Website: http://www.geocities.com/leslie32935
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters. I am just borrowing them for a bit of fun. Joss owns everything BtVS. Trust me if I owned them Spike would not have fallen for Buffy.
Pairing: Willow/Spike
Summary: Spike kidnaps Willow to do a love spell to get Dru back but there are unexpected results.
Distribution: List archives and if you already have my fiction you can have this one if you want it, anyone else just ask and it's yours.
Feedback: Always welcome.
Spoilers: None since I'm sure we've all seen Season 3
A/N: Thanks to Fayth for giving me a plot bunny to adopt. I hope it's what you had in mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Part: 1~
He stood in the shadows of the magic store and watched as the Slayer's friend got the ingredients to an anti-lust spell when the idea hit him. He'd make her do a love spell to get his dark, wicked plum back. What better revenge than to have a friend of the Slayer fix what the Slayer messed up in the first place.
He smiled as he faded back into the shadows to put his plan in motion.
Willow left the magic shop with all the supplies needed for the de-lusting spell for her and Xander. She had known it was wrong when they started the whole fluking thing and this afternoon had just reinforced the feeling. She hoped this spell worked. She had only done the resouling of Angel but that didn't really count since she felt like she channeled the Romany instead of her own magick doing it.
Sure she could float a pencil but you know not really David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear or anything. She'd go home, read the spell book and call Xander. Maybe have Oz and Cordelia meet them there later to go on their double date. She'll have Xander meet her in the Science Lab about an hour earlier. That should give her time to do the spell and to make sure it worked. If it went wonky there should only be her and Xander to deal with the consequences.
~~~~~
Spike makes his way through the tunnels toward Sunnydale High. He had overheard the dark haired friend of the Slayer say he was meeting the witch at the school. He'd drain the boy and take the witch. That ought to scare her enough to do the spell for him.
Silently removing the tunnel cover under the school's basement Spike poked his head up slowly. Wouldn't do to run into the Slayer after promising to stay away from Sunnyhell. Not that he cared that he promised, 'cause hello demon. His kind wasn't known for keeping their word and if the Slayer had any brains she would have realized that when he promised it. Oh yeah! Slayer didn't have any brains. Spike snickered to himself as he drew himself out of the tunnel.
He stood silently listening. He heard two heartbeats nearby. They were up the stairs and to the left of the basement. Smiling in the darkness he went to hunt his prey.
Spike stopped outside the room and listened to their conversation.
"So, do you really need to resort to the black arts to keep our hormones in check?" Xander asked exasperated.
Willow narrowed her eyes at him, "At this point, I'm thinking 'no'."
Xander turned on his heels and went to turn on the lights in the room, "I'll clean this up. Oz and Cordelia will be here soon and we don't want them to ask any questions."
Willow turned her back on Xander and began to gather her supplies. Maybe she could use the supplies for something else. She grabbed her spell book and shoved it in her backpack.
Spike waits for the boy to get closer before grabbing him.
Willow turns when she hears a high-pitched eep from Xander. Her eyes widen when she sees that Spike has Xander by the throat.
"Xander!"
Xander begins to struggle but Spike just squeezes harder. "I need to borrow the little girl. You don't mind do you?"
Xander is close enough to the wall that he can use that as leverage. He raises one foot and pushes against the wall with all his strength. This causes Spike and him to fly back against a metal shelf.
Spikes huffs in disgust and throws Xander to the floor. Xander starts to rise but Spike punches him. " I do NOT have time for this."
Willow grabs a microscope and prepares to swing it at Spike.
Spike catches her arm mid-swing, "Ah ah, little girl, are you threatening me? That's not nice." He smiles down at her before continuing, "I like that."
He takes the microscope from her and hits Xander with it. The blow sends Xander unconscious to the floor.
"Xander!" Willow cries as she watches horrified Xander falling to the ground. "You killed him."
Spike just rolls his eyes. "His head is too hard for that. He's just out."
He grabs Willow in a chokehold. She struggles in his grip but he just tightens it until she slumps forward from lack of air. "Finally." He mutters.
He picks Willow up and tosses her over his shoulder as he reaches down for her bag of supplies and backpack.
He briefly considers bringing the boy along for insurance but decides against it. He was demon enough to make her do the spell on his own. He wouldn't need any incentive and if she got too stubborn he would just threaten to kill him later.
~~~~
Spike paces back and forth watching the witch as she lay on Druscilla and his old bed. He was losing patience, which he never really had to begin with. Spike looked out the window to the darkening sky. "Right. Time to wake up, witch."
Spike lightly hit Willow on the cheek. That got no response. He hit her harder, "Come on, Witch wakey, wakey."
"Hey! No hitting."
Willow opened her eyes and almost had a heart attack. There was Spike smirking at her. She just yelled at Spike. Oh god, she was going to die a horrible death.
"W-what do you want?" Willow prayed it was something more than a quick meal. Oh god! What if he wanted to use her as bait to get to Buffy? Her life just sucked! Ack! No thinking of sucking around a vampire.
What was the chit thinking? He could see the thoughts just flitting across her mind. The scent of fear was overwhelming but she met his eyes. A little tentative but she met them. Hmm, maybe she had some backbone after all.
"A love spell. You can do that right? Get my Dru back for me? Teach her to walk out on me."
"I-I'll try."
Spike narrowed his eyes at her and before Willow could blink he grabbed her around the throat. "What do you mean try? You'll do it!"
"S-sure. I'll do it."
Spike releases her and goes for her supplies and book. "You lie to me and I'll go after that boy and bring him back. Make you watch while I first torture him and then drain him dry."
Willow closed her eyes on the terror. She had to get her emotions under control. Magick, especially love spells were tricky and if you weren't in control really bad things could happen.
"No, please. I'll do it."
"It was so different after she went with that Chaos Demon. She only did it to hurt me. So I said, 'I'm not putting up with this anymore.' And she said, 'Fine!' And I said, 'Yeah, I've got an unlife, you know!' And then she said... she said we could still be friends." Spike sits down next to Willow on the bed and hangs his head, "God, I'm so unhappy!"
Willow looked at Spike at the surreal situation that she found herself in. Trying to awkwardly console a mad vampire. "There, there." She awkwardly pats his leg.
Spike realized he was trying to get comfort from a human but she was so soft and tender. He hadn't had tenderness for a long time . . . even before Angelus took Dru from him.
"Right then. Get your magick together and do the spell. Haven't got an eternity. Well, I have but you haven't."
"You know I'm not a real witch. Only did one other spell. I'm not sure it's gonna work right."
"Well if at first you don't succeed I'll kill the boy and you can try again."
"Okay, for future reference that's not gonna get me to relax and I need to be relaxed for magick."
Spike leered at Willow. "There are other ways to get you to relax."
"Eep. N-no, really. I'm relaxed. Yep look at me I'm relaxed girl."
Willow's hand shook as she got the ingredients together and opened the spell book. She picked the first love spell she could find and that used the ingredients that she had.
Willow brightened when she thought about the fire that she would need. "I'll need to light a fire. I need to boil the ingredients."
Spike pulled out his lighter, "Not a problem."
Crap.
~Part: 2~
Willow watched as Spike anxiously paced while she ground her herbs for the spell.
"Come on, witch. I haven't got all night."
"I'm going as fast as I can." Willow knew that she had pushed the grinding as long as she could. She kept hoping that Xander would have gotten to Buffy and they were scouring Sunnydale for her.
"O-okay, I'm done. You can light the fire now." Maybe if she were lucky he'd set himself on fire. She knew there was a spell to call fire she just wished it wasn't way beyond her abilities.
"Finally." Spike walked over to where he left a pile of boards that he had broken earlier and lit them. He had also found an old metal paint can to use as the bowl and carefully put it across the flames.
Willow poured the liquid into the bowl first and then sprinkled the herbs. As she waited for the mixture to boil she read over the spell.
~~~~
Buffy looks up in surprise as the library doors swing open, "Hey guys, I thought you were going bowling. Where's Willow?"
It wasn't until they got closer that Buffy noticed the blood on Xander's forehead. "Xander! What happened?"
"Spike. He came to the science lab and took Willow."
"Spike? Spike took Dru and left Sunnydale."
"Well unless there's a double, which is a very scary thought, he's back in Sunnydale and he's got Willow."
"But why Willow?"
"Dunno but we gotta find her."
Buffy turned to the cage where Giles' kept some weapons and started handing them out. "Okay, you and Cordy take the west side. Oz and I'll go to the factory. I doubt Spike's stupid enough to be there but it's a place to start."
~~~~
"We call to love's messenger to hear this plea The heart's desire we ask to see My words have power and you give them energy The spell is done and harm it none."
Willow tried to calm her racing heart while Spike angrily paced. She hoped this spell worked or if not work at least let Spike think it worked.
Invisible to the eye a magickal blue mist rose from the fire and began to spread its tendrils around the factory. The mist curled around Spike and Willow's bodies and entered their eyes before leaving and drifting out into the night.
Spike finally stopped pacing and turned angry eyes to Willow. Stupid bint couldn't work the spell. Dru was supposed to appear here. She said he'd get his heart's desire and that was his Druscilla.
"Didn't work. Do another one."
Willow wouldn't let her eyes meet Spike's. "M-maybe it just takes a little bit of time. You know time for the magick to work. Or, or maybe she's on her way here. I mean, it's not like poof here's Dru for you."
Hmm, maybe the witch was right. He'd give it a couple of days and if Dru weren't here he'd kill her and go in search of another witch to perform a spell.
"Right, you got two days. You better hope my Dru is on her way."
Willow finally raised her eyes to his and blinked.
Spike looked down into the red head's eyes and blinked.
A slow smile began to cross his lips as he looked into Willow's gorgeous green eyes. He'd never seen anything so beautiful. Why hadn't he noticed it before?
He smiled and softly caressed Willow's cheek. Willow leaned into his caress and smiled up at Spike.
"I'm sorry the spell didn't work. I guess I'm not much of a witch."
Spike put his finger over her lips, "Hush now, luv. Not your fault. Probably has something to do with Dru. I bet she messed it up. Doesn't matter anyway. Don't need a love spell anymore?"
Willow looked at him hopefully, "You don't?"
Spike slowly lowered his head, "Nope."
~~~~
Oz's van pulled up outside the factory. He rolled down the window and sniffed the air. Willow was close he could tell. The pale blue mist entered the van and their eyes.
He turned to look over at Buffy.
Buffy hoped that Spike was this stupid. She had no clue as to where to start looking for Willow if Spike didn't have her here. She just hoped they were in time. She didn't think Spike would drain her otherwise why go to the trouble of taking her. She prayed he wouldn't turn her she didn't think she could stake the demon with her best friend's face.
"I think she's here, Buffy. I can smell her."
"Is that some kind of werewolf residual thing?" Buffy turned in the van's seat to give Oz a smile and blinked.
Oz looked into Buffy's beautiful eyes and blinked.
Everything finally fell into place for Buffy. What had she been thinking when she was with Angel? She was a Slayer and he was a vampire. Okay all soul having but one moment of happiness and boom soulless evil guy. Now Oz on the other hand, still had that dangerous edge cause hello werewolf and as long as you locked him up those three days out of the month he was relatively harmless. Much better choice for a Slayer and as an added bonus he was cute. Had to work on the Willow angel though.
Oz felt like he was drowning as he looked into her eyes. His beast was calm in her presence, which was a first. Willow usually caused his beast to stir, must be a Slayer thing. He could get used to this feeling. He watched as Buffy leaned closer.
Buffy couldn't resist. He looked so cute sitting there with that little smile. She leaned in and softly kissed Oz's lips.
Oz reluctantly broke off the kiss, "Willow."
"Willow? I'm kissing you and you think of Willow!"
"No, well yes but not in that way. We have to rescue her."
"Right. Let's go."
Buffy grabbed her stake and waited for Oz who gently laid a hand on her arm. "I need to break it off with Willow first."
Buffy smiled and took Oz's hand, "I have to tell Angel, too. We're just friends but he should be the first to know I've moved on."
"I hope Willow takes it okay. It's not her it's just that I feel different when I'm with you."
"Willow's pretty understanding I'm sure she'll see that this is the best for everyone."
Buffy and Oz silently made their way into the factory. Oz whispered to Buffy, "This way."
They begin to descend the stairs and Buffy stops suddenly. "Well, I think Willow will understand about us."
"What?" Oz looks over Buffy's shoulder at Willow and Spike kissing.
"Willow!"
"Spike!"
"Oz!"
"Slayer."
~Part: 3~
Spike pulled Willow protectively against his side and glared at the Slayer. She better soddin' not ruin this like she did with Dru. He looked down into Willow's eyes and winked to reassure her. Well maybe it hadn't been so bad that Dru left him, he had Willow after all. He'd have to rethink this whole Slayer ruining his life idea.
Buffy stared wide-eyed at Willow and Spike then a slow smile spread across her lips. Well there went the Willow angle with Oz, he was free to be with her. Now all she had to do was tell Angel that he was right and they should just be friends.
Oz looked from Willow to Spike and back again. His beast was restless and wanted to attack the vampire for daring to touch Willow. He felt Buffy's slight squeeze on his hand and looked down into her eyes. His beast immediately calmed and he thought that this just might work out for the best. He had Buffy and now Willow had Spike. They could maybe double date.
Willow chewed her lip nervously as she leaned into Spike. She felt torn, she loved Oz but she felt drawn to Spike. She looked over at Buffy and Oz who were looking contently at each other with big goofy grins. Willow slowly relaxed as she realized it would be all right.
"Oz there's something I think you should know." Willow started but Oz interrupted her.
"It's okay, Willow. I think I know what you're going to say."
Willow sighed in relief. She REALLY hated confrontations. Oz seemed okay with this and since Spike was not a pile of dust Buffy must be okay with it.
They both spoke at the same time, "I'll always care for you but as a friend."
They smiled sheepishly at each other. "So you and Buffy?"
"Yeah, you and Spike?"
Willow smiled and brought Spike's arms around her waist, "Yeah."
Buffy glared at Spike. As much as she was glad Willow had found someone that wasn't Oz she still didn't like Spike. Sure he helped her with the whole Acathala/Angelus thing but that was really to get Dru back.
DRU! How could she have forgotten about Dru and Spike?!?
"Hey bleached blunder last time I saw you, you were all about getting your precious girlfriend back. What's up with this?"
Spike glared at Buffy. "Sod off, Slayer. I don't have to explain myself to you." He started reassuring Willow that it was really her that he loved and not Dru.
Buffy started after Spike, "You better explain. You weren't supposed to come back here. Yet here you are. With Willow. If you're using her to get back Dru, I'll . . ."
"You'll what?! Stake me? Not bloody likely. That would upset my Red and you wouldn't upset my Red."
Buffy narrowed her eyes at him, "Is that what this is? Using Willow so I wont' stake you?"
Willow began to shrink in on herself. God, maybe Buffy was right. I mean why would Spike like someone like her. No, he'd probably like someone like Buffy if she weren't the Slayer. Who was she kidding, he'd always love Dru she was second best again.
Spike looked down at Willow as he felt her withdraw within herself.
"Now look what you did!" He practically shouted at Buffy.
"Hey, don't yell at Buffy!" Oz defended Buffy. As much as he cared about Willow and could very much understand why Spike would love her, he wouldn't have anyone yelling at the girl he loved.
Spike took Willow aside and ignored the mutt and the Slayer.
"Baby, don't listen to her. True I came here to where the last place Dru and I were happy and then I saw you and decided to use your magick to get Dru back but that was before."
Willow looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "Before?"
"Before I realized that it was really you. You were what drew me back to Sunnyhell not soddin' Dru."
Willow beamed at Spike, "You mean it?"
He leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips, "Yeah baby, I do."
Buffy watched as Spike was tender with Willow. Maybe he was in love with Willow. She sighed. Crap now she'd have to be nice to her best friend's boyfriend. Or at the very least civil. CRAP!
Oz broke the moment, "Well, I guess we should tell Xander and Cordy that we found Willow."
"Xander!" Willow couldn't believe she totally forgot about Xander.
"Is he all right?"
"Yeah, just worried about you. He didn't know you were with Spike, he thought Spike took you."
"He did. That was before."
"Before?"
"Before I knew she was the reason I came back. Weren't you payin' attention, Slayer?"
Willow gave Spike a little nudge and whispered, "Be nice."
Oh bloody hell, he thought. He had to be nice to the Slayer for his Red's sake. What he wouldn't do for love. He really was love's bitch.
Spike smiled at Buffy though it kind of looked like a grimace.
Willow stood on her toes to give Spike a soft kiss on the side of his lips. "I guess I should go and let Xander know I'm okay."
Spike pulled her closer to him, "Not without me you're not. Not lettin' you out of my sight."
Willow giggled, "Might be a little hard explaining you to my parents."
Spike smiled down at Willow, "Naw, parents like me. Just ask Buffy. Joyce likes me just fine."
Buffy rolled her eyes, "Not much of a recommendation. She liked Ted the Psychotic Robot, too."
Oz took Buffy's hand and led her out of the burned out factory before she and Spike came to blows. Okay, so maybe the whole double dating idea with Willow and Spike wouldn't be such a good idea.
Spike followed with Willow. He would get along with the Slayer if it killed her. He smiled at the images going through his brain at killing the Slayer. Too bad she was Willow's best friend. Maybe he could work around that. Harm her a little but not kill her.
Willow wondered what Spike was thinking as a slow smile spread across his face.
Oz drove toward the west side of town looking for Xander and Cordy. As they drove through the center of town they noticed all the couples. Which really wasn't so unusual for a Saturday night but there seemed to be more couples than normal.
Buffy screeched and pointed out the window at a passing couple with their arms around each other and their heads resting on the other's shoulder.
"What?!" Willow looked out the window and made an eww face.
"Is that Snyder?" Oz asked as he looked to see what had Buffy so horrified.
Buffy was speechless. It was one thing to know your mom went horizontal with your Watcher but to see your mother getting googly eyed with your principal?!?!?! And the neo-nazi little troll of a principal at that.
Spike looked out the window and smiled. He wished he had a camera to capture the moment for posterity and torture Buffy with it later.
~Part: 4~
Oz hurriedly pushed the gas pedal on the van and took a corner to get the couple from hell as far from Buffy's eyes as he could.
Buffy was staring into space with a shell-shocked look on her face. "H-how could this be happening? I don't remember any candy sales." She turned tortured eyes to Willow, "Do you remember candy sales?
Spike sat back in the seat with his arm around Willow and smirked at the Slayer. All he needed now was some popcorn to enjoy the show.
Willow looked at her best friend with concern, "I don't remember candy sales either but maybe a store or something sold it." Willow tried to cheer up her friend, "After we get Xander and Cordy we can go find Giles. He might know where all those people got the candy. A-and I bet your mom and Snyder won't remember anything. She didn't remember the whole Giles incident right?"
Willow smiled brightly at Buffy.
Buffy began to mumble to herself and rock.
Willow turned concerned eyes to Spike who quickly wiped the smirk off his face before she could see it.
Spike patted Willow's knee, "I'm sure the Watcher will be able to fix Joyce right up."
Buffy began to whimper louder when she heard Spike's comment.
~~~
Xander and Cordelia were slowly walking through town. They knew they were supposed to be on some mission for Buffy but they just couldn't remember what.
Cordelia sighed as she laid her head on Xander's shoulder. She couldn't believe that she had overlooked him for so many years. You would think you would recognize your soul mate when you saw them even if you were just six years old. Must have been Jesse's fault. Always making puppy dog eyes at her that she didn't notice Xander until Sunnydale High.
Xander slipped his arm around Cordy's waist and brought her closer. He smiled contentedly as he thought about the girl at his side. How could he have been so blind that it took them yelling at each other before he noticed his love for her? Maybe it was his friendship with Jesse that he didn't allow himself to see Cordy and to compensate he became Treasurer of the We Hate Cordelia club.
Willow! Oh my god, how could he have forgotten the reason they were on this side of town was to find Willow?
Cordelia raised her head from Xander's shoulder when she felt him stiffen, "What?"
"Willow. I can't believe I forgot we were supposed to be looking for Spike and Willow."
Cordelia slightly grimaced. Not that she didn't like Willow but god it was always Willow said this, Willow did that with Xander. If she didn't know that Willow and Oz were together she would think that Xander and Willow were having a secret affair.
Cordelia heard a loud car behind them and turned to look over her shoulder. It was Oz's van with Buffy in the front seat rocking and mumbling to herself. Oh god. Spike must have killed Willow and they were looking for Xander to tell him the horrible news.
She gripped Xander's hand tightly and pulled him to a stop.
"What?" Xander looked down at Cordelia.
"Xander, you know I love you right? That I'm always here for you no matter what?"
Xander grew even more confused. "Yeah?"
"I think Oz and Buffy found Willow."
Xander's face lit up as he spun around. He saw Oz's van slow to a stop and then noticed that Buffy looked terrible. His smile began to slip from his face and he slowly shook his head no as he gripped Cordelia's hand even tighter.
It took a full few minutes for both Xander and Cordelia to register that Willow opened the side door to Oz's van. And another minute to register that a blond vampire had his arm protectively around her waist as she got out of the van.
"Willow?!?" Xander looked around frantically for anything that could be used as a stake. "Oh my god, Spike turned you."
Cordelia hit him on the back of the head, "Would Buffy and Oz let them in his van if she'd been turned?"
"Good point. So explain to me why Spike has his hands all over Willow while Buffy and Oz aren't saying anything about it."
Cordelia put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow at occupants of the van.
"Well?"
"Well what, Cordelia?" Willow asked.
"Well, Willow. Last time I saw you we were planning a double date with you and Oz. Now you're all snuggly with the Billy Idol wannabe that supposedly kidnapped you after knocking Xander unconscious. Oz is comforting Buffy for some god unknown reason and neither seems to have a problem with you cuddling with SPIKE! So care to explain?"
Spike put Willow behind him and started toward Cordelia. He could hurt her. His Red wouldn't care and he was ready for a spot of violence. He felt a soft tug on his hand and looked down at Willow.
Spike rolled his eyes. Fine, he couldn't hurt the brunette so he settled for glaring as he pulled Willow to him. "Sod off. We don't have to tell you anything. Just came looking for the boy 'cause my Red was concerned he might be worried."
He looked at Xander, this was Willow's best friend since forever. Sort of like her brother. "Sorry about knocking you out, mate. I was just intent on getting to my Willow and I didn't want anyone getting in the way."
Xander blinked and then blinked again. Did Spike just apologize to him? For hitting him? My Willow? What the hell was going on?
"Yeah, about that . . .WHAT IS GOING ON?"
By this time Oz and Buffy had joined the others on the street.
Cordelia's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw Oz slip his arm around Buffy and she slipped her hand over his. This was giving her the major wiggins. Did she just wake up in a Twilight Zone episode? She knew this was the Hellmouth but come on, Oz and Buffy? Willow and Spike?
"I second that."
"Well, Spike kidnapped me to do a love spell to get Dru back."
Spike softly caressed Willow's cheek, "Then while we were waiting to see if it worked I realized I didn't want Dru anymore and the real reason I came back was for Willow."
"When I looked at Spike everything clicked. Why I wasn't satisfied with Oz, why you and I were sharing secret smoochies. It was because of Spike. He was what was missing from my life."
"You weren't satisfied with me?" Oz asked curiously. He felt bad but not as bad as he would have if he hadn't found Buffy.
"SECRET SMOOCHIES?" Cordelia turned on Xander. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, "You had secret smoochies with Willow?"
Xander smiled goofily at Cordelia, "Heh, heh. Well, I wouldn't call them smoochies exactly. More like lips meeting accidentally. Besides so not on topic. WILLOW AND SPIKE. BUFFY AND OZ." Xander desperately tried to change the subject before Cordelia killed him. "Obviously there's a Hellmouthy thing happening here."
"This is so not over, mister."
Willow turned hurt eyes to Xander, "How could you say what Spike and I have is a Hellmouth thing. And Buffy. You think the Slayer would be affected by this 'Hellmouthy' thing? Did I say that what you feel for Cordelia was due to the Hellmouth? NO! I can't believe you Alexander Harris!"
Cor, she was beautiful when she was mad Spike thought. He turned Willow in his embrace and not caring that he had an audience he kissed her.
Xander's mouth opened and closed as he watched his best friend kissing Spike. Hoping to get that picture out of his head forever he turned to Buffy. "So if it's not a Hellmouth thing explain how you two got together. I thought Angel was your soulmate for all time and you," he turned to Oz, "I thought you were in love with Willow."
"I felt something was off when I was around Willow. We weren't connecting like we had been. Tonight I noticed that my beast gets restless when I'm with Willow but it's calm around Buffy. I don't how to explain it, man. It's just tonight everything finally clicked in place."
Buffy leaned back into Oz's embrace, "I'll always love Angel like Oz will always love Willow. But ever since last summer I had to put Angel behind me. Since he came back it's been hard. We decided to do the whole friends thing. It wasn't working that great until tonight. Tonight I realized how relaxed I was around Oz. How he made me feel normal and comfortable. Then when we discovered we felt the same about each other it just felt right."
Xander wasn't sure he liked where his friends were going with their relationships but who was he to cast stones. It had taken him forever to realize that Cordelia was his love maybe it took Buffy and Willow until tonight to realize theirs.
"But you're right, Xander." Buffy continued. "There is something Hellmouthy going on tonight it's just not us. I think someone is selling that candy stuff again. I-I just . . ." Buffy trailed off, she couldn't vocalize what she had seen.
Oz finished her sentence for her, "We just saw Buffy's mom and Principal Snyder with their arms around each other."
Xander and Cordelia looked at each other and then back at Buffy, "EWWWW!"
~Part: 5~
"We have so got to find out what is causing this." Xander mumbled as he followed Cordelia into Oz's van. He could deal with Buffy and Oz and for Willow he could deal with Spike. What was it about Buffy and Willow that drew them to vampires? Xander shuddered at the thought and glanced over to Cordelia. Yeah okay he may have had female demon problems in the past with the whole praying mantis bug teacher and Ampata so he couldn't really throw stones BUT at least they weren't the living dead!
"Do you think Giles will be able to know what is happening?" Cordelia paused, "OH MY GOD!"
"What?" Xander looked worried at Cordy. Had she just decided to discuss the whole secret smoochie thing with Willow?
Cordelia had an eww face, "What if Giles has been infected, too? I so don't want to see who he's paired with. What if we're interrupting something?"
"Well at least he's not paired with my mom this time. Though now that I think about it they weren't that bad together considering who she's with now."
"What? Giles isn't so bad. I think he's kinda handsome." Willow looked as everyone stared at her open mouthed. Spike narrowed his eyes at her.
"You think the Watcher's cute?" Spike asked dangerously. He wondered who he could get to kill the Watcher so his Red didn't suspect him doing it.
Willow smiled and nodded. "Yeah I just love a British accent. It's very sexy. Though not as sexy as yours of course."
"That right?" Spike asked as he pulled Willow into his lap. "You think I have a sexy accent?" Spike leaned in and nipped at her bottom lip.
"Ack, visual! I'm gonna be blind." Xander closed his eyes and desperately thought of something else. ANYTHING else rather than Willow and Spike. Geez, at least with Buffy and Angel they weren't attached at the lips. Well if they were they didn't share it with the rest of the world.
Cordelia just rolled her eyes, "Get a room."
Without breaking off the kiss Spike flipped off Xander and Cordelia then pulled Willow closer.
Cordelia turned back to the others. "What if Giles is infected do you think he'll still help us research? I mean will he believe us that something is going on?"
"Oh he'll believe us. How can he not? All we have to do is show him my mom and Snyder and that should convince ANYONE that the adults are acting strange."
Oz pulled up to Giles apartment building. He turned over to Buffy, reached for her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "You okay?"
Buffy squeezed back and softly smiled, "I'm dealing."
Oz nodded and then looked worried. "What about Angel? When are you going to tell him?"
Oz was not looking forward to that conversation. He knew that the vampire still loved Buffy even if they were trying to be 'just friends'. He didn't see Angel letting go of Buffy to let her move on. Not while he was still in Sunnydale. Oz knew that if he didn't have Buffy he wasn't sure he could stand seeing Willow so happy with Spike knowing that she hadn't been happy with him.
Buffy leaned over and kissed Oz. "After we tell Giles I'll go see Angel."
Oz had a half smile, "WE'LL go see Angel."
Buffy smiled brightly, "Hey maybe he's moved on, too. I mean look at Willow. You both moved on and were okay with it."
Cordelia cleared her throat for the second time this time louder.
Willow dragged her lips from Spike's throat and dazedly looked over at Cordy. "What?"
"Try to drag yourself away from Spike. We're here."
"Oh, okay." Willow went back to kissing Spike who was caressing Willow.
"Do you mind?! We're right here." Xander yelled as he saw Spike's hand caress Willow's breast.
Spike and Willow reluctantly pulled back. Willow was breathing heavily and trying to calm her racing heart. Spike leaned his forehead against Willow's and looked into her eyes. "We're not finished, pet."
Xander and Cordelia scrambled out of the van as they saw Spike's eyes turn amber as he glared at them. Oh yeah, they could wait for them outside. Or you know, go in without them.
"Wasn't Giles supposed to go to that Watcher retreat thing this weekend? He's here right?" Xander asked Buffy as they walked toward Giles' door.
"Yeah but he decided at the last minute to not go. I was supposed to meet him here after patrol anyway."
"Does he know about Willow and Spike?"
"What about me and Spike?"
"That he kidnapped you and we were looking for you" Buffy answered for Xander.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Must you lot keep harpin' on that?"
"Umm, let me think." Buffy pretended to think about it. "I'll have to go with yes."
Spike whispered in Willow's ear, "Come on, luv. One punch. It's not like she'd be in pain long. Slayer strength and all that."
"Oh you THINK you could touch me?" Buffy narrowed her eyes at Spike.
Spike smirked, "I don't think, Slayer. I know I could land my punch. You always duck to the left."
"I do NOT!"
"Actually you do, Buffy." Giles said as he opened the door. He'd heard their yelling from inside.
"GILES!" Buffy turned to her Watcher. "You have to help. There is something really weird going on."
"Odder than Spike being here in Sunnydale, you not dusting him and Willow attached to his hip?"
"Oh so much weirder than that! I saw my MOM WITH SNYDER!!!!" Buffy narrowed her eyes at Giles, "You don't happen to know of any candy sales goin' on here do you, Giles?"
Giles opened the door wider so they could enter his apartment. Spike stood just outside the doorway with his arm around Willow, "You gonna invite me in, Watcher?"
"Is there a reason why I should?"
Spike tightened his hold on Willow and glared at Giles, "I can think of one." He looked back down at Willow and then at Giles.
"Are you threatening Willow?" Giles growled as he grabbed a crossbow and pointed it at Spike.
"Giles!" Willow exclaimed as she pushed Spike behind her. "He just meant that because he's with me you should invite him in."
"And why should I invite you in, Willow?"
She rolled her eyes and walked in the apartment, "Cause you don't have to. Living breathing me. How come everyone thinks Spike turned me?" Willow whined. "Do you not think that I could fall for Spike if I wasn't turned?"
She turned her back on Giles and looked at Spike, "Come in, Spike."
Willow turned to glare at Giles, "I trust that he would never harm you. He wouldn't hurt those I care about."
"Well, not badly hurt anyway." Spike mumbled as he came up to stand next to Willow.
Giles reluctantly lowered the crossbow and turned back to Buffy, "You say something worse than Spike and Willow is happening in Sunnydale?"
"HEY!" Spike and Willow protested.
"Yeah. There are way too many couples roaming around Sunnydale. I think someone's put a spell on the adults again."
Giles glanced in the hallway mirror and then back at Buffy, "Why do you think just the adults?"
"Well, obviously we haven't been affected."
Giles glanced at Oz's hand holding Buffy's and then over to Spike and Willow. He wasn't too sure about that.
"Well, of course you'd come here for my superior intelligence to help fix this problem."
The Scoobies and Spike all looked at each other with puzzled expressions and then back at Giles who was busy fixing his hair in the mirror.
Giles turned back around when he noticed them watching him. "Oh sorry. I had a hair out of place. Well, whatever is affecting the rest of Sunnydale obviously isn't affecting me. My skills in the dark arts and my intelligence obviously prevented whatever is happening to happen to me."
The others looked at Giles and then at each other, "Riiiiiight."
Unfortunately for Giles, he had been glancing in the mirror when the blue mist invaded his apartment earlier in the evening.
~Part: 6~
"Right. Well since I have, of course, the finest collection of books anywhere outside the Watcher's Council I have no doubt that I'll be able to find the answer to this problem in no time."
Cordelia looked over at Buffy, "What's his deal? Do you think whatever is affecting the others affected Giles differently? Maybe this is a different spell cause I don't see him making googly eyes at anyone. Well, besides himself."
Willow looked at Giles with concern, "You haven't seen Ethan recently have you Giles?"
"What? No, not since that dreadful Eyphon episode, which by the way was not my fault."
Buffy not really paying attention to Giles since clearly his was a different spell, "Uh huh. Say, I know let's go to the library where you keep this great collection of books and see if we can find something." She turned to whisper to Oz, "I'll call Angel and have him meet us there. Maybe he'll be sane enough to find out what's happening."
Spike couldn't help but stir the pot a bit. "So we're off to the library then? Hmm, maybe Joyce's new boy toy is showing her around his place of work." Spike waggled his eyebrows at Buffy and sat back with a smirk and waited for the fireworks. He may not be able to kill the Slayer because of his Red but that didn't mean he couldn't play cat to her mouse.
Buffy glared daggers at Spike, "Will, you know there are plenty of fish in the sea. I'm sure you can find someone to take Spike's place after I dust him."
"Hey! Did I jump on the let's stake Angelus bandwagon? No! I think if I could back you up when it came to Angel you can at least put up with Spike."
Spike smirked at Buffy as he helped Willow up from the couch, "Yeah, Slayer. I mean it's not like I'm out stalking all those that Willow loves, leaving little presents for her and her friends or taunting her like Angelus did you."
Willow poked him in the stomach and wrinkled her nose at him, "You're not helping."
Spike couldn't help it she looked so cute trying to be forceful. He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose.
Buffy narrowed her eyes and fantasized of using an exacto knife to slice through Spike's neck like she did that quarterback. That had been a slow and painful final death.
~~~~
"Okay so what do we look for? Spells that cause adults to do the wacky?"
"Ooh, I wonder if there's a horny toad demon?"
Cordelia just rolled her eyes and ignored Xander. Giles was handing out books for the others to look through. "I believe we should begin researching love spells."
"Ooh, I have the book that I used when I tried to do that spell for Spike."
Giles looked condescendingly at Willow, "That's nice, dear. But I believe these books are more extensive. We'll use yours if we don't find anything here."
Spike looked at Willow's crestfallen expression and immediately vamped. In a blink of an eye he was across the table and held Rupert by the neck. "Apologize to Willow."
Buffy jumped and grabbed her stake grinning at the wonderful opportunity that Spike presented.
"SPIKE!" Angel barked from the doorway. "Let Giles go!"
Buffy stopped mid-lunge and turned to look at Angel.
Spike didn't release Giles but turned his head to Angel, "No. He hurt Willow's feelings and he's going to apologize."
Willow slipped her arms around Spike's waist. "Please let him go. I'm sure he didn't mean it. It's whatever spell he's under. It's all right, really."
Spike squeezed just a little bit tighter before finally releasing Giles' throat.
Giles rubbed his throat and gasped for air before turning to Willow, "I'm sorry if I made you feel inferior."
Spike growled deep in his throat.
Giles cleared his throat and hastily went to get more books.
Buffy looked over at Oz before looking back at Angel, "Umm, Angel. Thanks for coming. Before we get started there's something I need to tell you."
Oz quietly slipped his hand in Buffy's, "Something WE need to tell you."
Angel looked from Buffy to Oz and down to their entwined fingers and felt relief. Okay a little burning jealousy but mostly relief. Buffy had moved on.
Angel nodded and indicated they go out into the hallway.
Buffy turned concerned eyes to Oz and shrugged. That had gone better than she thought.
"Angel, you know I'll always love you, right? Well, this just being friends with you was so hard. It hurt that I couldn't be near you anymore."
Angel opened his mouth to interrupt but another voice interrupted instead.
"There you are!"
Buffy and Oz turned to see who had disturbed their conversation totally missing the goofy grin that Angel was now sporting.
"Hey Buffy, Oz."
"Harmony?"
Harmony smiled and ran up to Angel. "I missed you so much. I know it's only been like a few minutes but GOD it seems like forever."
Angel smiled down at Harmony and pulled her close.
Buffy's mouth kept opening and closing but nothing was coming out. She felt the beginnings of an eye twitch. Harmony?! He moved on with HARMONY!
Well good. FINE. That's just FINE. She had Oz after all.
"Well, I see you seemed to move on as well."
"What? Oh yeah." Angel dragged his eyes away from Harmony. "Well, you know. You're right. The just friends thing was really hard. But I saw Harmony tonight at the Bronze and it just seemed to click."
"Yeah click." Buffy muttered. "Well okay then. Everyone has moved on and we can get to researching."
"Researching?" Harmony asked. "No one said anything about researching. That's like homework, right? Angel just said he had to stop by here for some meeting."
Buffy rolled her eyes and looked over at Oz. Buffy started speaking slowly so Harmony could understand, "Yes. A research meeting."
"Fine you research."
Buffy ignored her and dragged Oz back into the library.
The sound of the library doors banging open caused everyone at the table to look up. Well, everyone but Spike who was busy nuzzling Willow's neck.
"Cordy?"
"Harmony? What are you doing here?"
Angel wrapped his arms around her waist, "She's with me."
Spike raised his head when he felt Willow stiffen. Wasn't that the blonde bint who hung around the cheerleader? He looked from her over to Buffy and saw that she was silently fuming. Well, well more gasoline to add to the Slayer fire.
~Part: 7~
"So, Angelus is this my new grandmum?" Spike asked with a smirk.
"Grandmum?! What's he talking about pookie bear?"
Willow and Buffy both mouth pookie bear at each other.
"Well I see you've traded up in the intelligence area, Angel."
Buffy turned to glare at Spike. God this was her worst nightmare. All she needed now was her mom and Snyder to come through the library doors.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Buffy closed her eyes and whimpered. SHIT! Would she never learn to not think any of those kinds of thoughts especially when you're standing over the hellmouth?
Spike's smirk turned into a full-fledged beaming smile as Joyce and Snyder came through the library doors. This was better than Passions.
"Buffy! I'm so glad you're here." Joyce said as she slipped her hand in Snyder's.
Buffy turned tortured eyes to Oz.
"I'm gonna be seeing a shrink until I'm like forty." Xander mumbled. He had to get out of there before that image was scarred on to his retinas for life. "Um, I'm gonna make a snack run. Anyone want anything?"
Cordelia jumped up, "I'll go with you." Cordelia gave Xander a you are SO not gonna leave me here look.
As much as Willow would have liked to escape along with Xander she couldn't abandon Buffy. "Could you bring me back a Pepsi?"
Joyce noticed her daughter holding hands with someone new and smiled. She hoped Buffy was happy with this new person as she was with Harold.
"Now, Harold I know you two have had your differences in the past . . ."
"Differences?" Buffy interrupts her mom. "Mom, he expelled me from school. You had to go to the Board to get me reinstated."
"Buffy, must you always focus on the negative? You're never going to like anyone I bring home that isn't your father are you?"
Spike opened his mouth to say something but Willow elbowed him, "Please?"
Spike leaned down to nip at her pouting lip, "You know, there are other ways to keep my mouth occupied so I'm not tempted to torture Slutty."
Willow smiled as she kissed Spike, "Hmm, good idea."
Snyder narrowed his eyes as he noticed Willow kissing a blonde man. "Hey now, these public displays of affection are not allowed in my school."
Spike ignored him and continued to kiss Willow. Snyder made a move to stop their display and Buffy debated whether or not to stop him. Spike could kill Snyder and she could kill Spike. It was a win-win situation.
Joyce tightened her hold on Snyder's hand, "Leave them alone, Harold. I think it's sweet." She leaned her head onto his shoulder, "Don't you remember your first love?"
Snyder smiled and placed a kiss on Joyce's head, "No, but I remember my LAST love."
"Not if I can help it." Buffy mumbled.
"Can we go now?" Harmony asked Angel. "I don't want to hang out with all these losers."
Buffy beamed over at Harmony, "Feel free to leave any time you want, Harmony."
"Is there something I can help you with, Principal Snyder?" Giles felt it was time for him to intervene before Buffy did something they'd all regret.
"Well, you can tell me why you all are meeting here after hours?"
Buffy turned frantic eyes to her mother. Oh God, she wouldn't tell Snyder about her Slaying would she?
"Research. The children are helping research a project I'm working on."
Snyder looked over to where Willow and Spike were kissing and then back at Giles, "Yes, I see how much they're helping."
Joyce leaned in to whisper something in Snyder's ear which caused him to blush and clear his throat. "Oh yes of course. Well carry on. We'll leave you to your research."
As Snyder turned to leave he wrapped his arm around Joyce's waist.
"Ewww! Did your mom just put her hand on Snyder's butt?" Harmony asked horrified.
Spike raised his head. Bloody hell and he'd missed it. He looked down at Willow's swollen lips and shrugged. It had definitely been worth it.
Before Spike could lean down again Angel placed a book between Spike and Willow. "Make yourself useful, boy. Find out what's happening."
Spike looked over at Harmony and back at Angel, "Sure thing, gramps."
Harmony wrinkled her brow, "Why does he keep referring to you like you're his grandfather?"
" 'Cause he is."
Giles rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this. Buffy and the others were counting on him to find a cure and this soap opera was distracting him from using his full intellect.
In a bored tone Giles answered Harmony, "Druscilla was Spike's sire, Angel was Druscilla's sire, hence the grandfather references."
"Sire? What's a sire?"
Buffy smirked, "Angel? Did you forget to tell your new love a few things?" Buffy leaned into Oz's embrace and waited for Angel to tell Harmony that he is a vampire.
Harmony looked over at Buffy and then back at Angel, "Like what?"
Before anyone could answer Xander and Cordy returned with snacks. "We come bearing snacks. I saw Snyder in the hallway so knew it was safe to return. So . . . did we miss anything?"
Spike grinned, "Nope. Angel here was just getting ready to tell Harmony all about our family secret."
"What? There's a secret besides the whole vampire thing? What is it and why didn't we know about it?"
"VAMPIRE?!"
Xander looked sheepishly at Angel, "Umm, oops?"
Cordelia rolls her eyes and looks bored, "Yes Harm. Angel's a vampire. But he's a GOOD vampire. He helps us and stuff. Now Spike on the other hand is evil and would kill us without blinking an eye."
Spike preened at Cordelia's compliment.
Harmony looked at Angel who was studiously avoiding her eyes. With a small smile she wraps her arms around Angel's waist and kisses his chin, "Mmm, just like in that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt movie."
"Bloody poofters." Spike mumbles. "Now Antonio Banderas' character. That was a vampire."
"Yes, yes very interesting. But time is of the essence. The longer we delay in finding a cure the harder it'll be for me to fix it." Giles began handing out books again.
Spike pulls Willow onto his lap as he opens the book that Angel gave him. Willow settles in and picks up the book that she used at the warehouse.
~Part: 8~
Willow's mind was turning to mush. Spike's hand had snaked its way under her shirt and with ever-widening circles her brain had ceased to function. The words in the book were beginning to blend together and not make any sense. She bit her lip to stop the moan from escaping but she couldn't stop her back from arching. Just as her eyes were drifting closed and her head was falling back onto Spike's shoulder Giles let out a shout.
"Ah hah! I think I've found it."
Willow jerked up and away from Spike who growled and tightened his hold on her. Bugger all, he was going to kill the watcher yet.
"W-what'd you find, Giles? Is it a spell or a demon?"
Giles set the book down on the table for all to see. Willow reluctantly stood after a brief battle with Spike.
Xander leaned over to get a better look at the book, "HEY no fair. We were supposed to be looking at spells and Giles was looking in a book filled with pictures of women barely wearing clothes."
Cordelia hit him on the back of his head before leaning over his shoulder to look.
Giles huffed, "It's a book of love goddesses."
"Is there a section of love gods? 'Cause we all know there's got to be a picture of the Xan-man there." Xander nuzzled on Cordelia's neck. "For I am the god of love."
Cordelia giggled as she leaned her head to the side to give him better access.
Harmony rolled her eyes, "Oh please like you would be any competition for my pookie bear."
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Willow mumbled into Spike's ear.
"You? At least you're not about to be related to her. Damn I never thought I'd rather see Angelus with the Slayer."
Giles pointed to a particular picture. "This is Aphrodite."
Willow's eyes widened, "You mean there really are Greek gods?"
Giles went into lecture mode, "All supernatural beings have a thread of reality to them, just like the Hansel and Gretel demon."
"Why do you think it's Aphrodite and not any of the others?" Willow asked Giles.
"Because there is love and chaos. No one does that better than Aphrodite."
"So call her and get her to fix it. She better make it so my memories of mom and Snyder are wiped clean, too." Buffy shuddered.
Giles read under the picture, "I believe I have most of the ingredients but not all of them."
Willow read the spell, "I have those. It's the same ingredients I used to perform that spell for Spike." She walked over to where her backpack lay and opened it up.
Reaching inside she pulled out her supplies along with the mortar and pestle. "I don't have anything to heat them up in, though."
"I do." Oz said as he moved to the cage that housed him in wolf-mode. He opened the cage and went to the side to where he kept a bowl.
Xander made an ewww face and Oz smiled when he saw it. "No, it's for my water to drink."
"Spike's got his lighter but won't the sprinkler system turn on when we make a fire?" Willow asked as she began mixing the ingredients.
Giles went into his office and brought out some candles, "This ought to make a small enough fire and not have the sprinklers go off."
Harmony lay her head against Angel's chest as she watched Willow grind the ingredients and Giles place the candles in a circle. "I'm bored. Can we leave now?"
Buffy narrowed her eyes at Harmony, "You can leave anytime you want, Harmony."
Angel placed a soft kiss on the top of Harmony's head, "Let's just stay to make sure Aphrodite is the one causing this and then we can leave."
Harmony turned in his embrace and kissed him, "Promise?"
Buffy turned her back on the sickening couple and made her way over to Oz as he placed the bowl on a rack over the candles.
She slipped her arms around Oz's waist and began nuzzling his neck, "Have I told you lately how happy I am that I have you?"
Oz smiled and turned in her arms, "That's a good thing since I'm happy to have you."
Willow stopped grinding and went to stand next to Spike. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. As she backed away his arms sneaked around her waist and pulled her closer. "Hey now, no teasing the vampire."
He leaned down and placed a long, lingering kiss on her lips. Spike raised his head and smirked at Willow, "Now that's the way to give a proper kiss."
Giles quickly grabbed the bowl Willow was holding before it dropped out of her nerveless fingers. He dumped the ingredients into the bowl over the candles and began reciting the spell.
A bright flash lit the library but nothing else happened.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Harmony asked from the circle of Angel's arms. "Can we go now?"
Giles shook his head, "I don't understand it that was supposed to call Aphrodite." He wondered if maybe Willow hadn't put the right amount of each ingredient in the bowl.
A giggle filtered through the air and then the space next to Giles began to ripple and bend.
Giles took a hasty step back and stared wide-eyed as a beautiful blonde woman materialized next to him.
Aphrodite smiled and walked up to Giles and lightly placed her finger on the bottom of his chin and slowly shut his open mouth, "I still got it!"
She turned to the others in the room, "Okay who called me and why was I summoned to the mortal realm?"
Everyone pointed at Giles.
Aphrodite turned back to Giles, "So, handsome I can't imagine that you'd need a love spell. Why'd you call?"
Giles blushed a deep red and cleared his throat, "Yes, well, umm...thanks. I mean no I don't need a spell that wasn't why I called you. T-the spell that you did earlier has had drastic results and we need you to reverse it."
Buffy nodded her head, "Yes, please. Make my mom stop loving Snyder and if you throw in a memory wiping spell I'd be very thankful."
"No can do sweetie."
"What?! Why not?" Buffy narrowed her eyes and wondered how bad it would be if she slayed the goddess of love.
"'Cause it wasn't me that did the spell though I gotta say I love the results. We haven't have this much fun since Rome in 245 BC."
Giles wrinkled his brow, "Well if it wasn't you then who did this?"
Aphrodite pointed over at Willow, "Her."
"WHAT?! I did not!"
Aphrodite walked toward Willow, "Well technically you're right you didn't do this."
Willow nodded at the others who had turned to look at her when Aphrodite pointed her out, "Told you."
"But who was it that called my boy Cupid?"
"I didn't!"
Aphrodite rolled her eyes and tapped her toes, "And I guote, 'We call to love's messenger to hear this plea. The heart's desire we ask to see.'"
Willow bit her lip and turned red, "Ummm, oops?"
~Part: 9~
Everyone's voice shouted at once and Willow burrowed herself into Spike's chest.
"Hey now! Quite yellin' at my Red." Spike growled at the others.
Giles turned to Aphrodite, "Can Cupid fix this?"
"Not a problem, cutie." Aphrodite turned to the empty space next to her, "Come on, Cupid I know you're listening."
The space next to Aphrodite shimmered and a handsome blonde man with wings appeared next to her.
"HOLY CRAP!" Buffy, Harmony and Cordelia exclaimed.
Cupid just smiled at the girls before turning to Aphrodite, "I guess the fun's over, huh?"
"Sorry, love. Start with them and then we'll finish up."
"What?!? We're not under any spell, it's the adults." Buffy yelled. "Start with my mom and Snyder. Make sure there is NO LOVE there."
Cupid grinned, "The spell can only be reversed if you haven't seen your heart's desire. If this Snyder person is her heart's desire there isn't anything I can do to stop it. It won't be as intense as it is now but the feelings will be strong."
"Trust me, Snyder is not my mom's heart's desire."
Cupid touched Giles' forehead as he walked by. As he did a blue vapor rose out of his eyes and disappeared.
Giles rubbed his eyes as a slight headache began to form behind his eyes. God, what an ass he'd been. Unfortunately with the spell over he still remembered what he did and said. It was the Band Candy incident all over again. At least this time there hadn't been any partners in his embarrassment.
He glanced over at the others and thought the only ones that wouldn't be affected by this were Xander and Cordelia. Giles slowly made his way closer to Willow. He didn't even want to think what Spike might do to her when the spell wore off.
Cupid touched Cordelia and Xander's heads and nothing happened. He touched them again but still nothing happened.
"Hey, quit pokin' at me. Buffy said it was only the adults." Xander glared at Cupid.
Cupid could see the mist rise from the two but they seemed to not be affected by his touch. Cupid just smiled and made his way over to Angel who was kissing Harmony.
With a grin he waited until Angel pulled Harmony closer before touching both of them. The blue mist rose and Angel stopped mid-kiss. His eyes blinked as if he was just awakening from a dream. He lowered his eyes to see a blonde slowly backing away and wiping her lips.
"Um, yeah. You know tonight was um, an experience. Gosh look at the time. Mom must be really worried about me. Gotta go. Later, Cord."
Buffy watched Harmony beat a hasty retreat and grinned up at Oz. Yeah, okay Angel was spellbound which totally explained Harmony but Buffy kind of felt bad that she had Oz and Angel had no one now.
Before Cupid could touch the next couple the library doors opened and Snyder entered.
Buffy grabbed Cupid's arm and dragged him over to Snyder and her mom, "They're next."
"Buffy what's going on? Who is this person? Are those wings?" Joyce asked as Buffy led a man with wings toward her. "First vampires, then Mayors making deals with demons and now Angels? What's next?"
Giles blinked, "W-what did you just say, Joyce?"
"I said first I learn about vampires and then Harold takes me to meet the Mayor." She leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of Snyder's head and whispered in his ear, "Quite the turn on too."
Buffy watched horrified as Snyder blushed at whatever her mom had whispered. "Fix it NOW!" She practically yelled at Cupid.
Cupid touched both Snyder and Joyce and Buffy watched relieved to see the blue mist rise away from her mom.
Joyce blinked a few times and then quickly disentangled herself from Snyder. OH MY GOD! This was the third time she got caught by some spell. Her eyes drifted over to Rupert Giles who was studiously trying to avoid eye contact with her. Ever since the Band Candy incident she had made a vow never to buy or receive as a gift anything that might have magickal qualities. Damn it was like that time with Xander all over again except this time it was with Buffy's principal. Not like she could avoid seeing him if she knew her daughter.
Snyder looked at those gathered in the library and was about to open his mouth to read them the riot act when the night's memories played themselves out in his mind. Oh Crap. He'd taken Joyce to see the Mayor and she had seen the Mayor make a deal with a demon. He quickly looked over at Joyce, who was avoiding eye contact. He had to see the Mayor right away and fix it.
Buffy stared in disbelief as Snyder turned on his heels without a word to anyone and left.
"Wha- huh?"
Oz leaned down to nuzzle at her neck, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. At least your mom's no longer with Snyder."
Buffy beamed back at Oz just when Cupid touched their heads. The mist rose from their eyes and they blinked rapidly at each other.
"Um." Buffy began.
Oz softly disentangled himself, "Yeah." He turned expectantly to Willow who was securely in Spike's arms with Giles ready to leap to her aide once Cupid touched them.
Cupid could feel the love radiating off this last couple and smiled as he touched their heads to release the vapor.
Giles and Oz watched as the vapor rose but Spike didn't stop nuzzling Willow's neck. Or was he biting? Damnit Giles couldn't tell. He grabbed Spike by the back of the neck and yanked while raising a stake.
"GILES!" Willow yelled as Spike threw the Watcher away from him.
"What the bloody hell is your problem?" Spike growled.
"I-I thought you were hurting Willow." Giles turned confused eyes to Cupid, "Why didn't it work with them?"
Cupid rolled his eyes and talked to him like he was three, "I told you, that if they saw their heart's desire I couldn't reverse it."
"NO! Nope not gonna believe that the bleach blunder is Willow's heart's desire." Buffy huffed. "He's a demon! He has no soul."
Oz looked sadly at Willow before quietly leaving the library. All he ever wanted for Willow was for her to be happy and if Spike made her happy then so be it.
Spike narrowed his eyes at the Slayer. Yeah okay what he was feeling for Willow wasn't as intense as it had been before. So he had been under a spell but like that Cupid bloke said Willow was obviously his heart's desire.
Before Buffy could protest further Angel interrupted, "Leave it, Buffy. He loved Dru for over a century which proves he has humanity in him and great capacity for love." He turned to Spike, "And you, wise up. Willow could never love someone that hurts others. So if you want to deserve her love you better change."
Willow softly caressed Spike's chest, "I love him just the way he is, Angel. Demon and man."
Spike smirked at Angel as he wrapped Willow in his arms but the smirk died as Willow continued, "Besides Spike wouldn't just kill for the fun of it right?"
Spike looked down into Willow's green eyes and sighed. He really was love's bitch. "Well, how 'bout I kill just the old ones. I mean they're getting ready to die anyway, right? Or criminals, you know save prison space?"
Before Buffy could retort to that Cordelia turned narrowed eyes at Xander, "Secret Smoochies with WILLOW!"
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