~Part 1~ Of Dreams and Friendship

He was dreaming.  She knew that he was dreaming.  She knew, as she watched the gentle twitching of his eyelids that he was dreaming.  She also knew, as she noticed a contented smile overwhelm his face that he was not dreaming of her.   That, as he lay on the couch in front of the t.v.  he was in a far away place holding hands and laughing with a beautiful, charming, woman and that it wasn’t her.  She stared intently in to the face of this gorgeous, pale, blonde-haired god of a man that she shared her life with.

She knew that she should not feel bad because he dreamt of another woman.  After all, they were not really together, and she had Tara whom she loved.  But after spending most of her waking hours in the company of this incredible being she could not hide the longing that she had to be a part of his sleeping world as well.  He had become much more than just a friend to her, he was her best friend, her anchor, her savior even from herself at times.  He would not allow her to be taken into the oblivion that she welcomed when Oz had left her.  He eased her confusion and fear when she found herself longing to be in the arms of another woman and she thrived under the light that was his companionship.

Who would've thought all those years ago, when he frighteningly made his way into their lives, that she would be sharing her life, her home, with this man whom so many thought savage and cruel.   That she would open herself up to him and allow him access to the deepest recesses of her mind.  But he was neither savage nor cruel and she was glad, in some ways, that he had allowed only her to see that.  She knew that he was not what he pretended to be that he was not the wicked creature that they had nurtured him to become.  He was full of love and longing and most surprising of all compassion.  To the outside world he was a monster he was everything that they expected him to be, but in her world she had seen what he was capable of and she often found herself wondering if the demon had truly taken his soul.

She felt privileged, after all she was a mortal, and by nature her kind was an enemy to his.  But he had breached those lines; he had let her in and shared things with her that he could not have shared with anyone.  His dark goddess had seen some of what he was capable of and she had pushed him away for his caring, for his love.  His sire could not stand to see him because of the waves of regret that would wash over him when he thought of all the destruction that his teachings had brought, if only he knew.  If only he knew what lay hidden in this enigma that Willow had unraveled.   He would be so proud at the man that his childe had become.

She smiled as she continued to watch him sleep.  The smile had left his face but his features continued to maintain an air of amusement.  Only in his dreams, when he was with his fantasy woman, was he truly happy.  Only then was he truly at peace with himself.  She stood up from the couch and covered his sleeping form with a throw, though he did not need it, it was still her habit to do so.  She kissed him softly on the forehead and turned off the television.  She walked towards her room and stopped in the doorway to look back at him.

"Goodnight Spike", she whispered before she turned back to her room and shut the door quietly after she had walked in.

In the darkness of the living room he turned in his sleep and under his breath mumbled, "Goodnight Willow", before he was once again still.

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The sun shone of her hair like flames in a roaring fire.  All around her wildflowers danced with colors of summer and swayed in the soft breeze that surrounded them.  Her bare feet moved fluidly over the green of the grass and the long white dress that she wore caressed her body as if it were a soft kiss on her pale flesh.  She twirled amongst the purples and yellows of the flowers, amongst the singing birds and majestic butterflies.  She held her arms up towards the sky and the wind inviting them to twirl with her.

She was laughing.  The beautiful sound of her laughter traveled to him and entered him like a far off melody.  She was so happy.  He loved to sit and watch her twirl in this manner, as if she were a child discovering for the first time the simple pleasures that the day could bring.  From where he sat he watched as she came to a stop and then still laughing fell to her knees in the plush grass.  She looked at him as he began to laugh as well, taken in by her joy he could no longer contain it.  Her green eyes inspected him turning serious for a moment but regaining their joy just as quickly.

"Are you laughing at me?" she asked him her voice singing to him as it always did.

"Never at you luv, always with you."  He answered amusement still in his voice.

"Always?"

"Always", he answered her without hesitation.

She turned from him her attention being caught by butterflies that had come into her view.  She lifted her right hand and beckoned for one to come to her.  The butterfly made it's way to her hand and gracefully took refuge in it.  She softly passed the fingers of her left hand through the colorful wings of the insect.  She played like this with the butterfly for awhile and then blowing it a soft kiss she lifted her right hand high into the sky and released it to the join the rest.  She turned back to him.

"Dance with me."  She said.  No sooner had she made her request than he was by her side lifting her from the ground and enveloping her in his arms.  She spun her around and their laughter followed them in their childish waltz.  "Dance with me forever." She asked him.

"As you wish." He said continuing to turn her.

Spike woke up with a start as he heard the shrill ring of the phone.  Remnants of his dream still played in his head as he made his way up to the phone. "Only in my dreams," he whispered to himself before picking up the receiver.

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"What?" Spike growled into the phone.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the coffin."

"What the bloody hell do you want Harris?"

"Hey, deadboy don't shoot the messenger.  Giles wants you and Wills to be over at his place after sundown."  Xander told him.

"What for?"  Spike asked still angered from being woken from his dream.

" The usual, new baddy in town, bent on world domination yadda, yadda.  Normal hellmouthy activities."

"Okay, we'll be there."  Spike said hanging up before the boy could say anything more.  "Moron", he said to himself under an unneeded breath.

He made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge.  He took out a bag of blood and plopped it in the microwave. <How did I get myself into this position?  Helping the slayer and her band of idiots.  I'm the bloody laughing stock of the hellmouth> The microwave beeped and he took out the bag and emptied it's content into a coffee mug.  He drank from it <Satan this stuff is awful.  I can't believe I'm drinking blood from a bag.  Me, William the fucking Bloody bagging it, the poof would have a field day> He took his mug and sat down on one of the chairs of the small dinette that Willow and he had purchased at a local thrift store.  He looked down at the mug and smiled as he saw his name inscribed in it.

'Spike' it said in black Victorian lettering, next to which there was a small picture of a railroad spike.  He could still remember when Willow had given it to him.

"What's this for?" he had asked her.

"Well, I thought you could use a cup all your own, for your uhh…meals.  I mean the thought of accidentally drinking from one of the mugs that you eat from has crossed my mind more than once and can I just say. Ew", Willow said to him scrunching her cute little nose up in disgust.

"I wash the bloody things," he said to her outwardly annoyed but inwardly touched by her gesture.

"I know, I know but can say it again…Ew.  I really cannot deal with a blood chaser with my coffee."

He laughed.  " Thanks, Red".  The next day he had surprised her with one of her own.  He looked over at the cup sitting next the coffee maker.  The red lettering spelling 'Willow' and the cursive flowing into a small willow tree next to it.  She had been so pleased by his gift.  He had been so pleased that he had made her happy even for a small flicker of time.  She had taken it as a sign that he had finally accepted her completely and at the time he didn't see it that way but now he knew that he had.

He got up washed his mug and made his way towards Willows room.  He knocked lightly on the door and when he received no answer he cautiously opened the door.

He saw her in the midst of the sky blue sheets of her bed.  She was curled up in a fetal position holding on to a pillow as in it were comforting her in some small way.  He stood in the doorway watched her body rise and fall with the rhythm of her breathing.  Her red hair fell in waves over her pale skin and framed her like a work of art.  "Mmmmm.", she moaned almost inaudibly in her sleep, and moved onto her back.

Spikes eyes took in the beauty that was her form.  Her long legs, smooth and muscular disappearing into the fabric of her boxer shorts, her pert breast poking through the flimsy cotton of her tank top.  He had memorized every part of her down to the each and every freckle.  He often spent time watching her sleep.  Enjoying the peace that overcame her for the three or four hours that she slept a day.  At first he had been worried by her sleeping habits, thinking that she couldn't possibly function with such little rest.  But after spending almost a year with her he knew that she had grown accustomed to the odd hours and her health and vibrancy had not suffered for the loss.

She seemed to always be cheery.  Of course he knew better.  He had been around when the wolf left her, it had been his shoulder that she had cried on and his ear the she had turned to for attention and he had gladly given them to her.  He knew that Oz's leaving had torn her apart, and he often cursed the boy for being so insensitive to the poor girl but also he secretly thanked him for essentially giving her to him.

The time after the wolf left had been rough on her but Spike had been surprised by the girl's strength.  Her character persevered in a situation where so many others would have allowed themselves to fall apart.  Even he himself had done so when Drusilla had left.  He had succumbed to the misery and the loneliness and betrayal.  But Willow would not allow herself to.  She held her head high and stared misery in the face and it ran screaming with it's tail between it's legs.  Spike knew that she had done so more for her friends and him than anyone else.  She was that way.  She found her inner strength by thinking of those who needed her; those who needed her to be the glue that held them all together.

She was the strongest of them all; him and the Slayer included.  She found hope where there was none, she found answers and resolutions when all had given up and most of all she had found love in a heart that had grown cold and useless, his.  She faced it all, demons, hellmouth's everything and the only thing to protect her through it all was her wits and her courage.  She was spectacular.  But she was not his.  Not in the way that he longed for her to be.  She had given her heart to Tara and though he was eerie of the girl, he was thankful that she had made his Willow happy in ways that he could not.

She stirred in her bed and he was taken away from his thoughts as she woke up and faced him.  She rubbed her eyes and turned her green gaze to him.

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"Good morning Sunshine"

"Spike, it's almost dusk." She said to him after inspecting the clock by her bed.

"All in all, glad to see you're up Red."  He moved over the bed and plopped himself down on it.  "Just got off the phone with the moron"

"Spike, we've discussed this.  His name is Xander.  Say it with me Xan - der."  She said pronouncing the name slowly as if he were a child.

"Mo - ron" he said mimicking her speech.

She threw a pillow at him.

"Ow"

"Your hopeless.  What did he want?"

"Well, luv, he called to ask if you would go over to his house so you two could shag like wild dogs.  But I was very adamant when I told him that you were all mine and that I did not share", he said silkily crawling towards her on the bed with mischief in his eyes.

"Spike, stop it", she said but he continued to crawl towards her. "Spike", she squealed before hitting him in the face with her other pillow.

He stopped coming towards her.

"What is it with you and the pillow brutality?  I'm going to start taking offense to all your displays of hatred," he said pouting.

"Oh did I hurt wittle Spikey's feewings?"

"No, just not used to ladies denying my advances."

"Oh yeah, your such a stud." She said rolling her eyes.

"Hey, watch it Red."

"What are you going to do, lick me death?" she asked sarcastically.

"Now that I can work with," he said before beginning to advance at her again.  She smacked him in the face with her pillow again.  "That's it Red. I warned you, you and your pillow have made me angry.  Aren't you a little ball of aggression tonight?  Well I can fix that."  Before she could say anything he grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder.

"Spike, no put me down."  She cried out.  She pounded on his back and began to kick with her legs. "Spike this isn't funny," she said but her laughing deceived her.

"You have to do something about these violent tendencies of yours luv.  I'll see to it that you are thoroughly cooled down."

"What?  What are you going to do?  Please put me down.  I'm sorry.  I didn’t mean it."

"Too late", he said ignoring her.

He walked towards the bathroom and turned the shower on to the coldest setting.

"Oh, Spike please don't"

"So, sorry luv but you need to learn your lesson."  He put her down in the tub and laughed as the cold water began to soak her.  She gasped in shock as the freezing water made contact with her skin.  She squirmed in the tub trying to get up to turn the water off but by the time that she reached the knob she had been thoroughly soaked.  She turned off the water and glared at him angrily.  "All better, Red?"

"You are going to pay for this vampire" she almost growled at him.  He looked at the fire in her green eyes and then made his way down to take in her wet body.  The tank top that she had on clung to her breasts and revealed the dark circles of her nipples as they stood erect from the cold.  Her hands were clenched into tight balls as she stared stakes into him.  She stood there trembling and wet, she was a vision. <My god she is beautiful> Spike could feel his arousal trying to get the better of him and took his eyes away from the shaking girl.  He grabbed a towel from the towel rack and tossed it to her.

"Come on we have to go to Gile's," he said turning around to make his way out of the bathroom.  He closed the door behind him and leaned against it.  He let out an unnecessary sigh.  <I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to do this without ravaging the little witch>

He heard a thud from the other side of the door as she threw the towel towards it.

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<I could kill him, damn arrogant vampire> Willow walked over to where she had thrown the towel and picked it up putting it on the toilet seat before stripping off her soaked clothes.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson, blah, blah," she babbled to herself mimicking what Spike had told her. <Oh he is going to be so dead…well deader anyways> She went to the shower and turned on the water she checked the temperature and made sure that it was hot enough and then stepped into the shower.  She let the warm water fall on her, leaning against the cold tile of the shower stall.  <Who does he think his anyways, treating me like that, get over it Willow, he was just playing, still I have to get him back, and it's gotta be good.  I'll think of something later. >  She continued with her shower and let all thoughts of Spike leave her mind.

She didn't hear the door of the bathroom open as she began to pass the loofa over her body.  Suddenly she jumped back in shock at the feel of a cold hand on her shoulder.

"What the…Spike get out of here.  You scared me half to death."  She yelled as she peaked out of the curtain to see Spike standing just outside the shower.

"I'm sorry.  I just wanted to apologize.."  He grabbed the back of neck and looked down at his feet.  He looked like a little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar."I got a little carried away."

"It's okay Spike, no biggie." She shrugged.

He looked up his eyes full of hope and then they suddenly changed to an expression that Willow couldn't make out.  She looked down and noticed that most of her naked body could be seen peaking out from the shower curtain.  She felt the heat of her blush envelope her.  Spike turned away quickly.  <Great, he's disgusted by me, that's all I need. >  She tried to keep the mood light.

"Now get out of here before I attack you with my loofa."  He didn't say anything and quickly stalked out of the bathroom. <Well that's that, he's totally appalled by me.  Probably like looking at your sister naked> She continued to shower and then to prepare to go to Giles'.

On the other side of the apartment Spike turned on the shower in his bathroom, and making sure that the water was sufficiently cold got in and tried to extinguish all thoughts of a naked Willow. <This is going to be torture>
 

~Part 2~ Building a Mystery

A cloaked figure knelt before an elaborately adorned altar.  The beings face was well hidden by the cloak and its anonymity was further concealed due to the shadows that covered it.  The only light that could be seen in the room came from black candles that had been strategically placed on and around the altar.  A circle had been expertly drawn, in black charcoal, to encompass the being and the altar.  Prominently featured just inside the four quarters of the circle were different symbols representing the elements.  A small bowl of purified sea salt to the north for Earth, A stick of burning incense on a small clay holder to the east for Air.  Blackened lava rock the size of a softball to the south for Fire.  Finally, an earthenware chalice filled to the top with water placed to the west to represent Water.

In the center of the altar a censor burned a piece of red brick incense and the smoke danced around the figure and enveloped the small room in a hazy cloud of frankincense.  To the right of the censor stood a large brass servant's bell, the smooth brass untarnished and unadorned leading to the handle that formed the visage of a snake wrapped around a grapevine.  On the left side of the censor lay a white handled bolline knife it’s sharp two-edged blade facing in the direction of the dark figure.  Directly in front of the cloaked being on the altar was a silver cauldron, no larger than an everyday serving bowl.  On the top edge of the cauldron an intricate design of Celtic knots cuffed the exterior and around the remaining sphere several runic symbols had been carefully carved.  Around the bowl there had been placed several small piles of herbs with no particular pattern.

To the untrained eye the scene would appear to be nothing more than a simple Wiccan ritual but upon further inspection the object of sacrilege could be seen.  Directly in front of the censor lay the undeniable symbol of every Wiccan; the five-pointed star surrounded in its protective sphere.  This protective symbol, this portal to the guardians of the Earth, to the celestial beings known as the God and Goddess had been placed on the altar upside down, representing the antithesis of all that is held true and dear.  This pentacle, bastardized as it was, could only be used to call upon the powers of the dark guardians.  The central figure of the black arts that rang out, like a beacon, to all of the sinister forces that hid just beyond the shadows of this world waiting to be called into action.

The figure stood up from its position in front of the altar and lifted its arms up into the air raising the athame and pointing it towards an illustration that hung loosely on a nearby wall.  The picture clearly portrayed the image of a being, not of this realm, half horned devil and half hoofed demon.  In the demons clawed hand he held the lifeless body of a small child, bloodied and beaten to an almost irrecognizable form.  At it's hoofed feet lay the battered bodies of the lost souls that had sought it out in desperation only to become a part of it's morbid collection of conquests.  Its reptilian wings encompassed the remainder of the image and flames could be seen on the outskirts of the background.

Most disturbing of all was not the sheer terror and pain that could be seen in the soulless eyes of it's prizes.  Not the gory limp body of the innocent he had easily feasted on not even the mere size and strength of the being that the illustration facilitated.  None of these things could compare to what could be seen in the fanged grin of the demon and the red slits of its eyes.  Power, all encompassing.  Rage, grim and destructive.  Hunger, fierce and insatiable.  Evil, pure and simple.  Evil, that would make even the king of hell himself quake and seek shelter.  This is what rattled the mind and made the soul quiver.  This is what awoke us from our peaceful slumber panting and sweating in inexplicable fear.  This is what we felt in the back of our minds when we entered a darkened room and knew that we were not alone.  This was the epitome of all our terrorizing fears made reality.

Evil.

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The figure stood in front of the altar, athame pointing unwaveringly at the image before it.  The dark cloak hung loosely around it, falling in heavy folds towards the floor.  It was held tightly against the beings body by a long golden cord wrapped around its waist.  The figure began to chant its voice a harsh tone that if heard would divulge nothing as to the conclusion of its identity, as the words of another time and culture bounced off of the walls.
 

As the chanting grew louder and faster the figure drew symbols into the air with the upraised knife, that pierced easily through the fog of the incense.  The candles began to flicker, screaming with all their intensity not to be squelched by the wind that had begun to stir in the room.  The figure knelt, still chanting and placed several of the herbs into the cauldron, and with a flick of the wrist a flame appeared on its thumb.  With the flame it ignited the herbs in the cauldron, faster and louder it chanted as the herbs burned and filled the room with their heady stench.  Without the slightest pause or thought the figure used the knife in its hand and slashed the palm of it's left hand.  The blood crept out of the wound, seeking its escape.  The being waved its hand, palm down, over the cauldron and the blood trickled in large drops onto the fire within, make it rage higher.

Flashes of light penetrated the room, as the intensity of the wind grew and the candles strained even more against their pelting.  The figure stood, it's arms and legs forming perfect V's and welcomed the changing atmosphere.  Across the room a bright red light began to radiate from the illustration on the wall.  The figures in the picture began to move slowly as if forming their own time and space.  Moans could be heard from the damned at the demons feet.  Cries and pleas of the anguished rang out the throughout the room.  The frozen form of the demon widened its wicked grin, flashing its beaming eyes.  The cloaked being continued to chant spurred on by the movement that it saw.  The page against the wall began to flutter as the motion of the demons flapping wings overtook it.

Suddenly a red flash came forth from the image and struck the being, like lightening, with a force that pushed it back to the inner boundaries of its protective sphere.  The flames of the candles succumbed to the dying winds and then all was still.  The figure looked up its, now visible, eyes glowing a sinister red.

"It is done", it said before collapsing to the floor in a heap.

Across from it the picture fell loose of the wall and came down in sweeping motions, like a feather fallen from the heavens.  It landed face up on the floor before the slumped figure.  The illustration remained in tact all but for the empty space that remained where the demon had once stood.

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"How many girls are in a coma so far?"  Xander asked Giles, as Anya wrapped her arms around his neck searching for comfort she could not find.

Their small group sat scattered and paired off around Giles' small living room.  Xander sat on the large couch with Anya on his lap both looking at Giles, concern painting their faces.  Riley reclined lazily in the armchair next to them, Buffy on his lap leaning forward her eyes in deep thought mode.  Next to them Willow and Tara occupied the love seat, sitting side by side with their hands clasped together as if it were their only lifeline. At the far end of the room, looking as if nothing of importance was occurring sat Spike, his leather duster hanging from his form and almost touching his feet where they were perched on the foot of the stool he sat on.  The street on the other side of the window seemingly caught his attention.  He often sat like this at their meetings giving them all an air of nonchalantness that he portrayed so well.  No one knew that he always listened intently and with interest to what all of them had to say, no one of course but Willow, who knew that it was nothing more than an act to distance the small group that had come to rely on him and vice versa.  Giles stood  before all of them looking at all the concerned looks of the teens from his perch leaning against the large oak table, that had become the center of their countless research sessions.

"So far there are four, all of them female, all of them found on campus with no damage done to them only for their obvious comatose state."  Giles responded to Xanders' question.

"Do we know if they have anything in common?"  Riley asked leaning forward in his chair.

Giles shook his head,"Nothing that I could think of, they are all average students nothing overly special about them average height, build etc.  Nothing of course but the mark that was found on the victims."

"Mark, what mark?"  Buffy asked awakening from her own thoughts.

"Well the police found a mark on each of the victims necks, just below the hairline…" Giles answered.

"Bite marks?"  Buffy interjected.

"No, no that would easily explain all of this.  Unfortunately it's not that easy."

"Yeah well welcome to the hellmouth," Xander snorted.

Giles ignored the boy's remark and continued to explain.  " The mark was a symbol, a pentagram but the pentagrams representation was upside down."

Giles' final statement got the attention of three of the group members.  Spike looked away from the window and towards Willow.  Her eyes had dropped to the floor and then up again to look at Tara who had also directed her attention towards her.  Spike was not secure enough in his control to even consider dabbling in witchcraft personally but living with Will since the previous December and watching her hone her abilities he was all too familiar with the Wiccan symbol and exactly what it's counterpart meant.

"Black Magic", Willow said before Spike could make his thoughts known.

She looked up and found knowing blue eyes.  She gave him a half smile and turned back to Tara who was nodding her agreement at Willows comment.

"Precisely", Giles finished.

"Who are the victims, do we know their names?", Tara voiced.

"Elizabeth Dumas, 19.   Jennifer Calgrade, 18.  Marissa Lopez also 19 and Carol Marie Freeman age 20."  Giles said looking down at the file in his hand and adjusting his glasses.

A spark of recognition ignited in Willows mind.  Her brain went into overdrive as she searched for the familiarity of these names and the connection that they all held.

Spike looked at her and saw the furrow in her brow and the deep scowl that had form on her face.  He knew that she was in deep thought and then as her face took on another expression he was sure that she had come to a realization.

"What is it, luv?"

"Huh.."  Willow looked up to him.

"I know that look, Red.  What is it?"  <He can read me like a book> The others in the room looked at the two with interest.

Willow felt Tara stroke her hand, "Willow?"

"They're all Wiccans."  Willow said holding Tara's hand closer to her.

Spike looked away from her.  He had spent too much time watching the two he could not bring himself to look at them any longer.  He turned back to the window as the room exploded in a wave of questions directed towards Willow.

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Meanwhile in LA

"Cordy, can you set up a meeting with Mr. Laurence before he goes?"  Angel said walking out of his office behind a tall, lanky, red haired man.

Cordelia lifted her brown eyes from the computer screen and looked up at the men. She stood up from her chair and with a swing of her brown curls directed the man to the seat just in front her.  "Please have a se…."  Before she could finish her head was racked with a splitting pain.  She fell forward on the desk and dropped the mug of coffee that was in front of her.  It came crashing down to the floor as she lifted her hands to her head hoping to contain the ache. But she knew it was a futile attempt.

"Cordelia", Angel gasped running to her side and taking her in his arms.  He led the wailing girl to her seat behind the desk.

Images flashed in Cordelia's mind, she saw blood, she saw a red demon strong and powerful large stag horns curling above his head, she saw the gleam of it's red eyes, she saw a cloaked being and then she saw something that shook her to the very core, flashes of red hair and a feeling of overwhelming pain.  As if she were burning.  And then as quickly as it had begun it subsided, and the pain began to ease its hold on her.

"Is she alright?", Mr. Laurence asked.

"She'll be fine.  I will call you later Mr. Laurence and we can discuss the details of your case."  Angel said to the man, not looking away from Cordelia.  He began to wipe the sweat from her face and as brown eyes met brown Angel saw the despair in her eyes.  Neither one of them noticed the man leave.  "You okay?"  Angel asked.

Cordelia looked at him, still in shock, and her mind still reeling from what she had seen.  She shook her head.

"We have to go back to Sunnydale."  Angel looked at her with a confused look on his face. "As soon as possible", she finished.
 

~Part 3~ Revelations

The living room in Giles' quaint apartment was a buzz with the many inquisitive voices of the Scooby gang.  From all directions Willow was being pounded with questions, how's, and why's.  She closed her eyes and turned away from the questioning stares of the others.  She wanted them to stop; she wanted them to leave her alone, she couldn't think.  The realizations and her own questions swam around her head like a Tidal wave looking for a target.  She didn't know what to tell them, she didn't know all the answers, even though they always seemed to take for granted that she did.  Hell, she didn’t even know how to explain the nagging fear that had made it's home in the pit of her stomach the minute she heard the names of the girls.

Spike saw Willow; the confusion, the pain and the fear that crept into her face that clouded the green of her eyes, like a macrabe painting, as she tried to avoid the questions and stares of the others.  It seemed like all hell had broken loose.  All of them were on edge, even he was tense and the worse part of it was that he didn't know why anymore than they did.  All he knew was that something was definitely wrong and that it would affect them all in ways that they couldn't possibly imagine.  He tried to calm himself, to fight his way out of this confusion that had gripped him if for nothing else than to secure Willow.

Anya was scared.  That was the only way that she could describe it.  In her short time as a mortal she had not felt this emotion very often.  The last time had been before the impending ascension of the mayor but for some reason she had fought past that.  She had made herself strong because she had known that she could not stand idly by while Xander risked his life, along with the others, to save them all.  She didn't know what she would have done had she been put in the position where she lost him.  At that time the new emotions that she was feeling for the boy had confused her.  She didn't know why but she knew that her life would not be the same if he were gone forever.  Now, in hindsight, she knew that she was falling in love with him, that she was madly in love with him.  But the fear that she felt now, at the familiarity of this whole situation, made her feelings for the mayor seem like warm and fuzzies.  The balance of power was shifting and not to their advantage.  All of them felt it, she knew that, they had spent enough time fighting the things that go bump in the night to feel impending dangers, even if they were not aware that they had this ability, the chaotic atmosphere that had over taken them was enough to prove her right.  They felt it but they didn’t know what it was.  Her radar was going haywire.  Even though she had been cursed with mortality she still retained the powers of intuition that she had honed over a millennia, they were not easily dispersed of.  Anya knew that this small group, her family, was in grave danger.

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There was only one word that could describe the scene before them, complete and utter turmoil. <Okay that's more than one word>.  Giles was leaning against the table rubbing his forehead vigorously as if trying to rid himself of some strange affliction.  Buffy and Xander were standing and yelling at each other back and forth and then turning their attention to Willow who had her back turned to them and was beginning to look outwardly annoyed.  Tara sat on the loveseat her back turned away from the couple that had entered the apartment undetected.  Anya remained on the couch a look that could only be construed as confusion on her face.  Then there was Spike who stood by the window glaring at Buffy and Xander as if he would like nothing more than to rip their heads off. <Why do I always get stuck in this crap? >

All the heads in the room snapped to the doorway as a shrill whistle was heard coming from that direction.  Cordelia removed her hands from her mouth and looked at all of them with her usual sarcastic charm.  Angel seemed to be frozen where he stood not knowing what to make of what they had walked in on.

"What the hell is going on here?  I feel like I just walked in on World War III?"

"Delia?" Willow asked wondering what the brunette was doing there.

"Last I looked" she responded.  Making her way towards the redhead.  Angel took that as his cue to walk in and close the door behind him.  Cordelia hugged Willow tightly.  In the last year the two had become very close in their phone calls and correspondences and had found a friendship with each other.  Though at first it had been tentative due to the issues that they had previously shared it had flown into an easy camaraderie that the two girls cherished.  Delia pulled away from Willow and held her head in her palms.  "You okay?" she asked her quietly.  The redhead nod and moved past her to hug a waiting Angel.

"Angel, I am glad you’re here.  Things are a little weird."

"I can see that."

"Spike, always a pleasure" Cordelia said to the blond vampire as he looked with hatred at the other vampire hugging Willow.  Cordelia could've sworn that she heard a low growl escape him but decided to ignore it.

"Cordelia, what brings you here?"  Giles asked interrupting the reunion.

"What no hello Cordy, how was your trip, how you feeling?"  She continued before she received an answer from them,"I should have figured as much.  Angel and me drag our asses all the way over here to help you guys and that's it? 'What brings you here'.  We have lives you know we could've stayed in L.A and left you all….."

She was interrupted by a harsh look from Angel and an admonishing,"Cordy"

"Whatever, we didn't come for you." She said dismissing the group.

Giles cleared his throat,"What exactly did you come for?  Not that we don't appreciate that you are here but..well..uh why are you here?"

"Delia had a vision." Angel returned.

All eyes were on Cordelia now.  The tension in the air that had made them act so mysteriously before still lingered but took second string for now to their curiosity as to why Cordelia and Angel had appeared so suddenly on the doorstep.

"Yeah and it was a particularly painful one at that.  If I ever see Doyle again I'm going to kill him all over again."

"Cordelia!" a chorus of voices rang.

"What?  Oh yeah well these things are usually fuzzy but I saw this big horny demon guy, all red and gleamy eyed, and there was this person, or at least I think it was a person, in a black cloak, and then there was..uh," she paused looking uncomfortably from Angel to Willow.

"Go ahead Delia."  Angel encouraged.

"Well then there was Willow."

Spike looked up his face distorted in concern. "What about Willow?"

"She's in danger.  There was a lot of pain, and there was this energy like this power it was so strong it felt like it was burning me."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Willow, the negative energy that had overwhelmed them all but forgotten and replaced with genuine concern for the well being of their friend.  Tara stood up from her place at the love seat and embraced Willow.

"Don't worry about it.  We'll fix this, nothing is going to happen to you."  She smoothed the girls red hair reassuringly.

"You bloody well better believe it."  Spike added trying ignoring the affection the two girls were sharing.

Willow looked at Spike kindness and love in her eyes.  She nod at him weakly and then sat down on the sofa where Tara had led her.

Willow was next to Anya now, the ex-demon took her other hand and patted it.

"It's going to be okay." Anya told the girl not fully believing her own words but needing to hear them herself as if the delusion would calm her.

"Well anyways, like I was asking before, what is going on with you guys?  I mean weird much?  Well weirder than usual anyways."  Cordelia stated with her usual tact.

Buffy looked up at her quizzically.  She sat down on the coffee table directly in front of Willow.

"I really don't know, one minute we were all just sitting and talking and then Willow said something and we all just went wiggy."  Buffy said to the girl trying to find an explanation for their behavior.

"And it's not like she said anything wrong or bad or anything, it’s just like…. I got this feeling that I wanted to scream, at someone, anyone and well she was just there."  Xander added looking down at his feet trying to hide the shame that he was feeling for verbally attacking his friends.

"It’s this thing, whatever it is." Anya said loosing her patience with them all. <Sometimes humans are so dense>

"What?"  Riley asked furrowing his brow.

"It's giving off this energy, very negative, it's like trying to tell us that it's here.  It's making itself known to us.  It wants us to feel its power."  Anya concluded.

"I don't get it."  Buffy replied.

"What else is new Slayer?"  Spike spat at her.

Buffy ignored him, she was much more concerned with their current problem than Spike's hatred of her.

"Okay Anya for those of us who lost our Dictionary of the Illusive, please be more specific."  Xander said to his girlfriend.

Anya rolled her eyes and let out a big sigh.  "It's very simple really.  This demon that is hurting all these girls, he is quiet powerful."  She looked up at them to see if they were getting her point.

"Let me."  Willow said to her, sensing that the girl's patience, fragile as it was already, was almost at its breaking point.

"All of us have energy surrounding us.  All around, like aura's, well some of us have positive, negative or indifferent energies, most people's energies are indifferent meaning that it is so miniscule that it does not affect it’s environment one way or the other.   Some of us have very strong positive energy, you how when you meet someone and they instantly make you feel good or comfortable and you don’t know why?"

"Like you," added Anya.  Willow blushed at the compliment.  She was a bit taken aback by it, she had always thought that Anya didn't like her very much.  That she only put up with her because she was there and there was nothing she could do about it, like background noise.

"Thank you."

"Well it's true you have one of the strongest positive energies that I have ever felt and as well all know I've been around a long time.  It is quiet strong."

Spike saw the pink that had entered Willows cheeks.  He smiled to himself. <Maybe that ex-demon is not so bad after all>

"Anyways, moving right along.  Demons have negative energy, which is why Buffy can detect them so easily with her Spider sense.  This demon is giving off extra large doses of negative energy and it is being absorbed by all of us."

"So this guy is like a walking Chernobyl?"  Xander asked.

"That would explain why we all went uh.. well wiggy as Buffy put it, but how come it's not here now.  I don't seem to feel it anymore?"  Giles questioned the girls.

"Because it just wanted us to know that it was here.  He probably reached out to us as a warning of some sorts, to give us a taste of the kind of power that he has."  Angel said voicing the train of thought that he had hopped on.

"So he's toying with us?"  Tara asked.

"Basically."  Anya answered.

"Arrogant wanker." all the eyes in the room turned to look at Spike's hate filled blue ones,"What?", he shrugged wondering what he had said that had everyone looking at with semi amused smiles on their faces.

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Amy sat up on her bed with a yawn.  She stretched her long legs and placed them on the floor in front of her bed.  She looked at the small digital clock on her nightstand.  The neon green numbers told her that it was 10:00 p.m. <Damn I must've fallen asleep while studying>

She looked around her bed and started to pick up the books and notebooks that had been scattered on it.  Her mind went back to the dream that she had been having.   She was in a cage lined with newspaper and she was running around on a large wheel.  On the other side of the cage a cat had snarled at her batting its paw against the cage trying to get at her.  She continued to run but she was going nowhere and just as the cat had toppled her cage over she woke up.  Amy had been plagued with these dreams for months, ever since Willow had successfully transformed her back into herself.  The dreams and an odd aversion to cheese were the only residual affects of her long stint spent as a rat.  Amy shivered remembering her time trapped in the tiny body.  <Now that’s something that I won't be doing again any time soon>

She collected some of her personal things, a towel, a razor, some shampoo, soap and conditioner as well as her robe and walked out of the dorm room and headed towards the bathroom.

As she showered she filled her mind with thoughts of the Beta Pi kegger that she was planning on attending that night.  She was hoping that Graham would be there.  She knew that it wasn't his fraternity but she had been running into him a lot lately.  She had also been thinking about him a lot. <What a hottie> Needless to say that he had played a leading role in many of her fantasies as of late.

She stepped out of the shower and wiped herself down with the towel.  She wrapped it into a turban around her head and tied the robe around her waist loosely.  She made her way to the sink on the far wall of the communal bathroom.  There were several girls around her primping themselves for a party or a date.  She was still fairly new to UC Sunnydale and had spent most of her time with Tara, Willow and Spike so she had not really made friends with any of the people in her dorm.   Except, of course, for Buffy whom she shared her room with, but they rarely saw each other.  Looking at the girls around her and hearing them talk about the latest fads and fashions she quickly realized that she was glad that she was anonymous to them. <Nothing like a lecture on the perfect shade of lipstick to ruin a girls night>

She shook her head in annoyance and turned to the mirror to look at herself.  She stared at the circles under her eyes.  She had not been sleeping or eating well lately, her classes were hard and the studying was getting the better of her. <I'm going to have to do something about those>.  She began to turn away from her reflection when something caught her eye.  She looked at herself again and tilted her head to the right to get a better view of the offending object. <What the hell?  I don't have a tattoo> She looked closer trying to make out the design that had mysteriously appeared on her neck.

Her eyes widened at the realization of what she was looking at.  As she continued to inspect the strange object, it began to glow a deep red.  She stood frozen, like a deer trapped in headlights.  She didn't know what to do, or what to make of what was happening to her.  Then she began to feel it.  A burning sensation where the mark was on her neck that made her want to scream in pain.  She put her hand up to, it trying to ease the pain, only to snap it back as the heat made contact with her fingers. <Shit> She turned on the faucet and began to scoop up cold water and run it over her neck but as she began to do so the burning stopped.  She touched it with her hands to assure that it had indeed stopped burning and after staring at herself in the mirror for another moment, silently made her way to her room.

<I have to go see Willow>

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Xander was confused.  All in all this was not a new occurrence nor was the feeling foreign to him.  He had, in fact, resigned himself for several years to live happily in the thick cloud of ignorance that surrounded Sunnydale.  Of course that was until he had met Buffy.  She had changed all that.  She had changed all of them, and even though he loved her he sometimes found himself wishing that he were still living in oblivion.  Maybe then things would be different; maybe then he wouldn't have had to watch Jesse die, twice.  He knew that it was unfair to blame her.  None of it was her fault.  They would all be dead by now if she hadn't come to town and willingly let them in her circle of do gooders.  He didn't want to change that.  They were his family, more so than his own had ever been.  It was, however, moments like these when it seemed like the weight of the world rested on their shoulders, which happened more than anyone would like to acknowledge, that he longed for the simplicity of his previous life.  The pre-Slayage years he liked to internalize them.

He knew that he could never go back and as much as he sometimes huffed about it, he was a different person then.  He wasn't too keen on the idea of being that person again.  He had a purpose, he had a cause and he had people that depended on him and all those things made him feel whole.

He looked at Willow.  She was his best friend.  Granted, they didn't spend as much time together as they used to and they had grown into something far different than their sandbox shenanigans would have indicated but the bond that they had could never be severed.  As much as he knew her there was one thing that he was not confused about, she was scared.  Willow had always been shy and quiet, but when it came to staring evil in the face she was the first to switch her resolve face firmly in place and stand up to impending doom.  Still, after all they had faced and all that she had been put against he had never seen her as frightened and hopeless as she looked now.  He knew that it would not last, that this was nothing but a momentary lapse into despair for her and that she would not let it get the better of her no matter how much she may want to give up.  She wouldn't.  She was the one.  The pillar of strength that they all leaned against and looked to when things were a little tougher than they had a right to be.  It was unfair, hell he knew that but somehow she carried the burden with grace.  She never let it bother her and most of all she never resented them for needing her.

They would do anything to keep her safe.  He wasn't fully aware of the danger that lay ahead nor did he understand the magnitude of what was happening, he was still trying to process what Anya and Willow had said.  But he knew with every ounce of his being that every single person in that room would put their asses on the line to keep Willow out of harms way.  Especially him……..especially Spike.

Silence had fallen over all of them, even Cordelia had refrained from making any of her usual off kilter or narcissistic comments and Anya was quietly comforting Willow instead of being her aloof self.  Seeing the concern that his girlfriend shared for Willow made Xander feel even more enraptured by her.  She still had the ability to surprise him at every turn and though he sometimes acted as if it got the better of him, he knew, and so did everyone else that he secretly loved it.  That though his macho instincts forbade him from saying so, he loved her, with more fervor than he had ever felt for anything.  She was there for him.  She had allowed herself to permeate into their little world.  To be a part of him and he knew that she sometimes felt as if she didn't belong but he also knew that she would make herself belong, if only to be by his side and with that knowledge he loved her more.  And one day he would tell her.  Just not today.

He turned his attentions from the frail and frightened redhead in the arms of her lover and his, to the bleach blonde vampire that had once again resigned himself to looking out the window.  It was an odd turn of events this last year or so that had brought Spike reeling headfirst into their world, not as a foe but as an ally.  A worthy ally at that.  First he had come to them out of hatred, then out of necessity, then out of greed, then, though he would drink a holy water cocktail before admitting it, out of friendship.  He had seen the change that the Master vampire had taken and Xander was no fool he knew that most of it was because of Willow.  She was patient and caring with him when the rest of them wanted nothing more than to feed him to their dust busters.  She included him in everything, even if he didn't want to and much to the protests of the others.  She had brought out parts of him that were straining to be released as he, no doubt, did the same for her.  He was there for her when no one else knew how to deal with her spiraling depression.  He stayed with her when none of the others wanted to take the responsibility of researching and left her alone to pour over volumes of information.  He was the only one to fully understand her relationship with Tara and who accepted her and with his persistence had brought the others to the comfort zone that they were in now.

Sure Spike still called him a moron, amongst other things, and he still called Buffy a slut, again amongst other creative little nicknames but he did it with a lot less hatred in his eyes.  Which for Spike was a lot.  So Xander had come to accept him, of course it took awhile and only recently did he get over the initial shock that he was rooming with Willow, but Spike was one of them now.  The annoying, trouble-making, noogie-giving, older brother but part of the family nonetheless.

Spike looked back at Willow, Xander knew that he wanted nothing more than to be the one comforting her.  He knew that Spike was in love with his best friend and had been for sometime, he wasn't as dense as the girls thought he was but he liked to keep them guessing.  Even though, Buffy would rip out his tongue for saying so he thought that Willow and Spike were perfect for each other.  He liked Tara well enough and had come to accept her for the sake of his friendship with Willow but Tara and Willow didn't have the spark, the heat or even the same ease and comfort that Willow and Spike had with each other.  The girl's relationship with one another was awkward at best.  He was no one to get in the way.  He was fully aware that Willow was an adult and that she was entitled to live her own life he also knew that she would come to her senses.  Xander had often wondered why Spike didn't just make a move it was not like the platinum man to see something he wanted and let it slip away. <Look at Dru, for Christ sakes, he worked on her for over a century> He had then realized that Spike loved Willow in a way that he had never loved anything before and that surely coming to the realization himself as well probably scared him out of his wits.  He was probably more confused about his feelings and even more unsure of them than his 170 plus years of life had ever allowed him to be. He was also aware that Spike had all the time in the world to make her come to her senses.  Xander just hated to see him look at her with such longing and sadness sometimes, like at that very moment.  He was beginning to get even broodier than Angel. <And God knows one brood boy per group is more than enough>

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"So what now?"  Cordelia asked finally breaking the silence.

Buffy, Xander and Willow looked at each other and then at Giles with a knowing look.  All three of them answered Cordelia at once,"Research."

"Great, I came just in time for the fun stuff, yay me."  Cordelia said sarcastically.

"Hey Cordy, it'll be just like old times, only we're not in the library and there are a lot more of us….and okay so this is not at all like old times."  Xander said trying to get Cordelia in the spirit and failing miserably.

"Just tell me where to start and …"Cordelia was stopped short by the sound of the front door being thrown open.  A breathless and disheveled Amy stood in the doorway.  Her face was flushed and dripping sweat, her hair was wet and had obviously not been tended to after her shower.  Her T-shirt was inside out and her jeans were unzipped and to top it all off she was wearing sandals but they were not the same.  On each foot she wore a different one.

All of the people in the room looked at her as if she were a crazed lunatic.  At that moment Amy felt like exactly that, but she knew this is where she had to be.  These were the only people that could tell her what was happening to her and stop it if possible.

"Amy?"

"What happened to you?" Buffy asked getting up to help the girl in.

Amy tried to catch her breath as her roommate made her way to her.  She allowed Buffy to take her arm and lead her into the apartment.  Buffy sat the girl on the recliner that Riley had relinquished when he saw her intentions.

"I'll get her something to drink", Riley said making his way to the kitchen.

The girl continued to breath heavily as the others looked at her waiting to hear what had brought her to them at this hour and in the state that she was in.  She looked up at Buffy.

"I….was..in…" the girl tried to get the words out between gulps of much needed air but to no avail.

"Amy, it's okay relax, your going to hyperventilate.  Here have something to drink."  Buffy took the glass of water from Riley's hands and gave it to Amy.  She drank the water with the thirst of someone who had been lost and wandering the Sahara for a week.  Once she had finished the glass of water and her breathing had slowed to a reasonable rhythm she attempted to explain again.

"Okay, I was taking a shower, nothing weird there, whatever when I was done I saw something in the mirror.  When I went to see what it was these really far out things started happening."

"So you figured spooky things are happening so it HAS to be something to do with the Scoobies, which it usually does?"

"Delia, please."  Willow said to the girl.  "What is it Amy?  What weird thing happened?"

"Well," she looked around nervously at the people around her.  She had only expected to find Willow here, possibly with Tara or Giles, the last thing that she had expected was an audience of all her friends.  There were far more eyes on her than she was used to and it was making her increasingly uneasy.  She pushed any feelings of uncomfortableness to the background of her mind.  She had to find out what was going on and maybe it would be helpful that there were so many people there.  She pulled up her hair and leaned forward to show Willow the mark on her neck.  Willow, Tara and Anya moved in for a better view and when the three witnessed what was before them their eyes grew wide with fear.

"Oh no," Willow said putting her hand in her mouth to cover the expression on her face.  She didn’t want to frighten Amy anymore than she already was.  It was the last thing that anyone needed.

"So she got a tattoo, big deal that's what all this was about?"  Xander asked wondering what the big fuss was.  As if they had never seen anyone with a tattoo before.  He actually thought tattoos were kind of sexy, especially when they were small and tastefully done.

Spike moved towards Amy to take a better look at the mark on her neck.

"Bloody hell."

"Spike I thought you of all people would be the least shocked by a tattoo…."

"It's not a tattoo you moron!"  Spike growled at him.

"Whoa!  Down Fang no need to go all grrrry on us now.  So what is it then?"

Giles was the last to close the space between himself and Amy.  He slipped his glasses on and came in for a better look.  What he saw did not make him happy.  It was one thing that the demon had been targeting random Witches on campus.  He felt for them but he didn’t know them, now it was an altogether different thing.  Now, not to sound too much like a cliché, it was personal.  One of his own had been marked and if they were not careful she would be the next.

"She's been marked."  Angel vocalized what all of them were thinking.

"Marked? What do you mean marked?  What is happening to me?"  Amy asked, tears began to swell up in her eyes and her voice was tinged with desperation.

"I'm going to patrol, who's going to come with?"  Buffy got up determination in her voice.  She had every intention of walking out that door finding this demon and cutting off its smug head.  No one fucked with her friends and got away with it.  She wanted this demon to know exactly who he was dealing with.  She moved towards the locker where Giles kept most of the weapons, Angel, Riley, Xander and Anya followed behind her.
"Anya, maybe you should stay here and help with the researching."  Xander said to her.  He did not want to see her get hurt, he wanted her to be somewhere that she was protected.  Not that Giles' little apartment was anything like the bomb shelter he wished that he could stow his friends away in until this big nasty was taken care of, but it was the best they could do.

"Alexander Harris I am not going to stay here.  What do you think that I am a weak little girl?  That I can't hold my own?  Need I remind you that I am the oldest person here and that as such I am using my seniority.  Now hand me that axe and get out of my way."  Xander did as he was told.  Internally he smiled at Anya's outburst. <What a woman>

Spike looked at Willow from his crouched position next to Amy.  He knew that he should go with the Slayer and the rest of them.  He would like nothing more than to be the one to make that arrogant demon scream for mercy but he did not want to leave her.  So he looked at her to retrace every part of her that he had memorized.  The fiery auburn of her hair, the way that it fell in soft tendrils, messily around her face.  The subtle curve of her manicured eye brows as they framed the deep green flecks that were her eyes.  The slight flush that seemed to make its permanent residence on her freckled cheeks even the pink flesh of her supple lips as they whispered softly to Amy.  She mesmerized him and he didn't want to turn away.

She had taken the girl into her arms and was offering words of comfort after she had quietly explained what they knew so far.   The tables had turned.  No longer was Willow the one seeking comfort and crawling inside of herself with fear.  She had found her strength in her friend's need of her and she gladly made a shift into comfort mode.  All traces of the fear for herself that she had felt just minutes before were gone; her only goal at that moment was to assure that Amy felt safe.  Spike saw this change in her and recognized it immediately.  He knew that she would be fine, that she didn’t need him.  That didn't make him anymore eager to go.

Willow turned her eyes to him and caught his blue ones in a loving gaze.  It was amazing how the icy blue of his eyes could always ease whatever pain she felt.  She knew that he had to go.  That he had to help the others, it was after all what he did, kick demon butt, but she wanted him to stay.  She wanted him to take her in his arms and allow the world to disappear around them.  But she knew that that couldn't happen, there was too much to do, so many things going on at once and the confusion would eventually catch up with them and they would end up drowning in it.

"Be careful", she said to him quietly.  He gave her a nod and weak smile before he ran off behind the others.  She watched him leave and fought every instinct in her body that yelled at him to stay.  She looked back to the crying girl in her arms and then to Tara as she sat next to her fully aware of all that was happening.

"He'll be ok,"  Tara said to her.

"I know" she said guilt over coming her for the things that she was feeling for Spike, especially with the proximity of her girlfriend.  "Maybe, you should go back to the dorm and get some sleep.  It's late and you're going to go see your parents tomorrow."

"No, I'm going to stay here with you and help.  I'll just call my parents and we can do this another time."

"Tara, please don't.  It's rare enough for you to have time to spend with them.  Really we can handle this.  Just business as usual in the hellmouth."

Tara sadly conceded and got up to leave giving the girl a soft peck on the lips. "Call me if you need me."

"Okay, here take my car and stay in the dorm until daylight."  Willow handed Tara her keys.  She wanted the girl to make it back safely and the knowledge that this demon was after witches made her feel a bit unsure about letting her leave.  Willow figured that since Amy had been marked she was probably the one that he was after and that Tara was in no immediate danger.  She also wanted the girl to leave Sunny dale as soon as possible and stay away until this whole thing blew over, she was afraid that she would end up caught in the middle and that was the last thing that Willow wanted.

"Take care yourself, I love you, you know."  Tara said to the girl her eyes full of sincerity.

"You too."

The girl left and the only one's left in the apartment were, Willow, Amy, Cordelia and Giles.

"Well I guess this means it's just us on research duty."  Cordelia stated as she went over to the oak table that Giles had been busily stacking books upon.

Willow noticed that Amy had stopped crying and was in fact asleep in her arms.  She carefully lay her down on the couch and covered her with the throw that Giles kept on the recliner.  She then went over to the table to join Giles and Cordelia.  Giles had brewed coffee and had placed three mugs on the table.  She grabbed the one that had been set out for her.

She lifted the steaming mug over her head with her right hand,"Here's to another Friday night spent researching.  May the next demon that comes our way be a little more mindful of the weekend and wreck havoc only on the weekdays."

"Amen to that", Cordelia said before clinking her mug with Willow's and then Giles'.  She took a small sip from the coffee mug."How come everybody's coffee is better than mine?"  She whined before opening one of the books in front of her.  She would never understand exactly what it was that she did to coffee that made it taste like volcanic lava.  Of course now she had more important things to think about, like saving Willow.

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The cloaked figure stood outside of the well lit apartment.  The glowing red slits of it's eyes searched through the window and narrowed evilly as it saw what it had been seeking.  The girl lay on the couch asleep.  The figure had seen her crying in the arms of the powerful red headed witch and was bidding it's time.  All the others had left and the only ones that were watching the girl were heavily engrossed in their readings.

<Bring her to me> the voice inside the figures head demanded. <I must have her tonight, the end is drawing near>

The cloaked figure continued to wait, hoping that it would get it's opportunity to strike before the others returned.  It was not yet time to make itself known.  It needed to get the girl and then the harvesting would be complete and it would be time to prepare the last.  The harsh red eyes of the demon staring out of the figure's guise swept towards the pale red head sitting at the table.  She seemed oblivious to the things around her as she concentrated on the laptop in front of her.

She was strong.  Her energy called out to them.  She was the one that they needed to complete the ritual.  The magnitude of her power, even if she was not fully aware of it's strength, would be the crowning glory.  She was to bring everything full circle and when she did they would be invincible.  By the time that she realized that she was the only that could stop it, she would be too late.  It would be done and she would be a part of them.  The union of three, the holy completion to all that they sought.  Without her power they were weak and incomplete, even with the power of the others flowing through their veins.  She was beautiful and wise and held within her the power of hundreds of generations of witches.  Only they knew, she could never have known.  She felt the power surge within her but it had not yet come to its full fruition.  This was the time, the best possible moment to tap into all that she was, and they would do it for her before she came into her own.

But first they needed the other.

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In the stillness of her sleep Amy felt it.  She felt it tugging at her very soul.  She knew that she couldn't resist it, she was bound to it and it was calling her.  Her eyes snapped open as the pull became stronger, she was awake but she was being led by her subconscious.  Her consciousness was buried deep in the recesses of her mind and could faintly be heard above the call.  It yelled at her, pleaded with her not to answer but it had weakened and could not break through the foggy haze of her altered state.  Her eyes were glassy and looked as if they were staring at something just beyond the physical world.  She waited, not because of anything that she was controlling but because the power that sought her asked it of her.

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The others in the room were not aware of the internal struggle that was occurring within Amy.  Cordelia and Willow had both fallen asleep, their heads resting uncomfortably on the oak table.  Giles pulled his glasses off and rubbed the tiredness from his eyes, they had been searching through the books for quiet sometime and his vision was beginning to ache.  He decided that he needed some more coffee.  He got up from the table and glancing at the sleeping girls before he left, made his way into the kitchen.

No one noticed the stirring girl on the living room couch.  No one but the dark figure that now stood in the doorway.  Amy rose from the couch, her will was no longer her own.  She walked towards the door in a blackened haze.  She could see but she was not aware of her surroundings all that she knew was that she had to go to it.  As she neared the figure that stood just outside of the opened door, the pull became less and less.  Somewhere in her daze, she heard herself weeping in fear and her soul trembled in dire anticipation of the oblivion that awaited her.

She made it the door and followed as the ominous figure turned to leave.  She silently closed the door and the two made their way out into the awaiting night.

Giles finished brewing his coffee and poured himself some.  He returned to the other room and to the opened book that awaited him.  He turned his attention back to it.  He did not notice that the couch that had once held a sleeping Amy was now empty but for the throw that was dropped on top of it.

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Willow and Cordelia both shot up from their sleep with a resounding "Huh?" as they heard the front door slam shut.  Giles looked up from his book to greet the returning caravan.  They were all discussing something wildly but none of them seemed to be hurt in anyway.  Giles thanked whatever gods that happened to be listening for their safe return.  He had been beginning to worry about them and their whereabouts. Giles knew that they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves but he also feared that they would have to face this thing and that they were not prepared for what they would see. He stood up from his seat and removed his glasses; he looked at the group inquisitively.

"Humrr," he cleared his throat to get their attention.

"We have a problem."  Buffy said.

"Just once I would like you to walk into a room and use a different phrase.  Anything, just not that."

Buffy continued ignoring Cordelia.  "We found another girl.  That's why we took so long, we had to wait for an ambulance.  We didn’t find anything else though."

"So we have another victim?"  Giles repeated more for himself than anyone else.

"Anyone we know?"  Willow asked.

Buffy closed her eyes and nod sadly,"Sarina Todd"

"The girl from American Lit?"  Willow stated in disbelief.  She had not known that the girl was a witch.  She had always sensed something about her but never really placed all the pieces together.  Poor girl.  The girl had always been nice to Willow and now she was in a coma and they couldn't stop it.

Anya began to look around the room.  Something was off but she didn’t know what.  Everything seemed to be in it's place but she could not shake the nagging feeling that they were forgetting something……or someone.  Realization crept into her eyes and she turned to the others.

"Where's Amy?"

"She right over…."  Giles pointed towards the couch and stopped when he noticed that it was no longer occupied, "She was there a minute ago."  He looked about the room in confusion.  Where had the girl gone?

"Oh Goddess, she's gone."  Panic began to creep its way into Willows voice as she barely found the words to make the statement.

"She has to be here somewhere, luv.  Don't worry maybe she went upstairs."  Spike climbed the stairs two by two and began searching for Amy.
"It's no use, she's not there.  It got her.  It took her from right under our noses."  Willow began to cry.  It had been a long time since she had let the release of tears overcome her.  But she could not control it.  She was getting tired of holding onto the brave façade that she had put up for the sake of her friends.  She wanted to cry she wanted to be fragile and be cared for.  She wanted someone to come and take all the confusion and fear away.  Just then she felt cold arms wrap around her.  She knew it was him.  He had answered her silent pleas and just held her.

"Shhhh, Willow, it's okay.  We'll find her."  Spike said gently into her hair as he held her.  She felt so warm in his arms.  She also felt so small and alone.  But he would not let her be alone.  Not ever.

"It's my fault, I was supposed to be taking care of her but I didn't and now it's too late. " she sobbed.  She nestled her head in the strong ripples of his chest.

She felt his fingers on her chin and he brought her face up to look at his.  His eyes saw through her, into her and his gaze warmed her very being. "Don't blame yourself, don't ever blame yourself" he said to her sternly.  With his eyes he sought her response, he found the spark of acknowledgement in hers but her trembling lips deceived her.  She bit her bottom lip trying to control them and halt her sobbing.  He licked his lips when he saw her bottom lip tucked seductively into her mouth. <Oh God I want to kiss her>

<Kiss me> Willows mind screamed at him.  She longed to feel the cool softness of his lips against hers.  Once again he licked his lips and fighting the urge to take hers he moved them up and planted a lingering kiss on her forehead.

The others stared at them in admirative awe.  At that moment there was not one person in that room that didn't ache for the closeness that those two felt.  Their love for each other filtrated the air like a welcomed breeze.  All the eyes in the room were on the pair.  Cordelia looked at her friend in the arms of her savior and smiled silently to herself.  <Maybe some good can come out of this whole thing>

Seeing the display of tenderness before them Anya and Xander could not help put to reach for each other.  They embraced and Riley made his way to do the same for Buffy.  Angel looked up at Cordelia, she was looking happily at the couple and then she turned her head down in momentary sadness.  Her eyes found Angel's and she blushed as she realized that his had also been searching her out.  Angel looked down at his shoes shyly when he realized that Cordelia had caught him looking at her.  He gave her a lopsided grin, which she returned in kind.

Giles finally broke the loving spell that had spread throughout the room.

"I suppose we should get back to trying to find out what this demon is and how to destroy."

The others tore themselves away from each other in silent agreement.  They all made their way to the table and braced themselves for a long night.

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

The group had been researching for hours and it was beginning to take its toll on them.  Buffy and Riley had gone out to see if they could find Amy and had been gone for most of the night, or what remained of it.  The others had buckled down and let their resolve help them sift through book after book of demon findings.  Willow had vigorously searched any resource that she could find on the Internet and was fast on her way to hopelessness.

Some of the group had let sleep take the better of them.  Xander lay sprawled out on the couch his mouth half open and low snores coming from him.  Cordelia had curled up in the leather recliner and had lulled softly to sleep.  Giles fell asleep sitting in his chair by the table his head falling in the book that he had in front of him with a silent thud.  Spike, Willow, Anya and Angel had continued on their search, the four of them used to getting by with little or no sleep.

Willow stood up as she noticed crimson rays of sunlight piercing their way in through the uncovered windows.  She began to draw the heavy curtains shut to protect the vampires from the deadly light.  She then made her way to the kitchen where she pulled out two bags of blood from the fridge and went about heating them up.  With that done she poured the blood into two mugs and headed back out to the living room.  In the beginning she had found the preparation of Spike's 'food' a bit on the Ew side, but after all the time that had passed it had become second nature to her.  This was not to say that it had lost its Ick factor but she had grown to appreciate the thankful smile that Spike gave her when she did this for him and it had become her incentive.  She handed the two their breakfast and both of them nod thankfully.

"How about you Red?  You should really get something to eat.  Not to mention some sleep."  Spike said noticing the blaring contrast that the dark circles under her eyes made to her creamy features.

"Nah, can't sleep."

"Well then eat something."

"Nope, not hungry."

"Red your no use to anyone not even yourself if you emaciate yourself.  Let me make you some eggs."

Willow shook her head.

"Toast?"

"Spike really, I couldn't eat right now, even if I tried.  My stomach is all tied up in knots."

"That's because you haven't eaten luv.  Eat something please," he begged.  He let his bottom lip come out and she flashed him his best puppy dog look."For me" he whined.

Willow couldn't help but giggle at him.  She gave him a look of defeat.  "All right then.  Anya would you like something?"
The ex-demon and Angel both looked at Spike in disbelief.

"Yeah…. yeah sure…uh," the girl answered still in shock.  The vampire usually spoke to her only to insult her or just ignored her altogether.  She didn't know what had gotten into him but she was going to take full advantage of it. "Eggs sound great."

"Good, be right back."  As he turned to leave he caught the amused smile on Angels face. "What?" he almost growled.

Angel shrugged his shoulders and looked at him defensively but maintained the smile on his lips. "Me? Nothin'" It took everything that he possessed not to laugh at Spike.  His sire had been noticing the subtle changes that Spike had made and to him this was just the icing on the cake.

Spike turned around with a sweep of his duster and made his was to the kitchen but not before mumbling, "Bloody poof."

When he was out of the room all three of them broke out in laughter.

"What was that all about?"  Anya asked

"Don't know."

"Maybe he's going soft."

"I heard that you bloody wanker." Came a shout from the kitchen.  The three shared another laugh before turning back to their work.

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

Willow and Anya scarfed down the food like starving children.  Neither one of them had realized how truly hungry they were.  Anya looked at Spike appreciatively. <Who knew vampires could cook.  And cook well>

Xander awoke at the smell of food and made his way to the table to weasel some out of his girlfriend.  Anya noticed him moving towards her and knowing his intentions let out a low growl.

"Whoa, careful cavegirl.  Just wanted a little taste."

"Get your own." She said with a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Fine!" he stomped into the kitchen in search of sustenance and came back a moment later with a bag of Cheese Doodles. "None for you." He said grabbing the bag possessively and moving to turn the television on.  He settled back into the couch and began watching Saturday morning cartoons as he munched on the cheesy treat hungrily.

The front door opened and Buffy and Riley made their way in.  Spike and Angel jumped out of the way of the incoming light and scrambled to the shadows.

"Shut the door."  Angel called out.

Buffy and Riley complied and the vampires made their way back to their chairs.

"Did you find her?"  Willow asked then hopefully, standing from her chair.

The look on Buffy's face told her everything.  Before the girl could nod her reply Willow slumped back into her chair and placed her head in her hands. "It was too late.  We took her to the hospital."  Riley told them wrapping his arms around Buffy.

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"OH.MY.GOD."  Anya said from her place at the table.  Her eyes widened, as she looked closer at the page in her book, "I should have known.  I should have seen it sooner."  She was shaking her head as if to try and deny to herself what she was reading.

Everyone looked at her.  All of them were fully awake now and had gone back to searching through the books after a small cartoon and food break.  Willows head had become a blur of information and the sleepiness that was creeping up on her was not allowing her to process what she had been doing.  Spike too had been succumbing to the welcomed embrace of sleep when Anya had jolted him back to reality.

The girl continued to shake her head and the others were becoming more and more confused by the second.

"What!", Xander asked.

"What is it Anya?  Speak girl" Giles almost shouted frustration clearly in his voice.

"I found him."  Was all she said and then she handed the book to Angel, who had gone to her side.

Angel read the pages she had left open and his eyes darkened into something they were not used to seeing on the souled vampire.  Fear.

"What, what, what.  Are you trying to drive us all nuts?"  Xander made his way to where Angel stood and looked over his shoulder and began to read.  He looked up at the others waiting stares.

"For Christ's sake, will someone say something?"  Giles yelled.

"We're in deep shit" was all that Xander could say.
 

~Part 4~ Enlightenment

Buffy was going out of her mind.  It was the only way that she could fully describe the feeling that she was experiencing.  She had never been so scared in her whole life.  She was the Chosen One; she had come up against the baddest of the bad and had made it out with minimal damage.  But this.  This was not something that she could so easily be rid of.  This, this thing was basically indestructible, by her anyways.  No weapons of man could destroy it.  She had read it; she knew what it meant.  But this guy was no Judge; no silly little bazooka would take care of this.   That had been a walk in the park, this was a fieldtrip into the darkest recesses of hell.

The others looked at Buffy as she paced the room frantically.  She was shaking her head, her blonde locks grazing her shoulders in an uncontrolled dance.  She would stop as if she had suddenly thought of something and then deciding differently would start up again.  From time to time she would mumble something to herself but she continued to wear a hole in the floor.  All of their minds were on overdrive.  No one knew what to say or if there was anything even remotely appropriate to say.

Finally Buffy stopped she looked at Giles."A God," she said loudly,"A God.  How in the hell am I supposed to kill a God?"  She did not allow the former Watcher or anyone else for that matter to answer her, "I'll tell you how.  You can't.  Hence, the God-ness."  She stopped and looked at them for feedback.

"Did Buffy just say hence?"  Xander asked.

"Uh huh" was all that Cordelia could manage.

"Arghh."  Buffy began to pace again.  "And not just any God, noo.  We couldn't get some easy nice God like the God of rainbows or fuzzy bunnies or something.  Nooooo none of that for Buffy, that would be too easy.  We had to get stuck with the Sumo God of destruction and anguish."

"It's Sumerian, Buffy" Giles corrected her.

She glared at him.  "Did I mention anguish?"

"Yes, Buffy I believe we've established that."

"So what do we do now?  I mean it's not like I can go out there and kill this thing.  I can't even find it and even if I did, did you read the part about him being a God?"  Buffy was getting more and more riled up.

"Yes, hon. I think we are all well aware of the fact that it's a God."  Riley said walking towards her.  He took her by the arms and slowly led her to the sofa. "Maybe you should just sit here and relax for a minute."

"Relax?  Relax?  You want me to relax when there is mean nasty thing out there that is after my best friend?"

"We don't exactly know that he is after Willow…."

"I think that Cordy's vision pretty much summed that up Giles."

"Yes, well, there is that."  Giles agreed.

"So this Bad Toes guy, how did he get here?   I mean if he's so old all-powerful how come he's here now? Why hasn't he done his little destruction dance already and gotten it over with?"  Xander punctuated.

"Bartos.  Apparently he has attempted his 'ascension' we'll call it for lack of a better word, anyhow according to the accounts several thousand years ago in Sumeria he rose to overthrow the other Gods and was stopped."

"What do you mean stopped?  How?"  Angel asked.

"Well it seems that he was sent to another dimension by a High Priestess of the time, Mariana I believe she was called," Giles checked back to the book,"Yes, Mariana."

"Good so we'll just send the bugger to another dimension, case closed."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple Spike."

"Why did I expect that somehow?"

"It seems that in order for him to retain the power necessary for him to be at full strength he needs to absorb the magical energy of 7 witches or warlocks, once he's done that he can only be destroyed or vanquished on the night of Samhain."

"Sam what?"  Cordelia asked.

"Halloween."  Both Anya and Willow said in unison.

"And you said Halloween was quiet.  You've have been so wrong."  Buffy said to Giles.

"But he's only had 6 witches so far, that means we can take care of him."  Riley added.

Giles shook his head;"Someone had to have called upon his power from this world in order for him to be in it, that makes seven."

"Great this is turning into the theatre of the absurd."  Cordelia commented.

"Why would anyone be stupid enough to wake him up?", Riley asked more to himself than anyone else.

"The usual reason, power, greed etc.  The one that brought him here is said to be able to rule by his side, but in order for the circle to be complete they need a third, whose power is pure and mixed with that of centuries of witches."

"I guess that's where Willow comes in."

"It would appear so."  Giles said.

"But that's not me I mean, my parents are soo not witches."

"Apparently, unbeknownst to you or your family, it is in your bloodline.  That's the only way that I could think of."

"So what happens if he doesn't get Willow?"

"The circle will be left unfinished, and his power will not come to its full fruition, but he will still continue to feed off of the magical energies of witches.  He will need it for his power to survive."

"So why Halloween? " Buffy asked, she had begun to calm down slowly and now that she was sure that there was no way that anyone was going to let this thing get at Willow she felt much more at ease.

"Because it is the time when the portals to all the physical and non physical realms are most vulnerable.   It would allow him to complete the ritual of combining the three with greater ease.  Willows power will also be at an all time high on that day because of the millenium."

"Okay, so we are on 24 hour Willow watch until after Halloween.  I suggest that we all go to the mansion because it has more room.  Let's break and get enough supplies for a week of confinement and head over there."  Buffy stood up as she said this.  She had once again resumed her role of control girl and was raring to go.

"Buffy, we still have to find a way to get rid of this Bartos guy.  I mean hiding me out isn't gonna fix the problem.  It got to Amy and she was here, supposedly safe."

"Willow's right.  There's more to this than just keeping him away from her.  We have to vanquish him and there is only one person that can do that."  Anya said looking uncomfortably at them all.  She did not want to tell them the full extent of what she knew.  A tentative calm had come over them and she didn't want to be the one to ruin it.

"Who?"  Spike asked.

"Me."  Willow said meekly.

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"No bloody way!"

"Spike it's the only way."

"No it's not Red.  We'll figure something out.  There's no way you are going to put yourself in the position to be…."  He couldn't finish his own sentence.  The thought of Willow dying brought an ache to his chest the magnitude of which he had never felt.  He felt a lump forming in his throat and the unfamiliar feeling of wanting to cry. <Great now you're going to cry like some nancy boy> Spike swallowed to clear the knot from his throat and pushed back the tears that were inevitably forming.  "No. It's not happening.  Over my dead body."

"Not much of a challenge there, dead-boy."  Xander pointed out.

"Oh, go stuff that trap with a Twinkie or something you bloody moron."

"Testy, aren't we.  You know Spike that kind of anger is really bad for your blood pressure."

"Xander, give it a rest."  Giles said.

"Willow, listen to me.  I will not allow this.  You are in too much danger as it is."

"You will not allow it?"  Willow asked.  Her face began to turn red as the unmistakable sign of her anger began to build.

"Uh oh here it comes," Cordelia said bracing herself for the impending fury of the small red head.

"Since when do I need your permission to do anything, you big bad vampire."  She stood up and walked towards him finger pointed outward.  She tapped him on the chest with her finger."I will have you know you platinum monster," she poked him repeatedly on the chest,"that I have lived almost 20 years on this hellmouth, no thanks to my parents, thank you very much.  And I will not have anyone bossing me around now.  I am going to find a way to vanquish this God person and then I am going to do it and then we can all get on with our little lives.  So deal!"

Willows eyes were on fire.  Her whole body shock with the anger that she felt.  Spike looked at her and saw the blaze that had begun in her.  She was beautiful.  Her face was flush; her hair crowned her creamy face like the wispy petals of a flower and her lips… her lips were trembling pieces of flesh aching to be kissed.  Calling out to him to be violated by the cool touch of his.

She looked into his blue eyes beginning to speak again,"So if you….." she never got to finish.  The fire that he saw in her was enough to bring him over the edge.  Control was not a concept that his brain could process at that moment.  He took her small, shapely body in his arms and crushed her lips with his.

She stiffened in his arms.  She could not believe what was happening.  She had dreamed about this moment for so long that now that it was actually happening she felt as if she were somewhere else.  Her body flared with his touch.  The cold feel of his lips on her put all her senses on full alert.

Spike felt her relax in his arms.  He did not remove himself from her; he only pulled her closer.  He felt her arms go around his neck in acceptance.  It was all so surreal to him, it was as if he had walked into one of his dreams.  She opened her mouth in a sigh and he used it to deepen the kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth.  She was so warm, so soft he felt as if he were going to explode at the mere feel of her.

That was when Willow thought about Tara.  Her wonderful girlfriend, the woman that had accepted her wholly and completely and made her realize things that she never thought possible.  This thought is what made her pause.  This thought is what made her begin to pull away from his rough embrace.

The others watched in silence at the passionate display before them.  Most of them formed knowing smiles on their lips.  Giles was too shocked to react and Riley wondered what he had missed.  Willow pushed Spike away from her.  She looked at him with disbelief in her eyes but he saw something more passion, and guilt.  He had done a stupid thing, he knew that.  He let his emotions get the better of him and now he had changed things between them.

Willow struggled to catch her breath.  She had never felt such a rush of so many different emotions at once.  A part of her wanted to run back into his arms and continue where they left off.  Another part of her kicked herself for letting her get carried away in the moment.  And yet another part of her hoped the earth would suddenly open up and take her into it.

"What….did you do that for?"

<Spike stay cool, be aloof.  Don't make a big deal out of it.  So you kissed her big deal, you kissed her you stupid wanker! >

"Somebody had to shut you up.  You were about to explode."  He said shrugging his shoulders and making his way to a chair.  He needed to sit down before his legs gave way.

Willow looked at him in disbelief. <What> He kissed her in a way that she had never been kissed before, filled her with emotions that she had tried so hard to keep hidden and there he was acting as if it were all a big game.  The anger that had dissipated slowly began to rise once more.

"You….you..your are a….."  She searched her mind for something clever, something harsh, most of all something painful to alleviate the pain that she was feeling. Nothing came to her.  She had to leave, had to get away from him and the looks of the others.  So she ran upstairs without another word.

"Slick one Spike.  Next time why don't you just rip her heart out of her chest and show it to her before you stomp on it?" Buffy said.

"Shut up you rabid whore."

"Hey, watch it" Riley moved towards him with intentions to defend his girlfriends honor.

"What are you going to do soldier boy?  Stake me?  Well go right ahead.  Anything would be better than sitting here listening to you assholes."

Riley was about to rebuttal when Anya placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"He's hurt.  Let him be."  She whispered so that only he could here.  Riley acknowledged that the girl was right and backed off.

Spike let out a loud frustrated growl and left the apartment slamming the door as he left.  Outside all that could be seen was a man with a coat over his head, running faster than humanly possible, and a fire in the making.

"Whoa, talk about the Young & the Restless."  Cordelia commented.

"They just need to blow off some steam.  There's enough sexual tension between the both of them to set off a nuclear reactor."  Anya said.

"Now that we have that nastiness out of the way.  Let's say we find a solution to our bigger problem."  Giles changed the subject the picture of the two still swimming around in his head. "Willow is right.  She is really the only one with enough power to stop this thing, and Samhein is only a week away.  So we have to find whoever, summoned Bartos and find a spell to kill him for good."

All the others agreed.

"I agree with Buffy on the fact that we should probably move into the mansion for the week.  Angel, you and Cordelia should get back there and make sure to ready things for all of us.  We will all join you shortly.  Also, no one is to leave Willow alone….well aside from right now."

"Got it Giles.  It's creepy mansion living and Willow surveillance for the next week."

"Right, then everyone meet back at the mansion in 2 hours.  Angel cover yourself with this blanket, the last thing we need is for you to get an unwanted tan."

"Wow, Giles humor, it's rather becoming on you."  Cordelia commented to the former Watcher.

"Yes..well.. then" Giles stammered,"See you in a couple of hours.

Angel and Cordelia made their way out of the apartment; Angel safely protected from the deadly rays of the sun.  Xander and Anya followed shortly, as did Riley.  Buffy and Giles stayed behind to wait for Willow to come downstairs.

"You think she'll be ok?"

"She's a big girl Buffy."

"Yeah, but she loves him."

"As he does her."
 

~Part 5~ Reflections, Regrets & Rose Buds

Willow threw herself onto Giles' bed, her eyes already red rimmed and tearing.  She still didn't know if it was real, if all of it had really happened.  The cool feel of his lips on hers and the strong protective feel of his arms around her lingered.  She could still smell the sweetness of him.  The masculine smell of leather, tobacco and a hint of vanilla.  She smiled to herself through her tears as she remembered when she had bought him the vanilla bath soap.  He had complained and whined that he was "the big bad" and "the big bad does not use smelly fru- fru soap".  Even after all his protests and outward shows of denial he had not stopped using the soap since she had bought it.  He had in fact gone to buy himself more.  She never brought it up but he knew that she had been secretly patting herself on the back.

She loved to do things for him; she loved to see the blue of his eyes light up with boyish charm.  Most of all, she loved him.  She didn't know when it had evolved from a tentative friendship, then into a strong bond and then into love.  But it had and there was no denying it now.  When he had kissed her she had answered him back with all the passion, longing and desire that her heart had been holding for him.  She had begun to think that maybe, he had the same feelings for her.  That he ached for her as she ached for him.  But it had all been a game, an impish joke. <How can he be so cruel? >  But she knew the answer to that.  He was a demon, it was in his nature to hurt.  Especially to hurt mortals and that’s all that she was.  A stupid mortal.  A stupid mortal in love with a stubborn vampire.  Which went to prove that she was stupider than the average mortal.  She had always been an overachiever. <If you're going to screw up you might as well make it good>

She sobbed into her hands.  She knew that she had been the one to pull away.  That she had been the one to stop it out of her sense of loyalty to Tara.  She had been through this all too familiar situation with Oz and he had never really trusted her again.  Yes, their relationship went on, but it was never the same and she constantly blamed it for the inevitable rift that tore them apart in the end.  She loved him, a part of her always would but their love had not been enough to save them, to save them from each other.  She could never do to Tara what she had done to Oz with Xander.  She knew that the type of person the Tara was would allow her to forgive Willow, maybe even understand.  But she did not want to be the one to cause her pain.   Especially when she was so unsure if it could ever possibly work with Spike.  She would always love him but she knew now, after what had happened, the she would never be with him.

She yelled her frustration into the pillows that were scattered around the bed.  She hit the mattress, she tore the sheets off the bed and threw the pillows at the wall.  Had anyone walked in at that moment they would've believed that she had gone mad.  She was venting.  She needed this.  Needed the release that her abuse of Giles' bed was bringing her.  When she felt that she had done as much damage as she could possibly do to his bed, she stopped.  She straightened herself out, smoothed a hand over her tousled hair and walked out the door of his bedroom to join the others downstairs.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs she noticed that the apartment was quiet.  She knew that they wouldn't all just leave her alone.  Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Buffy and Giles sitting around the oak table in silence.  They both looked up at her in anticipation as they saw her enter the room.

"Where'd everybody go?"

"They all went to gather some things to head over to the mansion.  I am going up to do the same, then we can go to the dorm for Buffy's things then make a stop by your apartment."

"Sure thing."

"Okay, I shouldn't be long."  He left the girls and bounded up the stairs to prepare his belongings.

By the time that Willow had cooled down and made it downstairs she had completely forgotten the massacre of linens and pillows that she had left upstairs.  When she heard Giles opening the bedroom door it all came back to her.

"Uh-oh" she said under her breath.

"What the…..WILLOW!!!  What did you do?"

"I'm sorry.  I got a little carried away."

"Well next time you get carried away, do it your own room."  He shouted down the stairs at her.

"What was that all about?"

"Let's just say that we need to make a small stop at Bed, Bath & Beyond on our way.  Oh and it's on me."

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Spike made it to his apartment and shut the door behind him hurriedly.  It was a good thing that his apartment was close to the Watcher's or there would be a trail of dust in the courtyard outside.  He pulled his duster down from above his head and then pulled it off.  He let it fall to the floor as he made his way to his bedroom.  Before he could make it, he passed by the open door of Willows room.  He tried to shrug off the temptation of walking in but the sweet aroma of vanilla and lavender that filled the air beckoned him.

He could smell her everywhere in their apartment and he inwardly kicked himself as he realized that it was the last place that he should have gone to get away from her.  She surrounded him.  It was impossible to clear his head of her in the midst of everything that was her.  He tentatively walked into her room and may his was to her bed.  He lay down on the spot that was still indented by her form.  He searched for the warmth of her body hoping that some of it still lingered on the bed but found none.

Spike curled himself up in her bed, basking in her smell.  He brought the light blue jersey sheets up to his cheek and held it there imagining that it was her touch.  He let the thoughts of her envelope him, the feel of her skin, the touch of her lips, the silk of her hair and the warm caress that was Willow.  He had done a stupid thing, he had crossed the line that he himself had placed.  And now she was most assuredly lost to him.  He had seen the confusion in her eyes as she had pushed him away, the gnawing guilt that she felt.  She had responded to him, he tried to reassure himself, but he knew that she had done so out of shock and because she had been caught in the moment.  Her loyalties were to the witch; she had made it clear.  Still he could not explain the pain in her eyes when he had tried to brush it off.  He had expected her to laugh it off as one of his ever-present idiosyncracies, she hadn't.  He needed to do something; she had looked at him with that look, that look that he knew all to well.  That he had memorized time and time again so as never to be the one to bring it to her face.  But he had been.  He had hurt her, he had made her betray the person that she loved so he had covered.  Sure, it had been a weak and transparent cover to the others that looked on.  But to her it had been enough to send her reeling.

He had wanted to tell her.  The overwhelming passion that he felt in her kiss had convinced him that it was time for her to know the feelings that he had hidden for so long.  But when she had pulled away from him she had changed all that.  She didn't want him and if he had confessed his love for her there would be nothing left for him to hold on to.  Maybe now he could at least continue to be her friend and long for her in secret.  He had to find a way to make it up to her, he had been cruel and…well..vampiry.  He couldn't let things hang like this.  He would do anything to let her know that he was sorry and to maintain his place in her life.  Spike knew that he could never have her, not in the ways that his unbeating heart ached, but to have her as a friend and confidant was better than not having her at all.

He looked around her room trying to think of way to get back into her good graces.  His eyes lingered on an empty vase that sat on her night table beside the bad.  He knew what his first step would be, it wouldn’t be enough to fully redeem himself but it was a start.  Flowers he thought to himself.  <Now I'm positive I'm going soft. >  He smiled to himself.  He didn’t mind.  She had brought out parts of him that he would have never acknowledged existed.  Her presence and her words soothed his demon and gave him a control that he had never experienced.  He no longer felt sorry for himself that he could not kill.  She had brought him around to acceptance and showed him that there were other things that he could do that were just as satisfying.  In a way she had shown him that somewhere in the deep recesses he did possess a soul and that he shouldn't be afraid to let it show.  He still had a little trouble with it but he never failed to show her even if he did put up a front with the others.  It had been her who brought him out of his fits of depression and anger, she had been the only one to care enough to stop him from taking his own life when he felt he could no longer stand it.  She had taught him how to love.  And if he never had her in his passionate embrace again at least he had that.  That and the feel of her warm lips forever embedded in his memory.

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted his thoughts.  He got out of Willows bed and made his way to the living room to answer.

"Hello?"

"Spike?"

"Who the bloody hell else is it going to be you moron?"

"Ah, I see you are your usually cheerful self."

"Out with it chubs.  What do you want?  Willow isn't here."

"I know that.  After what you did I doubt she'd want to be anywhere near you."  Spikes chest began to ache as he realized that what the boy said was true.  "Jeez, and I'm the moron?  I think that the crown has been passed wouldn't you say?"

"Did you just call me to make me feel like an ass or do you have something important to say?"

"No, I called to tell you that you should get enough stuff for about a week and meet us all at the mansion.  The making you feel like an ass part is just an added bonus."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because it's a matter of life or death.  Willow's life or death and no matter how stupid you may have acted I know that she is important to you.  So we'll see you in a bit."  With that Xander hung up the phone not waiting for a response from Spike.

Spike hung the phone up and shook his head.

<When did chubs get a clue? >

Then he made his way to his bedroom to prepare for a week with the Scoobies. <Yay, fun! >  He could not help but laugh to himself at the sarcasm that laced his inner comment.  But most of all he laughed because the other thoughts that came to his mind were too ridiculous for words.  He was actually thinking that it might not be so bad. <That's it.  The verdict is in.  You've definitely gone Poof. >

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Willow walked into the apartment tentatively.  She braced herself in the anticipation of having to face Spike after she had overreacted earlier.  She had come to terms with everything and had come to that realization.  She overreacted, she knew that but she wasn't going to let Spike off that easily.  She had convinced Buffy and Giles to let her go up alone and much to their protests she had put on her resolve face and walked up to her apartment.  She didn't know what to expect when she finally got there.  She was nervous at the prospect of seeing him after she had melted in his arms.  She didn't know what to say to him or even how to react to him.  But as she made her way through the apartment she realized that she would not get to find out just yet.  He was not there.  Evident from the still smoking cigarette stump in the ashtray in his room, he had been there but left not too long ago.

Clothes and other articles were spread out on his bed.  The drawers of his dresser were left carelessly opened and his closet looked almost empty but for a pair of scuffed black leather Doc Martins and a red silk shirt.  Had he left for good?  Panic entered her as she began to wonder if he was really gone.  She walked further into his room and into his bathroom.  This room too looked in disarray.  All of his things were gone except for some scattered towels that lay on the floor, still damp.  Her eyes began to well up with tears as she ran out of his room, the realization that she would not see him again torturing her. <How could this happen?  How could he leave just like that? >

He hadn't even given her time to explain her actions.  Hell, he hadn't even stayed long enough to apologize for his callousness.  Not that she really expected him to apologize but she felt that she deserved one and she was going to get one even if she had to force it out of him.  But now she would not get that chance.  He was gone. She ran towards her room with her head in hands protecting her tears from escaping.  <Oh, Goddess.  Can I even live without him? >

She had before.  She had made it for almost 19 years in the hellmouth without him.  She had lived through countless demons, and vampires, she had made it through even high school virtually unscathed.  She hadn't needed him then.  But she would not have survived the last year without him.  She was still unsure what she would have done if he had not been there to nurse her broken heart and ease her insecurities and she didn't want to know.  He had become a permanent fixture in her life in such a short time and she couldn't picture the rest of her days without him.  Without his crystalline blue eyes, without his strong arms to hold her when she wept, or his soothing words to calm her anger, she had even come to love the platinum mass of his hair.  Who would watch old sappy movies with her and then make her ice cream when she cried over them?  Who would make her flashcards to help her study for her finals?  Who would make her laugh with his seductive teasing when she felt the world was too much for her to bear?  She couldn't imagine anyone filling the void that he would leave.  Not even Tara, as much as Willow loved her, could make her worries wash away with a smile.  That smile that threatened to take her away from all the darkness.

She sat down on her bed and brought her hands to her face.  Her sobs came easier now.  She welcomed them like an old friend.  She let them wash over her for the first time since Oz had left her.  This time it was worse.  The hurt was more than she had ever expected.  She knew that eventually Spike would be bored with her and leave to something better, more interesting.  But she had pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and had been determined to live in the moment.  Now that it was a reality, she was not prepared to deal with the eminent spiral that her life would take.  Could she do this, could she live without him?  She had not wanted to find out but now she had no choice but to deal and denial would not change that.

She looked up from her place on her bed, her eyes seeing her room for the first time since she had come into the apartment.  She knew that she should get her things, Giles and Buffy would only wait so long before coming to check on her.  So she got up and went to her closet to get her things.  There would be enough time for tears later; she would have an eternity of them.  As she pulled out her duffel bag from beneath a box of old stuffed animals in her closet her eye was caught by an unfamiliar object reflected off the mirror of her closet door.  She turned around to inspect it and her heart almost skipped a beat.  She walked over to her nightstand and sat down on the bed beside it.  She stared before her in awe, and finally once the initial shock had left her she reach for a note that lay in front of her awaiting gift.

Willow-

Forgive me?

Your friend for all eternity,

-William

P.S.  See you at the mansion later.

Her face beamed as she put the note down and stashed it safely inside the drawer of the nightstand.  She looked up at the flowers that he had left her.  Twelve perfect buds, still misty with dew, waiting for the perfect moment to unfurl and greet her with their beauty.

He was not gone.  She could hardly believe it.  The disparity that had filled her only moments before were overwhelmed by her sheer joy at the realization that he had not left her.  She was no longer mad at him.  All the anger and confusion had ebbed at the sight of the flowers

Of course she could make him suffer a bit.  After all, she had and it was only fair.  She grinned wickedly.  Besides, she still had a certain incident from the day before to make up for.
 

~Part 6~ Revenge & Forgiveness

Spike paced the front room of the mansion in anticipation.  What was taking them so long?  Outside the sun had disappeared into the horizon.  It had been hours since he had left his apartment after getting his things and leaving Willow the roses.  It had been even longer since he had stormed out of the Watcher's apartment.  He needed to see her.  Needed to know that she was okay.  Mostly he needed her to smile at him in the way she did to let him know that he was forgiven.  He feared that the roses may not be enough to get onto her good side again but he was prepared to do whatever it took.  He would even stoop as low as groveling if he had to.  He hoped that it would not get to that.  His ego had taken enough of a beating as it was, the last thing he needed was to go up to a mortal on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness.  But Willow was not just any mortal.  She was a radiant species all her own.  For her he would stomp on his ego if it were what she wanted.

He lit a cigarette and let the bittersweet smoke circulate through his dead lungs before exhaling.  He dropped himself on the brown leather couch in the center of the room in silent frustration.  <Where the hell are they? I can't take this waiting anymore. >

Cordelia walked into the room and regarded the blond vampire with a nod of her long brown locks.  She walked to the curtains and began to open them surrounding her in a cloud of gray dust.  She began to cough in an effort to clear the foul residue from her lungs.  She began to shake her head as the dust settled and mumbled something about needing a good decorator and continued to the other end of the room to busy herself with the other curtains.  Spike watched her in silence and wondered to himself what his sire saw in the cheerleader.  <She probably listens to his boo-hoos all the time and figured she was the only one that could stand being in his presence without gagging. >  He laughed at his own thoughts.

Cordelia heard the man chuckle and stopped what she was doing.  She turned around to face him her eyes closing in an inquisitive glint.

"What are you sitting there laughing to yourself about?"

"Just wondering what Peaches sees in you pet?"  He answered matter of factly.

She opened her eyes in amazement.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't act stupid, luv.  The brooding wonder has it bad for you and don't pretend that you haven't noticed."

"Whhhatt?!  Angel?"

"Oh come on, it's so obvious.  The way he hangs on your every word, the sickening way that he says your name, that horrid gleam in his eyes whenever you walk in.  If I were capable of throwing up I would have made a collage on one his monotonous shirts."

Cordelia shook her head in disbelief.  She couldn't believe what he was saying to her.  Could it be true?  Could Angel really care for her in that way?  No, it was impossible he just looked out for her.  Like she were his sister. <Right? >

"No, you're wrong.  Angel doesn't see me that way.  He just treats me like that because …. Well because that's the way that he is.  He treats people with kindness and respect…."

"Oh, please stop all that lovey dovey crap.  I can feel my lunch climbing into my throat."

"As if you're one to talk."

"What do you mean?"

"Willow.  Hello!  You are sooo obviously in deep maddening love with her."

"I am not.  Red and I are just friends."

"Spike come on.  Is denial a word you're familiar with?  Cause you are so in it."  She said rolling her eyes at him.

He looked at her wondering how she could possibly know his secret.  He wondered if he should confide in her, after all she was one of Willow's closest friends and may help him figure out how to handle the situation.  He wiped the thought from his mind.

" I am not in denial.  Now you and the Poof on the other hand.  Why don't you just jump his bones and get it over with?  All those googly eyed looks are making everyone sick, even Anya and it isn't easy to turn that girl's stomach."

"We are not goo….you're changing the subject." She huffed.

"You did it first."

"Whatever, Angel and I are just friends. Got it?"

"Fine if you say so."

"We are!" she almost yelled at him.

"Okay, I'm happy for you."

"Listen to me, you walking dead q-tip," she walked to him and grabbed him by the collar of his purple satin shirt.  Her brown eyes looked into him with ragging defiance.  He had never seen her this way before.  She was definitely in love with his 'Daddy'. "Angel is not in love with me nor am I in love with him."

"Hey, watch the shirt prom queen."  He gently nudged her hands away from his collar. "Jeez, Alright so you're not in love with the Poof. I get it.  But I am not in love with Willow." He added.

"Ha", he heard a laugh from the direction of the staircase as Anya and Xander made their way down arm in arm.

"You're both lying to yourselves."  Xander said as he stepped on the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Deny, deny, deny.  It will get you nowhere." He told them wagging his finger at them.

"Shut up, you moron" Both Cordelia and Spike yelled at the same time.

"Is this how we're going to spend the whole week?  Because if it is let me know and I'll go turn myself into Bartos right now."  Willow said from the door.

All the heads in the room snapped to where Willow was standing.  If Spike could've physically blushed this would be the time that he would have chosen to do so.

"H-hhow long have you been standing there?"  Spike asked nervously hoping that she had not heard the conversation that had preceded their scolding Xander.

"Long enough to know that you were bullying up on Xander again."  She said as she made her way inside carrying her duffel bag in her hand and a pillow under her arm.

Buffy and Giles followed her each of them carrying their own bags and Giles carried in a big bag from Bed, Bath & Beyond.  They shut the door behind them and made their way further into the mansion, leaving their bags by the door.

"We were not bullying up on chu..Xander."  Spike said almost in a whine.

"I don't want to hear it Spike.  I heard you.  Now apologize to Xander."

"No way, Red.  He deserved it.  Flapping his yap about things he knows nothing about.  Someone had to tell him to shut up."

"Oh, and of course you had to take it into your hands to shut, yet another person up today?"

Spike looked down at his hands in embarrassment.

"What is it now, Spike?  Has someone made it your moral authority that you assure that the noise in the atmosphere doesn't become a clutter?  Are you making the world a safer place for the hearing now?"

Spike didn't answer her.  He continued to look down at his hands.

"I asked you a question Spike."  She boomed at him, her face had already turned red from her excitement. "Are you going to ignore me now?"

He shook his head in response and without looking up from his hands he said,"I am sorry Xander."

Everyone in the room looked at him in utter amazement.  Had Spike, the big bad, just apologized to Xander?  It was more than any of them could believe.  A smile of satisfaction spread across Xander's lips.  He stood up straight and prepared himself to say something when Willow cut him off.

"And you, don't even think about saying anything.  You were probably asking for it."  Spike looked up and stuck his tongue out at Xander.  Willow could make out his action from the corner of her eye. "I saw that mister." She said without turning back to him.  He resigned himself to looking at his hands once again.  "I am going to go take a nap now because it has been a long day and I am tired.  Do you think that all of you can control yourselves from killing each other long enough for me to get some shut eye?"  she swept the room for a response.  No one said anything.  "Well?"  She asked them again.

"Yes Willow," they all said.

"Good.  I don't want to hear another word from any of you until I wake up."  With that she took her bag and stormed up the stairs looking for a room where she could lay down.

When she was safely out of earshot the group visibly relaxed.

"Whoa, what got into her?"  Cordelia finally said.

"I don't know but I like it."  Anya said.  All of them turned to her with questioning glances. "Well, I do.  You're all a bunch of preschoolers anyways, always snapping at each other like turtles, serves you right."

"I do not snap.  No turtleness for me at all."

"Shut up, Xander", they all said.  Before turning and leaving the room each going in their own direction.

"Was it something I said?" he called after them before going in the direction that Anya had taken.

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The rest of the evening passed by without much activity. Riley arrived with several of the books from Giles' apartment and the group began to pour over them as Willow slept.   They all ate pizza that Xander had insisted on ordering in and Angel and Spike had their usually bloody dinners.  Willow came down only to take a slice of pizza and then had silently returned to her room.  Spike looked at her expecting her to say something to him but she didn't even pay any attention to him.  She was completely ignoring him and it was killing him.

Finally everyone had returned to their rooms and decided to call it a night.  Angel and Spike stayed up watching television until the sun began to creep in the through the open windows.  They closed all the drapes shut tightly and made their way to their rooms.

When Willow heard the door to Spikes room close she slowly got out of bed.  She collected the supplies that she would need to bathe and set about preparing a bath.  She began to fill the large roman tub in the bathroom at the end of the hallway.  The steam filled the room as the hot water poured into the tub.  She inhaled deeply taking it into her in a relaxing breath.  She tried to clear her mind of all her problems as she poured vanilla and lavender oils into the steaming water.  She placed candles around the bathroom and lit them one by one.  When she was done she turned off the light of the bathroom.  She made her way back to the tub and lowered herself slowly into the inviting water.  She let the warmth of it soothe her and relax her muscles slowly.  She reached out the side of the tub and grabbed her Discman that she had brought with her.  She slipped on the headphones and let the soft sounds of Sarah McLachlan put her into an alleviating musical trance.

When the CD finished Willow put the Discman down and pulled herself out of the tub.  She dried herself languidly and wrapped the towel around her head.  She put her robe and pulled the drain up on the tub before collecting her things and padding back to her room.

At the far end of the hall Spike snuck out of Willows room and made his way quietly to his own with a smile of satisfaction on his face.  He lay himself on the large king size mattress on the floor of the bare room he occupied.  He closed his eyes and allowed himself to slip into sleep as he waited patiently.  She would come to him, this much he knew.  He fell asleep with a smile painting his lips.

She opened the door and turned on the light, what she found in her room made her gasp and drop all the items from her hand.

She looked to the large mattress on the floor.  The discolored sheets that had once been on the mattress were replaced by cream colored satin ones.  Their luxuriousness was evident by the way that the light played off their silkiness.  Strewn atop of the mattress half-hazardly were red rose petals.  There had to have been hundreds of them thrown on top of the bed.  On either side of the mattress were large crystal vases wrapped around the neck with a red silk ribbon tied into a bow.  Inside each vase held two dozen roses, still closed into buds and dewy like the ones she had found in her room the day before.  All around the room were different sized cream colored candles, each one of them lit.  The smell of vanilla wafted from them and tickled her senses.  On top of the bed amongst the rose petal she could make out the white of a note left there for her.

She walked over to the bed still completely dazed by the affect that the roses and the vanilla had on her.  She picked up the note and read it to herself.

Willow-

I had to give it another chance.  Can't harm a man for trying.  Am I forgiven yet?

-William

Willow smiled to herself as she turned his words around in her head.  She looked around her at all the trouble that he had gone through to appease her.  She had already forgiven him long before she had even gone to the mansion but he did not know that.  And she had made no move to alert him to the fact.  In fact, she had gone out of her way to be rude to him and ignore him.  Now looking at the beauty that surrounded her in the room that he had painstakingly prepared for her she felt a twinge of guilt for having been so cold to him.  She would go to him and forgive him.  She would thank him a thousand times for being the sweetest person um vampire that ever was.  But first there was a little issue of revenge.  She hurriedly dressed in a pair of Jean shorts and a cotton halter top with gold and red Indian embroidery on it.  She slipped on her leather sandals and walked out of her room.

Spike heard the knob in his bedroom turning as someone made their way into his bedroom.  Even in the grogginess of sleep he could still tell that it was Willow.  Her scent was unmistakable to him even the energy that she radiated was enough for him to know that she was there.  He could feel her pull even when she was far away from him and now he was sure that she was there.  He waited patiently for her to 'wake' him.  He heard her make her way to the side of his bed and stop just behind him.  She let out a loud sigh and then he was shaken to his feet by the sudden feel of cold water being dumped on him.

He jumped up, his pale muscular chest glistening with cold drops of water.  He saw her standing by the bed with a tin bucket in her hand.

"What the…" he asked trying to shake the water off him like a wet dog.

She turned away from him, bucket in hand and began to exit the room.

"You're forgiven." She said before she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving the soaking wet vampire sulking in the room.

She stopped outside of the door and smiled to herself as she heard him growl on the other side of the door. "Well that's that."  She said smacking her hands together before going to return the bucket to the kitchen.

Inside Spike's bedroom he stood on the bed still looking at the closed door in utter shock.
<Did she just dump a bucket of cold water on me and leave? >  Yes she had.  But she had forgiven him and that was all that he cared about.  She had executed her vengeance and now things could go back to being the way they were.  Frustrating as it was, it was better than her ignoring him.

Everything was right in his world again.

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