Angel glanced up from the movie he was watching. He was surprised when he
heard Buffy laughing at something Willow had said. He smiled as they came
into the room, but his smile quickly faded when he saw the blood on Willow’s
shirt. “What happened?” he asked, jumping to his feet.

Willow gave Buffy a knowing look. “It’s starting already,” she said.
“Angel, stop it. I’m fine,” she told him as she slapped his hands away.

“You have blood on your shirt. Don’t tell me you’re fine. Now what
happened?” he asked again as he followed her to the couch.

“Where’s Spike?”

“Upstairs sleeping,” he replied.

“Go wake him up. I don’t want to repeat myself,” she said as she picked up
the remote control and turned the TV off.

Angel moved to the foot of the stairs. “Spike, get down here. Willow’s
been hurt,” Angel yelled.

Willow and Buffy both rolled their eyes. Angel’s call certainly produced
results. Spike came flying down the stairs. He rushed to Willow’s side.
“What happened?” he asked in a rush.

Willow pushed his hands away from her stomach. “I’m fine. Now knock it
off. Barney sent someone after me. He was posing as the Watcher the
Council was going to send to me. He was testing me to see how ready I was,”
she explained.

“Not very by the looks of it,” Angel said.

“Actually, she was damn good,” Buffy said. “As soon as we walked into the
library she knew something was wrong. The only reason she got hurt was
because she put a lot of power up to protect Giles and didn’t have enough to
defend herself.”

“That’s not true,” Willow interrupted. “I just wasn’t fast enough.”

“Is he dead?” Spike asked. If he wasn’t, Spike was going to hunt him down.

Willow shrugged. “Don’t know. Buffy knocked him out and then he
disappeared while she and Giles were patching me up.”

“That’s it. You’re not going to school anymore,” Spike said as he managed
to get under her shirt.

She glared at him as he peeled back the bandage the Watcher had placed on
her stomach. “First of all that’s a stupid idea. Second of all you’re not
my father. Third of all it’s illegal.”

“Yeah, that’s me the law abiding vampire,” he snorted as he looked at her
wound.

Buffy peaked over his shoulder. “Wow! Willow, that looks a hundred percent
better,” she said.

Willow glared at her. Her friend was so not helping the situation. While
the wound did look a lot better, it was still really ugly.

“It looked worse than this?” Spike asked.

“Yes, and it will be all healed by morning. Now stop worrying.”

Spike tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear. “Not much you can do to
stop me, pet.”

She brushed the back of her fingers against his high cheek bone. “I know.
But chances are I will get hurt again. I think it’s in the fine print of
the destiny contract.”

“I think we need to step up your training, Willow,” Angel said as he stroked
her hair.

Willow tilted her head back to look at the dark vampire. “Are you sure?”
the red head asked with a raised brow.

“I will suffer through Benny Goodman if it means keeping you in one piece,”
he said seriously.

“Benny who?” Buffy asked confused.

Willow reapplied her bandage. “I get _really_ hyper after workouts. I have
energy to burn so Spike and Angel let me work it off by swing dancing with
me,” Willow explained.

The Slayer looked at her ex-boyfriend. “You can dance?”

“Reluctantly, but he’s very good at it,” Willow said.

Buffy shook the mental image of Angel dancing out of her head. “I’d like to
help,” she offered. “With training, not the dancing.”

“Are you sure, Buffy?”

“I don’t get much of a work out with Giles. Maybe you can get me in shape.
Got any work out clothes I can borrow?” she asked.

“Yep.”
****
Willow bounced around on the exercise mats shadow boxing. Buffy gulped
water while Angel and Spike sprawled on the couch. She wiped her sweaty
brow with a towel. The four of them spent the last three hours sparring.
If it hadn’t been for her Slayer strength Buffy was sure she would have had
a coronary after half an hour of the hand to hand combat training. “I don’t
envy either of you,” she said as she watched Willow bounce around.

“She’s like that damn rabbit,” Spike muttered

“How?” Buffy asked in amazement.

“She pulls the energy right out of the environment. Especially oxygen,”
Angel said.

“Well, I’m exhausted. I’m going home for a hot shower and bed,” Buffy said
as she grabbed her jacket and her books. “Willow, I’m going home. I’ll
wash these and return them later, kay?”

“Sure thing, Buf. Thank you.”

Angel got to his feet slowly. “I’m going to take a shower. Willow, why
don’t you practice your spells,” he suggested. “Maybe burn off some of that
energy.”

“Okay,” Willow said cheerfully. She folded the mats up and moved them to
the side of the room. When she was finished she stood over Spike lying on
the couch. “Spike,” she said softly.

Spike opened his blue eyes. “You ready?”

She knelt on the floor by his head. She brushed her fingers in his short
platinum hair. “Spike, you’re tired. Why don’t you take a hot shower and
go to bed,” she said with a smile.

He smiled up into her sweet face. “Trying to get rid of me?” he teased.

“Never,” she said seriously. “Spike, I don’t know what I would have done
without you. And Angel, too.”

Spike reached his hand up to cup her cheek. His thumb traced her soft lips.
“Won’t have to worry about that, pet. I’m here to stay.”

She tilted her head into his cool hand. “Do you miss your old life?”

“You mean the murder and mayhem?” Willow nodded her head. “No. This is
where I belong. “ His fingers moved to the back of her neck and pulled her
closer. He lifted his head and brushed his lips gently across hers.

Her green eyes fluttered shut as the tip of his tongue softly traced her
lips. She parted her lips and sighed as his tongue brushed against the edge
of her teeth. She hesitantly darted her own against his. A quiet groan
from his lips gave her courage to explore his mouth. It wasn’t the hot and
heavy kiss she’d read about in those bodice ripper romance novels. It was a
sweet, heart stopping exploration.

Spike pulled back to stare into her glittering green eyes. He smiled. “You
complete me,” he said softly.

Willow giggled. “You’ve watched Jerry Maguire too many times,” she said as
she leaned in to kiss him again. She crawled on top of him and rested her
head against his chest. His arms held her close as he dropped kisses on top
of her head.

“Are you still hyper?” he asked. He enjoyed simply holding her, but didn’t
want her to get all fidgety.

“Not really. I’m not going to go to sleep anytime soon, but I’m not going
to be bouncing off the walls any time soon,” she said.

“Good. I’m going to take a nap.”

Part 14

“Willow, you’re eighteen years old, for God’s sake,” Buffy sighed.

“I think it’s sweet that they worry about me so much. No one’s ever done
that before,” Willow said.

“I worry about you,” the Slayer pouted.

Willow hugged her friend. “Oh, I know that. I didn’t mean it like that.
It’s just easier to get out of the house this way.”

The red head moved quietly to the couch where Spike was sleeping. “Spike,”
she said softly.

“Pet,” he mumbled back.

“I’m going to patrol with Buffy tonight, okay?”

“Sure thing,” he mumbled as he rolled over onto his side.

“Thanks.” She hurried to where Buffy waited. “Let’s go before he wakes
up,” she said.

The two girls rushed out of the house and headed for the cemetery. “Are you
sure you want to do this, Will?” Buffy asked.

“I need some practical experience. Sparring with the three of you is great.
It definitely got me in shape, but it’s not like I can really use my
powers against you,” Willow said.

“For which I am grateful,” Buffy laughed. She’d heard about the time Willow
accidentally set Angel on fire.

“Willow! Buffy! Wait up,” Xander called from behind them.

They stopped for him to catch up. “Hey, Xander. Going to help us patrol?”
Buffy asked.

“Sure,” he said as he draped an arm around Willow’s shoulder. “So the
walking dead let you out of the house, huh?”

“Sort of. I told Spike I was going to patrol with Buffy,” she said. She
felt bad about sneaking out this way, but when the two of them entered
protection mode she felt smothered.

“Yeah. Too bad he was asleep when she told him,” Buffy laughed. “You do
realized they are going to yell at you when they find out.”

“Possibly ground you for the rest of your life,” Xander added.

“Oh, well,” Willow shrugged.

The trio continued on to the cemetery talking about school and other trivial
things. Buffy sensed a small group of vampires hiding behind a crypt. She
pulled her stake out and prepared for a fight.

Willow put her hand on Buffy’s arm. “Wait let me try something first.” She
closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment.

Buffy and Xander kept an eye out for trouble. They saw flames shoot up
behind the stone building and screams echoed through the deserted cemetery
for a minute before all was still again.

The three of them ran behind the crypt and found a circle scorched into the
grass. Buffy couldn’t feel the presence of any more vampires in the area.
“Oh, this is way cool,” she said. “You are patrolling with me from now on.”

“Not to mention you are on grill duty at my next barbecue,” Xander said.
“You’ll have those burgers done in no time.”

Willow concentrated on a spot above Xander’s head. “I’ll be great at water
fights, too,” she said.

“Huh?” he said.

Buffy took a step back as Willow released the water bubble go. Xander’s
face was priceless as the water cascaded over him. “Hey!” he yelled. “No
fair!”

Willow laughed as she waived a hand to remove the water from his clothes.
“Let’s go find us some more vampires,” she said.

The trio continued their patrol. Through out the following two hours Willow
could feel someone watching her. It wasn’t a threatening feeling, just a
tingling sensation at the base of her neck.

“So do you thing they’re waiting up or out looking for you?” Buffy asked on
their way back to the mansion.

“I don’t know. I can see Spike tearing Sunnydale apart looking for me, but
Angel seems more the stay by the phone, ‘I’m going to lecture her’ type
vampire,” she answered.

“That’s where you’d be wrong,” Angel said behind them.

Turning to face him, Willow saw the angry swirls of his aura. “Angel. Uhm,
I told Spike I was going on patrol with Buffy.”

“While he was sleeping,” the vampire said quietly.

Willow looked at her sneakers as she shuffled her feet. “Okay, small
technicality, but if you two weren’t all ‘got to save Willow from herself’
I wouldn’t need to sneak out of the house,” she said quietly.

“Do you have any idea how worried Spike was when he couldn’t find you?”
Angel asked as he moved closer to the red head. “I’ve never seen him so
upset. Nearly tore the house apart.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Willow felt the sensation on the back of her neck again.
“Xander?”

The teenage boy had taken a step back from the angry vampire. “Yeah?”

“When I say go, I want you to run to the mansion and get Spike, okay?” she
whispered.

Angel was about to look around for danger when Willow placed a hand on his
arm. “What is it?” he asked softly.

“What’s going on?” Xander asked quietly.

“Don’t ask questions. Just do it,” she ordered. “Go!” she yelled as she
turned on her heel and released a ball of fire behind her.

Xander didn’t hesitate. He ran for the mansion for all he was worth. He
was breathing hard by the time he burst through the front door. “Spike!” he
yelled.

The blonde vampire stopped his restless pacing when the boy burst into the
room. “What do you want? Where’s Willow?”

“Willow...in...trouble,” Xander gasped.

“Where?”

“Six...blocks...up. Miller’s warehouse.”

Spike grabbed his leather duster as he flew through the door. Xander
hunched over with his hands on his knees. “Be...right...there,” he said
pulling oxygen into his lungs.

Part 15

Spike rounded the corner, just as Willow’s body was engulfed in a blue
flame. “No!” he screamed. He tried to run to her, to save her, but she had
erected a barrier around herself and Barnibus.

Buffy and Angel patrolled the parameter trying to find a way inside. They
quickly moved to Spike’s side. Angel grabbed his childe’s arms to keep him
from pounding on the barrier. “Spike, stop it,” Angel ordered. “You’re
making it weaker.”

“I don’t care,” he yelled.

“You’re forcing Willow to use more energy to reinforce it,” Buffy
explained. “She doesn’t want us in there.”

“She’s on fire!”

“Spike, think about it. If she was really on fire would she be standing
there so calmly?” Angel pointed out.

Spike stopped his struggles long enough to see passed the flames to look at
Willow. She wasn’t screaming in pain or writhing on the ground. She
looked directly at him and smiled sadly.

Willow waited until Spike had calmed down. With a waive of her arm, she
absorbed the magickal energy and redirected it into the fence she built
around the battle zone.

Barnibus’ jaw dropped as the young witch waved away his spell like it was
nothing.

“Is that all you’ve got, Barney?” Willow asked. “Cuz if it is, prepare to
get your ass kicked.”

He panicked for a moment. His soul fire spell was the harshest weapon in
his arsenal. It was supposed to burn a person’s soul directly into hell.
It had never failed him before. He took a wild swing at her.

Her reflexes caused her to duck and she slammed a fist into his soft gut.
As he doubled over, she brought her knee up to his jaw. She watched him
fall onto his back. “I bind you, Barnibus, from doing harm. Harm against
yourself and harm against others.” Her words wrapped themselves around him.
He tried to struggle against her spell in vain. “I bind you, Barnibus,
from doing harm. Harm against yourself and harm against others.” Her words
bound him tighter and tighter. “I bind you, Barnibus, from doing harm.
Harm against yourself and harm against others.”

“No!” he screamed as his powers were ripped from his very soul. Blackness
enveloped him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Willow stared down at the broken man at her feet. She pitied him. His
quest for power had destroyed him. She turned her back on him and released
the barrier. She stumbled into Spike’s embrace.

He lifted her into his arms. “Don’t _ever_ do that to me again,” he
whispered into her hair.

“I won’t,” she whispered back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m
so tired.”

Buffy looked at the unconscious man on the ground. “We’re just going to
leave him there?” she asked.

“Yes,” Willow said. “I’ve taken away his powers.”

“Won’t he just start again?” Angel asked.

She shook her head. “I did a binding spell on him. He can’t hurt anybody
ever again.”

Xander ran up to the group out of breath. He looked around. “I missed it,
didn’t I?” he panted.

The Slayer put her arm around her friend. “There wasn’t much to miss, Xan.
It was over in fifteen minutes.”

Xander glanced at his friend in Spike’s arms. “You okay, Will?”

“I’m fine, Xander. Just tired.”

“I’m taking you home and putting you to bed,” Spike said. “I’ll yell at you
tomorrow.”
****
Spike pulled back the covers and set Willow on the bed. He untied her
sneakers and slipped them off. When he settled the covers around her
shoulders, he noticed the tears. “What is it, pet?” he asked, sitting on
the edge of the bed.

“You remember that fire?” she asked quietly.

“Not likely to forget it.”

“It was a Soul Fire. It’s supposed to burn away a person’s soul and send it
to hell.” A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

He brushed the tear away before it touched her hair. “I’m just glad it
didn’t work,” he said.

Willow squeezed her eyes shut as a pain ripped through her heart. “It did.”

His hand paused. “What?”

She sat up and leaned into his solid chest. “It worked. Your soul was
standing next to me. “ Sobs started to break up her words. “I don’t know
why he was there, but he...he...” Her body shook with the force of her sobs.
“I’m sorry.”

Spike held her close as she cried against him. Until a few weeks ago, he
thought his soul had already found its place in hell. He never had a use
for a soul as a vampire, but something inside him mourned the loss. Spike
pressed a kiss into her hair. “It’s okay, luv. It’s okay. You are my soul
now,” he whispered.

He sat rocking her in his arms until she fell asleep. Silently he said a
prayer of thanks for his soul’s sacrifice.

Part 16

Angel removed the coffee mug from the microwave. He wandered into the
living room where he found Spike slouched on the couch. His childe stared
blankly at the TV screen. “It helps if you turn it on,” Angel said as he
sat down.

“What?” Spike looked surprised to see Angel sitting next to him.

“You okay, Spike?”

“Fine.”

Spike wasn’t usually so cryptic; that was Angel’s specialty. “Spike, what’s
wrong?” Angel asked, concerned.

“You know what Willow told me?” he asked distractedly.

“No, what?”

“That flame thing she was standing in was a spell to burn her soul into
hell,” the blonde vampire answered.

Angel sat quietly waiting for his childe to continue. Something was
bothering him and Angel just had to be patient.

“It would have worked, too, except my soul got all heroic and stood in the
flames with her.”

Angel reached out to rest his hand on Spike’s shoulder in comfort. “I’m
sorry, Spike.”

He looked into his sire’s dark eyes. He saw sympathy and compassion for his
loss. “I’m not. Not really. Never knew he was still around till a few
weeks ago. Better my soul than Willow’s, right?”

“Spike, I would never wish anyone’s soul to hell. Trust me,” Angel said.
He knew first hand the tortures Spike’s soul would go through.

“Yeah, well never had much use for it, but it made Willow sad.” Spike
leaned his head bed and closed his eyes.

“Is she okay?” Angel asked.

“She’s sleeping, finally,” Spike replied as he lifted his head and turned on
the TV. His thumb moved in automatic surfing mode, skipping from channel to
channel.

Angel knew the conversation was at an end. He settled back and stared at
the endlessly changing pictures on the screen.
****
Willow sat in the field. Somehow the colors didn’t seem as vibrant as
before. The jewel toned blossoms had found a muted hue and the emerald
green grass seemed to have just a tint of brown to it. Almost as if winter
was on its way.

“Willow,” a soothing voice said beside her.

She turned slightly to look at her grandmother. “Nana,” she said quietly.
She didn’t feel the joy she usually experienced in the dream plane.

Nana looked at her granddaughter and studied the sad expression. Gently she
draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Oh, my precious
Willow. Don’t be sad. You did so well in your battle against Barnibus,”
she said softly as she squeezed her shoulder.

“Oh, Nana. I feel horrible about Spike’s soul. I couldn’t stop the Soul
Fire from taking him,” Willow said in despair.

“I didn’t want you to, pet,” a familiar British voice said.

Willow looked up and saw the face she loved with dark curls. “Spike?”

He smiled at her. “Actually, I prefer William.”

“But, I thought...” she started. Her shock prevented further words from
leaving her brain.

William tucked a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear. “I know.
Spike wanted to stand in those flames for you. Since he couldn’t I did it
for him. I didn’t mind.”

“The spell was supposed to send you to hell,” she whispered. She knew the
spell. She ran across it in one of the spell books. “How?”

“You did it. When you released his power back to the universe and bound him
from doing harm, you showed compassion instead of killing him. It is the
balance of the universe and the Powers That Be. A kindness for a kindness.
I was released into this beautiful place,” he explained.

“Oh,” she said in confusion. After thinking about it for a minute, she
smiled at him. “So you’re okay?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “I am more than okay, pet. I am free
and I have you to thank for it.”

“Well, I try.”

Nana smiled at the two of them. She kissed Willow’s cheek. “It’s time to
go back, dear.”
****
Angel watched Spike channel surfing. The blonde vampire had been flipping
through every channel for about two hours, never stopping on one long enough
for Angel to figure out what was on. He heard foot steps on the stairs and
looked up as Willow burst into the room.

Willow threw herself into Spike’s arms. She grabbed his surprised face
between her hands and kissed him. As her lips caressed his, Spike’s hands
settled on her hips. He deepened the kiss with a sweep of his tongue.
Willow moaned quietly as his hands tighten on her waist and started moving
higher.

Angel smiled at the two lovers. While he knew they hadn’t gone beyond
kissing he knew it was only a matter of time. When he noticed Spike’s hand
moving to Willow’s breast, he cleared his throat loudly.

Spike pulled back at his sire’s interruption. “Pet, what’s this all about?
Not that I’m complaining,” he amended quickly.

“Oh, Spike. He’s okay,” she said excitedly.

“Who’s okay?” he asked.

“William.”

Spike glanced at Angel who shrugged. “Who’s William?”

“You’re soul. He prefers William. He’s okay. I saw him in the dream
plane,” she said in a rush.

“I thought the spell sent him to hell,” Angel said.

“It was supposed to, but when I showed Barnibus an act of compassion by not
killing him the Powers That Be showed me an act of compassion by not
condemning William to hell. I know you didn’t have much use for your soul,
Spike, but...”

“I’m glad,” Spike interrupted her. “If he had to put up with me for all
those years, he deserved a break.”

Willow plucked the remote from his hand and started flipping through the
channels. “What are we watching?” she asked.

The End.

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