'I've definitely been spending too much time in this library recently,' Cordelia thought sourly as she settled down into the chair that she had begun to think of as hers. She dropped her chic little bag onto the table before her, and leaned back in her chair, a practiced pout on her face.
Giles cast a quick glance in her direction, his eyes unreadable in the darkened room. "Buffy should be here soon, Cordelia," he told her, pulling off his glasses and scrubbing at them vigorously.
He looked as miserable as Cordelia felt.
Cordelia sighed, one perfectly manicured hand patting at her perfectly coifed hair. "I don't see why you're making me stay late for this," she protested unhappily.
Giles considered reply was cut off before it began as Buffy strode through the doors. Her face was set in determination, and with only the slightest nod in her Watcher's direction, Buffy was hovering over Cordelia.
The other girl fought the urge to rise and glower at Buffy face to face. "Yes?" Cordelia inquired sweetly, one dark eyebrow arching upwards.
Buffy's lips twisted into an frown. "I want to know everything about Spike and Willow," she snapped. Nervous energy practically seemed to crackle around the Slayer's small form.
Cordelia bit her lip lightly. "Why don't you ask Willow?"
Buffy's glower seemed to deepen at the cheerleader's question. "She just got out of the hospital today. I didn't want to upset her so soon." A strange look passed over her face before Buffy reluctantly continued. "Besides, she ran off to see _him_ the moment she was signed out."
Cordelia couldn't help but laugh. The indignant expression settling onto the Slayer's face only added to Cordelia's helpless giggles. It wasn't every day that she knew what was going on rather than Buffy. It was a welcome change, far too long overdue, in her opinion.
"Well?" Giles prodded softly when Cordelia's laughter had finally faded away. He looked concerned, but not half so unreasonable as did Buffy. Noting that, Cordelia directed her answer towards him.
"There's not much to say, really. We ran into him one night, and rather than becoming dinner, we got away with all our blood in place." Cordelia shrugged slightly. "I don't know how it happened, but he and Willow became friends..." She shook her head, still finding it slightly hard to fathom how shy little Willow had found the courage to face Sunnydale's master vampire.
Buffy stomped her foot impatiently, her voice rising emotionally. "You should have told us about this! Spike's dangerous!"
"You weren't exactly here to tell, Buffy," Cordelia said coolly. "And Spike's a lot less dangerous than Angelus was."
Buffy's eyes narrowed at the mention of her hell-bound ex. "He is a vampire. Willow knows better than to get emotionally involved! All that they're good for is getting staked and heartbreak."
Cordelia's breath escaped her in a low hiss. "Look, Buffy, I think you're the one whose emotions are getting out of hand, here. Spike hasn't hurt Willow, and he promised her he wouldn't kill anybody he feeds from. As far as I can tell, he's kept that promise."
Buffy's eyes flashed. "Sorry if I don't rely on your understanding of that!"
"You were gone, Buffy. Giles spent all of his time holed up in this dump looking for you. Xander and I were together. That left Willow pretty much alone. Spike brought something into her life that she needed, something that none of us could give her." Brown hair swirled around wildly as Cordelia shook her head. "Just try not to stake before you think, Buffy."
"Are you feeling alright, pet?" Spike asked softly as so not to startle the delicate young woman drifting along at his side. At the moment, she looked uncomfortably like Dru and Spike cursed himself once again for not having realized she was gone sooner.
Willow dragged her eyes away from the sidewalk with difficulty, focusing hazy green eyes on Spike. "Right as rain," she said, a shadow of a smile forming on her lips.
Spike rather thought that Willow looked more dead than he was. Her face was unnaturally pale and gaunt, and her haunted eyes were huge in it. The vivid red of her hair served only to heighten her pallor. Like the gentleman he'd never truly been, Spike refrained from noting his observations.
"Here," he said abruptly, his hand emerging from his pocket with Willow's ring. He held her hand, dropping the black metal piece into her waiting palm. Spike tried not to notice how frail her wrist felt in his grip.
Willow jerked to a standstill, her eyes latched onto the ring resting in her palm. Almost reverently, she reached out to touch it. "Oh!" she sighed, tears forming in her eyes. "I thought that I'd lost this... My room was such a mess and I couldn't find it... I thought it was gone..." Her sniffle punctured words ended on a low sob.
Without pausing to consider his actions, Spike had Willow in his arms. She trembled violently within the circle of his arms, smaller and weaker than he'd ever seen her. Yet even as vulnerable as she was at that moment, Spike had never respected her more. He knew what that creature had been capable of, and the fact that Willow had pulled through, sanity intact, spoke volumes for the inner strength she possessed.
"It's okay, pet..." Spike murmured soothingly.
"It was horrible, Spike," she mumbled into his jacket as her tears dried. "It was dark and cold and I was all alone... And whenever that thing came near me... it _hurt_..." Her tiny hands tightened around his jacket. She drew in a deep, shuddering breath before continuing in a wavering voice. "When it touched me... it felt like a part of my very soul was being torn out of me..."
"It's okay, Willow," he told her once again, a fierce protectiveness welling up inside of him. He had come to care so much about this girl in such a short time that when he paused to consider their relationship, it shocked him. "It'll never hurt you again. I promise."
And though he'd come closer to becoming dust during that fight than he had in a long time, Spike found himself wishing the monster was still alive just so that he could tear it apart again. He'd lived with violence and death for so long, it seemed that the only way he could soothe the ache in his own heart was by ripping into the creature which had caused the pain in Willow.
"The sunlight almost blinded me at first," Willow continued, her shudders calming beneath Spike's gentle hands. "I still can't stand being touched... except by you," she added shyly. Willow pulled back slightly to face him, her eyes bright with tears. "I knew you'd come. When nothing else could keep me going, the thought of you brought me hope..." her words trailed away, and Willow looked aside, embarrassed by the intensity of her feelings.
"I understand, Willow," Spike whispered into her ear. "You're my hope, too."
Silence reigned for a long moment, as their relationship seemed to shift around them once again. Spike leaned down, planting a soft kiss on Willow's gaunt cheek. When he drew back, his familiar cocky grin was firmly in place. "Now why don't we get out of the cold and find you something to eat, luv?"
Giles had left shortly after Cordelia, leaving Buffy alone in the library. He'd claimed that he was going out to stretch his legs, but Buffy knew that he wanted only to give her time alone to think.
Buffy wearily rubbed the palm of her hand against her aching eyes, her head drooping dejectedly. 'If it hadn't been for Spike, Willow would still be being drained of all her magical energies at this very moment,' Buffy told herself, wincing at the realization that she'd had to depend on an enemy for the life of a friend.
'And Willow cares for him. The first words I heard from her when I found her was his name.' That had shocked her. Willow and Spike. It seemed impossible to believe. 'Almost as hard to understand as an attraction between Slayer and a vampire...'
"I just don't want Willow to get hurt. Like _I_ did," Buffy said softly, her eyes tearing up at the thought of Angel. 'Spike was never good,' the part of her that wanted nothing more than to stake him cried out. The other side of her, that which didn't want to have to hurt Willow replied quickly. 'Even as a villain, Spike was never as vicious as some...'
Buffy's ice blue nails drummed against the table as she stared into space, her mind running in frantic circles.
"It was already in my room when I came in to get ready for bed," Willow said softly, absently toying with the cup of lukewarm coffee before her. "I barely saw it before it grabbed at me. I kept on trying to get away, but I couldn't escape... finally, it just... cut me. I couldn't run anymore after that," she said in a slow, halting voice.
Willow smiled wanly when Spike's cool hand dropped down on hers. After she'd told him about her newly born aversion to being touched, Spike had decided that he'd help her get over it. Not to mention that he was far from averse to coming into contact with her.
"You don't have to go on if you don't want to, pet," he told her, noting the pained expression on her expressive face.
"No... I have to talk about this with someone. And I'd rather that it be with you than with the psychiatrist my parents want me to see..." Willow drew in a deep breath before continuing. "When I woke up, I was in a cold, dark area. I kept on screaming for help, but no one ever heard. After a while, it hurt too much to try... I ended up tearing my hands open when I attempted to get away, and gradually, I stopped doing that too. All I could do, was lay there, waiting for that thing to come and feed from me... I've never been so very _helpless_ before. That was almost as bad as the pain..."
She shuddered at the memory, her free hand tightening around her styrofoam cup. "I was weak from blood loss and hunger, and I couldn't remember anything _real_. All that I knew was pain and fear... I came so very close to dying in there, Spike..."
He nodded, his stomach churning at the thought. If the creature hadn't drained her first, the hunger would have claimed her. The sweater she wore was still far too loose around her frame.
"What was it, Spike? I need to know what it was doing to me..." Willow sounded so small and lost that Spike's heart clenched painfully.
"It has no name that I know of," Spike said, his thumb running over Willow's hand. He didn't know if it was to calm her or to reassure himself that she was indeed there. "Dru and I ran into one of them some fifty or so years ago." Seeing Willow's slight flinch at the other woman's name, Spike's hand tightened around hers. His former love was just one more thing that they would have to get around to discussing.
"It draws on magical energy, gradually killing the vessel of that power in the process. It was attracted to Dru both because of her nature as a vampire and her visions. That thing nearly killed the both of us."
"You know..." Willow said, her eyes wide.
"I know. And I'm sorry that I couldn't keep this from happening to you, Willow."
Willow scooted around the booth until she was next to Spike. His arm dropped down around her shoulder, hugging her close. "I'll survive, Spike, as long as you're here with me."
~End~