* * *

      Willow tapped her fingers nervously on the table.
Tap. Tap. Tap. She sighed, her fingers ceasing in
their rhythm to brush a strand of hair from her eyes.
Then it started again. Tap. Tap. Tap.

      "Bloody hell, pet!" Spike roared, jumping up to grab
her hand. He had put up with the tapping for ten
minutes and couldn't stand the torture any longer.

      "Sorry." She kissed him lightly on the
lips. "I'm just nervous. They'll be here any minute."
It had been one week since they had gone on their
daring mission into Angel's office and apartment. She
had spoken with Angel since then, assuring him that
his sketchbook was safe and that she would give it
back to him when he visited. He hadn't *seemed* mad at
her. But that didnt say anything, the dark haired
vampire was a master at hiding his emotions. She
sighed again, trying not to think of the scene to
come. "So what movies did you get?"

      "I thought we'd go for a little horror tonight, luv."
He smirked. Horror movies were his own private
passion. All that blood and gore. It was truly
magnificent. "'Sixth Sense' and 'House on Haunted
Hill'"

      "Horror movies?" Willow shuddered. With a life that
was nothing but one big horror movie she had tried to
stay away from videos like that. "What was the
reasoning behind horror movies?"

      The vampire grinned over at her. "Well I was hoping
to see the little brunette chit jump into my sire's
arms." They had both agreed not to let Angel realize
they knew about his relationship with his secretary.
But it didn't mean they couldnt trick them into
admitting it.

      Willow rolled her eyes. For all his hundred plus
years, Spike certainly could be childish sometimes.
But she loved it. She leaned in, capturing his bottom
lip with her teeth, biting slightly before letting go.
His eyes darkened with lust. He liked to be bit. {Must
be a vampire thing,} she reasoned. She kissed lightly
down chin, across his neck, and to his throat, nipping
slightly as she went. Stong hands wrapped around her
back, pulling her in closer to him and she felt him
returning the actions. His blunt teeth carefully
grazed her neck and for a split second she wondered if
he could bite her in the midst of passion. She was
almost relieved when there was a knock at the door,
startling her out of that dangerous train of thought.
Almost.

      "Spike..." She whispered, pulling away from him. He
growled softly, trying to pull her back, his eyes
golden. "I have to answer the door."

      Spike moaned softly, letting the witch leave his
embrace and willing his features back to normal.
Wouldnt do to let his bloody sire walk in and see him
like that around Red. All he had to do was get through
the night. Then he had the rest of the weekend with
his little red head. Sighing he turned to look over
the back of the couch as said red head opened the
door.

      "Angel. Cordy." Willow's voice was tight.

      "Willow!" Cordelia pushed her way into the apartment.
"Where's my coffee mug?" The brunette looked around
the apartment suspiciously, wondering where the prized
item could possibly be hidden. She glared at Spike
before turning to look at Willow. "Are you going to
invite Angel in or not?"

      The red head felt color rise to her cheeks. How could
she be so rude? "Come in Angel." She backed away from
the door, lettin the somber vampire enter. He hadn't
spoken a word to her. Had barely aknowledged her
existence. Shutting the door, she sighed, bracing
herself for what was to come. Hot tears sprung to her
eyes as the visitors waited in silence for their
belongings. "Spike?"

      "Yes, pet?" The blonde couldnt understand why his
sire and the bimbo were acting so callously. After
all, it had only been a joke.

      "Get them their things so they can leave."  She
couldnt believe how horribly wrong one little prank
had gone. Salty lines of tears drpped down her face,
falling off her chin and to the floor. She watched
them fall, refusing to look up at the people she had
'wronged'. She heard a drawer open and knew Spike had
given them what they had come for. "I'm sorry..."

      Angel could barely stand to keep up his little
charade. He could care less about hurting his childe,
but Willow was another story. And here she was crying
and he wasn't doing anything to stop it. But she
needed to be taught a lesson. "Sit down..." Cordelia's
face was impassive as he waited for Willow to take her
place on the couch next to Spike.

      "Willow what you did was not right. Breaking into my
apartment and taking something you *know* means alot
to me?" Angel glared reproachfully at the red head.
Fresh tears leaked from her eyes and she turned to
bury her face in Spike's chest. "And you," The dark
haired vampire's gaze turned to his childe. "William
you know better." He let his demon slide forth enough
to sound like Angelus and watched the tide of fear
that rode over the blonde's features. "But..." Angel
paused, glaring sternly at the two of them. "Since you
seem apologetic." At the growl from his childe he
amended. "Well, since Willow is sorry. I will forgive
you." He grinned down at the expression of obvious
relief on the red head's face. "Just this once though,
little one."

      "Do you forgive me too, Delia?" Willow asked shyly.

      "Yeah, yeah. Of course." Cordelia rolled her eyes.
Angel had overdone it slightly in her opinion. "Can I
have a soda?"

* * *

      Spike smirked to himself as the cheerleader jumped
into his sire's arms for the third time since he had
put the movie in. In his opinion 'The Sixth Sense'
wasn't that scary. But it seemed to thoroughly terrify
the brunette. Nex to him Willow calmy ate her popcorn,
snickering at parts she seemed to find secret
amusement in. He pulled her closer to him, letting his
hand trail lightly over her arm. She smiled up at him.

      "I see dead people..." The little boy in the movie
whispered.

      "Oh No!" Cordelia cried, looking around the room in
what looked like fear. Her gaze shifted from Angel to
Spike. "I see dead people, too!" She placed her hand
over her forehead and did a remarkable impression of
fainting. The others in the room were shocked into
silence for a moment. Then one by one, they began
laughing.

      Willow was laughing so hard she could barely catch
her breath. When she finally did she noticed that
Cordelia had taken Angel's hand in hers in a slight
caress as she watched the movie. The red head couldnt
resist any longer. "So how long have you two been
together?"

      "About a month." Cordelia replied absently, her
attention fixed on the movie. Slowly her head turned
to Willow. "Um. I mean. What do you mean *together*.
We've been working together for over a year if thats
what you mean. I dont know what other type of together
you could possibly..."

      "Can it, cheerleader." Spike smirked. "You think we
dont notice the way you are all over Peaches? The way
you reach out to touch him when you *think* we're not
looking?" The blonde snorted. "We're not blind you
know."

      "Are you going to tell Buffy and the others?" Angel
asked quietly.

      "No." Willow stated firmly. "You didn't tell them
about me and Spike. Why would we do that to you?" She
smiled.

      "Thanks, Will." The brunette girl actually seemed
genuinely thankful. She gave the red head a smile and
turned back to the movie. It was nice for someone to
finally know about her and Angel, she decided.

* * *

      "UGGH!!" Cordelia gagged, burying her head in Angel's
chest so as not to see the television. They had went
straight from 'Sixth Sense' to 'House on Haunted Hill'
and Willow had to admit that the opening scenes of the
second movie were nasty. Especially that thing with
the pencil.

      The hacker looked at Spike who seemed to be enjoying
the mass carnage taking place on the screen, his eyes
round with joy. She knew he was thinking about blood
and death. But that was eclipsed by the look of
childlike wonder on his face. And Angel didn't seem to
be much better. "Vampires..." she muttered, hoping the
violence would end soon. Thankfully it did.

      A few minutes later three of the occupants in the
room let out a startled gasp, glancing back and forth
between the movie and the blonde haired vampire who
was oblivious to them all. "What?" He finally
demanded.

      "Sweetheart, I know its been a while since you've
seen what you look like." Willow began. "But that guy
playing the camera man looks exactly like you!" She
grinned. "Well they say we all have a twin somewhere
in the world..."

      Spike groaned. "And mine would have to be a bloody
actor?" He smirked. "If thats what I look like,
though," Spike purred into Willow's ear as Angel and
Cordelia tried their best to ignore them. "I can see
why you find me so sexy."

* * *

      "That movie..." Cordelia moaned, her voice trailing
off as she tried to think of a description adequate
enough for it.

      "Totally sucked?" Willow grinned. The movie had been
awful in her opinion. Lots of blood. Lots of gory
scenes she could have lived a few lifetimes without
seeing. And a stupid ending. She giggled. "Wasn't even
that scary."

      "I dunno about that." Cordelia said. "That big old
mansion was enough to scare me. I dont like big, dark,
old, houses." The brunette shivered.

      "Aw. The cheerleader is scared of dark houses?"
Spike smirked. "My Red here is fearless." He missed
the 'what planet are you from?" look that Willow threw
at him.

      "Yeah?" Angel grinned. "My Delia is a lot tougher
than she looks." Angel patted his date's knee
affectionately. Something about Spike's tone of voice
told him his childe was in the mood for a contest. A
little 'healthy' competition.

      "Really?" The blonde vampire grinned, leaning forward
with a glint in his eye. "Care for a little wager
then, mate?"

* * *

     "Tell me again how we got roped into doing this?"
Cordelia whispered, stepping into the dark mansion.
She flipped the light switch up and down with no
effect. Not that it surprised her, Angel had said he
had the electricity in the mansion turned off before
he moved to LA. But still, a girl could hope.

      "Because we are dating a pair of extremely
competitive vampires?" Willow smirked, casting the
light from her flashlight around the room.
This would be as good a place as any to stay for the
night. As she watched the shadows jump in the darkness
her mind flashed back to the night before.

***
      "Care for a little wager then, mate?" Spike was
smirking as he looked his sire in the eyes. The
challenge hung thick in the air, waiting to be
accepted.

      Angel raised his eyebrows. "What kind of wager, my
boy?" The older vampire looked for all the world like
Angelus at that moment. All arrogance and attitude.

      "My girl versus yours." Spike drawled, ignoring the
glares *his girl* was shooting his way. "Crawford
Street mansion. From sundown
tomorrow to sunup Sunday. First one to leave loses."

      "And the winner gets?"

      "Even better, daddy, its what the loser gets." He
smirked. "The *loser* gets to tell Buffy and company
about their relationship next weekend."

      Cordelia and Willow looked back and forth between the
two men as they finalized the plans for the contest.
It was obvious that they wouldn't get any say in the
whole thing.

***
      And now it had come to this. Herself and Cordelia
stuck in the dark, old mansion for the night. They
knew the boys were nearby. But that thought was of
little comfort as they also knew those same boys would
be trying to scare them out of the house. "I'm gonna
stake him..." Willow muttered.

      "Well I for one am going to go find a bedroom, lock
the door and try to sleep through this." Cordelia
grumbled, disappearing down a dark hallway. Willow
could hear doors opening and closing as the brunette
searched for a good room to hide away in. Then all was
silent. {Guess she found a room.} Willow reasoned. Her
gaze wandered the shadowy room, an involuntary shiver
creeping along her back. She knew Angel was somewhere
nearby, watching, waiting. He would be trying to scare
her out of the house. And that thought terrified her.
She had seen the terror Angelus knew how to inflict
and knew that Angel had that capability in him as
well. Soul or not.

      Something was scratching at the large picture windows
along the wall. She tried to ignore it. {Its just
Angel.} She silently insisted, covering her ears with
her hands to try to block the sound out. The
scratching grew louder, an insistant tapping joining
it.

      Was it really just Angel outside of the window? Or
one of Sunnydale's other less than human residents?
The red head tried in vain to push that thought from
her mind. To no avail. She grabbed her bag off the
floor and ran down the hallway, into the first roon
she found. She shut the door firmly behind her,
turning the lock, her breath coming in short pants.
She would not give up this soon. She would *not* lose
this for Spike - or herself!

      Still shaking, Willow turned to face the rest of the
room, her flashlight illuminating the dark recesses
part by part. She gasped as the beam hit upon dozens
of tiny faces, expressionless eyes staring at her
through dark holes in their heads. The flashlight
fickered slowly over the dolls, the shadows jumping
and flaring - the dolls seeming almost alive. And they
watched. And Willow wigged, wondering briefly how
Cordelia was doing.

* * *
      Cordelia didn't know why she had decided to stay in
this room. After further inspecting it she found
herself seriosuly rethinking the plan. Maybe it was
the chains hanging off to one side of the bed, the
floor beneath them stained with something dark. Or
maybe it was the various sharp objects laid out with
surgical neatness on a small tray next to the bed,
some still stained red from their last usage. Either
way, she was sure this wasn't a good place to be.

      Had this been Spike's room? {Probably.} She assured
herself. It seemed like the sick twisted place the
blonde vampire would come to torture poor innocent
girls. The brunette's eyes strayed to the tools next
to the bed again, her imagination playing scenes of
torment as she thought of what they must have been
used for. How could Willow love someone who would do
things like that? She tried to understand, shining the
flashlight onto her watch. Only ten hours to go.

      Silently praying not to find anything more disturbing
than what she had already seen, the brunette shined
her flashlight around the room. A trunk at the end of
the bed caught her attention. {Wonder whats in there?}
She thought. {Do I want to know? What if its a body?
What if its body *PARTS*?!?} She turned away from the
trunk, doing her best to think of anything but the
trunk.

      "Damn it." Curiousity got the better of her and she
moved over to the trunk, kneeling down to slip open
the latches. Holding her breath, she slowly opened it.
 

      Clothes. The trunk was full of clothes. Holding the
flashlight with one hand she allowed her fingertips to
stray over the topmost pieces. Silk and leather. She
pulled one of the items from within, holding it up to
get a better look. {Leather pants...?} Her brow
creased as she tried to remember where she had seen
them before. Spike always wore jeans. She dropped the
pants next to the trunk, pulling out one of the large
shirts. {Velvet...just like Angel wears for me
sometimes.}

      Cordelia gasped, falling back onto her butt as the
realization hit her. This hadn't been Spike's room. It
had been Angel's...or Angelus', more likely. Her eyes
scanned the darkness, automatically going to the table
where the tools of torture were still laid out. Angel
had used those on someone.

      "Hes changed though..." Cordelia whispered to
herself. Knowing that your lover was a vicious killer
in the past is one thing, coming face to face with the
reailty of it was something entirely different. And in
the darkness of the mansion, that scared her more than
anything else.

* * *

      Spike watched from outside of one of the windows as
the cheerleader discovered the awful truth about the
'man' in her life. He almost felt sorry for her as
tears fell silently down her cheeks. Almost. Any pity
he might have felt was overshadowed by his desire to
scare her out of the house, to beat his sire in their
little contest.

      Painted black fingernails ran lightly over the window
pane, their shrill sound like a scream in the
darkness. He could almost smell her fear as she
glanced around like a frightened rabbit, trying to
find what was making the noise.  He inhaled deeply on
his cigarrette, drawing the hot smoke through his cold
lungs before letting it go with a sigh. The
cheerleader was leaving the room - goodie.

      This was the most fun he'd had since the chip. He
almost hoped the chit would stick it out for most of
the night just so he could scare her longer.

* * *

      Angel watched Willow contemplate Dru's dolls through
the window. He smiled slightly at the startled
expression on her face as she looked at each of their
sometimes charred or battered bodies. Dru had loved to
punish those damn things. The box in his hands
twitched slightly, reminding him of his mission. He
would not lose to his childe. It had never happened
before and he'd be damned if it happened tonight.

      Easing open the window with little more than a soft
squeak he cracked open the lid of the box, letting the
contents slip into the room. This was just plain evil
and he knew it. But he would *not* lose. Willow would
forgive him. He hoped.

      He watched as she tilted her head to the side,
listening to the soft rustlings in the room with her.
She knew she wasn't alone. The beam strayed around the
room and he ducked back as it passed the window. He
wondered fleetingly how long it would take her to see
his little surprises.

      He peeked over the window edge again, watching her
search the room for the source of the noises. This
wasn't how she had intended to spend her weekend with
his childe and he knew it. He knew that the couple
didn't get that much time together and almost felt
guilty for allowing a paltry challenge to take up some
of that precious time. So in a way, losing would be
*good* for them.

      In a way, he reasoned, losing would be good for Spike
and Willow. Then they would be forced to come out
about their relationship. No more sneaking around.  It
was definiately for their own good.

      Willow screamed, running from the room in a blur of
red hair.

      Oh good. She had found his surprises.

* * *
      "Willow?!?" Cordelia yelled, catching the red head as
she ran down the hall. The girl was terrified. {Good.}
Cordelia smirked to herself. {Hopefully she'll leave
and then I can get out of this place.} Aloud she put
on her most sympathetic voice and asked, "Whats
wrong?"

      "Frogs." Willow gasped. She looked back towards where
she had came from, hoping the hideous little creatures
hadnt followed her.

      "Frogs?" Cordelia laughed. "You face demons and other
nasties all the time without ever blinking an eye. But
you are afraid of frogs?" It was too much for the
brunette who continued to laugh at the frightened
hacker.

      "Hey!" Willow gathered the tattered remains of her
dignity around her like a cloak. "Dont laugh at m-"
Her voice froze in mid sentence as she noticed the
three pairs of glowing eyes in the dark behind her
friend.

* * *
      "Any minute now..." Angel smirked, leaning against
the door frame. He fully expected Willow to run
screaming from the house at any minute. It had been
wrong to dump a box full of frogs in the room, but it
had worked. The girl had been terrified.

      "You're right, Peaches." Spike gloated. "Shouldn't be
too long now. I dont think the cheerleader can last
much longer." He could tell his sire had done
something that had scared Willow. Only an enormous
amount of will power had kept him from rushing in to
her when she had screamed earlier. Only the knowledge
that the game would be over kept him from going to
protect her and soothe away her fears. He hoped she
would forgive him.

      From within the mansion two sets of screams ripped
through the air. Angel's eyes clouded over with
concern. "What the...?" He heard Cordelia scream for
him, heard Willow cry for help. He glanced at Spike,
seeing an identical expression of worry on his
childe's face. Something was wrong.

      With a growl the two stormed into the house, running
towards the screaming. They didn't have to go far.
Three fledgelings had backed the girls into a corner
of the living room, snapping and growling at them like
rabid animals. One of them reached out for Willow,
scratching her along the tender skin of her arm.

      Spike growled at the smell of fresh blood seeping
from her wound. The fledgelings turned, noticing for
the first time the two older vampires standing behind
them.  Angel barely saw his childe's hand move as a
stake was thrown through the air, dusting the vampire
that had marked Willow. He reached into his own jacket
pocket to remove a slender stake, easily dusting
another of the trio as the clumsy thing rushed at him.
The last vampire, a thin female, growled once before
running past her elders. They made no move to stop
her. She had learned her lesson for the night.

      "Can we go home now?" Willow was crying. First frogs.
Then fledgelings. Better to get out while they could.
She watched with a heavy heart as Spike and Angel
exchanged glances. The contest was still on.

      "You've got to be kidding me!" Cordelia snarled at
Angel. "We were just about killed and you two can't
let your stupid challenge go?!?"

      "Delia..." The dark haired vampire murmured. How
could he explain to her that he wasn't about to let
this go? That his childe had issued the challenge and
he wasn't going to back out of it. Not now. Not ever.

      "Don't 'Delia' me, Angel!" The brunette snapped,
glaring at her boyfriend with open hostility. She
opened her mouth to continue her tirade, shutting it
with an audible snap as an idea came to her. "Come
here, Willow." She pulled the red head across the
room, away from the vampires, speaking as quiet as she
could.

      "What do you think they are talking about?" Spike
asked after a few minutes. He watched Willow turn to
look at him thoughtfully. Again. What were the damn
chits up to?

      "I'm almost scared to find out." Angel had never seen
Cordelia so angry with him. Had it been worth not
losing to make her upset? Across the room the two
girls linked arms, walking together towards the door
and stepping out into the night. Together.

      "Bloody hell.." Spike hurried after them, his sire
hot on his heels. He almost tripped over the girls as
he ran out of the mansion. They were sitting on the
porch staring at their respective partners with almost
identical smirks of triumph.

      "We all lose." Willow grinned. "So, Spike, *LUV*, you
are going to take me back to your apartment and help
me get cleaned up and *THEN* you are going to make
this all up to me."

      "Yep. Losers all around." Cordelia's glare at Angel
told him *exactly* who she felt the loser was in all
of this. It was him. "And you *Soulboy* are going to
take me back to the hotel and then, tomorrow night.
We're going shopping." She smiled at him sweetly,
grabbing his hand to help her get to her feet.

      The vampires looked at each other in confusion as the
girls led them down to where the cars had been parked.
So who had won? If anyone. Willow hugged Cordelia when
they reached Angel's car. "I'll see you next weekend,
k Delia?"

      Cordelia laughed. "Yeah. It ought to be tons of fun."
She grinned evilly. "No horror movies this time! It
will be scary enough to face Bitchy."

      "What?" Angel and Spike chorused. The girls had
decided that Cordelia had lost?

      Willow blinked innocently. "Oh, sorry, Spike."
Her eyes were filled with complete mishief as she
said, "Me and Cordy decided we'd *both* tell Buffy
over movies next weekend." She smiled at him with
faked sweetness. "Now come on dear, we still have
enough weekend left for me to give you as much hell as
you put me through."

      And as he watched the evil glint in her eye, for the
first time in his centuries of existence Spike was
scared of what was to come.

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