~Part 1~

Willow trudged down the staircase that led to Xander's room.

"Hey Will," said Xander cheerfully. "Mom let you in again?"

Willow nodded, smiling slightly.

"What's wrong? You look down in the dumps," Xander asked as he put the
classified section down, motioning for Willow to sit beside him on the bed.

"I hate Oz," Willow burst out. " I mean, he just takes off, no, 'let's work
it out.' He just leaves! After everything we've been through. A-a-a-and
then. He just, gets all his stuff. He doesn't call me, you know? Doesn't
even give me a chance to get a keepsake. Something to remember him by;
something that smells like him. It was just so-so... ugh! I don't know,
mean!"

With that Willow stopped talking, panting slightly. Xander quickly glanced
at his door worriedly, Willow's voice had grown steadily louder as she
vented her feelings. After making sure that no nosy parents were coming
down, Xander foucused his entire sympathetic attetion onto Willow.

"Hey," he soothed softly, pulling her into a hug. "It's gonna be ok. I know
how you feel."

"H-how?" sniffled Willow. "Anya didn't leave you."

At Xander's significant lack of a response, she looked up at his face.

"Did she?" Willow asked suspiciously.

Xander nodded, "She took off yesterday, saying she was sick of this whole
relationship thing."

"Oh, Xander! I'm so sorry!"

Xander gave her a sad little smile in response.

"Unlucky us hunh?"he joked. "Everybody else in the Scooby Gang got to take
off for parts unknown and have a pretty decent trip, responsibility free.
Us? We either get cruddy trips or we don't leave at all."

Willow's face suddenly lit up with an idea. "So, why don't we?" she asked.

"Hunh?"

"We could take off for parts unknown. Be responsibility free."

"That's a great idea Will. Just you, me and the open road..."

"And Spike," added Willow.

"And Spike," agreed Xander, then stopped and thought about what he just
said. "Hey, wait a minute. Why do we have to bring the fangless wonder?"

"Because, if we leave him with only Buffy, Riley and Giles for company, he
might try and stake himself again."

"Oh, come on Willow!" protested Xander. "You say that like it's a *bad*
thing!"

Willow gave him a *look*. Xander caved in under three seconds.
***

"It was nice of your parents to lend us their car," commented Xander, as he
drove it over to Spike's crypt.

"Umm, well..." replied Willow. "They don't actually know they lent it to us
yet..."

"Boy Will, we're just racking up those felony charges. Stealing,
kidnapping-"

"Oh yeah?" interrupted Willow. "Well-well, how else was I supposed to get a
car with enough trunk space on such short notice?"

"The lady has a point," conceded Xander. "We're here."

After parking the car, the two friends got out as quietly as possible and
snuck towards the crypt. The plan was to use some magickally re-enforced
rope to hold Spike long enough to lock him in the trunk. Willow had also
placed a spell on the trunk. Not even the combined strength of three
vampires was enough to break it open. They hadn't wanted Spike to
accidentally pop the trunk during daylight hours.
Well, Willow hadn't. Xander simply wanted Willow to stop giving him that
*look*.

"Why are we doing this again?" whispered Xander, as he and Willow crept
towards the crypt.

"Because we don't want Buffy to kill him," replied Willow, just as softly.

"Some tosser's gettin' killed? Count me in!" Spike exclaimed loudly from
right behind the two conspirators.

The soon-to-be runaways jumped, both letting out a startled cry. Xander
recovered quickly, spinning around and shoving a cross into Spike's face.
Willow took advantage of Spike's distraction, slipping around behind him and
incapacitating him with her rope. With Xander's help, she dragged Spike over
to the car and dumped him into the trunk.
***

Angel had come back to Sunnydale in the hopes of talking to Buffy. Their
last meeting hadn't gone very well. But then again, mused Angel, that seemed
to be the case anytime they met.

He had been searching throught the cemeteries, hoping to catch the Slayer on
patrol, when he came across a very strange scene. Strange even for
Sunnydale. Xander and Willow were apparently trying to stuff a tied-up,
cursing, and struggling Spike in the trunk of a car.

Angel decided he *definitely* wanted to know what this was all about. He
walked up behind the trio, just as Xander grabbed Spike's feet and lifted.
Successfully getting most of Spike into the trunk.

"Uh, Willow? Xander? What are you guys doing?" he asked. The pair jumped and
yelped for the second time that night. They spun around to face Angel, their
expressions going from guilty to confused and slightly panicked.

"Geez Deadboy! What's with your family and scaring us?" exclaimed Xander.
But before Angel could even process the question, he plowed on, "What are
you doing here anyway?"

Angel figured the easiest course of action would be to start from the
begining. He turned slightly, gesturing behind him vaguely, and
said,"Buffy-"

"Buffy's looking for us?!" panicked Willow. "We have to move now before she
makes us stay!"

This, of course, set Xander off as well. "Quick! Throw him in, before he
runs and tells Buffy!"

He whipped out his cross again as Willow used an extra strand of the rope to
lasso Angel. Together they stuffed a stunned and spluttering Angel into the
trunk with Spike. After securing the trunk's top, they raced to the front of
the car and jumped in. Xander revved the car and they sped off in a cloud of
smoke.
***

Poor Angel didn't know what was going on. The thought occured that maybe his
Childe might have an idea of what was going on. He blindly turned his face
to the general area where he thought Spike's face was and asked
hesitantly,"Umm, Spike-"

"Oh bloody hell!" groused Spike to himself. "It's bad enough I got tossed in
here by Slutty's pet humans. Now I've got Peaches in 'ere and he's gonna try
and make nice!"

"Umm," replied Angel intelligently.

~Part 2~

"Oh God Willow! What are we going to do now?" Xander glanced at his friend
worriedly, before focusing on the road again.

"Well... let's review what we have-"

"We have a stolen car, two of the un-dead in the trunk, a total of only 300
dollars, and probably a bunch of cops and an angry Slayer on our tail!"
Xander practically wailed.

Willow sighed mentally. *Now* she remembered why Buffy never let Xander have
sugar before they implemented a major plan. She took a deep breath and said
in her most reassuring voice, "Mom and Dad are out of town on business for a
couple of months, so it'll be a while before they notice. A-and since we
brought enough blood to last Spike a couple of weeks, Angel can share. We'll
just have to buy more sooner than we expected."

"And what about Buffy?"

"I don't think she'll think of taking this road to find us. In fact, she
probably thinks Spike kidnapped us and Angel. Again."

Xander thought about that and seemed to calm down somewhat. He heaved a sigh
and asked, "Why are we doing this again?"

"It's that whole 'escape your pain' thing. Plus we didn't want Spike to try
and kill himself again." Xander rolled his eyes, "Oo, and we didn't want
Angel to tattle."

"Oh yeah," said Xander softly.

They drove in a comfortable silence for awhile. Then, Willow looked over at
Xander nervously. "Spike and Angel are gonna kill us when they get out of
the trunk, aren't they?"

"Naw," reasurred Xander. "Deadboy's conscience won't let him, and Deadboy
Jr.'s neutered, so he's harmelss."

"Xander!" scolded Willow. "Be nice!"

"Why? It's not like they can hear us."

*****

Angel shifted uncomfortably, trying not to jab Spike now that they were both
untied. "What did Xander mean when he said you're neutered?"

"I'm not going to tell you," replied Spike, somewhat sulkily.

"Spike..." Angel said gently, laying a hand on his Childe's cheek.

"Oh bloody hell!" Spike choked out, and proceeded to tell Angel everything
from Dru leaving him for a Fungus Demon to the discovery that he could still
hurt demons.

"And Buffy's dating one of these bastards?" Angel growled dangerously.

"Since when do you care?" demanded Spike.

"Since you're my Childe and they took away your main means of survival,"
ground out Angel.

Spike grinned, "Gee, thanks 'Dad'," then he jerked his head toward the front
of the car, "Wot say we give Chubs and Red a good scare when they let us
out?"

"No Spike," sighed Angel.

"And why not?"

"Because you know what they're going through. Besides," Angel grinned, "you
kidnapped them when Dru left you last year. It's only fair that they kidnap
you now that they've been dumped."

"You're no fun anymore Peaches," grumbled Spike.

*****

About an hour before dawn, Xander pulled into the almost full parking lot of
a seedy looking motel. Willow and Xander got out of the car and met at the
trunk.

"You sure Will?" asked Xander, handing Willow the keys.

"They won't hurt me," Willow stated confidently. "Go get the four of us some
rooms."

"Ok, ok, going now," Xander gave her a tired smile and headed towards the
main lobby of the motel.

Willow turned her attention to the bundle of keys in her hand. Quickly
picking out the one that unlocked the trunk, she slid it in the lock.
Remembering to holler 'Sun's till down' first, she opened the trunk.

The two vampires stiffly unfolded themselves from the trunk. They spent the
next couple of minutes stretching and walking around a bit. After a
particularly large stretch, Spike turned to Willow.

"So where's Chubs?"

"Chubs?" answered Willow, "Oh! Xander. He went to get us some rooms."

"Wot? Not going to stuff me 'n' the Poof back in the trunk?"

"If we were going to make you spend the day in the trunk, I wouldn't have
bothered to let you out at all," replied Willow indignantly, resisting the
urge to stick her tongue out at the blonde vampire.

"So what are you planning to do with us?" asked Angel.

Willow looked slightly confused. "I just told you-"

"I think what Peaches means is," Spike changed his stance to mirror Angel's.
And, putting on a suitably broody expression, said in his 'deep hero voice',
"Are you going to drag us along while you do your 'escape your pain thing'?"

Willow paled, while Angel smacked his Childe upside the head.

"You guys could hear us?" the witch asked softly.

"Of course we could Red. We *are* vampires," retorted Spike.

Angel decided to focus totally on Willow. That way he didn't have to worry
about constantly smacking Spike upside the head.

"Hey Willow!" called Xander as he ran up, "Bad news. I could only get two
rooms. We're gonna have to-"

"Stuff me 'n' the Poof in the trunk?" interrupted Spike.

"No," replied Xander matter-of-factly. "As I was *saying*, before Fangless
here interrupted, is we're gonna have to double up. I was thinking Will and
me in one room, and you two in the other."

"No *bloody* way," protested Spike. "I wanna share with Red."

"What!?" exclaimed the other three.

Spike puffed out his chest defensively, "I'm bloody well *sick* of Daddy
dearest 'ere, and there's no way in bloody 'ell that I'm sharing a room with
the 'nummy treat'; so that leaves you Red."

"Oh," said Willow, feeling oddly disapointed.

Xander opened his mouth to protest... and yawned. 'Ah, hell with it,' he
thought. 'Willow's a big girl and Spike can't bite' He shrugged and turned
to his best friend. "Up to you Will. Think you can stand Deadboy Jr. here?"

Willow thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, that's fine."

Spike let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"Ok," said Xander and he headed for the backseat of the car to get the bags,
with no arguments or quips. Both Angel and Willow looked at him worriedly.
Suddenly, Xander popped his head back out. "Will, is it one bag or two in
the morning?"

"One," replied Willow.

"Bags?" asked Spike, raising an eyebrow.

"Of blood," said Willow. "You know, for you guys to eat."

"So you lot really *are* feeding us," said Spike, slightly surprised.

"Of course," said Willow, "why wouldn't we?"

Before either vampire got a chance to answer, Xander, having locked up the
car, came over and handed Willow her bag.

"I've got the bloodbags, just pop over to my room before we leave. Room 14.
Here's your room key. You guys got room 10. Oh, and don't worry about
getting enough sleep. I'll drive for the first half of the night."

Xander gave her a small wave as Spike grabbed Willow and drug her to their
room. Xander looked at Angel. "I've got our key and my stuff, so let's go."

He turned to head towards their room, but was stopped by Angel's hesitant
hand on his shoulder. "Xander," asked Angel, "are you alright?"

"I'm *fine*, Angel. Just keep to your side of the bed and no snoring ok?"

Xander turned and continued heading to the motel, leaving Angel standing in
the lot, frozen in shock. "He called me Angel," whispered the vampire.

Xander stopped and turned. "Coming?" he asked.

Angel shook himself out of his stupor and jogged up to Xander. Together,
they walked the rest of the way to their room.

~Part 3~

Willow pushed open the door to her room and looked around. The walls were an
awful yellow-white; to the left of the door was a small dresser with a tacky
green lamp sitting on it forlornly. Stuck into the wall across from the
dresser was a huge bay window framed by thick drapes. The wall across from
the doorway where Willow stood held the door to the bathroom. The bed, a
*double* bed Willow noticed with a curious mix of glee and dread, was
sitting calmly beside the bathroom door. And sitting quite loudly on the bed
was a garish pink and green bedspread
which the red-headed witch decided should have been burnt upon creation.

Spike snuck up behind the unmoving Wiccan and gave her a healthy pinch on
the rear. Willow let out a yelp, leaped into the room and spun around to
glare at the vampire. The only response she got was a cheeky grin.

Spike glanced around the room, eyes settling on the bed, wincing a bit at
the sight of the bedspread. His grin went from cheeky to down right
mischievous. He faced Willow and, using his best 'modest virgin' voice,
said, "Now you keep to your side of the bed pet. I want to be able to wear
white at my wedding."

Willow's face took on a look of incredulity, and she found herself torn
between wishing the floor would swallow her up and smacking the vampire.
Then she suddenly grinned slyly at Spike. She sauntered over to him and,
using her free hand, trailed her fingers up his chest as she cooed, "Are you
*sure* Spikey? I mean, white is *soo* not your color."

With a quick flick of fingers on his nose, Willow hefted her bag and
strutted into the bathroom, closing the door behind her; leaving a stunned
and speechless vampire in her wake.

*****

Xander opened the door to his room, and with barely a glance around, dropped
his bag and flopped down unto the bed. Angel walked into the room quickly,
nearly tripping over Xander's bag. He glanced around the room, which,
unknown to him was identical to Willow and Spike's. He cast another worried
glance at Xander, wincing at the sight of the horrid bedspread, and walked
over to the window to shut the drapes. He hesitated a second, then went and
sat on the bed beside Xander.

"Hey," he said softly, gently stroking Xander's hair, "are you ok?"

Xander looked up at him with tears running down his face. "What do you
think?" he choked out.

Angel's heart gave a little twinge; he reached over and pulled the boy into
his lap. "Want to talk about it?" he questioned softly, stroking Xander's
back in slow soothing motions.

Xander pressed his face into Angel's chest, and with a shuddering breath,
started to sob violently. The vampire didn't say a thing, merely murmured
comforting sounds and continued stroking Xander's back. After a few minutes,
his sobs had died down to a few hiccupping sniffles. Then, Xander started
talking, "Anya left. No reasons at all, she just left. I even did everything
right this time. I paid attention to her, even told her I loved her. And I
didn't cheat either. So why did she leave hunh? How did I screw up this
time?"

Angel tried to suppress the urge to go find the ex-demon and beat her. Angel
smirked internally, he was never sure if he should be worried when both his
demon and his soul were in perfect agreement. Xander, concentrate on Xander.
"It wasn't you," soothed Angel. "She was the one stupid enough to leave."

"Yeah right," snorted Xander. "It's always me. My parents say so. My
teachers said so. Hell, even Buffy's said it once or twice. I mean, come on,
name one time I didn't screw up."

Angel took a second to add a few names to his list of people both the demon
and soul wanted to kill slowly, then answered Xander's question, ticking off
the items on his fingers. "You saved Buffy's life after the Master killed
her. You protected Buffy when she was sick. You organized the Scoobies for
patrols when Buffy ran away. You were the key guy in stopping the mayor's
ascension. Oh, and when the Hellmouth opened, you stopped that gang of
zombies from blowing up the school."

Xander's head shot up at that last reason. "How did you...?"

Angel smiled cryptically, "I have my sources..." Upon noticing Xander's
yawn, he added, "We should get some sleep. You said you'd be driving first
thing..."

"Yeah," said Xander, yawning. "I'll go get changed then."

He walked over to the door and grabbed his bag. As he closed the bathroom
door, Angel got up and stripped down to his boxers. He slid into bed, trying
not to look too closely at the bedspread. 'Hope Xander doesn't want this
side," he thought.

*****

Willow and Spike lay in bed side by side. Willow was wearing her pajamas and
Spike was wearing his boxers. He had wanted to sleep nude like he always
did. Willow, however, had put on her resolve face and told him that either
he wear his underwear or she was going to get up at noon and open the
drapes. Then he'd be the maid's problem. So Spike was wearing his boxers to
bed. Albeit very grumpily.

"Spike, stop growling. I'm trying to sleep," said Willow.

Spike merely growled louder. So, Willow smacked his chest.

"Ow! That bloody well hurt Red!"

"Sissy."

"Am not! I'm-"

"William the Bloody, big bad vamp who can normally torture a human for hours
with railroad spikes. The dangerous demon beater-upper, blah, blah, blah.."

"Are you mocking me pet?"

"Yup!"

Spike started growling again.

Willow rolled her eyes. "Oh cheer up! It could be worse.."

"Yeah," agreed Spike, perking up, "Room could be purple."

Willow stiffened. "And *what*, pray tell, is wrong with purple?"

"It's a bloody annoying color."

"I happen to *like* purple."

"Shows wot you know!"

"I'll have you know that purple is a great color. It's rich and nice and...
very purplely."

Spike started laughing, "Aren't *we* the walking thesaurus tonight?"

Willow indignantly pushed him off the bed. He landed on the floor with a
thump; still laughing. Willow grabbed a pillow and smacked Spike over the
head with it. A very noisy pillow fight ensued. And, luckily for Spike,
since he had no intent to hurt his Red, the chip never went off. Suddenly,
one of their neighbors started banging on the walls, shouting for the
'lovebirds' to keep it down.

It only took Willow a second to realize what the man had thought they were
doing. Her face turned an interesting shade of purple in embarrassment.

Spike started laughing again, "Now I know why you like purple so much
ducks."

Eyes narrowing, Willow slammed her gaze onto Spike. She raised her pillow,
and with a low growl, she charged.

~Part 4~

Waking up that night proved to be a very pleasant experience for Angel.
Apparently Xander was a snuggler. He had tucked himself under the vampire's
chin, and had thrown his right arm across Angel's stomach, molding himself
to Angel's cooler body. The souled vampire lay there, enjoying the feelings
of warmth and contentment invoked by the close contact with the sleeping
mortal.

It suddenly occurred to him how Xander might react, waking up in this
position. Angel decided to avoid the uncomfortableness for a change. He
slipped carefully out of bed and turned to wake Xander, who was stirring now
that his wonderful pillow had disappeared.

"Xander," Angel called softly, rubbing the boy's shoulder, "time to wake
up."

A moan sleepily crawled its way out of Xander's mouth. "Go away Spike,
Willow's not here. She's in the toaster."

Angel couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. This, of course, woke Xander
with a start.

"Deadboy," yawned Xander. "What're you doing here?"

"I got stuffed into a trunk with my grumpy childe courtesy of you and
Willow, remember?"

"Oh. Right. So what's so funny?"

"You have very strange dreams Xander Harris," replied Angel, chuckling.

Xander chuckled as well. "Tell me about it. First I was fighting Homer
Simpson for the right to date Marge. Then this giant toaster comes out of
nowhere and eats Willow and Barney the Dinosaur. Then it used it's electric
cord to fling me onto the top of Mount Everest where I had to hang on for
dear life. And suddenly Spike comes out of nowhere and yanks the mountain
away from me and starts checking under my arms for Willow."

"Come on. We have to get up," said Angel, still chuckling.

"Yeah," yawned Xander as he got up, grabbed his bag and headed into the
bathroom. "Gotta go make sure a giant toaster really *didn't* eat Willow."

Angel snorted. "You've been living on the Hellmouth too long.."

***

Spike was having a nice dream. A very nice dream. About an intriguing and
beautiful red-headed witch. Suddenly there was a blinding light. 'Sun!' his
mind screamed at him. Spike let out a very un-manly screech and leapt out of
bed, grabbing a pillow for protection from the bright, glaring, hot.....
non-burning light of the lamp. Spike took a moment to register this fact in
his sleep-fogged mind, before turning to the red-headed witch of his dreams;
who was busy rolling on the floor with laughter.

She was laughing. At him. Standing on a chair, clutching the covers up to
his chin with one hand and holding out his pillow like a cross in the other
hand. Spike glared at Willow and silently vowed to only dream of her bloody
and painful death.

"Sorry," giggled Willow. "I just couldn't resist. It's time to get up
anyway. The sun's down and we'll be hitting the road as soon as we eat."

"You planning on stuffing me and my 'darling' Sire in the trunk again?"
asked Spike icily, trying in vain to stay mad at the young mortal.

"Nah, you guys can have the backseat," she replied with a sunny grin.

Spike made one last vain attempt to keep his anger, then gave up. It was
impossible to stay angry in the face of her smile. He resigned himself to
being a sodden poof when it came to his witch. He tossed out all thoughts of
a bloody revenge and returned Willow's grin.

"Time to get dressed!" chirped Willow as she grabbed her bag and headed for
the bathroom, Spike at her heels. Well, he was until Willow spun around and
glared at him. Then he was sitting on the bed. Pouting.

***

Willow and Spike made their way over to room 14 after quickly dressing and
packing. Xander pulled a hotplate out of his bag and proceeded to make
breakfast for the two vampires. Once that was taken care of, the four walked
to a tiny diner near the motel so the humans of the group could eat.

After paying, they headed to the car to get back on the road.

"Did you guys see that freaky waitress checking me out?" asked Xander with a
shudder.

"Awww, poor widdle nancy boy scared of an old broad like her?" laughed
Spike.

Angel heaved a resigned sigh and calmly smacked his childe upside the head.

"Ow!"

Willow giggled quietly and Xander shot the souled vampire a small grateful
smile. The mortal boy then got into the driver's seat of the car, un-locking
the doors for the others. Willow grabbed shotgun, while Angel settled in
behind Xander. Spike, who was grumbling and rubbing his injury, slid into
the seat behind Willow.

***

"Ok, I've got one," said Willow. "Who would you rather do? Richard Simmons
or one of those flying monkeys from the 'Wizard of Oz'?"

"Boy monkey or girl monkey?" asked Xander.

"Either one would be better then that hyperactive sod," declared Spike.

"Why not let Richard Simmons do the monkeys and just stay out of it?"
suggested Angel.

"Now there's a freaky mental image you don't get every day," stated Xander.

"I will now," shuddered Willow. Suddenly she lit up and exclaimed, "Oh! I'm
turning this song up!"

"Which son- Oh. Virgin State of Mind! I love that song," said Xander.

"Wot?" asked Spike.

"It's by K's Choice," explained Willow.

"Oh bloody hell! Why can't we listen to some *good* music. Like the Sex
Pistols or Billy Idol or-"

"Ah-*HA*! I knew you were a Billy Idol wannabe! I *knew* it!" cheered
Xander.

"Oh sod off you bleedin'-" A smack echoed through the car. "Ow! Leave off
Peaches!"

Xander straightened up in the driver's seat and said in his best 'dad'
voice, "Alright you two. Settle down or I'm turning this car right around
and you'll both be in big trouble!"

He shot Willow an 'I've always wanted to say that' grin. The two vampires in
the back did settle down.

Things were quiet for a few minutes. Then Spike spoke up in his whiniest
voice, "Are we there yet?!?"

~Part 5~

A couple of hours later, they were driving through a particularly boring
stretch of road. Willow decided to start the games again.

"Best place to live?" she asked.

"Disneyland," replied Xander without hesitation.

Spike snorted, "Figures."

"Ok Fangless, please, tell us. Where's the best place to live? Our inquiring
minds wanna know."

"Bath."

"A bathtub?" Willow frowned in confusion.

"Boy, someone's missing the chains of the G-man more than he wants to
admit," quipped Xander.

"No, you nonce. It a little town in England," growled Spike.

Angel's eyes suddenly widened in realization. He glared at his Childe. "I
still can't believe you ate her."

"Ate who?" asked Willow.

Spike smirked at his Sire. "'Ey! She tasted good. You're just mad because I
didn't save any for you!"

Angel decided it was better to ignore the other vampire, lest he be tempted
to kill him. He answered Willow's question instead. "The last time we were
in Bath, Spike met a young girl there. Brown eyes and hair, pale skin. Her
name was... Kathryn. Spike wooed her, won her, married her, and ate her."

"And it was fun!" finished Spike.

Angel sighed.

"Cheer up Deadboy," said Xander. "It's better than hell."

"No," replied Angel. "In hell, all the demons will do is torture you for an
eternity. Here, I get Spike."

"'Ey!"

Willow and Xander started giggling, while Spike settled for glaring at his
Sire.

"Hey Deadboy?" asked Xander, deciding that it was time to get back on topic.

"Yeah?"

"Where's the best place to live?"

"Home," replied the vampire simply.

"Oh *real* specific there Peaches!"

Angel growled at Spike.

Xander rolled his eyes at the two vampires. He looked over at his best
friend.

"How 'bout you Will?"

"Purple Berry Fort," she immediately replied.

"Well that was a tough question, eh luv? And look, purple!" teased Spike.

Willow popped her head over the seat and stuck her tongue out at the
vampire. He gleefully returned the gesture.

"Purple Berry Fort.... how old we were then?" asked Xander.

"Ten. Remember?" answered Willow.

"Ah, the year Cordy turned into the bitch-queen. I remember."

Willow smiled, then started to tell the story for the two vampires.

"We had this friend named Jesse, and his dad built us this treehouse. We
called it Purple Berry Fort 'cause we used to throw blueberries from it at
Cordy when she walked by."

"And it was 'Purple Berry' because we thought it was stupid to call
blueberries blue when they really made a purple color, so we re-named the
fruit," added Xander.

"You were a strange lot back then," sneered Spike.

Angel smirked evily. "Says the vampire who couldn't sleep without his teddy
bear as a fledgling."

Spike growled, flushing. He slouched low in his seat, flipping Angel the
bird, as Xander and Willow howled with laughter.
***

Around midnight, Xander and Willow switched seats. Angel, knowing his Childe
well, made Spike switch spots with him as well.
***

The car had been quiet for awhile and Spike was bored. he debated stooping
to starting a conversation with the others and finally decided that it was
better than nothing. The only problem was that he couldn't think of anything
to say. Frustrated, he banged his head on the seat and looked out the back
window with his upside-down view. Spike smiled. Finally, something to talk
about.

"Looky," he said. "Another blighter stupid enough to be out here this late."

Angel and Xander turned in their seats to see, while Willow glanced in the
rear-view mirror.

"A trucker?" guessed Willow.

Angel shook his head. "Vehicle's not big enough."

"Well whoever the bloody 'ell they are, they're gaining on us," observed
Spike.

"Think they're gonna try passing us?" asked Willow nervously. "I-I mean,
we're going pretty fast..."

"Don't know pet," replied Spike, a bad feeling about the other vehicle
creeping on him. "Got your seatbelt on?"

Willow nodded. Xander decided that it would be a good idea to put his on as
well. He was just about to click the buckle in place when the vehicle behind
them sped up and rammed into their bumper.

Angel threw himself forward without hesitation. Wrapping his arms around
Xander's seat, he grabbed the boy and kept him from taking a dive through
the windsheild. At the same time, Spike had copied his Sire, flinging his
duster out to protect the mortals from shattered glass as the car smashed
into a hydro pole.

The smoke hadn't even had a chance to clear as both vampires kicked out the
back doors and moved to the front doors.
***

Willow couldn't open her door. Not that it mattered as Spike was there,
ripping it off. He quickly freed her from the car and carried her a safe
distance from it. He proceeded to check her over for any injuries.
***

Xander barely had time to realize that there had been an accident before
Angel ripped off the passenger side door and gently pulled the boy out. He
reached the same spot as Spike, barely a second behind him. He too started
checking his human for injuries.

Sire and Childe had just finished their inspections, satisfied Willow and
Xander were alright, when the car exploded.

Willow paled, "If you guys hadn't gotten us out..." She let the implication
hang.

Spike pulled her into a reassuring embrace. Angel found himself doing the
same to Xander.

"All our stuff was in there," said Xander, Angel thought he might be in
shock. "What do we do now?" He shivered and burrowed further into Angel's
arms.

"We go, find the bastard who hit us and rip him into bloody pieces. Slowly."
growled Spike.

Willow pushed away slightly from Spike's chest, so that she could see his
face.

"But you can't," she protested. "I-if he's human. The chip!"

"He almost killed you Red," replied Spike, gently stroking her cheek.
"Doesn't matter how much it hurts, I'm going to kill that wanker."

"Oh really?" jeered a familiar voice. "I'd like to see you try!"

The four companions spun around to see-
 

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