Might Last a Day

Author: Femailofthespecies

Disclaimer: I own the plot, Joss and crew own the folks

Notes: Angel is Spike's Sire, cuz it just makes sense. Angel’s soul is permanently anchored by Willow. Dru isn’t a loon, she just plays one on TV. Spike never loved Buffy (thank God!). Spike was chipped, but Angel had it removed soon after. He helped the gang because Angel made him or so we think.

Feedback: I want it NOW!

Violet by Hole

Quiet on the set!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 

~Part: 1~

And the sky was made of amethyst.
And all the stars were just like little fish.
You should learn when to go.
You should learn how to say no.

Might last a day, yeah.
Minus forever.
Might last a day, yeah.
Minus forever.

When they get what they want, then they never want it again.
They get what they want, and they never want it again.

Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to.
Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to.

And the sky was all violet.
I want again, but violent, more violent.
And I'm the one with no soul.
One above and one below.

Might last a day, yeah.
Minus forever.
Might last a day, yeah.
Minus forever.

When they get what they want, then the never want it again.
And they get what they want, and they never want it
again.

Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to.
Go on, take everything, take everything, I dare you to.

I told you from the start, just how this would end.
When I get what I want, then I'll never want it again.

~~~*~~~

October 1999

The blonde rushed up the steps, entering the building via a secret underground access. His plane ride back to the capital was serene and uneventful, but did nothing to calm his nerves. He was angry and disappointed. That maniac the local team assigned to him had fucked up the operation royally. Now the gem was lost and he had tortured his sire for nothing. Not that he didn’t owe the wanker a good beating, but it seemed so pointless in the end.

The long cemented hallway echoed his footsteps , announcing his approach to security. This was intentional on his part. He never wanted them aware of his true abilities. The Night Brigade commanders were all human and thought they knew everything about his kind. But in reality, they had only been exposed to lower minions and young vampires until recently. Spike and his crew of merry mercenaries were all Master Vampires and the commanders were totally unaware of the power they held, within themselves and within the vampire community.

For now Spike was content to let them think what they wanted as it served his ultimate goal. He turned a corner in the hallway and lit a cigarette. They would ask him to put it out when he reached the inner security door and he would growl at the agents, his demon lapping up the fear that they always emanated.

~~~*~~~

The overweight and misunderstood Captain Mario Watson stood when he saw the vampire walk into his outer offices, motioning for Spike to follow him into his personal retreat. Behind closed doors the captain extended his hand in greeting to the blonde.

"Agent Williams. Good to have you back." He proclaimed with false bravado, pumping Spike’s right hand wildly, a sickly smile plastered on his fat pimply face. Spike could hear the man’s heart. It beat feverishly and erratically, not all stemming from fear of the demon he was closeted with, but also from disease.

"Right, mate." Spike answered pulling his hand away from Watson with a grimace, the sweat from the human’s palm leaving a smelly residue on his cool pale one. He flopped onto a large brown leather sofa, lit a smoke and put his feet up on the ottoman.

"So... were you successful?" The captain asked, watching the vampire stretch out comfortably as if for a nap.

"Mission Failed. The bloody agent in LA assigned to the op turned on me and took the gem. He later lost it to Angelus and my resources report that the stone was destroyed. When you find Marcus, subdue him and bring him to me. Understood?" Spike stated all this flatly, expecting nor tolerating any inquisition on the matter.

The fat man nodded. "Do you trust them? Your contacts, I mean?" Watson asked as he lowered himself into his chair behind the large mahogany desk.

"Course. If they lie, I’ll kill them. It’s only business." Spike inhaled deeply and flicked the ashes on the floor.

"Well then we’ll just have to make other provisions for our candidate."

"Yeah, well is been a whole world of fun chatting it up, mate, but I’ve gotta to be going. You know how to reach me if you need me," Spike said, raising effortlessly to stand. Pivoting on his heel , he made his exit without waiting for a dismissal or reply of any kind from his "commanding officer".

~~~*~~~

June 2002

The redheaded witch paced. It had been over three years since she last received an encrypted message and she was anxious about why they were activating him again. She has no idea what she was getting into that career day back in high school. The recruiters from the software company were just a front for the agency she now worked for. She was dormant as long as the vampire was. Why now? she thought. Soon she would know as he was on his way to her parents to meet with her.

~~~*~~~

"Spike! Goddess, what’s going on?" She pulled him into the house and hugged him. This was something they never let the other scoobies see. That they were very close and getting closer.

"Don’t know yet, Red. Pull up the message and insert this disc." She did as asked, watching the screen as the encrypted letters one by one responded to the key that was located on the CD Spike provided.

"Looks like it’s long one. It’ll be a while, pet." He said leaning over her back as she watched the screen. She turned slightly to reply and their lips brushed. Not one to pass up an opportunity, the blonde vampire kissed her slowly and gently, hoping to convey his feelings for her in that act. She returned his attentions, allowing him access to her mouth.

"Spike..." Willow panted once he released her lips. "Mmmm...uh, we’d better stick to this message before we get caught up in something else." Green eyes smiled up at him through long lashes.

Ten minutes later the program completed the decryption. Spike and Willow both sat at the laptop staring in disbelief. The assignment had to be a joke. Spike was excited to get started, but Willow was scared of what was to come. She wasn’t prepared to commit cold-blooded murder.

"Spike, we can’t just waltz over there and kill this guy. Well, you can cause it’s kinda what you do, but why me?" she whined, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Because, Red, you are the only certifiable witch they have and we will need that to get close enough to this guy." Sitting down, Spike continued to read further. "Now, let’s see. What’s our cover? And who are we getting?" He asked to himself.

"Bloody Hell! They want Angelus and for me to recruit at least 4 more vampires for the team." There was no way he would be able to convince Angel to help him.

"Hey! I get to be an author. Oh and you get to be a doctor. Wanna practice on me?" The bleached vampire wriggle his eyebrows at the witch.

"Spike! This is serious. I don't know if I can do this. After Warren I swore..." She began to shake as she let the tears fall. Spike embraced her, kissing away her tears.

"No fears, pet. I’ll take care of you. Nothing bad will happen." He lifted her chin. "I will kill anything that tries to hurt you. Understand?"

She nodded and smiled holding him tighter. She felt safe with him.

"For now we have to get out of here and meet the commander tomorrow night. So pack, luv. Make it light. We’ll get all new stuff later. And bring three clean laptops and a few solar cell phones for each of us. We can activate them on the satellite. I hate it when they can trace everything I do."

"Spike, I need to go by the Magic Shop too. Gotta have the basics. And I want some of those little crystals that I use to hold spells in suspension. That way I can have the more complicated stuff stored and ready if we need it."

"Fine. I’ll go hunt and grab some clothes and weapons. You pack and I’ll come for you by 11. Then we’ll load up and go to the shop. We have to get out of here, pet, and to talk to Peaches. I have a shit load of explaining to do and have to convince him quick." This he didn’t look forward to.

"Alright Spike. Hurry up. I’ll be ready by 11’oclock."

With that the vampire left unceremoniously.

~~~*~~~

Angel and Gunn were cleaning weapons. The night had been a busy one and the dark vampire was pretty anal about not leaving them dirty.

"Why can’t we fight something that doesn’t explode goo everywhere? I miss plan old vamp dust, you know?" Gunn griped.

Angel tilted his head and listened. "Well you’re about to get nostalgic. We have company." Angel retorted, standing up and tossing a cross bow to his demon hunter.

The door flew open, making way for the bleached vampire’s entrance.

"Hello Peaches. Miss me?" He smirked as Gunn released the arrow. With preternatural speed Spike side stepped and caught the offending object before it hit Willow, who was directly behind him.

"Guess not!" He glared at his Sire. "You alright, Red?"

"Yeah...Thanks, Spike... Uh, Hi Angel?" Willow managed once her heart started again.

Angel took the weapon from his friend and approached his childe and the redhead.

"Why are you here? What are you doing with Willow?" Angel asked ready to strike.

"Whoa. Who is this Angel?"

"Nice to see you again too, you wanker." He growled.

"Spike, be nice." Willow admonished the younger demon, placing her hand on his leather clad arm.

"This is Spike." Angel answered Gunn.

"Sure, pet. You just tell him to play nice so we can have a civil chat."

"As in William the Bloody? Your childe?"

"Willow. Are you okay? Yes, my childe." The once broody vampire was becoming annoyed.

"Yes, Angel of course! We came to talk to you about something." Willow spoke calmly, gazing into warm sable eyes.

"And keep your attack dog away on a short leash, Peaches." Spike yelled from the spot he claimed on the sofa. "If he so much as points  a finger at me, I’ll break him two, Angelus."

Angel was aware that Spike could definitely do serious harm to Gunn. He’d taught him too well and the boy picked up so much more while they were apart. Angel was only able to take the blonde by using extreme force and by playing on the Sire/Childe bond. He would always have that psychological hold over his childe.

"Gunn. I’ll finish up here." Gunn was laughing.

"Why does he call you ‘Peaches’?" More giggles from the bald guy.

"To.piss.me.off. I’ll see you tomorrow." Angel walked to the front door holding it for his employee.

"Fine man, but I plan to find out." He sauntered through the opened doorway and cast a look over his shoulder. " 'Night...Peaches." Angel winced at the laughter of the departing man. <I’ll get even next time we spare.> He smiled at the thought.

Eyeing the two on the sofa brought him out of his musing. What was the deal here? Willow appeared very relaxed around his childe. Not even a slight increase in her heartbeat when Spike raised his voice. She must have seen him lose it often. And he seemed very protective of the little hacker. Angel was determine to find out what has been going on in Sunnydale. Sitting opposite the odd couple, he leaned back in his chair.

"Okay, Willow. What’s so important that you’ve come to L.A in the middle of the night with this moron?"

~Part: 2~

"Okay. You know what?" She breathed. "This stops now. Both of you! Angel, Spike has some very...uh, interesting... things to tell you. I think when you hear what he has to say it will explain a lot. And Spike... you have to do what you came to do. So the name calling stops here. No more Almighty Poof, Wanker, Nancyboy, Paingel, Peaches, Moron, Worthless, Idiot childe, Peroxide boy, Boy or William. Do you both understand me?" She was nearly yelling, eyes blazing.

"But his name IS William." Angel whined. Spike knew better than to argue with the witch and stayed quiet. She wasn’t above turning him into a bunny or some other terribly soft or fuzzy creature to make her point. He learned that the hard way and it wasn’t something he liked talking about.

"But when you call him ‘William’ it’s not out of affection for what you had together, it is Angel? You do it to make him feel like a childe, inferior to you. To put him in his place! So don’t do it today. Not around me." She glared at the dark vampire, daring him to reply. When he was sufficiently humbled, she turned to Spike he was grinning, his handsome face causing her to relax again.

"Please Spike. Go on and tell him. It’ll be okay. I’m right here." She urged the blonde, taking his pale hand in hers reassuringly.

Spike swallowed hard and looked down at their hands. He never imagined that he would be recruiting his Sire. This was a situation he didn’t anticipate and now that it faced him, it was harder than envisioned.

Angel wondered why his childe was so anxious. What could he possibly have to say that could be more irritating to the dark vampire than the things he’d already done? He settled back in the chair.

"Well ANGEL," the younger vampire enunciated. "A funny thing happened back when your soul took a sabbatical in Sunnydale. What, that was 5 years ago, Red?"

Willow nodded, indicating he should continue.

"You were trying to end the world. And some big covert government types got wind of this and decided that they could not allow it to happen. Problem was...how to get close enough to the infamous Angelus. It’s not like they could send one of their agents in. Human frailties, heartbeat. All dead giveaways."

The bleached vampire became more animated as he relaxed, his natural state being one of hyperactivity. Telling it to his sire was cleansing in a way. He patted the pockets on his duster before finding his cigarettes in one and lighting up, knowing that Angel hated it when he smoked inside.

"So...What to do? What to do? They needed a guy on the inside and I was bloody pissed. Not only did you fuck up everything with Dru, you also were intent on sending us all to Hell. Bloody HELL Peac...Angelus, where there are bigger and badder demons than our hybrid arses just waiting to torture anything come from the topside. Us included."

"So when the agents approached me I was ripe for the picking. These guys knew about vampire but were really stuck on the Dracula aspects. You know, they still think we sleep all day," He added laughing, but stopped with a scowl when no one joined in.

"Right. Anyway, I agreed to stop or stall you and help the slayer, save the world and got 5 million American dollars in an offshore account for my troubles. It was an all around good deal."

"A good deal? I spent 100 years in Hell or don’t you remember?" Angel retorted angrily.

"Oh sod off, Angelus! You we’re trying to get there anyway, we just didn’t go on the bloody field trip with you, mate. Can’t say I regret a thing." Spike dragged on his cigarette, blowing smoke in Angel’ s face. And stop interrupting me!"

"Now where was I? Oh yeah...you go to hell, I save the world, I get richer. Okay...These government wankers had been working with a few vampires after that. Taking assassination missions and such. Of course the Masters in major cities got wind of this as sometime it was one of their own minions recruited. Eventually they made a power play and told the agency that we wanted an official of our own in a prominent position representing our interest. They didn’t trust the humans. "

"Well those good ole boys in Washington didn’t take too kindly to the ultimatum and threaten to expose a few lairs that they knew of to the public. So a few of us got together and decided to take an official if they wouldn’t give us one."

"What do you mean take? Did you kidnap someone Spike?" Angel growled, dreaded what the boy was going to say next.

"Nah. I just helped turn the Vice President a few years..."

"YOU WHAT?" Angel seethed and Willow pulled Spike closer to her.

"Look mate. Willow is going to have to give you another thrashing if you can’t control yourself." He smirked.

Angel couldn’t remember seeing the Vice President much. Couldn’t even remember his name. Politics...It’s not a priority when your fighting demons on a daily basis. He tried to picture him, but nothing came to mind except that the man remarried about a year after his wife died. "Spike, are you telling me that the Vice President of the United States is a vampire?"

"Well duh. What the bleeding hell do you think I’ve been saying?" Exasperated, the blonde turned to Willow. "Can I call him a name now, pet?" She shook her head in the negative.

"Childe or minion?" Angel cringed at the thought of a minion holding such a high office.

"Childe."

"Did you Sire him?"

"Nah. But here is the kicker. I wanted someone I could control, but wouldn’t be stuck with for an eternity. I mean since he won’t age we’ll need a new candidate in a 5 years or so." He rambled on.

"Who did it, Spike?" Angel sighed, thankful that his childe hadn’t sired the VP.

Spike leaned up and pierced the older vampire’s soul with his icy blue eyes.

"Your Princess, Sire."

~Part: 3~

"Dru...", the dark vampire whispered, shock numbing him for the moment. He flopped back into the chair, limp and staring at the ceiling. Spike and Willow watched him process this latest tidbit of information, a plethora of emotions racing across his normally stoic features. A moment later he sat upright, brown eyes flickering with gold traces of the demon, and glared at his fair-headed childe, trying to remember why he was favored in every respect.

"Why did you let her do this? Why Dru, Spike? She’s...insane." He asked.

"Angelus...We did what we needed to do. And as Drusilla was fond of reminding me, I am not her Daddy. If you want to have control over what your childer are up to then I suggest you keep us a little closer to heart, Pops. We’re bound to get up to all kinds of mischief without proper supervision." His feral grin tempted Angel to beat the blonde with a sledgehammer, but the threat of Willow was not to be dismissed.

"Dru is not like you remember her. She was insane for many years, but when therapy became the rage in the eighties she insisted that we go. Shockingly, it did a world of good for her and I got to unload some of me abandonment baggage that I carried for nearly a century. Not that I’m not still severely pissed at you for running off after the bloody soul, but I know it wasn’t me. It was you. I can honestly say that I feel better."

Angel started at Spike slack-jawed. The idea of him and Dru seeing a therapist and discussing their family business was bizarre, yet he had no doubt that Spike was telling him the truth.

"You went to a SHRINK?" His voice cracked.

"A THERAPIST, you WANKER. Of course I killed the bloke later... HEY OUCH!" Spike jumped nearly off the sofa. "Why’d you do that?!" He glared at Willow, while licking at the burn on his arm which was beginning to heal already. Angel smiled, oddly pleased by seeing the redhead punish Spike.

"I told you no name-calling." She wagged a finger at him. "Now finish telling him. We have a lot to do before tomorrow night." She commanded.

"Sorry....", the blonde frowned. "The point is that Dru, although mildly afflicted from time to time, his very much in control of her mental faculties. When the mob in Prague got her she was sick all around, the pain drawing her back to what she knew best. And then in Sunnydale when Angelus made his triumphant return to stage and screen, she just played up to what her Daddy wanted her to be. All and all she’s a very clever girl, Angel. And has no problem helping her mate run his office."

"HER MATE?" His demon was screaming, MINE>MINE>MINE>. Drusilla is mine!

"Oh, come on Angel! We are not going to sit around waiting for your soul-having arse to decide to be our sire again. We have eternity, mate. Can’t go it alone. That’s just to hellish of an existence, even for a demon."

"Wait....Wait... Spike! Is she...did they...Spike!" He ran his large cool hand over his face, and tried to calm down. Why was he telling him all this? And what did Willow have to do with it? "I’m sorry. You asked me not to interrupt and I have, a lot, and now I’m so confused. So please just tell me however you can and I’ll hold my questions until you’re done." The older vampire suggested.

"Alright then... Dru is his ‘wife’ now. After his first wife ‘died’..." Spike did an air-quote sign and Angel rolled his eyes, exasperated by that revelation. "He did his time with his required mourning and all then married Dru. But all this is not why I’m here." He looked to Willow for guidance, having lost his train of thought.

"Get to the agency." She prodded.

"Right. Look Angel." He turned serious eyes to his sire. "I’ve done a lot of things and some were just covers for missions. Like that kidnapping Willow incident was just a ruse. She was needed to hack through on a clean machine right away. The whelp wasn’t supposed to be there. A spot of bad luck that was. And then we needed the gem for Vice President Shane, so he could make more daytime appearances, you know. You should have just given it to me. That was a dirty piece of work, torturing you and all. Seeing you all tied up and bleeding..." He drifted off for a moment, remembering how it used to be between them, but Spike was usually the one in chains.

"Yeah, well never would’ve let him kill you, Sire. It was just for the mission." Spike got up and lit a cigarette, pacing and avoiding Angel’s eyes. Apparently he was done so Angel felt he could get some answers.

"Willow how do you fit in all this?" HE was curious about the level of comfort she obviously felt with his childe. She shouldn’t be so trusting. Angel sensed that Spike wanted more from Willow and was just biding his time.

"Well, I was...recruited by the agency during a career week at school. They needed someone with great computer kills. The magic came later. I suggested they approach Spike when they came to me about you. Me and Spike have been a team since."

"So you are telling me all this because...?" He was tired and needed to feed. His head was throbbing with the overload of data and he was ready to collapse in his nice soft bed.

"You are to be recruited for a mission." Spike whispered so low that only Angel’s preternatural hearing picked it up.

"Me? What for? Why?" He was not about to get sucked into the blonde vampire’s crazy schemes.

"Me and the witch have a mission. The agency wants you in on it. See, I have a bad rep in the demon world right now for helping the slayer, thank you, Daddy. Not only can I not trust anyone I recruit to not turn against me, they also won’t believe I’m not in cahoots with the slayer. If you and I are together, the world will believe you to be Angelus since they know the soul can’t stand to be around me. And if you are Angelus then I am not the slayer’s lapdog. YOU got me into this and YOU are getting me out." He stared pointed at the dark haired vampire, eyebrow raised.

Angel understood Spike’s position, but did not want to be dragged into this mess. It could only go badly.

"What would you need me to do?" He asked, damning his traitorous mouth and curiosity.

"Come to a meeting for now. The commanders there will brief us all then." He eyed Willow, pleading with her to stay quiet. The poof would be against an assassination, no matter who the target. He would need more persuading, by someone other than his wayward childe.

"Say I go and don’t like what I hear. Then what?" He asked suspiciously. The demon wanted to meet this vampire that dared take his childe as a mate and rip out his entrails.

"You walk away, mate." The blonde dragged on the his cigarette one last time and crushed it out in a vase, ignoring Angel’s scowl. "No one there will cross me. Been there and they decidedly won’t ever do that again." He remarked with a small chuckle. "Soon with you to back up the story, no demons will cross me either." They glared at each other for a while, blue locked onto brown, seemingly communicating without words. To Willow, it was a stand-off. Finally Spike broke the silence.

"Make your calls Angel and pack you bags. There’s a plane waiting for us. We only have a few hours before dawn to get to the airport." He spoke softly, resolutely and laid down, snaking an arm around Willow’s small waist, to take a nap. Daytime flying always made him nervous no matter how much the plane was sun-proofed.

Angel got up and headed for the phone, stopping as a thought hit him. He turned to Willow. "Does he really call me Paingel???" he asked as the witch laid down next to Spike, giggling. He growled low in his chest, too low for Willow to hear, as the two curled up together with familiar ease.

~Part: 4~

Willow slapped Spike’s hand for the fourth time as he reached for her seatbelt buckle.

"Luv, if the plane goes down, this little scrap isn’t going to save you. Take it off and come sit over here." He cajoled, patting his lap.

"No! I told you..." she whispered the rest, " Not in front of Angel. I think he is mad at me. I’m sure it’s one of those freaky vampire possessive traits at work."

"The poof is not...hey... I can call him poof now, Red." He grabbed her hand to stop her from putting a little pain mojo on him again. "He is not interested anything that I do or who I do it with. Not anymore.... And besides he’s in the other compartment, drinking. I can tell if he gets closer. Come on pet, give us a kiss." He pulled her by the back of her neck until their lips collided, Willow responding to the blonde’s ferocity with an urgency of her own.

~~~*~~~

Angel groaned, knocking back another glass of whiskey, and stood on surprising sturdy legs for the amount of alcohol he consumed. He steadied himself and headed back to the cabin containing his childe and Willow. Now that was a weird combination. Spike was never fond of humans, but he had definitely taken a liking to the redhead. Somewhere in his liquor-hazed brain, the dark vampire knew that his childe’s devotion would lead to the girl’s death, perhaps only to be reborn into darkness, but her death nonetheless. He knew he should worried about that and pull some Rights if Sire crap on the blonde to keep him from doing anything for, now at least, but all those thoughts were shoved violently to the side when he sit eyes on his childe. Spike and Willow were...MAKING OUT... in the cabin. She sat in his boy’s lap as the younger vampire lapped at the tickle of blood caused by a small nick in her neck. For her part, her head hung back, enraptured was the only word he could think of, moaning softly while riding Spike’s hand, which was inside her pants. He spied on them silently, willing his erection away, as his boy did what he does best - well one of the things he does best – bringing the young witch to orgasm. He held her bucking body and kissed her down, licking her from his fingers once she was calm. She lifted her head and smiled impishly.

"That was...wow!" She loved his blue eyes and was glad to have this time with him, away from the gang.

"I’ll show you wow." Spike quipped, pulling her onto his lap and she squealed with delight and fear.

"Ahem..." Angel came into the cabin. The couple tried to straighten clothes nonchalantly, but the dark vampire just stared at their guilty faces. Well... Willow looked guilty and Spike looked smug.

"Would you mind telling me what’s going on here? What are you doing with her, Spike? And Willow? What are YOU doing with MY CHILDE?" He tried to keep his voice low but the demon was furious at the witch for touching what was his. Angel was shaken by these feelings since he and Spike didn’t get along too well, but it was how he felt and he couldn’t ignore it.

"I told you it was one of those freaky vampire possessive thingies." She blurted to Spike. "He’s mad at me."

"He is not. There is no way that bleeding Poof cares about who touches me, luv. He cares more about you. It’s about you Red. He thinks I’ll hurt you or turn you."

"Hello? Bleeding Poof here..." Angel attempted.

"Not that I won’t turn you, pet. But only after you beg me." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, enticing a giggle.

"I’ll beg you for a whole lot more than that eventually." She replied, a devilish glint in her eyes.

"What? Willow, you can’t be..." Angel attempted.

"Hmmm, can we start now, luv. There IS a bedroom on this sodden plane. Join the Mile High Club, Red?"

"STOP IT!" Angel attempted.

The blonde and redhead turned to the elder vampire, Willow’s eyes wide, Spike’s eyes rolled. "What is your MAIN issue, Peaches? We are sitting right bloody here."

"I asked you a question, boy, and expect an answer. Remember who you belong to." He growled deep in his chest.

"Contrary to your misguided belief, Almighty Poof, I don’t answer to you anymore. I answer to the redhead here." He grinned evilly as Angel seethed. Spiked fancied that he could actually see steam rising from his sire’s nancy boy hairdo. He began giggling.

"Spike. You will explain this." He ordered, pointing to Willow.

"Hey, I’m not a THIS, Angel. Now... just stop this alpha male crap and please calm down. BOTH of you." She demanded switching glares between the two vampires.

Angel rubbed his large hand over his face and took deep breath. Spike just glared at him, wondering what it was he did to deserve such a ponce for a sire. <I was a good vampire. I killed and tortured with the best. How did I get so cursed? Sodding gypsies!>

"Angel why are you angry with Spike and I?" Angel was reluctant to delve into this when he was unsure of what it meant.

"I’m not...angry...I just think that you should be careful. Spike is dangerous." It was his standard reply.

"To whom? Certainly not to me. I know he won’t hurt me. We have been together, albeit not this close until recently, but still we’ve been friends since before I gave you your soul back. Before he was ever chipped or de-chipped. I was his friend when he drank himself into a stupid coma after torturing you for that stupid ring." Spike got up and walked to the other cabin as Willow followed him with her eyes. He never planned to tell Angel that he hadn’t enjoyed seeing him in chains. Why was Willow doing this?

"A coma? Vampires don’t get comatosed., Willow." He stated flatly.

"Well...whatever it was – I had to carry his heavy butt and take care of him until he came to three days later. I fed him and bathed him. He was distraught over what he did and it was all for nothing. You should have given him the gem, Angel. Why couldn’t you just not take something from him, just once. You know...I’m the only person he can be himself with. For the last 200 years he’s been what someone else wanted. What you wanted. What Dru wanted. And now he can finally be Spike. And what he likes to do is play at these games and kill for a cause. And I help him. And I love him. What can you say you do for him, Angel? What can you say that gives you the right to tell him what he can do or who he can see? You have been gone for so long and when you came back you even denied him. You never told us he was yours even as we fought for our lives against him. Oh, you told us ABOUT him, how horrible he was, how powerful. But you left out the part about you turning him and fucking him and teaching him and torturing him and molding him. You said Drusilla was the worst thing you did as a vampire. I’m not so sure. At least she got the benefit of being insane and not knowing what was happening to her most of the time. But William...nah... not so lucky was he? Totally sane through the entire process and well aware of your disdain for him and the disappointment in him. He felt every bit of it for 200 years and quiet as it’s kept, he still feels it Angel. The bond is not closed. So please so do tell me why you’re ANGRY that SPIKE has someone who wants him just like he is and loves him just like he is?" She sat there, eyes blazing waiting for an answer.

"I..." Angel started but nothing seemed like enough. She was so right about so many things. But he didn’t hate Spike. Nor was he disappointed. On the contrary he had to push his feeling a side for him to keep his soul and now that it was permanent, well the damage had already been done. Spike didn’t trust him and did everything he could to let him know.

"Yeah. Whatever, Angel. Stop messing with his head. He doesn’t need you acting like a sire once every few years. Either you’re in or out. You decide and let me know. Don’t hurt him anymore. You’re not quite aware of what I am capable of anymore. I’d hate to show you MY bad side, Angelus."

"I love him Willow." He blurted before losing his nerve. "That’s why I pushed him away once I regained my soul. That’s why I stayed away when he first came to Sunnydale. I protected him from Buffy. He may have killed her, but I couldn’t take the chance of her killing him. No one ever knew. I didn’t even know I was going to do it until I was faced with it. I couldn’t be around him and not have him. And he could definitely give me perfect happiness. By the time my soul was permanent there was no way I could go to him. He hates me." Brown eyes pleaded with green for understanding. Willow shook her head.

"You’re wrong Angel. He never hated you. Ever. He’ll always give you a chance, whether you deserve it or not." She was suddenly tired. "Why don’t you go find him. Talk to him. He can’t run away right now, huh?" She turned away from the dark vampire and closed her heavy lids as sleep took her.

~Part: 5~

Angel glared at the empty bottle, turning it upside down over his over mouth, wishing for additional drops.

"It’s empty, Angel. You look like a common drunk." Spike reached for the dark vampire as his stool tilted backwards, catching himself before falling flat on his back. He giggled maniacally.

"Bartender..." Angel called for his new friend behind the bar. "BAR-TEN-DER! We need another." He managed before belching. The blonde giggled again, lighting a cigarette while watching his sire wave the bottle in the air.

An attendant started to approach the blonde vampire. "If you tell me that I can’t smoke on this bloody plane I will drain you where you stand." He said without looking at the man, who retreated to his station. "They buggered flying right up with their silly no smoking laws. Pissants." He complained and then giggled again.

"So you and Willow, huh." Angel and Spike had talked, really talked and agreed to try to work out their issues. Spike suggested they find a group therapist, specializing in vampire family relationships, killing him after of course, but backed off when Angel suggested he bathe in holy water.

"Yeah. She’s still aching for the witch, but we’re getting along." Spike admitted, dragging on the smoke. A new bottle of Jack Daniel’s appear. He watch while Angel poured them both tall glasses of the amber liquid.

"We land in an hour. We’re gonna go see what’s what before checking into a hotel." Spike peered at his sire, commicating to him that there was more to what he was saying, but they would talk later.

"Can I be honest with you Spike? Without you making fun of me?" Angel asked, getting to a subject that he’d been nervous and embarrassed to broach.

The blonde contemplated the question, finding it hard to resist a chance to poke fun at his poof of a sire. If he said no, then Paingel would go cryptic and Spike would go dust with curiosity. If he said yes and laughed at him anyway, well the wanker would just be laughed at. Again. Putting on a serious front he faced the older vampire.

"Yes. I think I can manage to control myself despite how humorous any nancy boy confession you are about to make may be." He stated, straight-faced.

"Well, when you put it like that, I feel so secure." Angel quipped.

"Really Peaches...what’s on that steel trap you call a mind?" Spike was on a roll.

"If you’re gonna be insulting me I don’t think I’ll tell you." Angel pouted, not sure if he was feigning hurt or not.

"Oh, sod off Angel. Tell me what you want to tell me or shut the hell up about it!" The blonde knocked back the glass of JD he’d been fondling and reached to pour another.

Against his better judgement, the vampire proceeded. "I spoke with Willow. About you. And there are some things she made me aware of that, in truth, I think I already knew."

Spike stared at him slack-jawed. "What in the bloody hell are you TALKING about Angel?"

"I’m trying to say that I think Willow loves you and I think I’m jealous." He confessed.

Faster than Angel thought his childe should ever be able to move, Spike was upon his sire, a wondrously powerful hand gripping his throat tightly while lifting him from his seat. <When did he get this strong?>

"Don’t struggle Angel. You will only force me to break your neck." The blonde growled as the attendant and bartender moved away from the fray. "Don’t you even think about her. She. Is. Mine!" He roared, dropping Angel.

"Spike you don’t understand." He explained between coughs. "I’m not jealous because you have her. I’m jealous because she has you."

~Part: 6~

Angel followed quietly behind the blond and the redhead, who were currently flirting shamelessly. He was brooding, something he’d not done lately. The sight of his childe with another, so content, enraged his demon. The boy belonged to him, which confused Angel. He’d spent the better part of the last four years ignoring and pretending that his favorite childe wasn’t. And now that he was with Willow, even if they had not consummated their relationship, he was faced with the truth of his emotions, undeniable and unsurpassable. He loved Spike and wanted him back in his life.

They rounded a corner in the long corridor, the same trek he’d made after torturing his sire, and approached the security door.

"Agent Williams," The blonde spoke into a panel, waiting while the voice analyzer confirmed his identity. A few seconds later the steel door slid open, allowing the witch and the vampires access to the facility's underbelly.

"Come on. This way."

Willow took in everything she saw with wonder and amazement apparent in her green eyes. Every few feet she would stop Angel and point at some gadget or another, something she’d seen or read about in tech magazines and a few things she had purchased for herself on the black market. She was as excited as a kid in a candy store.

Spike knew of all the technology and appreciated the hackers enthusiasm, but was content to let her handle that end of their partnership. He was more the tactical strategist type.

He motioned for them to follow him up a dark flight of stairs, bursting through the door at the top as if he owned the place, which he actually did.

"Dru honey...I’m home!" He called for his dark goddess, sensing her somewhere in the apartment.

"Dru?" Angel whispered. He did not expect to see his most vicious childe so soon, tensing as she appear from the shadows of the hallway, ethereal as usual. Somehow she always appeared other-worldly, even for a vampire.

"Spike! You’re really here?! And you brought our bad, bad Daddy," she added, smiling at her sire, her thin hand rubbing on the blonde’s hard chest through the silk. "Hello, Willow. You’ve been well?"

"Yes, Dru. Thanks. Are you? Feeling well I mean?" Willow had been in contact with Dru a few times over the years but she still made her uneasy. Spike assured her the she was much more stable and rarely subject to sudden fits of rage.

"I am amazing, ducks." She twirls on her toes and approached her Sire. "Daddy’s not speaking to me. Are you angry with your Princess, Angel?" Angel had forgetten how mesmerizing this girl truly was. He found that he could not hold her gaze, the lunacy being absent, and her power was overwhelming. His demon was proud that his two remaining childer were obviously amongst the most powerful vampires in the world, especially considering how young they were. Angel’s 100 years in hell had increased his power tenfold, but his childer did not benefit from that experience. He had to wonder how they’d become so strong so soon.

"Not angry, Dru. Just surprised. Spike didn’t tell me we were coming to see you, that’s all. I haven’t been angry at you in a long time." He spoke to her gently, forgetting that her sanity was nearly in place.

"Fine. Cause I am a bit ticked at you. What the hell was all that Acathla crap. End the world? Come on Daddy...how smart was that? You practically forced my Spike to go to the slayer for help." She took his large hand in her small pale one and led him to a bar deeper in the apartment. She poured 3 chalices of blood, eyeing Willow with a fourth empty, as the witch shook her head furiously. Drusilla laughed and handed out the thick red fluid.

"Promise me... no more silly ideas. I can’t abide another family rift." Angel nodded, drinking down the perfectly warmed human blood, wishing only that it was coming directly from the living fount.

Angel smiled, wishing he’d left more of her sanity before he’d turned her. She was quite charming, in a devil may care kind of way. And her new manner of dress, modern and hip, left her looking like a runway model.

"So...Have you gotten your assignment, my Prince?" She massaged his shoulders as the blonde vampire drank, refilled and drank again.

Willow watched with a twinge of jealously, but swallowed it quickly, certain that Spike’s feelings for his sister were something that could not change and that they presented no danger to what he felt for her.

"Nah... Going there after here. I wanted the poof to see you before we went in. Once I get the file we are going to fade into the shadows for a while. No contact..." He said, winking at her knowlingly as he stalked her, wrenched her head back and slid his fangs in her pale smooth column. Her knees bent slightly from the sensation of him drinking and she cried out when his deepened his bite renewing his claim.

Angel watched the scene, growing erect and agitated. His demon screamed at him to go to her and take her. She belong to him, not Spike. But the soul kept him from obeying. As if the blonde read his mind....

"Peaches...taste her, mate. She IS yours." Angel took a tentative step forward. Willow eyed them curiously, feeling the heat of their exchange. "Do it!" His hissed.

Before his soul could stop him, the demon gripped the vampiress, cradling her head. He tore into the opposite side of her neck , finding his old claim and making her his again. Instanly his mind was flooded with the images of all she ever was and what she hoped to be. Drusilla, the ripe, wicked plum, most evil and corrupted. He drank deeply, ceasing when she began to sink to the floor. He lifted her into his arms and laid her on the long burgundy sofa. She lift a seemingly frail hand to caress his cheek, smiling impishly.

"She’s great, eh, Pops?" The blonde demon clapped then rubbed his hands together looking to his sire and his witch. "Now, we’d better be going, before they come looking for us."

Everyone said their goodbyes and followed the leader back out into the dark ugly corridors of the facility.

March 1986

The club was packed, everyone in their best punk-rock, newwave, glamslam clothes. "The Clash" boomed throughout the place, pulsating, lending a heartbeat to the vampire when he had none. He took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor, her short blond hair, cut into a fashionable bob.

"Will, can we go somewhere else?" She thought she had to yell for him to hear her. She was unsuspecting of his true nature and of his true intentions. Had she known, would she have run screaming? Years later she still didn’t know that answer.

"Why luv?" He whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

"It’s sooo hot in here and I hate that. If I’m gonna be hot I want you to be the reason." She smiled coyly. Quickly her grabbed her hand and led her out of the stifling place and out into fresh, cool springtime air. Lighting a cigarette they began walking toward the wharf, passing the cancerous stick between them.

He’d been in the States for nearly a year, having left Dru during one of her fits. Sometimes he had to remind her of how unlife would be without him and so he took trips like this, coming back to her after 2 or 3 years, finding a much more agreeable Princess. This time he was distracted by a young student attending UC Berkeley. She was vibrant and full of life with an undercurrent of evil and deceit that called to his demon like a magnet. They met at a new years party and his original intent was a lay and slay, but she proved wickedly delicious, which prolonged her life, the demon and man equally intrigued. She still had no clue that her new lover was a demon and he’d only tasted her via tiny bites. She turned twenty-one a few weeks ago. That was the only reason that she was still human. Her parents had planned a large party and all her family were to be there. She was excited and he discovered that he could not take that from her. Her last hooray, even if she was unaware of it being her last.
 

So he’d waited and planned on taking her away tonight to turn her, make her his childe and keep her always with him.

They talked and laughed, approaching the garage that housed his car.

"Dianne, come away with me," he blurted, certainly off-topic.

"What?" She laughed.

"Tonight. Let’s leave, go away and never come back."

"I...I have class on Monday, Will. Stop teasing me, okay?" She popped him in the shoulder, wincing a little from the pain.

"Not teasing. I’m bloody serious. I have more money than we could ever need. And I want you to be with me forever. I’m overwhelmed by you and cannot walk this earth without you."

"You say such pretty things, Will. Just like all the rest. What makes you the one? The one that I should give my everything to?" Her gray eyes, were gleaming in the moonlight, and he caught a glimpse of her demon, what she would be.

"I will show you the world for an eternity, Dianne."

"Eternity...hmmmp....we won’t live forever, you know."

Spike only smiled through dark lashes.

"Well, I won’t promise you forever, but we can go away for the weekend." She locked her lips onto his, nibbling on his bottom lip as she release him. "So... where ya taking me?"

June 2002

Dianne eyed her sire from across the table in the large conference room. He’d called her and told her to meet him at the command center for an assignment. She was more than happy to go wherever the blond vampire commanded, anxious to see him always. The dark one next to him, the one that held reverence for him was powerful and she was drawn to him almost as much as she was to Spike. She concluded that he must be the great Angelus. Almighty poof, she giggled.

The witch to his left? Now she was a different story. She was the Sunnydale witch, all powerful and deadly, but trying to fight the good fight. Her sire held reverence for her, which fueled a jealously within her demon. That girl was competition and not of the ordinary kind. Her sire wanted to keep her <Like he kept me.> and the young vampire was not happy to share. She already had to fight for his attention, him sneaking out of Sunnydale to see her in Santa Cruz whenever he could get away from that bitch of a slayer, but now if his affections were to be split.... <Uugh!> Well...She would just have to come up with a plan to make sure that she had her daddy always. <Nothing like a little scheming before dinner!> She thought as she listened to a fat, balding Captain Watson, who should have died already from the cancer consuming him, debrief their odd little group.

~Part: 7~

"Spike, this is insane," Angel commented, walking along side his childe. The debriefing was over and the trio, plus one, Dianne, were now outside roaming aimlessly through downtown DC. When He got nothing but a grunt from the blonde he continued.

"They expect us to just waltz in there, find his compound and kill the guy." The guy was Mikeli Dromanus, a well known and highly feared terrorist. Apparently biological weapons were his flavor of the month and he had big plans to serve the population double scoops, free of charge.

"Yep, that about sums it up," the blond remarked, dragging deeply on his cigarette in concentration. Angel finally noticed that Spike was distracted and decided to tap into their long dormant bond. Anxiousness, that was the primary emotion he picked up, that and a big ‘get the bloody hell outta my head, you wanker!’ before a steel door slammed shut, effectively blocking him out.

"Sorry." Spike just glared at him, while Willow and Dianne looked on wondering at the silent exchange.

Spike grabbed Willow quickly and ducked into and alley, followed by the others. "Willow, do the spell now, they’re only a minute behind." She nodded, eyes wide as they turned into black voids, electric current flowing from the ground into her hands. Dianne flinched as the witch's power was summoned, her demon enraged at the fear it was feeling toward this human.

Suddenly, a vacuum encompassed them, caressing them with a delicious heat and then all was black, then white, then burning, then freezing and then nothing. Nothing but the ground below them, the air which surrounded them, and the sky above them, as their new environment melted into existence around them.

"What the fuck was that?" Dianne hiss, a growl low in her throat,

"Spell. Transporter." Willow replied, breathing harshly while the magic faded and her eyes returned to their peaceful green.

The young vampire emitted waves of restrained power, and Angel new she could be menacing, despite her innocent appearance. Spike made his childe strong. Almost too strong, from what he’d heard about her. She was a master already and not twenty years a demon, ruling over the beaches and mountains near Santa Cruz, having destroyed the previous master, a demon of nearly one hundreds years, when he tried to take her and claim her for his mate. His torture lasted weeks and served to warn the vampire community that no one touched what belonged to Spike. The demon in Angel rejoiced at her ferociousness. It would serve him well to remember who sired her at all times. He would have to watch her around Willow, since Spike seemed to want the witch, but his childe wanted him. She was just as volatile as the blond who gave her his blood, which was a blessed thing in their world, but could be terribly devastating for an unaware redheaded witch. He turned his attention back to his own unpredictable boy who’d started walking again.

"Spike...who was after us? Where are we?" Angel asked , stretching out his long legs to catch up to the vampire.

"Oh... just some bloody agency guys that fat ass captain sent to follow us. Keep tabs...report back my every fucking move," he grounded out, teeth clenched. "And now we lost them and can go to our little lair in beautiful Miami," he added with an feral smile, changing moods instantly.

"Miami? Lair?" The dark vampire asked, not comfortable with having Willow around a bunch of minions, although she was pretty powerful, enough to carry them all a thousand miles and keep on going.

"Don’t worry your gelled little head, Peaches. It’s just gonna be us and a few of my most trusted. I don’t lay where those fools can find me." He stalked off, determined that he and Dianne would sneak away later and feed. He sensed something coming from the girl and wanted to nip it in the proverbial bud soon.

They continued in semi-companionable silence, absorbing the sites and sounds of the city.

~~~*~~~

The lair turned out to be a large home in a fashionable neighborhood in South Beach. The ocean was a few blocks away, and the vampires could hear the music booming from the closer night clubs, clashing for dominance. There were 6 bedrooms, 4 baths, a formal living and dining room and a great room, combining the kitchen and family room, in the two story residence.

Spike was greeted by a handsome minion with back hair and green eyes, tall and muscular, assumed of Cuban decent.

"Hey, Spike. You finally got here, man! Bev is beside herself. Whoa! ....is that..." He stumbled backwards, eyes wide, his vampire visage slipping in place.

"Yeah, it’s the Poof," Spike chuckled while Angel shot him glare. "Angelus, Marty here is a big fan of your...work... modeling himself after you in a fashion. You’re his bloody idol." The blond giggled, slapping Marty on the back, jokingly, a devilish grin directed at his sire.

"Spike!" Another minion appeared, this one female, tall, brunette and georgeous. "I was beginning to think something happened," she declared, as she rushed the blond vampire and pulled him in a fierce hug. "You stay away too long, Master." She let him go upon registering the presence of the others. "Sorry...um Hi." She waved tentatively.

"Marty and Bev, this is Willow, my witch. Fangs off..." he eyed them pointedly. "Angelus...you can bite him as much as you like." Angel growled, rolling his eyes. "And my childe, Dianne." He pulled her close encircling her waist. She melted into him, loving his attention. "No one touches her either." The blond punctuated this with a growl rumbling deep in his chest.

"Cool man, we got it. Not like their aren’t a gang of humans running around outside." Marty liked his master. He was laid back, hating the formality of vampire hierarchy, which made for a pleasant lair. He also despised crowds of minions and worked with as few as possible. Hence, plenty of food and plenty of fun, as long as you did what you were told. So far there were only two, no three rules: Don’t touch the witch, don’t touch his childe, and bite Angelus as often as you like.

Kissing the top of Dianne's head, he released his blonde demon, taking hold of the young witch.

 "You've got to be tired, luv."  The redhead smiled and nodded, burying her face in his chest as his strong arms surrounded her.  She loved the smell of Spike.   Spike heard low growls, too low for the human, in stereo, from his childe and Angel, and squeezed the hacker tightly before letting go.

"Go get some rest.  I'll come for you later."  He lifted her chin and claimed her lips in a soft kiss.

"Hmm, alright.  But don't make me wait too long.  We need to...go over some stuff..."  She trailed off.

"Bev, take Dianne and Red to their rooms, and bring Willow whatever she wants to eat. Angel, I’ll show you yours," the blond ordered.

"Hey, William...Sire? I’m not sleeping with you?" His childe inquired, arms folded, looking cross.

"Uh...No. Now follow Bev and don’t give her any trouble." She started to protest, but backed down, seeing the gold flashing in her Sire’s eyes. Pouting, she stormed off after the brunette minion, mumbling something about finding a nice college boy for the night to fuck.

Spike rolled his eyes and walked up the stairs. "We need to talk, Sire."

Angel almost stumbled on the stairs at hearing his boy call him Sire. It just was not done. <This must be serious!>

They approached a pair of closed double doors. The blond grabbed both and opened them with a flare, revealing the master suite. Angel was impressed that his childe still has such tastes. Angelus refined William, but Spike seemed so rough and different from his gentle, brutal boy, that he didn’t expect anything had survived. But the proof was here in his private rooms, where fine art graced the walls, expensive furniture filled the rooms, and books, precious first editions and leather-bound collections, lined the mahogany shelves. He could feel the tension leaving his childe as he strode deeper into his personal sanctuary. The duster was tossed in a high-backed chair and the blonde tossed himself on a settee, motioning for Angel to sit as well.

"Spike, what are you doing?  What are you going to do about your childe?"

He turned his head to focus on Angel. "What?  What's wrong with Dianne?"  His ability to feign innocence was uncanny.  He was nearly able to dupe Angel, who'd often seen this exact expression grace his boy's face before he drove a spike through his victims groin.

"Stop it, now.  Your girl is jealous of Willow, and she not just a fledge, Will.  She is a lot like you were, and that's just plain scary, considering you're not the most attentive sire.  She has too much freedom and not enough fear."

"Oh don't be such an old fodder.  She's fine.  And I'd like to see her try something on my witch. Red is more powerful than you can begin to imagine, Peaches.  Stop worrying your poofy self.  We have other things to worry about."

 "What did you want to talk about, Spike."  Remembering his declaration on the stairs.

The blond thought for a moment, debating how much to tell, and decided that he had to trust someone, and if it wasn’t Angel, who could it ever be?

"This Mikeli... he is bad news. At first, I couldn’t understand why he was a threat... well a threat that we, vampires, would care about. But apparently he has a new toy, one that coaguates the blood in a living person over a few days time. It’s airborne and highly contagious. The problem for us is that if we feed form one of these lucky blokes, we get the disease as well, dusting in a matter of hours. No more Manchester United my friend."

Angel, who’d seen a vast amount of chaos and cruelty, could never reconcile the cruelty of humans to each other. They were always worse than demons.

"So we have to kill this git and destroy his toy. I will be making a lot of minions when we get there Angel. A lot of killing to save billions. Are you with me?"

"With you how? You want me to kill again?" Spike nodded, watching his sire carefully. <This was what separates the men from the boys.>

"I... I don’t know. I won’t stop you. I’ll help you any way I can, but I don’t know if I can help you build an army of demons. I just don’t know."

"Look Angel...the targets are men and women already working for this fool, willingly. We’ll be killing them anyway eventually. This way we reduce Mikeli’s numbers while increasing ours and we get inside. Some of them will still go to work, only they’ll be working for us."

His childe made sense, presented a good argument, and there was nothing that his demon wanted more than to spill precious human blood.

"I’ll think it over, Spike. Tomorrow, Okay?" The blonde nodded, letting his head fall back on the settee, before getting up and heading to the expansive bathroom for a shower.

"You can sleep in the room next to mine, Angel, or you can sleep in here. The bed is big enough and I won’t bite."

<What did he say?!>

~Part: 8~

After Bev left Willow to unpack her few belongings, she took a tour of her room. It was nice, slightly larger than her room at her parents and definitely more sensual. The queen size bed was draped by a faux canopy of sheer red silk scarves which hung from the ceiling by golden hooks. Each corner also had long scarves of the same material descending from it, lending the appearance of a four-poster bed. The bed itself was on a platform and was dressed by a blood red satin comforter and a dozen pillows, varying textures, but all of some sort of red or burgundy or orange. The air conditioner was on for her benefit, causing the scarves to sway - the result: a flaming place for repose. The irony of the color of the room and Spike’s pet name for her was not lost on the witch. <He’s just so sweet.>

She sighed and fell backwards on the bed, so deep in thought about her blond demon, that she failed to notice the other blonde demon leaning in her doorway, watching her with stony, calculating eyes.

"Well, Willow is it?..." She said quietly, pleased when the young witch jumped and sat straight up on the plush bed.

"Oh...You startled me. Like Sire like... anyway...yes Willow." The redhead felt the evil coming off Spike’s childe in waves, threatening to drown her. Since her powers had multiplied, she sensed demons and souls intentions, good or bad. So it was with great control that she maintained an even heartbeat while meeting the deceptively friendly gaze of Dianne.

"Right. So, Willow...any idea what the plan is for this Mikeli? How we’re gonna...take him out?" She sauntered over to the bed and sat uninvited. Willow gave no indication of her anxiety, but found herself wondering where Spike was and how fast he could get here if she screamed. The vampire was too close to utter a protection spell without her hearing, and if she meant no harm it would only serve to create distrust.

"I was thinking that we’d wait for Spike. I don’t usually worry about that end of the business. I just make with the bad ass mojo or hack around when needed," she replied her _expression open and innocent.

"Hmm. Then you two are a perfect pair."

"I suppose that depends on who you ask," the witch retorted, giving the vampire a side ways glance as she curled her lips in an impish smile. "So how did you meet your sire? Why did he choose you for eternity?"

Dianne peered at her for a moment, and deciding that Willow appeared genuinely interested, she settled back on the bed and told her story.

"The first time I saw him I was enthralled, but I didn’t let him know that. Well, I thought I was being coy and seductive. Had no clue that he was the devil himself." She glared at Willow, gauging her reaction. When the redhead just stared, she added, "Don’t get it twisted. I adore every evil bone in his delicious body, but he is evil, just as Angelus is evil. My William just control his evil impulses and channels them more appropriately than other vampires. Although he is fascinating to watch in a massacre...Satan, I love it when he snaps a neck..." She saw that Willow had paled and stopped. "Sorry...I forget you’re human. Will doesn’t really like mortals that much, only gets attached the extraordinary ones, which you definitely are."

"Oh..."

"Soo....where was I?...Oh yeah, anyway. The whole time I was playing hard to get, he could smell me a mile away, wanting him, and he was playing me. He finally got me, right after my birthday. Took me away for a weekend and I came back a demon."

"Was it scary?"

"Oh I fought him tooth and nail. I hadn’t ever told him about my backbelt – I thought it would be a turn off – so he was more than surprised by my physical abilities. I almost got away too. But once he figured it out, he got a good grip on me, knocked me out, tied me to the bed and did what he does best." She got up and walked out of the room for a moment. Willow began to think that the conversation was over, <Just like Spike, uugh...> when the demon returned with a bottle of Jose Cuervo and two shot glasses. She poured for them and handed one to Willow.

"What Will does best is seduce you, make you beg for what you know is wrong, but you don’t care. You just want him. He is addictive, Willow." She slammed her shot back and Willow followed suit.

"I kinda get that," the witch admitted with a grimace. She found it difficult to be away from him lately, and had been secretly elated that she was to accompany him on this mission. To be away from him indefinitely was not high on her list.

"Yeah...I bet you do...Anyway, I don’t regret a thing. I was a fool to fight him. I love my life or death, whatever." She was stuck. She wanted to hate the witch, but didn’t. The girl was nice and stupidly innocent, despite the hell she unleashed a while back. Maybe it would do her sire good to turn one so powerful, be good for the family.

"So you know he’ll turn you," she blurted, wanting a reaction. Willow nearly dropped her glass.

"What? No! No he won’t. I’m not the eternity type, believe me."

"You so are... He sees you. But you can think otherwise if you like." She refilled the glasses, motioning for the witch to drink up.

"Now, tell me about my grandsire, Angelus. Was he as horrible as everyone says?" She was in her knees, bouncing. William would not talk about his sire and here was someone who’d seen him and survived.

"Boy was he ever. I’ve faced a lot of demons, and he is still the one I feared the most. Goddess, he did so much damage and was gonna send us all to Hell. What a dope. And Spike was right up there with him, summoning the Judge. Spike had to team up with Buffy to stop him you know, or none of us would be here today. Sometimes I think that if Angelus hadn’t tortured him so badly, Spike may have followed him into Hell, without question."

"Tortured him?" The vampire growled.

"Oh yeah. Spike’s back was broken and he was in a wheelchair. Angelus was angry at him for trying to kill him all those times he was Angel. It’s really fucked up." She gasped at her choice of words. "Did I say that? Sorry...I...I don’t normally..." Willow blushed.

Dianne burst into giggles at the witch’s nervousness. "It’s okay. I say worse during sex." And laughed a bit more as Willow blushed a deeper red. <She IS a precious mix of innocence and evil.>

"Let’s change the subject." Willow offered. "So what do you do now? I mean as a vampire. Where do you live? Does it get boring? Killing?"

"You ask a lot of questions, but I can’t answer them now. William and Angelus are coming. We need to get down to business. This isn’t a pleasure cruise, ya know." She stood and offered the witch a hand up as Angel rounded the corner and peeked in.

"Hey, you two are getting along?" He asked, eyebrows high.

"Yeah, Grandsire. Why wouldn’t we?" She moved to him gracefully and leaned to whisper in his hear. "She’s such a delicious innocent, Angelus. I’ll do her no harm." She inhaled deeply, resisting the urge to sink her fangs in his flesh in drink of his power.

"You’d better find Spike. He wants you to take a walk with him, code for hunting I believe."

"Cool." She took off toward the stairs, yelling back, "Willow, you can finish telling me all about Angelus later, okay?" Then, forgetting everyone else, she disappeared to find her sire.

"What were you two discussing, Willow?" The dark vampire growled.

~~~*~~~

Agents Spencer and Devereaux barged into Captain Watson’s office, after knocking loudly and hearing a muffled invitation.

"What happened?" Watson jumped up to glare at his employees. "How did they get away?"

"Don’t know Boss. They were only a few paces ahead and we could see them. Marx and James were in front of them and we had agents on all side streets on motorcycles. They didn’t go down any of them. It’s like they just disappeared. Vampires can’t disappear, can they?" Spencer’s voice rose in tone until he was whining like a child.

"No. It was that bitch of a witch! She did a spell. Had to be her."

"Oh good!" Spencer sighed in relief. His sense of reality had already been rocked at its foundations, finding out that demons and witches and magic was real and the stuff fairy tales were made of, literally. He was not ready to accept the disappearing vampire as part of normal everyday life.

"Good!? What’s the fuck is good about it?"

Both agents stood stiff. There was no answer for a rhetorical question.

"That girl...She was just a young thing last time we used her. Now she is extremely powerful and totally dedicated to Williams. And I think he’s been playing us as well. I have a friend. Studied demonology." He walked around his desk to a false window and looked out at what should have been there. "Says he may have some information on our Agent Williams."

"What kind of information?" Devereaux spoke up.

"Who our vampire is really and where he stands in the demon community. He’ll be here tomorrow. Then we can try to find our elusive vampire. Now get to of here."

The agents saluted and departed without ceremony, leaving the captain to his unorganized thoughts and deepest fears.

~~~*~~~

"What about him? He’s a tasty morsel." Spike suggested to his childe who had yet to pick her meal for the evening.

"Nah, I can smell his cheap cologne. It’ll leave an after taste on my lips," she whined, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever. Since when did you become such a picky eater?" The bleached blonde asked, continuing their stroll.

"I’m not picky Sire. It’s just that everyone is so sweaty and smelly. Back in California the beach is warm but it’s never so hot and sticky. I’m not liking this at all." The humidity made her clothes stick to her skin, which was as warm as the night, 95º f.

"Well, you need to eat, and you might as well get a good hunt in. It’ll be a while before you get out again." He advised.

"What? Why?" She eyed him, grey eyes flashing a blinding platinum, fighting the growl in her throat. <Cor, her demon is magnificent.>

"They’re looking for us, pet. We’ll have Bev or Marty fetch us some take out for a few days, until we cross the pond." His tone tolerated no further discussion, so she went about really looking for a meal.

~~~*~~~

In the end, Dianne feed on four humans which was a lot for her small frame. Her demon, horrified at the thought of being cooped up, went a little overboard, and now the little blonde was giddy and dizzy. Her last victim had been on Ecstacy and she was benefiting from the effects. They walked in the front door of his home, Spike holding his childe up as she smiled in game face, mumbling about being an only childe and not having any fun.

"I love you Daddy," she blurted, leaning into his hard body, rubbing wherever she could.

"Course you do, childe," he answered, growing impatient with her silliness.

"Make me a sister, Daddy. I’m all by my self all the time. I want a sister to love, like you have Aunt Dru." Spike froze at her words, his eyes darting looking for Angel or Willow. If he had his way, Dianne would get her wish, but it wouldn’t do for the Poof to start in on him.

"Come on Di...let’s put you to bed."

"Ohh, goodie. I like it when you put me to bed Will." She laved his neck tenderly. Spike hardened instantly from his childe’s attention and moaned deeply as she slipped her fangs into his cooling flesh. The girl moved against him while drinking, feral eyes closed, whimpering in delight at how wonderful he tasted. Suddenly her head fell back. Spike pulled back, placing a hand over his bleeding wound. The concern was etched in his noble features, but relaxed once he realized that the girl had only passed out. He carried her the rest of the way to her room and gingerly laid her on the beautifully bejeweled purple spread.

He’d seen the jealously in her eyes earlier and later would remind her of her request for a sister if she ever complained about his time with his witch. Chuckling, he went to seek out Angel and Red.

<These should make for some interesting days.>

~Part: 9~

"Alright Spike. What’s the plan?" Angel was ready to make a decision and wanted to hear what his childe had in mind.

Spike lounged gracefully in a blue recliner, eating a bowl of wheat-a-bix and blood. Willow sat at his feet, indian-style, booting up her laptop.

"First, Red here is gonna link those cell phones up to the satellite directly so no tracing any calls we make. Can’t have those wankers knowing too much about our world." The blonde crunched happily on his snack while he talked, annoying the anal retentive side of his sire.

"What is the plan about this Mikeli person?" <Does he purposely misinterpret my questions just to piss me off?>

"Oh him." He grinned ferally at his sire. "We kill him."

"Uh huh..." Angel had to remind himself that Willow would turn him into something fluffy if he tried to rip the boy’s bleached hair from his head. Instead he played cryptic-boy and gave Spike no indication that he was under his skin.

"Yeah, we kill him and anyone helping him and anyone on our way. Should be a blast..." Willow glared at him from below and he quickly added, "but maybe not for them?" She rolled her eyes and leaned back into his legs.

"Okay I’m in the SAT system. Now... I’m gonna link all the phones so we have our own network. We can call each other and no records of those calls will ever reach the main database. Everything will dump when the call drops. And the dump files are set to auto delete every 10 seconds. No one will ever know were talking."

"Right then. Isn’t she amazing, and that’s without the mojo." The blonde kissed the top of her head, raising his brow at the barely perceptible growl from his soul-having sire. Willow slapped at his leg without looking up.

"Stop teasing him."

"Come on Red. A bloke’s gotta have some fun\," he pouted. She ignored his decidedly adorable face.

"You’d think you already have enough fun lined up, what with all the killing and the maiming and the torturing on the schedule. Ohh...Can we have some dismemberment? Nothing like missing body parts to get me going."

"Sure, pet. Just let me know what part you have a fancy for."

"Okay...so what about the help. How many do you have lined up?" The vampire became serious, in general mode, something familiar and comforting to him. Angel watched him with secretive pride.

"Four masters are meeting us over there. One for each, but they only call within the network you set up. I don’t want them talking to anyone but Angelus or myself on these. Safer for everyone that way. They get one each and I think we should have a few that are not programmed, just in case." The Wheat-a-bix was gone and he set the bowl aside, warming to the task.

"Well, I have eight phones...What? It’s all I had at home," she defended as Spike scowled. "Can you get me more today? ‘Cause I really want two for each of us. And what about Dru? Are you gonna give her one so she can update us from inside?"

"Nah. Too dangerous. They find it and they’re onto us, listening to everything we do and say. That’s why I renewed the bond and had Peaches do it as well. She’ll contact us through the bond if she needs too."

"So that’s what that was about!" She made an a-ha face.

"I’ll send Marty to get eight more clean phones. So what about when we have to call outside our cozy little group?"

"Well... And this is the best part. I am setting it up so that the calls look like they are coming from LAN lines. Aaaaand... the ANIs will be randomly selected from anywhere in the world. One call may look like it coming from a farm house in Nebraska, and the next time you dial, it may look like your calling from Amsterdam. Oh, a-and the billing goes to that number, but NOT if you hang up before 90 seconds after connection. I’m putting a 90 second billing interval on them with the no billing for the first 90. Essentially, they are untraceble for 90 seconds then after that the trail leads to just about anywhere phone service exists. Cool, huh?"

Her self-satisfied smile had Spike musing over how satisfied she would look after a good shagging. "Bloody brilliant, luv. Let me know when the phones are done and then we can work on new IDs for us all."

"I thought they gave you passports for all of us," Angel commented.

"Yes, they did, but then they’ll know when we come and go from country to country," he explained, as if talking to a five year old. "I shipped that crap to the hotel the agency has lined up for us. They’ll be awaiting our arrival. ‘Sides when I scanned, there was a GPS tracker on each of them, so we need new IDS, alright?" He hated justifying his actions, especially to Angel.

"I get it, Spike. Just keep me in the loop. I can help too," Angel replied calmly. Surprisingly, he felt calm.

"So you will help?" The blonde leaned forward in his chair, actually giving the dark vampire his attention. Angel soaked in his gaze, sadly noting the business-like air to his essence.

"Yes. I’m still thinking about the killing and making minions."

"I’m sure you are, Poof."

~~~*~~~

Spike checked on Dianne, and once certain she was still sleeping soundly he slipped into Willows room, unseen.

The witch was in her bathroom. The shower was running and he could smell the steam and jasmine scent that she was using this week. He let his eyes roam around, acquainting himself with her.

He thought about what his sire said on the plane. Apparently, the Poof still had feelings for him and was jealous of Willow. Funny, he never thought he’d see the day when the soul admitted to anything other than regretting turning this childe. In Spike’s opinion Angel regretted making the blond into the demon he was today. While Spike was happy to be a vampire, finding it a much more thrilling and rewarding existence than his mortal one, Angel seemed to feel that every kill of his childer was his responsibility. If that were the case, then none of them were ever responsible except the Master and even the Master’s master for surely someone made him a demon as well. It was a vicious cycle and there was no blame. Spike accepted what he had to do to survive as a young fledge, quickly warming to the kill and eventually falling in love with the hunt, the chase, the seduction and the submission. He was a demon’s demon and found nothing wrong with anything Angelus did until he left them. There was a lot wrong with that, which is what drove the blond to make sure to rub Willow in his sire’s face every chance he got.

Deep in thought, he did not hear the shower stop and was caught by surprise when the object of his musings entered her room, steam billowing around her.

"Spike! What are you doing in here?" She was scrambling to wrap her towel around her dripping form, not expecting a guest.

He smiled at her bashful display. "Nothing I haven’t seen before, luv."

"Maybe, but not all at once. Now turn around." She grabbed underwear and ran back into the bathroom. "So what do you want, Spike?" She asked through the opened door.

"You, of course," he answered.

"Yeah, just try it and I’ll turn your hair a nice... poofy pink." He grimaced and shuddered, getting a disturbing visual. "And I can make the spell last for days. Wonder how your minions will look at you then, Pinky?" She teased, immediately questioning her judgement when she turned and found him right behind her.

"AHHH! Spike! Don’t do that!" She was in a red bra and boy short set and Spike was not listening to her anymore, finding the swell of her breasts, as she panted heavily, far more interesting than anything she was saying at the moment. "Spike."

"Mmm Hmm?"

"Spike!"

"What?! I'm standing right here...no need to yell. Vampiric hearing and all," he retorted, annoyed at her for interrupting his visual feast. He continued leer at her and licked his lips, eyes flashing gold.

"Uh, Spike...Stop looking at me like I’m a double scoop of _mocha fudge." She retreated a step only to find him advancing. They went on like this until she hit the counter. Raising her hands she pressed them against his hard, uncompromising flesh.

"What are we doing, Spike?" She was flush, heat burning through her, ringing in her ears, making her dizzy.

"Whatever you want to do. Everything you ever wanted to do." The vampire was nibbling and kissing her ear softly. She shivered, not trusting herself to speak. He ran a pale hand through her hair, cradling her head and pulling her into a kiss. She let her hands slip away from his chest and put one up to his neck, playing with the soft short hairs there.

He broke the kiss, grinning as she clutched his arm, moaning, her eyes still closed.

"Don’t go." Her voice was thick, tainted with passion for the blond.

"What do you want?" His hands trailed up and down her bare arms, causing that light-headed sensation again.

"You, of course." She smiled impishly, squealing with delight as the blond vampire swept her up and sped to the large bed, tossing her lightly onto the pillows, his demon demanding to play.

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