Part 1
Angelus unlocked Drusilla's door. He looked but found
the bed empty. "Dru?" he called.
"Shh."
He turned and found her kneeling beside the armoir
with her ear pressed to the side. "What are you
doing?"
"Shh," she said again holding a finger to her red
lips. "I got a mouse in my closet," she whispered.
"It was scratch, scratch, scratch last night, but it's
sleeping now."
Angelus shook his head at her ramblings. "If it's
asleep than it will be easy to catch, " he said
reaching for the door.
Drusilla grabbed his hand. "I want Spike to have my
mouse," she said.
"Spike doesn't like mice," Angelus reminded her.
She gave him a knowing grin. "He'll like this one,"
she whispered. She pressed her ear to the door.
"Hurry before it wakes up and runs away."
He rolled his eyes and turned to get the blonde
vampire. He found Spike where he left him, sprawled
naked across his bed. "Spike," he said, nudging him.
"What?" Spike grumbled.
"Get up. Drusilla wants you to have her mouse she
caught in the closet."
"Bugger off," he groaned as he buried his head in the
pillow.
Angelus grabbed an arm and yanked the sleeping vampire
off the bed. "She was very insistent about it," he
said.
"Bloody hell!" Spike exclaimed as his bare ass hit the
cold stone floor. "The chits a loon." He glared up
at the dark vampire. The stare he received demanded
compliance. "Fine." Quickly, he pulled on some
clothes and followed Angelus to the bedroom next door.
Drusilla still sat beside the armoir listening for her
mouse. "Spike," she whispered. "I've got a prezzie
for you."
"So I heard," he grumbled.
"The little mouse snuck in last night. I saved it for
you, Spike," she whispered listening intently to the
door.
"Oh, goody."
"Let him open the door, Dru," Angelus said, holding
his hand out to help her to her feet.
Spike slowly opened the door, in case Dru's mouse
wasn't asleep. Peering inside his eyes widened when
he finally saw the "mouse".
"Well?" Angelus asked.
Spike didn't answer. Instead he opened both doors and
let him see for himself.
Angelus tightened his grip on her arm. "Drusilla,
what did you do?" he asked in a harsh whisper.
She flinched at the pain. "I didn't do anything," she
said. "My little mouse was there when you locked me
in my room."
Spike knelt down in front of the armoir and stared at
the figure sleeping at the bottom. He had to push
some of Drusilla's long dresses out of the way.
That's when he found the window into Angelus' bedroom.
If the "mouse" had been there when Dru was locked up
he could imagine what she'd seen. His eyes examined
the area around her. He grinned at the discarded
panties in the corner. "Well, well, well." He
muttered. He reached out and shook her shoulder.
"Five more minutes," she mumbled.
"Wakey, wakey, pet," he called.
A gasp escaped her lips and her green eyes widened in
surprise. Quickly, she scrambled up right until her
back pressed against the wall. "Spike," she exhaled.
Her gaze quickly found Angelus and Drusilla staring at
her from the open door. "Oh, shit."
"Nice to know you know who we are. I know you're one
of the Slayer's friends, but I can't recall the name,"
Spike said with a grin.
"Willow. My name is Willow," she said, trying to
sound braver than she felt.
"Oh, my little mouse is a tree," Dru giggled.
"Mouse," Willow squeaked.
Dru knelt beside Spike. "Yes. You were scratch,
scratch, scratching ever so quietly last night."
"What else do you do when you've got an itch, right,
ducks?" Spike asked knowingly. He delighted at the
blush that heated her cheeks. He turned his head to
speak to the others, but his eyes remained on the red
head. "So do we kill her?"
"No!" both Drusilla and Willow protested.
Dru shook her finger at him. "Tsk, tsk, Spike. She's
too powerful to throw away. No, we need to keep her
safe."
"Huh?" Spike said looking at the red head. "Never
mind. I don't think I want to know." He took Willow
by the wrist and pulled her out of the closet. "Come
on, ducks."
Willow tried to pull free of his grasp, but it only
tightened. She tripped after him as he pulled her out
of the room, down the hall and into another bedroom.
Spike didn't release his hold on her wrist as he
pulled her tight against his body. "Did you enjoy the
show last night?" he whispered into her ear.
"N.no," she stammered.
He brought her hand to his lips and licked her
fingers. "Don't lie to me," he ordered with a wicked
grin.
Her breath caught in her throat. "Buffy will come
looking for me," she said when her synapses began
firing again.
Spike ignored her statement and pulled her onto the
massive bed. She began to struggle against him. "I'm
tired, ducks. Don't make me tie you up so I can get a
decent bit of sleep," he growled.
Willow quieted down in the hopes that she could make
her escape once he was asleep.
Spike pulled her snugly against him. "Angelus will
have guards posted to keep you here," he advised
dashing her hopes.
****
Buffy rushed into the library at lunch. "Giles!" she
yelled in the empty room. "Giles!"
The Watcher hurried out of his office. "Buffy?
What's happened? What's wrong?"
The Slayer dropped her books on the table. "Have you
seen Willow?"
"Not since yesterday."
"No one has seen her since yesterday."
"Are you sure? Did you call her house? Maybe she's
ill," he suggested.
"I just got the machine. I tried calling her last
night and all of this morning," she explained.
Xander burst through the door. "Still no answer," he
said. The tall boy sank into a chair. "I stopped by
her house this morning. No one was there."
"Are you sure?" Giles asked. "Maybe she was
sleeping."
Xander shook his head. "I did a Romeo and climbed her
balcony. Her bed hadn't been slept in."
The bell rang sounding the end of the period. "Well,
I don't know about you, Xan, but I'm gonna ditch and
look for her," Buffy said as she gathered her books
and stashed them behind the check out counter.
"Let's go," he said getting to his feet.
****
Willow stared blankly at the wall. Gathering her
courage she began to carefully slide out from under
Spike's arm. She tip toed to the door and slowly
pulled it open. One of Angelus' minions stared at her
with his yellow eyes.
"I told you there would be guards," Spike said from
the bed.
The red head looked over her shoulder. "I'm hungry.
I was just going to get something to eat," she
replied. It wasn't a total lie, just that she was
going to go to Burger King and not the kitchen.
"Yeah, right. Get her something to eat," he told the
lackey.
He bowed his head and closed the door before doing as
he was told.
Willow leaned against the door. She didn't know what
was going to happen to her. Some small part of her
was thrilled by the unknown factor, but the rest of
her being, the rational/sane part, wanted to wake up
from this nightmare and go to school.
He watched her carefully. So far the red head hadn't
become the hysterical mess most humans in her position
would be. Not that he was disappointed; he definitely
didn't want a screaming, crying woman on his hands.
His main concern was why Angelus hadn't ordered her
death. And why did Drusilla want to protect her?
*She said she was too powerful to throw away. But
what power does this little mouse have?* he wondered.
She watched the blonde vampire staring at her. She
didn't understand why he was staring at her. *Do I
have something on my shirt?* A quick glance down at
her sweater told her she looked the same as when she
left for school yesterday morning, if only a bit more
rumpled. "I don't suppose," she started. "Um, I
mean, can I."
Spike cocked an eyebrow at her hesitancy. "What?"
"A bath or something. Can I have a bath?" she asked
quietly.
He shrugged and pointed to the door to the left.
The red head cautiously walked to the door and pushed
it open. It was definitely a bathroom. In fact, it
was the largest bathroom Willow had ever seen.