~Part One~

She loved the fall. She loved the way the leaves turned different shades of red, orange, yellow, and even brown. She loved the way they felt and the crunching sound they made as she walked on them. She loved how the weather got just a little cooler that she got to wear a sweater or a light jacket. She loved walking in this sort of weather.

But not right now.

The sun had set nearly half an hour ago and she was too caught up in her early fall walk to notice, until it was too late. Now, she was headed towards the Magic Box at a slightly more hurried pace.  {It's not like I can't defend myself.} She thought as she continued in the direction of the magic shop. There was the witchcraft she could use, not to mention the extremely effective self-defense techniques that Buffy had been
teaching her.  But still, the redhead was in no mood to encounter any creatures of the night. Just then, she heard leaves crunch behind her and
felt a hand on her left shoulder. She quickly turned clockwise with her elbow positioned at shoulder height as it connected with a nose.

"Ow!" A voice screamed. "That's the sodding thanks I get for making sure you're okay?" He asked as he held his now bleeding nose.

"SPIKE!?!?" Willow shouted in surprise. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't.I mean.if I would've known.oops."

"If it would've anyone but you, Red." He let the sentence hang in the air. "Where'd you learn to hit like that?"

"Buffy's been teaching me some neat self-defense moves." The witch replied. "I guess they work."

"Obviously," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. However, he was glad that Bitchy had decided to trust the redhead to take care of herself. The witch had grown up so much since he'd first seen her.  Hell, she'd grown up a lot since he'd kidnapped her all those years ago.  He actually liked this one. Why else would he have been such a nancy-boy by volunteering to make sure she made it to the Magic Box okay?

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, still concerned for the vampire.

"Bloody terrific." He said dryly.

"Fine, I was just."

"Sorry, Luv." He said. He didn't remember thinking it. It just came out. "I'll be fine.  Vampire healing and all."

"Oh. Right." She said. They walked in silence the rest of the way to the magic shop. Despite the cool night air, Willow began to get slightly warm all over.

{Oh, great. I can't even walk beside him without getting all 'junior high girl.' I don't know why I'm even worrying. It's not like I have a chance in hell
with him.}

The bleach blonde vampire noticed the witch tense up and wondered if he had done anything to make her mad. {Or is it just that she can't stand to be around me?} He thought, as they entered the Magic Box.
 

~Part Two~

Willow and Spike walked into the Magic Box silently, each headed towards one of the tables. Spike was the first to notice.

"How many different ways can you people possibly torture me before I'm dust?" He whined as he sat down and put his feet on the table. "What the bloody hell is HE doing here?"

"Good to see you too, William." The voice said sarcastically.

"Angel!" Willow gave the tall, dark vampire a hug. Angel could've sworn he heard a growl from his grandchilde. Willow then released her hold on the LA vamp and noticed a tall, good-looking black man about her age. "You must be Gunn." She said walking over to the stranger. "Hi. I'm Willow." She put out her hand to shake his.

"Hey Willow." Gunn replied. "Good guess, by the way."

"Well, I remember what Wesley looks like and I don't remember him being a total hottie." The redhead replied.  Gunn smiled.

Buffy gasped. "I said almost the exact same thing!" The two girls giggled.

"Hello! Other men in the room!" Xander said, obviously a little jealous.

"Don't worry honey," Anya replied as she put her arm around her fiancé.  "I think you're a hottie."

"Um, can we get down to business here?" Angel asked, the conversation making him quite uncomfortable.

"So, Grandpa, why are you here?" Spike asked as he lit a cigarette.

Angel glared at the bleach blonde and took an unneeded breath to calm his nerves. Spike just smirked. He knew he was annoying the pouf.

"Can it, Fangless." Buffy said. "This is important."

"Why? You still don't get to shag him."

"SPIIIKE!" Everyone yelled. He just smiled and took another drag from his cigarette.  Then he noticed Dawn trying to hide a giggle.

"Sorry Niblet," he said. "That wasn't for your ears."

"Angel," Willow said calmly. "What's going on? Where is Cordelia?  Is anyone hurt?"

"No, Little One." Angel said with a smile. " No one's hurt." He glared at Spike again.  "Yet. But Cordy had a vision and we need the help of more than one slayer, at least another vampire, and a powerful witch. Oh, computer knowledge is a plus."

Buffy, Willow, and Spike looked at each other. "Well, guess who's going on a road trip!" Buffy said, trying to be cheerful. She would always love Angel, but it would never work and he would always have the most special place in her heart, no matter what happened.

"Hip hip effing hooray." Spike said sarcastically.

"How soon can you guys be ready?" Angel asked.

"We'll meet at Buffy's place in an hour." Willow answered.

"So, who's holding down the fort out there?"  Buffy asked.

"Well, there's Cordy, Fred, Lindsey, and Wesley." Gunn replied.

"You wankers let Wussy try to fight the forces of darkness practically by himself?" Spike asked with a chuckle.  "It's a good thing the cheerleader is there to protect him."

"Hey Spike," Buffy said as she noticed something for the first time. "What happened to your nose?"

"Oh, sod off, Slayer." The blonde vampire replied as he stood and headed for the door.

"One hour, Spike." Angel called out as his grandchilde left the building.
 

~Part Three~

"Dawn, promise me you won't give Xander and Anya any trouble." Buffy said to her little sister.

"Come on, Buff," Xander said. "She's fifteen. She's gotta be a little bit of hell-on-wheels."

"Can we please not use that word, seeing how we ARE on the Hellmouth and all?" Buffy whined.

"I'll be a good girl. I promise." Dawn said. "Now go, help save the world again."

"Oh, all right." Buffy answered and playfully pouted.

"You guys be careful, alright." Anya said sincerely.

"Well, okay, the humans be careful."  Xander added.

"Vampires, you're on your own."

"Xander!" Willow said as she hit the carpenter in the arm. "Guys, he didn't mean it like that." The redhead said to the vampires, trying to smooth things over.

"Yes he did." Angel said with a slight smile at the witch. The group laughed and headed outside to the modes of transportation.

"Xapper, if anything happens to Dawn, chip or no chip, you're dead. Is that clear?" Spike warned.

"Chill, deadboy jr." Xander replied. "Nothing's going to happen to Dawn."

Buffy smiled as she began to load the luggage to what was now her Jeep Cherokee. She was so happy that so many people cared about her sister.

"Wait a minute." Gunn said. "What are you doing that for? We got plenty of room in Angel's car."

"I just figured that Angel shouldn't have to waste a trip to bring us all the way back here when we were done with the fighting." Buffy said.

"Now, here comes the big question." Gunn said.

"He's riding with you two." Buffy answered, not even letting poor Gunn finish his question.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Buffy." Angel replied. "Unless you want him to make the trip in the ash tray."

"Hey! Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" The blonde vampire shouted. Willow just liked to watch him. He was so cute, even when he was being a pain. Then, the blonde vampire said, "Fine, I'll take my own car and you wankers can kiss my."

"Spike!" Willow warned and cast her eyes over to Dawn.

"Oh, like I haven't heard THAT word before." Dawn said sarcastically.

"I wasn't going to use THAT word, Lil' Bit." Spike said with a smirk as he arched his scarred eyebrow. The teen blushed.

"Could you PLEASE try to NOT be such a bad influence on my sister?" Buffy said to the vampire. Spike just stood there as he continued to smirk. "I'll stake you before I let you take your own car. Hell, you'd never show up in LA. Now, unless you want to listen to girl talk the entire way to LA, I suggest you ride with Angel and Gunn." She paused, letting the extent of that one sentence sink in. "Is that clear?"

Cramps. Chit music. Chocolate. Boys. He didn't think he could hear his red talk about any other male except for him. So, he took a deep breath and lit a cigarette.

"Fine," he said calmly. "I'll ride with Paingel. But there's only so much brooding I can take."

"Amen!" Gunn said. "If he didn't brood so much, I bet he'd actually smile every now and then."

"You're all right, kid." Spike said.

"So are you, demon." Gunn replied as they headed toward Angel's car.

"I think everyone would agree that I don't brood nearly as much as I used to." Angel said, still standing there as everyone else either got settled in
the vehicles or went inside the house. "I really don't." He added.

"Come on, Peaches! The sun'll be up before we even get on the highway!" Spike teased from the back seat as the dark vampire walked to his car, defeated.
 

~Part Four~

"So, what music are you in the mood for?" Willow asked. She was still a little disappointed that Spike wouldn't be riding with them on the way there. But, she was also relieved that she could just relax and hang out with Buffy.

"Anything upbeat." The slayer replied. "As long as it doesn't lead to dirty thoughts about a certain bleach blonde vampire, I can deal."

"What? Why would you.? Where did you get.?" The redhead stammered.

"Chill Wills." Buffy said with a smile. "I think it's totally cute that you're diggin' on Fangless." Willow didn't say anything. She was too embarrassed. "C'mon Wills! I didn't say it to piss you off! I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me about anything."  Buffy found a station that was playing upbeat music and turned up the volume. It was not hard to partake in the head bobbing that the slayer started. Pretty soon, they were singing along to Ja Rule's 'Put It On Me', dancing in their seats, and doing a horrid imitation of his voice.

***
Where would I be without my baby?
The thought alone might break me.
And I don't wanna go crazy.
But, every thug needs a lady.
***

"What are they doing?" Spike asked as they pulled into the lane next to Buffy and Willow.

"Looks like head bobbing to me." Angel supplied.

"You're not gonna believe this, but I can read lips pretty well and." Gunn said.

"And?" Angel asked.

"Anyone here ever hear of Ja Rule?"

"You're kidding!" Spike said.

***
When you cry, who wipes your tears?
When you're scared, who's tellin' you nuthin' to fear?
Girl, I'll always be there
When you need a shoulder to lean on.
Never hesitate knowin' you can call on your soulmate.
***

The girls didn't even realize they had an audience until Buffy looked over and saw the guys with the top down singing the same song and trying not to look at them.

"Oh how embarrassing!" Buffy said as she put a hand on Willow's arm.

"Holy shit!" Willow squealed as she ducked and turned the music down. She noticed Spike smiling at her and thought it had to be her imagination because he wasn't making fun of her. Actually, it almost looked lustful. She quickly dismissed it as an effect of the moving vehicles and turned to Buffy. "So, now what?" The two burst into a fit of giggles as the black convertible passed them on the road.

"Nine Inch Nails?" The slayer asked innocently.

~ ~ ~ ~

"Spike, tell me about Willow." Angel said.

"What? What do you mean?" He asked sounding extremely guilty about something.

"Is she seeing anyone? Is she single?" Angel asked.

"Why do YOU want to know, Poufter?"

"Well, I was just wondering if she would like to be set up, that's all." Angel replied innocently. Gunn immediately got what was going on, and had to add his comments.

"You know Angel, she and Wes would make a great couple since they're both really smart and everything." Gunn said.

Spike couldn't suppress a growl as Angel and Gunn exchanged knowing glances and the two men smiled, knowing Wesley and Fred were quite the happy couple, while the blonde in the back seat pouted the rest of the way to LA.
 

~Part Five~

Fred and Wesley were sitting under a mountain of books that were piled on one of the desks while Cordelia was at one of the computers. Lindsey had his own stack of books that he was going through when he heard it. Every looked up simultaneously and at one another before turning their attention to the figure sitting on top of the 'front desk' in the lobby of the hotel. Each person thought the poor thing would go deaf from the high pitched guitars coming from the set of headphones that looked like they were attached to the poor thing's head.

{They have to be attached,} Lindsey thought. {Why else have they not fallen from all of the head banging?}

She sensed all of the attention she was getting as she looked through the books, one by one. She stopped the music on her discman and looked up.

"What?" She demanded.

"Nothing," Lindsey said. "Just."

"How do you concentrate like that?" Fred asked.

"I can't have total quiet." The slayer said. "That would drive me crazy. I need something that's gonna keep me focused."  She turned the music on again and continued her listening of the new Godsmack CD.

"I can't believe there are two of them." Lindsey said.

"What do you mean, 'two of them'?" Wesley asked.

"The other slayer, Buffy." The lawyer replied. "How did you watchers ever keep two of them under control?"

"Oh," Wesley said, understanding what the blue-eyed lawyer was trying to say. "I assure you, Lindsey, Buffy and Faith are on opposite ends of the behavioral spectrum."

"You're kidding." Lindsey replied in shock. "I guess I just assumed."

"Boy, did you assume wrong." Cordelia said. "The only categories we can actually put them in together are female, slayer, and good guys. That's it."

"Wow." Lindsey said. "Who knew?"

"Who knew what?" Buffy asked as she carried hers and Willows bags through the front doors of the Hyperion Hotel {Wow, look at those eyes. Even from here, the blue is amazing} The slayer thought as she looked at the man who could only be Lindsey McDonald.

"Buffy!" Cordelia said happily as she got up and went to hug the blonde slayer. "We were just talking about you!"

"You weren't talkin' about me?" Gunn asked as he trailed in behind the blonde, with Willow not far behind him.

"I don't think Wes, Fred, and Lindsey are ready to hear X-rated stories from me."

"Tell me about it." Lindsey said. Then, he got a look at the blonde slayer. She was completely different from Faith. Lindsey doubted she even owned any black leather or dark lipstick. Or, if she knew what a Godsmack was. She was so little; much shorter than Faith. He was afraid all of the luggage would break her. So, this was the ex love of Angel's life.

"Hey, cheerleader," a British accent called. "Get me some blood. I'm starving."

"Spike, do I look like your maid?" Cordelia asked. Angel walked in behind the blonde vampire. "Didn't we have a discussion involving NOT being annoying, Spike?"

"Well then," Spike replied. "Stop being annoying, Grandpa."

"Spike, um, why don't we find the kitchen and get you that blood?" Willow suggested. She knew things were about to get out of hand.

"Guys, does Faith even know we're here?" Gunn asked before Spike could answer the redhead.

"No, but I'm not going to be the one to get punched for surprising her out of her headphone euphoria." Cordelia said to her boyfriend.

"Didn't anyone teach you people to block?" Angel asked as he walked over to the brunette slayer.

"I have a better idea." Buffy said as she balled up a piece of discarded paper and threw it at Faith. The brunette jumped from the front desk, removed the headphones in mid air, and landed gracefully on the floor.

"B!" She yelled and ran to hug the blonde. Buffy tentatively returned the hug, and then realized she needed to really get over certain things as she
squeezed just as tight as Faith did.

"Good to see you, too Faith." She said as she smiled.

"Oh. Joy." Spike drawled. "Two slayers in a tearful reunion. Will the bloody torture never cease?"

"William the Bloody." The brunette slayer said. "Did you miss me?"

Spike suddenly remembered the time Buffy and Faith switched bodies and glared at Faith. "Oh, sod off, Slayer."

"Lookin' good, Red." Faith told Willow.

"Thanks Faith." Willow said. "Same to you."

"So, did everyone meet Fred and lawyer boy?" Faith asked.

"Yes, I suppose introductions are in order." Wesley said.

"Us first." Spike jumped in as he glared at Wesley, still angry from from what Angel and Gunn discussed in the car. "I'm Spike. The Big Bad. The redhead is Willow." He turned to the witch. "Blood. Now."

"That way." Cordelia instructed the redhead. The two headed towards the kitchen.
 

~Part Six~

"Don't you think that was a little TOO much?" Willow asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Too much what?" Spike replied as he opened the fridge and got a bag of blood while the redhead found a coffee mug.

"Spike, I think you may need to be civil to these people until the job is done. Then, you can go back to being as mean as you want."

"Well, thanks for your permission, witch." Spike said with unveiled sarcasm.

"What is your deal?" She yelled. "I'm just trying to help make this trip go as smoothly as possible, and you're being King Ass!" Instead of waiting for a
reply, she walked out of the kitchen and headed back to the others.
 

Angel's vampire hearing picked up on the volume of Willow's voice. "Hey guys, I'll be right back." He got up and headed towards the kitchen. He nearly ran into the redhead in the hallway.

"Willow, are you okay?" The tall dark vampire asked.

"I'm fine, Angel." She replied. "It's just.sometimes he can be such a pain. And I think he does it to me on purpose!  Why me? What did I do to him?"

Angel led Willow to a couple of chairs that were sitting outside one of the rooms. "Listen, Little One." He said. "William has been a pain ever since
Drusilla turned him. It's not your fault. He tries to be the rebel." He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. "Besides, I think he likes you."

"Uh, yeah I can tell." She said sarcastically.

"You really have been spending a lot of time with him, haven't you?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Willow asked nervously.

You're starting to act like him."  The redhead smiled.
 

"What the bloody hell is this?" A voice asked angrily.

Willow and Angel looked up at the bleach blonde and stared at him with amused looks on their faces.

"Spike, what are doing?" Angel asked as he saw the anger in his grandchilde's face.

Then, they all heard a scream.

"Cordelia!" Angel said as he got up and ran toward his seer. "She's had a vision. Let's go!" The dark vampire left no room for argument as the two followed him to the lobby.

Cordelia was lying down with her head on a pillow in Gunn's lap, handing Buffy the glass of water she obviously used to swallow the ibuprofen she had just taken.

"Cordy!" Angel knelt in front of her with concern on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," The brunette replied. "Just the usual mind numbing, skull spitting vision. That's all."

"Baby, tell us what happened." Gunn said to his girlfriend.

"A nest of demons in the warehouse district in Topanga." The ex-cheerleader said. "Guys, they're going to sacrifice humans."

"No, they're not." The blonde slayer said.

"Let's go whip some ass." The brunette slayer added.

"Willow, Wesley, Fred." Angel said. "Stay here and make sure Cordy is okay."

"Like hell." Spike said as he glared at his grandsire. "Red is NOT staying HERE with." He then realized that the redhead would discover his true
feelings for her and laugh at him. So, he changed his tirade in mid sentence. ".I mean, she's not staying here in case we need her to work some mojo on these demons."

Lindsey looked at the blonde vampire as if he had grown another head. He knew something more was going on. Gunn, Buffy, Faith, and Angel all smiled at Spikes supposed secret feelings towards the witch. But, they all agreed. Then, Gunn, Lindsey and Wesley went to get weapons for the group. "Besides," Buffy said with a smile. "Will knows how to defend herself without magic."

"Yeah, she does." Spike answered, remembering the pain in his nose when the redhead elbowed him. Then, Gunn, Lindsey, and Wesley returned with the weapons.

"Alright." Spike continued. "Let's go kick some demon ass!" Everyone filed out of the hotel and went to find the bad guys."
 

~Part Seven~

"Uh, a little help here!"  Faith yelled as 4 of the demons charged her all at once.

"I'm on it!" Buffy yelled as she twisted the head of the demon she was fighting, breaking its neck. She then jumped into the air and flipped over the 4 demons surrounding Faith to land at the brunette slayer's side. "You called?"

"Yeah," Faith replied. "I just missed you."

"Oh stop it. You're going to make me cry." Buffy replied as she pretended to get all choked up.

This flurry of Slayer fun only the angered the demons more and the first one threw a punch, which landed on Faith's forearm as she blocked the punch. At the same time, Faith back kicked the one behind her with her left leg. Buffy did a spinning side kick which knocked down both the demons she was fighting. She pulled out a knife and quickly stabbed each in the heart.  She handed Faith the knife and the brunette slayer disposed of each of her demons. Gunn grabbed one that was about to join the 'kill the slayers ' party before decapitating it.

Meanwhile, Angel was fighting two demons and Willow rushed over to help.  "Angel! Down!" She yelled as she summoned up a spell to temporarily disorient the two demons. The dark vampire thanked the redhead and elbowed the demon to his right. While turning to punch the demon on his left, he drew a sword and decapitated the one on his left. The other demon tried to run, but Spike had just killed one and still hadn't worked off enough anger and frustration. After repeatedly punching and kicking the demon, the bleach blonde had tired himself out. That's the reason he didn't see
another demon moving towards him. However, when he looked up, he did see Angel and Willow hugging, and slipped into his game face.

As he started moving toward the two embracing, the demon's talon-like claws scratched into his right arm.

"Hey! My coat!" Spike yelled as he punched the demon in the stomach, side kicked it in the face, picked it up off the ground and threw it on a giant piece of metal jutting out of one of the giant crates in the warehouse.

"Spike!" Willow shouted as she ran over to him. "You're hurt!"

"What do you care?" He muttered so only she could hear, as he walked past her and towards the door of the warehouse.

"Well, that was DEFINITELY demon ass kicking." Buffy said.

Everyone was exhausted. These demons were strong. They all started to follow Spike. Willow was last as silent tears rolled down her face.

"Anybody gonna get him?" Gunn asked as he indicated an unconscious Lindsey on the floor by the door. Spike looked at the lawyer.

"No." The blond vampire said, and kept walking.

"I got him." Buffy said as she bent down to sling Lindsey over her shoulder.
 

~Part Eight~

To say the ride home was quiet was an understatement. Upon everyone's return to the Hyperion, Gunn helped Buffy carry a now conscious but disoriented Lindsey.

"Is everyone okay?" Cordelia asked.

"Everyone is fine." Angel replied.

"Lindsey just got a bump on the head." Willow added.

"Why didn't you save him like you did the Pouf?" Spike said under his breath as he sat on one of the chairs and put his feet on the coffee table.

Angel started to walk over to his grandchilde and Faith put a hand on his arm. "No, let him deal." The brunette slayer lowered her voice to say. "Been there, done that."

"Not when there is a misunderstanding." Angel said and continued to the bleached blonde, who was watching the red head help Buffy clean up the wounds on Lindsey.

"What do you want, Peaches?" He said without taking his eyes from the witch.

"Let's talk outside." Angel replied.

"That would be a no." Spike said as he continued to take a drag from his cigarette.  Angel picked him up by the ear and practically dragged him to the courtyard. "Oh, bloody hell!" Spike screamed as the tall, dark vampire threw him to the ground.

"Don't do this, William, or you'll lose her." Angel warned.

"You don't."

"Shut up!"  Angel interrupted.  "I'm not in love with Willow. We don't have a 'thing' going on. If you weren't so damned hung up on the past, you'd see that!"

"And why, pray tell, am I so hung up on the past?" Spike asked rhetorically. "Oh yeah, because this would be the SECOND time you've done something like this. The name Drusilla ring a bell behind that caveman brow of yours?"

Angel didn't know what to say. His grandchilde was right. He took an unneeded breath and sat next to the younger vampire. "Spike, I'm not the same man-er, vampire-that I was back then."

"Oh, yeah. The whole soul thing."

"And it's permanent." Angel continued. "I'm not in love with Willow. I'm happy the way things are now."

"Yeah, but how many slayers are you going to shag before you decide you want something different?"

"How did."

"Don't ever underestimate me, Sire." He then stood and walked back inside the hotel to see what sort of havoc he could raise. Angel followed him inside.

"Hey Slayer." Both Buffy and Faith looked up at Spike. Angel looked terrified. "Oh, right. There are two of you." Spike clarified.  "Slutty, how long are
you going to stare at the poor wounded boy before you jump his bones?"

"SPI-IKE!" Everyone yelled as Buffy turned a bright shade of red.

"Behave." Angel warned.

Willow continued to watch the vampire until he finally looked her in the eye and winked at her. She smiled and looked down.

"Where's MY medical attention?" Spike whined. "I'M wounded."

"But, nobody cares." Buffy said and went back to helping Lindsey.

"Oh, come on, you big baby." Willow said as she stood up and grabbed medical supplies. She sat next to him.

"Take off your coat."

"No." The vampire pouted.

"Spike, I can't help you unless you take off your coat." The vampire took off his damaged duster and looked at the redhead.

"I'm sorry I was such."

"A dick?" The witch finished.

"Willow?!?" Spike faked surprise. "The words that come out of your mouth!" Then, he pause and gave her one of his sexy smirks. "I like it."
 

~part nine~

After everyone had settled down once again, a lot of the tension left the room. Spike's arm was all nice and bandaged; Lindsey was sitting up on his own with Buffy sitting next to him 'just in case'.  Gunn and Cordelia were playing go-fish, with Wesley and Fred. Faith was sitting across from Spike and Willow with her knees bent over the side of the sofa. Angel purposefully sat as far away from her as he possibly could.

"Hey Wills," Cordelia said to the witch. "You wanna play?"

"Actually, since we've been here for quite some time," Willow said. "Why don't you guys give us the details on why we're here?"

"Well, that's a suggestion." Lindsey stated. The blonde slayer giggled.

"Please, just stake me now." Spike said as he noticed the little semi-flirt that Buffy threw towards the lawyer.

"Okay." Buffy said matter-of-factly as she stood with Mr. Pointy in hand, heading for the blonde vampire.

"Not funny, Buffy." Willow said.

"Hey B, let's keep him around." Faith said playfully.

"He seems like a lot of fun."

"Meaning?" Angel asked.

"Oh, relax, Angel. Faith doesn't want Spike." Cordelia said.

"Yeah," The blonde slayer replied. "She's clearly crazy about you."

A hearty laugh came from Spike. "Well, score one for the not-so-daft slayer!" The vampire also used this opportunity to put his arm around Willow's shoulders without being too obvious.

"You mean, you knew?" Wesley asked.

"And you're not.?" Cordelia started.

"Pissed?" Gunn finished. "Some of these people seriously thought you would go all postal and start whippin' everyone's ass."

"Guys, did we not forget what happened when I died and came back?"

"Which time?" Willow, Spike, Cordelia, Gunn, Faith, Wesley, and Fred asked in unison. Lindsey just observed, while Angel smiled as if a veil had just
been lifted from his eyes.

"The last time." The dark vampire said.

"What happened?" Cordelia asked. "You never told us, remember?"

"Could it be because you and Wes were doing your impression of what you thought happened?" Angel asked. Wesley and Cordy looked at the floor guiltily.

"But you gotta admit," Gunn said. "That WAS funny."

"Wait a minute, I'm confused." Willow said. "Is that when you two decided to really move on?"

Buffy nodded and Angel smiled at the redhead.

"Any other secrets we need to know about?" Spike asked.

"Lindsey here was an evil lawyer from Wolfram and Hart." Cordelia piped up. "But, he's all reformed and born again and all that stuff."

"Well said, Cordelia." Lindsey said sarcastically.

"I'm sure that's the kind of first impression EVERYONE wants to give."

"Hey, it could've been worse." Gunn said. "You could've been part of the Scourge of Europe that terrorized Europeans for over a century."

"Yeah, those were fun times." Spike said nostalgically. Willow hit him in the ribs. "What?"

"Wesley and Fred are a couple." Cordelia said.

"Really?" Spike asked, as he looked at Gunn and Angel, who suddenly found the ceiling very interesting.

"Just trying to get it out of you, that's all." Gunn said as he chanced a look at the blonde vampire.

"But remember," Spike smirked as he reminded the good-looking young man. "Just like Slutty here, payback's a bitch."

"Um, guys," Willow said trying to stop Spike from being staked by a pissed off Slayer.  "We still haven't addressed the plan of what needs to be done
about Cordy's vision."

"Everyone get comfortable." The dark haired vampire said after taking a deep breath.
 

~part ten~

"Wow," Willow mused. "That's going to be.wow."

"Listen, why don't we all sleep on it and discuss a plausible plan in the morning?" Angel suggested.

"Good idea, Peaches." Spike said as he stubbed out his cigarette and glanced at a very tired redhead.

"Give us room assignments, then." Buffy said as she stood stretching. "Although it IS going to be kind of hard to sleep after that 'nice' description of the next few nights."

"Actually, Buffy, I was wondering if you could do me a favor." Angel remarked.

"Sure," The blonde replied. "What's up?" The dark vampire stood and motioned for her to follow.

"I think Lindsey has a concussion." He stated once they were out of earshot. "I see the way you look at him."

"Angel," The slayer started.

"No, it's okay." Angel interrupted quickly. "I was just wondering if you could stay up with him and talk to him for a few hours and make sure he doesn't fall asleep for good."

The blonde let out a big sigh of relief. "Sure." She replied. "Thanks, Angel.  So, you and Faith, huh?" She asked playfully.

Angel suddenly found his shoes really interesting as he stammered his words. "Well, I.um.I mean."

"I'm just giving you a hard time, Mr. Broody." She said with a smile. "Relax."
 

Meanwhile

"Hey," Spike said as the vampire and slayer stepped out of sight. "Who is the bloke passing out room assignments? I'm bloody tired, and so is Red, here."

"Could you wait just a minute, please Spike?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah, bleach boy." Cordelia added. "We're all tired."

He looked at the redhead again and noticed that she'd fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. He suddenly relaxed and decided to wait patiently. Unfortunately for him, someone noticed.

"Well, rebel vamp boy has the hots for Red."

"You're one to talk, Slayer." He answered. "PAINGEL? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Now is SUCH a good time to start setting you guys up with rooms." Gunn quickly intervened. "We know which ones are finished."

"Well," Fred said as she looked at the paper she was holding. "These are all free." She said as she handed the list to Gunn.

"Alright," Wesley stated as he started assigning rooms. When he got to Spike, the blonde vampire protested.

"No need, mate." He replied. "I'm crashing with Red, here."

"A-are you s-sure that's such a g-good idea?" The ex-watcher asked as he took off his glasses and cleaned them.

"What's such a good idea?" Angel asked as he and Buffy returned to the lobby.

"That I sleep in Red's room." Spike answered as if it were the most normal thing in the world to say. Angel threw him a cautionary glance. He also stood in front of the blonde slayer in case she was going to turn him to dust.

"Do you REALLY think he'll try and take advantage of her?" Buffy asked. "After all, he can't hurt anybody. And if he tries, he knows he's a pile of dust."

"Way to loosen up, B." Faith said, sounding very impressed.

"Well, Buffy," Wesley said. "You're in room."

"No, she isn't." Angel interrupted. "She's going to stay up and talk to Lindsey, who has a concussion, to make sure he's okay."

"That's the BEST excuse you could come up with?" Spike asked.

"I gotta agree with the other undead in the room." Gunn added. "That's pretty lame."

"What's pretty lame?" Willow asked sleepily as she sat up.

"Nothing Wills," Cordelia said. "Why don't we all get some sleep? Oh, you ARE okay with sharing a room with Spike as long as he doesn't try anything, right?"

That was all it took for the witch to blush a deeper red than her hair ever was.

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