Rating: NC-17
Summary: *Spoilers for AtS S5* Angel has asked Willow to come to Wolfram & Hart to help him with a little problem, namely Spike.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss and Co. I'm just borrowing.I swear I'll give them back. *weg*
Distribution: If you have it, take it. If not, ask and you shall receive.
Feedback: Claudia_6913@hotmail.com
A/N: This was written for the 'Choose Your Author' Ficathon. Thank you whoever challenged me. It's a blast!
Challenge:
Pairing: Willow/Spike (throw in some Angel if you want, I won't complain)
Things you want: ghost!Spike, mention of Wesley/Gunn
Things you don't want: any mention of Spuffy
Please forgive me, but I couldn't NOT mention Spuffy. This fic called for it. As much as I dislike the pairing myself, it needed addressing, but I tried to keep it out as much as possible.
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Sunlight streamed through the large floor-to-ceiling windows in Willow's room, bathing her in light as it fell on her, lying on the bed. She had been awake for a few minutes already, just watching the sun rise higher. Her body ached pleasantly as she stretched underneath the satin sheets. Willow knew she should get out of bed, needed to get out of bed, but she wanted to stay.just a moment longer. She was afraid that if she got out of bed the dream might fade, and she didn't want that.
What she needed to do was analyze her feelings for Spike. It wasn't as if she didn't like him, she'd always liked him. Even when he'd threatened her life, he'd held a certain charm, albeit a deadly charm. This fondness for him had been by no means an overnight development, though the dream was certainly a new development. It was just, well, he'd basically come back from the dead so to speak. He was here, at Wolfram & Hart, with Angel of all people. She wondered if it was just seeing him again, after the sacrifice that he had made for her, for all of them, which had inspired her dream. Or did she really want him like that?
Groaning, Willow pulled herself out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She wanted to luxuriate in another long and leisurely bath, but settled on a quick shower. Looking around, she noticed that even the shower was extravagant. It was encased in glass, and was the size of a walk-in closet. Shaking her head, Willow turned on the multitude of jets and took the most refreshing shower she'd had in a long time.
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"Mornin' mate," Spike said, sliding through the door to Angel's office with ease.
Angel watched, bewildered, as Spike smiled and walked to stand by the windows. The all-too-chipper greeting was very unlike Spike.actually, Spike had not behaved normally last night at all. Because Spike hadn't even been around. Usually he would find Angel and torment him, haunt him, and just cause him to be in a generally bad mood. But, last night, he'd neither heard nor seen Spike. That in itself was a rarity, but couple that with what he had heard from his guestroom.well, that would leave him wondering for a while to come yet.
"What do you want Spike?" Angel asked, annoyed already. It hadn't been two minutes yet, and just that cheerful greeting was enough to make Angel's nerves fray at the end.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Spike asked, looking over at Angel. He seemed tense to Spike. Hell, Spike felt tense as well. Well, no, not tense so much as keyed up, like a coiled spring just waiting to pop out. If he closed his eyes, he could still see Willow and almost hear his name roll off her lips in that unbelievably sensuous voice.
".Spike."
Moreover, the smell of her.dear God the smell of her. That would drive him mad each time he saw her. He wouldn't be able to see her lips without thinking about the way she licked them after a long moan.
".Spike!" Angel yelled, trying to get the younger vampire's attention. He wondered what had Spike so lost in thought. Granted, Spike didn't have that great of an attention span, but he'd never been this bad. It wasn't his usual blatant disregard for Angel; it was complete and utter consumption in his thoughts.
"What? Oh, sorry.what was that?" Spike asked, turning back to Angel.
"What did you want?" Angel asked again succinctly. 'Did Spike just apologize?' Angel wondered. It was rare and frankly, almost unheard of for Spike to apologize.for anything. Something was up with Spike, and Angel was determined to find out what it was.
"Oh right. Why did you bloody ask Red here to help and not tell me?" Spike asked. He was not upset by the fact Red was there, just that he had not been told. Angel, even as Angelus, never thought Spike needed to know anything at all. It was annoying and demeaning.
"I didn't even know if she would come. There was just no sense in telling you, only to have her not show up," Angel said calmly.
But, she had shown up, much to Angel's surprise. He hadn't been sure what to expect either. Maybe he had hoped that Buffy would come with her, just to see him. But he had also hoped she wouldn't due to the awkwardness of having two of her.lovers.in the same building. Thoughts that she would look at Spike with more love or admiration then she ever looked at him had also made him wish she wouldn't come. It would have been just too much. At any rate, Buffy had not come, just Willow.
"Right, well, now that Red's here she'll fix me up right and I can get out of your bloody gel-encrusted hair," Spike said smiling. He was overly happy and he knew it, but didn't care. After last night, the only thing Spike could think about was being a 'real boy' again and shagging Red senseless.
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After her shower, Willow casually walked around Wolfram and Hart, taking in all the sights. She paid a visit to Fred in the Science Lab, once she got someone to show her where it was that is, and had a nice chat with her. Fred shared with Willow all of her theories on Spike and his condition, and Fred assured her that if Willow needed any help, she was her gal.
"Thanks Fred," Willow said. "But, I'm curious, how has Spike been dealing with all of this?" Willow wanted to know. She tried to justify her curiosity by telling herself that it might have some bearing on how she handled this, how she helped him become flesh again, but that wasn't true, not with what she knew about her feelings now. It was purely for selfish reasons. And she had to ask Fred because she could never ask Spike himself. He wouldn't be honest about it at all.not if he was still the same Spike she remembered.
"Oh, well I don't know," Fred said, scrunching her face up in thought. "At first, well, he seemed kind of mad like it wasn't fair. You know? And then, well, he got scared I think, because he thought he was going to hell. And, well, Angel wasn't making it easy on him.telling him he deserved it for all he'd done. That was not pretty let me tell you. Then., oh, I'm talking too much again aren't I?"
"No, no, please go on," Willow encouraged. Silently she fumed, wondering how Angel could say such things to Spike when his own past wasn't all roses and sunshine. Had he forgotten about Angelus? Had he forgotten about killing Jenny Calendar and Willow's fish? No, Willow would be having a talk with Angel about that.
"Well, then, right before he vanished on us, he came to me. It was weird, he was quiet and everything, like he knew he didn't have much time and had accepted his fate or something? Anyways, he told me he could feel it, hell. Well, that was not a fun conversation either. And, I tried to help him, really I did. But, he saved me and gave up the one shot we had at making him flesh again.
"Now he's just kind of settled for haunting Angel, making his work hard. But, don't tell anyone, but it's kind of funny. You know, the way he teases Angel. Though, sometimes I don't always understand what he's saying because of all the British slang he uses. Wesley doesn't talk like that most of the time, so I'd never heard it before. But, anyways, like I said.he's kind of settled into it, being a ghost and all," Fred said, finishing with a sigh. She smiled at Willow, waiting for her to say something.
"Oh, sorry, I got lost in my thoughts," Willow said apologetically. She had been thinking about Spike teasing Angel, and the inventive words he would use and how sometimes, back in Sunnydale, she hadn't understood a thing he'd said either.
"No, It's my fault, I'm sorry. I tend to ramble," Fred said. "So, do you know if you can help him yet?"
"I don't know Fred, I just don't know. But, I will try. I owe him that much," Willow said. She waved good-bye to Fred, and walked back out into the busy hallway.
This time, instead of meandering her way through the halls, Willow made a beeline straight for Angel's office. Fred's comments had incensed her. Willow could feel her skin tingling and she had to stop and take a few deep breaths to calm down. She had not done her normal routine of morning meditations.
Ever since she stopped actively practicing magick, she'd started doing morning meditation to release most of her natural magick back into the earth. This kept her balanced and able to control herself. However, today, she hadn't meditated and she could feel the magickal energy as it surged though her.
Once moving again, Willow strode confidently up to Angel's office doors and swung them open, then closed them behind her. Angel and Spike had been in the middle of a conversation when she came in and she only caught the tail end of it. It had given her no clue as to what the conversation was about.
"You're a right twisted bastard, Angelus," Spike said, right as Willow walked into the room.
Both men stilled as Willow walked right up to Angel's desk and slammed her hands down.
"We," Willow said, pointing between herself and Angel, "need to talk."
"Told you she'd find out, Wanker," Spike said smirking, and carefully sat down on the edge of Angel's desk to watch the show.
Angel was beside himself. 'How could she know?' he thought. 'And after all, she was just right known the hall. And, I'm a vampire; we have really good hearing.not that I needed it last night...as loud as she was moaning.'
"Alone, Spike," Willow said, not taking her eyes off Angel. She was pissed off. He'd had no right to say those things to Spike.
"Oh," Spike said, sulkily. He wanted to watch the show. He always did love it when Red got angry. That's when she showed her fire.
"Please?" Willow asked, finally turning pleading eyes to him.
"Alright, Pet, but only because it's you doing the asking," Spike said. He walked through Angel's doors, only to walk back through them invisible.
'There's no way I'm missing this,' Spike thought.
Once they were alone, Willow and Angel just looked at each other for a moment. Angel was nervous and contrite even before she spoke. He was formulating his apology, going through a mental list of where else she could stay, and different ways to kill Spike. It was his fault after all. Somehow, he'd gotten to Willow, gotten her to call out his name in the dark, in her sleep, and Angel had heard it all from his bedroom, amazed at what he was hearing.
"How could you do that?" Willow asked venomously. Spike had been a part of Angel's family, so to speak, and he had a soul now. She felt Angel's hypocrisy was unfounded and she was determined to show him the error of his ways.
"I, uh, let me explain," Angel said, fumbling over his words. He had thought for sure that apologies would come easier the more he made, but this one, well it was different, she was different.
"No, I know what you're going to say and that's still no excuse," Willow said, finally turning away from him.
'Bloody hell is he in for it,' Spike thought. He stood next to Angel's desk, making sure he could see both their faces. 'Red's gonna rip him to shreds.'
"Willow, I-"
"You're what, Angel? You're sorry? Damn right you're sorry."
'He's letting her get into it,' Spike thought smiling. 'If he's going to have a chance he needs to stop her now.'
"I am, but-"
"I don't want to hear it Angel!" Willow yelled, cutting him off again. Her anger from earlier had been building and now it all came out. She could feel her magick crackling in the air, and saw Angel's eyes go wide in surprise. Willow had to work hard to calm herself down before she said another word.
"What you did was wrong," Willow said, after taking a deep breath. She knew yelling wouldn't solve anything. "And, honestly Angel, I don't know how you could be such a hypocrite."
"Wait.a hypocrite? Now, Willow, please-"
"No, Angel, I will not just 'please'. You know first hand what hell is like. You know how damaging any of the hell dimensions can be and instead of sympathizing with Spike, you wanted to send him on his way, telling him he deserved it. How cold is your heart Angel? To send him packing, and for what reason? Just to get him out of your hair? Well, I've got news for you. You're half the vampire Spike ever was and that's before he got his soul."
Angel didn't know what to say. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, settling on keeping it closed. Her comment had caught him so completely off-guard. He'd thought for sure that Willow had come to confront him about listening in while she was dreaming, but no. She came to yell at him about a past conversation he'd had with Spike.
Spike stood silent and invisible while he watched the show. This new twist was an interesting one. Moreover, that Willow would say something like that.not only was it out of character for her to a point, but it touched Spike. Sure, she used to tell the Slayer and Chubs to stop picking on him, but never to this extent.
"Besides, you're very far from being a 'Mr. Goody-two-shoes' yourself. Remember my fish? So, you had absolutely no right to say any of that to Spike," Willow stated firmly, and nodded her head for emphasis. Her anger abated and she felt somewhat foolish for her outburst, so she looked away from Angel, waiting for him to tell her to leave for talking to him like that in his office.
Spike was grateful to Willow for the things she'd said about him, though he'd never admit to it. It just showed him one more aspect of her compassion that she would confront Angelus with this even though the threat of hell was long gone.
"You're right Willow," Angel said, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "And I'm sorry."
"Well, good. Then.I guess I'll leave you to your work," Willow said and left Angel's office much more quietly than she had come in. Once outside his office, Willow sighed and leaned her head on the door, berating herself for yelling at Angel. He was trying to help Spike now, and the thing about hell had been before he had even contacted her.
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"She told you," Spike said, reappearing next to Angel.
"Didn't think you'd go far," Angel said. He was in no mood for any more of Spike taunts. Right now, all he wanted to do was not think about how he'd upset Willow by saying what he'd said to Spike weeks ago. He wondered where she had heard about that though. There had been no one else in the office when he'd had his little conversation with Spike.
"Thought for sure she'd come to rip you a new one for listening in on her little dream about me," Spike said, smirking.
Both vampires snapped to attention when they heard a muffled 'Oh God!'
"Bloody hell, Red," Spike said and took off after her.