~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Part: 41~
Finally, after contemplating the idea of a permanent soul, and that the gypsies could have done that, but instead seemed to have put in some sort of escape clause, he decided that he needed to change the topic of his thoughts. Something else... right, more brooding about Willow and Spike. hmm, didn't Giles have a book about him, well, him when he was Angelus? If he did, that might cover far enough to include William. He could ask about that, and see what, if anything Giles and Jenny knew about Willow's boyfriend.
"Giles, what did you do with that one book, the Watcher's chronicle on Angelus?"
Giles looked at him, clearly not expecting the question. "It should be in the cage, on the bottom shelf inside the locked cupboard. I think I have the key here..." He paused, fishing around in the pocket of his jacket. "Yes, right here. It's the one with the green enamel on the top." With those words, he tossed the set of small keys to Angel.
Turning his back on the two mortals to search for that book, he spoke again, still trying to form a better plan of what to do about Willow and Spike. "What exactly did Willow say about her new boyfriend.. ah, her date that is?"
Giles spoke first, his voice with the slightly flat tone that said he was trying to remember something precisely as it had been reported to him. "She said that they had gone to the concert at the beach, and that the music was okay and her date was wonderful. She told me that his name was Spike, and he was, as she put it, surprisingly sweet. He's also, according to Willow, originally from London. They met at a poetry reading at the Espresso Pump."
Jenny added a bit to the description. "She said he was about so tall, with a gesture to give us an idea. I'd say maybe five ten or so. She said he has blue eyes, sharp cheekbones and bleached blond hair. She also mentioned a bit of an English accent, but not the same accent as Rupert here."
"Hmmmm." Angel was listening as he searched. The physical description did match, as did the originally from London and being at the concert. He'd never tried to describe William as sweet, and Spike hadn't given the impression earlier. So far, things were matching up, and he wasn't happy about it. There was the book! He pulled it out, taking it back to the table with him. "Anything else that she said about him?"
"Just that she'd already done a bit of investigation so that there would be, I believe the way she put it was, there would be no rude 'he's a demon' surprises. I must admit that I am a bit worried, even if she has ruled out the paranormal or demonic threats, there are still all sorts of potential troubles when dating, and considering that the fellow calls himself Spike... I worry about her. She's practically a daughter to me." Giles was looking at some papers now, clearly splitting his focus between the research on the curse, and talking to Angel.
Angel reached out, steadying himself against the doorway of the cage. No surprises? Investigation? Did that mean that Willow knew that Spike was a vampire? What else could it mean? How much did Willow know about his past? Well, so much for thinking that the idea that her boyfriend was a vampire would make Willow back off. Neither of the mortals seemed to have noticed his shock, a welcome relief to him.
He left the library, absently calling a thanks to Giles and Jenny for all the research that they had already done on the problem. He hoped that someone could find a solution, or even just figure out what that clause was, so he could avoid letting it happen. Part of his mind was trying to figure out how Willow knew. How much did she know, and from where? What did this mean for the future?
Unfortunately, he only had questions, and not nearly enough answers. Perhaps he could learn some answers soon. He made a note to talk to Willow tomorrow.
~Part: 42~
Wednesday, Willow was looking through a book in the library immediately after school. Buffy had reported seeing some demons on her Tuesday patrol, describing them as 'big, gray, scaly, you know, demony'. Giles had sighed in dismay, and they had began searching books hunting for the demons in question. She and Xander both had piles of books in front of them. Finally, Giles had located the demons in question, learning that they could be killed by simple decapitation. Buffy had gone out to hunt them, armed with a sword. Xander had at the same time, offering to patrol with her, so that he could 'guard her back', but Buffy turned him down.
The library seemed much quieter. Willow put down the book on Demons of Spain, which had been brought out on the idea that as some of the earliest settlers of California had been Spanish, that possibly the demons had been of Spanish ancestry as well.
With a thoughtful feeling, she picked up another book. It was a slender volume, and had been squashed between two very large books on demons, the front cover having actually been wedged into some of the ornamentation on the top demon book. It wasn't actually about demons at all, and had a relatively simple title, 'Sorcery and Souls'. Willow hoped that it would have something inside that could be useful in the efforts of the search that she and Dru were doing to find or create a spell to anchor Angel's soul.
She opened the book, and began to read, her tablet handy for taking notes. As she read, the slender margin of time left before the sun set passed away, unnoticed. She was still there reading when Angel let himself into the library.
He walked closer, listening for any sign that the redhead was not alone in the library. It was silent except for the soft noises of her breathing, the occasional scratch of a pencil moving over paper, and the swish of turning pages. He felt that same little impulse stir, the one that had him sneaking up on Giles all the time. How would Willow react? There was only one way to find out.
"What are you reading?"
Willow let out a short but piercing shriek, spinning around to face him, her face pale, eyes wide. He could hear her heart racing, smell the scent of her fear... He could also clearly see the pencil firmly clutched in her hand, slender, sharply pointed, and wooden. The chair toppled to the floor with a clatter.
He held his hands up and out in a gesture meant to make him look harmless, and tried to smile reassuringly. Part of him was amused by her reaction, so much more vocal than Giles or Jenny. Part of him was considering the idea that she might actually be willing to try to attack with that pencil. "It's only me. You can calm down. I'd really hate to be done in with a pencil."
"You... you startled me. I hadn't realized that it was dark out already. Umm... where did Giles go?" She was visibly forcing herself to calm down, and she had lowered the pencil, so that it was no longer aimed at him.
Angel shrugged slightly. "I didn't see him when I came in. Actually, I was looking for you. There were a few questions that I had."
He moved around, picking up the chair she'd been sitting in, quietly sitting in the chair across the table from her. "Promise, I'm still one of the good guys."
Willow blushed slightly, and put her pencil down beside the tablet. She fidgeted with it's placement for a bit, eventually deciding that she had tried to stall long enough. Looking up at him, she asked "What did you want to know?"
Angel smiled slightly. That was just the sort of opening he was hoping for. "Giles said you did a bit of investigating on your new boyfriend. Something about not wanting any demony surprises. So, how much did you learn when you looked into this?"
She looked at him, clearly attempting to glare, and grumbled, something about vampires and going right to the heart of things. "It's actually because of you, well that and Buffy. Remember when Dru first showed up and gave you the whole cryptic dragon soul message? Well, umm Buffy saw you talking to her and got jealous. We came in here, trying to find a name for this mystery woman that was talking to you. I found her picture in the Angelus Chronicle... ummm I guess the night you met her, I met Spike in the coffee shop. I just thought he was.. umm he sort of ended up sitting with me because there wasn't any other seats open, and I figured I wouldn't see him again. But then I did see him again, and after that then it occurred to me that he has the old kind of eyes, like you do... oh, not that you look old, but your eyes don't match your face, and that didn't sound right either."
She was blushing, and staring at her hands, which were sliding over each other like an ever shifting knot. "So, I thought since he had that sort of look to his eyes, maybe he was a vampire, so I looked through the Angelus book, since I umm sort of borrowed it to look and see what you were like before the soul. umm I don't think I want you to loose your soul, Angel. I found him at the end, or I found a picture of William, who was the youngest of your family, and I thought there was a resemblance, so I traced over the picture, changed the shirt, shortened and paled the hair, and left of the glasses, and it was Spike, which meant that he was the William in there, and.. I'm babbling again."
Angel sat there, tying to decipher that long explanation. Buffy had seen Dru talking to him. Willow had helped Buffy find out who Dru was. She had taken the Angelus Chronicle because she had wanted to know what would happen if he lost his soul... and she'd found William. He'd deciphered that much. But he still had more questions. "Willow, if you know... why are you seeing him? And does he know that you know?" He winced slightly at the way that had sounded. Cryptic was better sometimes.
She looked at him, as if debating with herself on how to answer him. "Angel, he seems to like me. He hasn't tried anything that would hurt me, not even once. I'm not going to hold it against him that he's dead. I don't think he knows that I know, I'm waiting to see if he's going to tell me. I've spent to much time hoping that someone would notice me, would want me to be worried about the fact that he sunburns in a really dramatic way and has a liquid diet.. Angel, can vampires.. I mean, do vampires eat food? Do you get anything out of it?"
He would never understand how her mind worked. She had been saying that Spike hadn't tried anything, that she wanted to be wanted and didn't care if he couldn't do daylight, and then she was asking about vampires and food. He had no idea how the topics were related, if they even were. "Food? Minions don't, some fledglings and masters do, mostly so they can blend better. As for do we get anything out of it.. unless it's rare meat, just the taste. And only in small portions."
She smiled, as if pleased by something. "Okay, now, do we have the whole I'm dating Spike thing cleared? I think I'd like to go home now, I hadn't realized how late it had gotten."
"Fair enough. I'll walk you home."
~Part: 43~
Angel was quiet the whole trip to Willow's house. Glancing over, Willow could see that he was brooding again. Willow wondered just what he was brooding about this time: Her involvement with Spike, Buffy seeing Scott, the possibility that he could loose his soul, or the same old 'I've killed so many people' brood that they were all used to seeing. Maybe some combination of those choices. When she looked at it that way, she could understand why he brooded so much.
Eventually, they reached the house, which was dark. Angel frowned at it, as if it had somehow annoyed him. Willow pulled out her keys, unlocking the door. Turning to look at him, she gave a slight smile. "I know you're worried. It's sweet that you care, but.. I'm going to do this. Thanks for walking me home, Angel."
She watched as Angel turned and walked away, clearly unhappy about something. Shaking her head slightly, she walked back into the house. He certainly brooded a lot, maybe there was a clause about that in the gypsy spell. If she and Dru had to make a new spell, she wanted to leave out anything designed to give him more than his fair share of pain and guilty misery.
Slightly distracted, Willow walked to her room, flipping on the light as she entered. Looking up, she froze in surprise. Placed beside her computer was a basket arrangement of flowers, little to medium sized blooms in a brilliant array of color and shape. How did those get in here? She found herself walking towards them, a big smile on her face. Inhaling the scent of flowers, the first flowers that anyone had ever given her, she sighed happily. Flowers... someone had given her flowers.
Looking over at her bed, she noticed there was something sitting there, a box, perhaps as thick as a textbook, dark in color, and wrapped with a deep red ribbon. She put the flowers down and walked over, curious as to what else could have been left for her. It was a box of chocolates, expensive assorted chocolates with nuts, or caramel, or cherries, or creme fillings.
Willow bounced slightly, giving this little squeak of pure happiness. The only person that it could have been was Spike. He had given her flowers and chocolates... wasn't that just too sweet? Oh, he was definitely worth keeping, and it looked like maybe he wanted a relationship with her.. something serious. Flowers and chocolate, he'd given her coffee as well.
Over at the not so abandoned factory, Dru grinned. She could hear Spikey growling in the other room. He'd gone in with some paper and a pen, and now he was all growly. It was almost funny, what could the paper do to make him upset? He could be silly sometimes.
She picked up the stack of paper that she had carefully written. There were passages from her books and scrolls, notes on some of the longer chapters about how to properly shape a spell, and a few spells that she knew to bind something not solid to something that was solid. She would go talk to the little tree, maybe they could make some progress finding a nice solid spell for her angel.
She packed everything into a tapestry bag she'd bought, one with a picture of lovely little butterfly girls sitting on big flowers, all happy and smiling as they had tea. Frowning slightly, she went over to the tank where she had put the amulets, and fished out two of them. One was carved out of a pale almost white stone, and the other was a deep red. Oh yes, white for a soul, and red for blood, they would be perfect.
She headed down the street, off to see the little tree. The tree was a very sweet person, made her feel all welcome and accepted. She would be a perfect addition to the family. She would also be good for Spikey. As she walked, she listened to the stars, singing pretty songs in her head.
She saw the big owl, walking down the street. He was holding the hand of someone, a woman with dark hair. She looked more closely, listening carefully to what the stars sang. It was so much easier when it was Miss Edith whispering things to her. A person could get lost in the songs from the stars. They whispered that the woman with the owl had some magic, that she could make her spells work through the magic box of secrets. They whispered that she had a secret, and then they sang more, telling her what the woman was hiding.
Why were there always gypsies lurking near her daddy? First they had taken him away, and now there was another one here, spying on him. This wasn't the nasty old hag that had taken her daddy though. This one was younger, and used different magic's, but she had the same blood in her.
She would have to talk to the little tree about this. She couldn't keep the angel safe all of the time, and if the gypsy were a danger, the tree needed to know.
~Part: 44~
Willow was sitting in her room, savoring one of the chocolates. It was dark chocolate over this almost sweet nut, and it was absolutely wonderful. She was distracted from her chocolaty rapture by something pinging off her bedroom window. The sound was repeated, a sharp pinging noise. Yep, definitely something hitting her window, some sort of small stone.
She got up, moving towards the window. Was it Spike, coming over to visit her? Something dangerous? Buffy wanting to gush over her date with Scott? Xander wanting emergency help with his math and not wanting to use the phone? There was only one way to find out. She looked out through the window, using the light of the half moon overhead to try to see.
Dru was standing there, with a bag held in one hand, holding something in the other. Seeing Willow, she dropped whatever had been in her hand, and waved, grinning at Willow. Smiling slightly, Willow opened the door, looking at the dark haired vampiresss that had become her friend. "Hey Dru. What's up? What do you have in the bag, and did you see the? Spike gave me flowers!"
Dru smiled, moving towards the door. "I didn't see them, he got them after he went away. He's being all growly over some paper, I left him to be by himself. Growly bears get no cake. May I see the flowers? Oh, I have some things that might help keep the angel's soul here."
Willow giggled, trying to imagine why Spike would be growling at paper. "Sure, come in. They're sooo pretty, nobody's ever given me flowers before."
Dru followed Willow into her bedroom, looking around at everything with curiosity. She saw the bright assortment of flowers and went over, looking quite impressed by them. There was a tank of bright fish, and it was with a trace of envy that she noticed that the tree's little fishies swam around.
"Little tree, why is your house all quiet? Is everybody asleep? Oh, I saw the big owl tonight, he was walking down the street with the young gypsy. Not the old nasty one that took my daddy away, but a young gypsy, and she makes spells with her box of secrets, like yours over there." Dru gestured at Willow's computer, her expression serious.
Willow sat down, trying to puzzle out Dru's meaning. She wasn't even aware that her words were spoken out loud. "The big owl is Giles.. and if he was out walking... Miss Calander? She'd the computer teacher, and a techno-pagan, but... hmm spells on the box of secrets. I guess that's better than what Giles calls it. As for the house, it's all quiet because.. it's empty. My parents aren't here. They won't be for a while, not another few weeks at least."
"He gave me a box of chocolates as well. Would you like one?" She held out the opened box towards Dru. After a few moments inspection, Dru picked out a roundish one, milk chocolate with sort of a wave pattern over it.
Smiling, Dru nibbled at it delicately, clearly enjoying every little bite. When it had all been devoured, she looked up, licking the last trace of chocolate from her lips. "I found some things. Little broken bits of stories and wisdom. I thought with them we might be able to make a strong spell, not like the fragile one the nasty old gypsy used. You are a fire fairy, I can see the power swirling around you, all gold and red and sparkling, like firelight on the water. We can work together to make the spell hold tightly... I wrote down a few ways to do that, see? I have pages for you to look over now."
Willow took the pages, noting that Dru had very pretty handwriting. She was about to start searching though them, when she remembered the other thing she'd wanted to ask Dru about. "Umm Dru? Do you think.. could the nasty old gypsy have put in something to make Angel brood all the time? Because, if she did, we definitely want to leave that part out when we make our spell.. and when did we decide that I was casting it? I'm not a witch, I'm just.. Willow."
Dru tilted her head, looking at Willow. Her fingers were twining thought her hair, curling a lock around her finger and then unwinding it slowly. "She might have, the mean old thing. She wanted my daddy to suffer and be sad. I don't want something like that in our spell either. And you have to help. I'm not strong enough to cast something that big by myself. You are the fire fairy, all fairies have magic powers."
Willow blinked a few times, trying to wrap her mind around the idea that she, Willow Rosenberg, had magical powers. That Dru didn't just want her to help write up a spell, but to cast it. it was entirely unexpected, but so was her friendship with Dru, and her what exactly did she have with Spike? He'd given her flowers, that made it a relationship, right? Deciding she liked the sound of that, Willow smiled, having decided that if she could be friends with Dru, and in a relationship with Spike, she could cast a spell to anchor Angel's soul.
She settled down to look over Dru's papers, hoping that there was enough logic and pattern to the whole theory of spell writing that she wouldn't be to much of a hindrance with that. She found that it actually wasn't any harder to follow than most of the ways to fight demons. She was gaining confidence that she could do this, at least, as long as it didn't have to be in a foreign language.
~Part: 45~
School on Thursday had been rather annoying for Willow, which was an unusual situation. Xander had asked her to help him review his math during her one study hall, so she had agreed, only to discover that when he'd said review, what he'd really meant was 'help! I don't understand any of this and I have a test on it today!' Xander had been ignoring his classes. For some reason, he'd expected Willow to be able to make up for his non-study habits.
Buffy had spent most of lunch talking about how wonderful her date with Scott had been last night, and a mention of Owen giving her a poem. She had finished with a little query of 'why hadn't she seen Angel lately?' Buffy had apparently been juggling Scott and Owen, and slaying, and had been annoyed that Angel wasn't lurking in wait for a moment of her time. Willow had managed not to scream at her friend, but the temptation had been there. She had stopped by the library on her way home, telling Giles that she'd already made plans for tonight, but she was still working on that 'special project' and she would be in tomorrow to discuss it.
Willow had gone home, changing her shirt for the evening. She was hoping that she could go watch that movie with Spike. Hoping to pass the time before she went to meet him, she finished her homework. Treating herself to a few of the chocolates before she left, Willow went out the door to meet Spike at the Espresso Pump. He was really sweet, and thoughtful and considerate. It occurred to Willow that she was falling for Spike.
She was waiting, perched at one of the small tables and sipping hot coffee. To the right, she could recognize Harmony and a few of the other popular girls, alternating between sighing over Owen and catching up on the high school gossip. One of them noticed her there, and made a few snide remarks about Willow being too much of a looser to have a date, and how only geeks and professors went to poetry readings alone. She was trying to ignore them.
Her evening brightened considerably when Spike came into the building. Spike sauntered in, his whole body language projecting confidence and a hint of danger. Tonight, he was wearing a black leather long coat over his jeans and tee shirt, and he was just the perfect picture of the bad boy. She could hear the popular girls whispering about him, trying to figure out who he was. She smiled slightly, hoping that they wouldn't pester Spike in front of her.
He dropped into the seat across the small table from her, smiling in greeting. She could tell that he could hear the girls behind them, and he looked like he was planning something. "Sorry I'm late, Willow luv. I ran into a spot of traffic. We'd planned to see that movie, think tonight would work for it?"
She could feel her mood brightening as he sat there. He still wanted to see the movie with her. Wonderful. Smiling she answered him. "The movie sounds great. And the chocolates were delicious, thank you."
They could both hear half smothered noises of disbelief and jealousy from the girls. Spike grinned as they got out of the seats, and then leaned forward, catching her lips with his own in a kiss that soon became quite passionate. It broke in the end because Willow needed to breath. There was only stunned silence as they left, his arm around Willow's shoulders, her head leaning on him.
That kiss had left Willow feeling amazed. They'd kissed Tuesday, but those had been much smaller, more tame than that had been. That kiss had been an expression of passion and desire, making Willow feel like Spike was trying to memorize the taste of her, to devour her lips with his own. She felt as if she should be floating. Instead, they walked out of the building, and he opened the passenger door of his car for her, assisting her into it as if she were a grand lady.
The cheerleaders had no idea what to think. Shy mousy little Willow Rosenberg had not only been kissed by the most incredibly sexy guy, they had left the building together. There was no mistaking the way his eyes had lit up when he saw her, or doubting the intensity of that kiss. How in the world had Willow got herself someone like that? He was sexy, and older, and sexy and dangerous, and he had a sexy accent, and did they mention how incredibly hot he'd looked?
~Part: 46~
Willow was still smiling as they went into the theater. He'd kissed her... with quite a lot of enthusiasm. She'd liked it a lot, actually. Now, they were going to see a movie, with period costumes, and fabulous sets, and also a good deal of violence. But, since it was safe violence, the sort that was on screen and therefore couldn't spill over and swamp Willow, that was okay.
Spike bought the tickets, and then he bought them each a drink, and there was a bag of popcorn, which he nearly drowned in hot butter flavoring. What was in Butter flavor anyhow? Did it have any similarity to real butter? Actually, there are some questions better left unanswered. They found a pair of seats, towards the back, and under the overhang of the projection booth.
They sat down, hands soon finding each other, and Willow tucked her feet up, leaning on his shoulder. The movie started, and they were soon pulled into the world of the movie, with swordfights and horseback riding, long gowns for the women, and impressive castles decorating the scenery. There were a few points in the movie that startled her, and she would jump, grabbing Spike's arm, and then offer a small, hesitant smile, in something, not quite embarrassment, or apology, because she rather liked clinging to him.
Eventually, the movie ended, and they drove back to Willow's house. Somehow, she and Spike ended up sitting on the back porch, kissing each other, hands brushing cheeks and shoulders, moving closer until Willow found herself sitting on Spike's lap. Willow could feel her stomach fluttering, part nerves, part anticipation. Spike kissed along her cheek, nibbling slightly at the corner of her jaw, encouraged by the little noises of pleasure that Willow was making. He trailed down the side of her neck, and Willow was certain that as he kissed along her throat, the skin on her neck became more sensitive, more receptive to whatever was happening. She felt herself melting against him, and she could feel a gradual change in his teeth as he played with her neck. They became a bit sharper, less even. She knew that he had shifted to his vampire features.
Suddenly, he stopped, turning his face away from her throat, resting his chin on her head. She could tell that he was trying not to let her see him, not to find out his 'secret'. At this point, she didn't care, it had felt so good to have him nibbling on her neck. Her voice, when she spoke was high and breathy. "Spike? Is something.. wrong? You stopped..."
She could feel him swallow once, then again, his throat moving against her cheek. "No, Willow luv, nothings...wrong. Just sort of remembered something that I should... umm... probably mention to you."
She smiled, wondering if he could feel the expression. "You realize you're stammering? It must be something... you can tell me."
"Ahh... you know how I'm a bit older than you? It's actually more than a little bit.. and.... oh bloody hell this is harder than I thought. Red, the thing is, I'm a... I'm not exactly.. well, I'm a vampire."
She could feel his arms tighten around her, as if he were afraid she would try to run away from him. Instead, she curled one arm around him, pulling herself in closer to him in a sort of hug. "I'm glad you told me. Can I see?"
He loosened his grip on her slightly, and she leaned back, not trying to get away, but simply wanting to see his other face. His vampire features. She felt a small stirring of something, but it didn't last. She looked at him, with his golden eyes and sharp teeth, and saw her Spike. She raised her other hand, trembling slightly, and ran her fingers over his brow, tracing over his scar. Her words were a bare whisper, a breath given shape. "You are My Spike. All of you, man and vampire, if you'll let me... be mine?"
His eyes widened in surprise, and he made a small gasping noise, as if her words were a complete surprise to him. She continued to run her fingers over him, wanting to learn this shape of this face as well. She met his eyes, no more nervous than she had been before. He was trembling under her fingers, and then this odd vibration started, with a faint rumbling noise... It was with a bit of startlement that Willow realized that Spike was purring.
"It doesn't bother you? Not going to run off to the Slayer or Angel? Ohh, that feels good..." Spike's voice had dropped slightly, and taken on a huskier tone.
"Why should I have a problem with you having hmm a few different major health concerns than I do? You haven't hurt me, haven't even tried, why should I want anything bad to happen? I've wanted someone to want me for so long... as for Angel, he's a vampire to, just in case anyone was trying to forget. I read up on him... he's got a Watcher's Chronicle for Angelus and his family. I recognized your picture... you were William, and your hair was darker, and there was a bit of curl to it." She ran her fingers through his hair as she spoke, mussing the smooth shape of it.
"Let me in? Let me get to know you, who you were, how you became the person you are now?" She looked at him, hoping that he could read the sincerity in her eyes.
~Part: 47~
She'd looked marvelous all night. The movie had been pretty good, even better with her giving these adorable little squeaks and grabbing his arm every time the cannons fired, or something collapsed. So, when the movie was over, it was understandable that Spike didn't want the evening to be over. He'd looked into her jewel green eyes, and he could feel himself falling deeper for her every moment. She was looking back with this expression, such a tempting mix of innocence and desire.
They'd ended up sitting on the back porch, enjoying the night breeze and kissing. Soft touches and gentle caresses, and he'd ended up with his Willow, snuggled onto his lap, all warm and alive and so incredibly tempting. They'd been kissing, and he'd found himself kissing along her pulse, taking tiny nibbles, playing with her throat, enjoying the sounds of pleasure that she was making. He could almost taste her blood, and it would be so sweet...
Oh bloody hell. His face had shifted. He wasn't simply kissing Willow, no longer simply bringing her pleasure, he was a few moments shy of tasting her. From marking her as his in the eyes of every single vampire in the area... He hadn't told her. He hadn't told her that he wasn't a mortal like she was, hadn't told her that he existed on blood, that he would never grow old, could never go to the sunny beach with her. He pulled himself from her tempting throat, putting his chin on her head, trying to get a hold of himself, to pull his emotions and instincts back under control.
Willow spoke, her voice high and breathy. "Spike? Is something.. wrong? You stopped..."
Wrong? He managed to restrain his first impulse, which was to say that the only problem was that he wanted to claim her as his and taste her sweetness, and show her so many things that she'd never imagined... He couldn't tell her that. He swallowed those words back down. What if she was afraid that he didn't want her, that he had stopped because of some foolishness... He swallowed again, and this time managed to say a few words. "No, Willow luv, nothing's...wrong. Just sort of remembered something that I should... umm... probably mention to you."
"You realize you're stammering? It must be something... you can tell me." He could feel her breath against his throat as she spoke. It was having this incredible effect on him, making him want to carry her inside and ravish her on her bed, make her scream his name in pleasure over and over.....
"Ahh... you know how I'm a bit older than you? It's actually more than a little bit.. and.... oh bloody hell this is harder than I thought. Red, the thing is, I'm a... I'm not exactly.. well, I'm a vampire." He had to explain, he had to tell her. Even if it was a risk of her panicking, of her being afraid of him. the small chance that she could deal with that was worth it. The only other option was the certainty of losing her.
He had tightened his hold on her, wanting to have her in his arms one last time, certain that she would pull away in fear, or dismay. But she didn't, instead she curled one arm around him, pulling herself in closer to him in a sort of hug. "I'm glad you told me. Can I see?"
He loosened his grip on her slightly, and she leaned back, not trying to get away, but simply looking at him, with his golden eyes and sharp teeth, and raised her other hand, trembling slightly, and ran her fingers over his bow, tracing over his scar. Her words were a bare whisper, a breath given shape. "You are My Spike. All of you, man and vampire, if you'll let me... be mine?"
He could feel everything inside of him still with surprise, and he made a small gasping noise that shifted into a low purr as she continued to run her fingers over his shifted features. "It doesn't bother you? Not going to run off to the Slayer or Angel? Ohh, that feels good..." Spike's voice had dropped slightly, and taken on a huskier tone.
"Why should I have a problem with you having hmm a few different major health concerns than I do? You haven't hurt me, haven't even tried, why should I want anything bad to happen? I've wanted someone to want me for so long... as for Angel, he's a vampire to, just in case anyone was trying to forget. I read up on him... he's got a Watcher's Chronicle for Angelus and his family. I recognized your picture... you were William, and your hair was darker, and there was a bit of curl to it." She ran her fingers through his hair as she spoke, mussing the smooth shape of it.
"Let me in? Let me get to know you, who you were, how you became the person you are now?" She looked at him, her eyes filled with hope and desire and trust, so beautiful in the moonlight.
There was no way on earth that he could have refused her. He had wanted her forever. He had even wrote poetry about her, she had moved into his mind and heart, taken up residence inside of him. "You're already inside me, luv. I could no more refuse you that I could take up sunbathing. If you'll have me, I'm yours. All I ask in return is you. Everything I am for all that you are."
He kissed her, no longer worried that she would run from his golden eyes. He wanted her so much that it hurt, but it was a delicious sort of pain. She was kissing him back, unafraid of him, running her tongue over his teeth, pressing her body close to his, so close that he could feel her heartbeat against his chest. One of his teeth caught her tongue, just a little, but enough to cut the edge, enough to let her blood flow into his mouth. He could taste her, sweet with kindness and compassion, spicy with some sort of power, and mixed with innocence. Willow's power tasted of ginger and fire, like describing the flavor of lightning, not like the power of a vampire, which tasted of shadows and secrets and ages.
The realization was amazing to him. Willow had never given herself to a mortal lover, had never been shown the joys of passion. He would be her only teacher in such joys. The only one to know her passions, the color of her eyes when she was lost in ecstasy. No mortal had looked long enough to see her true beauty, no mortal had found her first. As much as it would be a torment to him, and a test of his patience, it would be best to take that a bit more slowly.
"Unless you want me to ravish you until the sun rises, I should go, my Willow. I'll be here tomorrow, as soon as I can after the sun sets. I think... I want to talk to you about Claiming, and what it would entail.. Oh, luv, I want to claim you so that every vampire can tell you're mine. But, you should know what it means first." He moved to stand up, still holding her in his arms, and something crackled in his coat, something papery, and he remembered.
"Here, let me carry you in, I have a present for you." He carried her inside, and to her bedroom, removing her shoes after he placed her on the bed. She was laying on the multi colored comforter, her hair spread like a crimson halo around her, eyes sparkling with desire and curiosity.
He reached into the inside pocket of his duster, and pulled out three sheets of paper, placing them beside her flowers. "Those are for you, Willow. I'd..best go now. Dream of me?"
Seeing her sweet smile, he turned to leave, blowing her a kiss goodnight. Walking out the door from her was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his existence. Tomorrow, he promised himself. Tomorrow, after I've explained Claiming, and how that works, then there can be pleasure until dawn. There will be, he could promise her that.
Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough for Spike.
~Part: 48~
Angel was walking and brooding, again. Willow knew that Spike was a vampire, and she was still was willing to see what they could have. She honestly seemed to want to give him a chance. Even knowing what sort of things he'd done, even knowing that he'd been of the family of Angelus, part of the Scourge of Europe... it still mattered more to Willow that Spike liked her. She was willing to accept Spike, man and vampire.
Buffy... she either ignored the fact that he was a vampire, they argued about it, or she claimed that it was fate, screwing with her life again. Of course, she hadn't been doing that lately, she'd been to busy with some mortal. Some mortal, and she hadn't even bothered to tell him what was going on.. and exactly what was going on anyhow? Had she decided to replace him with the mortal? Was she trying to have them both? He wouldn't stand for that, and if he ever got a chance to talk to Buffy about it, he wanted to get some answers.
It had barely even registered that he was growling from his frustration. Giles and Jenny were trying to learn what they could about his soul curse. Buffy... God only knew what Buffy was thinking about the whole mess. Maybe that was why she was spending her time with Scott? Because the mortal boy couldn't loose his soul? He had just managed to find a semblance of acceptance from everyone when this mess happened. "Grrrr."
"Why all growly, my angel? Have you been skipping meals?"
Dru's voice broke him from his thoughts. He hadn't even paid attention to the feeling of her approaching. She was looking at him, her dark eyes curious, carrying a bag of.. were those M&M's that Dru held? It was an M&M bag, so one could at least hope that it still held the little chocolate candies.
"Dru. I've been thinking about what you said. About the dragon eating my soul. They haven't been happy thoughts. Maybe I could just kill this dragon and make everything simple again..." Dru - the whole confusing mess had started when she came back into his life. How she had known, but she had visions of the future. That was one of the reasons why he - Angelus, no, he had turned her. What vision had she seen?
She giggled, somehow amused by his words of killing the dragon. "Ohh, I'd like it if you killed the dragon. So would Spikey... nasty yellow dragon would try to keep him away from his tree. The nasty old gypsy made her spell all fragile... she wanted it to be able to break. But if it did, there would be fire and screams.. you would be a very bad daddy then. I don't want a bad daddy, we already had a bad mummy. But don't worry, I'm here to help you. I want to make everything all better. Spikey will get his little tree. The fire fairy promised... she will help me make a new spell, one that will make your shiny soul stay with you forever.. she said it would stick like superglue and bubblegum. But we want all that nasty dark guilt to go away, all you do is mope."
Dru was working with a fire fairy? Was this an actual fairy or a person? Spike wanted his tree... suddenly, that clicked into focus for him. Dru said Spike wanted a tree, Spike was seeing Willow, and there was a type of tree called a willow tree, which made the little tree Willow Rosenberg. Trying to decipher Dru was going to give him a headache. Wait... what had Dru said about the spell? "Dru, what do you mean, the old gypsy made the spell fragile?"
Smiling as if he had just said something very clever, Dru stepped closer, her fingers trailing from his ribcage up his chest. They traced little patterns on the side of his neck, sending a shiver of desire through him. "I talked to my friend, the fire fairy. She had papers from the box of secrets... words about the spell the old gypsy used. She made it fragile, so that it would break in fire and gold, the ties that kept your soul would burn away and your soul would fly..fly away on dark wings."
She leaned in, her body brushing against his as she whispered into his ear. "The fire fairy is going to help me. She said if the gypsy spell is bad, why not make a new one to hold you all together? We will make you all better, hold you in one piece for all the days of forever. She promised me that she would help. She won't go back on her word."
Reaching up, Dru kissed him, tasting the sorrow on his lips, her arms wrapping around his body. Angel could feel himself responding, and he found himself kissing back, almost the way he would have kissed her decades before. Her lips tasted of chocolate, and the faintest hint of blood, and she was filled with passion. He felt breathless, as if a gaping chasm of possibility had just opened in front of him.
Dru looked at him, her eyes full of sorrow and promise. "I can't stay right now. It's to soon for any naughty games... if we play now, it would be bad. I won't be a dark dragon, I want to be a good girl. Don't worry, my angel. We will make our new spell, and you can be mine again.. I can make you happy."
Dru slipped away into the shadows, vanishing from his sight. Her words remained, leaving him with new questions. He was only certain of a few things. Dru still wanted him. She knew that Spike wanted Willow. Last, Dru had said that she had someone that was trying to help her find a way to make his soul permanent.
He raised his fingers to his lips, still tasting Dru. She had kissed him, had wanted him. She still wanted him, even after he had disappeared so many years ago. There was also no way that he could deny that he still wanted her, his body still craved the touch of her body, still wanted to feel her smooth skin. Would she still taste of honey and secrets?
Best to go home before the night got any more confusing. Angel hurried back to his apartment, puzzling over Dru's words. He was also remembering the way she had kissed him, full of passion for him. This was not what he had expected to find on his walk.
~Part: 49~
Angel had been very disturbed by Dru's words. They had been unsettling, and he was certain that they were very important. He had tried to get in touch with Giles after he'd made it to his apartment, but there had been no answer at the library, or at the Watcher's home number. He had reluctantly settled for writing down Dru's words, then underlining some of them that he wanted to talk about.
Finally satisfied that he had marked down all the important phrases, Angel folded the paper and set it aside to take to talk to Giles. He drank some of the blood from his refrigerator, purchased from the slaughterhouse. The blood was from the slaughtered cattle, and he could tell that it was mixed, from several of the animals. The flavor was dull, given only a bare hint of flavor by the confused fear that the cattle had know before they had died. It was sufficient to sustain him, that had to be enough.
He dreamed, reliving nights of hunting and killing, this time caring about the fear and pain on the faces of his victims. The remembered screams and pleas for mercy stung deep into him, causing him to toss and turn, restless and uneasy as he slept. He remembered Dru finding William, remembered teaching him to kill, to cause pain first to add that extra flavor to the blood of their prey.
They had been a family. They would kill for each other, to keep each other safe, to keep each other happy. One of the earliest things they had done after bringing William into the family had been to find the woman that had crushed his heart. They had found the golden Cecily, making her plead and beg for death before killing her. Her blood had carried such an interesting blend of fear and despair and denial as they had all drained her...
He remembered Rosa Kalderash, how he and Darla had played cruel games with the girl before killing her. How her family had retaliated with powerful magic. He remembered the feeling of alien power forcing its way into him, a burning pain and pressure. How he had fallen to the ground near them, looked up in confusion, seeing the whole clan staring at him, their eye filled with suspicion, grief and anger. Old dreams, the pain well known to him, familiar.
Something was different. Tonight, the clan of gypsies had another with them. Jenny Calander was there, her features blending with the gypsies easily, as if she was one of them, only her clothing making her easily discernable. She was looking at him, the only one who's features were not twisted with anger and grief. She moved towards him, her expression serious. She spoke, but the words were not her own, and her voice was overlapped, as if the words were spoken at the same time by Jenny and also by an old woman.
"Angelus... your soul has been bound to you. We have bound it with ties of anger and guilt, that you will suffer for your actions. You will know pain and guilt, despair and the memory of every foul act that you have committed. Such is the vengeance of the Kalderash clan."
He awoke, gasping for unneeded air, the taste of fear sour in his mouth. That hadn't been the normal dream. He had always dreamed things as they had happened, he had never dreamed the people of now standing at his judgment all those years ago. She had looked like one of them.
Angel did not try to sleep again that day. He showered, hoping to wash away the memories under pounding water. Trying to find something to do that was not contemplating his past, he cleaned his apartment. Eventually, he gave up his useless efforts to prevent himself from brooding over his dream. Nothing was working very well anyhow. He decided to head through the tunnels to the high school. He would talk to Giles, possibly Jenny as well. He put the paper in his pocket, so that they could join him in being confused about Dru's words.
He climbed into the basement of the school, emerging from the sewer access. While he wasn't at all certain why there needed to be an entry to the sewers in the basement of the school, it did make things convenient for him to drop in. The school was quiet, telling him that classes were over for the day. There might still be some of the athletes here, practicing outside, but most of the people had gone home.
Giles was in the library, putting away some of the equipment that he used to help Buffy train. He looked a bit rumpled. Angel walked into the library, wondering if they would be startled to see him, or if they were starting to get the idea that he would be checking on this often until they figured out what was going on with his soul. Willow was sitting at the computer, apparently referencing something, perhaps for the soul curse, perhaps for a school project.
"By chance do you know where Jenny is?" He spoke, pitching his voice to carry into the room. Maybe his dream was just a new torment, maybe there was no deeper meaning....
Willow looked at him, her eyes bright with questions, as usual. She turned in her chair, twisting so that she was facing him before she spoke. "She was trying to run that translation program in the computer lab. I think she loaded her program on all the computers and had each one working on a portion of the text, on the idea that it would go faster that way. You look awfully pa.... ummm I mean, are you okay?"
He almost laughed... Willow had just barely stopped herself from saying that he looked pale. She had Spike's scent all over her... he was torn between wanting to know what they had done, did he need to protect her? and not wanting to know. The computer lab... well, it would probably be easier to use a computer translation in there. He sat at the table, feeling tired suddenly.
"I didn't sleep well. I ran into Dru last night. She said some things... odd things. And... I spent a lot of time thinking about how that encounter went, and trying to analyze it." Best not to bring up the kiss. He decided to leave that out.
Giles looked at him, the man's expression showing curiosity and worry. "What exactly is normal for Drusilla? Do you think these odd things pertain to the current question about your soul?"
Looking at Giles and Willow, Angel nodded. “She was definitely referring to the soul for part of it. I'm not certain if her comment about Spikey wanting a tree had any connection to this or not. I said that maybe I should just kill this dragon and make things simple again, but she just laughed about that." Willow made an odd muffled noise at that, as if she was trying not to comment. He made a mental note to talk to her about that later. "Dru also said that she had help."
Willow's eyes widened, and he could tell that she was slightly apprehensive. Giles looked curious, and made that little hmm noise. It was obvious that neither of them knew what he was going to say, but they were both interested. He felt a bit of gleeful anticipation.
"She said that there was a fire fairy helping her. This fairy was going to help her make a new spell to hold my soul in place. There was also something about the gypsy spell being fragile, and bringing dark guilt. There was something about the dragon burning away the ties of my soul... I think she meant that the dragon could break the spell." He frowned as he recalled something else Dru had said. "She also accused me of moping."
Willow had gasped when he mentioned Dru's words about the dragon burning the ties of his soul. Not an expression of pure surprise, or even surprise and concern, like what Giles had done. No, Willow had sounded like something had fallen into place for her. Perhaps there was something that Spike had told her? No, she had said that Spike hadn't told her that he was a vampire, how would he bring up Dru and the soul spell?
Giles frowned, as if in thought. "I think perhaps I'd best go see if Jenny has made any progress on translating that spell. It sounds like it could be very important."
Giles hurried out of the library, muttering about dragons and burning. He could almost feel the tension radiating from the watcher. Angel was left in the library with Willow. He looked at her, and spoke.
" I think we need to talk, Willow."
~Part: 50~
Willow looked at Angel, her eyes wide, and everything about her nervous. She glanced at the computer before looking back at him. "Ummm what did you want to talk about, Angel?"
He smiled, wondering if she knew just how uneasy she looked. How worried. "Why, I want to know what you know about Dru and her dragon warning, of course."
He could see her pale a few more shades, and she swallowed a few times. She closed her eyes, as if trying to calm herself. If that was her goal, whatever she was trying wasn't working very well.
"Would you believe me if I said I had no idea?" Willow's voice had a slight tremble, and ended on a higher note.
Shaking his head slightly, Angel grinned at her. "Not a chance. Especially after changing colors so interestingly. Basically, we can do this the easy way, where you talk now, or I can follow you and lurk until you talk."
She sighed, letting her breath out until it looked like she was deflating. Looking at him from under her hair, she caught his eyes. "Buffy doesn't know, and I'd like it to stay that way as long as possible. Giles... will probably flip, so can we tall him later?"
Angel nodded, wondering what she would say that had her so convinced that Giles would be upset. Other than the fact that she was dating Spike. If she would talk, he could keep her words to himself.
"I know who the dragon is. I umm I met Dru one night. I had went outside to watch a meteor shower, and there she was. She called me a little tree. She talked about how she had come to save her not daddy, her angel. Then she said that her daddy wasn't the same as she used to be. Buffy had already asked me to help look up Dru, so I'd known that she was a childe of Angelus, which meant that you were her daddy, or not-daddy. We talked a bit... she mentioned Buffy and called her a taffy girl, and then she umm.. it's kind of hard to summarize, you just have to listen, you know? Well, she was talking about a taffy girl, and a yellow dragon, and I figured out that it was the same person, and that person is Buffy."
Buffy was the dragon?!? He could feel his head spinning. Dear god... he had suggested killing the dragon... he couldn't kill Buffy. How could Buffy make him lose his soul? What had that bit about fire and passion? "Buffy is the dragon?" He could barely whisper the words, looking at Willow in shock.
She looked at him, her eyes full of sympathy. Willow walked over to sit near him, placing her hand on his arm. "Nobody wants you to hurt Buffy. Well, Spike and Dru might like it, but they aren't asking it of you. Dru and I talked, we figured that if we kept you and Buffy apart until we knew what the deal was about the spell, everything would be okay. Then, as we got some information about the spell, it looks like there's this nasty clause thingy in it. Dru said the old gypsy made the curse fragile, so that it would break, which I think means there's the escape clause. No firm decision on what that is, just half guesses, and that it has something to do with you and Buffy, but I don't know if it's because she's the slayer or because of this thing you and Buffy have or what."
Looking at Willow, he wondered how she had been having these conversations with Dru. How had nobody guessed? "Dru said that she didn't want to be a dark dragon, she wanted to be a good girl. That naughty games would have to wait, whatever that meant."
Willow looked thoughtful for a few moments, attempting to decipher Dru's words, and then her eyes went wide and her face went a deep crimson. "OH!! umm I think I know what she meant. oh dear... umm not an image that I needed ever to have.... I think I know how the dragon would burn away the ties of your soul."
"Willow, I need to know. What do you think this clause means?" Part of his mind was wondering exactly why she was blushing so much. What image could she have possibly had to result in that?
"Sex." Willow somehow turned an even brighter red, looking incredibly embarrassed. "I mean... there were notes about eternal suffering and misery... not a single moments peace. If you and Buffy.. or Dru umm.... you know... did that, you.. wouldn't be feeling very miserable for at least a little bit, right? oh this is so not a conversation I wanted to have with you... If you have a moments.. umm.. happiness, I think Dru's saying that it would break the spell and your soul would go away."
Angel could feel the world spinning around him. If he knew a moments rest from his torments, he would loose his soul? That had to be the most horrible thing... "Why? Why would they put such a clause in there? Couldn't they see how easy it would be to .... to break it?"
"I don't know. Dru said that the old gypsy was a very naughty woman, and should be punished for making the spell fragile. There was also some stuff about how if it broke, you wouldn't be the same as you'd been before, but she didn't say if that would be part of the spell or because of the cows blood. I.. didn't ask about it. I definitely don't want to get into a discussion about the comparative tastes of different types of blood. No better idea that maybe she inhaled some bad herbs."
After a few moments of pure misery as Angel contemplated the horrible twist of such a clause, Willow spoke again.
"Dru and I are trying to put together another spell. One that will hold your soul there, even if the gypsy spell breaks. Like superglue. We want to make sure that you stay you no matter what, and I'm pretty sure that Dru sort of umm wants you for herself, which would be that naughty games, and I don't want to think about you and Dru umm don't want to go there."
Angel was amazed that Willow would be willing to do such a thing for him. He was even more amazed that she was working with Dru. He was just thinking that this was the best news he could possibly hear tonight when there was a double gasp from the doorway. Giles voice reached them both, and he could see Willow cringe.
"Willow, what on earth are you doing talking to Drusilla? Let alone working on concocting a spell with her?"