Cordy unlocked her front door.   She dropped the keys on the entry hall
table.  “Hey, Dennis.  Did you miss me?” she asked as she set her purse on
the floor.  The lights flicked on and off.  “Missed you, too.”

“Hi, Dennis,” Willow said as she shut the door behind her.  “Are you sure
you want to sleep here tonight?” she asked.

The brunette flopped down on her couch.  “We’ve crashed at Angel’s for the
last four nights without one dream.   I want to sleep in my own bed.  Not to
mention I’m tired of sharing his bathroom.  Did you know he had four
different kinds of hair gel?”

Willow sat on the couch next to her.  “I did not know that.  Didn’t really
care either.  I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

“Me, too.  Let’s make dinner.”

****

Cordy set her plate on the table when she heard the front door burst open.
“What the hell?”

She rushed into the living room closely followed by Willow.  They found four
men standing in the living room.  The strangers were quick to descend on the
young women.  Cordy opened her mouth to scream, but a hard upper cut
rendered her unconscious.  The blow threw her against Willow.   The red head
carried the added weight with her to the ground.

Before Willow could regain her senses, Cordy was lifted off her.  A hand
covered her mouth, preventing her from crying out.  She was drawn up against
a broad chest.  She could only watch as her friend was tied up and carried
out of the apartment.  Willow tried to struggle against the powerful arms
holding her.  One of the intruders took a length of rope and bound her
ankles while a gag was placed in her mouth.  When her hands were tied behind
her back they placed black hood over her head.

<Spike!> she screamed silently.   She continued to struggle against her
captors.  She felt a sharp pain in her jaw before she fell into
unconsciousness.

****

“Thank you, Andrew.  I’ll let you know when I find something,”  Angel said.
He replaced the receiver.

“So, what did he have to say?” Spike asked.

Angel moved to his bookshelf to find a particular volume.  “The ring Willow
remembered from her dream belongs to a religious sect of the Church,” Angel
explained as he paged through the book.  “They were called the Hand of God.
They persecuted witches and minions through out the middle ages.”  Angel
found the page he was searching for and set the book on the desk.    “Here,’
he said as he pointed to the sketch.

Spike looked at the illustration.  “Yeah, so.   What does it mean?”

“The Church excommunicated the sect during the eighteenth century.
Apparently they kept practicing.”  Angel sat in the chair behind his desk.

“What’s their MO?  What do they want?” Spike asked.

Angel looked at his childe.  “To redeem the lost souls.”

“And if they can’t redeem them?”

“They kill them.”

Spike grabbed the phone and dialed Cordelia’s number.  It rang and rang
before the answering machine picked up.  Spike waited impatiently as Cordy’s
recorded voice rattled on.  When he heard the beep, he said, “Willow?  Are
you there?  Pick up.”  He waited for someone to pick up the receiver.
Slaming the phone down he grabbed his duster off the coat rack and headed
for the front door.

“Spike,” Angel called after the blonde vampire.

“I’m going over there.”

“I know.  Wait for me.”

******

Angel held Spike back as they came upon the broken door.  “Wait.  They may
still be in there.”  Slowly he pushed open the door.  Cordy’s living room
was trashed.  “Dennis?” he called.

The lights flicked on and off.

“What happened?”

Spike rolled his eyes.  “How is he supposed to tell you?  He’s dead.”

Angel looked at his childe.  “So are we.”  He noticed a marker floating in
the air.  Dennis was ready to write on the walls when Angel stopped him.
“Wait.  Cordelia won’t be too happy to have you writing on the walls.”  He
dug through a drawer and pulled out a legal pad.  “Here.”

Dennis wrote for a minute.  Angel picked up the pad.

“Four men in black kidnapped C and W.  Tried to stop them,” Angel read
aloud.  “Did they say anything?” he asked holding the pad out in front of
him.

“No.”

“How the bloody hell are we supposed to find them?” Spike asked.  He kicked
at the stuffed bunny on the floor.

“I’m calling Kate,” he said as he looked for the phone.

“Who the hell is Kate?”

“She’s a police detective.  Maybe she can help.”  Angel found the receiver
and punched in her number.   “Kate, it’s Angel.  I need you’re help.”

*****

Kate knocked on the open door.  “Angel?” she called out.

“I’m in here,” he called from the kitchen.

She walked into the kitchen to find Angel talking to a peroxide blonde.
“What happened here?” she asked.

“Cordelia and Willow have been kidnapped,” he said.

“Who’s Willow?”

“A friend of ours from Sunnydale.”

Kate looked at the blonde.  “And you are?”

Spike looked the woman up and down.  “Spike.  Now what are you going to do
to find them?” he demanded.

“Well, first I’d like to call in some people to take a look at the crime
scene.  You haven’t touched anything have you?” she asked as she reached for
her cell phone.

“Nothing much,” Angel answered.  He watched his childe closely as Kate
called the police station.  He could tell Spike was growing impatient.

“I’m going out,” Spike growled as he stormed out of the kitchen.

Kate grabbed his arm as he passed her.  “Wait.”  Spike turned on her in full
game face.  His emotions were running close to the surface.  Kate reached
into her back pocket of the stake she kept there.  Angel’s hand stopped her.

“Spike, knock it off.”

Spike wasn’t in the mood for Angel’s laid back attitude.   He pushed the
blonde woman away from him and launched himself at his sire.  His hands
wrapped themselves around his throat.  “I will not fucking knock it off.
Willow and Cordelia are in danger, possibly dead, and you want to play
fucking Miss Manners!” he yelled in Angel’s face.  He felt a searing pain
against his neck as Kate pressed a cross to it.  Releasing his grip on
Angel, he backed away from the offending object.

“Kate, put it away.  Spike is my childe. He’s upset.”

“Fuck yeah I’m upset.  I wish you’d show a little emotion about this whole
thing!  But I forgot you’re Angel, defender of the weak and innocent.  Well,
you fucked up royally in your duties, asshole,” Spike screamed at him.

Angel had had enough.  Allowing his demon to surge forward, he hit Spike
with a right hook.  “Shut the fuck up, Spike.  You think I don’t know that!”
he screamed at his childe lying on the floor.   “You think I don’t blame
myself!  Well, fuck you, Spike!  Fuck you!”

Kate realized this was getting them no where.  “Hey!  Knock it off!  Do you
want to find your friends or not?”

Angel took an unneeded breath and allowed his human features to fall back
into place and Spike picked himself up off the floor.

“Good.  Now tell me what’s going on.  Is this a regular kidnapping or an
ET?” she asked Angel.

“ET?  What the hell are you talking about?” Spike asked.

“Evil Thing,” she clarified.

Angel paced the kitchen.  “I have reason to believe they are  human.  A
fanatic religious group.”

“What kind of religious group?” Kate asked.

“The kind that kidnap people,” Spike muttered.  He hated waiting.  All he
wanted to do was find Willow, wrap her in his arms and never let her out of
his sight again.   “Willow said something about a church, didn’t she?” Spike
asked.

Angel looked at his childe.  Spike had calmed down a bit.  “She said she
remembered a hollowed out building.  Out in the middle of no where.  Where
no one could hear you scream.   She was looking for possible locations, but
hadn’t found anything yet.”

“Was she working on it here?” Kate asked.  If she could look at the
information it would save time.

“No, it was back at the office.”

“Detective Lockley?” a voice called from the front door.

Kate left the kitchen to see a team of forensic officers waiting for her.
“Dean, I want you to take care of this crime scene.  I’m going to check on a
couple of leads.”

“Got it covered, Kate,” Dean said before motioning his team into the room to
start the investigation.

“I doubt you’ll find anything, but let me know,” she said as she followed
Angel and Spike out the door.

Part 6

Willow groaned as she pried her eyes open.  Pain pierced her head straight
through her eyeballs.  The damp musty smell of dirt assaulted her nose.  She
rolled onto her side and tried to sit up.  Hands reached out to assist her.
Her green eyes looked up at a familiar face with a butchered hair cut.
"Cordy?" she croaked out.  She reached out to touch the ragged edges of
Cordelia's once beautiful hair.

"If it looks anything like yours, I'm glad there's no mirror in here," Cordy
said with a lopsided grin.

Willow reached up to touch her own mutilated hair.  The two of them sat on
the dirt floor in silence.  The silence was broken by a scream echoing
through the hallway.  Willow reached out to hold Cordy's hand.

"Angel and Spike will save us," Cordy said quietly.  She didn't feel
confident in that fact but did her best to sound sure of her words.

"They'll do their best, I'm sure.  I just wish I'd asked Angel about it
yesterday." she mumbled to herself.

"Ask him about what?" Cordy asked.

"About the crosses.  Whether vampires can't look at them because of their
shape or because they're holy."

"What difference does it make?"

"I might be able to do a spell to make them unholy," Willow explained.

"It couldn't hurt to try, right?"

"True."  Willow moved to the center of their cell.  Drawing a circle in the
dirt, she called her corners and blessed the god and goddess.  Then she
prepared to call down Hectate.  "Blessed Hectate, Goddess of Darkness.  I
call upon you.  Curse the holy symbols within this place. What once was holy
now make not.  Allow darkness to look upon them with neither fear nor pain.
Blessed Hectate, Goddess of Darkness.  So mote it be."  Willow grounded the
energies flowing through her body.

"That's it?" Cordy asked as Willow closed the circle.

"What did you want?  Sigfried and Roy?  I don't exactly have a lot to work
with here," she said as she brushed the circle away.

The door opened and two cloaked figures entered.  They saw what the red head
was doing.  "Witches," the taller one said.  Quickly they rushed forward to
grab the pair.

Willow tried to finish closing the circle before the shorter man grabbed her
arms to drag her out of the room.  *Blessed Hectate, forgive me,* Willow
called to the goddess silently.  Hectate was a touchy goddess; she didn't
take insult well.

Cordy threw Willow a panicked look.  *Oh, God.  Angel, where the hell are
you?*

*****

Angel, Kate and Spike burst through the office door.  Angel and Kate moved
to Cordy's desk where Angel dug through drawers to find the map Willow had
been writing on.

Spike paced the length of the room and smoked his cigarettes.  He watched
out of the corner of his eye as his sire and the blonde put their heads
together to find the missing girls.  He didn't like Kate on sight, but he
figured that was because she reminded him of Fluffy.  When they found Willow
and Cordy, he would have to ask the leggy brunette what her opinion of the
blonde detective.   At this point he was willing to drink holy water if it
meant finding Willow.

Angel tried to pay attention to what Kate was saying, but his mind kept
wandering.  *Cordelia, I am so sorry.  I never meant to let you down,* he
thought to himself, or so he thought.

Kate looked up at the dark vampire.  "Angel, you didn't let her down.  This
isn't your fault.  Regardless of what anyone says," she said glaring at the
peroxide blonde.

Angel looked at Kate then at Spike, who avoided his gaze.  *He does blame
me.*

A wave of guilt washed over Spike.  He didn't really blame Angel for what
happened.  He'd done it more out of frustration and habit.   He knew Willow
would be disappointed in him.

Kate finished looking over the information Willow had gathered.   "Well, I
think we can narrow it down to these two buildings," she said as she pointed
to the map.  Glancing at her watch she tried to calculate how many hours
till sunrise.  "We've got about four hours left until you're toast."  She
grabbed the map and headed towards the parking garage.

****

Father Buscalli washed the blood from his hands when he heard the far door
open.   He glanced over his shoulder to see Brothers Levi and Zachariah drag
two women into the room.  He wasn't ready for them yet so he was curious as
to the reason the brothers were bringing them to him.

Brother Levi pulled the red head forward and knelt before Buscalli.  The red
head tried to resist but ultimately was forced to her knees before him.

"What is it, my son?"

"Witches, Father.  Brother Zachariah and I found them practicing their
sinful art in their cell," Levi explained.

Buscalli's dark brown eyes looked the two women over.   The brunette stood
in horror at the crucifixes lining the far wall while the red head stared at
him in defiance.   "Though shall not suffer a witch to live," Buscalli
quoted.

Willow forcefully rose to her feet.   "She's not a witch.  I am," she said
between clenched teeth.

Cordelia tried to make her brain comprehend the situation.  *What does being
a witch have to do with anything?*

Buscalli grinned at the red head.  "We shall see, witch."  Turning his
attention to Zachariah and the group of brothers behind him, he commanded,
"Tie that one on the cross and let her watch.  We shall see if she confesses
to her craft while this one is punished."

Hands grabbed at Cordy while she struggled against them.  They lifted her
struggling body and carried her to the line of crosses.  A strangled scream
issued from her throat.  "Oh, God.  Angel, where are you?  Please," she
cried as the brothers bound her wrists to the crossbeam with rough rope.
She tried to kick out at the man who held her feet.  The bindings bit into
her delicate flesh.  The more she struggled the tighter the rope cut into
her skin.

Willow watched as Cordy struggled.  Her green eyes welled up with tears, as
her friend was hurt.   "Cordy, don't struggle.  They'll come for us," she
called out to her.

Willow's voice cut through the panic in Cordy's brain.  She ceased her
struggles.  She had a sense of vertigo as the brothers hoisted the heavy
cross into place.  Tears spilled onto her cheeks.  She could now see Willow
being led to at stake in the far corner of the room.  *This is just like my
dream.  Please, Angel, hurry.*

Willow knew what was to come.  She'd seen this in her dream.  She tried to
hold back her fear and let her anger keep her alive.  A chill ran down her
spine as the cold iron shackles where locked around her wrist.  The flimsy
muslin tunic she wore was ripped open down the back.   Her fingers tightened
around the chains above her head.  *Spike, please hurry.*  There was an
eerie silence in the large room.  She tried to brace herself, but the crack
of the whip as it unfurled caused her to jump.

Buscalli watched the witch carefully.  He waited for her to start begging or
praying for Satan to save her.  She remained silent.  Brother Levi brought
forward a vessel of holy water.  He poured it over the leather whip.
Buscalli drew back his arm and with a sharp jerk brought the wet leather
against her back.

As the first lash cut across her back, Willow bit the inside of her cheek to
keep from crying out.  *Not going to give him the satisfaction,* she told
herself.  Again and again the leather cut into her exposed flesh.  After
about a dozen strokes, it stopped.

Buscalli paused in his punishment.  *She is strong willed.*  "Do you repent
your association with the devil?" he asked.  He didn't want to stop, but he
knew he had to give her the chance to repent.

Willow didn't speak, not because she chose to, but because it hurt too much
to speak.

He smiled at her lack of response.   He doused the whip again with holy
water and proceeded with her punishment.

Cordy watched in horror as her friend was tortured.  Tears flowed freely
down her face.  She wanted to do something, say something to stop this
insanity, but knew in her heart if she did or said anything it would be
worse for Willow.  The aches and pains of her body were nothing compared to
the ache in her heart.  *If Spike had taken her back to Sunnydale, this
wouldn’t be happening to her.*

Willow finally gave up her fight to stay conscious and passed out.

Buscalli brought the whip across her back a few more times before he handed
it to Brother Levi to clean.  "Put her next to her friend," he said as he
left the room.

Part 7

Angel slowed the car.  Kate leaned forward from the back seat.  “Looks like
this is the place,” she said as Angel put his car in park.

Spike closed his eyes for a moment.  A wave of warmth and love washed over
him.  “She’s inside.”  His hand reached for the door handle.

Angel grabbed his arm.  “Spike, don’t do anything stupid,” he warned.

The icy blue eyes turned to his sire.  “If they hurt her, I’ll rip their
fucking throats out.”  As he opened the door a scent of death assaulted his
senses.  He moved quietly to the abandoned church.

Kate and Angel got out of the car to follow the peroxide blonde.  “Is he
always like this?” Kate whispered as she followed closely behind Angel.

The dark vampire looked over his shoulder.  “No, usually he’s much worse.”

The two crime fighters caught up with Spike as he tried to find a way into
the building.  Spike pulled on a door and it opened.  The trio quietly slid
inside.  They found themselves in a small room.  Opening the inner door,
they moved quietly down a dark hallway.  At the end of the corridor they
peered around the corner.

Kate pulled back quickly at the horrific sight.  She’d seen many terrible
things in her career as a police detective, yet the sight of the decaying
bodies nailed to those crosses brought bile to her throat.   Swallowing hard
she leaned closer to Angel.  “I’m going to call for back up,” she whispered
in his ear.

Angel’s dark eyes were fixed on Cordelia as she hung from the cross beam.
Anger welled in his heart.  *Some one is going to pay for this,* he
promised.  Keeping a hold of his angry childe he turned to Kate.  “I want
you to call 555-8473. Ask for Andrew.  Tell him I found The Hand Of God and
if he wants in on the fun, he’d better get here soon.”

“Angel, the police,” Kate started.

His brown eyes flashed gold.  “Just do it, Kate.  They deserve punishment
that only we can give,” he said quietly.

Kate gave a quick glance to the blonde as he visibly shook with rage.  “Be
careful,” she whispered before retracing her steps back outside to place the
call.

“Spike,” Angel whispered in his ear.  His hands gripped tightly around
Spike’s arms.  “I need you to calm down.  Willow needs you to calm down.  We
need to think clearly,” he tried to reason.  It wasn’t easy to convince his
childe when every instinct in him demanded retribution for Cordy.

****

Willow slowly found herself floating through the pain.   *He’s here.  Spike.
Please let the spell work.*

Cordy opened her eyes.  Something caused her gaze to move to the far corner
of the room.  She thought her terror induced brain was playing tricks on her
when she spotted a flash of white.  *Spike?  Oh, thank you God.  Angel.  I
hope that spell worked or we’re all fucked.*

****

Kate paced beside the car.  She glanced at her watch.  She tried to make out
the dial in the dim light of the moon.

“It’s quarter to three,” a voice said from behind her.

Jumping out of her skin she turned to see a tall blonde man.  “Andrew?”

“Yes.  Where’s Angel?” he asked.

Kate pointed to the abandoned church.  “In there.  I’ll show you the way,”
she said as she started towards the building.

Andrew motioned behind him and a dozen men and women stepped from the
darkness.  Quietly they made their way through the field into the building.
They found Angel still holding Spike back.

Motioning the others to remain back, Andrew moved closer to the
investigator. Looking around the corner he winced slightly at the crosses
lining the wall.  “A few too many crosses for my tastes,” he whispered to
Angel.

Angel nodded towards the hand Andrew had pressed against the wall for
balance.  “Yeah, but they seem to be nullified.”

Pulling his hand away from the wall he noticed the cross imbedded in the
stone.  Looking at his unblemished hand he asked, “How?”

“Willow’s a witch,” Spike said in explanation.   “Can we kill them now?”

“I think that plan has wonderful merit,” Andrew said as he motioned his clan
members closer.

“Kate, go back to the car,” Angel ordered.

“No.”

“Kate, you’re a cop.  You don’t want to be here.”

The blonde woman reluctantly returned to Angel’s convertible.  She knew he
was right, she couldn’t be there when it happened.

Part 8

Cordelia locked her knees to remove some of the strain on her arms. The
coarse fibers of the rope scraped another layer of skin off her ankles.
*I’m never going to be able to wear skirts again,* she fumed. Petty, random
thoughts ran through her tired brain. She allowed them to build her anger
and keep her from going insane. *Come on, Angel. I know you’re there. Get
me off this damn thing.*

A small sound beside her caused Cordy to turn her head. Stiff muscles
screamed at the sudden movement. “Willow?” she whispered through parched
lips.

The soft call of her name drifted through a sea of pain. Valiantly, Willow
struggled through the minor aches and searing hurt. She finally opened her
dull green eyes. *Where am I? Why do I hurt so much?* she asked herself.
Her eyes wandered slowly around the candle lit room. *Oh, yeah. Almost
forgot about that.*

“Willow?” Cordy softly called again.

The abused red head turned her head slowly to look at her friend. “You
know...” She tried to find some moisture for her parched throat. “You
know this would be kind of romantic if we weren’t tied to these crosses,”
she croaked out.

Cordy had to smile at Willow’s attempted joke. “They’re here,” she
whispered.

“I know.”

“Are you prepared to repent your sins?” Father Buscalli asked from the dark
corner of the room.

“The only sin I can see is yours against fashion,” Cordy quipped. “It’s the
twenty-first century not the first.”

“Actually, Cord, the twenty-first century doesn’t start until 2001,” Willow
pointed out weakly.

The brunette rolled her hazel eyes. “Picky, picky.”

Buscalli strode across the stone floor to stand beneath the brunette and red
head. “You dare to mock the church?”

Cordy glared down at the man. “Mock. Mock. Mock,” she said dryly.

“Satin’s whore. You shall suffer for this,” he growled as he pointed a
finger at her.

“Didn’t anyone every tell you it’s not polite to point,” a familiar voice
asked from the back of the room.

Cordy breathed a sigh of relief as Angel stepped from the shadows. A very
pissed off Spike stood at his right and half a dozen vampires followed
behind them.

Buscalli smiled at the vampire. “Angelus, I knew you would come for your
whores,” he sneered.

Angel was only mildly surprised the so-called priest knew his name. “You
certainly like that word, don’t you?”

“I vote we don’t kill him.” Angel looked surprisingly at his childe. Spike
returned his sire’s look with a smirk. “Let’s just lock him in a room with
Cordelia.”

“That has merit,” Angel chuckled. “But wouldn’t that be cruel and unusual
punishment?”

“Your point is?”

Buscalli glanced quickly at the door. *The others should be here by now.*

Angel tilted his head slightly to look at the door Buscalli was so
interested in. “Oh. I forgot to tell you. Your friends are a bit busy
with my friends. So they’re not going to be able to join the party.”

Buscalli pulled a gold crucifix from his robe. “Back demon from Hell. Back
from whence you came,” he shouted in Latin.

Angel reached out and grabbed the cross in his hand. “You first,” he
replied in Latin.

Buscalli’s eyes widened in fear as the vampire held onto the Holy relic.

“Angel,” Cordy called. “Stop playing and get us down.”

He smiled at the quaking priest. “Andrew, would you like to have some fun?”

The tall blonde vampire stepped forward. “Thank you. Didn’t think we’d get
a chance,” Andrew laughed. He motioned to a pair of his companions. “Help
them.”

A pair separated from the group to search for a ladder while Angel and Spike
stood under the two women. Angel brushed Cordelia’s bare feet.

Looking down at his dark head, tears of joy slipped from her eyes. “Cut
Willow down first. And be careful of her back. He beat her pretty badly,”
she warned.

Spike growled at this information as he stroked Willow’s bare feet. “It’s
almost over, luv,” he whispered to her.

Andrew’s two vampires reentered the room with two ladders. Propping them
against the cross beam the climbed up to cut the human down. They winced at
the sight of the white skin marred with angry cuts and bruises. Pulling a
knife from his jacket, Jack cut through the rope and handed it to Sean.
When Sean was finished, he dropped the knife down to Spike. Willow held
tightly to their hands while Spike cut through the last of her bonds.
Gently she was lowered into Spike’s waiting arms.

Careful of her abused back, Spike held her against him. He felt her heart
beat against his chest and a tear slipped down his cheek. “I’ve never been
so scared,” he whispered against her ragged hair.

Willow inhaled deeply his scent of leather, cigarettes and that distinctive
smell that was only Spike. “Me, either,” she whispered into his neck.

Angel carried Cordy in his arms as he walked over to the pair. “Willow?”
she said softly.

Willow pulled her face away from its hiding place. She reached a hand out
to grasp Cordy’s out stretched hand. “I’m okay.”

Andrew watched the two couples for a few moments before interrupting them.
“Sunrise is in a couple of hours and it’s a long drive back to town,” he
said suggestively.

“Andrew,” Angel said as he turned to the tall blonde. “I don’t even know
how to thank you for your help.”

Andrew shook his head. “The Consortium is in your debt, Angel. You led us
to our revenge.” He pulled out his wallet and removed a business card.
“Take these ladies to Dr. DeLuca. He’ll see that they are taken care of and
all of the medical expenses are on us.”

Cordy snatched the card out of his hand. “You don’t happen to have a card
for a hairdresser, do you?” she asked.

Andrew chuckled at the spunky brunette. “Sorry, but I’ll see if anyone in
the Consortium can make a recommendation.”

Cordy nodded as she rested her head on Angel’s shoulder. “Angel, I’m tired.
Can we go home now?” she asked.

Angel pressed a kiss into her hair. “I think we can do that. Spike?”

Spike shifted his awkward grip on his sleeping bundle. “Let’s go home.”

*****

A week later....

Willow stepped into Angel’s office with Spike close on her heels. “Angel,
will you please tell Spike to stop following me everywhere I go?”

Angel glanced at his childe then back down at his book. “Spike, stop
following Willow.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Spike retorted.

The dark vampire shrugged his shoulders. “I tried.”

Willow rolled her eyes. “Thanks a lot. Where’s Cordelia?”

“Bathroom.”

Willow headed downstairs to the bathroom. Spike started to follow her. She
turned and set her hand on his chest. “Stay.”

Spike threw himself into the chair across from Angel.

Willow knocked on the bathroom door.

“For God’s sake, Angel,” Cordy said.

“It’s Willow.”

Cordy unlocked the door and opened it. Grabbing Willow’s hand, she pulled
the red head into the small bathroom. She shut and locked the door.

“I take it Angel is following you around, too,” Willow laughed as she sat
on the edge of the tub.

Cordy picked up her book and sat on the closed toilet seat. “The bathroom
is the only place I can be alone. And that’s only because I threatened to
make coffee with holy water if he didn’t,” Cordy sighed.

“I had to threaten to sic Buffy on Spike when we return to Sunnydale.”

Cordy took in Willow’s pixie cut and the new clothes they bought yesterday.
“So you’re going back soon.” She would miss her friend’s company.

Willow shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s summer vacation so I do have until
September when school starts again. Do you think you could put up with
Spike until then?” she asked.

“Who said Spike had to stay?”

Willow threw the brunette an exasperated look. “Do you honestly think he’s
going to leave?”

“No. But as long as you’re here I think I could put up with him.”

Willow smiled. “Then I guess we’re staying. Can you pass me a magazine?”

Cordy handed over a copy of Cosmo.

THE END
 

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