Part 1

*~ The little redhead gritted her teeth angrily as she endured another 'You don't need to go out there and fight the evil, Wills. I'm the Slayer, it's my job.
Oh, and by the way, would you please look up a spell to help me defeat the newest demon?' speech.

*~ She didn't even open her mouth to respond- she was afraid of what she'd say if she did. She turned and went to the laptop, switching the little computer on and waiting patiently for it to boot up. Her eyes narrowed as the Slayer's laughter hit her ears.

*~ "What about Willow, wouldn't she want to come with us?" Willow's face softened in a smile at Riley's question, but disappeared in an angry scowl as Xander answered for her.

*~ "Nah, Will likes to stay in. She's not much for the party scene." Laughter. That's it.

*~ An angry hand slammed the on/off switch and she shut the lid of the laptop with more force than necessary. She got to her feet and reached for her
jacket. Her face was red and her eyes were snapping angrily as she kicked past Spike's legs sprawled in the middle of the walkway.

*~ "Bloody hell, pet," the blonde yelped. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

*~ As she went past the slayer and entourage, she threw the lists of things she was supposed to research at the group. "Fuck the research. Fuck even asking *me* your best friend if she wants to go with you. And fuck you. I'm out of here, and don't even bother trying to find me. I won't be there."

*~ "Wills, what's wrong?" the dense slayer looked stunned, a puzzled look crossing her pretty features. "Are you mad? Why?"

*~ "Does it *look* like I'm mad," the redhead bit out, her voice strangled around her anger. "And if you have to ask, then you're stupider than you look. I'm out. I'm gone. And I'm not coming back."

*~ There was a stunned silence as the front door of the Watcher's apartment slammed shut, shaking the whole house. "Should we go after her," Riley, the
newcomer of the group asked. "She's angry and won't be paying attention to where she's going."

*~ "No," the slayer said, not sounding at all concerened. "She's just having a temper tantrum. She'll get over it and come back to apologize in a couple of hours. Now are you guys ready?"

*~ Spike couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure, he'd thought the whole lot of them were a few bricks short of a load, the only exception being Red. But
he'd never think they'd be so callous. The redheaded witch was supposed to be their best friend, and here they were laughing it up and heading out the door as if nothing had happened.

*~ The blonde vampire shook his head wearily and got to his feet, reaching for his black duster. If they weren't going to go find her, he'd just have to. There's not telling what kind of trouble she could get into. It *was* the Hellmouth, and she *was* a pretty, powerful little thing. There was no telling what could
happen to her...
 

Part 2

*~ Willow slammed through the dorm room, gathering things she knew she needed and slamming them into the largest suitcase she owned. Growling a spell to make the case hold more than it should, she reached for the phone, still shoving things in.

*~ "Cordelia?" she said shortly as the former cheerleader and now one of her best friends answered the phone. "How much room do you have at your
apartment and for how long?"

*~ "Wills?" Cordelia sounded concerned. "What happened?"

*~ "They're all assholes that deserve to be hurled down into the open Hellmouth," the redhead bit out, grabbing nicknacks off her dresser and tossing them in with her clothes. The desk was next and she didn't even bother wrapping up the breakables, the spell did it for her as she tossed them in the general direction of the suitcase.

*~ "Ew... That bad, huh?" Cordelia asked, her tone careful.

*~ "That bad. Can I stay with you or not, Cordy?"

*~ "Of course," the brunette said immediately. "How are you getting here?"

*~ "Bus. I'll be there by tomorrow," Willow said tersley. "I've got to go."

*~ "Okay, I'll see you when you get here," Cordelia replied quietly, her mind working quickly to think of what could have been so bad that the crowned Queen of Nice was being so snippy with her.

*~ "Okay," Willow's voice softened as she caught the slight confusion in the May Queen's voice. "And thanks, Cordy. I'll explain everything when I get there. Tell Angel I'm on my way."

*~ "Okay," Cordelia smiled, relieved that it wasn't her the redhead was mad at. "I take it you don't want a certain blonde bitch to know where you're headed?"

*~ "I don't care if she knows or not," the anger was back in her voice as she threw the picture frame holding a picture of her, Buffy, and Xander during
happier times against the wall with a satisfying crash, leaving a dent in the wall. "The bitch probably won't even notice I'm gone. I'll talk to you when I get there."

*~ "Okay, Wills, be careful." With that, Cordelia hung up the phone and Willow followed suit. She looked at the small black phone before flinging that too across the room. A wicked smile crossed her face as she looked around the neat little dorm room. All of her stuff... or at least the stuff she wanted, was already packed.

*~ "Hmn... this place needs a face-lift," she growled, reaching for a glass figurine on the Slayer's dresser. As it shattered into a million pieces, the redheaded
hacker grinned, feeling better. She reached for the paper-weight...
 

Part 3

*~ "Bloody hell, when did I become her fucking white knight, anyway?" Spike grumbled to himself as he stalked down the hallways of the college living
quarters. "What do I care if she's angry and not thinking straight?" Indeed... why *did* he care? A loud crash coming from inside Willow's dorm room made
him jump and he lunged for the door, flinging it open and stepping inside, game face on and ready for battle.

*~ "Spike?" Willow jumped in surprise, looking over at the blonde vampire from the now broken window. "What are you doing here?"

*~ The blonde vampire was silent as he surveyed the destruction in the small room, a feeling of pride and lust rising in him at the sheer amount of malicious
anger the girl had displayed.  His human mask fell into place and he felt an amused smirk play across his features. "What do we have here, luv?"

*~ Her green eyes flashed and she stormed towards him, causing him to take an involuntary step back before he realized what was happening. He growled to himself and regained the lost step, determined not to let a little girl make him back down. But, to his surprise, she stepped right past him and grabbed the biggest suitcase he'd ever seen. She hauled it up with a bit of a struggle, grabbed her baby blue windbreaker jacket that was waiting for her on the dresser nearest the door.

*~ "I don't answer to you, Spike," she spat, slamming through the door without looking back at him. "And tell Buffy to fuck herself if she asks about me, if
she could get her head out of Riley's ass long enough."

*~ For the upteenth time that night, Spike was stunned. His little girl never cursed like that... But then, he'd never seen her this angry. Wait a minute...
*His* little girl? Fuck, he had to stop those kind of thoughts right now... But then it was the truth. She was his... He just hadn't realized it until now. He
shook himself out of his thoughts only to realize the petite redhead was now halfway down the hallway, pounding on the doorway of another dorm room.

*~ A tall boy about her age opened the door, fully dressed with a surprised look on his face. "You still going to the bus station?" Spike heard her ask just
before he grabbed her arm, pulling her back and making her drop the suitcase with a loud thump.

*~ "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Red?" he demaned, glaring over at the boy, who was beginning to get the situation... or so he thought.
"Why are you running away, and where the bloody fuck do you think you're going?"

*~ "None of your godess-damned business, Spike," the redhead spat, trying to jerk her arm out of his tight grip. "Let me go."

*~ "Not until you tell me what's going on." he turned to the boy, who was looking on with an interested expression on his entirely too good looking face.
"I'll take her wherever she needs to go. *If* she goes anywhere."

*~ "*IF* I go anywhere," the redhead shouted, her anger giving her enough strength to pull away and stand eye to eye with the vampire. "You. Have. No.
Right. To. Tell. Me. What. To. Do." Every word was spat from between clentched teeth and punctuated by a sharp poke to his chest. She turned back to the boy, who was beginning to retreat back into his room. "Mark, are you going to the bus station, or not?"

*~ Spike glared at him warningly and he swallowed visibly. "Actually, Will, I don't think I should get involved with this. You and your boyfriend should really work this out on your own. Good luck." With that, he scuttled back inside, shutting the door and locking it.

*~ "He's not my boyfriend," Willow shouted at the closed door, kicking it in irritation. "He's not even going to be alive for much longer if I have anything to do with it." She turned back to Spike, her face and  eyes cold with her anger. "Fine. I'll walk to the fucking station."

*~ "Tell me where you're going," Spike insisted again, grabbing both her arms this time, determined not to let her go.

*~ "Let me go, *vampire*, or I'll scream bloody murder and you'll have thirty pissed off college boys trampling your ass into the floor."

*~ "You scream, and I take off, taking you with me. Who knows where you'll end up. Now *tell me* what's going on!"

*~ "Bastard," she spat, the grinding of her teeth audible.

*~ "No arguements there, luv," he smirked. "Now what'll it be?"

*~ "I'm going to LA. Happy now?"

*~ "No," Spike scowled. "Why are you going to LA."

*~ "To get away from Sunnyhell."

*~ "Why?"

*~ Her eyes flashed. "Because if I stay here any longer, I'll kill them all while they sleep."

*~ He broke out into a wicked grin, pulling her closer, changing his grip from her arms to around her waist. "Would that be a bad thing?"

*~ She had to smile at that, before remembering she was mad at him. Scowling again, she struggled to pull away. "Yes, that would be a bad thing. A very bad thing. And so would losing my sanity. So, I'm leaving. And there's not a fucking thing you or anyone else can do about it. Let me go, now."

*~ "Sure," he said easily, letting her go. "But I'm coming with you."

*~ "What!? Why!?"

*~ "I don't want to stay here with them if you're not here," he answered. "And if you don't let me go, I'll tell them all where you are."

*~ "You wouldn't." She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. He arched his scarred eyebrow. "Fuck. You would." She scowled. "I get to listen to what I want on the radio, and you carry the suitcase. And there'd better be seatbelts in that death-trap." Without waiting for an answer, she stomped down the stairs, her red hair swinging back and forth in her short pony-tail in time with her slender hips in the lose denim overalls.

*~ He grinned goofily for a second as her words sank in before remembering he was a vampire and vampires weren't supposed to grin goofily for *any* reason. Pasting his usual smirk on his face, he hefted the suitcase and started down the stairs towards her. Damn, this was going to be an interesting trip.
 

Part 4

*~ Twenty minutes outside of LA, and Willow was wishing she'd insisted on taking the bus. Her head ached something terrible, and her stomach was rolling
with every sudden stop and wild curve the blonde vampire took at top speed. She was surprised they hadn't been stopped by the Highway Patrol.

*~ She groaned and buried her head in her arms, bending double on the seat so that she was sitting with her head in her own lap. Goddess, she hadn't felt
this bad in a long time.

*~ "You okay, pet?"

*~ Willow growled, lifting up long enough to glare at him. "Next time *I'm* driving. Where'd you get your liscence anyway? School for clowns? A cracker-jack
box? Fuck... I feel like I'm going to hurl..."

*~ "Actually, I... don't think you want to hear it right now," he glanced over at her  pasty face. God, she did look bad. "You want me to stop? We can get a
hotel and you can recover?"

*~ "No," she groaned miserably, burying her face again as he switched lanes. "We're almost there. Just get me to Cordelia's without killing us and I'll be more than happy."

*~*~*~*

*~ By the time they reached Angel Investigation's new office and apartment building for Cordelia, Wesley, Angel, and Gunn, it was nearly dawn and Spike had to carry the motion-sick redhead into the former hotel.

*~ As he crashed through the front doors, the contents of the lobby, now the front office, jumped to their feet in panic. "Spike, what happened to Willow," his
sire growled, moving to take the finally sleeping girl from his childe's arms.

*~ "Back off, sire," Spike growled back, moving a few steps back toward the tinted front doors. "She got car sick and now she's finally sleeping." His words were punctuated by a low moan from the young woman in question.

*~ "Spike, put me down," she ordered a little weakly. He relunctantly did as she requested, setting her to her feet. She wavered a second, her head spinning and her stomach lurching. "Bathroom, now." Cordelia pointed to the bathroom off to the side and the redhead ran towards it, barely getting the door shut
before losing the contents of her stomach.

*~ "Still can't drive worth shit, huh Spike?" Angel asked, a bit of amusement overtaking the worry in his eyes.

*~ "Shut up."
 

Part 5

*~ "I hate you, Spike," Willow groaned as she came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. Her head was still pounding, but her stomach had quit doing flops. She rubbed her face tiredly, the raging emotions of the past day were taking their toll and she was nearing emotional exhaustion. She thought about her statement for a second as she collapsed on one of the leather sofas next to Cordelia, then amended it somewhat. "No, I don't hate you. I hate your piece of shit car and your driving."

*~ The blonde famile flashed a smile at her from his perch on the front desk. Angel rolled his eyes- and Spike called *him* a Poof. "So, Little One, why did
you run away from Sunnydale? Not that we don't want you here or anything," he was quick to add. "But you told 'Delia that you'd explain when you got here."

*~ "Thanks," Willow murmured at Gunn, who had retrieved a can of lemon-lime soda and a package of crackers from the kitchen. She turned her attention to
the rest of the group. "They pissed me off. I left. End of story."

*~ "There has to be more to it than that," Wesley entered the conversation, moving from his awkward place just outside of the group to sit next to Gunn on
the other sofa. "You're not the type to just up and leave just because someone made you mad."

*~ "I am when it's been happening since before Oz left," Willow said, her voice more tired than angry. "I mean, I was there for Buffy through the whole Angel
thing, and I've been there for Xander through all his minor and major dramas since grade-school. When Oz left, it felt like something inside me died, and as
much as I asked for help, they just slowly backed away. I was left to deal with stuff on my own." She paused, her green eyes distant. "I'm over that now. I
really am. Oz can't hurt me like he used to, not even his memory."

*~ Cordelia took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I'm glad you're here, Wills," the former cheerleader said sincerely. "And I promise by the end of this week,
you'll be asking 'Who were those nasty people I called friends in Sunnyhell'."

*~ "Yeah," Gunn jumped in. "I know this club..."

*~ Angel motioned for Spike to follow him as the younger group jumped head-first into conversation about what they were going to do with the redhead now
that she was there.

*~ "What really happened," Angel asked, leaning against the wall beside the elevator, a safe distance away from the humans. "I know Willow wasn't telling
all of it."

*~ "You know as much as I do, Peaches," Spike answered. "Buggy and her pals were ignoring Red- have been for months, and she got sick of it. Bloody hell,
Sire, you should've seen it! She told the slayer off, then destroyed their dorm room. She was beautiful... I've never seen anything like it."

*~ Angel was stunned at the smitten look written all over the blonde vampire's face. The only other time he'd ever seen that look was with Dru, but even that
hadn't lasted very long. In a way, it frightened him to see this kind of devotion out of his childe again. It frightened him because he knew Spike. He knew him
better than anyone, even better than the blonde knew himself. Angel knew that he could very likely lose his childe before they could even find what they once had, and in the process he could lose Willow- her friendship and the love he didn't think he deserved and didn't think he owned. Her friendship was what he was most worried about.

*~ "Just don't hurt her," the souled vampire said finally, breaking out of his thoughts as he realized Spike was staring at him with a strange look on his face.

*~ "I won't," Spike promised quietly, his blue eyes moving toward a smiling Willow.
 

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