***

Spike closed the front door behind him and suddenly noticed the presence of another vampire in his house. He dropped the
video box
he was carrying on the small table near the door and ran into the living-room. There, on one of the sofas sat his sire with
a
Angelus like smirk on his face. He had his long leather-clad legs stretched far out under the coffee table and his arms
were laying
on the back of the sofa, a position that gave a very good view to his muscular chest. Especially because his crimson velvet
shirt
was only half buttoned. He looked at Willow, who was sitting on the other sofa with her back to Spike, with a hungry look
in his
eyes.
"Angel I told you not to come here again. I mean not without Cordy. And not in this condition, anyway." Willow was babbling
and
fiddling with her hands, something Spike hadn't seen in the last weeks they had lived together. Spike was stunned. That was
when
Angelus saw him.
"Ah, Spike my boy. So it is you who our Willow is living with. I must say you've got a better taste in women. Isn't she a
rose?. How
happy you must be to be allowed to touch such creamy skin, kiss those soft lips, taste her live essence - ambrosia for a
starving
vampire." Angel teased and leaned forward and took a large unneeded breath of air. "Ahhh! What a delicious smell."
"Angel, what are you doing here? Or should I say Angelus." Spike asked while he tried to calm down his own roaring demon
and to
reach Willow's place on the couch.
"Angelus? Oh Willow, I'm hurt. So you didn't tell him. About YOU and ME and ANGELUS, or the lack of him in my future
existence - or
most of it anyway?" he shrugged. "I'm really hurt you know. There you've gained such a triumph of LOVE and never told it.
Not to
your LOVER." He spat the latter word out as if it was a swearword and leaned back into the cushions.
"Angel don't, please." Willow left her place on the couch and went to Spike. "Spike, we need to call Cordy." She whispered
close to
tears. "I'm telling you the whole story later, I promise, but please help me." Spike nodded.
"There is no need to call Cordelia," Angel stand up slowly "now! We can call her after we're finished, we two. We can tell
her it
was about the good old times." He finished with a laugh.
"What do you mean, about good old times?" Spike asked angry while he tried to shove Willow behind him, away from Angel and
nearer of
the door to her bedroom and the telephone in it.
"Goddess, Spike please don't believe what he is telling you! He doesn't think straight." Willow asked him. But Spike gave
her only
an angry glare and turned his head back to his sire. "So what about you and Willow?"
"Let's say she anchored my soul, out of love." Angel bragged. "I'm thinking it's about time that she get some kind of
gratification
for it."
"So you're here to claim her?" Spike asked between clenched teeth. "I would say it's a little late for it. She is already
my mate!"
"Your mate?" Angel asked in a mocked voice "I would say that's the joke of the year. Why would she be yours when she could
be mine."
***
In the meantime Willow had managed to lock the bedroom and dialed Cordy's cell-phone number. "Cordy, where are you. And god
damn,
why are you not with Angel?" Willow growled into the receiver. "Yes, he is here with me and NO I'm not happy about his
presence."
Willow listened with one ear to the voices coming from the living-room.
"Cordy, I told you to lock him away when he gets into this mood. Isn't that too much to ask for."
"You didn't know it was his time of the year? Good heaven, I told you it's not like a calendar year, it's more like a moon
year -
like Ramadan!"
"No, I'm not going to define Ramadan to you right know. Perhaps I give you an impromptu Islamic class later, but right know
I want
you to carry your cute little ass over here, before my vamp is going to kick your vamp's ass, repeatedly." At that moment
Willow
heard a large body bang against a wall.
***
Back in the living-room seconds before
"And even when you claimed here before." Angel let his right hand slide over his breast and abdomen to his crotch "Did
'RIGHT OF A
SIRE' ring any bells to you my boy?" That was the moment Spike choose to attack his sire. Full in game face now, he rammed
his head
into Angel's stomach with full force. The last remark had been too much.
"I'm teaching you 'right of a sire'! Not with my woman!" Spike closed his left hand into a fist and when it crashed into
Angel's
face all the tall dark haired vampire could see, before he became unconscious, were little stars and than darkness.
When Willow left the bedroom and saw Spike kneeling over the body of his sire. "Did you knocked him out? She asked with a
small
voice.
"Yes" was Spike's short answer.
"Good!" Willow sighed relieved.
He looked at her surprised. "Get me some handcuffs or something, before he is awake again!" He didn't need to tell her
twice. Like a
flash she ran into her study and came back with two pairs of handcuffs and a chain. Minutes later when Angel awoke, he
found himself
in a uncomfortable position. Spike had used the handcuffs for Angel's wrists and ankles and the chain went from the wrists
down his
back and legs to Angel's feed who was laying on his stomach. That he was gagged with a dish cloth too, which was
particularly
embarrassing.
"I reached Cordy near of Salinas." Willow told Spike in a small voice. "She didn't know that he was in this mood until she
found
herself locked in the apartment. It took her some time to pick the lock and to understand what had happened. You know we
had this
kind of situation only one time before." Willow tried to touch Spike's shoulder, but her shrugged her off.
"I don't want to hear it!"
"Spike I really wanted to tell you about what had happened two years before in L.A. earlier, but there hasn't been a right
situation
and I didn't knew how to start.
"What about. 'Listen Spike, you're not my first vampire. I've had your sire before. Thought you should know it.' " Spike
said with a
growl.
"But that is not what had happened!" Willow replied. "I've never had sex with Angel or have been in love with him. That's
not true.
Ask Cordy when she is here, if you don't believe me."
"Damn, I would love to believe you. More than anything else." Spike groaned and rubbed his ridged forehead.
"So why don't you. Do you believe him more than me?" Willow asked fiery and hurt. "I didn't know that he would chase me
once a year
on a regular basis when I anchored his soul. I thought he would try to mate with Cordy. That was what the spell said."
"Huh?" Spike was confused "The spell said he would want to mate with the cheerleader? Do you really think that I'm
believing
something like that."
"NO! It said he would want to mate with his secret love once a year. Always after the tweleve full moons." Willow was now
pacing in
the middle of the room. "Why should I have known, that I was his secret love. I thought he was head over heels in love with
Cordy.
They both asked me to help them and when I found the spell I wanted to help. She so deserved to find love with him, after
the
accident and all." Willow had now full changed into babbling mode and Spike was trying to understand what she was saying.
"So when
she left the hospital I did the spell. And everything went wonderful. Cordy and Angel could be together and I drove home.
But about
one year later, not a calendar year, you know ..." Willow glared at Spike who nodded only. "... after a moon year. WHAMM"
Willow
rammed her right hand into the palm of her left one. "Angel stood in front of my door. When I invited him in he started to
talk
about LOVE and MATES and told me he would CLAIM me. Hah!"
"And you didn't wanted him?" Spike asked unbelievingly.
"Why would I? Either he is brooding or he is bragging and thinks that every woman wants him in her pants." Willow growled.
"Look at
him know. Even when he is laying on his stomach, ass in the air and not able to speak he is thinking that he is the answer
of every
woman wet dream. Grrr!"
Angel tried to nod.
"But he is. Every woman wants him." Spike lost his nerves.
Angel tried to nod, again and to spill out the gag.
"But not me. Yes I've done the spell out of love." Willow admitted.
"See, I've known it." Spike replied and rammed his fist into the wall beside the kitchen door - leaving a hole. Stormy, the
kitten,
who had wailed the whole time trough was silent immediately.
"Let me continue! Out of love to a friend. For CORDY. The accident she had. The car crash. She wouldn't have been in it
when she
hadn't been on her way to ME. She wanted to save ME, because she had a vision about ME being in death danger. Oh goddess,
she could
have been DEAD."
"Oh." That was all Spike could say.
"Yes oh. I've thought everything was fine until he stood in front of me. Bragging, snotty and clad like Angelus in his
worse times."
Willow mad a move with her head to Angel with his leather pants and his velvet shirt. "Do you really think I would fall for
him?"
she asked Spike angry.
"Every woman falls for him. Even after I've spent one century with Dru all she could speak about was 'HER ANGEL'." Spike
tried to
explain.
"I'm not every woman. And I'm not Dru. I don't want to be every woman, I don't want to be like Dru and I don't want HIM."
Willow
answered with her fists on her hips.
Finally Angel had spilled the gag out. "Come babe, you know you want me. Open these handcuffs and I'm promising that I'm
not to
strict with you. Not more than you like, anyway. I'm sure we can find a better use for these handcuffs, honey."
"Don't honey me." Willow yelled at him." "I'm so can't wait for Cordy to come. She can drag you into the guest bedroom and
show you
who's your mate, Mr. Big bad vamp. Want you, my ass!"
"Ah, darling. You've hurt me. How could you forget all those fire between the two of us." Angel teased. "Spike you should
see her
when she is all fire and passion. She likes to play hard to get - but then, ahhh."
Spike had enough. With three strides he was beside Angel. He pulled him up with his right hand and grabbed his throat with
his left
one. "One more word about my woman, and I shove a stake where the sun don't shine. Not for you anyway." With that words he
put the
gag back into Angel's mouth and push Angel's head down to the floor with more force than necessary.
Just at these moment the doorbell rang and Willow stormed to the front door to open it. "I'm going to program you every
single moon
phase for the next 500 years into your laptop, but take him to the guest bedroom and shut him of up." Willow greeted her
friend. "I
don't want to see him before he's his usual brooding self again."
"Geez, Willow I'm so sorry. I've thought it would be the next weekend." Cordelia rushed into the living room where she
found her
beaten and gagged mate.
"Cordy. Take. Him. Now!" Willow tried to say between clenched teeth. "Spike can drag him into the room." With that said,
Willow took
her suede jacket and her keys and went to the front door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Spike asked stunned.
Willow didn't answer and crashed the front door into it's lock. When Spike reached the door and opened it, Willow was gone.
She
didn't took the car, which stood in front of the house where Spike had left it earlier when he came home from renting the
video. It
was like she was invisible.
"Willow?" he called, but there was no answer. He went back into the house and saw Cordy busy with pulling her boyfriend
into the
right bedroom. When she noticed Spike she rose her head and looked at him with sad eyes.
"Look, I don't know what exactly happened this time, but I do now what Angel said the last time. Please believe me. If
Angel and
Willow would have been lovers I wouldn't be here. Angel is not by himself right know. Tomorrow he will be his brooding
self, like
usual and sorry about all the lies he has told you.
"She's gone." Spike told her in a small voice.
"Gone? Oh, that's not good. Perhaps you should call Catherina, you know the other witch. Perhaps she is able to help."
Cordelia
suggested.
"Help with what?" Spike asked.
"With finding Willow, of course. I don't think, it's good that she is running around right now."
Spike new that Cordelia was right. After he helped her with his stupid sire he went into his and Willow's bedroom, grabbed
for the
receiver and dialed Cat's number. "Cat, it's me - Spike. Something has happened. Willow and I got into an argument about my
sire and
she had left. Can you help me please?"
***
They split up for the search. Two times Spike thought that he saw her and both times it was another redhead. When he
finally got a
call from Cat three hours later, he had killed four knifers who thought that they were the terror commando of their quarter
- that
was before they met Spike. "We found Willow. You can find us on the Fort Point Pier." Cat whispered into her phone.
"I'm there as fast as I can." Spike's demon had calmed down during the last fight. He was now able to think straight. What
when
Willow was honest and Angel was lying? It wouldn't be the first time his sire would try to weave a net of half-lies or
complete
bullshit to confuse him. He had thought that this part of Angel's character had died when he had met him the last time. But
on the
other hand, he wasn't acting like the Angel he had seen five years ago. He was acting like Angelus when he joined Dru and
himself in
Sunnydale after he had his intermezzo with the slayer. That was when Dru had left him immediately for Angel's bed. Willow
wasn't
Dru. Deep inside he knew that, he really did. But when Angelus started to talk about Willow, anger and hurt gave reason the
boot. He
needed to talk to Willow. See if he was able to repair what he had cut in their relationship. And later he was going to
have a
little chat with Angelus. There would be only one thing to make sure that Angel wouldn't come to Willow, like a randy goat,
on a
regular basis. He needed to fight with his sire and he needed to win.
***
"Where is she?" Spike tried to peer trough the, sparsely by aluminized street lamps, darkness while he listened to Cat.
"She is sitting on the bench over there." Cat pointed with her gloved hand to a place about 35 yards away near the
waterline. "She
doesn't know that we are here."
"Are you sure? I can't see her." Spike asked, fiddling with his cigarette.
"Definitely, she has done a glamour spell, so that nobody can see her."
Spike gave Cat a disbelieving look, but when he saw her confident face, he dropped his cigarette went to the place, Cat had
shown
him. Coming nearer he heard a familiar heartbeat. When he reached the bench, he sat down on the left side of it.
***
Cat and Tony took their waiting positions in the car. It was kind of odd to see Spike speaking to someone they couldn't
see. After
some minutes he must have been successful with convincing Willow to speak with him because they could see him sliding a
little
nearer to the center of bench and leaning forward as if to listen intensively to Willow. He was nodding and shaking his
head several
times and than it looked like he had an invisible hand in his own and led it to his mouth and kissed it. Cat let out a deep
sigh
when she saw the shape of Willow slowly appear. When Spike slide closer to his redheaded witch and draw her into his arms,
Cat and
Tony decided it was a good time to leave. Willow and Spike would need their presence and Antonia's at their house, where
Cordelia
hopefully had convinced Angel who his real mate was.
***
When Willow and Spike reached their house too, they found not only Antonia, Cat, Tony and Cordelia in the kitchen, talking
animatedly and drinking coffee, but Angelus handcuffed in the guest bedroom, too. Cordelia hadn't been successful. While
Antonia was
busy to draw drawing a large circle on the hardwood floor of the living-room, Spike and Willow had left to their bedroom.
"I want you to drink from me before your fight against Angelus, Willow said to Spike who was busy undressing and slipping
in his
oldest sweatpants.
He turned around to her, without his shirt. "You don't need to do that. I've already feed."
Willow took a deep breath. "I want you to have the taste of my blood in your mouth and my blood running through your veins
when you
fight. Please."
Spike gave her a short nod and led her to their bed. After they had lay down Willow bared her throat to him and draw his
game face
to her jugular. "Please, claim me again."
This time Spike didn't pierced her skin tenderly, his bit deep, but all Willow felt was her blood flowing into his suckling
mouth.
After he had stopped drinking he started to lick at the wounds he had caused. They were deeper than the others before. "I'm
not
going to excuse me for it." Spike murmured into her neck, licking at the holes again.
"I would be disappointed if you did." Willow replied stroking the soft locks of the hair on his neck. "Did you take
enough?"
"Perhaps too much." Spike answered. "I'll make you a wonderful breakfast when I've kicked his ass back to L.A."
"Hmmm, sounds nice." Willow replied. "And later we can go back to bed and make love for the rest of the day."
"That will we do, kitten. That will we do."
***
When Spike entered the magic circle, Angelus was already in it waiting for him.
"Do you really want to get your ass kicked, little boy?" Angelus teased. "But that's irrelevant, 'cause when I'm finished
with you
I'm going for the redhead. Teach her not to disobey me."
"Do you want to brag about what you would do if I ever gave you the chance to win or do you want to fight in for real, old
man?"
Spike answered calmly. Even when Willow and the others couldn't interfere in the fight and when neither he nor Angelus
could leave
the circle without Antonia's permission, he knew that he would win, would conquer his damn sire. Hopefully he would see
Angelus for
the last time. Willow had told him all about the spell when he had finally agreed to listen to her.
When he would win the duel, then not only would Angelus be averted for now, but forever. Perhaps then Cordy could live with
Angel in
all his brooding magnificence. Spike was alert and calm when the first attack from his sire came. Angel had smelled
Willow's fresh
blood on Spike and was furious. Never before had another vampire dared to disobey him.
Minutes later both vampires had several bleeding wounds on their sweaty body's. Spike was able to block most of the blows
and kicks
Angel deal out. He had truly become a skilled fighter during the last years. Having Cat for a sparring partner hadn't hurt
either.
She had taught him a lot of moves and techniques where the weight of the attacker was his handicap and could used against
him.
Angelus was taller and broader, but not the better fighter. All Spike had to do was be alert all the time and use every
weakness
Angelus showed. About forty minutes after the fight started Spike blocked one of Angelus's, already slowing, blows again.
This time
he used Angelus's movement to let him fly through the air. When Angelus landed on his face, Spike sprang onto his sire's
back,
grabbed his hair and pulled his head back violently, then he sank his fangs into his sire's throat with a loud roar.
Seconds later
he raised his bloody face and looked down to the shape who was know Angel again. "You're not my master anymore. And get the
hands
off of my mate." Spike growled, while Angel, bleeding out of several wounds looked at him astonished, not knowing what had
happened,
not now anyway.
***
With a wave of her hand Antonia, who had silently watched the fight like the others, opened the circle and walked in. When
Spike saw
Antonia, he locked into her eyes. "Will you do me the favor and take care of my powerless ex-sire. It wasn't Angel I fought
against.
It was Angelus. He always had a thing for Willow." He took a deep unneeded breath and made a grimace. "I tell you later.
And I need
to speak with Angel later too." Then he left the circle.
When he reached Willow she needed only one look to knew what to do. Taking his hand she pulled him into the bedroom and
bared her
throat to him. "You need more blood to heal." She urged.
"Yes, but not yours, not now. I took more than enough before." Before Willow could complain, Tony opened the bedroom door.
He looked
over Spike's complexion and without hesitation he rolled up his right sleeve and offered Spike his wrist. "Like the good,
old times,
friend." He provided. "Take mine."
With those words he led Spike to the bed and let him drink. After Tony has left the bedroom Willow helped Spike to pull of
his
bloody jeans. While she looked at his body she made memos to herself what kind injuries he had.
"One thing's for sure," Spike tried to joke "nobody can say that Angelus gave me the win on a silver tray.
"No," Willow replied "not with one broken rib, a sprained hand, several effusions and a bruised face. Is there a part of
you which
isn't injured?"
Spike looked down at his crotch.
"Oh, no. I didn't mean THAT part of your body!" Willow emphasized.
"Well, luv. I don't think even there I'm in a very good shape, right now."
Willow looked at Spike determined. "Spike, can I ask you something?"
"What about."
"You and Angel."
"Yes."
"When you've bite him. I mean - in the circle after the fight. That wasn't all you vampires usually do when you won a
duel?"
"No it wasn't." Spike took a deep unneeded breath.
"Why haven't you done the rest - I mean hmm, you know?" Willow was fiddling with her hands again. This night was getting on
her
nerves.
"Why I didn't shag him, like we vampires usually do with our conquered opponents?"
"Yes."
"First of all it wasn't Angel I fought against. It wasn't Angel who wanted to claim you. It was Angelus. But after I bite
him
Angelus was gone. It was Angel who was left behind. He didn't knew what had happened, not now anyway. Doesn't make sense to
shag
your sire when he doesn't know why. But I'm pretty sure that his memory is just coming back."
"That's all?" Willow wasn't finished with him.
Spike sighed "No, I thought you wouldn't like it. Some chits do, but I thought you wouldn't." He tried to give her a
lopsided grin,
but failed miserably.
"Dead cert!" Her loving smile was more than he could ask for. "I'm a territorial person too, you know." She bent down and
tried to
find an uninjured place to kiss, which was a rather difficult task. Kissing his right earlobe she whispered "Stay here.
After I get
rid of the whole lot I'm back. Then I show you just how territorial I can be."
***
The next evening Spike had a long talk with Angel and then a nice little chat with Cordelia. Then they both left in
Cordelia's car
to L.A..
Later Spike and Willow sat in Antonia's living-room and Spike told his friends all they wanted to know. "I knew it was
Angelus
because he wanted Willow earlier. It was always the mistake of the great poof to fall for another kind of woman than his
demon. When
he lost his soul back in Sunnydale he started to stalk Willow. Had a crush on her since those Halloween when she was
playing ghost.
But did he go for it? No. Was head over heels with the slayer. When I visited Angel in L.A. to remove the implant he told
me about
Cordelia. I'm sure that Angel loved her, but his demon didn't. Willow did a spell to anchor the soul. The price of being
all soulboy
again was to be mated by his true love and to claim her regularly after twelve full moons, even more often if possible. But
Angel
this twit, didn't claim neither Cordelia which he loved, nor Willow with whom his demon wanted. So when he arrived here and
noticed
that I've claimed my beautiful witch, he couldn't leave without trying to win her - hence the duel."
"What kind of advice did you gave Cordelia when you spoke with her. I've never seen her so flushed." Willow asked. "I gave
her the
address of a leather shop in L.A.. Told her to buy a leather skirt, a bustier, riding boots and a crop. When she wants
Angel she has
to tame his demon."
Everyone was laughing and Willow bent forward and whispered into Spike's ear, only for him to hear "Do I need a riding crop
too?"
Spike turned his head and kissed her tenderly "No my demon is already putty in your hands. Has been since I saw you the
first time."
Willow laugh at him.
"But I'm more than willing to buy you the other things."
 

Interlude 3