* * *
 It had gotten to be a regular routine for Willow on
Friday nights. Make some excuse to Buffy and Xander
about why she couldn't go to the
Bronze and watch them makeout with their dates. Run
home, shower, and get  dressed. Then make her way to
Spike's apartment for their movie night. Almost a
month had passed since they first started meeting to
feed their love of movies. And everything had been
going great. Until now.
 Willow knocked again, hoping that somehow Spike just
hadn't heard her the first time. Maybe he forgot.
Maybe he didn't want to see her anymore. She thought
back to the previous week. The kissing and soft
touching they had done.  But they hadn't spoken since.
And only blind faith that he wouldn't miss their movie
night had made her come over tonight.
 But he wasn't home. She felt the tears rise, stinging
her eyes. She knocked one more time, half heatedly. He
really wasn't there. She turned to go, her head down,
tears falling in big wet splashes to the floor.

* * *
 Spike raced through the streets of Sunnydale. He
hadn't realized he had been at the video store so
long. She would be at the apartment by
now, probably wondering where he was. Gripping the bag
of videos, he quickened his pace, almost running into
her as she exited the building, head down.
 "Red?" Spike said quietly, she hadn't noticed him
yet, so lost in her own misery. "Luv, what's wrong?"
He grabbed her arm, turning her to face him.
 Willow blinked up at him through her tears. How could
she explain that she was crying because she thought he
didn't want to see her anymore? "I..." She sighed.
"Lets go inside?"
 Spike nodded. He took her hand in his, leading her
into the apartment building. He unlocked the door in
silence, flipping on the light and waiting for her to
start talking.
 She blushed. He was waiting for her to speak. {Here
we go..}. "You weren't here and I thought you didn't
want to see me anymore because of the kisses last week
and I thought you might regret kissing me and I.."
 He leaned in and kissed her again, cutting off her
sad babble in mid thought. When he pulled back his
eyes were laughing. "You were saying, pet?"
 "I didn't know." Willow whispered, suddenly
embarassed. "You didnt call all week...and then you
weren't here for movie night." She bit pulled her
bottom lip between her teeth, biting it with
nervousness. He didnt call? She sounded like his
girlfriend! And she wasn't his girlfriend. Was she?
 Spike shook his head. "Actually, pet, I tried to call
a couple times. But no one answered the bloody phone."
He had a cocky smile on his face. "Maybe I should get
you a pager or sumthin. I like to know where my girl
is at."
 The tone of his voice was possessive and it made
Willow shiver with pleasure. She wanted to feel his
lips on hers again. Feel his cool tongue slip into her
mouth. Feel his hands. {Bad Willow!} "So...what're we
watching tonight?" She hoped he couldnt see her blush.
 Spike chuckled. The little chit was blushing and her
heart was racing. {Wonder what she was thinking
about.} "'Mission: Impossible'"
 "OooOoo" Willow cooed, her eyes getting big and
round. "Tom Cruise. Yum." The blonde glared at her and
she amended, "Not as yum as you though."

* * *
 "Being a spy looks like fun." Willow giggled, turning
the tv off as the credits began to roll on the screen.
She looked over at Spike, an idea dawning in her head.
"We should go on our own 'mission: impossible'."
 The vampire raised an eyebrow at the little witch.
"And what do you have in mind, luv?" He loved the way
her eyes got that little far away look when she was
thinking.
 "Let see...something hard...but not too
hard...something appropriate for a master vampire and
his witch." She grinned, liking the way 'his witch'
had sounded. She was *his*. She was Spike's
girlfriend. Her grin got bigger.
 "Red? You still with me, luv?" She was thinking of
him again. He could tell by the flush on her face and
the rapid heart beat. He wondered what exactly about
him could excite her so much. Maybe one day she'd let
him in on it and he could show her what it was like to
be *really* excited.
 "Oh! Yeah...thinking of a suitable mission." She
closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the task at
hand. Her eyes flew open. "I know *just* the thing!"

* * *

 Willow hummed the theme to mission impossible as they
drove to her house to gather supplies. Her green eyes
glinted with mischief Spike didn't even know existed.
He couldn't wait to see what her plan was. She hadn't
told him yet, only hinting that it would be 'very very
funny' and that they were going to do it to someone
they both knew.
 Her parents weren't home, as usual. She led Spike up
to her room, grabbing a bag from her closet and
started chosing herbs from a trunk at the foot of her
bed. When she tossed in the spell book Spike gave her
an inquisitive look but didn't question her. She would
tell him when she was ready.
 "Wait outside the door for a sec." She was beaming as
she pushed him into the hallway, shutting the door
firmly behind her. Stripping quickly, she reached into
her dresser and pulled out a pair of black jeans and a
forest green t-shirt. She needed to be able to blend
into the dark and her pink shirt and coveralls just
wouldnt do in this situation. With a last look in the
mirror she grabbed her bag and opened the door.
 Spike whistled low at the sight of Willow in the dark
clothing. It suited her. "We ready?" She nodded and he
took her by the hand, guiding her out into the
darkness. When she had fastened he seat belt he looked
over at her, "Gonna tell me where to drive to, pet?"
 "LA."

* * *
 "You do realize my damn sire will probably stake me
if we get caught don't you, luv?" Spike glanced
nervously at the building across the street. The
office area was dark but he could see shadows moving
around in the upper levels, where the apartments were.
"And he *will* catch us. He will sense me the second I
get close."
 He had to hand it to the little spitfire though, when
she said 'mission:impossible',  she certainly meant
*impossible*. He remembered her words on the way over.
"Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is in
two parts." She had said, her eyes sparkling with
fire. "Number one: Break into the offices of 'Angel
Investigations' and swipe Cordelia's favorite coffee
mug. Part two: Break into the apartment owner of said
PI firm and steal his sketchbook. Then we leave them a
ransom note on the door and get back to Sunnydale."
Yep. He had to hand it to her. This was mission bloody
impossible.
 "He won't sense you, Spike." Willow was saying.
"Thats what the spellbook is for." She grinned. "We
will be cloaked." Her voice took on a serious tone.
"'Sides. You wont be getting near Angel. Your part of
the mission is to get the coffee mug. I'm gonna sneak
in and get the sketchbook." {Since he will be less
likely to kill me if he catches me. You on the other
hand, would be dust.}
 "Right..." He considered asking her to just give up
on this mission and go back to the apartment. They
still had plenty of quality making out time they could
be using. "Well, then, lets get started."

* * *

 Willow slipped quietly up the stairs of the building,
trying not to make any noise. The cloaking spell was a
good one, but not that good - if she made too much
noise they would know something was up.  She could
feel her heart in her throat. Maybe this hadn't been
the brightest idea in the world. Sneaking into Angel's
apartment and stealing one of his most prized
possessions. Hopefully he would see the humor in it.
 She listened outside his door for any sounds of
movement, reaching out with her own senses to try to
find the aura that was distinctly Angel. There. He was
in his bedroom. This was as good a time as any. She
whispered a few words under her breath, silently
popping the lock on the vampire's front door. Holding
her breath she eased the door open, slipping inside
and shutting it without a sound. So far so good. Now
where would good old Broodboy keep his sketchbook? She
glanced around the almost perfectly dark room,
grateful for the dim lamp Angel had left on in the
corner.
 Walking cautiously to one of the bookcases she began
to browse the titles, hoping the book would be
somewhere so obvious. It wasn't. She heard a laugh
from the bedroom. A female laugh. {Angel has
company...company that sounds like Cordelia?} Her mind
whirled. Cordelia was in Angel's bedroom. Angel and
Cordelia. The thought nearly made her laugh out loud.
She clamped a hand over her mouth, knocking against a
table in the process.
 "What was that?" Cordelia's voice was loud in the
silence of the apartment. Willow held her breath.
{Please goddess. Dont let him see. Dont let him see.}
She fought the urge to close her eyes and cower as
Angel entered the room. He glanced around, looking for
anything out of place, his head tilted to one side in
contemplation.
 "I dont see anything, Delia." He turned and made his
way back to the bedroom. Only then did Willow realize
the vampire hadn't been wearing much more than a very
nice pair of black boxers. {Go, Delia!} She heard the
bedroom door shut and exhaled a breath she didn't even
realize she'd been holding.
 Her gaze wandered to the large oak desk against one
wall. {I wonder...} She slid open the tope drawer.
Only pens and other desk-type stuff. The next drawer
wasn't much more interesting, just a bunch of files
from his cases. Finally, on the bottom drawer, she
found it. "Ah ha!" She whispered. She flipped open the
book, smiling in wonder at the talent the centuries
old vampire had. There were pictures of people she
didnt know and of Drusilla, Spike, Buffy...even some
of herself and the rest of the Slayerettes. A wave of
guilt washed over her and she hoped Angel would
forgive her for taking it. With a momentary flash of
brilliance she plucked a pen and paper from the
drawers, scribbling out first the ransom note and
second a quick letter to Angel, apologizing ahead of
time. With a smile she left his note on the desk and
slipped out into the hallway, locking the door behind
her with another whispered incantation.

* * *
 "Mission accomplished?"
 "Bout time, pet." He had begun to get worried when
more than half an hour had passed with no sign of the
red head. He held up the tacky red and yellow coffee
cup he had found on the cheerleader's desk. "You?"
 Willow held up the faded brown sketchbook with a
triumphant smile on her face. "I left him a letter on
his desk inviting them to Sunnydale next Friday to
retrieve their goods."
 "But thats our movie night!" Spike whined. He didn't
like the idea of spending his Willow-time with anyone
else. Especially not his bloody sire.
 Willow nodded. "We can watch some movies with them
too!" She knew he was upset about having to share
their time with anyone else. Could understand his
protectiveness of their one night a week. But next
weekend would be different. "I was thinking I'd stay
the whole weekend next week. If thats ok with you?"
She blinked up at him.
 Spike nearly jumped for joy. A whole weekend with
Red! Instead he gave her his trademark smirk and said,
"Well if I get you for the whole weekend I guess I can
put up with the poof and the bimbo for one night." He
glanced at the sky. "We should be getting back to
Sunnydale, sweets."
 They were halfway back to Sunnydale before Willow
remembered what she had found out in the apartment.
Cordelia and Angel. She couldn't help but snicker.
 "You will not believe this, Spike...."

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