Sam had managed to get Cordelia, Willow and Spike out into the alley
to tell them who he was. The blonde vampire was apparently able to
tell that Angel wasn't exactly Angel and Sam saw no reason for trying
to persuade them otherwise.

Willow and Spike stumbled into the alleyway with an annoyed Cordelia
on their heels. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at
Sam, "Okay, spill. What the hell is going on?"

Spike leaned against his sire's car and pulled a weary Willow into
his arms. She rested her head on his still chest and Spike pulled her
body closer to his own, reveling in the contact. He rubbed her back
with his cool hands and smiled when Willow moaned pleasurably. He
looked up only when he heard the cheerleader's question. Not that he
cared what happened to Angel one way or another, as long as Angelus
stayed dormant he was happy. He was curious as to why there was a
human-like sense to the dark-haired vampire though.

Sam sighed heavily before he began. "This is going to be very
difficult for you to believe."

"Try me." Cordelia spat.

"My name is Sam. I leap into other people in order to help them, or
rather prevent them from making a huge mistake that would otherwise
lead to dangerous and bad consequences."

Spike laughed and Cordelia cocked an eyebrow at him. "So now you have
*leaped* into Angel in order to prevent him from doing… what?"

"Losing his soul."

Cordelia gasped with wide eyes.

"Bloody hell!" Spike yelled from his position against the car. Willow
awoke from her doze with a start as Spike jumped away from her and
strode over to Sam. "You mean to tell me that my fucking sire, my
*real* sire Angelus, is going to come into being again? That's it!
Red, pack your bags, we're skipping town." He walked back over to
Willow and started to lead her away.

"Wait!" Sam called, "I need Willow to help me make sure Angel doesn't
lose his soul."

"What do you mean?" Willow asked.

Sam walked over to the redhead, "I mean, my sources tell me that you
can do some magic spell and make it so that he never loses his soul."

"You mean secure it?" Cordelia asked.

Sam nodded. Willow looked at the others; suddenly more awake but
still just as tipsy. "Well," she said, "We'll hafta go back to my
parents' house to get my *good* books because the books that I
brought with me to the dorms are silly, de-ratting, will-be-done
books and I don't think they're really gonna help us out on this
one." She started to walk away from the others back into The Bronze.
She stopped her rambling as soon as Spike lifted her up and placed
her into the car. She giggled against him. "That was fun!"

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

By the time they had reached the empty Rosenburg residence Willow was
snoring in the back seat, snuggled into Spike's chest. He smelled her
hair, inhaling the aroma of strawberries. "Willow, time to wake up
Pet and make it so the great Poof goes on."

"Hmm? Whah? Oh, right!" She toppled out of the convertible and Spike
caught her before she could hit the pavement.

Cordelia hurried them along, "Come on you guys! We are wasting some
serious magic time here."

"Oh cool your hormones chit." Spike responded, "Don't worry, I'm sure
you'll be shagging Peaches three times a day as soon as his happiness
gets returned to him."

Cordelia turned an angry shade of crimson and walked, rather dragged,
Willow to the front door. Willow fumbled for her keys and the two
girls walked inside.

Sam looked at the other vampire. "Do you have a soul too? Is that why
you aren't evil or anything?"

Spike stood taller and closed the distance between them, smelling a
hint of fear from the body of his sire, "No I do not have a soul!
I'll have you know that I am evil, I just have a bloody chip in my
head that gives me a blinding headache anytime I try to hurt humans.
I can still kick the ass of any demon, and that includes you at the
moment… Sam."

Sam turned warily from the other man and walked up the porch. He
rammed right into what felt like a brick wall and fell right on his
ass. Spike doubled over in laughter as he stepped up to the
threshold. "You have to be invited in mate."

Cordelia watched the two demons with her hands on her hips. "Come in
you two." She continued to help Willow look for a particular spell
book.

Spike clapped Sam on the shoulder, "All safe now boy." He walked over
and sat himself on the couch.

Sam put out his hand to test the doorway. When it went through he
followed it cautiously. "Being a vampire sucks." He grumbled. Spike
laughed again.

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

2 hours and 3 pots of coffee later, Willow and Sam sat in the middle
of a circle outlined with various herbs and salt. Candles were lit at
four corners and Willow had begun chanting something in Latin.
Cordelia looked on with bated breath and Spike had passed out on the
couch. Sam heard the familiar buzzing that told him that Al had
appeared somewhere. One thing he would miss from this assignment was
the extra senses that came along with being a vampire.

"Sam!" Al whispered, "According to Ziggy there's a 90% chance that
Angel will never again lose his soul." Willow continued her chanting
and a misty glow surrounded the witch and the vampire. Al looked
around them astounded and checked his gadget again. "Now there's a
95% chance, and increasing. Sam, it's working!"

Sam smiled as he felt the familiar wave of lightheadedness fill him
and breathed a sigh of relief as he felt himself propelled out of
Angel's body. Then all went black.

Silence filled the room and Willow opened her eyes and looked at the
dark-haired vampire in front of her. "Angel?" She whispered.

Angel lifted his hand to his head. "Willow? What's going on? How did
we get here?" He looked at the enchanted circle surrounding them and
dread filled his eyes. "Willow, did you just do a spell? I feel …
different… what did you do?" He stood and exited the circle of
herbs.

"Angel?" Cordelia walked to him slowly. "Is it really you?"

"Cordelia, of course it's me. What's happening?"

"It worked." She beamed. "It really worked. Angel, Willow just
secured your soul. No more happiness clause."

"What?" Angel asked still confused. "How did…"

His sentence was cut off by a searing kiss from Cordelia. She wrapped
her arms around his neck and pressed her body into his. Angel was
shocked at first but surrendered to her, returning the kiss with
equal passion. He broke the kiss and searched the lustful eyes of the
brunette, "Secured my soul?" Cordelia nodded. "Forever?" He asked as
a tear ran down his cheek.

"Forever." Cordelia answered.

Angel lifted her into his arms and they kissed as he carried her up
the stairs. Willow rolled her eyes and sighed. She went over to the
couch and plopped herself down next to Spike, startling him awake.
"Willow?" He asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah."

"Oh no!" The vampire stared down at his black colored nails and still
body in a panic.  "No, no, no, no, no, no! Al! Where are you? You son
of a bitch! Ziggy!" Sam shouted at the ceiling.
 

Chapter 6

"Forever." Cordelia answered.

Angel lifted her into his arms and they kissed as he carried her up the stairs. Willow rolled her eyes and sighed. She went over to the couch
and plopped herself down next to Spike, startling him awake. "Willow?" He asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah."

"Oh no!" The vampire stared down at his black colored nails and still body in a panic. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Al! Where are you? You son of
a bitch! Ziggy!" Sam shouted at the ceiling.

Willow jumped off the couch startled. "Spike, what's the matter with you?"

"Willow, it's me, Sam. I leaped out of one vampire and into another!" Willow watched as Spike/Sam went into game face and threw an
ashtray across the room and right through the plaster of the livingroom wall. Willow touched his shoulder in an attempt to calm him and he
turned on her, wildness afire in his golden eyes. He raised his hand suddenly and then fell to the ground clutching his head in obvious pain.
"Um…" Willow started, "I think there's something you should know about your new host Sam."

Sam rolled onto his knees and climbed back onto the couch. The demon subsided and Spike's human façade came to the front. "What's
that Willow?"

She sat next to him and put a tentative hand on his arm, "Spike has an implant that causes him intense brain pain if he attempts to hurt any
living thing. He can hurt demons though." She said cheerfully.

Sam looked at her. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Willow shrugged. "It made Spike feel better. So why do you think you're in Spike?"

Sam simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

A moment of silence hung in the room until Angel came bolting down the stairs dressed only in his pants. "What happened? I heard a crash."

Willow stood and looked at the vampire, his dark hair was tasseled and the fly of his pants was undone so that Willow could see a trail of
dark hair leading down lower. She purposefully looked him in the eye; "Sam leaped into Spike but we don't know why yet so you can just go
back to doing what you were doing, you know, before the crash." She made a shooing motion with her hands in the direction of the stairs.

Angel looked up the stairs longingly and then back at Willow. "You sure?"

Willow nodded and Angel ran up the steps taking three at a time. She sat down next to Sam again. "So now what?" she asked.

Sam looked at her sadly, "Now we wait until Al shows up and tells me what the hell I'm doing in yet another vampire. Damn! Why do I feel so
angry?"

You are in the body of a 126 year old soulless vampire, what did you expect?"

"But I didn't feel this way when I was in Angel. I've never felt this kind of intensity in a body before."

"Okay first, Angel has had a soul for like the past century or so, well, except for like a year when he lost it and tried to kill us all, but for the
most part he's had a soul for like 100 years. And second, Spike may look like a nice guy, but he has to battle the demon inside him all of the
time to control it. At least that's what he says. Maybe when you usualy leap, the other person leaves but in this case the demon stays so now
you have to fight the demon." Willow was proud of her thought and beamed at Sam.

Sam was about to say some snide remark when he heard a buzzing sound as Al appeared with a sorrowful look on his holographic face.
"Hey Sam." He said meekly.

Sam stood, towering over the smaller picture of the man, "Al, you've got a lot of explaining to do. What the hell am I doing in Spike? I have
had it with vampires!"

Al put up his hands defensively, "Now hold on Sam, I know why you're here." Sam crossed his arms expectantly. Al continued, "Ziggy says
that there is a 97% chance that Spike will kill Willow the day after tomorrow." Sam's face dropped as he turned to look at the small redhead
still seated on the couch.

"What?" She asked, "What did Al say? Why are you in Spike?"

Sam sunk to the sofa and put his head in his hands and sighed.
 

Chapter 7

Al looked at his friend. "Sam, I asked Ziggy, he has no idea why Spike would try to kill Willow. I guess we just have to wait and see what
happens in the next two days."

Willow placed a reassuring hand on Sam's shoulder, "Sam, what is it?"

Sam looked up into her green eyes and felt the demon inside of him stir. He rose suddenly off of the couch and stood across from her.
"Nothing Willow, Al doesn't know yet why I'm in Spike, we'll just have to wait and find out."

"Oh."

"Um, Willow," Sam asked, "Does Spike have a place of his own? You know, where does he live?" Sam felt an urgent need to be away from
the girl. Every time he looked at her the demon flared with a mixture of desire, lust and possessiveness. Sam knew that it could be a
dangerous mix of emotions.

Willow furrowed her brow, "Well, yeah, but I don't think you're gonna like it much. You could stay here; my parents are out of town indefinitely.
I could, you know, use the company."

Sam took a deep breath, he didn't want to leave the girl alone but he was having such a difficult time controlling the angry swirl of emotions
building in him. He was afraid to be around her. "Well, I don't know, maybe I should get some things at least from his place. Could you tell me
where it is?"

Willow shrugged her shoulders, "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." She walked to the door. "Come on. I don't think you'll be able to follow
the directions exactly, it'll be easier if I show you where it is." They exited the house.

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

"Are you kidding me!" Sam yelled into the empty crypt. "Why the hell would he live here?!"

Willow sat atop a stone coffin. "Well, he is a vampire."

"So is Angel! He didn't live with dead bodies!" He looked at Willow, "Get down off of there! Geez! Don't you know what's in there?"

Willow couldn't help but giggle, "Sam, this is the hellmouth, I've been helping Buffy fight demons for 4 years now." She hopped off the coffin
just the same and walked over to Sam. "Look, Angel has a soul, that's why he doesn't live like this. Spike likes being a vampire, even this
part of it."

Sam screamed out in frustration at the ceiling. After a moment of silence he glared at Willow, "Well, I'm not going to live here, that's for
damn sure!" He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, gaining control of his newly acquired hot temper, and looked at Willow pleadingly,
"Willow, do you think I could still borrow your couch for a couple of days?"

Willow smiled and took his hand, "Come on."

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

They held hands the entire walk back to Willow's house. Sam finally felt at peace when he touched her. Spike's body was such a tumult of
different emotions; Sam was just barely getting a feel for what the vampire actually felt toward certain people. He was suddenly very thankful
that his usual leaps didn't come with leftover emotions. He never would have thought that a demon could be capable of emotions other than
anger; but then again, he didn't even know demons existed a few days ago. By the time they reached the house Sam could feel a steady
calm come over Spike's body. It had to be Willow causing it, his body responded to her in such a way that his feelings for her were obvious
to Sam. He wondered if Willow knew that the blonde vampire loved her. This discovery made Sam wonder even more why Spike would kill
her in two days.

They entered the house to find a pacing Angel and worried Cordelia sitting on the couch. She got up and hugged the redhead. "Thank God
you're O.K., we were worried. What's this about Sam being in Spike now?"

Angel looked at his childe and could feel the difference in him. He could also sense the tension of the man trapped inside. "Sam, how are
you holding up?"

"I don't know, there's a lot of anger in here." He pointed to his gut. "I can't seem to keep it under control."

Angel nodded knowingly, "You need to feed. It will suppress the demon."

Sam shook his head violently, "No way, man! I am not drinking someone's blood."

Willow touched his shoulder, "It's okay Sam, Spike can't hurt living things, remember? He drinks pig's blood. I could heat some up for you. I
try to keep a small supply for when Spike comes to visit."

"Why does Spike come to visit?" Cordelia asked.

"Uh… well… for research parties, yeah, you know we don't always have them at Giles' anymore." Willow stumbled over her
explanation.

"Oh." Cordelia answered, apparently no longer interested. "Whatever."

Angel guided Sam aside, "I think we should take a walk. Maybe I could shed some light on your situation." Sam nodded as they walked out
the door. They walked silently for awhile before Angel finally broke the quiet night air. "Thank you."

"What?"

"For anchoring my soul, you have no idea of what you've done. And I don't mean just because of me and Cordelia. Before I had my soul
restored… I was, well, really bad. So, thank you."

"Your welcome." Sam said shortly. "Angel, let me ask you something, how does Spike deal with all this rage inside?"

Angel smiled, "He's had a long time to learn to control his demon. He never liked being a slave to it, from the beginning he fought it. If you
feed, it will help suppress it."

Sam shook his head again, "I can't Angel, there's got to be another way."

Angel stopped suddenly and searched the surrounding area. "We've got company. You'll have to fight."

Sam felt the presence of others and knew they were other vampires. "I thought I can't hurt anybody."

"You can fight demons."

Just then five vampires jumped out of the bushes, surrounding them. Angel fought off three of them while the other two attacked Sam. One of
the vampires punched Sam in the face and he felt the demon take control. He saw red as he roundhoused kicked his offender, sending him
backward into a broken tree branch, turning him to dust. Sam smiled evilly as he attacked the other vampire. He held his shirt collar as Sam
directed 3 vertical punches to his face. The other vamp finally blocked and then backhanded Sam across the face, causing him to lose his
grip on the other's shirt. Sam heard a low growl come from his own throat as he blocked 2 punches and then front snap kicked his opponent
in the groin. Sam picked him up off the ground by the hair and began throwing his head into the side of a tree. "I'm having… a
very… bad… day!" He said, emphasizing each of his assaults on the other vampire. Finally he tossed the unconscious demon
onto the same branch his partner had been dusted o n. Sam looked up to find Angel watching him fixedly. Sam took a deep breath.

Angel walked over to him. "Feel better?"

Sam nodded, pleased; "Yeah, yeah I do. Whoa! That was fun!" He smiled.

Angel watched him carefully, "Push the demon down Sam, get control."

Sam closed his eyes and let himself calm down. He shuddered as he felt Spike's human face come forth. "Wow, how does he do this
everyday?"

Angel continued to watch Sam, "Now that you're feeling a little better, why don't you tell me what's going on. I know your friend came, I heard
him before I went back into the bedroom. What's this about Spike killing Willow?"

Sam gaped at Angel and blinked. "I don't know how or why. All I know is that it'll happen the day after tomorrow. I don't understand it Angel,
he loves her, I can feel it. Not to mention he can't hurt people anyway."

The two walked back to Willow's house as dawn approached, trying to figure out a way to stop the terrible incident from happening. They
opened the door to find Willow and Cordelia both sound asleep, each occupying a couch. Angel and Sam each took a recliner and quickly
joined them in slumber.

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

The door burst open at 10:00 in the morning and Xander bounded into the house. "Wake up everyone! Hey Spike," he said to Sam, "Your
wish has come true, we found a way to get that pesky chip out of your head so you can go back to being evil and then Buffy can finally slay
your dead ass." He looked around at all the faces. "Hey, when did you guys get here?" He said to Cordelia and Angel.

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

Chapter 8

"Sam," Al began, "We can't take you out of Spike just so he can have a few moments of lucidity and then send you back in. Nor can we have the two of you share the body, it just can't be done."

Sam looked at the hologram, "You can't do it Al, but Willow can."

"What?" Willow, Cordelia, Angel and Al asked in unison.

Sam walked over to Willow and looked intently into her green orbs. "Willow, you were able to secure Angel's soul, there's got to be a spell somewhere in that pretty little head of yours that can bring Spike to the surface."

Willow smiled, "You sounded just like Spike when you said that. I'll need everybody's help in looking for it." Sam nodded.

"I'm game." Said Cordelia; "I kinda owe you anyhow." She looked coyly at Angel.

"I'm in." Angel said.

"Okay then, let's get started." Willow began pulling out all of her spell books, even ones she hadn't paged through yet. Everyone grabbed a book and began to search the contents.

"What exactly are we looking for anyway?" Asked Cordelia.

Willow sighed, she wasn't really sure what they were looking for. "I guess anything about conjuring up a someone inside another someone… I guess."

Two hours later they were all sitting in a circle surrounding Sam. Everyone had a scented candle in front of them and three were placed in the shape of a triangle around the blonde vampire.

Al stood outside the enchanted circle and shook his head. "I don't like this Sam."

"You said that already Al." Sam answered, "It's the only way, unless Ziggy has come up with something." Al shook his head again, "Then this is it."

"Is everybody ready?" Willow asked. When they all nodded their consent she began to chant in Latin followed by another chant in English. The flames on the candles around Sam grew higher and Willow watched as his head dropped so that his chin was resting against his chest. She finished the spell. "Spike?"

The vampire raised his head and looked around himself confused. He raised a hand to his head and looked at Willow, "What's going on here Red? Have you done another magic trick on me?"

Angel smiled at his childe and then looked up startled. "Sam?" He looked at the newcomer that stood next to Al.

Sam looked at himself. "It's me. It's really me! I'm me again!" He laughed. "Willow, you freed me! I can go home now, can't I Al? I can just follow you through the doorway. I can go home!" He started jumping up and down.

Angel laughed at the sight. Cordelia and Willow looked at him confused. Spike looked at his sire, "So that's the git that was walking around your skin before?"

"Spike," Willow said, "Sam has been in you for nearly a whole day. Don't you remember anything? Why do you think you're sitting here in this circle?"

Spike shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry pet, don't remember a thing but thanks for getting him outta me." Spike began to rise but stopped when he heard Al talk to Sam.

"Sam, there's still the matter of Willow being killed by next week, nothing has changed."

"What do you mean Willow's gonna get killed?" Spike demanded. He dared not step outside the candles for fear that it would break the spell. He never knew what would happen when Willow performed her spells.

"They said that you would kill me tomorrow."

"What? Why the bloody hell would I do that? Not to mention this bugger of a chip in my head."

"Giles can take it out." Angel replied.

Spike smiled at first and then looked at Willow and frowned. "I guess that's how." He sat down again. "Right, so I keep the chip and then problem solved. So what's the problem?"

"Well, if you don't get the chip removed then you won't be able to save me from the guy who's gonna kill me in a bar next week."

"You've got to be kidding me! So either way Willow dies?" He asked the two holograms.

"Well," Sam began, "We haven't really figured it out yet. That's why we did the spell, so you could come out and maybe give us an idea."

"I don't have any ideas!" Spike yelled. "I'm a vampire! I kill people, that's just the way it is. If I get this bleedin' chip removed apparently I go and kill Red here, no offense pet, but if I don't then somebody else does. Well, I'm not Peaches my friend, I can't only kill when I want to defend someone, I kill to survive!"

"Spike," Angel said, "That's it! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Think of what?" Willow asked.

"Me. Spike may not be able to stop the guy from hurting you but I can." Angel explained. "I'll just stick around until it happens. I won't go back to LA yet. Sam, do you know what day next week Willow will get attacked?"

Al punched some buttons on his gadget and looked up and smiled, "Thursday night, and according to Ziggy, if Angel goes with her to the bar, there's a 98% chance that Willow will never even be attacked in the first place."

"So that's it then?" Cordelia asked. "We just hang out on the hellmouth a few days and Willow stays alive? That sounds good to me."

Spike looked at Willow, "What happens if I step out of this circle pet? Does Sam go back into me?"

"I don't know. I guess anything is possible."

Spike took a deep breath and stepped out of the candles, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did Willow stood to join him and gave him a hug. "Welcome back." She said.

Angel walked up to the holograms. "I guess you'll be going home now."

Sam smiled, "I can't wait! It's been so long. I'm glad everything worked out for you, all of you."

"Thanks for everything." Angel said as he watched both men disappear. Cordelia came up beside him and put an arm around his waist. He smiled down at her, "They left."

"It's about time we got some privacy." Cordelia stood on her tiptoes as she pulled Angel in for a deep kiss.

"Oh would you two get a room." Spike chided as he rolled his eyes at the couple.

Cordelia smirked at him, "You know Spike, Sam could totally feel that you love Willow and he even told all of us so why don't you go get a room and have a little talk yourselves."

Spike's mouth dropped open and he stared at Willow. She smiled as her face began to blush. She took a deep breath and kissed the vampire on the lips. Spike blinked in surprise at first but then wrapped his arms around her, deepening the kiss.

Cordelia sighed proudly. She turned to her lover, "Maybe we should get a room. They don't look like they're moving anywhere."

"I'll race you up the stairs." Angel played.

Cordelia bounded up the steps with Angel at her heels. Spike gently lay Willow down onto the couch and lay atop her. Their tongues dueled and their hands raced over each other's bodies. Willow gasped for air and smiled.

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

THE END

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