Having It All (1/?)

Willow opened the door allowing Xander into the living room.  He
paced around excitedly.  She noticed his change of clothing and liked
what she saw.  It seemed her Xander had finally found his style,
although his style reminded her an awful lot of Angelus with black
jeans in place of the leather.  She filed that for later reference.

He paced around excitedly, "I got a new job today Wills!  I think
this one is really going to work out."

"Really, what is it?" Willow's eyes started to cross from watching
her best friend try to wear a hole in the carpet, "Slow down Xander,
you're wearing me out."  Willow pulled Xander over to the couch but
couldn't stop his leg from bouncing.

He took a deep breath, "I'm working for Giancarlo Buscetti.  I'm his
personal assistant, and he likes me!"

Willow had to smile at Xander's enthusiasm.  She didn't know anything
about Mr. Buscetti but hadn't seen Xander this happy about any of the
sixteen jobs he'd had so far.  "Well… Tell me about it
Xander!  Don't
keep me waiting!  How did you get the job, and what does it pay, and
what do you have to do?"  By the time Willow took a breath, she
was bouncing in her seat.

"Whoa, and you talk about me slowing down, Wills?" Xander
laughed.  "Breathe, Willow.  Donut run, plenty, and take care of
personal errands as far as I know."  Xander smiled at his oldest
friend.

Willow puzzled through his response, "What do you mean donut run?
The one for this morning's research session?"

Xander nodded, "You know the donut shop over on Main, right?"
Willow
nodded as he continued, "Well this morning the scary lady was
working and she was giving me a bit of trouble with our order."

Willow remembered the scary lady very well.  She was legend among the
children and even the adults of Sunnydale.  She wasn't old, or
unattractive, or even unpleasant.  She was a fixture at the bakery,
having joined the staff in her teens almost twenty years ago.  Her
reputation was made on the fact that she would take an order, smile,
and then proceed to give her customers what she thought they should
have charging only half of what the business was owed.  She
wasn't malicious; she always gave her customers the exact pastry
they
had been craving even though they didn't realize it or order it
either.

It was just plain scary how she knew her customers and their pastry
desires, even if they weren't in the shop.  Business never
slowed, and the shop never lost money over her strange mercantile
practices.  In fact, the shop made enormous profit and allowed four
owners to retire early, but the scary lady, only known as Millie H.,
seemed content to stay in the position she started in, waiting on
customers.  "Right, so what happened?" Willow asked.

"Giles had been wanting to try the éclairs instead of his
jellies this morning and Millie didn't want to give me any
éclairs."  Xander gave her a goofy grin.

Willow smiled, knowing it was impossible to get Millie to change her
mind, but remembered Giles trying an éclair only to put it down
after two bites.  She was amazed that Xander got Millie to give him
the pastries he ordered, "How did you manage to convince her to
let
you have them?"

Xander's grin got even wider, "I was Xanderiffic!  I used my
boyish good looks and charm and then I told her I would eat the
éclair if Giles decided he didn't like it."

Willow giggled, "She couldn't argue with that!  So how did
Mr. Buscetti come into all this?"

Xander began bouncing again in his chair.  Willow thought they really
should cut back on his sugar intake, but smiled when he said,
"Wills, I was great, it was a prime performance, Mr. Buscetti was
behind me in line and heard it all.  He was impressed that I got
Millie to change her mind by taking initiative.  He decided he could
use me in his organization."

Willow frowned, "Organization?  Xander, I don't want to rain
on your parade, but that doesn't sound right.  What does he
expect
you to do?"

Xander saw the worry, "No, no Wills.  Nothing illegal, I just run
errands and pick up his dry cleaning and make sure his appointments
are kept.  Stuff like that.  He said his last assistant decided to go
into a specialized program at a university out of state.  He said I
could take a few classes and he would work around it as long as I
keep up with everything he needs."

The job sounded perfect for Xander.  He was very skilled at handling
people and getting things done.  A quality often overlooked by Giles
and Buffy unless it was something they didn't want to do.  Willow
reached over and hugged her friend, "I'm so happy for you
Xander!  When do you start?"

Xander returned her hug fiercely, she was the best friend a person
could have, he thought.  "I start tomorrow, and I haven't
even told you the best part, Wills."

She pulled back, "It gets better?"  Willow wondered what on
earth could be better than what Xander had already described.

"Ya know that Italian pizza place just off of Main, the one with
the deep dish that's to die for?"  He grinned.

Willow absently played with her shoelaces, "Gio's Pizzeria?
Yeah, I remember it, I haven't been there in a couple of months
though."

Xander pulled her hand away from her shoelaces, "Guess who Gio
is?"

She slapped his hand and the light bulb suddenly went off, "Oh,
oh! Giancarlo Buscetti!"

Xander spoke in his best circus announcer voice, "Give the girl a
prize!" Xander couldn't sit still any longer.  He stood in
front of Willow and did the happy Xander dance, "And he says that
as
long as I'm his assistant I can live above the pizza place and
have
all the food I can eat from the restaurant.  Its perfect, Wills."

"It seems almost too good to be true, there's gotta be
something
Hellmouthy going on somewhere."  Willow didn't want her
friend
getting hurt.

"Nah, he's just desperate.  His last assistant left two weeks
ago and he doesn't have time to interview.  His company, Buscetti
Enterprises, is an investment firm that's a parent company to the
restaurant.  He gave me a wad of cash and told me to go pick up some
black jeans and dark colored silk button downs to wear for a
uniform.  He wanted me to look a certain way when I met people for
him."

That explains the sudden change in outfits, Willow thought, "But
why didn't you say anything earlier at Giles' place?"

Xander sat back down next to Willow, "C'mon, Willow, you know
how they would've reacted.  They would've just shook their
heads
and thought `another failure coming up for the Zeppo'.  I
wanted
to share with someone who'd appreciate what this means for
me."

Willow smiled, "A new place to live, a new wardrobe, lots of
money, why am I going to college again?"

"Because you're the brains of our gruesome twosome.   So have
the Fangs decided what we're going to do tonight?"  Xander
leaned
back on the sofa calmed considerably from his earlier bouncing.
Willow thought the sugar might have finally worn off, either that or
the fact that he finally let his secret out had calmed him.

"Not sure," thoughts of the bleached vampire made her lose
her train of thought briefly, "we'll probably eat something
and then
go shoot pool over at Petey's.  Would you mind if we went to
Gio's?
It's across the street from Petey's.  We won't see Buffy
there.
Riley is taking her to that Hunan place across town.  I know
you're
going to be living there, but I thought maybe we'd all take a
look at
it tonight.  Pretty please?"  Willow gave Xander her version of
his
puppy dog eyes.

He couldn't resist them, and didn't know of anyone that
could,"That's
fine Willow, I think it'd be a good idea to recon the place
before I
start.  I just hope you can convince the living undead to be around
all that garlic."

Thoughts of how she could convince Spike were dancing through her
brain, "I'll convince Spike.  You worry about convincing
Angel."

Xander's face turned an unusual shade of purple, "Willow, its
not like that and you know it!"

Willow smirked and feigned innocence, "Xander Harris, I
didn't say
anything like that.  It's your mind that's continuously in
the
gutter."

Xander regained his natural color, "Yeah right, Wills, like yours
isn't just as bad.  You know you want the bleached wonder."

"He does have a name, ya know, you don't have to call him the
bleached wonder all the time.  I don't go around calling Angel,
hair-gel boy, do I?"  Willow pouted.

"All right, all right, I was joking, geez." Xander ruffled
Willow's hair, "You know you want Spike.  Is that
better?"  Xander
laughed at the expression on Willow's face.

"Thanks, Xander, that's so much better!"  Willow knew he
was just playing with her though; he was as much infatuated with
Angel as she was with Spike even if he wouldn't admit it yet.
The
whole situation had come about when Giles had sent Willow, Xander and
Spike up to LA to exchange some books with the soul-having vampire
two months earlier.  Giles didn't want to leave the Hellmouth and
Spike went along grudgingly because he was the only other person with
a car.

They were surprised to find out that they all actually enjoyed each
other's company.  It seems that once Angel stopped being the
Slayer's lapdog in hopes of finding redemption, an error made by
Whistler and rectified later by Doyle, the other two men had no
problem with him.  Willow didn't have a major problem with him
before, but she had to admit that she liked him much better now.
Since it was summer, they all decided to spend two nights during the
week together, barring Cordelia's visions or saving the world from
total destruction.

It was working pretty well so far.  They were Thursday night regulars
at Petey's and Friday nights they either went to the Bronze or
stayed in and watched movies depending on what Buffy did.  They
weren't hiding their friendship with Angel from Buffy.  The two
mortals had a long talk with Buffy about hanging out with Angel the
day they had come back from LA.  She said she didn't mind, but
that
she needed more time before she would be comfortable hanging out with
him and that she was sure that Angel felt the same way about hanging
out with the slayer.

Willow and Xander felt closer to Spike and Angel than they ever did
to Giles and Buffy.  With the two vampires they didn't feel like
they were just tagalongs or weak links.  Spike and Angel would often
tell them stories of the past.  The two mortals would tell the
vampires about childhood memories growing up on the Hellmouth.  The
vampires especially liked the stories about Xander and Willow
pretending to be sibling superheroes that always ended in water
fights.  Xander's alter ego could turn into any form of water and
he
liked to douse Willow in the process of saving the day.

After that first trip to LA, Willow told Xander about her feelings
for Spike.  He didn't laugh or tell her he was going to find a
dull stake or a bottle of holy water.  He was completely calm about
the whole thing.  She had a tiny suspicion that he liked Angel,
really liked him, as in Larry the football player liked him.  She
thought he and Angel would be great together.

It was Xander's turn for the puppy dog eyes, "Pretty please
call them both, Wills?"

She relented and pushed him towards the end table with the phone on
it, "All right, I'll call them both, give me the phone mister
coward."
 

Having It All (2/?)

Angel arrived at Willow's house with Spike at sundown.  He'd driven
straight to Sunnydale after finishing a domestic violence case.  The
Varik demoness wouldn't be having her human husband's heart on a
platter after all.  He did stop by his apartment in LA to shower and
change first though, and it was a good thing, Willow had called and
left two messages.  The first one asked if he or Spike would mind
going to a pizza place to celebrate Xander's new job, and the second
message left an hour later asked him to pick up Spike and meet her a
little early.

He knocked on her door, thankful that her parents had finally just
moved to Boston and left her the house.  He knew she was lonely
though, and kept trying to convince his childe to give up his
apartment and move in with her.  His favorite childe, being the
stubborn vampire he was, refused to do so until the blonde vampire
knew the redhead loved him.  Angel couldn't figure out for his unlife
why Spike was being so blind.

"Come on in guys."  Willow called out from the kitchen.  She knew the
vampire's would be hungry and was currently heating their dinner.

"Willow!  You know better than to tell someone to come in without
looking first.  We could've been vampires,"  Angel realized what he
said and did the vampire equivalent of a blush, "I mean, we could've
been here to hurt you!"

"He's right luv, we could've been here to maul you." Spike looked
uncomfortable at his words and changed the subject, "Dinner for us?"

"No I thought Xander and I would try a little O positive tonight and
leave you with the pizza."  Willow giggled and handed the still warm
mugs to Angel and Spike.

"Thanks Willow.  Now why did you want us to come early and where is
the moron?"  Spike smirked at the look on his sire's face, sometimes
it was just too easy.

"Xander is not a moron, boy, and you'd do well to remember that."
Angel finished the rest of his dinner in one gulp and stalked over to
the sink to clean out his mug.

Willow smiled at the exchange, "Spike, stop baiting Angel.  Its
Xander I wanted to talk about.  He'll be here in an hour so we don't
have much time to plan."

Angel's attention was completely focused when Willow mentioned that
Xander was the reason they came early.  He wondered what could
possibly be going on.  If something bad was happening to Xander he
wanted to stop it immediately and of course torture the ones
responsible.

Willow took Spike's mug, pushed he and Angel back into the living
room and washed it out.  She placed it in the dish rack to dry and
followed their path into the living room.

She smiled at Angel for taking the chair and leaving her the spot in
between them sharing the sofa with Spike, "I don't want to worry you
guys.  Its nothing hellmouthy as far as I can tell.  Xander got a new
job today as a personal assistant to Giancarlo Buscetti.  His firm,
Buscetti Enterprises is an investment firm that is the parent company
to the restaurant we're going to tonight.  Xander will be living
above the restaurant and Mr. Buscetti has given him a lot of money
already.  It's not that I think Xander can't handle the job, I just
think that it's too good to be true.  I did some searching and I did
find out that Katie Dillon left her job two weeks ago to go to a
school in East Texas that specializes in Forestry, so that part of
Buscetti's story checks out.  As far as I can tell all of his
investments and the restaurant itself is legit.  Nothing looks
strange on the surface, but his personnel files read like a most
wanted list.  He has the habit of hiring convicted felons, his
financial records show he invested heavily in our former mayor's
campaign and he has Wolfram and Hart on permanent retainer.  This
could all be circumstantial evidence, but I don't want Xander hurt."
Willow took a deep breath and leaned back against the sofa.  Spike's
arm came around her automatically and he squeezed her shoulder.

Angel leaned forward and patted Willow's knee comfortingly, "You're
right.  This could all be coincidence, but what are the odds when you
live on the Hellmouth?  I'm glad you've told us, have you told Xander
yet?"

Willow sighed, "No, he was so excited.  He went home to pack his
stuff when I started hacking.  I called you guys right after I got
into his personnel files."

"You know luv, he could just be a guy who believes in giving folks a
second chance, and didn't the Chases invest in the mayor's campaign
too?  Not to mention that Wolfram and Hart has legitimate human
clients, right Peaches?" Angel nodded his head at Spike's words, but
his mind was working furiously.

All three of them jumped when the phone shrilly broke into their
thoughts.  Willow leaned over Spike brushing her chest over his lap
in an effort to reach the phone.  He pulled her back, "I'll get it
for you, pet." his voice cracking a little.  Spike handed Willow the
receiver, glaring at his sire who was unsuccessfully stifling a
chuckle.

"Hello?"

"Wills?  Its Xander.  Can I meet you guys at Gio's?"

Willow knew that voice, it was the voice he made when his father was
really angry.  She almost lost it when he said, "Please, Wills.  I
won't be too late.  My stuff is already in boxes. I just need to wait
until he passes out again before I can sneak out."

"Did you wake him up earlier?"

"Yeah, and its not as bad as it looks.  I promise.  He was just a
little upset at the way I was dressed and the loss of the rent money
I was paying him.  It's ok, really!"  Xander whispered.

"Ok, Xan, be safe," Willow sighed and noticed Angel making motions
for the phone, must be that vampiric hearing, "Wait, Angel wants to
say something.  Hang on."  She handed the receiver to Angel.  She
knew Angel cared for Xander more than he let on, but his next words
were a surprise.

"What do ye mean its not as bad as it looks?  No, ye canna meet us at
Gio's.  We'll be parked two houses down.  Ye can wave at us when it
be safe to get yer things.  Ye'll be staying wit' me at the mansion
t'night.  Is there some'at else I should know?"

"No, Deadboy, that's just fine.  I'll stay with you tonight, but I'm
moving to the place above Gio's tomorrow."  Xander grumbled outwardly
and hung up the phone, but inwardly he was a jumble of nerves.

Deadboy would see the damage his father had done.  He would know
exactly what happened.  There's no way he couldn't.  He didn't even
tell Willow the extent of his fathers abuse.  He just couldn't.  He
couldn't stand Willow knowing exactly how dirty and filthy and
unclean he really was. He had managed to keep it from the vampires so
far, but even after his shower, there's no way they wouldn't be able
to tell.  He sighed and strained his ears for the sound of the bottle
dropping on the floor signaling his father's descent into oblivion.

Over the years Xander had perfected the art of sneaking out once his
father passed out and knew exactly how long he had before noise would
wake the monster up again.  The bottle finally dropped after about
ten minutes.  Xander let out the breath he didn't know he'd been
holding.  Xander scurried out of his basement home, he knew he had
exactly fourteen minutes before his father would hear him.

Luckily they had been waiting for him.  Angel walked up and felt his
body all over checking for injuries.  Xander tried not to let it
affect him, but cursed when Angel hit his broken ribs.  Angel put him
in the car and told he and Willow to stay there while the brunette
vampire and his childe retrieved Xander's things.  Xander finally
convinced them to drop his stuff at the mansion and continue with
their plans, even though Angel tried his best to persuade the young
man to change his mind so they could all stay in.

Spike glanced from side to side quickly scanning the parking
lot, "What did you say the name of the place was again, luv?"  He
didn't see any dangers, but one could never be too careful on the
Hellmouth.

"It's Gio's Pizzeria,"  Willow got out of the car gracefully.

"Home of the best deep dish in Sunnydale." Xander said in his best
announcer voice, but the effect was ruined when he winced a little
getting out of the car.  Angel laid a hand on his shoulder to steady
him as they turned towards the awning covered entrance.
 

Having It All (3/?)

Angel and Spike wanted a booth in the corner near the kitchen that
overlooked the entire restaurant.  The pizzeria was decorated very
simply with booths along the outer walls and various sized tables
littering the rest of the floor space.

Willow wondered why all pizza places seemed to decorate predominantly
in golds and reds.  This one was mostly wood, but had red and gold
accents everywhere.  She did like the mural of the waterways of
Venice next to the kitchen doors though. Both vampires were grateful
for the lack of mirrored surfaces, even though the wooden benches
looked painful.  Angel and Spike shared a glance with Willow.

Willow nodded, "Oh Xander, since we played muscle movers, why don't
we go wash our hands?"

Xander looked at his best friend strangely for a second.  He knew
that *they* didn't move a thing and that the vampires did all the
work but relented, "All right, Wills, whatever you say."  Xander
allowed Willow to guide him towards the restrooms.

"That redhead of yours catches subtext beautifully."  Angel smiled at
his childe as they sat in the booth.  Both were relieved that the
wood was buffed and lacquered and wouldn't be causing painful
splinters later.

"She's not my redhead.  Yet," Spike frowned, wondering if he should
just go ahead and bring it up, "Look Sire, you had to have noticed.
We were all sitting in the front seat of the car with the windows up
the whole bloody way."  Spike glanced at his sire.  The younger
vampire could tell Angel was holding his gameface back by sheer force
of will alone.

Angel's jaw tightened, "I wanted to go back and rip his father's
heart out and feed it to him while it was still beating.  I might
still do it, depending on the answers I coax from Xander tonight."
Angel and his demon were in total agreement when it came to Xander's
well-being. Neither could allow him to be hurt when it could be
prevented, and vengeance, well, it was always fun.

Spike scowled, "Right, you'll win lots of effin' points for that,
Peaches.  I've got a better idea, why don't you take a sharp pointy
stick and poke it in your eye, you'll get further with that, Mate."

A tall brunette dressed in a white button down shirt, red vest and
blue pleated skirt came up to the booth and interrupted the
conversation. She smiled politely, "Welcome to Gio's. My mame is
Mandy, and I'll be your server tonite.  Would you like to hear our
specials?" The vampires shook their heads. "All right then, are you
ready to order?"

Angel smiled back at the waitress cordially, "Yes, we'd like four
sodas and a large hand tossed pepperoni and jalapeno pizza with extra
cheese please."

The waitress had been eyeing the handsome vampires covertly from the
kitchen and was a bit disappointed they had guests with them.  "Would
you like any appetizers while you wait?"

"An order of cheesesticks and marinara sauce would be fine, ducks.
Now run along and get those sodas.  Please?"  Spike gave the waitress
his most charming smile, one that got him in and out of beds
regularly before he had spent any time with Willow.  Now he saved
those smiles for his witch, even though he hadn't tried one yet.  The
waitress didn't take offense and was even smiling to herself as she
walked towards the kitchen.

Spike leaned towards his sire and whispered harshly, "Look, Peaches,
I'll be surprised if Xapper bloody well lets you brood in the same
room with him, let alone talk to him."

"I know, my boy, I know."  Angel whispered back just in time to see
Xander and Willow make their way back to the booth.  Angel and Spike
stood allowing Willow and Xander the inside seats of the booth for
better protection.  It was a habit of the vampires to put themselves
between their humans and the world for protection's sake when they
could.

Spike grinned at Xander, "What took you so long, had to make the
bleedin' soap yourself?"

"Nah," Xander answered, "it hurt too much to reach the paper towel
dispenser.  Their idea of eye level had to have come from seven foot
giants.  I let my hands air dry and let the Willster guide me back
here the long way.  She wanted to see if they had a delivery menu."

"We ordered your favorite pizza and some cheesesticks.  That ok,
luv?" Spike looked at Willow hoping she wouldn't be mad they ordered
for them.

Willow smiled, she loved it when Spike was being sweet, although
she'd never *tell* him he was being sweet, "As long as you put
jalapenos and extra cheese on it, its perfect."

"Well, I did say it was your favorite, didn't I?  The Big Bad knows
what you like, eh, pet?"  Spike winked at the slightly blushing
redhead.

The waitress came back with their sodas and cheesesticks.  She
glanced at the two who obviously held the beautiful man and his sexy
British companion's undivided attention with a brief tinge of envy
before she plastered the professional smile back in place.  She told
them their pizza would be out in a few minutes and to call if they
needed anything else before heading back into the kitchen.

"So what were our two favorite children of the night talking about so
hush-hush?"  Willow grinned as she snagged a cheesestick.  Her grin
turned into a frown as her fingers realized just how hot the cheese
still was and dropped it quickly into her previously ignored saucer.
She stuck her burned fingers into her mouth.

"Here, luv, let me."  Spike gently took Willow's fingers and placed
them into his mouth.  She sighed as his cool tongue soothed her
fingers.  They weren't burned that bad but even if she could put two
words together coherently, she wasn't about to tell Spike.  He pulled
her fingers out of his mouth when he saw her eyes start to glaze a
bit. He grinned cockily, "Better?"

"Much."  She replied.

"Now before the burnage, you were going to tell us what you guys were
talking about, right?  Looked pretty serious to the Xan-man."  Xander
grinned at the dazed look on his best friends face and was seriously
thinking of taking bets with Angel as to how long it'd stay there.

"Nothing to worry about.  I was just convincing my wayward childe not
to eat our waitress."  Angel replied smoothly.

"He couldn't eat her anyway, still fangless, remember, Deadboy?  Or
old age finally getting to ya?"  Xander smiled at his own funny.

"I'll show you old age!"  Angel mock threatened.

"Boys!" Willow scolded, "Don't even start, or we'll never get to come
back and then what would Xander do for a job!"

"Yeah, what she said!"  Spike agreed smugly, shrinking a little as
Willow's glare turned to him.

The pizza arrived stopping any further arguments as the humans gave
their undivided attention to their food.  The waitress came back as
they finished and boxed up the remainder of their food to take home.
The vampires had stolen a few crusts from Xander and Willow's plates
to make it look like they had eaten.  They could've actually eaten
some pizza but it tasted more like cardboard than anything
appetizing.  They could drink the sodas as well, which for the most
part tasted like sugar water so they let the two humans drink those
as well.  They waited several long moments for the check, during
which time Spike and Angel scanned the restaurant for signs of
trouble.  Of course, being on the Hellmouth and all, they didn't have
to wait long for trouble to walk in the door.

A tall blonde mountain of a man walked into the restaurant wearing a
long black trenchcoat and was followed by a slightly smaller brunette
woman carrying a duffle bag.  Angel was sizing up the man, who
happened to have a slight bulge under his sholder while Spike was
noticing that the duffle bag was unzipped and empty.  Spike nodded at
Angel and leaned over to whisper to Willow, "Luv, when I say now, I
want you and Xapper to crawl under the table." He saw where she was
about to question him and cut her off, "No, do as I say, please,
pet?  I'll explain it later if you want?"  He kissed her softly on
the lips and nodded again to his sire.

Angel on the other hand wasn't having as much luck with Xander, "Come
on Xan, you have two broken ribs, not to mention other various
injuries, I'm not going to let you get hurt ever again if I can stop
it.  When Spike says now you get under the table with Willow." Xander
looked as if he were about to argue, "No, no arguments.  We'll be
expecting you to protect her while we take care of the rest."
 

Having It All (4/?)

Xander looked over at what had caught the vampires attention and
caused them to ask he and Willow to get under the table. It was the
couple that had just walked into the restaurant. It would be another
month before it got any cooler, so the couple were either vampires or
robbers. Oh, wait, no, can't be vampires, they're both wearing
crosses, must be incredibly stupid then, Xander thought. Restaurants
couldn't have that much money in the register. This place had
entirely too many witnesses, even if all three couples were in the
front of the restaurant, for a few grand, unless they were going for
the safe. Why couldn't they wait until the place closed? Xander
could not see their logic. Protecting Willow was the only reason
Xander agreed to get under the table. Xander thought the would-be
robbers were in for a surprise and wondered what the vampires would
do.

Angel nodded at Spike, "Distraction?"

"Got it, Peaches." Spike leaned over to Xander and Willow and
whispered, "Ok, when I say now, I want one of you to drop your
silverware on the floor and both of you to go after it, but no sudden
moves. It'll attract too much attention." They nodded at the
vampire in agreement, "Ok, now!"

Willow dropped her fork and said casually, "Oops, I'll get that."

Xander smiled and said just as casually, "No, I'll get it for you."

Both ducked under the table simultaneously. Willow managed to take
both of their sodas with her and Xander the food in case the siege
took a long time. They noticed the proof of sharing the same thought
and grinned at each other. Willow hated being told what to do, but
she knew Spike had to have a reason for such an odd request. He had
that intense I love you, please do this one last request for me
before I'm dust look in his blue eyes. Sexual innuendo was natural
to Spike, but she couldn't imagine him actually loving her before she
saw that look. She hadn't noticed the couple until Angel asked
Xander to get under the table too and she had to admit that Angel and
Spike were a lot more bulletproof than she or Xander were.

Spike stood up slowly and strolled the twenty feet directly to his
left from the booth towards the decidedly nervous couple at the cash
register. He draped an arm around the woman's shoulders and
said, "Hello, Ducks."

Her eyes grew a bit round and knew that her husband Joe was not going
to like this. She didn't want the man to get hurt. Hell, she didn't
even want to be there, but Carson said they had to hit this place or
he'd send one of his boys after them. She reached into the side of
her overshirt to the handgun her husband had forced her to carry.

"None of that now, pet, you wouldn't have time to draw before I
snapped your neck," Spike whispered into her ear, "Now just keep both
hands where I can see them, that's a good luv."

"Sarah! Get away from him!" Joe whispered harshly. He straightened
up and moved closer to Spike, "Look, I don't know who you are Mister,
but I think you'd better back off. We've got business here that
don't concern you."

"Look, Mate, if you're gonna do this at least bloody think about it
and wait until the place is closed." Spike growled.

"Joe, maybe you should listen to him," Sarah tried to reason with her
husband neither noticing the dark-haired vampire coming up behind the
gunman.

"I have ord--I'm gonna hit this place when I want to, and I want to
now!" Joe twisted his sawed-off shotgun tilting towards chest level
from the hip and prepared to fire. He was stopped by a strong hand
jerking the weapon back towards the ground, but not before a couple
of shots were fired. The brunette vampire heard glass breaking, two
startled gasps and Spike cursing as he held on to Sarah. He set the
shotgun down on the nearest table.

"Bloody hell, Peaches--" Spike stopped mid-curse and sniffed the
air. Angel wondered what was going on, tightened his grip on Joe and
sniffed the air as well. Blood. He could smell fresh human blood
and it belonged to Willow and Xander, the young man's being the
strongest.

While Spike was distracted by the scent of Willow and Xander's blood,
Sarah pulled her handgun and shot him in the shoulder with the bullet
going straight through and lodging in the wall. She couldn't live
with herself if she killed anyone, but knew she had to do something
to get herself and Joe out of there. She didn't care what Carson
said about it. He'd know soon enough what went down.

Spike leaned down at the waist to conceal his game face, "Dammit, you
Poof, why do I always have to be the distraction?"

"Just lucky I guess. Now, Sarah, is it?" the woman nodded at
Angel, "I have your man Joe here, and don't think I won't kill him if
you don't put your gun down and slide it over to my friend." Angel
tightened his grip on Joe's throat just thinking about Xander and
Willow being hurt. They were his. They were under his protection and
someone else harmed them. His anger boiled up to near breaking
levels, but the whimper from Joe brought him back. It seemed that
Angel had tightened his grip a little more and was cutting off more
airflow for the unfortunate criminal. He knew he needed to get the
girl disarmed and both of them out of the place, but the smell of
Xander's blood was calling to him. Angel knew the wound wasn't
serious, but it was bleeding heavily. The smell of Willow's blood
was fainter, but she was still bleeding quite a bit as well. They
both needed to be taken back to the mansion and be cleaned and
patched up.

"Sarah," Joe croaked when Angel released enough pressure for him to
talk, "C'mon, Sarah, do as the man says. We'll talk to Car--we'll
talk later." Sarah dropped her gun and pushed it towards Spike with
her foot. Spike, having regained control over his game face, picked
the gun up and put it in his belt. Once Angel saw this, he released
Joe face first into the carpet.

"Don't you ever come around here with guns again, or we won't be held
responsible for what happens to you. You're both lucky that my
friend and I have more urgent matters to attend to or this could've
turned out worse for you. Go. Now." Angel waited until the man
crawled over to Sarah and she helped him to his feet. When they
would-be robbers walked out the door, Angel and Spike ran over to the
table.

Xander was shielding the front of Willow's body with his own and
somehow the glasses had shattered in front of Willow. Xander's
shoulder had been grazed and Willow had shards of glass imbedded in
the front of her body.

"Xander, Willow? You guys are going to be ok. I'm going to back up
and Xander, you come out first. Move very slowly and try not to lean
on your right shoulder. Willow, when he comes out of there, I want
you to lay down flat on your back and let us pull you out. Be
careful not to imbed the glass any more than you can help it." Angel
backed away from the booth and glanced around the suddenly customer-
free restaurant. The staff is probably still hiding in the kitchen,
Angel thought. His childe was speaking to a stocky gentleman in his
fifties wearing a dark suit with a black shirt and tie.

Spike was explaining about the robbery attempt, and that they'd
convinced the robbers it would be in their best interests to go
elsewhere. The older gentleman, who indeed had turned out to be
Giancarlo Buscetti, was pleased that the robbers had left and that no
one was interested in calling the particularly inept Sunnydale Police
Department. He was, however, concerned about his newest employee and
his employee's friend.

"They're going to be ok, right? Do you need me to take them to the
hospital?" He asked.

"No, we can take care of them. I hope this doesn't affect Xander's
employment, Mr. Buscetti?" Angel said politely with growly
undertones.

"No, no! Call me Gio, and I wouldn't think of changing my agreement
with Xander. I won't expect him at work until Monday so he can
recover, but I'll be paying him for what he would've worked between
now and Monday. I also can't allow him to move into the apartment
for another week at least, so I can get an engineer out to look at
the structural damage, and finish all the repairs. Its a good thing
I don't have all my eggs in one basket, eh?" Gio smiled and nudged
Angel jokingly.

Angel smiled through his teeth, anxious to get his people out of
there, "Thank you Gio, we'll will be in touch."
 

Having It All (5/?)

Spike stood up with Willow in his arms, thankful that she wasn't
complaining, while Xander leaned heavily on the back of the booth
when Angel nodded for them to leave.  Xander was stumbling and looked
ready to pass out so Angel leaned over and scooped the young man up
in his arms as well being careful of Xander's broken ribs.  The
vampires carried their precious cargo to the car and tried to make
the ride over as comfortable as possible for the injured humans.

Angel kicked open the door and walked into the living room.  The
elder vampire set Xander down gently on the couch near the fireplace
careful to keep his shoulder elevated.  Angel went to the bathroom
and pulled out several towels and his first aid kit.  The brunette
vampire returned to the living room dropping his supplies on the
coffee table.  He told Spike to wait before he placed Willow in front
of the fireplace, and pulled a blanket from the back of the couch.
The dark haired vampire folded the blanket in half and spread it on
the floor a few feet in front of the fireplace before quietly
perching on the edge of the couch near Xander's waist.

"Thanks, Peaches," Spike whispered as he placed Willow on the blanket
in front of the fireplace.  He positioned her carefully, so her body
wouldn't be touching the cold floor.

"Hmmm... rock salt, maybe?" Angel spoke quietly, "must've just wanted
a show, some quick cash, and no fatalities."

"Show, my ass, look at Red!  She's bleedin'!  Even Xapper is
wounded.  I like a decent spot of violence just as much as the next
bloke, but leave my humans out of it," Spike spat from the kitchen.
He brought two large bowls filled with warm water, placing one near
Willow on the floor and the other near Angel on the coffee table.
Angel opened a couple of packets, and tossed one of the alcohol-
covered cloths to his childe.  Spike nodded and both vampires
sterilized their hands as best they could in the situation.  The
bleached vampire grabbed a handful of medical supplies and a few of
the towels Angel had brought before kneeling down next to Willow.

"Spike?"  Willow asked weakly.

"Yeah, luv?"  Spike responded.

"You kissed me."  Willow said with an almost question-like inflection.

"That I did, luv."  Spike smiled at the redhead, but hating what was
about to come next.  "Pet?"  The blonde vampire tried again when he
didn't receive a response, "Red?  Don't take this the wrong way and
it might hurt a bit, but I'm going to have to move your clothing so I
can fish all the glass out.  You can stay still for me, right Luv?"
Spike held her eyes briefly as she nodded her assent.

"S'ok, Spike, I've been a Scooby for a while.  I know the drill."
Willow tried a grin though it came out more as a grimace because of
her discomfort.

Angel glanced away from the quiet conversation his childe and Willow
were having, and back to the job at hand.  Xander was lying on his
stomach facing the fireplace and his two friends.  He wasn't moving
much, or speaking, and it was the latter that worried Angel.

"Ok, Xander, this will probably sting, but I'm going to remove your
shirt.  After I do that I'll be using warm water to clean off the
blood a little and see if you need to be sewn up.  Are you with me,
Xan?"  Angel laid a cool hand on Xander's forehead.

The vampires worked as quickly as they could to clean out the wounds,
sterilize, stitch, and bandage their humans.  However, the whole
process took longer than expected.  They dried their blood-caked
hands on the one clean towel left.  It wasn't much, but it would do
until they both could clean up later.

Now that the younger vampire didn't have to worry about Willow
imbedding the glass deeper he moved her to a more comfortable spot on
the unoccupied couch.  Both she and Xander seemed to be in a semi-
conscious state, and Spike knew it was from the pain.  "Sire," he
asked.

"Yes, William," Angel sighed wishing the night had gone better.

"Ya got anything for pain in there?  They could probably both use
enough to knock out a horse, but with the blood loss..." the younger
vampire trailed off.

Angel had a vague plan forming in his mind, and started digging
through the kit.  Finding his prize, he answered his childe's
unspoken question, "we should probably stick with an over the counter
painkiller for now."

"Right,"  Spike went back to the kitchen and retrieved two bottles of
water.  He had almost filled a couple of glasses from the tap but
remembered that Angel kept the fridge stocked with the bottled water
that the humans preferred.  He didn't understand it.  As long as it
was clear, water was water as far as he was concerned, but they
assured him the taste was different.  Spike smiled briefly at the
memory of that conversation, and exchanged one of the bottles with a
couple of capsules in Angel's hand.

After the humans swallowed, Angel took both partially empty bottles,
placing them on the shared endtable.  The dark-haired vampire sighed
and looked over to his childe, "I'm going to take this stuff back to
the bathroom and find them something clean to wear.  Will you get rid
of the rest?"

"Sure, Mate, but don't expect me to clean the friggin windows too,"
Spike mock-growled.

Angel cuffed his childe on the back of the head mumbling about smart-
assed children, before packing the unused first aid supplies back
into the kit.  The brunette vampire gathered it and the used towels
on his way to the bathroom.

Spike grabbed the empty boxes and wrappers tossing them into the half
empty bowls before taking it all to the kitchen.  The blonde vampire
was tempted to toss everything down the disposal, but knew his neat
freak Sire would complain a hundred years from now about it.
Instead, he dumped their contents into the trash bin under the sink.
He washed his hands, shrugged, and washed both bowls, leaving the wet
dishes in the rack to dry.

Spike opened the cabinet next to the refrigerator and cursed.  He
opened several more cabinets before he found the mugs above the
coffee maker.  "Bloody wanker," he muttered pulling two down, "always
moving the mugs from where I put 'em.  Stupid tosser."  He went back
to the fridge pulling out a couple of packets, ripping them open with
his teeth and dumping their contents into the mugs.

By the time Spike returned to the living room with the heated mugs,
Angel had already re-dressed the humans and was currently coaxing a
fire out of the fireplace.  Spike set the mugs down, the clinking
noise catching Angel's attention, and arched a scarred eyebrow in his
sire's direction.  Turning away from his sire, he shifted Willow
slightly placing her head in his lap.  He picked up his mug wanting
to finish his dinner while it was still extremely hot.  Hearing her
whimper, he used his left hand to caress her arm soothingly, and
looked back to Angel for a response.

Angel finished lighting the fire, "I know, but I don't want them
cold."  The elder vampire stood up, pushed the free-standing screen
back in place, and said softly, "I'm going to get a few more
blankets."

"Well, hurry it up you poof, your dinner's gettin' cold," Spike said
gruffly and finished his off in one gulp.

"I'll drink it cold, or re-heat it," Angel called from in front of
the linen closet.

Spike grimaced at the thought, "All right, Mate, whatever you say."

Angel returned to the living room and covered Willow and Xander with
the blankets he'd brought.  The souled vampire smirked at the look on
Spike's face, took the empty mug from his childe's fingers, and
grabbed his own mug on his way to the kitchen.  Angel finished his
dinner, washed both mugs and left them in the rack next to the bowls
before returning to the living room.  He echoed his childe's position
with Xander, using his left hand to stroke the young man's hair, "I
want to claim them, William, tonight."

"Are you daft?!  There's no way in 'ell they're ready for that!"
Spike whispered harshly, "and what do you mean by them, you nonce?!
There's no way you're touching Red!"

"Right of the Sire, me boy, and relax!  Do you want to wake them?"
Angel hissed, "I love Willow, but you know I think of her as a little
sister.  It's irrelevant anyway, I only want to initiate the first
half of the claiming.  You're right that they aren't ready for more
than that..."

"Damn straight I'm right--" Spike interrupted.

Angel continued as if hadn't been interrupted, "but I'd like to offer
them more protection than they have already.  If I claim them, they'd
automatically be under your protection as well."

Spike snorted, "Bugger that!  If you haven't noticed yet, Mate, being
under *your* protection won't mean squat to those who know you're a
pansy-ass vampire with a bleedin' *soul*."

Angel smiled predatorily, "I don't mind giving a few preventative
lessons, William."

The blonde vampire shuddered, immediately trying to cover it as a
shrug,  "Wouldn't hurt, Mate, as long as I'm not on the receiving
end."

Angel smiled warmly at his childe.  No matter how long and what they
went through, Spike was still his boy.  "If it makes you feel better,
we'll both initiate the first stage, as long as they agree to it.
That way they'll still have protection if something happens to one of
us."

"Who the fuck said anything was going to happen to y-us?!  I'm not
getting dusted anytime soon, Peaches," Spike snarled.

Angel caught his slip, but chose not to mention it, instead
saying, "Spike, I just want to double their chances."

"Fine," Spike relented, "but we should do it now so they'll heal
faster."

"Assuming they agree," Angel pointed out smoothing the hair back from
Xander's forehead.

Spike unwittingly echoed the gesture as he looked at the sleeping
Willow fondly, "right."
 

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