Two and a half hours later, Xander finally spotted the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign.  The poor thing was beat all to hell and he wondered fleetingly just how many times Spike ran into it.  Making a note to himself to ask the bleached blond at some point, he turned onto Main Street.

Glancing over at his silent passenger, he saw that Willow was gazing out the window in rapt fascination.

So far he'd been unsuccessful at starting a conversation with his former best friend.  The ride had been disturbingly quiet.  She answered his
questions monosyllabically for the most part.  Yes' and no's didn't count as bonding time as far as he was concerned.  Sighing, he decided to try again.

"Does it look much different?"

"Yes and no", Willow replied softly.

"It really hasn't been that long since you were last here Will."

"Its almost been a year Xander."

The dark haired young man blinked.  She was right.  "Wow.yeah, I guess it has been a while, huh."

He turned his head and saw that the redhead was now staring at him.

"How about me Wills, have I changed much?", Xander asked.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"You seem more... I don't know, grown up, I guess.  Harder, actually."

"Oh", he said, frowning.

Willow faced the road again, lapsing into silence.

"I really am sorry Wills", Xander began.  "I didn't mean to just-"

"Abandon me and our friendship", she interrupted sweetly.

"Yeah", he muttered, his eyes scanning the street for a parking space. Finding one only a block away from Giles' magic shop, he backed in easily
before turning off the car.  Willow moved to open the door, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Please Willow. forgive me?  Now that you're here, I don't even know how I managed without you.  You're my friend, you're a part of me.  When you
disappeared and ended up in L.A., and we finally realized you weren't coming back.", his voice faded, his gaze falling.  "It hurt. It hurt me here", he
said, his hand settling on his heart.

Willow blinked back tears.  "Oh Xander.", she sighed, "I missed you so much."

"Really?"

She nodded, a small smile gracing her features as she saw his eyes light up. Suddenly, the slight young woman found herself in a hasty, tight hug.

Finally settling many of the issues that lay between them, the two exited the car.  Apprehensively, Willow looked up at The Magic Box.

"So, uh, will Buffy be there?", the redhead asked a little nervously.

Xander fidgeted.  "It possible, she trains there and stuff now.  Plus since Mrs. Summers, uh, passed away, Buffy had to quit school."

Willow closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.  "Poor Buffy, I really wish someone had--"

"I know we wanted to, but.", the construction worker shrugged. "We just never got around to it.  We didn't want to upset her more.  She never
mentions you, or him."

"So why did you come?"

Xander shifted his weight.  "Because even though she doesn't mention you, she needs you.  She's getting spooky Wills.  Its like being the Slayer is
taking over just being Buffy.  When her mom died. She never even cried.  At least, not that I, or anyone else ever saw.  You're the only one to ever
really get deep down inside her Will. I mean, besides Dead Boy", he admitted gruffly. "You were the rock she leaned on, counted on, and then you weren't there."

Willow shook her head, feeling more and more guilty by the second.  To her it had always just felt like she was being taken for granted. "Gosh", she
muttered under her breath, "no pressure there."

"Huh?"

"Nothing Xander", the redhead said, moving toward the shop's entrance.  "Is there anything else I should know?", she asked over her, shoulder already opening the door.

The dark haired man shook his head.  Then he remembered something.  "Wil-", he faltered, ow!"  Oops, too late.

Willow entered, and found herself staring at a woman at the table in utter astonishment.  The blond blinked, and faltered to her feet, forgetting
momentarily all the books that lay strewn around her.

"Amy?", the hacker cum witch squeaked, all the color draining from her face.

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

Cordelia knocked on the door.  Without waiting for a reply, the tall brunette pulled the door open and walked into the room.

"Gunn and I want to come with you", she said, watching as he threw various pieces of clothing into a bag.

"Come in, won't you?", Angel murmured dryly, ignoring her statement.

The Seer snorted, and tossed back her dark curtain of hair. "Don't change the subject, Mr. Formerly Broody.  Gunn and I are coming with you to
Sunnydale."

"No."

"What do you mean no?  I may hate the place, but its my town, damn it. I was born in that god-forsaken hellhole, and if some hellgod thing is threatening it, I have all the right in the universe to be there and defend it", she said between gritted teeth.

"But the visions--?"

"I'll still get the soul crunching things there Angel.  I'm pretty damned sure going home doesn't put me outside the Powers That Be local calling area, genius."

Angel grunted, and continued packing.

Cordelia arched a perfectly shaped brow and stood there staring at him, arms folded over her chest imperiously.

Looking over his shoulder, the souled vampire finally took note of the look on his Seer's face.

"Fine", Angel said finally.  "Just try to keep the fact I'm there under wraps.  Willow will know, but I don't need anyone else to."

"Boy, is she ever gonna be pissed", Cordelia said grinning.  She had gotten her way.  Everything was right with the world.

"Probably", he murmured darkly, "but there's no way I'm gonna sit there and let her go up against a god without me.  If anyone lays a finger on her. so help me.."

Zipping up his bag, the vampire noticed the calculating gleam in Delia's eye.

"So there couldn't possibly be any other reason, you'd be wanting to go to Sunnydale right now, would there?  Like maybe a Faith and Wesley shaped reason?"

Cordelia rubbed her hands together gleefully.  "Ya' think?"
 

~Part 27~

"I can't believe you're just leaving", Faith said, glaring at the tall brunette who'd showed up at the office with a large bag slung over her shoulder.

"Yep", the Seer said, grabbing her portable IMac computer and closing it. She put her bag down on the desk and unzipped it, placing the laptop inside.

"But hello, I'm the ex-con, you know bad girl.  Aren't you guys even the littlest bit worried I'll go psycho on you again?", the dark Slayer griped in frustration.

"Nope."

Faith blinked.  "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"And what about Wesley?"

"What about him?", Cordelia asked, looking at Faith for the first time since she burst into the Hyperion searching for last minute necessities.

"I mean how can you guys leave him here, defenseless... with me?  I mean I did torture the man once", the raven haired woman said harshly, folding her arms across her chest protectively.

The Seer gazed at the other woman for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face.  "The road to hell is paved with good intentions Faith."

"Deep Cordy", the Slayer groaned.  "What the hell does that mean?"

"You may have physically tortured him once... and perhaps you think this avoiding of the issue of what's going on between you and Wes is a good
thing, but I can tell you its not.  In fact, I can probably guarantee you that you're hurting him more now than you ever did with that piece of broken glass last year."

Faith flinched, remembering.

"Stop it!", the receptionist ordered.  Annoyed, Cordelia sighed.  "Look we trust you, alright.  It took a while but you've earned it.  And Wes, although he can be a total goofball, is a great judge of character Faith." Cordelia grinned.  "Not that you can ever tell him I said so... Anyhow if he's somehow managed to fall for you big time its because--"

The sound of male voices interrupted whatever else the taller woman was going to say.  Gunn and Angel trudged up the stairs from the training room.

"You all set?"

The former cheerleader smiled brightly at her boyfriend and their boss.  "As ever", she replied.  "Let me go say good bye to Wes."  Without waiting for an answer Cordelia plunked her bag on the floor and walked off in the direction she'd last seen the former Watcher.

Angel looked at the bag, frowning.  "Is that all she packed?", he asked Gunn.

"Yeah right!", Gunn snorted.  "I've got three more suitcases in my truck. God forbid, she doesn't have the right shoes to go with an outfit."

Faith chuckled despite herself.

Angel looked at the young woman appraisingly.  "You'll be okay won't you Faith?"

For a second, she debated what to say, but finally found herself nodding. "Yeah.  Its all good."

"Good", the dark haired vampire said quietly, unfathomable eyes glinting. "Take care of Wesley."

She sighed.  "Will do.  It'll be five by five."

Cordelia emerged from the office, a smirk on her face.  "Lets go boys. Hellgods and pissy bottle blonds await!"

Faith watched them go, running a hand through wild tresses.  The sound of the door closing echoed through the suddenly much too empty lobby.

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

Willow sat at the table staring at the blond woman across from her.  She couldn't get over it.

"I can't believe it... I just can't believe it.  Its so good to see you again.  Well, you you, not furry you, you know what I mean?"

Amy grinned.  "Yeah I got you."

"I just don't understand how Tara managed to de-rat you.  I tried and tried, and I never managed to do it."

The blond witch nodded.  "I remember, the time you rubbed demon's blood oil on me...ewww!"  Amy shuddered and wrinkled her nose.

"So you remember everything that happened when you were a rat?"

"A lot of it.  But it was weird, time seemed to go by really, really fast...", her voice trailed off, a faraway gleam in the witch's eye.

Willow flinched.  "Goddess Amy, I'm so sorry.  If I could have--"

"Will, its not your fault.  I think Tara lucked out truthfully.  I really think my spell just ran its course.  Anyhow, this entire situation was my fault.  I should never have performed a spell on myself without knowing the reversal spell, especially shape shifting.  It was a mistake."

The witch reached forward clasping the redhead's hand in her own. "Friends?"

"Always", Willow said with a smile.  "So where's Tara?"

"She transferred out of Sunnydale University", Amy replied.  "I think that's actually why she kept trying to make me less furry... she didn't want to
leave the Scoobies without any magical help.  You didn't know?  She left like two months ago."

"No, I haven't exactly kept in touch, and no one's really kept in touch with me either", the red witch mumbled.

"Oh... yeah, the you and Angel thing huh?"

The hacker shook her head.  "Yeah that about sums it up."

Amy gave Willow a tremulous smile, glad that Xander had given them some time to talk by themselves.

Willow got up, and looked around the shop.  "So where's everybody else?  I thought this was the new, big get together place."

"Anya and Giles went off to track down some rare spell component at this shaman's place, and uh, well Buffy had a parent/teacher conference at Dawn's school.  Since Mrs. Summers died she's been sort of trying to be Dawn's mom and sis."

"Wow..", Willow said sadly.

"Yeah..."

Abruptly, the shop's bell rang signaling the presence of a customer.  Willow watched as Amy's eyes lit up.  Curious, she turned to see who had come in.

"Spike?"

The bleached blond vampire blinked.  "Red?  Bloody hell witch!  You couldn't even warn a bloke you were coming?", he teased, reaching out to grab her by the shoulders.  His icy blue eyes looked Willow over carefully.

"I would have if you'd bothered to keep in touch, you brat."

He shook his head.

"What?", Willow asked.

"I hate to say it."

"WHAT?"

"You look good.  All this time with the Nancyboy, and I would've thought you'd be bloody miserable and wanting to commit hari kari by now", the
bleached blond quipped, an annoying smirk on his face.  He frowned, wrinkling his nose.  "Although, it would've been nice if you didn't positively reek of the stupid poof."

The redhead wanted to giggle, but the demon she shared with her mate was becoming restless.  Angelus didn't appreciate being the butt of people's jokes.  Most especially not Spike's.  As far as the demon was concerned, the younger vampire was his property.  Property didn't speak of its master in that manner.

Abruptly, Spike let go of Willow's shoulders.  Had he just seen her eyes turn amber?  He blinked, and once again saw that they were that beautiful,
familiar green. He sniffed again, his brow slightly furrowed.  Had she?-- No, no, she hadn't been turned...

Frowning, he glanced away from the slight hacker to gaze at Amy.  "Hey."

"Hey", the blond witch mumbled shyly.

For a moment, it seemed as if the chipped vampire was going to say something else, but then the entrance bell rang again.

"Hey Wills, look who I found", Xander's voice sounded from behind her.

Willow turned, spotting both Anya and-- "Giles...."

"Hello Willow", the Englishman intoned quietly.
 

~Part 28~

Willow stared at her former mentor.  She tried to appear cool and unaffected, but feared her efforts were for naught.  It had hurt her to the quick to have Giles cut all ties to her.  The man had been more of a father to her than ever Ira.

"Not to disrupt this enormously uncomfortable and tense scene or anything...", Anya's voice broke the silence.  "But, time is money."

The redhead took a deep breath, her eyes sliding to the ex-vengeance demon's.  "Hey Anya."

"Hello Willow.  I would say I missed you, but actually, I barely noticed you were gone."

"Anya!", Xander cried.

The hacker giggled.  "Gee Xander, don't worry about it.  At least she's honest."

"Quite", Giles said dryly.

"I guess I should be going", Amy said slowly.  "I think you all need to talk." Getting up from her seat, she moved around the table, hedging her way
towards the door.

Willow nodded to the blond witch and hugged her.  Their eyes met.  "You'll be around though, won't you?"

"Yeah we all practically live here. I'll be seeing you again Wills."

"I'll walk the witch.  Make sure she doesn't become an after dinner snack", Spike said, startling everyone.  "Tense confrontations aren't my bag", he
drawled.  "Unless I'm the cause, that is."

The vampire swept by Giles and Amy followed a few steps behind.  Anya's eyes followed the two blonds for a few seconds.

Xander cleared his throat.  "Ahn, come on, uh... I think you got a new shipment of bat's wings to tag."

Her brow furrowed.  "I didn't order bat wing.  I got a new order two weeks ago, and the shop hasn't even gone through half--"

In two quick strides her boyfriend's hand went around Anya's mouth.  "We'll just be going now", the dark haired youth said.  "We've got, you know... uh, stuff to do, yeah.  Stuff."  With exceeding lack of grace, Xander managed to half drag, half push the former demon to the shop's back room.

"So how have you been Willow?", Giles asked quietly.

The wiccan shrugged.  "As well as can be expected, I suppose."

"And Los Angeles is what you expected?"

"I never expected anything from Los Angeles.  Its never exactly been a place I thought I'd find myself living in."

The Englishman's gaze fell, his jaw tightening.  In an instant, his glasses were in his hands.  Slowly, using his handkerchief, he wiped the lenses
clean.  After he finished, his head came back up.  The look in his eyes was completely different.

"I wish I could say I didn't miss you, but that would be a lie.  What I will say, however, is that I never thought I would see you again after you
deserted us."

In three quick steps, Willow was suddenly in front of Giles, her hand in motion.  The slap sounded loudly in the empty expanse of the magick shop.

Green eyes glinted angrily at the taller man.  "You may have pledged your life to the service and protection of the Slayer, RIPPER, but I did not.
What I did for all those years, I did out of a sense of love and friendship, not to mention a sense of responsibility.  In the end, my future lay
somewhere else, WITH someone else.  Don't you understand?"

Giles posture softened, and the glasses once again took their normal place on his face.

"I'm sorry", he whispered, "that was uncalled for."

"Apology accepted Giles", Willow said.  "Although I'm glad you got that out of your system."

Sighing, tiredly, the redhead walked to the table by the bookshelves and sat down.  The ex-Watcher followed, noting the changes in the young redhead. Her hair was long again.  It fell flowing and loose down her back, just past her back.  She wore fitted blue jeans, and a snug white tee-shirt with a rune of the triple goddess embossed on front.  A mid-thigh length, black sweater jacket completed the new, more confident Willow.

"Talk to me Giles, tell me why you're so angry."

"I'm sorry Willow.  You were just a convenient scapegoat.  None of this is your fault.  I suppose, we all just took your presence for granted.  You
were the glue that kept us together and we never even knew it", the distinguished male explained.

"So many things have changed; Dawn's appearance in our lives, Riley's leaving, Spike's behavior, Joyce's death.... I'm not sure I can even help
her anymore.  Buffy's just been on this downward spiral, and she's closing us all out", Giles continued.  His blue-gray eyes searched the spell
caster's pretty features.  "I can only hope, that perhaps your presence will."

Willow closed her eyes, sadness welling in her breast.  She hoped so too, she really did.  Still, she doubted it very much.  Buffy was a warrior, but
she had never allowed herself to become hard and distant. Although an angry Slayer had always been a frightening prospect, an ice cold, numb one, scared her so much more.

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

Faith sat in the lobby, staring at the office door.  She was bored, she was restless, and she was getting steadily more and more angry.  Wesley had not come out all morning, and her inability to get out her frustration was starting to wear thin.

She still couldn't believe, he'd basically announced the fact that they'd slept together to the entire office.  At least Willow hadn't been there to
witness that.  It was bad enough, that Cordelia had.  Not that she expected her redheaded friend to stay clueless for long.  She knew that the witch and the souled vampire had a very open, no secrets policy in their relationship. Apparently, someone from Angel's past had once shown up, and his decision to not tell Willow what was going on with him, had caused them serious problems.  The rest of the Fang Gang, as Faith liked to think of them, had actually thought they were going to break up.

The Slayer wrinkled her nose.  The thought was vaguely terrifying.  Angel without Willow, or Willow without Angel was like... was like Hell's Angels
without Harleys, or cake without ice cream.  The random thought made the raven haired young woman grin.

The grin disappeared immediately, when her brown eyes fell upon that damned closed office door.  'What the hell was Wesley doing in there anyhow?', Faith wondered.  'He probably had his nose in a book...'

She sighed, forcing herself to look away.  Her fingers tapped on the desk. She looked back.

"ARGH!!"

Giving up, she stood and headed for the door.  Why did he have this innate ability to make her so mad?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Wesley glared at the page, as if blaming it for his inability to focus. He'd been glaring at the same page for a good two hours.  So far, he'd
translated nothing.  Zilch.  Zip.  Nada.  Blixit.

He frowned, unsure if blixit actually meant nothing in the Talis demon language.  Damn it!  Why couldn't he remember?  Angrily, he slammed his hand
on the table, and tried to stand, only to jar his tender ankle.

"OUCH!!!"

He was hunched over when Faith swung open the door, without so much as a knock.

"What the hell was that?", she hissed angrily.

He glared at her.  "I hit my ankle."

"Not that!  You!  Announcing to everyone this morning that you had the pants I wore yesterday in your room."

The Englishman smirked.  "I'm not going to let you push me aside, Faith."

She blinked.  "What?"

"Did you think I would just forget it happened?", Wesley asked.  "Did you think, I would let you get away with pushing it aside, like it wasn't
important?"

Faith seethed, and shifted her weight.  "Yeah, actually, I did!  So why didn't you?  That would have made life easier... for the both of us Wussy!"

Deliberately, the former Watcher hobbled around the table.  He grit his teeth in order to ignore the throb in his foot, and stopped in front of the
tough beauty.  Grabbing a fistful of her dark hair, Wesley kissed her forcefully, before shoving her away.

"First of all, I don't feel like making life easier.  Secondly...", he said gruffly, his blue eyes boring into her gaze, "the name is Wesley.  I'm sure you know it, since as I recall, I heard you cry it out a few times last night."

The rogue Slayer's mouth dropped open.

Having had the last word, the British man, grabbed the crutches from where they leaned against the desk, and left the room, head held high.

For the second time in as many days, Faith found herself completely confused and utterly turned on.  She closed her eyes and groaned under her breath, her fingernails digging into her palms as she tried to regain control.
 

~Part 29~

Cordelia peered out of the corner of her eye at Angel, noticing the stubborn set of his jaw.  It was clenching and unclenching rhythmically.  She
couldn't understand it.  He'd been fine fifteen minutes ago.  They'd been talking, teasing, the usual... and now... just silence.

Pensive now, the brunette turned her head and gave Gunn an expressive look.

Her boyfriend looked just as confused as she felt.

Resolving to figure out what was going on, Cordelia leaned forward and turned down the music.  Besides allowing herself to actually be heard, she
was aware that the dark vampire disliked rap.  The radio station was on in deference to Gunn's tastes.

"Angel, what's wrong?", the Seer asked.

"Noth-- I don't know.  I just got this hot blast of anger from Willow through the bond.  It seemed accidental.  She wasn't trying to contact me or
anything but..."

"Do you still feel it?", Gunn asked.

"No, but--", Angel began.

Cordelia cut in.  "Okay stop.  Calm down then, she's fine.  I'm sure she is."  She looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah mos def.  Red can take care of herself", Gunn said.

The souled vampire took a forced breath.  "You're right", he sighed finally. "I just..."

"You love her man.  I understand, believe me", the demon hunter said, his eyes full of meaning and trained on Cordelia.

Angel eyed the long, lonely highway speculatively wondering what the odds were that it was patrolled.  The speedometer in the black convertible began to creep up smoothly.

Cordelia watched as the scenery whizzed by faster and faster.  "I really hope you don't get pulled over."  Abruptly, her face became thoughtful.

"Wow, you know, it never occurred to me to ask you this before Angel... But, do you even have a driver's license?"

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

Xander's arm hung loosely over Anya's shoulders.  "So you're staying with us, right?", he asked Willow.

The redhead nodded.  "Sure, I can't wait to see your new place.  I'm so glad you got out of that basement."

"So am I", Anya chimed.  "There really wasn't very much space, and making love isn't much fun when the washing machine is on the spin cycle."

Willow struggled with the urge to laugh.  Sobering after a moment, she asked her best childhood friend where he lived exactly.

Xander frowned.  "Aren't you coming with us?"

"I sort of wanted to check out Sunnydale", the witch answered.  "You know, take a long walk, look around..."  Her voice trailed off softly, her long,
red hair ruffling slightly in the breeze.

"Ohhhh-kay", the dark haired boy said, his confusion obvious.  "We'll come with you."

Anya looked like she wanted to protest, but one look from her boyfriend quickly caused her to close her mouth.

"I can take care of myself Xander.  You don't need to come with me, and I'm sure Anya's tired after a long day at the store."

The ex-demon nodded in agreement, even as her boyfriend protested.  "But Will--"

"Xander", the witch said tiredly, "please I can't argue with you anymore.  I need to do this."

The couple looked at one another, confusion and concern marring their features.  "I'm really not completely comfortable with that", the man said,
much to Willow's frustration.

A low growl escaped the redhead's throat.  Xander blinked in sudden understanding.

"Okay Wills, just be careful, alright?", he said, he said pulling Anya behind him.

"Did she just growl, Xander?"

"You're hearing things Ahn."

"Address?", Willow asked.

"Huh?", the dark haired male chimed.

"Your address Xander... where am I spending the night?"

"Oh yeah", quickly, he dug a piece of paper out of his pocket and scribbled something.  "Here."

Taking the slip of paper quickly, Willow smiled.  She needed to patrol, needed to get rid of all this nervous energy.  She was rapidly losing it. With as much patience as she could muster, the witch watched her friend drive away into the night, before turning to sniff the air.

Killing some baddies always made her feel better.  She grinned ferally, feeling the demon she shared's glee over the prospect of some violence.
Turning abruptly, Willow took off at a run, fully aware she was being followed.
 

~Part 30~

"So where are we staying?", the Seer asked.

"Hotel", Angel replied succinctly.

Cordelia wrinkled her nose.

"Its our only choice, I got rid of the mansion years ago", the dark haired vampire said, pulling into a Super 8 Motel.

Angel parked, and he and Gunn jumped out of the vehicle gracefully. Typically, Cordelia waited until her boyfriend came around and opened her car door.  She stepped out regally surveying her surroundings with distaste. Shrugging suddenly, the Queen C facade faded away as soon as it had come.

Silently, the vampire glided to the manager's office to get two rooms.  He paused, frowning.  'Angelus was enjoying himself.  He could feel it through
the bond.  That could only mean one thing... Willow was hunting.'

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

Willow charged the fledgling vampire, allowing for the first time, the demon's features to the surface.  For a moment, the young vampire appeared
confused.  That rapidly changed to shock.  The witch stepped away and watched him crumble into nothingness, still clutching the stake she'd
pierced his heart with.

Dusting off her hands, the redhead stretched and mentally pushed Angelus back.  He'd had enough fun for one night.  She'd been at this for close to two hours.  She looked around the cemetery.  The eerie white shapes of tombs and headstones, loomed in the darkness.  The silence was deafening.

Squaring her shoulders, Willow walked directly in front of one of the larger tombs and stopped.  It read 'Wilkins'.  She paused for a moment at that.  It was strange, years later, to wonder whether or not, the Mayor had had family.  Struggling to push the morbid thought away, she sighed loudly and continued to stare at the tomb expectantly.

"Are you coming out?  Or are you just planning on following me all night?"

"Jeez, Red, ruin a bloke's fun why don't you", a familiar voice said.

Spike stepped out from behind the large stone monument, a bored expression on his face.

"What gave me away Red?  I used to be bloody good at the whole skulking in the shadows bit", the bleached blond vampire quipped, his hands patting the pockets of his duster.  Fishing a pack of cigarettes, from deep within the recesses of black leather, he lit one up quickly.

Willow watched him curiously, her suspicion growing as she noticed his eyes flicker away, only to quickly flicker back.

"Why have you been following me Spike?"

The vampire gauged her appraisingly as he took another deep drag off of his cigarette.  "You've changed Red."

The wiccan stared at him in disbelief.  "You've been following me because I changed?"

"You know what I mean Red.  I can feel it.  I can feel YOU somehow."

Willow nodded.  "Oh... that."

"Care to explain", Spike prompted, his eyes leaving hers to wander somewhere to his right.

Stubbornly folding her arms over her chest, the hacker shook her head, and sat primly on a tombstone.  "Only if whoever's with you comes out of
hiding."

Blinking, the chipped vampire angrily ground out what remained of his cigarette, and made a gesture.

"Amy?", Willow murmured in confusion

Silently, the blond witch walked to Spike's side, and Willow watched in dawning comprehension as the vampire wrapped an arm around Amy.

"You two make a cute couple."  Willow grinned.

"Thanks", Amy said.

"But I thought Spike was supposed to be mooning after Buffy?"

Spike groaned.  "Come on ladies, we don't have all night..."  Icy blue eyes searched Willow's face.  "What's going on with you Red?  Why is it when
you're nearby, I sense a powerful, older vampire.... and not just any elder--"

"Angelus", Willow said interrupting.  "That's who you're sensing, Angelus. Your Sire."

"Yeah."

"Simple, because he's a part of me now."

The blond vampire stared at the redhead as if she'd sprouted two heads. "Huh?", he said eloquently.

"Uhhhh...", Amy hazarded, raising a hand, "I think what Spike means to say is--"

The red witch sighed.  "I'll explain."  She frowned suddenly, a look of concentration on her face, as a whisper of awareness shot up her spine.

"I'll kill him!", she hissed.

"Bloody hell Red, who are you talking about?"

"My mate, that's who!  I can't believe him!!", Willow huffed indignantly. "Goddess... all I asked was to come to Sunnydale alone... was that too much to ask?... that good for nothing sneaky blood sucking... vampire!"

"Willow."

"WILLOW!!", Amy shouted.

The redhead's green eyes glittered strangely, before she seemed to get a handle on her anger.  "Sorry guys... ", she mumbled under her breath, even as she plotted the myriad ways she'd torture her mate for this.

Remembering she'd told them she would explain, Willow took a deep breath, and brushing off the short, paraphrased version from memory began her story.

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

Wesley's eyes ached with strain.  He'd been staring at this same page for hours, and for the life of him he couldn't even remember what excuse he'd
fashioned for himself to do so.  All he'd wanted to do was continue confounding Faith.  Of course, that plan wasn't nearly as effective when she
wasn't even there.

The Slayer had left hours ago on patrol, and had yet to come back.  He wasn't worried.  She was tough, and she was good.  In fact, despite... or
maybe even because of her walk on the dark side, and her time in jail, Faith was, in Wesley's mind, probably one of the best Slayers to ever be called.

So he wasn't worried.  At least, he refused to allow himself to think he was.

Sighing, the ex-Watcher pushed back his chair and stood.  Grabbing a crutch, he made his ponderous way through the dark and silent hulk of the hotel, to the kitchen.

'At least walking was getting slightly less painful', he thought, as he filled a plastic bag with ice and wrapped it in a dish towel.  A few minutes
later he hobbled out of the kitchen, the homemade ice pack clenched in one hand.  Wesley headed for one of the plush chairs in the lounge.  He'd ice his ankle there.

'It wasn't like he was waiting up for her', he thought.  'No of course not.'

next