.  "I didn't kill anyone last night."  Immediately following this grand announcement, he caught her around the waist and pulled her against his body, dipping his head for a kiss, which she returned while holding the jar off to one side so it wouldn't be crushed between them.  He broke away after a moment and slid one hand down over her ass then back up, under her skirt.  "Since I was such a good boy, I figure I deserve a reward," he told her, his voice low and suggestive.

Willow caught on quickly and took a step back away from him, removing his hands just as the elevator opened onto the second floor.  "I'm proud of you," she said.  "We can see about that kind of reward later.  Right now, I'm on my way to get you a different present."

"Present?  For me?"  Spike looked truly surprised and pleased.

"Yep.  We're getting your soul back today!  It's gonna live in this little jar until I figure out how to get it in you."

Spike looked significantly less pleased.  "Oh, right then.  Jolly fun," he said.  The sarcasm in his tone was unmistakable, but he followed her out of the elevator to what she had begun to think of as "Gunn's Room".

The pair stood just inside the room, looking around in profound confusion.  It was empty.  The cage was still there, but Gunn was not in it and all of Wesley's books and notes were gone.  "Where are they?"  Willow wondered aloud.

Ever the quick thinker, Spike returned to the hall and stuck his head in the men's restroom.  It too was empty.  "Now what?" He asked.

Willow shrugged.  "We try Wesley's office, I guess."  They were silent during the elevator ride back to the upper floors, though their thoughts were similar.  Spike had over 100 years experience controlling himself without a soul.  In his earlier evil days, he might not have bothered to exercise that control very often, but it was there.  How unpredictable Gunn could prove to be in the same circumstance, nobody could tell.  There were no signs of a struggle in the room, but Willow had noticed that the tranquilizer gun was also missing.  She didn't like to think that Wesley could have been careless enough to leave it where Gunn could reach it, much less be unaware enough for him to use it when Wes opened the cage, but other explanations were not forthcoming.  She didn't see any reason why he would have relocated Gunn without informing her.

Wesley's office was empty.  Willow set the jar down on the desk and shuffled through the papers, looking for his notes on the missing souls to show that he'd been there.  "It's Saturday," Spike reminded her.  "Maybe he's off with Fred somewhere."

Willow shook her head.  "No, they both work 7 days a week most of the time, especially when there's a major situation like this."

"There's always a major situation around here," Spike grumbled.  They made their way down the hall to Willow's office, checking the others along the way to see if anyone was in and might have news.  The sound of the elevator opening behind them caught their attention.

"Willow!"  It was Fred.  "I was hoping to find you here.  I've been looking for you.  We have a problem."  They both ignored Spike's sarcastic comment about how not surprised he was.

"What is it, Fred?  Is it Wes?  Oh God, what happened to him?"

Fred explained as they hurried back to the elevator.  Willow noticed that she tried her best to keep away from Spike's reach as much as possible.  "No, it's Gunn.  He's in trouble."

"What did he do?"  Willow asked.

Fred shook her head.  "Not that kind.  He's sick.  Dying."  They exited on a new floor.  "Here we are, Wes will tell you more."

Curious and alarmed, Spike and Willow followed Fred into a room that could have been in any hospital, but was right in their own building.  Unconscious, laying on a slightly inclined bed, and taking shallow breaths, was a very frail looking Gunn.  Wesley stood next to him conversing with a nurse in soft tones.  When the other three came in, she left with a respectful nod to them.

"What's wrong with him?" Spike whispered. The fear in his voice made Willow reach for his hand and give it a gentle squeeze.  He was undoubtedly worried that if it was some mystical ailment, it could affect him too.

Wesley picked up on this right away.  "Human's can't live without a soul for very long, a week at most.  It's already been nearly three days for him, he's in a coma.  He can't hear us.  Obviously, vampires don't suffer from this problem," he added.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Willow asked.   She hated to think she'd been wasting time sleeping, going out to eat, and messing around with Spike when her friend was dying.

"I didn't know.  It should have occurred to me, but I never gave it any thought until I came into the holding room early this morning and found him like this.  He's been deteriorating all along, but I assumed the changes in his energy levels were due to the sedatives.  This is the first case I've seen of a human losing his soul.  There have been others, of course.  The one week time frame comes from the documentation of those."

Willow's face lit up.  "Hey!  If there are other cases, it must say how to put the souls back!"

Wesley shook his head.  "I'm afraid none of the cases included a successful restoration.  Unfortunately, that's why we know how long it takes for the victim to die."

"But there has to be a way!"

"I hope there is.  I wouldn't despair based on the past.  Most of those people lost their souls making deals with demons who didn't bother to mention that they would have only a week or less to enjoy whatever they were getting in the bargain.  We are in the unique situation of being able to retrieve the soul and therefore we have a chance at restoring it."

Spike, now over his fear that he too would wind up in a hospital bed, sauntered over to the patient and sniffed his neck.  "I could just put him out of his misery," he offered.

"Not if you still want that reward for your good behavior," Willow said through clenched teeth, dragging him away from the bed.

Fred and Wesley exchanged a glance.  "Willow, we should prepare to open the portal.  It would be best to do it outside in an open area."  He gave her a meaningful look.

She frowned at him, trying to decipher what he wasn't saying, then widened her eyes.  "Oh!  Right, well, um, I'll just call Angel and tell him what's going on.  I'm sure he'd want to come and see Gunn."  And keep an eye on him just in case Spike does get the munchies since he can't come outside with us in the broad daylight, was what she didn't say.  He might have refrained from killing his victims the previous night to get back in her good graces after the Angel incident, but that only made him all the more susceptible to finding it too hard to resist the temptation of polishing off a man who was likely to die anyway.

Willow pulled out her cell and dialed the penthouse while the others waited nearby, hearing only her side of the conversation.  A groggy vampire answered on the third ring.  She tired to keep her tone light.  "Hi Angel.  Something's happened to Gunn.  No, he didn't hurt anyone, he's sick.  It's his soul, he can't live much longer without it.  I think you should come see him.  No, he's unconscious.  I know you can't talk to him, I just think you should be here.  Fred and Wesley are going to help me get the souls back today.  Right now, actually, so we have to go.  Yeah, the nurses are taking good care of him, but if you could just come down and stay with him for a little while. I know you're tired but."

Spike grabbed the phone from her hand.  "Poof?  Yeah, the witch thinks I'm gonna eat your friend if you don't get your luscious ass down here pronto."  He flipped the phone closed and handed it back to Willow.  "You be careful with that portal business.  My soul isn't worth you losing yours."  He kissed her long and hard, pulling away from her mouth to nuzzle her shoulder and whispered, "I'll leave Charles here in one piece, but that reward later better be extra nummy."

With some effort, Willow extracted herself from his embrace and got the attention of the others, who had politely averted their eyes.  "What are you going to do?"  She asked Spike.

"Oh, I'll watch over things here, annoy Angel, maybe have a smoke.  The usual."  Contenting herself that the previous day's lesson would hold and he really would behave, Willow took him at his word and left with Fred and Wesley.

Wesley immediately went into action mode.  "Alright, I have a secluded place cordoned off for us to open the portal and perform the spell.  Fred, do you have the formulas?"

She tapped her forehead.  "Right here."

"Willow, the jar and the blood?"

Willow gasped and looked at her empty hands, then patted her clothes as if she could have put it in a pocket.  "Oh!  I think I left the jar in your office when I was looking for you before Fred found me."

"Fine, we'll go there first.  I could use my notes on the Blugara dimension anyway, just in case.  Who knows what may be on the other side when we open the portal?  If something other than the souls comes through, it's best we be prepared to deal with it."

Willow didn't like the sound of that, but agreed all the same.  Within minutes they had the jar and the notes, went by the lab for the blood, and were headed to the basement for the lambs.  It was awkward driving to Wesley's selected location with them in the back seat on either side of Willow, but thankfully it was a short trip.

In less than an hour, everything was assembled within a small circle of trees at a nearby park.  Willow didn't want to think about how they had managed to clear out a public area in the middle of a beautiful Saturday, but chalked it up to another mysterious advantage of the evil firm.  The lambs were tethered to a tree stump in the center of the clearing.  They nibbled at the grass, utterly oblivious to their impending doom.

The three humans looked around and then at each other.  Willow smiled.  "Showtime!"

~Part: 16~

The air crackled and began to smell like an impending electrical storm.  The sun went behind a cloud, making the sudden flash of white light seem even brighter in the hazy afternoon.  With no further spectacle, a wide oval, about 8 feet tall, hovered in front of the three humans, revealing a small slice of a foreign dimension that each of them hoped they would never have to see any closer.

There were no creatures in sight, only an arid landscape, punctuated by the occasional dried up shrub or outcropping of sand-covered rock.  They could feel the heat rolling into their own reality through the opening.  Willow wondered if the kind of sun that beat down from it's hidden location, far above their limited view, was one of the vampire friendly varieties that Angel had told her about.

Wesley cleared his throat.  When Willow looked at him, he nodded to the jar in her hands, indicating that she'd better get going.  While he retreated with Fred to a safe distance near the trees, Willow sat down in front of the shimmering gateway with the lambs in front of her, took the lid off the jar and pulled out the vials of blood from Gunn and Spike.  She took the stoppers out of the vials and dribbled a few drops from each into the jar, starting her chant to draw the souls to her.

Louder, she called for the souls to seek their missing parts and join the blood in the jar.  When she saw faint specks of light floating towards her like a couple of fireflies, Willow began her entreaty to the gods of Blugara homeland to release the prisoners and take her living offerings instead.

The portal began to shift, the shape of it bowed outwards, as if it were reaching towards them.  Wesley and Fred took a step further back, but Willow just held the jar up higher and chanted louder as the portal continued to pulse and grow until it enveloped the lambs and then disappeared in a flash, spitting out the two sparks of light just as the last of the opening slammed shut and winked out.  The souls descended calmly into the jar and Willow replaced the lid.

"Well that seemed way too easy," she said, holding up the jar and peering at her catch.

Fred looked around, her eyes darting from tree to tree, as if at any moment an army of demons would emerge and charge at them.  "Yeah, portal opening usually means unexpected consequences.  And usually the unexpected consequences are big and ugly and try to cut off your head."

"Yes, well let's clear out, shall we?  There's no point in waiting around for that sort of thing."  Wesley quickly picked up the rest of their things from the ground and led them back to the car.  Willow hugged the jar to her chest as she walked, feeling a relief she didn't deserve to have her childe's soul where she could protect it once more.  Gunn might still die if they couldn't put his soul back in his body very soon, but Spike would be fine for as long as it took to figure it out.  It was wrong for her to relax even a little when a life was at stake, but some tiny part of her insisted on rejoicing at the progress she'd made so far.

If it was possible, Gunn looked even worse by the time Willow, Fred, and Wes returned with the jar of souls.  Angel and Spike sat in chairs on either side of his hospital bed, glaring at each other over his body.  It turned out that Angel didn't have as much faith in Spike's word as Willow did, and refused to leave him alone with Gunn.  Willow was just relieved that no one was naked or dead and then wondered when her standards for everything being okay had sunk so low.

Spike and Angel both stood up when Willow came into the room and moved towards her.  Angel elbowed Spike out of the way and reached his mate first, pulling her into an embrace and murmuring his relief that she was all right.  Although he knew she was alive at least, he had ignored Spike's assurances that he could tell that she wasn't hurt, preferring to see it with his own eyes.  Neither of the vampires liked it that the most important woman in their lives had to put herself in danger out in the daylight where they could do nothing to protect her.

When Angel stepped away from Willow, Fred and Wesley expected Spike to greet her in the same way.  Instead, he merely stood in front of her and gestured at the jar.  "So, that's my missing part in there, is it?  Doesn't look like much."

Willow nodded and handed him the jar so he could have the unique experience of examining his own soul.  The feeling that had passed between them through their bond when Willow entered the room was enough of a greeting that a physical embrace was not necessary.  They were slowly working out the dynamics of behavior that would be acceptable to all three of them.  Angel understood the need for a sexual relationship between Willow and Spike and was even willing to participate in it.  Casual intimacy however, hello and goodbye kisses, hand holding and the like, were not something they would indulge in often and certainly not in front of Angel.  That sort of contact insinuated a connection that went beyond sire/childe or the simple bonds of friendship they had long shared.

Angel noticed that his childe did not move to touch Willow and grudgingly respected him for it.  Through his own, weaker bond with Spike he sensed the relief and warmth that washed over him at Willow's return and knew that Willow had inevitably felt it as well.  He did not entirely trust the jar being in Spike's hands, however.

"So, here we are.  This isn't helping Gunn much, I'm afraid," Wesley said.  "I've exhausted my own resources on the subject.  It's time we consulted the files and records of Wolfram & Hart."

Willow shook her head adamantly.  "No!  How can we trust them not to tell us something wrong on purpose?  They're probably still holding a grudge against him for getting that implant out before it could scramble his brains."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Wesley asked.

Willow gnawed her lower lip.  "I dunno.  I can maybe try working out a spell.  I haven't come across just the right thing yet, but if I had a little more time -"

Gunn gasped in his sleep and was quiet again.  "We don't have a little more time, Willow," Wesley said gently.

Willow moved closer to the bed and sat down in the chair vacated earlier by Angel.  She took one of Gunn's hands in hers and placed the other over his forehead.  Closing her eyes, she took deep cleansing breaths while the others looked on.  "What are you doing?" Fred asked, sounding curious, not accusatory.

"Giving him more time," Willow answered.  She continued her quiet meditation, channeling the healing energy of the earth into her friend, willing him to hold on for just a few more days.

"Hey, check this out!" Spike said, holding up the jar.  The little lightning bug souls inside had begun to zing around, bouncing off the glass sides and bottom of the jar, occasionally hitting the underside of the lid, making the jar jump in Spike's hands.

"What did you do?  Give me that," Angel demanded, grabbing at the jar which Spike held just out of his reach.

"Keep it down, will you?" Willow grumbled at the two vampires scuffling near the foot of the bed.

"I didn't do nothing!  Get your meathooks off!  This is MY soul!"  Spike took a step back, but found himself up against the counter along the rear wall of the room.

Angel reached for the jar again.  "It's not just your soul.  I don't trust you with that thing, hand it over."

Spike's attempts to hold the jar up over his head were not very effective since Angel was a good bit taller than him.  "What are you afraid of, Angel?  It's mine, back off."  He stuck his arm out to his side and then behind his back, all the while evading Angel's snatching hands.

Angel reached around behind Spike's back and yanked his arm out, only to find his hand empty.  Sighing in disgust, he dropped that arm and grabbed the other, not impressed with Spike's elementary school behind-the-back switcharoo.  With one hand holding Spike's wrist so he couldn't pull away again, he tried to wrench the jar from Spike's grip with the other.  Spike used his free hand to work on prying Angel's hand off his wrist, pausing occasionally to push at his chest, attempting to knock him off balance.

Willow paid them no attention while she tried to do what she could for Gunn.  Wesley and Fred however watched with growing concern as the vampires, and the souls in the jar, grew more and more agitated.  "I really don't think -" Wesley began, but it was too late.

Just as Spike's grip began to fail, he decided the game wasn't worth breaking the jar and released Angel to let him have the jar, hoping Angel would fall backwards on his ass without Spike pulling against him any longer.  He got the desired effect, and one that wasn't.  When Spike let go, Angel stumbled and also lost his grip on the jar.  Four pairs of eyes watched in slow motion as the Muo-Ping rose slightly in the air and then tumbled end over end until it connected with the tiled floor and erupted into a million shards.

Willow's eyes flew open and she joined in the collective gasp as the two little lights rose from the wreckage and hovered in the air near the ceiling.  Then, fast as thunderbolts, they shot into the chests of their respective bodies, eliciting screams from their owners, their glow expanding and brightening over the men before disappearing inside.

Gunn woke up at the same time that Spike fell flat on his back, each man yelling and clutching their chests.  Willow looked frantically back and forth between the two, not sure who she should go to when she saw Angel kneel down next to Spike, after barely glancing at Gunn, and pull him into his arms.

Seeing that her childe was attended to, Willow turned back to Gunn, but couldn't do much more than watch as he writhed in pain for a few more minutes before becoming still, and immediately sleeping once more.  A nurse hurried in after hearing the screaming and commotion, took Gunn's vital signs and checked the output of the electrodes attached to his head.  "He's sleeping," she announced.  Seeing the looks on the faces around her not appreciating her statement of the obvious she added, "He's out of the coma, he's just sleeping normally now.  I'd expect him to wake up in a few hours."

With that she left, not even bothering to comment on the broken glass or the vampires on the floor.  Willow marveled at how well adapted the employees of Wolfram & Hart were that a man miraculously recovering from the brink of death with no medical intervention didn't phase them in the least or even raise an eyebrow.

Knowing that Gunn would be okay freed Willow to return to worrying about Spike.  He had recovered enough to wiggle away from Angel, who was back to acting like he wasn't the least bit concerned, and tried to stand up on his own.  Willow helped Angel get him to one of the chairs when he started to sway on his feet.  Fred and Wesley slowly took in what had happened and at last Wes spoke.  "What, exactly, just happened here?"

"They went home," Fred said softly.  "They were lost in another dimension and scared and when they got back, they knew where they belonged."

Wesley put a comforting arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead, promising himself he would never make her open another portal even if the fate of the world rested on it.

Willow knelt next to Spike's chair.  "How do you feel?"

"Like someone set fire to my flesh and threw me out in the snow.  But I'll get over it."  He remained bent over with a hand on his chest, but when he raised his head to look at Willow she could see a glimmer in his eye that suggested she might be his incentive to get over it.

She stood and looked around at the rest of the group.  "So that's it then?  Everything's ok now?"  She heartily hoped someone would say yes so she could take her childe and her mate and go home and sleep for a day or three.

"Hardly," Wesley said.  "We may have saved Gunn, somehow, but there is still an unfulfilled prophecy out there.  Those don't just go away because you kill a couple of demons."

"And we opened a portal," Fred added.  "Who knows what we'll get for that?"

"Yes, you're right.  Still, I believe we're safe enough for now.  I think those demons have a much harder time traveling through dimensions even than we do.  It should be quite some time before they are able to open a new portal."

A crash in the hall outside and a familiar inhuman shriek made them all jump.  Willow turned to Fred, "Um, not to be all suspicious girl, but those formulas. they were just for opening one portal, right?"

~Part: 17~

Before anyone could do much more than look panicky, two Blugara demons had smashed through the door and pushed their way into the already crowded room.  Wesley shoved Fred behind him and tried stand in front of the bed to block Gunn from view.  Willow moved between Spike and the demons, and Angel rummaged in a drawer under the counter, pulled out a scalpel and jumped in front of his mate and their childe.

The demons took no notice of Wesley, Fred, or Gunn, but Angel was in the way of their goal.  The first demon lunged at him, and he retaliated, jabbing forward with the scalpel.  They blocked each other's blows, but the demon stumbled back a little, giving Angel a clear shot at its neck.

"Angel, no!"  Willow shouted, and pushed him aside so the demon could see her.  "Stay!"  She commanded, and the air around Angel shimmered for a moment.  When he tried to charge at the demon again, he found he couldn't move.

"Willow!  What are you doing?"  Angel struggled against his invisible bonds, to no avail.

The Blugara demon was already holding her arms, and the other hauled Spike out of his chair.  "I'm sorry Angel, it's the only way.  We have to go with them.  Our lives aren't worth the ones that will be lost if these demons keep coming to our dimension."

Wesley took a step forward, but stopped when the demons shrieked at him.  "Willow, are you sure?  I could­-"

But Willow didn't get to hear what Wesley wanted to do because the demons already had her and Spike out of the room, dragging them down the hall to the stairway.  It was just as well.  The last thing she wanted was Wesley to wind up in a coma too.  She hadn't given up, she still hoped to save herself and Spike, but the fight couldn't be in her own dimension, she realized that now.  They would have to go and find a way to satisfy the prophecy to put this whole thing to rest.

It turned out that the second, unintentional portal had opened right in the basement of Wolfram & Hart, not far from the little pen where they had stored the lambs.  Too late Willow realized it was daylight in the demon dimension and they would be testing the vampire-friendly sun theory whether they liked it or not.  She twisted in the grip of the Blugara's scaly talons and looked at Spike who was struggling to keep up with his captor as he was dragged along.  She was surprised and dismayed to see that he still wasn't strong enough after being reunited with his soul to even put up a fight.  Her desire to protect him was overwhelming and she had to keep reminding herself that the demons wouldn't hurt him yet to keep from blasting them back and running away with Spike.

Moments later they were trudging through a dusty landscape under a blazing midday sun.  The only comfort was that Spike wasn't catching fire.  The dust got in Willow's eyes and clogged up her nose when she tried to breathe.  The sun was so hot that no plants grew in the area to keep the soil from turning to sand and blowing around in the wind.  Willow suspected that water might be rare or non-existent in this dimension and she hoped she wouldn't be there long enough to have to try to find out.

With no change in the scenery at all, Willow couldn't tell how far they'd walked when they crested a hill, or maybe it was a sand dune, and she could see what had to be a little demon village below.  She chanced another struggle with her captor to get a look at Spike.  He was still being pulled along by the other demon, walking behind them, but he seemed a little better.  He was standing upright with no trouble and trudging along, looking more bored than in pain.  They hadn't tried to speak to each other, having no idea if the demons could understand them or not.  Willow certainly couldn't make any sense out of the collection of shrieks and squawks that seemed to comprise the Blugara language.

The demons thrust them through the doors of the largest structure in the little village, which was made out of clay bricks, giving Willow hope that there was water somewhere nearby.  They appeared to be in a temple of sorts.  The whole building was one big room with a dirt floor and a raised stone altar as the centerpiece.  In the middle of the altar sat an enormous throne of shiny black volcanic rock.  It was empty.  Several Blugara demons, a smaller variety than the ones holding Willow and Spike, scurried back and forth, up and down the steps of the altar, lighting hundreds of strange candles that gave off a horrendous stench.  Willow had a sickening suspicion that they were made of demon fat.

When the smaller demons, which Willow immediately thought of as altar servers, saw them come in they quickly dispersed, leaving the room through a hidden door behind the altar that Willow couldn't see, but heard as it slammed shut.

The demons urged Willow and Spike forward, up the stairs of the altar and then forced them to kneel before the throne.  They tied each of them to the cold, smooth arms of the throne with lengths of twine that left irritating red scratches on their wrists.  Once they were secured, the demons disappeared out through the same door the altar servers used.

Realizing they were alone, Willow and Spike looked at each other in surprise.  It was the first really good look at Spike that Willow had been able to get since they were kidnapped.  By now he was in better shape than she was.  The long walk hadn't worn him out at all, and not needing to drink or breathe meant that the dry, dusty environment hadn't bothered him either.  "Well, that was easy.  I can tear this bit of rope off, and we'll be out of here," Spike said.

"Wait, don't.  We can't just walk out of here; those demons will be all over us."  Willow could have her own ropes off in no time, but they hadn't come all this way just to try escaping.  They could have done that in their own dimension.

"What are we supposed to do?  Just sit here until they come back to bleed us dry and raise their precious demon god over our dust and bones?"  Spike twisted his wrists around, testing the strength of the twine.  It began to pull apart, but he stopped when Willow glared at him.  "What?  I don't like the way this stuff feels.  It's itchy."

"Well stop squirming and it won't rub so much," Willow said.  "Just sit still for now." Spike heaved a sigh, but gave up on his struggles.  And they waited.

~~

If Angel could have moved, he would have been a mess of indecision.  Would he punch holes in the walls or break down and cry first?  As it was, the torrent of emotions running through him had no outlet other than his voice, which he used extensively.

"Fred.  Go find someone to help you open a new portal.  Now!  I will not stand here while my family dies because of some damned demon prophecy!"  No one dared point out that standing there was exactly what he'd do, since he was frozen in place.  Neither did anyone dare to laugh at the ridiculous stance he was forced to hold, with his knees bent and his arms thrown up and out to catch his balance after Willow pushed him aside.  He still clutched the scalpel in one hand, despite his efforts to let go of it.

"Wesley, go find a spell caster on the staff and get them down here.  I don't know how long this will take to wear off, but I can't wait that long!  Then go find as many weapons as you can.  There's going to be a battle, and either me, or those fucking monsters aren't going to live to tell about it!"

When they were gone to do his bidding, Angel turned his tirade on his only captive audience, Gunn, who still lay sleeping in peaceful oblivion.  "I can't believe she would do this to me!  How could she just leave me here like this?  How could she just go sacrifice herself without consulting me at all?  And she let them take my childe!  Ok, well he's more her childe now, but don't I get a little say in whether he lives or dies?  If anyone's going to kill him, it should have been me!  I won't stand for this!  Not for a minute!"  He paused and when he spoke again, his voice cracked, betraying feelings the only way he could.  "I won't lose the last people I love in this world."

The minutes ticked by at a torturous crawl.  Every moment filled Angel's thoughts with new and terrible imaginings of what might be happening to Willow and Spike.  One or both of them could be dead already.  They might be lost and scared.  Or worse, what if they'd decided to try killing their captors and both lost their souls?  Did that happen in the demon dimension?  Or only in the human world?  Angel didn't know, and didn't want to have to find out.

At last Fred burst through the door with a tiny, bald old man wearing a simple brown robe.  "Here, Angel!  He's the best chance we have to open another portal."

Angel tried valiantly to remain calm, but it didn't work.  "So, why is he HERE?  Go!  Open the portal!  Then come back and get me.  I can't go with you now anyway.  You're wasting time!"

Fred's mouth dropped open, horrified to incur Angel's wrath.  She pulled the little man out of the room and disappeared once more.

~~

Willow snuggled closer to the cool body next to her and then shifted uncomfortably, feeling the hard surface beneath her.  Opening her eyes, she saw the back of the blonde head of her childe, as well as the dirty stone floor.  When no demons had returned to further torment them, Willow had finally consented to untying their ropes and eventually they had fallen asleep on the altar, waiting for something to happen.

The primitive holes in the walls that served as windows showed Willow that it was still dark outside.  She sat up slowly, not wanting to wake Spike who she felt needed the rest, and leaned back against a leg of the throne, wondering what would become of them.  Her mouth was so dry she could hardly move her tongue to form words, and the back of her throat felt like sandpaper.  She hoped that the master plan wasn't to leave them on the altar to die of thirst.

Spike stirred in his sleep and reached out a hand to feel the space where Willow had lain a moment ago.  Not finding her, the hand quested farther until it connected with her stretched out leg.  Willow noticed and took the hand in hers and Spike slept on.

~~

"Be free of this enchantment, Angel," said a smooth-faced woman with dark hair who might have been 30 or 300.  She waved a perfectly manicured hand at him, and he stumbled forward, catching himself on Gunn's bed.

"Thanks," he muttered.  "Good work, Wes."  The spell-caster bowed and left, leaving Angel alone with his diminished team.

"I've just had a call from Fred.  I'm afraid the news isn't good.  They've been unsuccessful in reopening the portal," Wesley said, then winced as he waited for the inevitable diatribe from his boss.

To his surprise, Angel slumped down in the chair next to Gunn's bed, hung his head and began to sob.  "They're gone.  They're gone and I'll never get them back.  Why?  Why did this happen?"

Wesley stood by, not sure how to react.  "Angel, pull yourself together," he said at last, when Angel made no move to get up or give further orders.  "We don't know what's going on in the other dimension.  There's a chance they're still alive!  You mustn't give up!"

"I can't feel them, Wes.  They could be dead, and I wouldn't know.  The bonds are silent.  It's like Fred said.  No good ever comes of opening portals."  He wiped his face and looked up at his friend.  "I don't want to give up, even though I can't see any way for this to turn out well.  What do we do Wesley?  This is your area."

"The first thing we should do is - "

"Wes?  Angel?  Why are you in my bedroom?" Gunn asked, blinking in confusion at the two men by his hospital bed.

~Part: 18~

Willow wasn't sure how long she'd been awake when the main doors of the temple creaked open.  A large band of Blugara demons entered and approached the altar where she sat with the head of her sleeping childe in her lap.  She nudged Spike hard enough to wake him instantly.  "Wha?  Where the hell-?  Oh shit!"  The sight of the enemy brought Spike to full alertness much faster than usual.  Two of the demons carried large knives, others had more of the scratchy rope, and still more carried primitive looking drums which they beat with bones to produce an eerie, hollow pulse.

"I think it's time," Willow whispered.  They stood up together and allowed the demons to lead them outside.  Three moons shone high over the land, aligned to form a perfect equilateral triangle.  Willow tried to take a deep breath of the night air, but instead inhaled another cloud of dust and began to gag and choke.  The demon holding her made an annoyed clicking sound in its beak and one of the altar servers broke from the group and went inside one of the small huts.  It returned a moment later with a rough clay cup, which it shoved towards Willow.  She took it hesitantly and sniffed the contents.  It held a liquid that took on the dark glow of the night sky and she couldn't make out what it was.  Spike took it from her and held it up to his nose.

"Just water, love.  Go ahead, drink up."  Relived and feeling oddly grateful to her captors, Willow took the cup back and gulped the water down in three big swallows.  It was gritty and warm, but at least it was wet.  The cup was torn from her grip and after more angry screeching, the group began to move away from the village, continuing on away from where Willow and Spike had been brought through the portal.  They moved further and further out into the night, always towards the horizon with the three moons hanging above their heads.  The drummers kept up their rhythm and after awhile it seemed to Willow that the sound came from within her head rather than without.

Willow was convinced they walked for hours, though time felt different in the Blugara dimension, and the moons neither rose higher nor set during their walk.  She was soon thirsty again, though she could not imagine being lucky enough to expect another cup of water.  She could feel that Spike was thirsty as well and longed to nourish him with her own blood, though she knew he'd never take it while she suffered from lack of food and drink.

In the foreground, what appeared to be a high mountain with smooth glassy sides loomed against the sky.  Soon it revealed itself to be an active volcano, shaking the ground and belching sparks and smoke high into the air, a precursor to an impending major eruption.  Willow surmised, without much effort, that it must be the rock of Blugara where their blood was supposed to be mingled to raise the demon god.

They reached the foot of the volcano and Willow felt sure that they would have to climb to the top, though how such a thing could be accomplished, she didn't know.  The demons stopped walking at last, letting Willow hope they would rest, but after a moment, they all began to shriek in unison.  Their armored backs split up the middle and from each demon a pair of tiny wings emerged and began to flutter.  The two that had captured Willow and Spike, and been their personal jailors ever since, took hold of them once more and lifted them into the air.  Soon the whole group was airborne, heading towards the summit of the volcano.

Willow twisted in the powerful grip of the demon that held her, trying to catch a glimpse of Spike, but she was rewarded with an angry shriek and a firmer, more painful hold instead.  She settled for looking ahead, watching where they were going.  A sudden terror seized her that they would be sacrificed to the volcano simply by being dropped into the molten fire inside.  She frantically tried to think of whether she could levitate herself and Spike at the same time or if her powers even worked in this dimension.  Her terror grew as they rose higher, every spark gushing from the mouth of the volcano seeming to wink at her, confirming her suspicions.

Then, just before reaching the summit, they began to descend.  Willow's immediate fears departed in a rush, leaving her weak as her body abruptly stopped pumping adrenaline into her system.  The Blugara released her and she was able to look around to see Spike landing nearby.  His guard released him as well and pushed him towards Willow.  Soon all the demons had landed and surrounded the two captives.  The beat of the drums started up again, having paused during the flight up the mountain.  Willow and Spike were urged closer together until their bodies were touching.  They clung to each other willingly enough, but the demons continued to nudge their backs, even though they couldn't possibly get any closer together.

Willow looked over her shoulder and glared at the Blugara behind her, earning another prod from its claw.  "What do they want?" She asked Spike.  "They kidnap us; make us walk for miles, and by the way, why couldn't they have just flown us out here?  And now, they're what?  Going to poke us to death?  What's going on?"

"No idea, love.  I wish they'd just get to the part with the knives already.  Nothing ambiguous about those."

"Spike!  Didn't anyone ever tell you to be careful what you wish for?"  Just as she spoke, the two demons tore them away from each other and Spike's guard punched him in the jaw with a fisted talon.

"What the-!" It hit him again and then kicked him in the knee.  Spike vamped and snarled at the demon, moving to lunge at it, but he was grabbed from behind by two more of the demons who held him away from their kinsman.  With Spike growling and struggling, Willow's demon suddenly thrust her in front of him once more.  At last it was clear.  "No, no way.  I'm not gonna do it."

"Spike, you have to.  You need it anyway.  Just take a little at least."

"I'm not biting you.  Not here, not like this.  It'll hurt."

Willow sighed.  "You know what'll hurt Spike?  If one of these demons uses its knife to get my blood and then shoves it down your throat!  The prophecy says our blood has to mingle, and if this is how they want it to mingle, just bite me already!"

She pulled him closer to her, shoved her shirt off the shoulder bearing Spike's mark and tilted her head to the side.  Spike turned his own head away, refusing to look at the offered flesh.  Willow sighed and took his face in her hands.  She wished those annoying drums would be quiet for a few minutes.  They made thinking clearly difficult.  "Spike."  She kissed him carefully, avoiding his fangs.  She ran one finger over his brow and down the rough ridges on face until he closed his eyes and forgot all else, including their impending deaths.

The demon within Spike took over his will and its desire to taste and drink from its sire rose with Willow's attentions until it could not be denied.  When she sensed he had reached this point, she offered herself again, and was not rejected a second time.  Fangs pierced her skin and she felt a brief stinging twinge, but this was quickly replaced by the vicarious pleasure she received from Spike when her hot blood hit his tongue, slaking his thirst and his need.

They had but a moment to hold each other and relish their connection, and then they were ripped apart once more, their blood apparently mingled enough to suit the needs of the Blugara demons.  Willow cried out, both from the loss of her childe and the sharp pain of having Spike's fangs torn from her roughly, leaving a rough gash on her shoulder, not unlike the one that had only recently healed after Angel had similarly yanked Spike away from her.

The Blugara that grabbed Willow tossed her to the ground and she began to slide down the steep slope away from the group of demons.  She had to grab hold of the sharp rocks to stop her decent, cutting her palms deep enough to bleed.  Getting her balance, she sat up gasping and clutching her hands together firmly, hoping to staunch the bleeding.  Suddenly she noticed that the demons were flying on up the mountainside without her, carrying Spike in their midst.

She scrambled after them as fast as she could, but it was a losing battle.  She gained only a few feet of altitude before losing her grip and sliding back several more feet.  She watched helplessly as the Blugaras reached the summit, an unreachable 100 feet of nearly vertical mountainside above her.  She could clearly see Spike in the moonlight, perched at the very edge of the volcano.  They removed his shirt and tied his arms behind his back with the hated twine ropes.  He struggled valiantly, but he was simply outnumbered.  Willow cheered silently when he managed to knock one of the small altar servers down inside the volcano to a fiery death, just before his arms were tied.

When they had at last secured him, the two demons bearing ceremonial knives came forward.  Seeing this, Willow renewed her climbing efforts, determined not to see her childe harmed.  For all her good, noble intentions of allowing them to fulfill the prophecy for the sake of their own world, when it came right down to it, she could not sit by and watch them kill Spike.  Up until this point she had held out hope that they could somehow trick the prophecy, fulfill it without making the ultimate sacrifice and escape with their lives.  Now with the truth 100 feet away, noble deeds and the safety of the world at large was the furthest thing from her mind.  Now all that mattered was that her childe was in mortal danger and she was too far away to prevent his true death.

The Blugaras raised their knives and each drew the first of many cuts across Spike's chest.  His screams reached Willow, spurring her on.  As his blood began to flow, the drummers beat faster and the rhythm that reached Willow's ears below matched the rumble of the ground beneath her.  The more drops of blood that fell from Spike, the harder the shaking became and the louder the drums and the earthquake roared.

Spike fell to his knees as the blood poured from him, feeding the monster growing within the volcano.  The Blugaras danced around the fallen vampire, and that was when Willow decided the prophecy was fulfilled enough for her.  She stood up on the side of the trembling mountain and closed her eyes.  It was time to find out if her magic was intact.

She began to chant and immediately felt the response of the energy around her.  The shaking increased tenfold as she channeled more and more energy into the ground, willing it faster, more violent.  Soon no one could have possibly kept a foothold on the trembling mountain.  Willow shifted her focus to herself and rose into the air, quickly reaching the summit where the demons were crouched, clutching at the rocks in fear.  None moved to stop her as she gathered her childe in her arms and levitated them quickly back, well beyond the foot of the mountain.  Laying Spike on the ground to one side, Willow turned back to the volcano, holding her arms out towards it.  A deafening crack filled the air as the mountain split up the middle, revealing its churning molten core.  The demons at the top were left with nothing to hold on to and fell inside, instantly incinerated.

The mountain continued to shake and the two safely on solid ground winced at the booming crash that echoed across the flat desert plain as the top portion split off and fell inward on itself amid a deluge of bright red sparks and smoke.  Willow lowered her arms and slumped down next to her childe, and just watched as the chain reaction carried on without her assistance.  A half hour later, the volcano was nothing but a huge pile of smoking black rubble.  Whatever creature the demons had planned to raise was hopelessly buried within, yet with the blood that was mingled and spilled the prophecy was satisfied.

~Part: 19~

By the time Fred called to say they had the portal ready in the park where Willow had helped to open the last one, the three men were already armed to the teeth and glaring at the languishing sunset out of the protective windows at Wolfram and Hart.

When Gunn had insisted on coming, no one was more surprised than Gunn himself.  He knew perfectly well that he'd just come out of a coma, but he said he felt inexplicably great.  After being clued in that it was Willow who had both retrieved his soul from the demon dimension and performed the healing spell that accounted for his present good health, he was more determined than ever to be part of the rescue team.  There was no dissuading him, not that anyone tried all that hard.  They had no idea what they would be up against in the demon dimension and needed all the warriors they could get.

When darkness finally descended, allowing them to leave the building, Angel, Gunn, and Wesley wasted no time in rushing to the park.  They burst through the portal, swords and axes brandished, looked around frantically for the enemy, and then lowered their weapons in relieved disappointment.  There didn't seem to be anyone around.  They were in the middle of a desolate wasteland with no one, friend or foe, in sight.

"Where do you suppose-?" Wesley began.

"That looks promising," Gunn offered, pointing to a huge pile of smoking debris in the distance.

Angel said nothing, but demonstrated his agreement by heading in that direction.  The strain of holding back his vampiric speed so that the humans could keep up with him showed itself in the death grip he held on his sword and the fierce set of his jaw.  Wes and Gunn exchanged a look and hurried after him.  Wesley found that he felt just a little tiny bit sorry for the demons they had come to kill, souls be damned.  Angel had made it very clear that neither of them were to attempt to hold him back from killing as many demons as he could find.  If he was going to live without Willow, he might as well have his revenge while he could.  If the humans wanted to curse him again, let them try.  If he was too late to save Willow, he'd be just as glad if they had to stake him instead.

The farther they went, the harder walking became for the humans.  The air was so dry and dusty, they could barely breathe, much less run along after Angel.  The vampire tried to be patient, tried to understand their difficulties, but so great a time had passed since breathing was an issue for him, that he found himself growing more and more frustrated that they had insisted on coming along in the first place.  They were weak and they were slowing him down.  His mind tortured him with thoughts that while they dallied with such trivial things as catching their breath, and wondering about the chance of coming upon a source of water, demons could be tearing apart his mate at that very moment.

In the back of Angel's head lurked the realization that he was more than a little worried about Spike, too.  Thankfully, in such desperate times, he did not have to acknowledge what was in the back of his head, so focused was he on his immediate concerns, which were more for finding Willow.  Spike had survived a hundred years without Angel's protection, or anyone else's.  Willow, on the other hand, in spite of her multiple apocalyptic aversions, had simply not lived long enough to convince Angel that she could take care of herself in a situation like this.  Not that he would ever tell her such a thing.  That would be enough to get him banned from her bed, an event which had not yet occurred, and that he hoped never would.

At last Angel's temper snapped.  "You two take your time, I'm going on ahead.  When you get there, try to stay out of my way."  With that he sped off in the direction of the ruined mountain, trying to ignore the ominous silence that pervaded the land and the three moons hanging overhead, baldly glaring at his approach.  He did not look back to see the two humans gaping at him, clutching at each other for support, and still struggling to follow him in spite of his harsh words.

The mound of broken rock, which Angel would never be able to picture as anything but, even after hearing the descriptions of it as a tall, majestic volcano, remained maddeningly far away for several more endless minutes.  At last he noticed two figures lying on the ground and hastened in their direction.  Recognizing them as his mate and childe, he ran faster still, until he reached their side.  Looking down, his normally still heart lurched in his chest, for they both appeared dead and only the faint sound of Willow's heartbeat and Spike's non-dustiness proved otherwise.

His childe, Willow's childe, Spike, William, whatever he was to Angel these days, he was bleeding badly, though the wounds were slowly healing even as Angel stood there above them, shocked into inaction.  Shaking off his horror, he knelt next to Willow and pulled her into his lap, bending his head to listen more closely to her breathing.  Her respiration was regular, and so was her heartbeat, though she looked deathly pale and her lips and the skin around her mouth were cracked and peeling.  Angel held her tightly, rocking back and forth unconsciously, whispering soothing words to her without hearing them, the only thought in his head, "She's not dead, she's not dead," repeating endlessly.

When at last she opened her eyes, Angel didn't see her do it because he was watching Gunn and Wesley approach in the distance.  They would be with him in a few more minutes.  It was the sight of them that made him suddenly remember that he still hadn't seen any demons, and wonder how it could be that Willow and Spike had come to lay here alone, damaged but free.  Looking back down at his mate, he saw her looking up at him and a cold dread gripped him as her black gaze fixed on his face.  A horror much worse than fearing her death washed over Angel as the pieces of the bizarre situation came together and painted the worst possible picture for him.  No, she wasn't dead.  She could take care of herself, and she had.  That's why there weren't any more demons, but there wouldn't be any more Willow now either.

Yet no sooner had this new fear seized him, than the black of Willow's eyes faded away and their usual green shone through.  She smiled up at him and struggled to wrap her arms around his neck, whispering in his ear, over and over, "You came, you came."  He held her and kissed her hair, closed his eyes and thanked a god he didn't know that Willow was returned to him.  When he opened his eyes again, Wesley and Gunn had reached him and were alternately smiling at the reunited couple and looking nervously over their shoulders for the demons they were sure must be nearby.

Not seeing any immediate threat, Gunn knelt down next to Spike.  He felt a new respect for the unconscious vampire, knowing what he had sacrificed in the last few days.  They had both lost their souls, but Spike knew what he was giving up when he killed the Blugara, where Gunn had no idea of the consequences at the time.  And now the brave champion lay wounded in some unknown battle, his lifeblood soaking into the arid ground and staining it deep red.

Willingly or not, Gunn had been around vampires for a long time.  He knew a thing or two about them, but only one of those things mattered now.  Blood, and lots of it.  Spike was going to need it if he was going to make it out of this dimension.  It was clear Angel was not letting go of Willow, and though Wes and Gunn probably could have carried Spike a short distance, there was no way they could carry him all the way back to the portal, especially not with their energy already depleted from the long trek out to the volcano.  They couldn't wait until his natural healing process brought him around either.  It might be a couple of days before he recovered from his many wounds and by then the humans might be too weak to make the trip, if they hadn't died of thirst.  No, Spike needed blood, and if Gunn had anything to say about it, he was going to get some.  Now.

He held up his sword and, bracing himself for the pain, slid his wrist across the blade, opening a good sized gash that immediately welled up with blood.  Maneuvering carefully to avoid dripping it on the ground and wasting it, he held his wrist over Spike's mouth and bled onto his lips.  Though he remained unconscious, the demon in Spike appeared instantly and he opened his mouth, letting his tongue slide out to catch the precious nourishment.  Gunn lowered his arm until his wrist touched the vampire's lips, and Spike latched onto him like a baby drinking from its mother.

Wesley opened his mouth to exclaim some useless objection when Gunn cut himself, but quickly closed it when his intentions became obvious.  Angel watched in grateful silence, knowing it really should have been him feeding Spike, but not wanting to insult Gunn's generosity by saying so, and Willow, seeing what they were all looking at, cried silent tears that she was already too drained to help her childe.  Gunn ignored them all and closed his eyes, biting his lip against a little cry of pain.  After a few more moments, Angel shifted Willow to one arm, and reached out to pry Gunn out of Spike's grip.  The human was weaker than he realized and had no way to judge the amount of blood he had given.  Still not aware of the situation, Spike would have drained him first and felt bad about it later.

Wesley handed Gunn a handkerchief to bandage his wrist, and said, "That was good of you," though he made no move to open his own veins to help the cause.  Spike was finally coming around and regarded them all with a suspicious eye from his position on the ground.  He tried to lift his head, found it too much of an effort, and let it fall back with a groan.  In his brief attempt, he had accomplished his goal and saw Willow next to him, safe in Angel's arms, looking tired but alive.  He reached out one arm to her, finding this easier than moving his head, and she stretched an equally heavy arm out to him until their searching hands found each other and connected in silent relief.

~Part: 20~

Willow was feeling better, having slept in Angel's arms during the long walk back to the portal, and gorged herself on glass after glass of water until she threw up, and then drunk some more.  She found that she was filthy, something she hadn't noticed during the fight for her life and Spike's.  Now that they were safe, she decided a shower was well deserved before the inevitable reliving of the entire ordeal with her friends who were waiting in the living room.  By the time she toweled off, she felt almost human again.

Hurrying from the bathroom into the bedroom before anyone could see her in her usual fluffy robe, Willow was surprised to find Angel sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for her.  "I just wanted to be near you," he explained, understanding the question she hadn't asked.

She smiled, knowing just how he felt.  Such a short time ago, she'd had to wonder if she would ever see him again.  Forgetting her quest for clean clothes, she went to him and sat in his lap to be held.  Angel wrapped her in his arms and tucked her head under his chin, loving how she smelled just out of the shower, and how her damp hair felt cool on his skin.  That was when it really hit them.  They were safe and they were together.  Tomorrow there would probably be another demon to fight, but they would do it together and neither would have to wonder if the other was alive or dead.

They felt it at the same time, the certainty, the urgency, the utter primal joy of facing insurmountable odds and living to tell about it, and the desperate need to celebrate that survival.  Willow lifted her head to meet Angel's eyes and saw a reflection of her own sudden desire.  An instant later, both sets of eyes closed as their lips met in a frantic, rapidly repeated kiss that served to reassure them both that they weren't dreaming, that they really were there, holding each other.  Willow tugged off Angel's shirt, barely breaking contact with his lips long enough to get it over his head.  Her hands roamed the cool flesh along his arms and back until he lay back on the bed, pulling her down with him so that she rested on top of him.

Angel's skilled hands quickly relieved her of the robe, leaving her totally exposed to him.  For a moment, Angel forgot his lust, caught up in watching the motion of her chest heaving above him while she panted for breath.  Breathing.  Alive.  She was alive, and she was his, and he didn't think he would ever take that for granted again.  Coming back to their present activities, he rolled her over on her back and sat up to get rid of his pants.

She watched him and realized that the past couple of days were the longest she had gone without seeing him naked since the first time.  Given all that had happened in that time, it seemed more like months.  Too long.  Much, too long.  He couldn't get back to her fast enough.  She grabbed for him with his pants still caught at the end of one foot.  Neither of them noticed.

He was inside her before either of them could even consider any sort of foreplay.  This wasn't the time for romance or even love.  It was pure need, and they used each other to fill that need the way only a mate could fill it.

Angel tried to support his weight on his arms as he drove into her, hoping to spare her exhausted body the additional burden of his muscular form.  Willow defeated his efforts, pulling him down so she could hold him to her and bury her face, and her moans, in his neck.  Angel slipped his arms around her back, returning her embrace.

She was hot and eager for him, and it had been too long since Angel's demon had had its fill of its mate.  Such circumstances were not meant to last.  When Willow wrapped her legs around his ass, Angel knew he couldn't hold out much longer.  In spite of his best efforts to suppress it, his true face emerged.  He had no intention of biting her after what she'd been through, especially since he could tell that Spike had very recently had his fangs in her.

Willow saw the demon emerge and she knew what he wanted.  She also knew that he wouldn't take it, no matter how much she tilted her head, presenting Angel's mark on her neck.  She took his head in her hands and made him look at her.  He tried to turn away, to hide his nature, but she wouldn't let him.  Gently, she raised her head just enough to kiss along the ridges of his face.  When he began to relax and kiss her back, she made a sudden movement and slashed her lip on one of his fangs.

Angel growled, both at the scent of the blood, and in disapproval of what Willow had done.  When the first drops began to trickle down her chin, he had no choice, or at least he pretended he didn't.  He flicked his tongue out to catch the blood that had already escaped and then sucked her lower lip into his mouth.  The taste of his mate's blood was the end for Angel.  He groaned around her lip and slammed into her with a few final strokes, running his hand down between her legs to make sure she followed him.

When he rolled off of her, they were quiet.  It was then that the soft sounds of voices from the living room reached their ears and they remembered that they had company.  Exchanging sheepish grins, they each hopped off the bed to get dressed.

The group in the living room looked up at their entrance, but gave no indication that they had heard anything unusual.  Spike had had his wounds bandaged and been given several cartons of pigs blood and some clean clothes and he was sprawled on the couch waiting for Willow, ready to tell all about their adventures to those who had come to his rescue.  As soon as they were seated, Willow on Angel's lap, Spike began the tale, with occasional supplements from Willow, especially for the parts where he had been asleep or unconscious.

Wesley and Gunn hung on their every word, respectively fascinated by the bizarre rituals of the Blugaras and Willow's ultimate ass kicking of the entire tribe.  In turn, they interjected amusing anecdotes about their own activities during Willow and Spike's absence, including finding the spell caster to release Angel from the predicament Willow left him in.  During this tale, Willow cast a guilty glance up at her mate who still held her close and had said hardly a word since they'd all returned to Wolfram & Hart.

They took turns speculating on why Willow hadn't lost her soul, whether it was because technically the demons had died in the volcano, not by her hand, or whether her magic protected her, or if it was just because they were in the demons' dimension.  Finally they agreed that it didn't matter very much, as long as she was okay and the demons would not be coming after them anymore.

When at last all the tales were told and heartfelt thanks exchanged, including an awkward hug between Spike and Gunn, Angel declared that Willow needed more rest, and taking the hint, Wesley and Gunn left to get some rest themselves.  Willow was surprised that Spike didn't take his leave as well, but Angel didn't react as though it was odd in the least.  She was even more surprised when he followed them into the bedroom and plopped down in the middle of the bed.  She looked at Angel, but he had his back to her, removing his shirt and shoes, again.  She looked back at Spike, who was kicking off his own boots, and then at Angel again.  "Um, what's going on here?"

Angel gave her a puzzled look.  "Don't tell me you can't feel it?" At her blank stare he added, "Spike's badly hurt, Willow.  Even for a vampire.  He might not be bleeding all over the floor anymore, but there's internal damage.  A lot of it."

"But, we were just out there, and talking, and - and no, I don't feel it, not very much anyway," she sat down on the bed next to Spike and put her hand on his shoulder, tuning in to their connection through the physical contact.  "You're holding it in," she announced.  "Why?"

"Didn't want to worry you, love.  Or them," he gestured out the door to where Wes and Gunn had recently been.  "It'll be alright.  Not like I need internal organs much.  Besides, I've had worse.  Died a couple times now, didn't I?"  He tried to smile.

Willow gave Angel a pleading look, still not fully understanding.  He smiled a grim smile and said, "He's not going to die.  Or be dust.  We're going to help him get better as fast as he can.  Well, I'm going to help him for now, you can later when you're stronger.  Just get changed and come to bed."

Not knowing what else to do, Willow complied and slid into the bed on one side of Spike, feeling odd, but strangely comforted to have him there with her and Angel.  Lying beside her vampires, Willow witnessed something she never thought she would see.  As Angel settled down on his back, Spike crawled over him until he was lying fully on top of the other vampire.  Angel rolled his head to one side, and a moment later, Spike's demon showed and bit deeply into Angel's bare shoulder.  Willow met Angel's half-closed eyes and understood how they were going to help Spike.  Her hand moved up to Spike's head where Angel's hand rested, she intertwined their fingers, and together they comforted their injured childe.

How close they had come to losing Spike was not lost on either of his sires.  After drinking the powerful blood from the older vampire, Spike fell quickly asleep between them.  They each petted and stroked his arms as he slept, trying to avoid contact with his many his wounds.  Their eyes met over his head and Willow opened her mouth to tell Angel she couldn't stand to have Spike away from her anymore.  She would never again be able to sleep at night, or during the day, with him in his dingy little basement apartment all alone.  She never got the words out.

"I know," Angel said.  "I guess we're going to have to tie him up in the guest room after all."

"I just can't - ," Willow began, but a lump in her throat kept her from finishing the vocalization of her worst fear.  She swallowed and tried a different tack, "I know you don't get along, but -"

Once again, Angel seemed to have read her mind.  He held up a hand to silence her, "That doesn't matter now.  We'll never really get along, but he's family and I couldn't stand it any more than you could if something happened to him.  And if you ever tell him I said that I'll never forgive you."  Angel looked seriously at Willow as he spoke, but Willow was looking at Spike and saw the tiny smirk on his face that Angel missed.

Suppressing a grin of her own, she raised her eyes to look at Angel again.  "Do you think he'd really agree to that?  I mean living here with you, er, us?"  They both looked down as Spike's hand groped blindly, captured Willow's caressing hand, and held it firmly to his chest, all seemingly in his sleep.

Angel sighed.  "You know neither of us could refuse you anything.  Even if it means putting up with each other."

Willow grinned at him and leaned over Spike to give him a kiss.  "Thanks Angel."

She snuggled down next to her childe, and Angel, taking her cue, also relaxed and thought contentedly of his little dysfunctional family.  When he heard Willow's breathing even out and deepen, he sat up again and looked down at Spike, unconvinced.

"Well, what do you think?"

Spike opened one eye and shrugged.  "What you said.  She wants me to stay, I stay.  I can't pretend I don't want to be near her."

"What about me?"

Spike opened his other eye, frowning at Angel.  "What about you?  Not everythin's about you.  You and me, we'll make it work for her."  Angel raised an eyebrow at him.  "Oh alright, and your blood's not half bad and I owe you my life a few times over, what of it?  You want me to kiss your great big arse and say thank you?"

"It couldn't hurt," Angel said, his mouth twisting in attempt not to smile.

Spike affected an obedient schoolboy voice, "Thank you, Mr. Angel for saving my life and giving me a place to live where I can be with my family."

Angel pretended to ignore the sarcasm.  "That's all I ask.  Was that so hard?"

Spike rolled his eyes.  "You have no idea."  They both looked over at Willow to make sure she still slept.  "But she's worth it."

The vampires tore their eyes from the sleeping witch and looked at each other again, realizing they found the one thing on which they would always agree.  Willow was worth it.  Always.

End

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