Warnings: Non-con, violence
Disclaimer: Joss owns all, just borrowing.
Distribution: Take, want, have, just let me know where it's going
Feedback: Please, with naked Spike on top. ghoztstarz@yahoo.com
A/N: Thanks midnight. I really like where you took me with your challenge. Gabrielle, you're a gem, the Sapphire. =) Emmy, you're lucky I can still write my original OTP. ;P
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The weekly Scooby meeting hadn't gone well, not at all. It was the first one that Willow and Spike went to together after Xander and Buffy had found out about them. Willow had hoped that they would have accepted it by now, accepted that she was with Spike, that she loved him. However, they hadn't. Instead, they had ganged up on her; Giles included, and tried to tell her how big of a mistake it was to be with him. How the chip only temporarily chained Spike.
"What if his chip was to stop working and he decided to turn you?" Giles had asked reasonably.
"Like bloody hell I will!" Spike roared, stepping up close to Giles.
No one had seen the fist coming, not from Giles. From Xander maybe, but coming from Giles it had caught everyone off guard, including Spike. He fell hard to the ground, demon coming to the fore, and glared at Giles. Willow was in tears. She'd only wanted her friends, whom she loved, to accept her decisions, but they were being unreasonable. She shot Giles a reproachful glare and was glad to see that he looked just as shocked by his actions as everyone else, but she didn't want to stay.
"When you've realized that I can make my own decisions, give me a call. Otherwise, leave me and Spike alone," Willow said, storming out of Giles' apartment and into the night. Spike followed behind her, changing back to his human facade.
They walked in silence, hand in hand, down the dim streets of Sunnydale. Each was lost in their own thoughts. Willow was disappointed and hurt. She'd thought that at least Buffy of all people would understand. She had, after all, loved Angel, and still did. What was the difference with Willow and Spike? Ok, so Spike didn't have a soul, but that didn't mean he was any less capable of love then Angel. Spike had loved Drusilla for a century! That had to account for something, but it didn't. All her friends could see was the demon, the vampire. Not the man, not the person she loved. They didn't get the chance to see how caring Spike could be. Moreover, she regretted that they might never know.
He'd seen this coming, knew they wouldn't react well to him being with Willow, but he hadn't expected the Watcher to deck him. He worked his jaw again and looked over at Willow, tears hanging onto her lashes, chin held high. He couldn't believe her strength...couldn't believe that she'd chosen him over her friends. He hadn't wanted it to come to that. He knew how important they were to her, but he didn't want to be without Willow either. He loved her, cared for her, and wanted to keep her always. And not as a Childe as Giles had suggested.
Spike loved Willow for who she was. The innocence that, even knowing and fighting the demons and the lowlifes the world had to offer, she had still been able to keep. Her heart was beyond big, beyond anything he ever thought he could deserve or hope to get. Moreover, she loved him too.
Stopping, Spike pulled her into a silent hug before turning to kiss her, pouring all of his emotions into it. He wanted to thank her for giving him a chance; he wanted to show her how much he loved her and how much he cared for her. He wanted to tell her how he would lay down his life and walk into the sun for her. How he would try to be everything she ever needed.
Willow responded to the kiss in kind, lavishing him with her love, with her understanding of his silent needs.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice asked from the darkness.
Spike looked up, growling. He didn't like that he was interrupted and thought it a stupid demon, but when he caught the scent on the air, he was surprised to find that it was a human, five of them, surrounding Willow and him.
"Stay close," Spike whispered to Willow as he turned her around so she could see and held her close to him.
"Looks like a couple of Love Birds," another voice said mockingly, coming into the light.
Willow could see them now as all five of them stepped into the light. She didn't recognize them and assumed they were from out of town, but she also assumed they were vampires. She didn't have Spike's senses and didn't know they were only human and more of a threat to them then any demon could be right now.
"Sod off!" Spike growled, holding Willow closer to him in a silent signal of possession.
"Ooh, looks like we have ourselves a James Bond on our hands," the man, who looked and acted like the leader of the group, said. He moved forward again, but stopped briefly when he heard a low growl come from Spike. "She feisty too?" he asked, recovering from the growl and smiling down at Willow.
Willow was rigid with fear and clung to Spike. The leader's reaction to Spike's low, throaty, and possessive growl proved to her that these were no demons, but humans.
"What do you want?" Willow asked boldly. If they were just humans then there was no real threat, or so she thought.
"Shh," Spike said, tightening his grip on her. He knew what they wanted and he knew he'd be powerless to stop it if they tried.
"Just you, darlin'," the man said leering at her.
"Not on my unlife," Spike said, pulling Willow backwards with him. He had to get her away from here, away from them. He couldn't fight humans, couldn't protect her.
"Don't you mean life?" the leader said, laughing a bit, thinking it a joke. "Besides, it's not like you have a choice. Right, Steve?"
It was then that Spike saw there was a sixth man, just behind them. He'd been too preoccupied with the men in front of them, and the wind had been blowing in the wrong direction for Spike to scent the man. He cursed loudly as he was hit across the back with a bat.
Willow screamed when Spike fell and she dropped to his side to help him up. Quickly, though, she was dragged away by the leader.
"Don't worry 'bout him, Steve and Joe'll take good care of him. Jack and I just want to take care of you," the leader said, leading her away from Spike and away from the streetlights.
"No! Spike! Help, please!" Willow cried as she was harshly pulled behind a tree. Tears fell and she tried to reach out for Spike, tried to get away from the hands that were roughly groping her and ripping at her clothes.
Spike roared in anger and swung at Steve, connecting with Steve's face before he dropped to the ground from the pain inside his head. His chip had activated and left him dizzy and his vision blurred. The other person, Joe, came up and knocked Spike with something over his head, opening a large gash on the back of his head. Instinctively Spike kicked out and tripped Joe, knocking him down. Spike roared again with the pain. It was blindingly painful and he felt as if his head was going to explode.
"Willow!" Spike cried out, searching the night for her, but his vision wouldn't focus. He couldn't see her; only hear her screams of pain and anger along with the grunts of some man. He knew what they were doing and hated that he was helpless to stop it. He continued to cry out for her, to reach for her, even as the other men, another having gone to join Willow, continued to rain blow upon blow on him. He heard bones crack, felt blood pour from gashes, but didn't care. All that mattered was getting to Willow, helping her.
The leader finished his turn with Willow, leaving his seed running down her leg and scratches from the tree bark on her back before he handed her over to Jack.
"My turn, pretty," Jack said, releasing his swollen cock from the confines of his jeans before thrusting roughly into Willow. She cried out in pain. Never had she felt so used, so violated.
Willow cried openly, trying still to fight them off, but she couldn't. The leader and another man were holding her arms as Jack fucked her hard, hurting her, tearing her inside. She wished Spike were there, hoped that he was all right. She cursed the chip that left him unable to help her right now, cursed the government for putting it in him. She heard him cry out to her and held on to that, held onto the image of him, of his smile.
Jack finished quickly enough and pulled out, switching places with the other man. Willow couldn't do it, couldn't hold on and she hung limp in the man's arms. That didn't deter them though, no, the other man still had his turn, though thankfully, he didn't last as long as the others did and by that time she was numb with pain.
The last thing she remembered was being dropped on the cool earth before she passed out.
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Dawn was coming; he could feel it, screaming at him through his body. <i>Danger<i>, it said. He opened his eyes, groaning in pain when he tried to move. It took Spike a moment to realize where he was and why he was there.
"Willow?" Spike called out in the twilight of pre-dawn. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't. Too many broken bones, too many unhealed cuts.
"Willow?!" he cried out, panic now tinting his voice. He was about to call out again, when he heard a soft moan and finally spotted movement off to the right, just behind a line of trees. Slowly, painfully, Spike dragged himself towards her.
"What happened to you?" a familiar voice asked. Spike looked up, trying to see through his swollen eyes and blood. It was Xander.
"Willow," Spike said, willing Xander to understand.
"What's wrong with Willow," Xander asked concerned. He looked around, but couldn't see her. "What have you done to Willow?!"
Spike sighed, wincing in pain, and tried to point to where he'd heard the moan. He watched as Xander looked and finally saw her, running to her and crying out her name.
"Willow! Oh, God! What happened?" Xander asked, kneeling down beside her. She was a mess, blood was drying on her back, and shreds of her clothes lay about her. Xander immediately took off his shirt and laid it across her.
"Willow," Xander called a little softer, pushing her hair out of her face. He was relieved when she opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Xander," Willow said. She swallowed thickly, her mouth dry and her throat sore from screaming and crying. "Spike, he...he, is he hurt?"
He wanted to scream at her, to tell her to look at herself. Xander couldn't believe that she could be thinking of the blond-pain-in-the-ass while she was lying naked and hurt on the grass. Nevertheless, he held his tongue. Xander would deal with Spike later.
"He's over there," Xander said, pointing to Spike.
"Help me up," Willow said, pushing herself to a sitting position. Xander looked away as her breasts were exposed to him and blindly reached for his shirt that had fallen behind her, handing it to her. She mumbled a thank you and slipped it on.
"You shouldn't move," Xander said, trying to stop her from standing up. "I should call an ambulance, get you to a hospital."
"No," Willow said sternly. She pulled herself up on wobbly legs, holding onto the tree for support. "It's almost sunrise. We need to get Spike inside. My house isn't far. I'll go to the doctors when he's safe from the sun."
This time, Xander couldn't hold his tongue. "Look at yourself, Willow! He hurt you! You're bleeding and can barely stand! Let him burn up in the sun, it'll save me from staking him."
"Alexander LaVelle Harris, how fucking dare you!" Willow yelled, surprising Xander with her language. "It wasn't Spike! It was six humans, Xander. Six humans."
The utter look of surprise was enough for Willow right now. She needed to get Spike inside, away from the sun. She moved to take a step, but was stopped by Xander.
"Here, uh, hold on to me," Xander said. He looked contrite and Willow graced him with a small smile of gratitude.
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It took them nearly half an hour for Xander to get Willow and Spike to her house. Willow had told him to get Spike first, handing him the key, then he could come back and get her. Xander had made to protest, but Willow had on her resolve face and wouldn't be persuaded otherwise. Spike was unconscious when Xander had finally laid him down on her couch. Once he got Willow inside, Xander went to the phone and made to call the police.
"Don't, Xander," Willow said softly from her position next to Spike. She had refused to sit anywhere but next to him.
"But, you're hurt, you need help," Xander said, looking amazed at his friend.
"Call Giles, have him bring over supplies for Spike, then I will go to the hospital."
"But-"
"Please? Please do this for me?" Willow begged, tears forming in her eyes.
I was then that it finally hit him, that he finally knew how much Willow loved Spike. And, by the looks of Spike's injuries, he had put up with a lot fighting for Willow. He instantly regretted not listening to her sooner, not believing that they could actually love each other. Xander found he couldn't refuse her and called Giles.
Giles made it to Willow's house in almost record time, first aid kit in hand. He stopped and stared at the pair by the couch. Willow was still in Xander's t-shirt and she was running her hand through Spike's hair, or at least the parts that were not soaked red with blood.
Not saying a word, Giles handed Xander the first aid kit and went to Willow, pulling her up gently and giving her a soft hug. He held back on tears that were threatening to fall.
"Let's get you to the hospital, shall we?" Giles said softly.
Willow nodded. She knew there were things that needed to be done, tests to be taken, rape kits.
"Stay with him?" Willow asked Xander before she left with Giles. Xander nodded.
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The car ride to the hospital was made in silence. Giles could tell what had happened without needing to ask, and he felt somehow responsible for it. Maybe, he thought, if he hadn't punched Spike, Willow and he would have left later and would not have run into whoever had done this to them.
Once at the hospital, he let the nurses take over. They worked efficiently, asking Willow what she knew of her attackers. Willow didn't tell them about Spike, but told them what she knew, what they looked like. The nurses were nice enough to her, making sure that she was comfortable and they even provided her with proper clothes to wear out of the hospital. They told her that they would send all of the information to the police and that an officer would contact her tomorrow for more information.
Willow was numb when she finally left the hospital. All she wanted to do was go home and make sure Spike was all right. Then, she wanted to sleep. She wanted to forget this night, forget the men that had brutally violated her and hurt Spike. However, she knew that once she got home she would see the evidence of their brutality when she looked at Spike and his broken body.
Giles pulled up in her driveway and turned off the car, but didn't make a move to get out.
"Um, Willow," Giles said, obviously searching for something to say. "I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault, Giles."
"No, I'm afraid I may have inadvertently had a hand in last night. I...Well, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. If I hadn't hit Spike, then, then maybe you wouldn't...you wouldn't have been attacked."
Willow couldn't help the tears that fell. "Giles, please," Willow said turning to him and placing a hand on his, "don't blame yourself. I couldn't stand it if you did."
Giles only nodded and got out of the car, walked around, and opened the door for Willow. She got out of the car and hugged him. It meant a lot to her that he would feel the need to apologize, even though it wasn't his fault.
"I love him, Giles," Willow said, pulling back to look up at her mentor.
"I know...now," Giles said, offering up a small smile. "Let's go inside and see how he's doing."
Nodding, Willow followed Giles inside.
"I don't care what happened!" Buffy yelled. "Willow's hurt and I <i>know</i> it's his fault!"
Willow and Giles walked in to see Buffy, stake held high, being pushed away from Spike by Xander.
"What is going on here?" Giles asked, looking between Buffy and Xander.
"Giles, he won't let me stake Spike," Buffy said.
"No one is staking Spike," Willow said, her voice low and full of anger.
Buffy spun on her heels to see Willow and ran to her. She enveloped Willow in a hug, squeezing just a little too much. Buffy pulled away when she hear Willow inhale sharply in pain and mumbled 'Sorry.'
Willow hadn't returned the hug, however, but glared at Buffy. "What do you think you're doing to Spike?"
"He let you get hurt," Buffy said, looking at the bruises that were fully formed now on Willow's exposed arms.
"Did not," a pained voice said from the couch. Willow was immediately at Spike side.
"You alright, Luv," Spike asked, trying to see through swollen eyes. He reached out blindly and touched her shoulder. Willow took his hand and guided it to her face, kissing his hand and nodding. She didn't trust her voice to be stable.
Xander respectfully moved to stand by Buffy and Giles, wanting to give Willow and Spike their moment. He'd known Spike was awake soon after he'd fed him some blood that he'd found in Willow's refrigerator, but they hadn't said anything to each other. Xander had only told Spike that Giles had taken Willow to the hospital to be taken care of when Spike had tried getting up. That had seemed to please the vampire and he lay back down, letting Xander patch him up.
Buffy shifted nervously as she watched the pair on the couch. She didn't like that Giles and Xander seemed to be on Willow's side. No one had told her specifically what had happened, but Willow had been in the hospital. That was all Buffy needed to know so that she could stake Spike once and for all.
Giles put a hand on Xander and Buffy's shoulder, indicating that they should leave the two alone. Xander and Giles moved to the kitchen followed by a reluctant Buffy.
"What happened?" Buffy asked heatedly once they were in the kitchen.
"Humans, people," Xander said, sickened by the thought. As if Sunnydale didn't have enough to deal with, with its demon population, there had to be humans that were just as bad, if not worse.
"People? People did that?" Buffy asked, disbelieving. It was something she couldn't fight, something she couldn't control. If it had been a demon, she could go...do her job and slay it. But she couldn't do anything about the dregs of the human population.
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Giles had made some tea, not wanting to leave Willow alone just yet, and Buffy and Xander didn't seem to want to leave either, though none of them left the kitchen. They didn't want to intrude on Willow and Spike.
Finally, Willow walked into the kitchen and all three of them stood up, offering her their seat. She smiled, thanking them and sat down. Giles got out another teacup and poured her some of the tea he had brewed and she drank it gratefully. She was exhausted, but knew they needed to know what had happened. Maybe not all of it, but they needed to know that it wasn't Spike's fault, that it wasn't demons.
They waited in silence as Willow drank, wondering if they should ask her about the other night.
"Six humans," Willow said into the silence. "They came from nowhere. I hadn't even known they were there, but Spike had sensed them and tried to protect me. He couldn't. They dragged me away and he tried to fight them. The chip wouldn't let him. They...," Willow said, trailing off. Her throat tightened and bile rose in her throat. This was harder then she thought it would be, to tell them what happened. Swallowing, she continued.
"They took turns, three of them, I think. The others went after Spike. I passed out after they were done."
The only sound after Willow's confession was the splintering of wood as Buffy broke the back of the chair she'd been holding on to.
"Were they... I mean do you know...," Xander asked, trailing off, unsure of what it was he was trying to ask.
"I didn't recognize them, if that's what you mean," Willow said sadly. "The police are supposed to call or come by soon. We need to move Spike upstairs. I don't want them asking about him too."
Giles and Xander immediately went to move Spike while Buffy stayed behind. They looked at each other for a long time before either of them spoke.
"I'm sorry," Buffy said. "I-"
"It's ok, well, no it's not. You were wrong Buffy, but it's ok."
Buffy nodded. "If you need anything..."
"Could you stay? I mean, when the police come, would you stay with me? I don't think I can do this alone," Willow said, tears forming again in her eyes. She thought she might never stop crying.
Buffy went to her friend and enveloped her in a hug saying that, of course, she would stay if that were what Willow wanted.
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The police had shown up, a woman and a man. They asked questions, tons, and tons of questions. Buffy had held Willow's hand through them all. Finally, just when Willow thought she would explode from the combination of exhaustion, anger, and pain, the officers left, vowing to catch the men that had done this to her.
She didn't believe them though, not really.
"You should get some sleep," Buffy said, ushering Willow up the stairs and into her room. She stopped for a moment when she saw Spike laid out on Willow's bed, but continued, setting Willow down and asking her if there was anything else she needed.
"No, thank you," Willow said with a yawn.
She was asleep before Buffy had even closed the door.
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Willow's dreams were littered with the men that had attacked her. She screamed and yelled for Spike in her dream, trying to reach out to him but always falling short. She watched, horrified, as he was beaten to a bloody pulp and left in the sun to burn. She could still hear his voice through the roar of the fire, calling out her name.
"Willow," Spike said.
"I'm sorry, Spike. Please! No! Don't leave me!" Willow cried out.
"Shh, Luv. 'M not going anywhere, I'm right here," Spike said, trying to wake her up. She was having a nightmare and he knew it. He'd had them as well, but her flailing had woken him up.
Willow sat bolt upright in the bed, sweat pouring off her. Her breathing was shallow and ragged.
"Calm down," Spike said soothingly, "you'll pass out you keep breathing like that."
Listening to Spike's advice, having finally fully awoken, Willow breathed deeply, trying to get herself under control.
"I'm sorry," Willow said when her heart rate had returned to normal.
"'S not your fault," Spike said, lying back down carefully. He didn't want to admit how hurt he was just from the small movement. He could feel his bones still mending, his flesh knitting back together. It was a slow process even for a vampire. He needed more blood, but he didn't want to bother Willow. He would get up and get his own.as soon as it stopped hurting so damned much.
They sat in silence for a moment before Willow spoke. "I-I was worried about you."
"It's ok now," Spike said, though he didn't believe it.
"No, no it's not ok," Willow said, turning to him. She caressed his face and looked directly at him. "It's not your fault you couldn't help me."
Spike turned away from her, not wanting her to see the tears that formed in his eyes. He'd never banked on humans hurting his Willow, never thought in a million years that humans would be the ones to show her just how weak he was.
"Spike," Willow said, trying to turn his head to face her. "Spike, look at me, please."
He turned reluctantly to face her, tears streaking down his cheeks unbidden and unwanted. He saw compassion, love in her eyes, and felt he didn't deserve that, didn't deserve her. He regretted ever coming back to Sunnydale, he regretted being caught by the Soldiers, regretted ever asking Buffy for help, and regretted most of all that he couldn't save Willow from those men. He wasn't able to save her from the ultimate humiliation of being raped repeatedly. He, of all people, knew how that felt, how degrading it made one feel, having been subjected to it by Angelus too many times to count.
"Spike, I love you," Willow said, her voice hitching on a sob that she tried to hold back.
"I love you too," Spike said, his voice equally shaky.
Willow laid her head down in the crook of his arm, making sure not to hit a tender or sore spot and held on to him. With everything that had happened, she needed him now, more than ever and she wanted to make sure he knew that.