------------------------------------------------------------------------

Willow ran her hands through her hair nervously as she walked into the dorm
room. She rolled her eyes when she saw that Buffy wasn't there. 'She's never
here. I haven't seen her in three days' Willow thought.

Oz had left three weeks ago, and now her friends had pretty much abandoned
her. Buffy always seemed to have somewhere else to be at all the right
times. And Xander. . .well, he never seemed to have time for her, and Anya
didn't want Willow around him.

"I thought you two were my friends, but obviously I was wrong. You run when
I need you the most," she said angrily as she looked at the picture of her,
Xander, and Buffy framed on the bedside table.

Willow picked up the frame and threw it across the room, watching as it
bounced off the wall.

Then a sob escaped. Willow had held on for so long, remaining strong. But
now all she could do was let the pain and hurt out. Willow's sobs echoed in
the silent room.

She dropped to the floor and leaned back against the bed as more tears fell.
Willow drew her knees to her chin as she saw flashes of Oz being with Veruca
and of Buffy and Xander leaving her alone to go have their own lives.

Willow was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't hear someone
come in the room.

"Willow," Angel said when he saw the red-head crying. He'd come to Sunnydale
to see how Willow was, but he'd never expected to find this.

The red-head looked up when her name was spoken. "Angel?" she said when she
saw the dark-haired vampire. "Wha- What are you doing here?" she asked in a
quivery voice as she wiped her eyes.

Angel walked over to Willow. She stood up and hugged him. She closed her
eyes as he held her. Then she cried into his shoulder.

The dark-haired vampire pulled her onto the bed as he sat down. "Willow, who
did this to you?" he asked.

"Oz," she whispered. "And everyone."

Angel could tell that Willow had finally broken. He'd been trying to get her
to for weeks now, but she always said she was ok.

He wrapped his arms around Willow as she sobbed. "Angel, they. . .they don't
care. I've barely been hanging on, but Buffy's never around and Xander
doesn't even call," Willow said.

"Shh," Angel whispered. "Go on and talk."

"I even did a spell so I could heal my heart. It backfired big-time. Giles,
Xander, and Buffy still act funny about it," she replied. "And my parents?
They don't care about anything. I haven't even heard from them since I
started college."

Angel couldn't believe what he was hearing; it made him angry. 'How could
they do this to Willow?' he wondered.

The vampire realized what he had to do. "Willow, can you miss school for a
few days?" he asked.

Willow nodded. "I guess so. Why?" she replied.

"Ok, then. Pack yourself a bag, Willow. You're coming back to L.A with me,"
Angel said.

The red-head shook her head. "It's ok, Angel. I don't want you to feel sorry
for me. And besides, you have your own life in L.A; you don't need me under
your feet," she answered.

"Willow, you could never be under my feet. And I don't pity you, ok? But I
can't leave you hurting here like this," Angel said. "Look, you can come to
L.A with me, hang out with me and Cordelia, and sort everything out."

Willow smiled gratefully as she looked at Angel. "Thank you," she said. "I
know it's not enough, but it'll have to be for now."

Angel watched as Willow packed herself a bag and left Buffy a nore. 'Thank
you is more than enough' he thought with a smile.

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

Anya sighed in relief when Xander's mom finally let her go down to the
basement. Mrs. Harris always wanted Anya to set down and have breakfast with
her, but so far Anya had managed to avoid it. 'I'm 1120. I don't make small
talk with parents' she thought.

The ex-demon stopped at the top of the stairs. 'Something doesn't seem
right' she thought. Anya heard mumblinf coming from the basment. She figured
that Xander was talking in his sleep again.

Anya smiled as she walked down the stairs. The smile faded when she reached
the bottom, though. Xander and Buffy were in the bed together, kissing. Her
heart broke when she saw the empty condom wrapper on the floor.

The two people in the bed hadn't even heard her entrance. "Xander," Anya
said sadly.

Buffy and Xander jumped apart and Xander scrambled out of bed. "Anya," he
said, pulling his boxers on.

"It's good to see that you're been sharing the one thing we have in common
with another girl," Anya said sarcastically as he covered the lower half of
his body.

Buffy crawled out of bed, careful to keep the sheets wrapped around her.
Anya had always wondered if Xander was secretly cheating, but she'd never
dreamed it would be with Buffy.

'Bitch' Anya thought, seeing the guilty look on Buffy's face. "Buffy, wipe
that guilty look off your face. I don't want to see it," Anya said angrily.

Buffy looked at the floor as Anya stalked toward her. The room grew silent
as Anya slapped the Slayer. "You have no right to even act guilty. You knew
what you were doing all along, Buffy," Anya said.

"Anya. . ." Xander finally said.

Anya turned to her boyfriend, tears in her eyes. "Don't. Don't say you're
sorry, Xander. What? You weren't happy with our relationship, so you decided
to cheat on me with her?" she said.

Xander looked at her sadly and Anya knew she had to get out of there.

She turned to head back up the stairs. Then she stopped. "I hope you two are
very happy together," Anya said, turning to face the two people who had just
hurt her. "And don't come running to me when she finds someone else. We're
through."

With that Anya ran up the stairs and out of the house, tears streaming down
her face.
 

~~~~~~~

Angel glanced at Willow as he pulled into the driveway beside the building
he lived in. Willow hadn't said anything since they'd left Sunnydale two
hours ago.

"This is where you live?" Willow asked, glancing at the building as Angel
grabbed her bag.

"Yeah. I know what it looks like from out here. But it's better inside. .
.my apartment is on the lower level," Angel answered.

Willow smiled as she followed Angel into the building. She glanced at wha
she figured had to be Angel's office. "So this is where you work?" she
asked. For some reason, she found herself curious about Angel's life in L.A.

"Yeah, this is where I work," he replied, leading her to the elevator.

"You even have your own elevator?" she asked, stepping in it.

"And even better? It actually works," Angel answered with a laugh.

Willow couldn't help but laugh with him. She glanced around Angel's
apartment when they got out of the elevator on the ground floor. Willow
smiled to herself when she saw the weapons hanging on one of the walls.
'Some things will never change' she thought.

"Can I get you anything?" Angel asked.

Willow shook her head as she sat down on the couch. Angel went into the
kitchen and poured a glass of water for the red-head. He went back to where
she was sitting on the couch. "Here," he said, handing her the glass. "I
know you said you didn't want anything, but you should drink something. I
don't have any food. . .I don't get many visitors."

Angel sat down on the couch beside her. He hated the sad look that Willow's
eyes held. "You know you can talk to me, Willow," he said.

"I know. It's just. . .I'm lonely, Angel. You weren't there when I caught Oz
with another girl. I don't think anyone's ever hurt me that badly. And Buffy
and Xander? They were so busy with their own lives that they didn't notice.
And when they were around, they tried not to spend too much time around me
because I was so whiny. And Giles got annoyed because I wasn't exactly on
top of my game when it came to magic," Willow said.

Angel pulled Willow over until her head was laying against his chest. At
first she resisted, but finally she snuggled against him. He rocked her
until she fell asleep. Then Angel himself drifted off into a restless sleep.

A crash brought Angel out of his sleep a few hours later. He opened his eyes
to see Cordelia walk in the room. "There you are. It's not often that I beat
you into the office," she said. Then she noticed the sleeping Willow in the
vampire's arms.

"How'd she get here?" Cordelia asked quietly.

Angel lifted Willow up enough so that he could get up; then he laid her
across the spot he'd been sitting in a few seconds earlier. He covered her
with a blanket.

"It's a long story," Angel replied, taking the shirt he had on off. Cordelia
followed him into the bedroom. She leaned against the door as Angel put a
clean shirt on. "So that's where you were last night? In Sunnydale?" she
asked.

"Yeah. I went to see Willow," he replied, leaving the bedroom.

The two of them got on the elevator to go up to the office. "And I see you
brought her home with you," Cordelia pointed out.

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

-In Sunnydale-

Anya looked around her apartment, but everywhere she looked there were
reminders of Xander. Finally she had to get out of there. She left the
apartment and just walked around for awhile.

Finally she found herself in front of Willy's bar. She walked inside to get
a drink. "Hello?" she called out when she didn't see anyone around.

Willy came out of the back room. "Sorry. I didn't hear anyone come in. What
can I do for you?" he asked.

"I want a drink," Anya answered, hopping up on a stool.

Willy laughed. "Yeah. And do you want me to lose my job? I can't sell beer
to a minor, kid," he replied.

"Well that works out since I'm not a minor. I'm sure you can sell a drink to
an 1120-year-old," Anya said. "And if you say no? Just try me and see what
happens."

The bartender stared at Anya for a few minutes, trying to see if she was
lying or not. 'She sounds like she's been around for awhile, but she looks
like a teenager' he thought.

"Willy, give her a drink and stop thinking about it. She's telling you the
truth and if you don't start moving, you're going to be answering to me and
Anya," Spike said.

Anya and Willy looked up to see Spike standing in the doorway to the back
room.

"Anya?" Willy repeated. "As in the vengeance demon?" He glanced at Anya.

Spike pointed behind the bar. "Better get to work, Willy. Her drink's on
me," he replied. The blonde vampire walked over and sat down on the stool
next to Anya.

Willy decided that he'd better not ask any questions, but he kept his eye on
the two demons as he poured their drinks.

The vampire glanced at Anya, who hadn't said a word since he'd showed up.
She was staring down at the counter, a sad expression on her face. "What's
wrong, pet? You look like you were just told that you're going to die,"
Spike said.

Anya couldn't help but smile at that. "Actually I think a good torture would
feel better. It's just been a bad day," she replied.

Willy sat two drinks in front of them and then left Anya and Spike alone.
Spike took a drink and then looked at the ex-demon. "That bad?" he said.
"Well, lay it on Spike here. I'll listen."

Anya smiled at Spike's attempt to cheer her up. 'At least he's trying' she
thought as she looked at the blonde vampire beside her. "It's just Xander,"
she said, taking a drink of her beer.

"What did that bloody poof do?" Spike asked.

"I caught him and Buffy together. . .in bed together," she replied. Tears
came to her eyes as she remembered the sight of her boyfriend in the arms of
the Slayer; it was permanently etched in her brain.

"Are you serious?! What the bloody hell was he thinking?" Spike said. "No,
wait. I think the point is that he wasn't thinking. If he had been, he'd
have realized that you're ten times better than the Slayer."

Anya smiled and wiped her eyes. "Thank you," she said.

"Turn around here," SPike said.

Anya turned around in her stool until she was facing him. Spike took her in
his arms and rocked her. Anya buried her face in Spike's leather coat as she
sobbed.

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

"I can't believe this," Xander said as he and Buffy walked to campus. "Of
all the things that could have gone wrong, this has to be the worst."

"Don't worry, Xand. I'm sure she's at the dorm talking to Willow," Buffy
said.

"I hope you're right," Xander replied. But he was actually thinking the
opposite. 'Why would she go to Willow?' he wondered.

The two of them walked in the dorm and climbed the stairs to Buffy and
Willow's room.

"Will," Buffy said, opening the door. She stopped when she realized that
Willow wasn't there.

"She's not here," Xander said. "Neither is Anya." 'So I was right not to
listen to Buffy' he realized.

Buffy noticed something on Willow's bed. 'A piece of paper?' she wondered as
she walked over to the bed and picked it up. "It's a note from Will," she
told Xander as she read it. When she'd finished, she tossed it back onto the
bed.

"Well?" Xander said, raising his eyebrows. "What's it say?"

"She's in L.A," Buffy answered. "Angel came by last night and Willw went
home with him. Said she needed to figure things out."

"Well that's just great," Xander said sarcastically. "So Will's with Deadboy
and Anya's nowhere to be seen?"

"That's pretty much the deal," Buffy replied. "The only thing we can hope is
that Giles has seen Anya."

"Let's go," Xander said, leaving the room.

Giles was a little surprised when he opened the door and found Buffy and
Xander standing there. "Buffy. Xander," he said as they came inside.

"I have to say I'm surprised. Neither of you two are known for being morning
people," he continued.

"Yeah, well it's been a busy morning," Xander replied. "Giles, have you seen
Anya?"

"Not yet. She's usually with you, though," Giles said.

Guilt weighed down heavily on Xander. He couldn't believe that he'd screwed
things up like this. "Usually she is," he replied. "But she kind of. . .ran
off."

Giles looked between Buffy and Xander. 'There's something they're not
telling me' he thought. "And why did she do that? It's not like Anya to run
off," he said, leaning against the counter.

Xander and Buffy looked at each other. 'Bingo' Giles thought.

"She walked in and found us together. At my place," Xander said. He felt his
face heat up at having this conversation with Giles.

"And what were you two doing?" Giles prodded.

"We were. . .you know," Buffy said. "Giles, don't make me say it."

Giles sighed. 'I can't believe this' he thought. 'Buffy and Xander?'

"Do you two blame Anya for running off? She caught her boyfriend and someone
who's supposed to be her friend in bed together," Giles said. "I think she
had ever right to leave. And by the way, is Willow ok with you two?"

"Willow's in L.A. I found a note from her. Angel was at the dorm last night
and she left with him," Buffy answered.

"So what you're telling me is that Willow doesn't know that her two friends
are involved," Giles filled in.

Buffy and Xander looked at each other. They knew they were about to get a
lecture.

~~~~~

Spike looked down at the girl in his arms when he noticed that her sobs had
stopped. He'd just come to the bar to get a drink; but he'd also found Anya.

So here they were an hour later, still sitting at the bar, Spike comforting
the ex-demon. 'She's asleep' he realized.

"Anya," the blonde vampire said, gently shaking her. "Wake up."

"I don't want to wake up," she mumbled. But she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Spike looked at her and saw the tiredness in her eyes. "You should get home,
luv. It's obvious you didn't sleep any last night," he said.

"I'm not going home," Anya answered, turning to face the bar. "Going back to
my place just reminds me of Xander. I'd rather just stay here and get drunk
if you don't mind."

"Well I do mind," Spike said, standing up. He grabbed her hand and pulled
her up with him. "Now. You have a choice. We can either go back to your
place or you're coming home with me so I can keep an eye on you."

Anya sighed, defeated. "Fine. We'll go to my place because I'm not staying
in a crypt," she said, heading for the door.

"Uh, pet? We can't go that way," Spike pointed out. "It's day and I don't
fancy burning to death."

"What? You mean I have to walk through the sewers with you?" she asked
disgustedly. She wasn't ready to admit it, but she actually enjoyed Spike's
company.

Spike didn't bother answering because he'd just thought of something. "You
know what, Anya? I think I know a place we can go that's not a crypt and
that won't remind you of Harris," he said.

The two of them walked into the back room. Spike opened the trap door and
they stepped into one of the underground tunnels. Anya followed Spike, not
having a clue where they were going.

After a ten minute walk, they stopped. Spike reached up and opened a trap
door that was above them. He pulled himself up through it and then helped
Anya up. Anya glanced around at the inside of the mansion on Crawford
Street.

"Wow," was the only thing Anya could think of to say. She walked around and
then looked at Spike. "How'd you know about this place?"

Spike shrugged. "Used to live here. Back when Angel was. . .Angelus and when
Dru and I were together," he explained.

"Dru is your ex?" Anya asked carefully.

Spike nodded. "She was my girlfriend until I caught her with a chaos demon,"
he said.

"Oh, gross!" Anya exclaimed. "They're so slimy!"

"And don't forget that they have antelars," Spike said. He and Anya laughed.

"Anyway, the point is that I know how you feel, Anya. You catch the person
you love the most in someone else's arms and all hell breaks lose. It's like
the person takes a part of you with them and you know nothing will ever be
the same. And sometimes you'd rather be dead than feel the way you do," he
said.

'He really does understand how I feel' she thought. She wrapped her arms
around Spike and hugged him. "Thank you," she said, her voice breaking.

"Don't thank me, pet," he answered. "Now let's get you to bed. You're
exhausted."

Anya yawned and followed Spike into a bedroom. She crawled into bed and
Spike kissed her forehead.

She drifted off to sleep, thinking about that kiss.

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

Willow woke up a few hours later, confused about where she was. The blanket
over her had a familiar scent to it, though. She glanced around her.
'Angel's' she realized.

Then the events of the night before came back to her. Her breaking down,
Angel showing up and insisting that she leave with him. And now here she was
in L.A.

She saw her bag in the corner and got up, planning to get dressed. She
grabbed her bag and went into Angel's bedroom. After she'd changed, she
glanced around the apartment. 'They must be upstairs' she thought.

Willow got in the elevator and went upstairs. Cordelia looked up as Willow
walked in the office. "Willow!" she said.

"Hi Cordy," Willow replied, hugging the ex-cheerleader. Angel came out of
the office when he heard the two girls talking. Willow smiled slightly at
him.

"How do you feel?" Angel asked, huggin the red-head. He'd been worrying
about her, so he was glad to see her up.

"I'm the same except I'm hungry," Willow replied.

"Well you're in luck. There's doughnuts on the table behind you. Help
yourself to them," Cordelia replied.

Willow turned around and grabbed a doughnut from the box. Then she sat down
in the chair across from Cordelia's desk.

"I'm going downstairs for awhile if either of you two need me," Angel said.
He sent Cordelia a silent message with her eyes, telling her not to leave
Willow alone.

Cordelia raised her eyebrow at Willow once Angel was gone. "Want to get out
of this boring place and go get something to eat?" she asked.

"Won't you get in trouble for leaving?" Willow asked.

Cordelia dismissed the question. "He'll be down in his apartment brooding
for hours. And besides, I don't think Angel will mind me skipping out with
you. . .he seems to have a soft spot in that area," she replied.

She scribbled a note to Angel and then she and Willow left the office.
Willow raised an eyebrow when she saw Cordelia's car. "Angel pays good, I
guess?" she asked.

"He pays pretty good, even though I'm still trying to talk him into giving
me a raise," Cordelia answered. "And one of the perks of working for a
243-year-old vampire? He can find good deals on things for me; like this car
and my apartment."

Willow smiled. "Angel's great," she said as Cordelia pulled away from the
curb.

Cordelia glanced over at Willow. 'Do I sense a little a little romance?' she
wondered. "And speaking of Angel. . . I walked in his apartment this morning
to find you two pretty snuggly together. Anything I should know about?" she
asked.

'Bingo' she thought when she saw Willow blush. 'Someone's in love with my
boss'

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

While Anya was sleeping, Spike decided to go to Anya's apartment and pack a
few things for her. He came up from the sewer tunnels into the building. He
walked upstairs and used the key he'd found in Anya's jacket to unlock the
door.

'What a mess' he thought as he looked around. Spike walked into the bedroom
and grabbed an overnight bag from Anya's closet. He threw a few things into
it and then he went into the bathroom, adding her shower stuff, and her
tooth brush and toothpaste to the bag.

'Food' he thought, going into the kitchen. Sooner or later she'd be hungry,
and he knew there wouldn't be any food at the mansion. He grabbed a can of
Ravioli, some milk and cheese from the refrigerator, and some cereal and
bread. Then Spike noticed the Wheatabix. 'My favorite' he thought, grabbing
the box.

"Anya?" he heard someone say as the front door opened.

'Harris' Spike thought angrily. "Xander. What the hell are you doing here?"
he asked, walking into the other room.

Xander raised an eyebrow when he saw the blonde vampire. "I could ask you
the same thing, Spike," he replied. "How'd you get in here? I thought you
had to be invited in."

Spike shrugged. "Normally you'd be right. I have to be invited into a
human's house. But since Anya is a demon. . .was one. . .I don't need an
invite," he said.

"Where's Anya? You didn't hurt her, did you?" Xander asked, glaring at
Spike.

Spike rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't hurt her. Like I could," he answered.
"Let's just say that she didn't want to come back here because it reminds
her of you. So I took her somewhere safe. And anyway, what do you care,
Xander? I thought you were with Buffy."

Xander looked guiltily at Spike. "Just tell me where she is, Spike," he
said.

"No deal, Xander," the blonde vampire replied. "The last thing Anya needs
right now is you bothering her. When and if she wants to talk to you, she'll
know where to find you. But until then? I think it's best you leave her the
hell alone."

Spike left the apartment. By the time Xander had gotten out into the
hallway, the blonde vampire was long gone.

'Great' Xander thought. 'If Spike wasn't so fast, I could follow him to
Anya' But he knew that wasn't going to happen, so he closed the door to
Anya's apartment and left the building.

~~~~

Anya and Spike were walking through the park after dark. The two of them
glanced around as they walked, making sure that nothing of the undead nature
was following them. That's when they heard a rustling.

Spike pulled two stakes from his duster, handing one of them to Anya. Stakes
in hand, the two of them moved quietly toward the noise. When they were
within a few feet of the intruder, they ducked behind some bushes.

Anya pulled the bushes apart slightly and peeked through. There was Buffy
and Xander laying on a blanket, having sex.

"Xander!" Anya exclaimed, standing up from behind the bushes.

Buffy and Xander broke apart and glanced at Anya. But instead of looking
guilty, the two of them just laughed and went back to what they were doing.
************

"No!" Spike heard Anya yell from the bedroom. He got up from the chair he
was sitting in and hurried to the bedroom. 'She's dreaming' he realized when
he saw her tossing and turning.

He walked to the bed side to see if she was ok. Suddenly her eyes flew open.
"Spike?" she said in confusion. "What happened?"

"You were dreaming, pet," Spike said with a comforting smile.

Anya took a deep breath as the last twenty four hours came back to her. 'Too
bad it isn't just a dream, because then I could wake up from it. But this is
reality' she thought.

"Are you ok, Anya?" Spike asked, sounding concerned.

She came back to the present and saw Spike looking at her with concern in
his eyes. She tried to smile convincingly at the blonde vampire, but it
failed. A sob escaped as she reached up and circled Spike's neck with her
arms.

"You better not leave me," Anya said through her tears. "I don't know what
I'd do if you did."

Spike sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "I promise I
won't leave, luv," he replied. Spike pulled away slightly and took Anya's
face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. He smiled as he wiped the
tears from her face.

"Did you dream about Xander?" he asked carefully.

Anya nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "It's the same thing everytime I close my
eyes. I always see them."

Spike hugged her and ran his hands through her hair. "It's going to be like
that for awhile, pet," he said. "Unfortunately you can't bury things because
they'll come back and haunt you. You have to go through the pain and hurt to
ever smile and be happy again."

The former demon took in what Spike had just said and she knew he was right.
She laughed a little as she pulled away from him. "Since when are you so
insightful?" Anya asked.

The blonde vampire grinned. "Just because I'm a bad-ass vampire doesn't mean
I can't be nice. And besides, I have to be nice toward a fellow demon," he
replied.

Anya sighed. "I wish I was still a demon," she said. "Because then I'd still
have my powers and I could do something really vengeful to Xander."

"I know, luv," Spike replied. "But you aren't. So you're going to have to
deal the old-fashion way. . .lots of crying and ice-cream."

Anya smiled sadly. "Why does D'Hoffryn want to torture me like this?" she
asked.

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

"Thanks for calling, Giles. Willow's safe here," Angel said. He and Giles
hung up.

The dark-haired vampire propped his head on his hands as he looked at the
closed window of his office. 'I can't believe Buffy and Xander would do this
to Willow' he thought. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the
door to the office open.

Angel walked into the other room and smiled when he saw Willow and Cordelia.
"Have a good time?" he asked.

Willow nodded. "Yeah, I got to meet Dennis," she replied.

Angel looked at the red-head closely. 'She's smiling, but there's still
sadness in her eyes' he thought.

"I'm going to put this stuff up," she said, holding up the bag she was
carrying. Willow left the room and Angel watched after her. Then he turned
back to Cordelia.

Cordelia raised an eyebrow at her boss. "Ok, what is it, Angel?" she asked,
walking around the desk to her chair. "You have that look like you know
something."

Since Willow was downstairs, Angel decided to tell Cordelia what Giles had
told him. "I just got off the phone with Giles. Buffy had told him that
Willow was here and he wanted to see if she was ok," he answered. Then he
lowered his voice. "He finished by telling me that Buffy and Xander are
involved and that Willow doesn't know."

Cordelia's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" she asked. "How could Buffy and
Xander do this to Wil- "

Angel raised an eyebrow as Cordelia trailed off. Then something made him
turn around. 'Oh god' he thought when he saw Willow standing in the doorway
with a striken look on her face.

He walked over to the red-head and tried to pull her into his arms, but she
pulled him away. "Don't touch me," she said brokenly. "I can't believe it.
The two people in this world that I never dreamed would hurt me, actually
did. And even funnier? They did it together without a thought about me." She
laughed sarcastically.

"Willow, this isn't your fault," Cordelia said. "Buffy and Xander are
stupid."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with," Willow replied.

Angel grabbed Willow by the arm and pulled her into his arms. This time she
didn't resist. He stroked her hair as she cried.

"I know it hurts," Angel said quietly. "And I wish you hadn't had to find
out this way. But Cordelia and I are both here for you, and you're welcome
to stay as long as you want to."

Willow smiled sadly and kissed Angel lightly on the cheek. "Thanks, Angel,"
she replied. "I'm going to go downstairs for awhile."

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

The male Oracle finally stopped pacing the chamber and looked at his female
counterpart. "So what is out jobs from the Powers That Be? Did they tell
you?" he asked.

"You remember the vampire they'd been watching? The one that had been
implanted with a behavior modifier?" she answered.

"That bastard?" the male Oracle asked. "Yeah, I know who you're talking
about. What about him?"

"Turns out that there was a reason why he was implanted. But he needs a
little guidance because he sees himself as being inferior to other humans
and to other demons. But he has a purpose in life and he was given a second
chance at humanity," the female Oracle explained.

Her male counterpart was quiet as he took all this in. Then he looked at
her. "So we're supposed to help this lower being? And what is the reason he
was implanted?" he asked.

The female Oracle shook her head. "The Powers weren't too clear on that,"
she answered. "But I think it has to do with the girl that is in his care
right now."

"I thought that human-demon relationships never worked," he said.

"They don't, but this is a special case," the female Oracle answered. "The
lower being in question is childe to the warrior we help. And the girl in
his care isn't human; she's an ex-vengeance demon. And even though she's
supposed to live as a human, it doesn't change that she's over 1100 years
old. And the Powers That Be said that something would happen when they admit
their feelings that will change the world and their lives forever."

"I wonder what that 'something' is. Did they say?" the male Oracle asked.

"No," his female counterpart replied. "Unfortunately that's where we're
forced to sit back and watch the events of the next few weeks unfold."

The male Oracle sighed. "That's the part of this job that I don't like; the
watching and the waiting," he said. "It sometimes makes me wish that I was
in another line of work."

~~~~~

Anya woke up a few hours later to find a pair of strong arms wrapped around
her. She touched the pale skin of the hand that was resting on her stomach
and smiled.

'Spike' she realized when she felt the coldness of the body behind her. The
last thing she remembered was Spike holding her as she cried. 'We obviously
fell asleep' she thought.

She looked down to see that she and Spike were laying on top of the covers,
fully clothed. 'At least he didn't take advantage of me' she thought. In her
years as a vengeance demon, Anya had seen a lot of demons who'd take
advantage of girls.

Anya was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Spike stir beside her.
She smiled and rolled over to face him. "Morning," she said. Then she
glanced at the clock. "Or technically afternoon, almost evening."

Spike groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He sat up and looked at the girl next
to him. "This is my bedtime. It's day. But I'm hungry. Want something to
eat?" he asked.

Anya shook her head. "I'm not hungry," she said.

The blonde vampire got up. "Well, that's tough because you have to eat
something," he said, leaving the room,

Anya groaned at the stubborness of the blonde vampire. She got up and
followed him into the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him
cooking at the stove. "I thought I said I didn't want anything," she said.

"And I thought I said I was going to make you eat?" Spike asked.

The ex-demon sighed. She knew there wasn't any point in arguing with Spike.
Finally she just sat down at the table and waited for the food to get done.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Spike and Anya looked at each other.
"Great. Who knows we're here?" Spike asked, walking toward the door. He
opened the door to find Giles standing on the porch and that it was pouring
the rain.

"Spike, sorry to barge in like this. But I want to know if you know where
Anya is,"Giles said.

Anya stepped into the room. "I'm right here, Giles," she said. "How'd you
know where to find me?"

Spike stepped back so that Giles could come inside. "I didn't really," the
ex-Watcher replied. "But Xander said he'd ran into Spike at your apartment.
And this was the only place I figured you two could go to get away from the
others."

"So are you here to tell me how I should forgive Xander?" Anya asked.

Giles shook his head. "No," he replied. "I think that the two of them were
completely out of line. Willow's even staying at Angel's because of them.
The only thing I'm going to say is that maybe you should talk to Xander."

"Talking isn't going to help this, Giles," Anya said.

"But I know you love him. Things could work out if you wanted them to," he
replied.

"Giles, this is one aread that you're not an expert in. I've been around for
over 1100 years. And if there's one thing I've learned? It's that guys never
change," Anya said.

A single tear fell from Anya's eye and she ran from the mansion, leaving
Giles and Spike behind. She didn't know where she was going; just that she
needed to get away.

Spike glared at Giles and started to go after Anya, but he stopped at the
door. There was still an hour before the sun set.

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

Willow woke up as she sensed someone in the room with her. Cordelia sat a
tray of food in front of Willow and then sat down beside her on the couch.

"Angel tell you to do this?" Willow asked, taking a bite of toast.

Cordelia shook her head. "No, Actually it was my idea," she answered. "Now,
I want you to eat up and talk. I know how it feels to find out that your
friends have been lying and that they don't care."

The red-head felt guilty as she realized that Cordelia was talking about her
and Xander last year. "I know. But it's not easy to talk about," she
replied.

"I know it's not," Cordelia said. "But you should try to talk. I know you're
hurt because of Buffy and Xander, but you'd feel better if you talked about
it."

"I'm not hurt because Buffy and Xander were caught together. I thought it
would bother me, but it doesn't. What bothers me is that they've shut me out
these last few months and didn't even bother to care about what I was going
through," Willow replied.

"Why doesn't it bother you that Buffy and Xander were together?" Cordelia
asked, but she had a feeling that she already knew the answer.

Willow paused for a moment before she answered. "Because I. . .I have
feelings for Angel," she finally answered.

Cordelia grinned "I knew it!" she exclaimed.

The red-head raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't matter though," she replied.
"It's not like he feels the same."

"Oh please," Cordelia said. "Do you ever see the way he looks at you? Angel
worships the ground you walk on."

Willow laughed. 'I wish that was true' she thought. "Don't I wish," she
replied. "I keep thinking about telling him, but I can't get up the nerve
and he's always busy."

"Leave it to me," Cordelia said. "I have an idea."

"Cordelia, what are you going to do?" Willow asked curiously. "Please don't
do anything to embarass me."

"Don't worry, I promise I won't embarass you. But I have a feeling that you
and Angel will be together by the end of the night," Cordelia said.

"What are you going to do?" Willow asked again.

"You'd be surprised where one of my well-placed visons could send Angel,"
Cordelia said with a grin.

"Cordelia, you know you don't have to do that," Willow said. 'I can't
believe she'd do that for me' she thought.

"I know I don't have to," the ex-cheerleader replied. "But I want to. You
and Angel are both my friends, and I'd love to see you two get together. Now
you better get ready because you're going to have a date tonight."

Willow smiled and hugged the dark-haired girl. "Thanks, Cordy," she said.
"I'm going to owe you big for this."

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

'I can't believe the bloody Watcher did this' Spike thought as he walked
through the rain, looking for Anya.

The first place he'd looked was Willy's bar, thinking that the ex-demon
would go there to get a drink. But no such look. Willy hadn't seen Anya
around.

The next place he'd checked was her apartment. But he'd come up empty there,
too. Spike sat down on the steps outside the building, completely oblivious
to the rain coming down.

'Where can she be?' he wondered as he wiped the rain from his face. He'd
checked all the obvious places. Spike didn't know what he'd do if Anya had
fled Sunnydale. . .or worse yet, if she was lying dead somewhere.

Spike hadn't realized until now just how much he'd grown to care about the
ex-vengeance demon. She was all he could think about and she was the one
person who was understanding when it came to his chip. Anya made him happy.
'I'm in love with her' he realized.

Finally Spike pulled himself up off the steps and started walking again.
'There's only one place I haven't looked that she might go' he thought as he
dragged his soaked body into one of Sunnydale's cemetaries.

He walked toward the crypt he'd been living in for the last few months.
Spike stopped when he sensed a presence inside. 'Anya' he thought, hoping it
was her.

Spike walked inside the crypt, but he didn't see anything at first. Then
his blue eyes fell on Anya. She was sitting in a corner of the crypt, her
knees drawn up to her chin.

"Anya?" Spike said quietly, walking toward the girl.

The ex-demon hadn't heard anyone come in, but she looked up when she heard
her name. 'Spike' she thought happily as her eyes fell on the blonde
vampire. She stood up and threw herself into his arms.

Anya's heart sped up as Spike touched her. She hugged him, rubbing her hands
over the sleeves of his wet shirt. "How'd you find me here?" she asked.

"This was the one place to come when you need to be alone," Spike answered.
"I checked all the obvious places. And I didn't even want to think about the
fact that maybe you had left town or something."

'I have to tell him the truth' she realized. she pulled away from the safety
of the blonde vampire's arms and took a deep breath. "I just needed to be
alone with my thoughts for awhile," she said. "And I realized something.
I've. . .fallen in love with you these last two days, Spike."

'Ok. I want to wake up from this bloody dream now' Spike thought. But he
knew he wasn't dreaming.

He looked at Anya and smiled. "I'm in love with you, too, Anya. I didn't
think I'd ever feel this way about someone again, but I do," he replied,
taking her in his arms and kissing her.

A few minutes later, Anya pulled away and grinned. "Want to have sex?" she
asked.

Spike laughed. "I thought you'd never ask, luv," he answered. "Let's get
back to the mansion." The two new lovers left the crypt together, walking
into the rain.

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

Angel looked up when Cordelia walked in his office. He raised an eyebrow.
The last time he'd seen her, she'd been going downstairs to talk to Willow.

Cordelia handed him a piece of paper. "I had another one of those
mind-splitting visions," she said. "After I cursed the PTB's and took half
of a bottle of asprin, I wrote that down."

Angel glanced down at the paper. Cordelia had written down the name of an
L.A restraunt. "What did you see?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Just that something's going to go down there tonight," she
replied.

The dark-haired vampire nodded and grabbed his coat. "I'll get over there.
Want to come?" he said.

Cordelia shook her head. "I think you should take Willow," she said. "She'd
probably like to get out for awhile."

"You know, that's a good idea," Angel replied, heading for the elvator.

The ex-cheerleader smiled as she watched her two friends leave together. 'My
job's done' she thought as she grabbed her purse and keys. 'The rest is up
to them'

~~~~~

At the door to the mansion, Spike stepped in front of Anya, causing her to
have to stop. "I'm going to be a gentleman about this," he said. Anya
squealed as Spike picked her up and carried her inside. He used his foot to
close the door and then carried Anya into the bedroom.

Spike sat her gently on the bed and kissed her. Anya kissed him back with a
passion the blonde vampire had never felt before. He stopped long enough to
pull his black duster off and threw it over a nearby chair.

Anya layed back on the bed and Spike crawled up the length of her body until
their lips met once again. He pulled away when he felt her crying. He kissed
her tears away and smiled. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to,
luv," he said.

He started to get up, but Anya grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled
him back down over her. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll kiss me
and stop worrying."

Spike chuckled and captured her lips with his again. He'd felt empty the
last few months, but with Anya in his life he felt alive. He trailed kisses
down her chin and neck, stopping at her collarbone.

Anya arched slightly under him and ran her hands down his back, grabbing the
end of his T-shirt and pulling it over his head. She smiled and rolled the
blonde vampire over until she was straddling him. She trailed kisses down
the cold skin of his chest and stomach.

Spike had been with a lot of women during his years as a vampire, but this
was the first time he'd been with one that controlled the moment. 'I like
it' he thought as he looked at Anya.

He reached for her shirt and pulled it over her head. He kissed the exposed
skin until Anya pulled away. She took a hold of his jeans, slowly
unbuttoning and unzipping them. Spike arched up enough so Anya could pull
his jeans over his hips.

The ex-demon ran a finger down Spike's member and smiled seductively. "Now I
wish I'd payed more attention during my demon days. Just imagine the things
I could do to you," she said.

Spike groaned and finished undressing Anya until they were laying naked
together. Finally she let him enter her.

A while later, the two of them were under the covers, Spike's arm wrapped
tightly around Anya. She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Who would have
thought that the two of us would end up in this situation?" she said.

"I sure didn't," Spike replied. "I don't regret a minute of it, though. For
the first time in three months, I'm actually happy and might be able to
stand living with this chip."

Anya smiled and snuggled closer to her boyfriend. "When I lost my powers
last year, D'Hoffryn forgot that I had a couple of his books," she said.
"They're still at my apartment and I'm sure if we looked through them we
could find a way to reverse that chip."

"You'd do that for me?" Spike asked, looking at her.

The ex-demon shrugged. "Yeah I would," she answered. "But you know I love
you no matter what. It doesn't matter whether you have a chip in your head
or not."

Spike smiled at that and pulled her closer. "I love you," he said, right
before the two of them fell into an exhausted sleep.

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

Willow sighed as she and Angel finally walked in the restraunt.The night
definately hadn't turned out the way she'd wanted it to. They'd gotten
halfway to the restraunt when Angel had realized that there was more than
one of the restraunts in L.A.

Then they'd driven to a pay phone so he could call Cordelia to see if she
knew which one they were supposed to go to.

Angel got them a table for two. After they'd sat down, the dark-haired
vampire glanced around at the people around them. He was looking for someone
that seemed out of place there.

He didn't see anyone fitting that description, though. Angel glanced at
Willow and he felt bad that he'd been ignoring her since they'd left the
office. He knew he had a job to do, but he could still be better company.

Willow took a deep breath. She knew she had to tell him the truth. "Angel?"
she finally said. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Angel asked, looking at the red-head across from him. His
undead heart sped up as he looked at her. 'God she's so beautiful' he
thought.

"This. . .was a set-up," Willow answered.

Angel didn't say anything for a minute. "So there's no demon?" he asked.

The red-head shook her head. "Cordelia just told you that because I needed
to talk to you," Willow replied. "Angel, I. . .I think I'm in love with
you."

The dark-haired vampire couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took
Willow's hand in his and held it. They both smiled.

"I've been falling in love with you for awhile now, Willow," Angel said. "I
just didn't say anything because I figured you wouldn't feel the same. And
besides, look at me."

"I am," Willow replied, smiling.

Angel smiled and twined his fingers through hers on top of the tablecloth.
"You know what I mean, Willow," he said. "I'm a vampire. You know you could
do better. A guy that can make you happy; go places with you."

"You make me happy, Angel," Willow replied. "I don't need daytime outings. I
just need you. You might be a vampire, but you're a good guy."

The dark-haired vampire got up from his chair and walked around the table to
where Willow was. He knelt down beside her and took her hand. He leaned up
and kissed her. Willow ran her hands through his hair as the kiss deepened.

"I love you," Angel whispered, kissing her forehead.

Willow smiled as she cupped his cheek with her hand. "I love you, too," she
said. "It just took me coming to L.A to realize it."

"So do you want to get out of here? Go some place private?" Angel asked.

The red-head glanced around. "Why don't we just stay here?" she replied. "We
can call it our first official date."

Angel smiled and went back to his seat. The two of them ordered their dinner
and talked while they waited for it. The dark-haired vampire couldn't
believe how the last couple of days had turned out. 'I have to be the
luckiest person' he thought as he gazed at the beautiful young woman across
from him. 'Or at least the luckiest vampire.'

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

Two months later. . .
 

Spike paced the hallway of the mansion. It had been over two months since he
and Anya had become a couple. The only people they talked to were Giles,
Willow, and Angel. They'd lost all contact with Buffy and Xander.

The last two months had sped by as Spike and Anya had become closer and were
even more in love.

'What's taking her so long?' he wondered as he paused outside the bathroom
door. "Anya? Are you ok?" Spike asked, growing concerned.

On the other side of the door, Anya was going through her own torrent of
emotions. She closed her eyes as she looked down at the bathroom counter.
'This can't be happening' she thought. 'It's not possible is it?'

When she'd lost her powers last year and become mortal, she'd picked up
having to deal with every aspect of being a teenage girl. She hadn't
considered it at the time, but that meant she could get pregnant. 'I didn't
think vampires could have kids' she thought.

"Anya! Why don't you come out here? I'm not getting any older you know,"
Spike said.

Anya took a deep breath before she unlocked the door and stepped out into
the hall. Spike raised an eyebrow. "Well?" he said.

"Well I went to the doctor today because I've been so tired lately," Anya
replied. "And guess what? There's a reason for me being so tired. I'm. .
.pregnant, Spike."

Time seemed to stop as Spike stood there staring at his girlfriend. "How's
that possible?" he asked. "Vampires can't have babies."

"That's what I thought, too," Anya said. She patted him on the shoulder.
"Congratulations, Spike. You're going to be the first daddy who's a
vampire."

'Nothing's ever going to be the same again' Spike thought as he looked at
Anya. He placed a hand lightly on her stomach. "So. . .we're going to have a
child?" he said as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

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

"The path has been set," the female Oracle informed her male counterpart. "I
sense it."

"What is the purpose of this?" the male Oracle asked. "Is it logical for two
demons to have a child?"

"It is when the PTB's have a plan behind it," she replied. "The vampire and
the ex-vengeance demon have a lot to deal with from their pasts. . .and a
lot deal with in their futures. And their child won't be a typical mortal."

"Oh? So what's this child going to be?" the male Oracle asked.

"He will be a warrior against the darkness," she explained. "One day he will
be almost as strong as the Slayer herself. . .a demon-hunter. The vampire
and ex-demon won't know of his path until the day their child is born;
that's the day we tell them."

THE END.

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