Spike grinned wickedly as he gently pushed Willow back on the sheets.
Willow
shivered in anticipation of what he had planned. She expected him to claim
her fiercely, to show Angelus that he could compete.

Instead, he brushed the most gentle of kisses across the slight swell of
her
stomach. He grinned up at her. She giggled as he worked his way up the
length of her body.

"That tickles," she whispered, stroking his forehead affectionately.
Angelus
growled at the familiar contact. Spike licked at her nipple delicately and
then blew on it. She writhed under him.

"What is this?" Angelus grumbled. "Stop stalling, Roller Boy, take her. Or
maybe you're worried the old equipment isn't working?"

Spike ignored Angelus' jibe.

"Forgive him, pet," Spike said, kissing her. "Angelus seems to forget that
sometimes a woman needs to be wooed. Seduced. He forgets not every girl
likes the three-minute 'wham-bam-thank you vamp' routine."

"Three minutes!" Angelus growled. He bolted up, ready to strike.

"Now Angelus," Willow lectured as Spike sucked her earlobe between his
teeth. "You promised not to interfere while Spike was giving his lesson."

Spike grinned trumphantly. Angelus growled again and threw himself back
down
in the chair. He drummed his fingers angrily as Spike slowly traced the
contours of Willow's hips with his tongue. She moaned, throwing her head
back. He couldn't remember that expression coming over her face when he did
that. He gritted his teeth. This was irritating. He couldn't believe he let
Spike trick him into this. Not that Spike did much in the way of tricking,
but he must known Angelus would challenge him. To show Willow who was the
superior lover. He didn't expect it to backfire.

Willow wrapped her ivory pale legs around Spike's waist. She urged him
toward her.

"Please, Spike," she whispered against his neck.

"Yes, pet?" he watched Angelus' expression cloud over with glee. "What do
you need?"

"You," she said. "Inside me. Please."

He winked at a scowling Angelus and entered her smoothly. She cried out,
clenching around him like a vice. He growled, his game face sliding. He
scratched her wrist with a claw and drank from the small wound. Angelus
noticed with satisfaction that his childe knew not to mark what belonged to
his sire. Spike's smooth slow rhytm brought Willow to orgasm quickly. She
keened with her release, keeping a watchful eye on Angelus. He smirked at
her abandon. She winked at him. His jaw dropped. The little chit knew
exactly what she was doing. She threw her head back as her second climax
came.

Spike came barreling over the edge with her. He kissed her thoroughly,
leaving no doubt, for the moment, who she belonged to. He rolled, still
buried in her, taking her with him. She cradled her head against his pale
chest. She grinned at Angelus and stretched her hand out to him.

"Come play."

He rose and kissed her neck, pulling her back against him.

"Play nice," she whispered. She kissed Spike and wrapped Angelus' arm
around
them both. Spike hardened at the familiar contact with his sire. Willow
gasped.

"Very nice," she nuzzled his neck. Angelus bit her shoulder and drank of
her
reverently.

"Welcome home, Willow." Spike whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I have an idea, Will," Buffy said brightly as Willow tried to explain the
chemistry lesson for the fifth time. "Why don't you reopen the Hellmouth,
kick-start an Apocalypse for us to fight so finals can be considered
extraneous and futile?"

"Slightly unethical," Willow said. "But, at least you have vocabulary test
spanked."

"Call me Buffy the Undead Termination Facilitator."

Willow laughed. She was slowly adjusting to life as wife to the undead. By
day, she was Slayerette. Nights were spent in Angelus' bed between her
vampires, who had agreed to stop trying to destroy the world and other such
nonsense. None of her mortal friends suspected a thing.

Her arm bumped a folder on Miss Calender's desk. She stooped over to pick
it
up. There was disk stuck between her desk and the filing cabinet. She
pulled
it out.

"What's that?" Buffy asked. Willow shrugged and stuck the disk in the a:/
drive.

"Damn, it's encrypted," Buffy said as gibberish filled the screen. "Must be
important."

"Or Miss Calender was embarassed over her 'Dawson's Creek fanfic.'" Willow
nodded. "I'll work on it, see what I can find out."

"You do that, while I avoid studying chem by going on patrol."

"Sinner," Willow grinned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When is she coming home?" Spike whined, pacing.

"I don't know," Angelus growled. "She was supposed to be here half an hour
ago. Helping the Bimbo the Vampire Layer study for a chem test."

"That moron relies too heavily on her," Spike snorted. "It's not fair to
Willow."

"She does it willingly," Angelus shrugged. He pretended to be annoyed, but
inside he marveled at his giving red goddess. She was kind without even
thinking about it. Even as a mortal, he hadn't known or given compassion in
such a way.

"If we hit Buffy with a car and just maimed her a bit, left her for dead,
would it violate the 'no killing my friends' rule?" Spike asked, stopping
the infuriating pacing for just a second.

"I think so, yeah."

"How'd we let her make so many damn rules anyway?" Spike demanded, pacing
resumed. "Aren't we the baddest undead motherfuckers in Sunnydale?"

"Spikey my boy, I think it's time we face it," Angelus said. "We're
whipped."

"AGAIN!" Spike cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"HA!" Willow cried triumphantly. "Take that Mr. Uncrackable Code."

Willow watched with glee as the gibberish faded into English. Miss Calender
must have working on something big.

"Oh my god," she gasped as the last letter fell into place. "Angel's soul.
This could restore Angel's soul."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm home," she called, dropping her bag by the bed. "Angelus? Spike?"

She heard sloshing in the bathroom. She shrugged out of her jacket and
walked to the opened door. Angelus and Spike were in the tub, intertwined.
Willow's jaw dropped.

Angelus looked up and grinned.

"You started without me," Willow said, her voice strained.

"You were late," Angelus shrugged.

"Let that be a lesson to you on punctuality." Spike laughed as Angelus
nipped his earlobe.

"I think I liked it better when you couldn't stand each other." Willow
grumbled. "Remember? When you conspired each other to get at me, instead of
conspiring against me."

"Looks like someone needs what only we can give her," Spike grinned, he
pushed away from Angelus and leaned against the opposite of the tub.

"And what might that be?" Willow asked, her eyebrows wriggling. She began
unbuttoning her shirt.

"Nigel the rubber duckie," Spike held out an adorable yellow plastic duck.
Willow burst out laughing.

"Okay, honestly, handcuffs, that I can handle," Willow said, as Angelus
helped her step into the sunken tub. "Vampiric threesomes, alright. But
bringing a rubber duckie into the mix? That's just twisted."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Spike, I have something to show you," Willow whispered as she shut the
door
to his room. Angelus had just gone out to hunt. He showed a great amount of
trust by leaving Spike alone with Willow.

"Oh, goody!" Spike flopped back on the bed and beckoned her with a crooked
finger.

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Willow cried. Spike stuck out his lower
lip."Well, at least for the next five minutes."

She handed him the diskette with the restoration spell.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Angel's soul," Willow whispered. "Miss Calender apparently found a way to
restore it but Angelus killed her before she could perform the ritual. All
it requires is an orb of Thessaly, which I swiped from Giles' supply box on
the way here."

"You little miscreant!" Spike exclaimed. "I'm finally starting to rub off
you."

"Missing the point entirely." Willow deadpanned.

"So you can bring the grand poof back," Spike shrugged. "What do you want
to
do about it?"

"I don't know," Willow shrugged. "What should I do? If he remains Angelus,
there's always the chance of him going all 'meglomaniacal world domination'
again. But if I give him his soul..."

"He goes running back to the Slayer and leaves our happy little family," he
squeezed her hand.

She nodded. "I want you to keep it with you for safekeeping. You're pretty
much as objective as anyone's going to get on the subject. Just keep me
from
doing the wrong thing."

"Pet, whatever you do will be the right decision," he said.

"Why don't I find that reassuring?"

TBC.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 6 - Discovery

Willow turned the disk over and over in her palm. She had been playing with
it for days now.

"Willow, giving someone something for safekeeping implies that you actually
leave it in their possession for more than an hour."

She grinned at Spike. She had been pacing back and forth in his room for
the
past hour. Not that he minded. In fact, he had never seen one of his shirts
look better. She padded across the carpet again. She had been going over
the
"Give Angelus his soul, don't give him his soul" in her head. And she
honestly couldn't figure out what she should do.

If she gave Angelus his soul, she would lose him. And as much as she wanted
to lose him a scant month ago, now she couldn't imagine life without him.
She was his lifemate. He was hers. If he was Angel again, he would belong
to
Buffy. And it would be wonderful to see her best friend happy again. But it
would mean the loss of her life's happiness. Did dreading that make her
selfish?

"Come here, Red," Spike said, sitting on the edge of his bed.

She stood in front of him. He took her hands and kissed her wrists.

"There's way too much going on up there,"he said, tapping her forehead
gently. "Stop torturing yourself. You'll figure out what's right. You
always
do."

She smiled, kissing him. "Thanks."

"But that still leaves us with one problem."

"What's that?" she asked.

"How to quiet all that noise," Spike said kissing her forehead.

"I've got a few ideas," Willow grinned, pushing him back on the bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dru watched as the Watcher walked through the bookshelves again.

"Books, books, books," she lisped. "That's all that's in his head, Miss
Edith. The little flame, too. Books and my daddy. The watcher is close to
her. We hurt him, we hurt her. And then daddy sees what good girls we are.
And I can stop sleeping in the nasty old tool shed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy kicked at an errant paper wad as she sauntered down the hall. Nine
vamps in one night. Must be some sort of Slayer record. She couldn't wait
to
tell Giles.

"Buffy, my favorite Slayer," Xander said as he and WIllow came out of the
chem lab armed with spell supplies. "How was the carnage?"

"Nine vamps," Buffy grinned. "A new personal best."

"That's even better than seven in one blow," Willow exclaimed. Xander's
face
twisted with a dirty joke in the making.

"Stop it," Willow warned. "Whatever you're thinking, stop it. I was making
a
reference to 'The Brave Little Tailor.' Jerk."

Buffy pushed the library door open and heard the sounds of a struggle from
Giles' office.

"Giles?" they rushed in to find Dru bent over Giles, draining him.

"Get off of him!" Buffy bellowed. She kicked Dru back. Dru released her
Watcher and he slumped to the floor. Willow dragged him back. Buffy smacked
Dru around repeatedly, then threw her into the stacks.

"She must be punished, Miss Edith says so," Dru whined. "Dru has to prove
to
her daddies what a good little girl she is. This is all your fault little
flame, you stole my daddies."

"What is she talking about?" Xander asked.

Willow's blood froze. She stood speechless.

"She stole my daddies," Dru accused. Buffy stopped pounding her long enough
to listen. "They sleep with her now. I'm all alone now, the stars sing to
me
of the naugthy things they do together-"

Buffy's face was stony as she staked her.

"That oughta shut 'em up," she grimmaced.

"Man, she really was nuts," Xander laughed as he helped Giles to his feet.
"Imagine, Willow with Spike and Angelus. Hahahaha haha? Willow?"

Willow remained silent as Buffy marched towards her and ripped the front of
her shirt open. Her breasts and shoulders were covered with healing bite
marks.

"Imagine." Buffy sneered. "You little slut."

"Buffy-"

"All this time!" Buffy bellowed, slapping her. "All those night you went
home to 'study' you were fucking my boyfriend! Whore! Slut! Tramp!"

"Buffy, stop it!" Xander cried.

"Buffy, I never meant to hurt you," Willow said, holding her wrists back.

"Yeah, right, you've always been jealous of me, Willow," Buffy hissed.
"This
is just how you're going to get back at me."

Willow summoned all her strength and tossed Buffy off of her. "For once,
Buffy, this isn't about you! Dammit, it's about me! What I want. What I
need. And trust me, when I'm with Angelus and Spike, my needs are met."

"Liar!" Buffy hissed, her fingers closing around a thick volume of
mythology. "You've been possessed by some sort of succubus."

"No," Willow leered. "It's all me and I'm enjoying every minute of it-"

Willow slumped to the floor  as Buffy swung the book into the redhead's
temple.

"Was that completely necessary, Buffy?" a recovering Giles asked.

"Absolutely," Buffy snarled. She grabbed her crossbow and quiver and
stalked
to the door.

"Buffy what are you doing?" Xander asked, propping Willow's head in his
lap.
Willow may have sinned in Buffy's eyes, but she was still his best friend.

"To kill Angelus," she hissed. "Maybe Spike, too. I haven't decided yet.
Killing my computer teacher? Okay. Biting my mom. Alright then.  But
sending
his whore after my Watcher and fucking my best friend, that's going too
far!

Giles groaned.

"Well, at least she managed to miss the point entirely," Xander snorted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angelus shifted in his chair and checked his watch again. He was pretending
to read, but the truth was he was doing everything in his power to keep
from
pacing. Willow was due home any minute. In fact, she was five minutes late.

"Where are you, Red?" he growled. He had to laugh at himself. The great
Angelus waiting for his woman to deem fit to come home. The woman who he
had
had complete control over less than a month ago. Well, not exactly
complete.
But he thought he might prefer it this way. Dealing with a challenge was
sort of fun. Except when she was late and he had been thinking about her
all
  day.

He shifted again. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt whizzed by his head and
embedded
itself in the wall behind him. He looked up, Buffy was perched on his
garden
wall. She cocked her crossbow and grinned maniacally and suddenly
disappeared out of sight.

Curious, he picked up the bolt. There was a note stuck on it.

"I have your redheaded whore at the cemetery. If you ever want to see her
again. Come get her. I'm just crazy enough to hurt her.B."

Angelus' eyes glowed gold with rage. "WILLOW!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Willow," Xander shook her gently. "Will, please wake up."

Willow blinked slowly. Her head was killing her. Suddenly she remembered.

Buffy. She knew. She sat up quickly.

"Where is she?" Willow demanded.

"She's gone to the mansion to confront Angelus," Giles said, pressing an
icepack to his head.

"Oh, God." Willow stood up. "Xander, I know you can't understand, but-"

"Willow, you're my best friend," Xander said, kissing her cheek. "If you're
happy, I'm happy for you. It's weird, but I'll deal. Just be careful."

"If they were going to hurt you, they would have by now," Giles said.

"Okay, um, who are you and what have you done with my hyperprotective
over-reacting freinds?" Willow asked.

"I think that friend is heading to your mansion to kill your demonic
lover,"
Giles said.

"Oh, dear," Willow said. And with that she bolted out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Angelus," Buffy hissed as he entered the cemetery gate.

"Slut," Angelus grinned, unsheathing a lethal-looking broadsword. "Where's
Willow?"

"In a safe place," Buffy said. "Safe from you."

"She doesn't need to be safe from me," Angel laughed. "I love her. You're
the one who should be hiding."

"You can't love," Buffy said.

"Why?" Angelus asked. "Because I couldn't love you? Because I wasn't
Soul-boy? Trust me Buffy, your sweet-faced Angel wanted Willow just as much
as I do. He was just better at covering it."

"Liar!" Buffy shouted flying at him, he deflected her and threw her against
a crypt.

"Don't start something I'll finish, Slayer," he growled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell's happened here?" Spike wondered. Angelus' room was a mess.
Furniture was tossed over, books strewn across the floor. It looked like
his
sire had flown into a blind rage. He bent and picked up a crumpled bit of
paper.

"Spike!" Willow cried. "Thank god."

She threw her arms around him.

"Pet, what's wrong?" he asked, kissing her temple.

"Buffy," Willow sputtered. "Gone crazy, knows about us, going to kill
Angelus."

"That explains the note," Spike held it for her to read.

"Oh, gods, no." Willow groaned. "She'll kill him."

"Not bloody likely, pet, if he thinks she has you, he'll crush her," Spike
said.

"No," Willow's heart dropped. She couldn't let that happen. Despite what
she
was doing, Buffy was her friend. She couldn't let her die.

"Spike, get the disk," she said. "We have to bring him back."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded, blinking back tears. "It's the only choice."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angelus rolled away from Buffy's viscious kick.

"You know, Buffy, maybe if you had been this lively in the sack, I wouldn't
have had to run to Willow," he laughed, jumping to his feet. "You should
see
her. She comes alive under my touch. She's on fire. The noises she makes as
she comes are music-"

Buffy stopped his mouth with another swift kick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You sure about this pet?" Spike asked.

She nodded. "The herbs."

He handed the dried bundle to her.

"Don't we have to have a three-person triangle for this?" he asked.

"We also techinically need a virgin goat, but we lets not mince details."

Willow leaned her head back and began chanting softly, tears streaming down
her face. Spike wiped at them tenderly.

She chanted for a few more minutes. Spike saw a tiny glimmer in the Orb of
Thessaly. Willow's hand began growing warmer as if they bore an inner fire.
Her head snapped forward, her voice grew louder, colder.

"Oh, god, pet, I hope you know what you're doing," Spike whispered.

A blue light burst within the Orb. It flowed through Willow and shot
through
the ceiling. Willow slumped back, Spike caught her just before she hit the
floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angelus had Buffy cornered.

"Last move is mine, Slayer," he grinned, raising his sword above his head.
"Say hello to soulboy for me when you get to Hell."

Suddenly, Angelus fell to the ground, quaking. He growled as if in great
pain. He looked up, his eyes shifting from golden to chocolate brown. His
lips quivered.

"Buffy?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Willow!" Spike cried as he shook Willow's crumpled form. "Please be
alright, please? Red?"

Willow sat up slowly. She groaned and rubbed her head. "What happened?"

"I think it worked, pet,"  Spike kissed her gently. "Something came through
you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Buffy?" Angel's dark eyes again held the soul with which he had loved her
so completely. Buffy gasped. She threw her sword aside and threw herself
into his
arms. He wrapped them around her.

"Angel?" she laughed softly. "Is it really you?"

He nodded. "I'm back, for good, I think."

She squealed happily and squeezed him tighter.

"Buffy?" Angel asked. "Where's Willow?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You ready, pet?" Spike asked.

The redhead nodded hesitantly. She looked back at the bed where she and
Angelus had spent so many passionate, love-filled hours. Spike reached out
to squeeze her hand.

"Don't look back, Willow."

She smiled and blinked back threatening tears. He took her suitcase and led
her to the car. She took her seat in the front of the de Soto. Spike gave
her a questioning glance. He sighed heavily. It was just like Dru. Angelus
takes off and he's left to pick the pieces.

"Hey," Willow smiled gently and stroked his arm. "Don't look back."

He grinned and kissed her. She leaned against him and let him wrap his arm
around her as he started the car.

"Never will, Red."
 
 

Next