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"Giles!" Buffy yelled into the apartment as she stormed through the
door, "Giles!"

"What is it Buffy?" The Watcher answered from the kitchen.

Buffy whirled around, "Willow's gone!" she said in a panic.

"Gone?" A spark of panic ignited in Giles' stomach, "What do you mean
she's gone?"

"I mean she's gone. She never came home last night and she told me
she was going to either head here after the library or crash at her
parents' house and she's not at the dorm and she's not at her mom's
house and she's obviously not here either and I don't know where she
is and…"

Giles walked around and embraced Buffy, trying desperately to calm
her without letting on at just how worried he was himself. "Calm down
Buffy, we'll find her." He broke their embrace and looked at his
charge, "Have you spoken with Xander?"

As if on cue the dark-haired teenager rushed into the apartment with
Anya following close behind. "Have you heard anything yet?" He asked.

Buffy shook her head and sunk to the couch. "If something hurt her I
will never forgive myself." She said quietly.

"Now Buffy, you mustn't blame yourself. The truth of the matter is
that we really don't know if Willow is actually missing or not."
Giles tried to reason, "What about that new friend of hers, Tara?
Have you contacted her yet?"

Buffy nodded silently, "Nothing." She took a deep breath, "It's
nearly sunset, I'll patrol and see if I can find out anything.
Xander, I need you to check out the Bronze and see if anyone
remembers her being there last night."

"Will do."

"Giles, If she calls anywhere it'll be here, can you stay and man the
phones?"

The watcher sat down and nodded, "Of course."

The four sat in silence as they awaited the night.

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Willow took a deep breath as she left the crypt that she had spent
the last 18 hours in. It took her an hour of convincing on her part
to make Spike allow her to leave. She reminded him that she REALLY
needed to shower before going to meet up with everyone. They would
meet at Giles' place and let everyone know together. No sense in
hiding anything, what they felt for each other was too intense to be
worth hiding. She wasn't looking forward to that conversation, but
felt better knowing that Spike would be there to help out.

She entered her parents' house and quickly showered and changed. Then
she removed Spike's dressing from her wound from Parker (jerk!) and
applied some peroxide to clean it. That done she decided to give a
call to Giles and let him know she would be coming over and to
assemble the gang. Besides, they might be worried.

She dialed the familiar number and waited, Giles picked up on the
first ring, "Hello?"

"Giles?"

"Willow! Where are you? Are you hurt?"

Willow's brow furrowed, I guess they were worried, she thought,
"Yeah, I'm OK. I'm at my mom's house. What's wrong?"

Giles let out an audible sigh of relief, "Nothing, we just
thought…"

"Give me that!" Willow heard Buffy grab the phone from her watcher,
"Willow! Where have you been young lady? I've been worried sick! Why
didn't you come home last night? Did something happen?"

Willow couldn't help but crack a smile at her best friend, "Slow down
Buffy. Here's the deal, on my way to Giles' last night I met up with
Parker, remember him? Yeah well, he didn't drop out of school he
kinda turned into a vampire and tried to kill me."

"That bastard! I will really enjoy dusting him!" Buffy seethed.

"No need."

"What? Why not?"

Willow took a deep breath, "Well he sort of gave chase into the
cemetery where he proceeded to beat the crap out of me, until Spike
came out of his crypt and killed him. He saved my life, really."
Willow added the last part hoping that it would come in handy during
the inevitable conversation later on.

"Oh." Buffy said, "Well, I guess that's sweet of him. But that
doesn't explain where you were all night."

"Well, I was pretty badly knocked around, had a concussion, the next
thing I know I woke up in Spike's…crypt, and he had dressed my
wounds. Apparently I had slept for awhile. I ended up sleeping there.
And then it was morning and I couldn't just leave Spike there with
nothing to do, being daylight and all, so we just hung out."

"You hung out with Spike?" Buffy asked in disbelief.

"Yup. He's really a nice guy, look at how many times he's saved our
lives since he started helping us."

"Buffy waved her hands at the air, "Whatever Wills. I'm just relieved
to hear your voice. I was really scared you know. You coming over?"

"On my way now!" Willow smiled.

Buffy hung up the receiver and told the rest of the gang the story
Willow had related to her. "And here comes the knight in shining
armor himself." She said as Spike walked through the door.

"What's that Slayer?" He drawled. He leaned up against a wall,
reveling in the sensations of the past 24 hours.

"Willow called. She told us about how you saved her life and all.
Thanks." Buffy looked at him sincerely.

Spike gave her a cocky grin, "My pleasure Slayer."

Giles watched the vampire closely, knowingly. Rage dared to consume
him. The others went on about the latest movies released. Giles eyed
Spike, willing him to give eye contact.

Spike felt Ripper's eyes boring into him and he finally turned. He
knew, and he didn't look happy about it either. A stare down ensued
briefly, and then the watcher's glare softened and he motioned for
Spike to follow him around the corner.

Spike followed him into the spare room at the end of the hallway.
"Look Watcher,"

Giles turned and raised a loaded crossbow to the vampire's heart.
"No. You. Look." He said between clenched teeth, "I promise you. If
you hurt her at all, in the least, I. Will. Kill. You. Do I make
myself PERFECTLY clear? I will not have you turn her into some
Transylvanian concubine to tide you over until you finally go running
back to Drusilla. Am I clear?"

Spike took an unnecessary breath and nodded silently. "Look, I have
no intention of hurting Willow, I swear!" The last two words accented
by the nudge of the wooden arrow into his chest. "Hey! Watch it! And
I am not going to go back to Dru. I am not leaving Willow."

Giles lowered the crossbow; convinced the vampire was sincere.
"Fine." He walked out of the room, knocking into Spike as he went.

Spike rolled his eyes in frustration, bloody chip, he thought. He
joined the others in the livingroom and waited for his new lover to
come.

Anya stepped out of the bathroom at the end of the hall, opposite the
spare room. She played a coy smile on her lips, way to go Willow, she
thought, and as an afterthought, I wonder just why they called him
Ripper. Giles's display caused Anya to look at him with new eyes.
Interesting, she thought.

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--------------------------------------

Spike straightened in his chair as he sensed Willow approaching the
door. She knocked softly, waiting for Giles to let her in. Spike
watched her search the room briefly before finding the blond vampire.
She seemed to relax and tense up all at the same time. "Hey guys."
She waved.

Buffy got up and hugged her friend, "Don't ever scare me like that
again, okay?"

Willow nodded and smiled.

Giles walked over to inspect Willow's wounds, "Are you all right
Willow."

"Yeah, they don't even hurt anymore actually."

Spike noticed Willow was wearing a high-collared sweater to hide his
bite mark. Better that the crew didn't know about that he supposed.

Willow walked around the couch and sat on the end closest to Spike.
Now for the hard part. Hey guys, guess what! Spike and I are sleeping
together! Somehow she didn't think that was the best way to let
everyone know. Maybe they shouldn't even announce it, let everyone
figure it out themselves. Just start getting cozy with Spike in front
of them. Or maybe one at a time would be better. Willow was suddenly
unsure about her plan to let the cat out of the bag. She ended up
spending the whole time sitting there stiffly, only speaking when
spoken to and not letting on at all about the erotic events of last
night.

Spike waited the whole time for Willow to pipe up, but she ended up
chickening out. It figured, she was so damned afraid of their
collective disapproval. Fine, he could play whatever game she wanted
as long as she remembered that she now belonged to him and him alone.

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--------------------------------------

Spike walked with Willow back to her dorms, "So what made you chicken
out Luv?"

Willow turned to him defensively; "I didn't chicken out! It just
never seemed like the right time to bring it up. Hey guys, guess
what! I had the best sex of my life last night and today and guess
who with, Buffy's mortal enemy!" Somehow I didn't think it would go
over well."

"So what now?" Spike asked.

"Well, "Willow started, "I figure that we could kinda, you know, get
cozy around them until they figure it out themselves. Or I could just
make the rounds and tell everyone one by one."

"Well, you don't have to worry about the Watcher, he already knows."

"What!" Willow stopped in her tracks and stared at the vampire. "You
told him?"

"No I didn't tell him. He just figured it out. C'mon Red, when you
spend most of your life emersed in the darker side of the world you
tend to pick up on little subtleties. You kids don't give ol' Ripper
enough credit."

"What did he say?"

"Oh the typical 'if you hurt her I'll kill you' sort of thing."

Willow shifted her feet and looked down, "And what...what did you
say?"

Spike smiled at her insecurity and pulled her close, tilting her chin
up to look at her, "I told him that I had no intention of hurting
you, ever."

Willow smiled and closed her eyes as they kissed.

100 feet away, hiding behind a tree, a pair of angry eyes watched the
two lovers as they walked away. He continued to watch from a
distance, waiting for the vampire's return trip, his blood boiling in
seething anger. How dare she be with him! How dare he touch his
Willow! Spike would pay a costly price for his actions: his life.

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--------------------------------------

Spike lit a cigarette as he walked away from the college campus. He
didn't like being there and had refused to even go in the building
where The Initiative had once tried to take him. Willow had promised
to come by his place tomorrow afternoon. He was looking forward to
the games he would play. Spike stopped suddenly, sensing a presence
near. His defenses heightened, he prepared for a possible attack. He
was surprised to see just who it was lurking in the shadows.

"I should have killed you in LA when I had the chance." He stepped
out from behind a tree, eyes burning with pure hatred. "How dare you
touch her!"

Spike had to concentrate to keep from laughing. He threw away his
cigarette and took two steps toward the other man. "Well, well, well,
if it isn't the wolf. What's the matter, boy? Want a biscuit?" Spike
teased.

Oz flexed his fists open and shut as he moved closer to Spike. "What
have you done to her?"

"What have I done to her? Um, let's see, I fucked her about 6 times
in the past 24 hours. Hey isn't that more than you did in a year's
time? I think I'll try shackles tomorrow, what do you think? Think
she'll like that Wolfie?" Spike mocked.

Oz launched a fist at Spike's jaw, sending the vampire backward in
surprise at the contact. Oz was on him in a second, punching Spike in
the face repeatedly.

Spike vamped out and threw Oz off of him. He waited to see if there
would be pain when the kid was in human form. He was thankful to feel
nothing, knowing that he wouldn't stand much of a chance in a fight
against a werewolf during a full moon. "I'll give you one chance to
walk away now Wolf." He warned.

"Fuck you!" Oz said as he stared down the master vampire. He broke
off a small branch from a nearby tree and held the weapon. "Bring it
on." He dared.

Spike roundhoused Oz and punched him, breaking his nose. Oz dropped
the makeshift stake as Spike picked him up by the shirt collar and
pinned him against a tree, lifting Oz off of the ground so that they
were face to face. "Did you really think you could take me? You're
nothing but a child. And you're less than that as a lover, from what
I hear. You should have heard her scream when she came. Did you ever
make her scream, Wolf?" Spike laughed.

Oz felt his wolf come to the surface with his anger and hatred
melding into a dangerous brew. He threw his head at the bridge of
Spike's nose, causing him to drop Oz and take a few steps back.
Taking advantage of Spike's condition, Oz flew at him with all of his
might, punching until his own knuckles bled from the violent contact.
All the while screaming obscenities at the demon.

Spike quickly turned the tables on the human, kneeing him in the gut,
sending a bolt of pain through Oz, making him double over. "I am so
going to enjoy killing you Wolf Boy." Spike said as he stood over
Oz's crumpled body.

Oz began to laugh out loud, causing Spike to cease his assault. "You
asshole Spike! You can't kill me and you know it!" Oz grew serious as
he eyed Willow's new lover; "If you kill me Willow will never forgive
you. And you'll have to find some other innocent girl to fuck." He
laid his head back onto the ground and continued to laugh insanely.

Spike let what the wolf said sink in. "Fuck!" He yelled. The bloody
sod was right. If he hasn't already lost Willow given the fight, he
would surely lose her if Oz died. "Fine!" He dragged Oz to his feet,
his right arm pulled behind his back for leverage, "Let's go for a
visit, shall we?" Spike said, pushing his demon down and letting his
human face come forth. He began pushing the wolf roughly through the
graveyard.

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--------------------------------------

Rupert Giles sat on his couch with a cup of tea and one of his many
books on witchcraft, looking up a protection spell for Willow; just
in case Spike broke his vow to keep her safe. He was about to give up
on that particular book when his door was practically broken off its
hinges. A man was aggressively thrown into the apartment, followed by
Spike. The first things that Giles noticed were the bruises on the
vampire's face, obviously from a fresh fight. The next thing he
noticed was that the man that was so gracefully tossed to the floor
was Oz. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled crouching down to help
Oz off of the floor.

"This bloody asshole, attacked me. And, being the nice guy that I am,
brought him to you instead of ripping his bloody head off!" Spike
slammed the door behind him and stared the watcher down, daring him
to pick a fight.

Giles sighed deeply. "Oz, are you all right?"

"Him?" Spike yelled, "What about me? I'm the victim here, not him!"

"Spike!" Giles turned on him wildly, "Shut the fuck up and sit down!"

Spike let out a low growl before doing as he was instructed.

Oz gaped at Giles incredulously, "He's your ally now? Since when?"

"It's a long story Oz, but much has happened since your departure."
Giles explained.

"Yeah," Spike added, "Like Willow has moved on with her life."

Giles rolled his eyes and Oz glared at the vampire. Oz finally turned
to Giles; "Do you know what they are? Do you know you've let Spike
influence her and seduce her into his bed for his own sick, perverse
pleasure?"

"Hey!" Spike stood up; "I'll have you know that Willow enjoyed
herself many times over last night. And willingly!"

"Spike!" Giles pinched the bridge of his nose, "Would you please SIT
YOUR ASS DOWN!" When Spike complied Giles turned back to the badly
beaten boy in front of him. "Now Oz, Willow is old enough to make her
own choices. Spike has been helping us the past few months and
they've grown rather close. Now I don't necessarily approve, but I'll
not stand in their way either. And I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to
do the same." Giles again sighed heavily, "Come into the kitchen,
I'll clean you up."

"Don't bother Giles." Oz growled, "Tomorrow is the night before the
full moon, I'll heal soon enough." He turned to Spike, "How about you
corpse? Think you'll be ready for a rematch tomorrow night?" Oz left
quickly, slamming the door behind him.

Spike stood and stared at the Watcher, "Well Ripper, that went over
quite well I'd say."

"You lost the privilege of calling me Ripper years ago William. You
may as well stay. I'll call the others. I'd say we have a problem on
our hands." Giles dialed Buffy first.

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Oz sat on the bed of the seedy motel, fire of hatred and betrayal
ignited in his eyes. He could wait one more day. Only one more day.
 

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