----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
"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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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.