"Sweetheart, what the hell is taking you so long?" Spike grumbled as he
climbed the stairs to their bedroom.

"I'm almost ready," Willow called back.

The blonde vampire peered around the doorway as his redhead made a
quick lunge for the dog. Trouble snarled playfully and raced around
Spike's legs and out into the hallway, his mouth full of Willow's right
shoe.

"Damn it," she muttered.

Spike chuckled and reached for her arm, pulling her up off the floor.
She looked up at him, the laughter in her eyes belying the scowl on her
face.

"Don't worry," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "I'll get him."

Her sire shook his head and followed her as she sped out the door and
clomped down the stairs shouting the dog's name. Darnell met her at the
bottom stair with the dog under one arm and her shoe in his other hand.

"Thanks," Willow smiled, giving the dog a quick scratch on the head
before taking the shoe and tugging it onto her foot. "We could take him
with us."

"No!" the two male vampires barked.

Willow looked from Joseph to Spike, "Why not? We're headed to the park,
anyway."

"We're headed to the park to look at a corpse," Spike answered. "He'll
only be a distraction."

"Besides, the last time you had delusions of putting Trouble on a
leash, I ended up hauling you out of the fountain," Darnell reminded
her.

"Come on," Spike grabbed her hand before she could mouth a protest.
"They'll be waiting for us."
***
Willow stepped back against Spike as his arms went around her. Ceara
stood from where she had been kneeling over the corpse and fought the
churning waves in her stomach. She looked up at Angel as his hand,
blessedly soothing in its cold firmness, found hers.

"You're sure this isn't your boys work?" Angel asked Spike.

"You know bloody well this isn't vampires," he answered defensively.

"No bite marks," Ceara nodded. "Just like the others. Just mutilation
and--that."

Willow shivered in the warm night air as she looked down at the body of
the young man and the gaping cavity in his chest where his heart had
once been. Spike's arms tightened around her.

"He's the third one in a week," Willow said softly.

The slayer shook her head and sighed, "I hope Giles has come up with
something."
***
Willow shared a secret grin with Spike as their keen hearing picked up
the sounds of frantic scrambling from inside the watcher's house. Ceara
seemed not to notice Giles' untucked shirttail or Christina's slightly
disheveled hair as she followed the others into the living room.

"Been busy?" Willow asked in a tone that made Christina blush and look
away.

"We've spent hours researching and haven't come up with a thing," Giles
answered.

"Other than the fact that all three victims were male, they don't share
any similarities, either," Christina added, pulling her thoughts back
to the problem at hand. "They didn't live near each other. They range
in age from 16 to 43. As far as we can tell, none of them even knew
each other."

"Maybe we should just let the police handle this," Ceara suggested. "It
isn't vampires, and you haven't come up with anything in your
research."

"The police are handling this, but I don't want to give up just yet,"
Giles told her.

"I can spend more time patroling, if it'll help," the slayer offered.

"I think you should," Giles nodded. "But be careful--all of you. We
have no idea what we're dealing with, yet."
***
Spike came to a dead stop in front of the Sunnydale Savings and Loan,
his arm linked around Willow's pulling her up short.

"What is it?" Ceara asked, noting the look that passed between them
and, in turn, to Angel.

"Blood," the three vampires chorused.

"You know, sometimes you guys give me the creeps," the slayer admitted
as she followed them into the alley.

The dark outline of a body lay on the pavement a few paces ahead of
them.

"Another one," Angel spoke as they looked down at the brutalized corpse
of the man.

"He hasn't been here very long," Spike commented. "That blood is
fresh."

"Guys," Willow spoke from the end of the alley.

The other three walked back to her as she pointed to the ground.

"There's a trail of blood from the body to this wall," she gestured,
following the path of dark, bloody drops to where it suddenly
disappeared right in front of the brick wall she was facing.

"Maybe whoever it was found the alley was a dead end and went back the
other way," the slayer suggested.

Spike shook his head, "There's only one trail from the body to this
wall, and no trail from the body to the other end of the alley."

"We've got to be dealing with something other than human," Angel said.

"We'd better let Giles know," Ceara nodded.

"It'll be dawn soon," Spike told her.

"Oh, right. I'll head back. You guys had better go on."

"My place is closer," Angel suggested. "You could phone him from
there."

"I could do that," she agreed. "Besides, he's undoubtedly in bed."

"You should follow your watcher's example," Angel grinned.

"She's supposed to crawl into bed with Christina?" Willow asked.

"That isn't exactly what I was thinking," Angel smirked as they stepped
over the lifeless man and left the alley behind them.

"Anyway, Giles and Christina aren't--" Ceara's eyes opened wide, and
her head swiveled in Willow's direction. "Are they?"

"I think we interrupted something a hell of a lot more entertaining
than research," Willow told her.

"You mean, when we got there, they were--they had just--"

"Just," Spike nodded.

"Oh," was the slayer's only response as a scarlet blush dyed her
cheeks.
 
 

"Sounds a rather unpleasant way to die," Darnell said as he handed
Willow a mug.

"Two in one night," she nodded and took a swallow of the blood he had
warmed for her. "Where does Spike get this, anyway? It's always fresh."

"You really want to know?"

"I guess not," she answered. "Anyway, Christina says the victims have
nothing in common, besides the fact they're all male."

"And they all have hearts, or had, at least," Joseph added.

She looked across the table at him, "You think someone's collecting
hearts?"

"Well, they've all been ripped out, haven't they? Have they been left
behind with the corpses?"

"No, none of them," she answered. "Why would someone be collecting
hearts?"

Darnell shrugged, "Getting an early start on Valentine's Day?"

"So much for chocolates and roses," Willow grinned.

Joseph watched in amusement as she drained the mug and looked forlornly
down into the empty vessel.

"More?" he offered.

Her eyes held a hint of embarrassment as she looked up at him, "Looking
at all that blood made me hungry."

"Willow, there's no need to feel guilty. It's what you are, after all,"
he said gently.

He took the mug and refilled it before placing it in the microwave for
a few seconds.

"I wonder who had to die for this," she whispered as he handed it to
her.

"Leave it alone," he advised her.

"It's hard...having a soul," she responded.

"I know," he nodded. "But at least Spike agreed that you wouldn't hunt.
You do have to eat, you know, and he won't settle for you having
anything less than this."

"I wouldn't mind, though. Cow's blood, or whatever."

"He'd mind. He loves you, Willow. He wants you to have better than
that. Drink it before it gets cold."

Hunger won out over her reservations, and she emptied the mug and
licked the traces of blood from her lips.

His kind eyes met hers, "Better?"

"Better," she nodded. "Thanks, Joseph."
***
Willow pulled off her clothes and slid into bed beside Spike. He smiled
as she moved close to him and placed a kiss on his shoulder.

"Joseph thinks someone is collecting hearts," she said as he put his
arms around her.

"Does he?" Spike responded.

"What do you think?"

"I think there's only one heart I'm interested in at the moment," he
answered and drew her up onto him.

Willow smiled and pressed her lips to his, slipping her tongue inside
his mouth as he opened it to her. His arms wrapped tightly around her,
and his hand tangled through the luxurious fire of her hair as they
explored one another's mouths. She felt his cock harden against her
thigh as he rolled her under him, his lips still on hers, and her hands
trailed a familiar path along his muscular back.

Spike placed a hand between their bodies, and Willow's juices flowed
from her core as his fingers parted her folds. She moaned as he
inserted first one, then another while massaging her clit with his
thumb. Her body stiffened in protest as he withdrew his fingers. He
brushed his lips along her cheek and groaned in pleasure as his hard
shaft slipped inside her tight walls.

An involuntary sigh of contentment issued from his childe's lips as he
began to move inside her. He drove into her with slow, easy thrusts
until Willow, impatient for release, snarled softly and pushed hard
into him. His quiet chuckle sent shivers through her body, and she
quickened the pace, grinding her sex against his and tightening her
vaginal walls around him. He growled, and Willow felt the sharp points
of his fangs as they descended to pierce the pale skin of her throat.

He roared her name before lowering his head to drink from her, and she
screamed out his name as the force of his thrusts and the pressure
against her neck drove her into an orgasm that shattered the world
around them and drove them into an existence that consisted only of
lover and loved. He withdrew his fangs and cradled her head in his
hand, drawing her mouth to his throat, offering her his blood in
return. She suckled gently as he lay still buried within her.

Willow kissed the last of the blood from his wounds as he lay down
beside her and blanketed her in his arms. She raised her head in silent
request, and he kissed her deeply before settling her firmly back onto
his chest. A squeal burst from her lips as a scrabbling sound emerged
from under the bed and a blaze of grey fur flashed through the air.
Spike grunted as Trouble landed firmly atop of the two vampires.

"Great, the damn dog's a voyeur," he muttered, pushing the pup off of
them.

"Let him stay," Willow asked.

"He's not sleeping with us, ducks," he refused. "Why isn't he with
Darnell, anyway?"

Willow giggled as Trouble's tongue trailed a sloppy kiss along the
grumbling vampire's cheek.

"Let him stay," she repeated, kissing Spike softly.

"You're lucky I love you," he told her in defeat.

"I know," she smiled.

A broad grin spread across his face, and he kissed her once more, firm
and hard. She turned to him and wrapped her arms comfortably around
him, as Trouble moved down to sprawl across their entwined legs.
 
 

"I suppose the murderer could be collecting hearts," Giles said after
Willow explained Darnell's suggestion. "It makes as much sense as
anything else. Two more victims were discovered this afternoon, all
male, all in different areas of town."

"He's killing in broad daylight now?" Ceara asked.

"Or she," Christina nodded. "I tend to agree with Angel. I don't think
we're dealing with a human. I'll see what I can find on heart-stealing
demons."

"I'll be up in a minute to help," Giles told her as she headed for the
stairs. He turned back to the others, "We've found a connection between
the victims, including the two found today. It's a bit on the weak
side, but it's all we've got."

"We'll take anything we can get at this point," Ceara said.

"They'd all recently had problems with women. Two of them had just
gotten divorced The others had all broken off relationships."

"So, we're looking for a demon who's avenging broken-hearted women?"
Willow asked. "Hell, half the male population of Sunnydale is in
danger, if that's the case."

"Then you'd better get busy," Giles snapped.

Spike bristled at the glare the watcher bestowed upon Willow.

"Or not," he snarled, taking her hand. "Find your own damned demon. I
can think of more entertaining ways to spend our night."

"I'm sorry," Giles said quickly. "We've got victims dropping like
cracked plaster from an old ceiling. Christina and I are getting
nowhere. I'm frustrated, and I'm taking it out on you. I'm sorry."

Willow smiled and touched his arm gently, "It's okay. You go help
Christina with the research, and we'll try to track down a demon."

He nodded gratefully and turned to leave them.
***
Angel's hand tightened in Ceara's as she stopped along the sidewalk.

"Vampire," she whispered.

"It's Joseph," Willow told her as Darnell approached from the shadows
of the buildings.

Spike arched a questioning eyebrow, and she shrugged, "I recognize the
footsteps."

Darnell faced Spike as he joined the gang, "Some of the boys just
returned from hunting. They came across another victim, just killed, a
couple of blocks away from here."

"Show us," Ceara said.

They followed his lead to a parking lot behind a row of brick buildings
where the body of the latest victim lay in a thick pool of blood.

"One of the boys thought they saw the demon leaving from the other side
of the lot," Joseph told them.

"There's a trail here," Ceara nodded, looking down at the spots of
blood that lead away from the body.

The trail led to a narrow sidestreet and disappeared at the edge of a
manhole cover.

"I suppose that means we have to go down there," the slayer sighed.

Spike and Angel lifted the heavy cover and went down into the dank
passageway that ran under the street.

"We're not going to find any trails down here," Angel said as Ceara's
flashlight lit up the dark tunnel and reflected off the shallow water
that ran along the bottom.

"Let's see what we can find," Ceara suggested.

Two hours later, the gang emerged from the underground tunnels, soaked
pantlegs the only thing to show for their efforts.

"That was a huge waste of time," Willow complained.

"Not entirely, at least we know the demon isn't stashing hearts down
there," the slayer replied.

"Bloody brilliant," Spike scowled.

"We also know how the demon is getting around without being seen,"
Joseph added. "The Master could tell the boys to do their hunting
around the streets, maybe one of them would spot it coming or going."

"He's getting good at this," Ceara grinned.
***
Willow leaned across Spike and grabbed up the ringing telephone from
the bedside table. Her sire grumbled softly at the interruption to his
sleep and gave up trying to follow Willow's half of the conversation
after the third "uh huh." After several minutes, she dropped the
receiver back onto its cradle, and her sire's arm went around her as
she tried to move away from him.

"The watcher?" he asked sleepily.

"Mmmm," she answered. "They've got a lead. He wants us there at
sundown."

"When's that?"

"Two hours," she replied.

"Good," he mumbled, shuffling her body beside his and snuggling back
against it.
***
"Christina talked to the girlfriend of one of the victims this
morning," Giles explained. "Apparently, the young man had broken off
the relationship despite her efforts to persuade him otherwise."

"Ceara and I talked to four others," Christina added. "Same story."

"All of them were dumped?" Willow asked.

"And none of them liked it," the slayer nodded.

"So, this demon is avenging their broken hearts?"

"I don't think so. Not exactly," Giles answered.

"Are we supposed to play twenty bloody questions, or do you just want
to spit it out?" Spike prodded.

Angel glared at the blonde vampire, but Giles took no notice of his
impatient request.

"Each of the women involved had asked to have their lovers' hearts
returned to them," Christina said.

Willow's green eyes widened, "And...the demon obliged?"

"Exactly," Christina nodded. "Delivered to each one's doorstep."

"Told you--Valentines," Darnell grinned at Willow.

The redhead chuckled, "When you care enough to give the bloody best."

"Willow!" Giles admonished her.

"Sorry," she said very unapologetically.

Any further comment was interrupted by a knock on the door. Giles
opened it and felt himself being tugged away by Angel's strong hand.

"Vampire," Ceara hissed, pulling a stake from her pocket.

"Elena," Darnell spoke.

The slayer looked at him uncertainly.

"It's okay. She's with us," Joseph told her.

"She is?" Willow asked.

"It's a long story," Elena said from across the doorstep and turned her
eyes on Spike. "We've found the demon, Master. Can you come?"

Spike nodded and took Willow's hand.

"She won't stake me, will she?" Elena asked Willow as she eyed the
slayer.

"No," Willow answered as they followed her outside.

She looked at Spike in surprise as Darnell grabbed hold of the strange
vampire's hand.

"Anything you'd like to explain?" she asked Joseph.

"Not particularly," he grinned, then glanced over at his master. "Not
now, anyway."

Spike nodded, "It can wait."
 
 

The demon was cowering against the wall the vampires had backed her
into. Willow's eyes traveled over the small, dwarf-like creature.

"She doesn't look very menacing," she commented to Spike.

"Make them go away," the demon asked in a small, rather pathetic voice.

"What's the body count up to, now?" Ceara questioned.

"I was only doing as the women asked!" the demon pleaded. "They wanted
their lovers' hearts returned to them!"

"I think they would rather have had them returned fully functioning and
still beating inside their lovers' chests," Angel told her.

"Oh," the demon murmured with downcast eyes. "They never said--"

"You thought you were helping?" Willow spoke.

"I thought--" the demon looked at the redhead imploringly. "I can't fix
it now!"

"What are we going to do with her?" Ceara asked.

"Let me leave. I'll never come back. I promise."

"You killed seven people," the slayer reminded her.

"I didn't know. I was trying to give those women what they requested. I
didn't know!"

"She's pitiful," Willow whispered. "I kind of feel sorry for her."

Spike grinned and dropped an arm over her shoulders, "You would."

"She didn't mean any harm. She thought she was doing the right thing,"
his childe argued.

"Willow, people died because of her," Ceara told her.

"If they wanted their men back, they should have said so! She's
promised to stay away."

"I will," the demon vowed.

"What happens the next time some unsuspecting mortal makes the same
request?" Angel asked, eyeing the razor-sharp claws at the tips of the
demon's gnarled fingers.

"Angel, she got it wrong," Willow responded. "It isn't easy being a
demon, especially if that demon is trying to do the right thing. If you
and I hadn't been given second and third and fourth chances, we'd both
be ashes by now. Those women didn't say they wanted their men back,
just their hearts."

Ceara and Angel exchanged a long look before the slayer turned back to
the demon.

"You'll stay out of Sunnydale? And no more killing?"

"I promise," the demon nodded. "You'll never see me again."

"All right. Go," Ceara agreed.

The circle of vampires stepped back as a greenish light encompassed the
small demon, and with a bright burst of energy, she disappeared.

"I hope I can make Giles understand," the slayer said.

"I'll back you up," Angel offered with a soft smile as he placed his
hand against her cheek.

Her hand covered his as her lips brushed his palm.

"You two," Spike spoke, looking at Darnell and Elena. "Mansion. Now."

Elena looked at Joseph fearfully, and he took her hand and smiled, "His
bark is worse than his bite--sometimes."

Willow giggled, and Spike growled and grabbed her hand, dragging her
off down the street.
***
"Did you sire her?" Willow asked as they sat in the living room.

"No," Darnell answered. "One of the boys did."

"Almost three weeks ago. He wanted a toy," Elena added sadly.

"I was hunting along the waterfront a few nights ago. He had beat her
for feeding without his permission and left her lying along the
embankment. He returned while I was trying to help her, and he came
after me."

"Joseph staked him," Elena said, looking wonderingly up at him.

Darnell smiled and ran his hand over her glossy, mahogany hair.

"I brought her to one of the outbuildings the night before last and
told the others to leave her alone or they'd answer to Willow," Darnell
explained, grinning sheepishly.

"Really?" Willow asked in obvious delight.

Spike smiled down at her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"That put the fear of hell into them," Joseph nodded. "Can she stay?"

"You answer to me," Spike told Elena. "And Willow."

"Of course," Elena answered readily.

"She can stay," the Master agreed.
***
Ceara stared down at her glass of wine as Angel sat down next to her on
the sofa in his apartment.

"He was angrier than I thought he'd be," she said dismally.

"He'll get over it. Christina will help him see reason," he assured
her.

"I don't know. She probably won't be too pleased, either," she replied,
leaning forward to set the glass on the table. "We did the right thing,
didn't we?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly, pulling her onto his lap. "But
what Willow said is true. We gave the demon the same chance others have
given us."

"But she killed all those men. We didn't make that right."

Angel tucked a finger under her chin and raised her eyes to his.

"This is the Hellmouth, love. There's no such thing as perfect balance
here. We couldn't have restored their lives, and I don't think she'll
come back here. Let it go; it's over."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I just--"

"Let it go," he repeated and lowered his head to kiss her softly.

Ceara tangled her fingers through his hair and parted her lips. Angel's
tongue stole inside her mouth as he deepened the kiss. The slayer
whimpered softly as he pulled away long enough to tug her shirt over
her head before returning to her hungry lips. She sighed as his mouth
glided along her throat, and he pushed her down onto the sofa as he
unfastened and discarded her bra. Ceara arched into him as his cold
lips trailed kisses along the rounded flesh of her breasts. Her hands
cupped his head, holding him to her, as he captured first one nipple,
then the other, his tongue teasing them into hard pebbles.

Angel raised himself slightly and helped her remove his clothes and
then the remainder of hers. His strong arms slid around her, and he
pulled up her to carry her to the bedroom.

"I love you, Angel," she whispered as his body covered hers.

He brushed an ebony strand of hair from her face and cupped her cheeks
in his hands.

"I love you, too," he murmured. "I never thought I'd know these
feelings again."

Her eyes studied his face, and her heart leapt at the intensity of
emotion she found there. He smiled as his ears caught the quickening of
her heartbeat, and she drew his head down to hers and kissed him with a
passion that drove all other reality away. He parted her legs with his
knee, wanting nothing more than to feel the heat of her body
surrounding him.

"Angel," she whispered against his mouth as he entered her slowly,
stretching and filling her.

He remained still inside her, and she moaned as her body reveled in his
intrusion and her walls moulded around him. Her hands gripped his
shoulders as he began to drive into her. Ceara met his motions, thrust
for thrust. His lips brushed along her neck, stopping here and there to
kiss or nibble her soft skin. Her arms moved around him, her nails
digging into his back, as his fingers found her swollen clit and teased
it with practiced strokes. Angel growled as her channel constricted
around his shaft, and the scent of her juices as they spilled over and
around him drove the vampire into a violent orgasm.

He continued to drive hard and deep inside her as his cold seed
permeated her womb, and Ceara cried out, her hands seeking his and
gripping them fiercely as her own climax shot through her, sending
jolts of passion through her body and sparks coruscating behind her
closed eyes.

His lips claimed hers again and again in gentle declarations of
endearment as she panted softly under him. Angel withdrew from her and
gathered her to him as his soothing caresses urged her to sleep.
 
 

"I cannot believe you refused to meet with us," Giles glared as he
stepped through the terrace doors, virtually dragging a very unhappy
Christina behind him.

"I don't answer to you," Willow said coldly. "Besides, you were ranting
like a lunatic when you phoned."

"What the hell were you thinking? You let her go!" the watcher snarled.

"You'd be wise to watch your mouth," Spike cautioned him.

Giles gave him only the briefest of glances before looking over at
Angel and Ceara.

"She killed seven people. You should have destroyed her," he insisted.

"You weren't there," Ceara spoke from Angel's side. "You didn't hear
her. She didn't mean to cause any harm."

"Harm? She murdered innocent people!" he shouted. "How am I supposed to
explain this to the council?"

"You _are_ the council," the slayer replied.

"I am _not_ the council. I merely lead it, and your blatant disregard
for others' lives undermines my--"

"Oh, climb down off your fucking soap box," Willow snapped, throwing
herself down onto the sofa. "Killing the demon wouldn't have revived
those men. She won't hurt anyone else."

"Would you care if she did?" Giles asked angrily. "After all, what are
a few lives to someone who sucks people dry for a living?"

"Rupert," Christina said softly as Willow stood up.

"And just where were you when the rest of us were making the call?" the
redhead sneered. "Probably on top of your library table buried to the
balls inside _her_."

Ceara looked uneasily at Angel as Darnell, alerted by their raised
voices, appeared in the doorway. Giles took a step forward and slapped
Willow hard across the face. Spike growled as his human features melted
into those of his demon. He grabbed hold of the watcher and shoved him
forcefully away from Willow, hurtling the man into the wall behind him.

"Stop it!" Christina shouted, grabbing Willow's arm.

The redhead whirled on her, game face in place, amber eyes flashing.
Spike's hand curled around Christina's wrist, and Darnell, now also in
game face, moved swiftly to Giles, who had stood to help Christina. The
vampire grabbed the watcher by the collar, pinning him back against the
wall.

"Spike!" Angel roared, shoving himself between the blonde vampire and
Christina.

Christina stepped back, and Willow blocked her as she tried to move
toward Darnell. Ceara stepped forward as Willow put her hand on
Christina's shoulder and forced her to her knees. The slayer grabbed
the woman's arm and dragged her away from the angry redhead's reach.

"Stop it, all of you, damn it!" Ceara demanded.

Spike glared at Angel and reached out to slam Willow back to his side.
Her arm wrapped itself tightly around her sire's waist as Angel stepped
back a pace and turned toward Darnell.

"Let him go," Angel ordered.

Joseph ignored the command, his eyes fixed on the stuggling watcher.
Ceara's hand tightened around Christina's arm, prohibiting her from
going to Giles. Angel looked back at Spike.

"Let him go," Spike barked.

Darnell released Giles, and the man collapsed to his knees with a thud.

"Sit down," Angel said to Spike and Willow.

Neither of them moved.

"Please," Ceara added earnestly.

Their amber eyes turned toward the slayer for a moment before Willow
resumed her human features and tugged Spike backwards to the sofa.
Ceara released a sharp breath as Spike sat and pulled his childe down
beside him, curling a hand around her thigh.

"Darnell?" Ceara spoke to the vampire who still loomed over Giles.

He looked over at Willow, eyeing the red imprint still blazed across
her cheek.

"I'm all right," she assured him.

"You hit her again, and I'll break every bone in your hand, one at a
time," he warned Giles before backing away to allow the man to stand
up.

Elena, who had watched the violent outburst from the concealing
darkness outside the French doors, stepped inside. The room crackled
with the tension of uneasy silence, as if waiting for any tremble of an
aftershock.

"We're either going to have to come to an understanding or agree to
disagree," Angel finally said.

"Or kill each other," Spike added.

"Or some of us, at least," Giles snarled.

Ceara rolled her eyes impatiently, feeling more like a preschool
teacher than a slayer, drew a stake from her pocket, and shoved it into
the watcher's hand.

"Then you do it because I'm not staking them," she declared.

Giles dropped the weapon and ran a hand through his hair.

"Sometimes you act like the vampire you are," he accused Willow.

"Bloody astute," she snapped back. "What the hell do you expect?"

"It isn't always the easiest of circumstances under which to work," he
told her.

"You manage to work with Angel," she replied.

"He has a soul."

"So do I!" she reminded him.

"Buried under the sire's childe," he nodded.

"Come on, Giles. It isn't that bad," Ceara interjected. "I thought
you'd come to terms with it."

"I have, mostly," he answered. "But watchers and vampires aren't the
most natural of mixes. And when you start granting demons their
freedom--"

"You've been known to work with demons, when it suits your purpose,"
Willow pointed out.

"So I have. You did cross the line with that nasty little remark,
though," he insisted rather petulantly.

"You started it," she countered.

"Guys!" Ceara grumbled. "Willow, you know Giles and Christina are
invaluable. That crack you made really was beneath contempt."

Willow shot her a cold look as Giles smiled in satisfaction.

"And you," the slayer continued, addressing her watcher. "Do you really
want to take on the Hellmouth without Spike and Willow running
interference, not to mention running to your doorstep, everytime
something sinister oozes down the street?"

Giles shifted uncomfortably.

"Me, either," she said. "They've hauled our collective rear ends out of
trouble more than once, you know, but you can't expect either of them
to act human because they're not. So, get over it."

Angel snorted and put his hand on her shoulder as Giles averted his
eyes, looking for all the world like a chastized schoolboy.

"I'm sorry I hit you," he apologized softly to Willow.

"I'm sorry I went all demon on you," she replied.

Spike's eyes traveled from the watcher to his lover as they all looked
at him expectantly.

"What?" he said crossly. "I'm not sorry for anything."

Willow laughed softly and kissed his cheek.

"I guess it is a little unfair to judge the situation from the comfort
of Rupert's home," Christina conceded.

"There, that's better," Ceara smiled.

Spike stifled a shudder and rose to his feet, pulling Willow up beside
him.

"Let's find something to eat before I bloody heave," he suggested,
leading her out of the room.

Christina shook her head as she watched them leave, "Did we learn
anything here?"

"I did," Elena's voice from just inside the doors surprised the others,
who had not realized she was there. "Don't fuck with the Master's
lady."

A wide grin spread across Darnell's handsome face as the others
exchanged bemused glances.
 
 

"Are you angry at me?" Willow asked as Spike returned to the park bench
where he had left her to go hunt.

"No," he answered.

"You haven't spoken three words since we left the house," she said.

He put an arm around her and leaned his head against hers.

"I'm not angry at you, pet," he assured her. "I don't know why I
tolerate that sod."

"Giles. It can't be easy for him, either. I mean, the head of the
council working with a master vampire. How weird is that?"

"Weird," he smiled. "I hate the way he tries to jerk you around. Who
does he think he's fucking with?"

She turned her head and kissed him softly, "He forgets I'm not human
anymore, sometimes."

"Did he push you around like this before we hooked up?"

"Not really. He's a good watcher, Spike. The best. He does okay for
someone who's always dealt with vampires as the enemy," she defended
her old friend.

"You're too understanding," he grumbled.

"It's this damned soul you all cursed me with," she grinned.

He chuckled and nuzzled his mouth close to her ear.

"I love you, soul and all," he whispered.

"Anyway, the demon's gone now, and aside from the usual Hellmouthy
problems, things should calm back down for awhile."

"Good. I could definitely do with some time away from Christina's fuck
toy," he declared.

"Would you behave?" she asked, biting her lip to stop from laughing.

"I doubt it," he admitted.

She turned to face him and cupped his face in her hands, "Then
misbehave with me."

His eyes drank in the moonlit beauty of her pale complexion and the
glittering green of her eyes before his mouth swooped down to capture
hers in a searing kiss laced with the ice of their demons and the heat
of their desire for one another.
***
Willow shrugged on Spike's shirt, tugging the hem down over her bare
thighs, and crept quietly out of the bedroom. She went to the kitchen
and warmed a mug of blood. As she opened the doors to step out onto the
terrace, Trouble appeared at her feet and darted out in front of her.
Scrabbling around in a nearby rose bed, he came out with a well-gnawed
bone and sprawled out at the foot of the chair Willow had settled into.

Caring not to look at the buried treasure too closely, she tucked her
bare feet under her and took a long swallow from the mug. She closed
her eyes as the night air, comfortably warm and delicately scented with
the myriad of flowers that landscaped the vast lawns, gently blew fiery
wisps of hair from her forehead.

"That would make a beautiful picture, if we didn't end up with an image
of nothing more than an empty chair," Darnell spoke softly from the
doorway.

She opened her eyes and grinned as he plopped down in the chair next to
hers.

"No Elena tonight?" she asked.

"Been there, done that," he quipped. "Twice, as a matter of fact."

Willow laughed, "Like that, is it?"

"Let's just say we'll never be the Master and you," he nodded. "I like
her. She's fun, if not all that bright."

"She's young, though. She'll learn."

An amused smile lit Joseph's sapphire blue eyes at the remark from the
months-old vampire.

"Okay, scratch that," she giggled. "She doesn't have a sire, though.
She'll need someone to guide her."

"Oh, I plan to. Belive me," he answered.

"But you don't love her."

"What you and Spike share is quite extraordinary. It takes an
exceptional woman to evoke that kind of love in a vampire."

"But you care about me," she stated, matter-of-factly.

"As I said, an exceptional woman."

Willow smiled at the gentle compliment.

"Anyway, she's likeable," he said.

"And pretty," the redhead added.

"That, too," he agreed.

"Joseph?" she spoke after a brief moment of comfortable silence.

"Yes."

"I don't think I ever thanked you for defending me tonight." She looked
over at him, "Everything exploded so fast, and then Spike dragged me
off to hunt. And I wanted to. Say thank you, I mean. Not get dragged
off. Although that wasn't so bad. Not to hunt, though. Except for
Spike."

"You're welcome," he chuckled. "At least, I think that's the proper
response. Unless I translated that wrong."

"You didn't," she giggled. "Aside from a couple of apologies, we really
didn't resolve anything, did we?"

"I suppose not, but if you're going to do another round with him, I'd
like to be there."

"To protect me?" she asked with an impish twinkle in her eyes.

"To watch you in action," he answered. "I always half expect thunder
and lightening when you get angry."

"Don't get your hopes up," she advised him.

"That's okay. The fireworks are pretty damned impressive."
***
Christina glanced at the clock above the desk. Three o'clock in the
morning, they'd gotten no farther than the living room, and her
patience was wearing thin.

"I just cannot believe you can defend their actions," Giles spoke from
the chair upon which he was perched.

"Look, all I'm saying is that they had to make a decision. Ceara's no
fool. She talked with the demon and decided she posed no threat. I
trust her judgment. She's become one hell of a slayer."

"A slayer who spends her nights in a vampire's bed," he grumbled.

She shook her head, "It isn't the first time such a thing has
happened."

"That's very helpful. Thank you."

"Sarcasm does not become you, Rupert," she said coldly. "And anyway,
you can't point a finger at her. You've taken a vampire to your own
bed, as I recall."

"She wasn't one to begin with, and I'd never do it again."

"That's a relief," she replied with a hint of a smile. "You have to
admit, neither Angel nor Willow are your typical vampires. They do have
their souls."

"Which doesn't seem to aide their judgment in the least," he added.

"That's unfair," she argued. "I know how difficult it is working with
them. Watchers and vampires have been unnatural enemies for ages, but
it works here. You know it does. I know it can be frustrating and tense
at times, and maybe it's good that you finally blew off some steam."

"Don't patronize me," he scowled.

Christine sighed heavily and stood up, "I don't know what to say to
you! Everything seems to come out wrong. Are you planning on holding
this against them indefinitely? Even Ceara?"

"We are _not_ in the business of letting murderous demons go free," he
insisted firmly. "When this gets back to London--"

"Screw London!" she shouted. "You head the council, and they all agreed
that what we're doing here works! The murders have stopped, and the
demon is gone. Your slayer is two for two. You're just pissed off
because she did it her way instead of yours. Be reasonable, Rupert.
They succeeded, never mind their methods. They make one hell of a team,
and you know it."

Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his tired, bloodshot eyes.

"Yes, I know it," he agreed quietly. "Maybe that's what bothers me. I'm
not sure my slayer needs me."

"Then, you've done an excellent job with her because that's as it
should be," Christina looked down at him kindly. "That's the true mark
of an accomplished slayer. But you know, some of the times I've seen
her the happiest is when she's made you proud of her."

"The other times are when she's made Angel proud."

"She loves him," she shrugged. "But you're a father to her. She
respects you and loves you, and what you think matters enormously to
her. Rupert, you can't clip her wings and force her to stay in the
nest. You've trained her to think for herself in the most perilous of
circumstances. Don't slap her down when that's exactly what she does."

Giles was listening intently, but was visibly reluctant to let it go.

"She takes advice from vampires," he said, at last.

"And it works," Christina insisted. "You've been letting all this
simmer inside you for a long time, haven't you?"

"I suppose so," he admitted. "I know what you're saying is true. I know
that, together, they're a formidable team. But Angel--and Spike, of all
people--and now Willow, as well. It's--difficult sometimes."

"She's the hardest, isn't she? Willow?"

"I've known her since before she even knew vampires existed. And now
she's the childe of a Master vampire. There's a lot of history that you
know nothing about."

"I'm sure that's true. All I know is the here and now. It may not
always be easy, and it may not always be as you'd like it to be, but it
works. You're going to have to find a way to deal with it," she told
him.

"I know," he nodded.

"And not by shoving it all back inside," she warned him. "All that
tension will just build up until it erupts again."

"You're right. I know you're right."

"You don't really want to see our little army disbanded," she stated.

"No, I don't," he answered and stood up. "You're right. It does work. I
just need some time to cool off, get some distance and perspective."

"Distance?" she echoed.

"I'm going to bed," he told her. "I'll sleep in the guest room."

"No! Rupert--"

"I just need some time. To think things through," he assured her.

Her concerned eyes followed him as he climbed the stairs.
***
"He's sleeping in the guest room?" Ceara asked in disbelief.

"For the past three nights," Christina answered sadly.

"He can't still be angry," Willow said.

"I don't think so. I think he's just tired, you know? He's been through
a hell of a lot in a few short years, and he's dealt with most of it in
silence."

"So have we all," Willow replied.

"True, but he's dealing with it as a watcher. There's a lot of past to
assimilate with this present. It's got to be rather like walking a
tightrope at times."

"What can we do to make it easier?" the slayer asked.

Christina smiled, "I'm not sure there is an easier. He's always gone
against the old council conventions, even as a young man. But still,
those conventions were pounded into him. He fought hard to keep all of
you together and working with him. I'm sure he doesn't want to change
that. Nevertheless, this situation requires that he work beside beings
he's always considered the enemy. And now one of them is a dear
friend."

"But he's known for a long time that I would eventually become what I
am now," Willow told her.

"Knowing beforehand and dealing with the reality are not the same
things," Christina replied.

"Analyzing the tottering old watcher, are you?" Giles asked from the
doorway.

"You're too young to totter," Ceara told him.

"Sometimes, I feel as old as they are," he confessed, looking at Angel
and Spike.

"Tell us what to do to make it better," Willow requested. "Spike and I
can--"

"No," he shook his head. "I don't want any of you changing anything.
Christina is right. What you're doing works. The problem is in me, but
I think I have a solution."

"What is it?" Ceara asked.

"I need to talk to Christina--alone," he told them. "If you wouldn't
mind leaving us now."

"Okay," the slayer agreed. "We'll talk tomorrow?"

Giles nodded and waited until they had left before gesturing for
Christina to sit down.

"I've made a decision," he began.

"I'm listening."

"I'm going to London--"

"London! Why?" she cried out.

"I overheard what you said just now, and you're right. I am tired. I'm
also unsure that I'm doing any good in my position here at this point."

"That's ridiculous," she objected. "Of course you--"

"I've given it a lot of thought," he interrupted her. "I really think
this is best."

"Okay, maybe you do need a breather. How long will you be away?" She
stood up as he looked away from her, "Rupert?"

"I'm--I'm not sure I'll be back."

"What! You can't go off and leave the Hellmouth--"

"You're more than competent. I have no qualms about leaving you in
charge," he assured her.

"You can't be serious. You can't leave me," she pleaded. "Running away
from this won't help you, any more than wallowing in self-pity has."

"Self-pity? That's what you think this is? Christina, I lost a slayer I
loved dearly. I watched this town burn at the hands of rampaging
demons. I've trained more slayers in the past six years than any other
watcher has trained in a lifetime."

"I'll be the first to agree that you've faced incredible difficulties,
but you have a slayer now who, in her own way, means just as much to
you as Buffy did. The town has been rebuilt, and you've kept the
Hellmouth under control ever since. The entire council has applauded
everything you've accomplished here! You can't turn your back on it!"

He looked at her wordlessly.

"You can't turn your back on _me_! I love you!"

"I'm so mentally weary, I'm not sure I even have the energy left for
that emotion," he told her.

"I don't believe that," she stated.

"I'm leaving," he maintained. "The day after tomorrow."

Christina's expression shifted from despair to angry denial as Giles
left her standing alone in the room.

"Like hell you are," she hissed and stomped her way up the stairs.
 
 

Willow whirled around at the sound of light footsteps on the grass
behind her. Trouble snarled softly at her side, the fur along his back
standing on end.

"Help me, please," a small voice asked.

The redhead's eyes widened in surprise as the recently-released,
diminutive demon approached cautiously.

"You're not supposed to be here," Willow reminded her.

"I'd go away if I could," she said sincerely, trembling slightly as the
dog trotted over to her and sniffed around her feet. "He--he doesn't
bite, does he?"

"Depends," the vampire answered, then softened her tone in response to
the demon's frightened look. "Not usually."

The assurance did little to alleviate the demon's fear.

"Why are you here?" Willow asked her.

"I was summoned, to help a woman who's afraid she's losing her lover. I
wanted to keep my promise to stay away; I really did! But I was
summoned--by name!"

"Okay," Willow nodded. "So if someone summoned you, why have to come to
me?"

"I was afraid the slayer would toss my head from my shoulders before I
had the chance to explain. You helped me before. I thought you might--"

"If I can," Willow agreed.

The demon attempted to step forward, only to be stopped by the dog, who
had latched onto one of her boot laces.

"Trouble, come here," the vampire said gently.

The pup followed behind her as she walked to a wrought iron bench and
sat down. Trouble leapt up beside her and plunked his rear end in her
lap. Willow buried her fingers in the thick fur around his neck and
began to scratch him absent-mindedly. The demon hesitated for a moment
before stepping over in front of her. Even from Willow's seated
position, the tiny demon's eyes came only to the same level as the
vampire's.

"The Master's gone out to get you some--" Joseph stopped speaking from
the doorway as he surveyed the unlikely pair. "Who's this?"

"Our heart-stealing demon," Willow answered. "She's come to ask for my
help"

"Has she?" Darnell asked with interest as he helped himself to an empty
chair and looked over at the strange creature. "Does she have a name,
or do we just address her as 'Hey, you?'"

Willow looked questioningly at their visitor.

"Mathala," the demon answered.

"How is it you think I can help you?" Willow inquired.

"I was summoned only a short while ago, as I said--"

"We're not ripping hearts out again, are we?" Darnell asked.

"I don't think so. She didn't say so. I don't know," Mathala answered,
woefully confused. "Why do humans never say what they mean?"

"Just tell me what this woman asked you to do," Willow suggested.

The demon nodded and gathered her thoughts. Trouble's golden eyes went
gooey under Willow's satisfying fingers, and he melted into a furry
puddle of contentment on her lap. Mathala found this display oddly
comforting, and some of the nervous tension eased from her small body.

"She said the man she loves is going away, maybe forever. She said he
still loves her. She asked me to keep him with her, to constrain him
from leaving," she explained. "And I'm quite sure this man is a
watcher. Then she said--"

"Wait a minute! The man is Giles?" Willow squealed. "This woman--she's
tall, slender, dark hair?"

"Very beautiful," Mathala nodded.

"Bloody hell. What does she think she's playing at?" Willow grumbled.
"Have you done anything about this yet?"

"Well, I constrained him from leaving," the demon answered.

"How?" Darnell asked.

"He can't leave his house. The doors and windows won't open for him,"
she responded, then quickly added, "It isn't permanent, though."

Joseph laughed out loud at the mental image of the watcher frantically
tugging at hopelessly sealed doors.

"Well, that's harmless enough," Willow chuckled. "I suggest you make an
end of it, though. Let them work it out for themselves."

"But I can't!" the demon wailed. "Not unless the woman releases me."

"Giles will be furious if he finds out what Christina has done," Willow
said.

"Oh, damn," Mathala uttered. "This used to be so easy. Why can't you
women simply obey your men--the way you used to?"

"Maybe you could persuade your Master to reassign you," Joseph
commented, clearly unconcerned for the demon's plight. "To something
less dangerous. Poker games, or puzzles, or something."

The demon glowered at him.

"Now, don't be so negative. Have you ever tried completing the Times
crossword? What's a ten-letter word for 'bloodthirsty?'"

"Sanguinary," Mathala growled impatiently.

"There, you see? You'd be perfect, and the only hazard you'd have to
face would be the occasional broken pencil. Hell, you could sharpen
those with your fingers."

"Don't be a fool!" she spat.

"Then don't try to consign Willow back to female servitude," he
snarled.

"I didn't mean that!" Mathala choked back a frustrated sob and turned
imploring eyes on the redhead.

"I know you didn't," Willow grinned.

"Oh," she sighed. "Can you help me?"

"Actually, this may not be so bad," Darnell commented.

"How so?" Willow asked him.

"Leave him locked up in that house with his woman. Maybe she'll clobber
some sense into him."

"Maybe," Willow conceded. "If she can get him to stop growling long
enough to hear what she's saying."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Mathala spoke.

Darnell and Willow stared at her.

"Why not?" the redhead asked, unsure that she really wanted to hear the
answer.

"Well, she also said she'd like him to just shut up and listen."

Willow's mouth dropped open as her eyes turned slowly toward Darnell.

"Are you saying--" Joseph paused long enough to stifle a chuckle. "Are
you saying he can't speak?"

"Not until she rescinds the request," the demon confirmed.

Spike stepped out onto the terrace as Willow and Darnell burst into
raucous laughter.
 

Willow watched her sire's blue eyes dance in wicked amusement as
Darnell finished explaining what the demon had done to Giles. She hung
up the phone and crossed the room to join them.

"Christina says Giles has gone to bed. He thinks he has laryngitis, and
she hasn't told him any different," she said.

"What about the doors?" Joseph asked.

"He's only tried the front door, so far. Christina told him the lock
must be sticking."

"That's only going to last until he tries the others," Spike told her.

"I know. I made her promise not to make any more requests of the demon.
She agreed, but she says she won't rescind what's she's done until he
comes to his senses."

"Which means he could grow old and die, speechless, in that house,"
Spike grinned.

"She'll make him hear her, now that he has no choice but to listen,"
Willow predicted. "You know, I'm thinking that little demon could come
in very handy."

Her sire looked down at Willow's mischievous grin and raised an
eyebrow.

"Oh, really? I wouldn't advise trying it."

"I wouldn't do that to you," she giggled. "I'd miss that voice. It's
very sexy."

Darnell grinned and backed out of the room as Spike's arms went around
his childe.

"You think so," he asked, lowering his mouth to her ear and nibbling at
the lobe.

"Mmmm," she murmured, curling her hand around the back of his neck.

Spike's mouth found hers, and she parted her lips, drawing his tongue
inside her mouth. He lifted her up off the floor, and she wrapped her
legs around his waist as he carried her up the stairs.

Spike lowered Willow to the bedroom floor, moaning as her hand cupped
the prominent bulge behind the zipper of his black jeans. Her fingers
undid the button, stopping only long enough to allow Spike to make
quick work of her shirt as he tugged it over her head and tossed it to
the floor.

She dragged his pants down, and he pulled off his boots and stepped out
of his jeans as Willow removed his shirt. She shoved him back onto the
bed and quickly discarded her skirt before climbing on top of him,
straddling his hips. He put his arms around her, pulling her down to
him with one hand as the other tangled through her flowing hair.
Willow's lips moved along his throat and down to his chest.

Spike closed his eyes, absorbed by the feel of her hands exploring his
hard, lean body and her tongue swirling over his nipples. Willow
shifted back, and his cock jumped as her lips brushed over it. Forcing
himself to remain still under her, a low groan rumbled up from his
chest as her lips parted, and she took his hard shaft into her mouth,
teasing the very tip with her tongue. His hand in her hair tightened as
she engulfed his painfully hard member in her mouth and gently raked
her teeth from base to tip.

"Willow," he murmured. "Baby, I want to come inside you."

Freeing his cock from the cold cavern of her mouth, she raised herself
up to look down into his piercing blue eyes. Spike tugged her down,
rolling her under him and seizing her lips, sucking her tongue greedily
into his mouth as her legs parted and he thrust up into her.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he whispered, his lips so
close to hers, they brushed across them with every word he uttered.

A smile of complete happiness curled her reddened lips as her green
eyes, darkened with desire and burning emotions, gazed up into his. She
raised her head to take his lips once again. In spite of his demanding
hardness now sheathed within her, Spike worked her slowly, pushing into
her and pulling out again in long, deliberate strokes. His accomplished
fingers massaged her clit gently, wresting a breathy sigh from his
lover's lips.

Willow contracted and released her muscled walls, pushing him ever
closer to the release she instinctively knew he was holding back.

"I love you," she whispered. "Come for me, Spike."

She turned her head on the pillow as her sire's blue eyes shimmered to
amber. His entire body went rigid as his cold seed shot into her. He
drove himself hard inside her, hitting her cervix as his fangs pierced
her throat and his fingers pinched her clit in simultaneous motions.
Willow screamed out, and Spike's hands moved to cradle her head,
holding it still as he fed from her quaking body.

Lacking the energy to raise himself up, he rolled off of her and
clutched her tight against him, where they lay silently wrapped in
euphoric afterglow.

"You nearly make my heart beat," Willow said, her voice barely audible.

He placed a kiss on her hair and settled her head at his throat.

"You drink, too, luv," he entreated her.

He caught an unneeded breath as her tongue licked over his throat, and
his hand brushed over the glossy sheet of her hair as she punctured his
flesh and suckled his rich blood. Willow lapped at his wounds, cleaning
them carefully, before he brought her mouth back to his. Her blood on
his lips mingled with his blood on hers as they kissed softly,
lingeringly.

"Spike?" she said, at last, drawing away very slightly. "I told
Christina we'd meet everyone at Giles' tonight."

"All right, pet," he agreed. "I can grab a snack on the way. What about
you; are you hungry?"

"Not right now. Your blood always satisfies my craving."

"That's because you're my childe, and I love you," he smiled.

She looked at him in feigned surprise.

"And I thought it was because you're so wonderful and delicious and
hot," she said, punctuating each adjective with a kiss.

"Okay, we'll go with that," he conceded with a grin.

Willow giggled and placed a kiss along his jaw, "That's very
magnanimous of you. I really do love you, you know."

"It never ceases to amaze me," he responded, placing his hand on her
cheek and moving her mouth back to his for another long kiss.
 
 

"So, you've been cavorting with demons," Angel said with a wide grin.

"I haven't been 'cavorting,'" Christina denied. "I had to do something!
He was hell-bent on leaving for London. He wouldn't even listen to me!"

"Where is the wordless wonder, anyway?" Ceara asked.

"Making yet another pot of tea--laryngitis, you know."

"You haven't told him what you did?" Willow inquired.

"Not yet. I thought I should wait for witnesses, just in case he tries
to murder me. You will back me up, won't you?"

"No one wants Giles to leave," the slayer answered. "We just have to
make him understand how much we need him."

"Unless he really has a problem working with us. That would be an
entirely different problem," Angel added.

"I'm sure that isn't the case, not really," Christina told him. "He
wouldn't have fought so hard to keep us together if he felt it was
wrong. Every member of the council acknowledges how well things are
going here. It's just that, sometimes, working with vampires can be
very difficult for him. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Yeah. Especially when some of those vampires hunt humans," Ceara
admitted, turning to meet Spike's hard eyes. "That wasn't a slam, just
a fact."

At that moment, Giles entered the room, carrying a cup of tea. He
looked at each of them in a silent greeting before sitting down beside
Christina on the sofa.

"We've come to help Christina talk some sense into you," Ceara told
him.

The watcher looked down into the cup of tea and shook his head.

"Come on, Giles," she said. "You know how much we need you."

His eyes moved from the slayer to Angel and back to the slayer.

"Okay, maybe I don't ask your advice as often as I should," she
conceded. "But it isn't always practical, and it isn't always easy
trying to figure out what's the best thing to do. That doesn't mean I
don't value your wisdom, because I do. We need your input--all of us.
We can't afford to lose you."

"And I couldn't bear it," Christina added softly. "Don't leave me,
Rupert."

He looked over into her pain-filled eyes, and she took the cup from him
and set it on the end table before taking his hands in hers.

"Please don't go," she begged. "I need you. I love you."

His eyes softened, and he drew her hands to his lips. His gaze moved
over to where Willow and Spike stood, and the blonde vampire met his
questioning stare.

"Look, you're a watcher, so you're obviously not one of my favorite
people, but we've managed to fight at each other's side, and you were
responsible for restoring Willow's soul. I'm not going to tell you the
two of us couldn't exist without you, because I wouldn't mean it, and
you wouldn't believe it. You can decide for yourself where you need to
be, but I won't promise I'll ever work with any other watcher. Willow
cares about you, and this set-up we have works pretty well. So, we'll
keep our end of it if you decide to stay. If you don't, Willow and I
will work with the slayer and Angel and probably kill whoever the
council sends to replace you."

Giles smirked at the sarcastic tone of the vampire's last remark. He
looked at Christina, pointed to his watch, then pointed to his head.

"You need time to think," she translated his motions. "About what? What
else can any of us say to make you realize--"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"You can't leave him locked up here indefinitely--can you?" Ceara asked
Christina.

Giles' eyebrows arched in surprise at the words "locked up."

"I'm not changing anything until he decides to be reasonable,"
Christina vowed firmly.

The watcher put a hand on her arm and stared hard at her. Willow bit
her lip to hide the smile that threatened to form on her lips. Giles'
hand tightened around Christina's arm. She shook herself free and stood
up, and he was immediately on his feet, clutching her shoulders and
turning her to face him.

Christina's expression hardened in defiance, "I had that little demon
they let go the other night do a little favor for me."

Willow watched with interest as Giles' opened his mouth to shout at her
and quickly snapped it shut again when no sound came out. He glanced
around at the others in the room.

"They had nothing to do with this," Christina informed him. "I helped
myself to your books, did my own research, found the demon's name, and
summoned her all by myself."

The watcher's lips once again parted, but the question in his mind
would not be voiced.

"And I'm not sorry!" she continued hotly. "If you're going to start
acting like a twit just because they made a decision you don't agree
with, you deserve to be locked up and silenced."

An impatient sigh forced itself from Giles' throat as he tried,
unsuccessfully, to word a protest.

"And you can just stay this way until you stop this nonsense about
leaving Sunnydale and nobody needing you!" she declared. "I need you!
They need you! And you need us! So, stop acting like a child whose ice
cream has just fallen from the cone."

Giles' mouth moved uselessly, and Willow turned her head, hiding her
face in Spike's chest. His fingers curled through her hair, and he
grinned as her shoulders gently shook in silent laughter.

"At least this way I don't have to keep telling you to shut up,"
Christina fumed. "I'm going upstairs. When you're ready to listen to
me, _really_ listen, come find me. And be ready to apologize profusely,
mister, because you owe it to me!"

She stepped away from him and stomped out of the room and up the
stairs. Giles heaved another sigh and stormed to the door that opened
out onto the patio. He tugged angrily on it, but the door did not
budge. He kicked at it in frustration and whirled around at the various
snickers behind him. Angel, Ceara, Willow, and Spike attempted, with
varying degrees of success, to mask their amused expressions as Giles
limped over to the desk, flung the chair back, and plopped angrily down
onto it.

"I wouldn't stay angry for too long," Willow advised him with a
chuckle. "Not unless you want to remain a mute houseboy indefinitely."

"Well, guys," Christina spoke, ignoring the watcher's unamused glare.
"Let's hit the town and patrol. It's too damn quiet in here."

Giles followed them out to the front door and shoved Angel aside to
dash over the threshold. The watcher suddenly found himself smacking up
against an invisible barrier, and he landed with a thud on his ass.

"Cool!" Willow squealed, then squelched her enthusiasm as Giles glared
up at her. "Or not."

"You've got to hand it to that demon; she's thorough," Angel commented,
stepping over Giles and out the door.

"Cheer up," Willow said to the watcher as she followed the others out.
"At least you know Christina loves you enough to do just about anything
to keep you."

He pulled himself up off the floor as she reached out and patted his
arm.

"If you need anything, just give us a shout--oh," she grimaced,
realizing her error.

Giles slammed the door shut on Spike's unrestrained laughter.
 
 

Giles entered the bedroom where Christina was stretched out on the bed,
reading a book. She glanced up at him as he perched beside her and
rubbed his hand gently over her arm. He moved his hand to his ear and
then pointed at her.

"Okay, so you heard me," she said. "But did you listen? Have you
decided to stop acting like a complete ass and be reasonable?"

He nodded.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked. "You ranted on and on for days.
Why the sudden change of heart--besides the obvious, I mean?"

He looked back at her angrily.

"You can get as angry as you like," she told him. "It won't make any
difference."

He sighed and grabbed up the pencil and paper that sat beside the phone
on the night stand. He scribbled the words, "You can't leave me like
this," and turned the message toward her.

"Want to bet? You start writing me apologies and love notes, and we'll
discuss it," she said with a sly grin.

He wrote on the pad again and shoved it toward her, "How am I supposed
to help Ceara if you leave me like this?"

"Ah, now _there's_ a sensible question," she said cheerily. "Don't
worry. She's got Angel to help her."

He stared at her incredulously, and she laughed softly and leaned
forward to place a quick kiss on his lips.

"It was a good question, though," she assured him. "Are you coming to
bed anytime soon, or are you not interested since I can't make you
moan?"

Giles' eyes flew open, and his jaw dropped.

Ceara laughed out loud and placed her hand on his cheek, "I do love
you, even when you act like an ass. Come to bed."

Giles shook his head and put his hand to his throat.

"You know the deal," Christina reminded him. "Or are you telling me
you've decided to drop this business about going to London?"

Uncertain eyes glared silently back at her.

"You can be so damned dense sometimes," she huffed angrily.

Giles moved off the bed and left the room to sleep in the guest room
again. Christina snarled and flopped down onto the pillows.
***
Willow's eyes fluttered open at the soft, persistent rapping on the
bedroom door. She slipped out of bed, dragged on a robe, and opened the
door on Darnell.

"Willow, the watcher is here," he told her.

"What?" Willow gasped, startled out of her sleep-addled state. "How did
he get here?"

"I've no idea. He's talking, too."

"Tell him to hang on a minute," she said and closed the door.

Spike stirred from his sleep as she quickly pulled on a pair of jeans
and a shirt.

"Willow?"

"It's all right. Giles is here--somehow or other," she explained. "Go
back to sleep."

His lips quirked into a half-grin as she pulled the door open.

"I'll be right down, pet," he told her.
***
"Giles?" Willow spoke as she entered the drape-darkened living room.
"How did you get here?"

"I walked out my front door," he shrugged.

"And your voice is back. Did you and Christina work things out?"

"Not exactly," he answered softly. "In fact, we had something of a
disagreement last night. I woke up this morning and went to her room.
Willow--she's gone."

Spike came in behind Willow and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Gone? What do you mean gone? She left you?" the redhead asked.

"I--I'm afraid not," the watcher replied.

"Giles! Make sense!" Willow growled impatiently.

He sighed and dropped down onto the sofa, "I woke up an hour ago and
went to her room. She wasn't there, or anywhere else in the house."

"So, she went for a morning walk," Willow suggested.

"Then it's the first time she's ever done so," he argued. "And why am I
suddenly able to talk? Why am I able to leave the house? Something's
wrong."

"You're jumping to conclusions," she stated.

"Am I?" his voice rose with the beginning of panic. "She wasn't in the
yard, and her car is in the garage. She didn't walk to town at seven
o'clock in the morning! She didn't rescind her requests and then just
walk out the door!"

"Okay, maybe not," Willow conceded. "There's not much we can do to help
you right now. Ceara could help you look for her in town, just to be
sure she isn't there, somewhere."

He nodded, looking none to hopeful, and quickly left. Spike sighed and
wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her.

"Is there any sense in going back to bed?" he asked, nuzzling her hair
sleepily.

"Probably not. I'm figuring at least one phone call an hour," she
answered, turning her head to look up at him. "Sofa?"

"Sofa," he agreed.
***
"I've never seen him so upset," Ceara spoke softly as Giles alternated
between sitting, pacing, and staring blankly into space.

"Serves him right," Willow muttered.

"Willow!" the slayer gasped. "How would you feel if Spike walked out on
you?"

Spike snorted and tightened his arm around the redhead, "Like that will
_ever_ happen. Your watcher's worse than Angel used to be when he and
Buf--"

His childe silenced him with a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"Have some compassion," Angel snapped, then looked at Spike. "Well, not
you."

"We spent most of the day covering the town. We checked the airport,
the bus terminal; we came up empty," Ceara told them.

"You don't think this has something to do with this demon she's been
consorting with?" Angel asked. "Willow, you haven't heard from
Mathala?"

"Not a word, and I think she would've come to me if she were in
trouble."

Willow grew quiet for a moment, and Spike caught a brief, but familiar,
glimmer in her eye.

"What are you thinking, baby?" he asked her.

"Well," she said hesitantly. "Mathala isn't the most adept at
interpreting figurative speech."

"You think Christina may have asked for something she didn't
necessarily mean?" Ceara asked.

"It's possible," Angel agreed.

"Like what?" the slayer wondered.

"How about, 'I'd like to know how Giles would feel if he never saw me
again.' Or 'I'd like to know what Giles would do if I just
disappeared,'" Willow suggested.

"Oh, hell. I don't even want to think about those possibilities," Ceara
sighed. "Would Mathala grant that kind of request?"

"She ripped men's hearts out over carelessly-worded requests, didn't
she? I would've thought she'd have come to me first, though. Like she
did the last time," Willow responded.

"Actually, luv, she didn't come to you first," Spike pointed out. "The
watcher was already locked up and speechless before the demon came to
you for help."

"Are you saying the demon may have destroyed Christina?" Giles voice
asked.

The gang turned toward the sofa, unaware that the watcher had been
sitting and listening to them.

"It's a possibility," Willow said gently.

"I refuse to accept that," he told her.

"We can't afford to ignore it," Ceara insisted. "Can we summon Mathala?
I mean, if she's working with Christina, would she even heed a summons
from one of us?"

"I'll get her here if I have to go to hell myself and drag her out,"
Giles hissed.
 
 

"I'm being summoned," Mathala spoke suddenly.

"By whom? Can you tell?" Christina asked, peering at the demon through
the thick fog-like haze that swirled around them.

"By the watcher," the demon answered.

"You can't go to him!" the woman ordered, grabbing the demon's tiny
arm.

"But--"

"No! I summoned you first. You're helping me. If you go to him, it'll
ruin everything," Christina told her.

"Why do you insist on tormenting the person you love?"

"I'm not trying to torment him; I'm trying to prove a point. He thinks
he can walk away from us and forget all about me. I just want him to
see what it would really feel like if I were gone," Christina
explained.

"He's very upset. I can sense it," Mathala said.

"Good!" the woman smiled happily. "That's exactly what I wanted."

"They must have figured out that I've taken you," the demon said
softly. "What are they going to do to me? The Master's lady will be
furious."

"Spike isn't _your_ master," Christina pointed out.

"He's just as deadly, all the same, and so is his childe," Mathala
replied. "If they think I've hurt you--"

"Stop worrying. They have to find me first. When they do, they'll see
I'm just fine."

"Find you?" the demon repeated, obviously confused.

"Yeah. Where are we, anyway?"

"Gone--like you requested."

"Gone where?" Christina inquired uneasily. "We are still in Sunnydale,
aren't we?"

"No."

"No! Where are we, then?"

"Gone," the demon repeated.

"Where! I'm not--not--dead, am I?"

"No, you're not dead," Mathala answered.

"Oh, good," Christina breathed a sigh of relief.

"You just--don't exist," Mathala continued.

Christina's heathery grey eyes widened in shock, "I don't want to not
exist! Fix it, now!"

"I can't."

The woman glared impatiently down at the demon, "What do you mean, you
can't?"

"Only the watcher can do that. That was your request," Mathala said.

"But I didn't mean I don't want to exist!"

"Why did I get stuck working with humans? You really are the most
confusing creatures," Mathala told her.

"I rescind the request," Christina said.

"You can't rescind it. You don't exist," the demon reminded her.

"But I'm here! I have to exist!"

"Well, in my realm you do, but not in the human realm. Since you're no
longer in the human realm, you can't rescind the request."

"But Rupert can?" Christina asked. "Then, go to him."

The demon shook her head slowly, completely perplexed, "So, now you
want me to answer his summons?"

"Yes! Answer! Go!" the woman shouted.
***
"Nothing's happening," Ceara said as Giles repeated the summons once
again. "Are you sure you're doing it right?"

"I'll bet he's heard that question from more than one woman," Spike
whispered softly in Willow's ear.

The redheaded vampire bit back her laughter as Giles glared at Ceara,
never breaking the incantation.

The slayer turned as a luminescent green glow came from over her
shoulder, and the demon appeared.

"At last," Giles breathed, looking over at the creature. "Do you know
where Christina is?"

"Yes," Mathala nodded.

"Did you take her?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Why?" Ceara interjected.

"Because she requested it."

"Is she dead?" Angel asked.

"No."

"Then bring her back here," the dark vampire demanded.

"I can't do that," Mathala refused.

"What do you mean 'can't?'" Ceara growled. "You'd better, or--"

"Guys," Willow spoke softly.

Spike's eyes followed her as she stepped over to the small demon.

"Why can't you bring Christina back?" she asked patiently.

Mathala smiled weakly up at her, grateful for the redhead's
intervention.

"Because only her lover can make that request."

Willow grinned and looked over at Giles, "Clear enough?"

"Smart ass," Ceara mumbled.

"Bring Christina back," Giles said to the demon. "And make sure she's
sorry for what she's put me through with this childish disappearing
act."

"Right," Mathala agreed, and vanished in the same green haze in which
she had appeared.

"So, where is she?" Ceara asked, looking around for Christina.

The sound of heavy sobbing drifted through the open patio door. Giles
hurried outside, with the others following closely behind him. The
watcher bent down beside Christina, who was on her knees on the floor
of the patio, crying into her hands.

"Christina," the watcher spoke softly. "Are you all right? Are you
hurt?"

"No," she sniffled, hiccuping a great gulp of air as she pulled away
from the arm he had draped over her shoulders.

She stood on unsteady legs and wiped hot tears from her cheeks with the
back of her hand.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, backing away from him as he stepped
toward her. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I don't deserve to be with someone
like you."

"Luv," Spike said, leaning close to Willow's ear. "What is she
prattling on about?"

"Mathala made sure Christina is sorry," she answered, very close to
giggling.

"I'll say," he grinned.

"Christina, it's all right. I'm not angry anymore, and I'm not going to
London," Giles promised.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," she responded as fresh tears tumbled
from her eyes. "What I did was mean and immature and despicable! I
don't know how you can stand to look at me."

"It isn't as bad as all that," he assured her.

"Yes, it is," her voice rose on another sob. "I don't deserve to be
here with you. I'm going to stay with Willow."

"What?!" Willow and Spike shouted in unison.

"I'll just go pack my things," the weeping woman said.

"Spike, do something!" Willow begged, clutching onto his arm.

"Uh--I don't think that's a good idea," the blonde vampire told
Christina. "The boys may decide you look like breakfast."

"Oh," she mumbled miserably. "Well, I'll stay with Angel and Ceara,
then."

"What?!" Angel and Ceara shouted in unison.

"But--but--I don't live with Angel," Ceara protested, blushing
furiously at Willow's snort of amusement. "Well, not officially."

"You will if _she's_ coming to stay," Angel demanded in a firm whisper.

"Actually, that's a very good idea," Spike said with a wicked grin.
"It'll give her time to cool off."

"Without being drained," Willow chuckled.

The slayer and Angel glared at the vampires as Christina rushed past
them and into the house.

"This is ridiculous!" Giles blurted. "I'm going to put a stop to this."

"I wouldn't do that," Willow's voice stopped him at the door. "She's
already upset. Badgering her into staying will only make it worse."

"But I can't just let her leave!" he insisted.

"I think you'd better, for now. You'll have lots of time to work this
out with her."

"Yeah. I'm sure Angel and the slayer would be glad to have you visit
her at their place," Spike nodded. "Hell, I'll bet that's a double bed
in your guest room, isn't it, Angel?"

It was the watcher's turn to blush as he hurried inside.

"You two are loving every second of this," Angel hissed.

"Maybe Giles could rescind the request?" Ceara suggested in
desperation.

"Oh, that could be fun," Willow squealed. "I wonder what we'll end up
with this time."

"Maybe not," the slayer reconsidered the idea. "But she can't stay with
us!"

"You saw how upset she is. _You_ tell her she can't stay," Angel
grumbled.

Ceara's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Let's go home, pet," Spike said, taking Willow's hand.

"Cheer up. I'm sure Giles will have her back here in a couple of
weeks," Willow smiled and patted Angel's shoulder. "Oh, and don't
forget, you two--_quiet_ sex. You wouldn't want to disturb your house
guest."

Ceara buried her face in Angel's chest and sighed in frustration as
Spike and Willow walked off the patio, their laughter drifting back
through the still, night air.
 

Angel's feet stumbled over the unexpected pair of legs hanging down
over the edge of the chair. He grunted as he landed on his ass and
looked up, his eyes registering the body sitting in the darkened living
room.

"I'm sorry!" Christina's voice cried out. "Oh, Angel, are you hurt?"

"No," he answered curtly, dragging himself up onto his feet and
reaching out to flick on the lamp beside the chair. "Why are you
sitting out here in the dark?"

She blinked against the sudden, harsh light, "I couldn't sleep."

"Angel!" Ceara called, appearing at the end of the hallway as she tied
a robe around her naked body. "What's going on?"

"I tripped," he answered. "Over her."

"I said I was sorry," Christina snapped.

"It's all right," Angel responded. "I just came out to eat."

"Oh," the woman rose from the chair and followed him into the kitchen.

The vampire took a bag of blood from the fridge and emptied it into a
mug. He looked hesitantly over Christina's head to Ceara, and the
slayer put a gentle hand on the woman's elbow.

"Come sit down. He doesn't like people to watch when he--"

"Oh. Oh! Of course!" she said and beat a hasty retreat to the arm
chair. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I was already awake," Ceara assured her. "Look, Christina,
it's been a week, now. Don't you think it's time you thought about
going home?"

"That isn't my home anymore."

"Of course it is! Giles love you. He isn't angry about what happened.
At least agree to meet with him and talk about it," the slayer asked.

"I'm not ready to face him yet," she refused.

Angel returned and stood beside Ceara, tucking his arm around her
waist.

"A week isn't so long," Christina continued. "You don't mind if I stay
on here a little while longer, do you?"

"Well, actually--"

Ceara nudged Angel in the side, silencing him, and smiled down at their
guest, "Of course we don't mind."

"Thanks," she sighed. "I really appreciate what you two are doing for
me."

"It's no problem, really," the slayer insisted. "Well, if you'll excuse
us--"

"Yes, go on back to bed. I'm not very tired. I think I'll just read for
awhile."
***
"She's going to drive me insane," Angel grumbled as he crawled back
into bed beside Ceara. "You're going to have a male version of Drusilla
on your hands if she doesn't soon leave."

"Drusilla?"

"Oh, that's right. You never met her," he answered.

"She's an insane vampire?" the slayer asked, her voice saturated with
curiosity.

"Was. She's been dead for a long time. She isn't one of my favorite
topics of conversation," he confessed.

"Oh, sorry," Ceara said.

He smiled and moved over to kiss her, "Don't be. It's part of a very
messy past."

She curled a hand around his neck and brushed her lips over this
throat. Angel growled low and deep as her teeth grazed his flesh.

"Shhh," Ceara hissed. "She'll hear you."

"Bloody hell--to borrow a phrase," Angel groaned and flopped down onto
his back.

She giggled softly and ran her hand over his chest, "I'll bet I can be
quieter than you can."

"Think so?"

"Yup," she smiled playfully.

"I'll take that bet," he told her, yanking her down onto him and taking
her lips in a bruising kiss.
***
"I'm still finding it hard to believe he's a watcher," Elena said,
peering around Darnell at the man sitting on the sofa. "He doesn't look
very threatening."

"He's pining," Joseph answered dryly. "Over a lost love."

"Hmmm," she mumbled. "Can we eat him and put him out of his misery?"

"No, you cannot eat him," he said emphatically. "He's Willow's friend."

"Oh, right. Don't fuck with the Master's lady."

"Exactly," he nodded.

"It's getting cold," Willow spoke from her perch on Spike's knee as she
eyed the mug in Darnell's hand.

"Sorry," he answered, crossing to her and handing her the mug. "I was
momentarily distracted."

"I noticed," she grinned.

A look of repugnance flickered over the watcher's face as he watched
Willow take a sip from the mug.

"Relax, Giles. It's coffee," she told him.

"Oh," he responded. "Anyway, I'd really appreciate your help. Christina
won't even see me."

"I don't know what I can do. It's that damned request," she told him.

"I know," he nodded. "I could rescind it, if I thought I dared try."

"One wrong word and you could end up in an even bigger mess," she
warned him.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he agreed.

"He's discussing his lover with her?" Elena whispered in surprise.

"Advice to the love-lorn," Joseph chuckled.

"Does she know what this could do to her reputation if it got out?"

"To Willow's reputation?" he arched an eyebrow. "Not a thing. Trust me;
no vampire within the city limits would even dare broach the subject
with her."

Elena studied the redhead across the room, "Incredible. She's so
_little_."

"Only on the outside," he assured her. "She's ripped out the throats of
demons much bigger than you--some of them while she was still mortal."

"Wow!" she said, obviously impressed.

"Maybe you could invite her over here," Giles was suggesting to Willow.
"And I could talk to her here."

"Why not?" Spike scoffed. "We'll throw a bloody dinner party. Do you
want to be on the guest list or on the menu?"

"Spike!" Willow scolded with an amused chuckle. "Giles, I don't think I
want to be in the middle of this."

"It's your fault this whole thing happened," he told her.

"My fault!" she objected, thumping the mug down on the end table and
standing up. "How do you figure that?"

"If you and Ceara had destroyed that demon when you had her cornered in
that alley, none of this would have happened."

"Wait one damned minute," Spike snarled, rising to stand beside his
childe. "Don't blame the fact that you're a prick on Willow!"

"You were in on that farce, as well. You're as much to blame as she
is," Giles shouted as he, too, rose to his feet.

"Let's get out of here," Elena whimpered nervously.

"No," Darnell refused, moving away from her to stand behind Willow.

"You were the one babbling on about going to London," Spike angrily
reminded the watcher. "Your bitch never would have summoned the demon
if you hadn't acted like a bloody sod!"

"She wouldn't have summoned Mathala if she'd never known such a demon
existed!" Giles countered.

"Don't be an ass! Christina could have researched her, anyway," Willow
argued. "She was desperate to keep you here."

Hearing the sound of Willow's angry voice, Trouble had padded heavily
down the stairs and past Elena. He approached the watcher slowly, fangs
bared, snarling low in his throat.

"Trouble," Willow spoke firmly. "Outside."

The dog froze and turned his gleaming golden eyes on her.

"Outside," she repeated, pointing at the open terrace doors.

Trouble obediently crossed the room and disappeared through the doors.

Giles eyed the dog until he had vanished from sight before resuming the
argument, "Well, she wants nothing to do with me, now."

"That's your fucking problem, not ours," Spike took a step toward him.
"And it isn't Willow's fault."

"You wouldn't even have Willow if it weren't for me," Giles snarled at
Spike. "Not the way she is now. Not with a soul."

"I still would've had her. I turned her, and I'd have loved her even
without a soul."

"But not the way you do now. You asked me to help you, and I did," the
watcher spat.

"So, this is payback?" Darnell sneered contemptuously from behind
Willow.

Giles eyes traveled from the sandy-haired vampire to the redhead in
front of him. He sank back down onto the sofa with a deflated sigh.

"No," he answered quietly. "I helped Willow because I wanted to, and
because I knew how much it meant to Spike, despite my personal opinion
of him."

Willow's emerald eyes softened, and she reached out to take Spike's
arm, pulling him back a pace. His arm clamped itself possessively
around her waist.

"Okay, let's take a breath here," she suggested.

"He can take the breath. We'll watch," Joseph spoke.

A small grin tugged at the watcher's mouth in spite of his misery.
Willow attempted to take a step toward him, but her sire's arm held her
firmly beside him. She looked sideways at him and put her arm around
him to rub his back softly.

"I'll help you as much as I can," she told Giles. "But I honestly don't
think inviting her here and tricking her into seeing you is the best
way to do it."

"No," he agreed despondently. "But she won't talk to me. She won't even
accept my phone calls."

"I'll talk to her," she promised. "Nothing else Mathala has done up to
this point has been permanent, so I doubt this is. I know you want her
back, but it may take some patience on your part."

He nodded and stood up, "I'll try. Anything you can do--"

"I'll talk to her," she repeated.

"I apologize," the watcher said to Spike.

The icy reserve in the blonde vampire's voice thawed only slightly as
he replied, "Forget it."

Giles looked at the two of them for a brief moment before he turned and
exited through the terrace doors. Willow started as she heard a loud
crash, a squeaky bark, and an off-color British exclamation in rapid
succession. She raced to the doors and stepped outside as Spike,
Joseph, and Elena followed quickly behind her.

The watcher lay sprawled out over the slate floor of the terrace, and
Willow's sharp eyesight could just make out Trouble's form as the dog
raced away.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Yes," Giles muttered, hauling himself to his feet and brushing himself
off. "That damned hellhound--I swear he was lying in wait for me!"

"Did he bite you?"

"No, I tripped over him!"

She looked up at him, "Your glasses--"

"That mongrel took off with them!" he growled. "Grabbed the bloody
things right off my nose!"

Willow fought to stifle a giggle as Spike and Darnell laughed out loud.

"I'll look around for them. Trouble likes to bury things in the rose
beds," she offered.

"Don't bother," he told her, wrinkling his nose at the thought of
well-chewed and buried spectacles. "I have another pair at home."

"Can you see to drive?"

"I'll manage," he nodded and looked over the expanse of lawn that lead
to the winding driveway, where his car was parked. "I suppose that evil
animal is out there somewhere."

Willow lost the battle and broke into an amused giggle as she shook her
head, "Come on. I'll escort you to your car."
 
 

Christina emerged from the guest room. The muted voices coming from
behind Angel's closed bedroom door caught her attention as she walked
down the hallway. Ignoring the pang of guilt that stabbed at her
conscience, she stepped closer to the door and strained her ears to
hear what they were saying.

"Have some compassion, Angel," Ceara's voice pleaded.

"Compassion?" the vampire echoed. "Look, I feel as badly for her and
Giles as you do, but she's been here for two weeks!"

"I know, but--"

"But nothing," Angel's voice cut off the slayer's protest. "Either she
works this out with Giles, or she goes to a hotel. Or let her get a
place of her own. This apartment is not big enough for the three of us,
and I'm not thrilled about spending all of our time here with her. Call
me selfish, but I haven't had you all to myself in 14 days, Ceara."

"Okay, okay," she surrendered. "You're right. This is beginning to
border on the ridiculous."

"Dear heart, this has shot straight past ridiculous and landed on
maddening."

"I'll talk to her."

"Willow has already done that--twice," he reminded her. "There's no
reasoning with her."

"All right, I'll tell her she either has to meet with
Giles--tonight--or she'll have to find someplace else to stay. How's
that?" the slayer asked.

"Thank you," Angel answered. "I don't mean to be cruel, but--"

"I know. If she won't do something, we'll have to do it for her," Ceara
agreed. "Now, tell me how wonderful and understanding and supportive I
am."

"I'd rather show you." From the other side of the door, Christina could
hear the smile in the vampire's reply, followed by a lengthy silence.

She continued on to the living room and sat down, her mind working
frantically to find a way out of what they had decided. Still feeling
unworthy of Giles' affection, she refused to even consider the
possibility of talking to him. The watcher had abided by her wishes and
stayed away up to this point, but if she had to live on her own, he
would be free to appear on her doorstep whenever the impulse struck.

She sat back against the chair and closed her eyes as a plan began to
take shape in her mind. She reached over to pick up the TV remote and
punched the power button. The action had its desired affect. The noise
from the TV brought Angel and Ceara into the room.

"Have a nice nap?" Ceara smiled at the woman.

"Yes, thanks. My headache is gone."

"That's good. Angel--I thought you were hungry," she said, looking
pointedly at him.

"Oh, right. Excuse me," he replied and gave her hand a good luck
squeeze before leaving her to a private talk with Christina.

The slayer sat down across from their guest, "Can I talk to you for a
minute?"

"Of course," Christina nodded, turning off the TV.

"The last thing I want to do is hurt your feelings," the slayer began.
"But, well, you've been here for two weeks, and--"

"I know. I've been a terrible bother," Christina apologized.

"No, not at all. It's just--this can't go on indefinitely. Christina,
don't you think it's time you had a good, long talk with Giles?"

"Yes, I guess it is," she answered softly.

"You do?" Ceara asked in surprise. "Oh! Well--good! Would--would you
like me to call him? I'm sure he'd be happy to come over here. Unless
you'd rather go to his--"

"No, I think here would be better, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. I'll give him a call."

Christina waited until the slayer had completed the call to the watcher
and returned to her, only a couple of minutes later.

"He's leaving right now. He'll be here in 15 minutes," Ceara let her
know.

"Okay. That's--that's fine," she said, her voice trembling.

"You okay?" Ceara asked.

"Yes," she smiled weakly. "I'm just nervous."

"That's understandable."

"Maybe I'll wait for him outside. I don't think I can do this in front
of an audience. Maybe he'd be willing to walk with me. It would give me
something to do instead of sitting here wringing my hands," Christina
suggested.

"I'm sure he'd love to go for a walk with you," Ceara smiled.

"I'll just be outside, on the doorstep, if you need me," she said as
she went to the door and pulled her jacket off the coatrack beside it.

Christina stepped outside and checked her watch as she closed the door.
She took a quick glance at the windows to make sure she wasn't being
observed before she took off across the street on a dead run. She
reached Giles' house in about the same time it would have taken him to
get to Angel's. Hoping this would be the last place they would look for
her, she drew out the house key that she always kept in her pocket and
entered the dark house.

The book Giles had used for the chant to summon Mathala still lay open
on his desk in the living room. She turned on the desk lamp and ran her
fingers along the familiar words as she began to speak.
***
"Giles!" Ceara squeaked as she opened the door.

The watcher looked at her, puzzled, "You knew I was coming. I just
spoke with you!"

"I know, but--"

"Is Christina here?" he asked, peering around her.

"She was outside, waiting for you!"

"Outside--where?" he inquired as Angel appeared behind Ceara.

"Right there, on the doorstep!"

"Well, she isn't out here now," he told her. "Maybe she came back
inside."

"I've been sitting in the living room ever since I called you. Oh,
hell, she must have taken off somewhere," the slayer groaned.

"Where would she go?" Angel wondered.

"I've no idea," Giles shook his head.

"To Willow, maybe?" Ceara suggested. "I'll call."

"No!" the watcher barked. "If she's there, I don't want her to think I
might know it. I'm going over there. Maybe you two--"

"Should go with you," Angel nodded and followed Ceara out the door.
***
Christina took a deep, shaking breath as Mathala vanished in her
signature green glow. She scooped up the phone from the side of the
desk and dialed Angel's apartment. Receiving no answer, she ran out to
the garage, jumped in her car, and headed to the only other place she
could think he might be--Willow and Spike's place.
***
"Maybe she just hasn't gotten here, yet," Ceara said hopefully.

"She's been gone for at least a half hour," Angel told her. "If she'd
been on her way here--"

Ceara cried out as the vampire's hand tightened painfully around her
shoulder, and he collapsed to the floor with a bone-chilling groan.

"Angel!" she bent down beside him.

Giles was immediately at her side.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked. "Is he--dead?"

"He'd be ashes if he were," Spike told her.

"Angel," she murmured, brushing her hand over his cheek as tears welled
up in her eyes.

"Spike?" Willow spoke anxiously.

The slayer scooted back as the blonde vampire bent down and lifted
Angel's still body off the floor to carry him to the sofa.

"Joseph!" Willow called out, and he appeared in the entryway a fraction
of a second later. "Bring some blood."

Darnell returned quickly, carrying a bottle, at the same moment
Christina appeared at the terrace doors. Giles looked up as she stepped
into the room and rushed over to her and spun her around before she
caught sight of Angel. She flung her arms around the watcher and
planted a hard kiss on his lips.

"I love you," she whispered as he held her tight against him.

Giles looked over her shoulder to the others.

"Go on. You two need to talk," Willow said. "We'll deal with this."

"Call me," he asked.

"As soon as we know," she nodded.

"Know what? What's going on?" Christina asked.

"I'll explain everything when we get home," he promised.

"Home," the word sounded sweet in her ears. "Yes, let's go home."

Across the room, no one paid attention to the departing couple. Ceara
cradled Angel's head as Spike uncorked the bottle of blood and tipped
it to allow some of the liquid to flow into Angel's mouth.

"He isn't moving," Christina whispered through her tears. "Why isn't he
moving?"

Spike coaxed some more of the blood past Angel's lips.

"Come on, damn you," he growled. "Open your fucking eyes."

He reached for Willow's hand and brought it to his lips as red tears
slowly seeped from her eyes.
 
 

"Angel," Spike snarled angrily, stubbornly fighting the prickling
behind his eyes that signaled the threat of his own tears. "Wake up,
you bloody bastard."

Trouble meandered into the room, and his tail drooped at the sight of
the still body on the sofa. He plopped his rear end down on the floor,
raised his nose to the ceiling, and howled mournfully. Darnell reached
down to take the pup out of the room.

"Wait!" Willow stopped him as she noticed a slight twitch from Angel's
left hand.

The dog continued his soulful lament, and Ceara gasped as Angel raised
his hand and rubbed it against his forehead.

"Angel?" the slayer whispered desperately.

His dark eyes opened, and Spike backed away as Angel slowly sat up.
Ceara's shaking hands reached out to take his as he looked down at
Trouble.

"We should get a puppy," he suddenly said.

"What?" Ceara asked, utterly thrown by his words.

"Shhh," he smiled and put a finger to her lips.

He rose from the sofa and walked over to the terrace doors, looking up
at the night sky.

"Can you hear them?" he asked. "They're singing."

The slayer looked apprehensively at Willow and quickly went to Angel's
side.

"Who's singing, baby?" she asked.

"The stars," he answered. "Their music fills my head."

Spike literally choked on Angel's words, and Willow grabbed hold of his
hand.

"Bloody hell," he muttered. "He's prattling on like Dru used to do."

Ceara looked back at him, "Dru? You mean Drusilla, the looney vampire?"

"What the hell is going on?" Willow asked.

"Angel, honey, let me take you home," Ceara said softly.

He nodded and put his arm over her shoulders, "We can walk home, under
the stars, and they'll sing to us."

The slayer looked uneasily up at him.

"Maybe we'd better drive them home," Willow suggested to Spike. "I can
telephone Giles from there."
***
Angel was still rambling incoherently as Ceara urged him into their
apartment.

"Make that call," she asked Willow as Angel drifted off down the
hallway.

He reappeared a moment later, clutching a worn and frayed ragdoll in
his hands. A gift from her late grandmother, it was one of the few
possessions that Ceara had brought with her when she first came to
Sunnydale.

Willow hung up the phone and turned, an uncontrollable giggle bursting
from her lips as she looked at the tall, muscular vampire holding the
doll to his chest.

"Giles is on his way over," she said, with no small amount of
difficulty.

"Good," Angel grinned. "We'll have a party, with tea and cakes. Miss
Buffy will like that."

Spike collapsed into a chair, his body shaking with laughter.

"This isn't funny," Ceara snapped.

"No, it isn't," Willow agreed, laughing all the same. "Did Drusilla
really carry on like this?"

"Non-stop," Spike chuckled.

"Oh, damn," Ceara hissed.

"That was very naughty," Angel scolded her, pressing the doll to the
slayer's nose. "Miss Buffy says you shall have no cakes."

Willow and Spike howled in laughter, while Ceara looked as though she'd
like nothing better than to find a dark hole to crawl into.

"However," Angel continued cheerfully. "If you're very good and help me
make the tea, we might change our minds."

The slayer made a mad dash for the door as Giles rang the doorbell. She
flung it open and dragged him inside, and Christina followed him.

"What's wrong with him?" she shouted.

"Who? Angel? He's looking much better now," the watcher responded.

"Thank you," Angel smiled. "Now, Ceara, will you help with the tea and
cakes?"

Giles stared at him, "Tea and--"

Angel nodded and held the doll out a bit toward him, "Miss Buffy says
you shall stay to tea."

He pulled Ceara out to the kitchen as Giles' gasp and Willow's and
Spike's renewed fits of laughter drifted after them.

"He's been going on like that since he woke up," Willow said with a
wide grin.

"It's Drusilla all over again. Or near enough," Spike added.

"Drusilla?" Christina whispered.

Giles turned to her, and she averted her eyes from his questioning
gaze.

"What did you do?" he demanded. "This is Mathala, isn't it?"

"Oh, no," Willow groaned.

"When we got home, she confessed that she'd summoned the demon again,
to 'put things to rights,'" Giles quoted Christina's earlier words.

"What _exactly_ did you request?" Willow asked.

"I said I wanted my relationship with Rupert to be the way it was
before," she answered. "I really meant I wanted it to be the way it was
when Rupert was determined to go to London."

"But you didn't state it like that," Giles guessed.

"No, I just said, 'the way it was before.' So, she put things the way
they were before we had this whole falling out, which actually is
better, since it straightened both of us out, and we're back together."

"That doesn't explain Angel," he pointed out.

"No. I know who Drusilla was--everyone on the council does--but I never
said anything about her to Mathala. Why would I?"

"What _did_ you say?" he inquired.

"Just that I wanted things like they were before, and that I wanted
everything that Angel and Ceara had talked about behind their bedroom
door, while I was here, to happen for them."

Ceara had returned from the kitchen in time to hear this last bit of
Christina's explanation. Spike and Willow shared a quiet laugh as the
slayer set a steaming teapot down on the small table beside her.

"You listened at our door?" she asked in disbelief.

"Only this evening, when you were discussing how to get me out of here
so you could have some time alone together. I didn't mean to
eavesdrop--"

"But you did," Giles concluded.

"But I didn't hear either of them say anything about Drusilla! They
never mentioned her name!" Christina asserted.

"We didn't," the slayer confirmed. "That conversation took place last
week, the night Angel tripped over you out here, in the dark."

Willow's hand flew to her mouth as Spike chuckled softly.

"Can you remember what was said?" Giles asked Ceara.

"Angel said I was going to have a male version of Drusilla on my
hands," she answered.

"And she does," Willow added, the words spilling forth on her laughter.

"Giles! We have to fix this--tonight! Or _you'll_ have an insane slayer
on _your_ hands!" Ceara warned him.

"Get Angel," he nodded.

"Why?" the dark vampire asked as he appeared from the kitchen.

"We're going to Giles' house," Ceara explained.

"Not now. The tea party--"

"Christina would like to give us a party over there," she said gently.

"Oh," he replied agreeably. "Miss Buffy says she'd like that."

Willow and Spike were the first two out the front door, and she turned
back to Giles as her sire tugged her down the steps.

"He's riding with _you,_" she called out to the watcher as she raced
Spike to his car.
 

Angel sat down, still holding the doll firmly in his large hands, as
Giles retrieved the book from his desk. The vampire's brown eyes looked
up at the slayer.

"Miss Buffy says there is no tea, that you lied to me, and you must be
spanked."

Spike snorted as Ceara's mouth dropped open, and she backed away from
the sofa.

Angel smiled and stood up, looking down into her widened eyes, "Miss
Buffy says you wouldn't mind being--"

"Shut up!" Ceara hissed, her eyes darting from the tall vampire to the
doll as though she were unsure who she should address.

Despite her best efforts, Willow couldn't stop the laugh that tumbled
past her lips as Ceara continued to back away from Angel. Without
warning, his hand shot out and grabbed the book Giles was holding.

"Angel, I need that," the watcher said sternly.

"This is a very bad book," the vampire announced. "The stars will be
silent."

"I bloody well hope so," Giles muttered. "Hand it back to me, now."

Angel shook his head and looked at Ceara, "Let's go outside while the
moon is whispering to me. Poor Ceara, you didn't know there would be no
tea. Come out with me, and we'll dance in the moonlight."

"I will, if you'll give the book back to Giles," she answered.

Angel tore out the page that contained the words for the summons,
folded it meticulously, and shoved it into his pocket. Then, he handed
the book back to the gaping watcher.

"Tired little demon," Angel said. "We shall not see you tonight. Ceara,
I'm cold."

She looked up at him lovingly and walked into his arms, clinging
tightly to him.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Do you love Miss Buffy?" he asked.

"Yes, Angel," she smiled against his chest.

"Come out with me, into the night. The stars want to sparkle in your
eyes," he murmured into her hair.

"Get that page," Giles whispered as Angel led Ceara past the watcher
and out the patio door.

"It's going to be dawn in a couple of hours," Christina mentioned as
the mantle clock chimed the hour. "Ceara had better get Angel indoors
soon."

"Unless they're planning to shag in your yard, my guess it they're
headed back to the apartment," Spike said.

"She should be able to get the page once they get there," Giles stated.
"We'll have to wait until she can bring it back to me."
***
Willow snuggled up close to Spike, and he took one hand off the
steering wheel to drape his arm over her shoulders and kept his eyes on
the road in front of him.

"He's kind of sweet this way," she said.

He arched an eyebrow and glanced down at her.

"In a loopy sort of way," she giggled. "Spike, do you ever miss
Drusilla?"

"No," he smiled and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Sanity is so much
more erotic."

"Well, at least you love me for my mind," she chuckled.

"Amongst other things," he answered, brushing his fingertips over her
breast.

"Poor Ceara," Willow mumbled.

"If I put up with it for decades, she can survive one more day," he
told her.

"Why _did_ you put up with it?"

"Because I didn't know how wonderful you were, then," he replied.

"Oh," she smiled and lifted her head to place a kiss on his cheek.
***
"That was Ceara," Willow said as she hung up the phone. "She got the
page out of Angel's pocket while he was sleeping today and took it to
Giles. She wants to bring Angel over here while Giles summons Mathala,
just in case we're needed. That okay with you?"

"Yeah," Spike nodded. "I'll go grab a quick bite before they get here."
***
"Ceara has a secret," Angel sing-songed to Willow.

"What secret is that?" the redhead asked.

"The page I tore from that book. She took it today," he answered.

"Angel, I already admitted to it," Ceara reminded him.

"Yes, but you won't tell me what you did with it, and Miss Buffy isn't
telling me where it is. She shall be punished."

Willow rolled her eyes and muttered, "Hurry the hell up, Giles."

Angel suddenly dropped the ragdoll, his eyes glued on the redheaded
vampire, as he whispered, "Willow."

He walked over to her, pulled her into a tight embrace, and dropped his
mouth to hers.

Ceara gasped, Willow squealed, and Spike growled, grabbed hold of
Angel, and flung him away from his childe.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Spike's eyes flashed
amber.

"It's all right, Spike," Angel answered, sounding like himself again.

He approached the two vampires and encircled Willow in his left arm and
Spike in his right, "I love you both."

Spike's icy eyes suddenly burned with anger as Angel dropped his hand
to the blonde vampire's ass and squeezed it. Willow wriggled out of
Angel's arm as Spike shoved him backwards.

"Angel?" Ceara whispered, her voice filled with uncertainty.

He turned to her and gathered her to him.

"I love you," he spoke softly before looking over at Spike. "The four
of us should be living together."

"What the hell for?" Spike snarled and noticing the vampire's dark eyes
shifting to Willow, grabbed onto her and moved her behind him.

"Just think of it, Spike," Angel continued. "The four of us, together,
spending every day in each other's arms."

Spike heard Willow whimper softly and felt her hand on his back. He
turned and pulled her against his side, wrapping an arm firmly around
her and kissing the top of her head.

"I think I liked him better when he was playing with dolls," Spike
muttered.

"I know you and I have had our differences," Angel told him. "But I've
always loved you."

"That's great," Willow spoke, clutching Spike. "But not in the 'let's
all get naked and shag each other silly' kind of way."

"An outward expression of an inward emotion," the dark vampire
shrugged.

"You even try outwardly expressing with Willow, and you'll be digging
your parts out of the garbage bin," Spike warned him. "She's mine."

"I know she's yours," Angel responded. "We could be here
together--along with Ceara, of course."

The slayer moaned and brought her hands up to cover her face, muffling
her voice, "I'm going to call Giles."

"Later," Angel told her, keeping her tucked in his arms. "Look, Spike,
we can be reasonable about this. I won't have Willow without your
consent."

"Listen, you great poof, you're not 'having' Willow at all!" he
shouted.

"But I love her, too," Angel argued. "Willow, you know I love you."

"I don't want you that way," she told him gently. "You belong with
Ceara."

"And I'm with her--always," he nodded and gave the slayer a soft kiss.
"That doesn't mean--"

"Yes, it does," Willow insisted, growing increasingly exasperated.

"Honey, let me call Giles and find out what's going on," the slayer
suggested.

"All right," he relented.

Spike dragged Willow over to a chair and sat her down on his lap,
pulling her back against him and locking his arms around her. Darnell
stepped cautiously into the room and surveyed the occupants in silence
before speaking to Willow.

"Need anything?"

She nodded, "Somebody's jugular, or in lieu of that, a huge mug of
blood."

"I think you'd better go with the latter," Joseph smiled.

"The former would make me feel better," she grumbled.

"Only until afterwards," Spike told her. "Bring her a mug. I brought
some fresh blood home tonight."

Angel, Spike, and Willow continued to eye one another in silence until
Darnell returned. Willow took three long swallows before lowering the
mug from her lips.

"Better?" Spike asked softly.

"No."

He waited while she drank the rest of the blood and set the mug down on
the table beside them. He turned her face to him and cleaned off her
lips with his own.

"Better?" he repeated.

"No."

Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her, parting her lips with his
tongue and delving into her mouth until she was lost in the sensation
of his mouth ravaging hers.

When at last he pulled away, she rested her cheek against his and
whispered in his ear, "Better."

"You see?" Angel spoke. "We should--"

"Shut up!" Spike and Willow barked in unison.

Across the room, Ceara dropped the receiver back onto its cradle and
went to Angel's side.

"Okay," she breathed. "If I've got this all straight, Giles summoned
Mathala, and Christina rescinded the Drusilla thing. That would have
been fine, but it seems she also said something about Angel loving us,
only she worded it as being in love with us. Which, apparently, he now
is."

"So, why aren't Christina and Giles included in Angel's mental orgy?"
Willow asked her.

"Because Christina specifically named the three of us," she answered.

"How can two people who have dealt with so many demons get so fucked up
where this one is concerned?" Spike scowled.

"To be fair, she isn't easy to communicate with," Willow told him. "She
thinks on a strictly literal level. Anything figurative--even
slightly--just doesn't register with her, so she translates it into the
closest literal meaning she can think of."

"That's all very interesting, pet, but I don't fancy watching this
blithering sod chase you around the sofa all night," he responded.

"Is Giles going to try again?" Willow asked Ceara, torn between hope
and dread.

"They're on their way here. He doesn't want to try anything else until
we've discussed what exactly needs to be said," she answered.

"I suppose it'll take a few minutes for them to get here," Angel said.

"I suppose," Ceara sighed.

Moving quickly, Angel took one long stride, snatched Willow up out of
Spike's lap and dragged her past Ceara and out of the room before
either Spike or the slayer could react.

"Trouble!" Darnell's voice shouted from the foot of the stairs,
followed almost immediately by several loud thuds.

Spike and Ceara flew around the entryway amidst Willow's surprised cry
and Angel's angry shout. The large vampire lay upside-down in the
middle of the stairs, and Willow lay sprawled out on the floor at the
bottom with Trouble perched atop of her stomach, looking up at Angel,
and wagging his tail in Willow's face.

"Good dog," Darnell smiled.

"Yeah, good dog," Willow agreed, and reached up to scratch a furry,
grey ear.
 
 

"So, Giles is going to summon Mathala, and Christina is going to
rescind the being in love request," Ceara summarized after Giles
finished his verbose explanation.

"And that's _all_ she's going to say," Willow added, looking pointedly
at Christina.

"Right," the woman nodded. "This should be easy enough."

"I'd rather Ceara and I just moved in here," Angel said as he pouted
beside the slayer.

Giles tensed as Darnell moved closer to Willow. The redhead had planted
herself firmly at her sire's side since being rescued from Angel's
amorous attempt to get her upstairs. Now, her hand was so tightly
wrapped around Spike's arm, the watcher briefly wondered whether she
would ever be able to unfold it from its position. Sensing her sudden
unease, Trouble removed himself from the floor near the entryway and
sat down at Willow's feet.

"Rupert, do the summons," Christina hissed.

Giles nodded and began the chant. Moments later, the small demon
appeared in a swirl of green light. She surveyed the group of humans
and vampires.

"I think I'd rather be in hell," she muttered unhappily.

"I'm rescinding the request for Angel to be in love with Spike and
Willow," Christina spoke.

Mathala addressed herself to the one person she felt most comfortable
with--Willow.

"So, he isn't to love either you or your sire anymore?"

"No, we just don't want Angel to be _in_ love with them. He still
should love them, though," Ceara beat Willow to the response.

"You humans," the demon sighed. "Throw in a word here, change an
inflection there. Do you want him to love them or not?"

"We want Angel to love Spike and me as friends, not lovers," Willow
answered softly.

"That's it," the slayer nodded. "Like Darnell and Willow."

Joseph looked at the young woman uneasily at hearing himself being
dragged into her explanation.

"You see, he--Darnell, I mean--doesn't think of Willow as a lover. He
cares for her as a friend. He'd be very distressed if anything happened
to her because he cares about her," Ceara continued. "He'd be very
upset if she left, and he would do anything to make her happy and
comfortable."

"Right," Mathala responded. "And that's what you want for Angel, as
well?"

"Mathala, just put Angel's feelings for Spike and me back the way there
were before Christina's request, "Willow said.

"Oh, that's easy," the demon nodded. "That's everything, then?"

"That's everything," Ceara confirmed.

"Done," the demon smiled.

Giles released Mathala, and all eyes moved to Angel as soon as she had
vanished.

"Sorry, Willow," the dark vampire said uncomfortably.

"It's all right. Anyway, it was Spike's ass you were groping," she
couldn't help adding.

"Let's get out of here," Christina suggested quickly.

"Good idea," Giles answered.

"I wasn't groping him!" Angel growled as the watcher and Christina
skittered out of the room.

"What do you call it, then? Comparison shopping?" Darnell smirked.

"On the other hand, it was Willow that Angel was trying to drag
upstairs," Spike commented.

"Yeah, but he was probably coming back down for you next," Willow
grinned.

Angel groaned and sat down on the sofa, "Can we please not go there?"

"That's what you said before Trouble barreled into the back of him,"
Joseph said to Willow.

"Give him a break, you guys!" Ceara asked, sitting down beside Angel
and linking her arm through his. "It wasn't his fault."

"That's pretty big of you, considering you weren't the one he tried to
force up to the bedroom," Spike told her.

"Only because she would have beat him to the top, thrown him to the
floor, and shagged him breathless," Willow laughed.

"Trust me; I can't shag him breathless." The slayer's cheeks reddened
as she realized what she'd said. "Oh, hell."

"I suppose we really should be more understanding, ducks," Spike
chuckled in Willow's ear. "Between playing with Miss Buffy, organizing
tea parties, and trying to get laid, Angel's had one hell of a week."

"Thank you," Angel muttered sarcastically. "Very much."

"Can we go home now?" Ceara asked.

"Or would you prefer a foursome out under the whispering moon?" Willow
waggled her eyebrows at Angel as Spike snorted.

"Come on," the slayer pulled Angel up onto his feet. "These two could
go on like this all night."

"I kind of liked the whispering moon idea," Willow said to Spike after
Angel and Ceara had gone. "Without the foursome thing, I mean."

Spike smiled and pulled her outside. He sat down and drew her onto his
lap. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, he brought his lips
to hers. Willow curled her fingers through his hair as their tongues
met. The kiss lingered for several minutes, until Darnell stepped out
onto the terrace with a mug of coffee. Willow looked up at him and
smiled as he offered it to her. He watched as she took the first sip.

"Joseph! Did you put blood in this?" she asked in unmistakable delight.

"Just a little," he grinned. "Like it?"

"It's great," she nodded.

Darnell unfolded a small quilt he'd draped over his shoulder and spread
it over her legs, tucking it around her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Wouldn't want you to get chilly. There's a breeze tonight," he
answered.

"Not a cold one," she replied. "I'm fine, really."

Spike grunted as Willow squeaked and jumped in his lap when she felt
Darnell's fingers unlacing her boots.

"What the hell are you doing now?" Spike asked him.

"I brought out her slippers. Much more comfortable then these heavy
things, don't you think?" he answered, tugging off the first of her
boots.

"But Joseph, I don't need--"

"I don't mind," he insisted, unlacing and pulling off the other boot.
"How about a foot massage? I could--"

"No!" she refused, jerking her foot away from his cold hands.

Joseph shrugged, "As long as you're happy. Drink up before your coffee
gets cold."

Willow looked at Spike uneasily as Darnell stood back and looked at the
little redhead as though considering his handiwork. With a quick snap
of his fingers, he turned on his heel and went back into the mansion.

"What was that all about?" she asked Spike.

"Damned if I know."

Trouble came out of the door and trotted off into the darkness,
returning a few minutes later with a mound of dirt piled up on his nose
and something unrecognizable dangling from his mouth. He sprawled out
on the cool slate and proceeded to chew on his unburied treasure. The
pup's attention was drawn to the mug Willow lifted to her lips, and he
stood and jumped up to join Willow in her sire's lap.

"Bloody hell," Spike grumbled as Trouble hooked his paw around Willow's
forearm in an attempt to get her to lower the mug. "There isn't room in
this chair for the three of us."

"Here you go," Darnell announced as he returned to them.

Willow's mouth dropped open, and Trouble's eyes followed the mug as she
slowly lowered it, her eyes glued on Joseph. The pup stuck his muzzle
into the mug and began to lap happily at the well-cooled coffee.

Darnell placed the tray he was carrying onto the wrought iron table
beside their chair. The tray was laden with grapes, Brie, a bottle of
bloodwine, and two crystal goblets.

"Joseph, I'm not hungry. You know I only eat when I'm bored," she said.

"Nonsense," he answered. "These are all your favorites."

"No, really, I don't want--" her protest was silenced by the plump,
juicy grape Joseph popped into her mouth before removing the mug from
her hand.

"Here," he said, offering her a slice of Brie, which she lowered just
far enough for Trouble to snatch from her fingers.

Darnell poured the bloodwine and offered one glass to Spike and the
other to Willow.

"You don't have to do all this!" she insisted. "I'm really not--"

The redhead's mouth was instantly filled with another grape, and Joseph
shoved another slice of cheese into her hand. Trouble dutifully stole
it away from her.

"I just want to make sure you're happy and comfortable," he told her.

Willow turned her head to look at a midly amused Spike.

"Mathal--" was as far as she got before her mouth was crammed full of
yet another grape.
 
 

Spike entered the bedroom and stared at Willow who was struggling to
free herself from the bedclothes.

"A little help here?" her voice snapped with irritation.

Laughing softly, he went to the bed and loosened the covers from the
mattress under which they had been tucked.

"Darnell?" he asked.

"He decided I needed tucking in," she huffed. "I'm a vampire, not a
mummy, damn it."

He shook his head and kissed her as her arms went around him.

"I suppose we're going to have to do something about him," she said,
resting her head on his shoulder. "But I'm almost afraid to."

"It'll have to wait until tonight, unless you want to drag everyone
over here now."

"No, thanks," she declined. "I'd be too likely to wrap my hands around
Ceara's throat. Why didn't she keep her mouth shut?"

"Poor Willow," the sympathy was all but drowned by Spike's amused
chuckle.

"A lot of help you are," she reprimanded him with a grin.

"Well, ducks, at least he's not trying to tuck himself in here with
you," he pointed out.

They turned as Darnell knocked softly on the door and opened it.

"You're awake," he smiled over at the redhead.

"I haven't been to sleep yet," she told him. "I was wondering how long
it would take me to sprout wings and break free of my chrysalis of
blankets."

"I have just the thing to soothe you," he replied, holding out her
bathrobe. "If the Master doesn't mind."

"What the hell," Spike shrugged, ignoring his childe's cold stare.

Willow pulled the robe over her shoulders before climbing out of the
bed.

"This way," Joseph said, scooping her up in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.

"Wouldn't want your feet to get cold."

"Joseph, my feet are always cold," she reminded him.

"Then this should be just the ticket," he replied, carrying her into
the bathroom.

The large, claw-footed bathtub had been filled to nearly over-flowing.
Luxurious bubbles rose to the very edge. Darnell lowered Willow to the
floor and reached for the knotted sash of her robe.

"Hey!" she shouted, slapping his hands away.

"Out," Spike ordered from the doorway.

Darnell nodded and left. Spike took the robe off of Willow, bending to
kiss the rounded flesh of her breasts before picking her up and gently
lowering her into the tub.

"You're not leaving me here alone, are you?" she asked.

"With Darnell lurking about in the corridors? Not a chance," he
answered, pulling off his clothes and joining her in the hot, bubbly
water, sloshing more than a little over the side.

An involuntary sigh parted Willow's lips as her lover placed his hands
around her waist and slid her forward to straddle his legs. He kissed
her, slipping his tongue between her lips as his shaft slipped between
the thick folds of her sex and embedded itself inside her. The kiss
grew more fevered as his hands fondled her soapy breasts, and her arms
slid down around his hips, her hands gripping the small of his back.

Bracing her feet against the porcelain of the tub, she rode his hard
cock. Spike's hand disappeared under the water and found the slippery
nub of her clit. She moaned as he rolled it between his fingers and ran
his cold tongue along the hollow of her throat, drawing the flesh
between his teeth and nipping gently at it. Clutching his hair with
dripping fingers, Willow bared her throat to him. Her body shuddered as
his fangs pierced her skin, and her walls spasmed around him as he
drank from her.

Spike pulled her closer, pressing her pebbled nipples against his chest
as he suckled at the tiny wounds, and she groaned his name as a second
orgasm overtook her. He lapped at the blood trickling down her neck as
he emptied his seed deep inside her. Holding her quivering body to him,
he cradled her head, drawing it down to the base of his neck, and she
bit into the flesh at the top of his shoulder.

Spike held her still as she drank, and his fingers continued to tease
the sensitive bud between her legs. A third orgasm rocketed through
her. He caressed her back with warm, soapy hands as she came down from
the peak of her climax. Willow cleaned the blood from his skin and
rested her head in the crook of his neck, her body limp and spent.

Placing his hands on her waist, he drew her away from him and stood,
raising her up with him. He stepped out of the tub and wrapped a thick
towel around her before picking her up and carrying her back to the
bedroom. He toweled the both of them off and urged her back under the
covers, then climbed in beside her.

"Maybe this Darnell thing isn't so bad," he whispered as he cuddled her
up against him.

"If he forces one more grape down my throat, I'll bleed wine," she
murmured sleepily.

"What a precious vintage that would be," he smiled.

She purred happily and kissed his neck, "I wish I could tell you how
much I love you."

"You do, baby, in more ways than you could ever imagine," he assured
her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Willow."
***
Willow sat in front of the vanity mirror and put on the diamond stud
earrings Spike had brought home when he returned from hunting. She
looked into the mirror and wished she could see herself. Even after all
these months, she still hadn't quite gotten used to looking into
mirrors and seeing only the room behind her reflected back at her. She
turned as Darnell stepped through the door.

"How do they look?" she asked, taking her hand away from her earlobe.

"On you, beautiful," he smiled and picked up the hairbrush from the
vanity.

She closed her eyes contentedly as he ran the brush through her hair in
slow, steady strokes. Trouble poked his head around the door and
trotted inside, jumping up onto the cushioned bench and scooching up
close to Willow's side. She placed her arm around the pup and rubbed
the soft fur just below his throat.

"Willow!" Spike's loud shout drifted up from downstairs.

Trouble's ears perked up, and he flew off the bench and darted out the
door. Willow stood and headed in the same direction with Darnell right
behind her.

"What the hell?" she blurted out as she entered the living room.

Boxes and bags filled every chair, the top of the desk, the tables, and
a good portion of the floor.

"They aren't yours?" Spike asked, standing amidst piles of boxes.

"Why would I fill the living room with trash?" she replied.

"They aren't trash," Darnell told her. "They're yours."

She looked around at him, "Mine?"

He nodded and smiled, "Open them."

Willow reached down and grabbed a box that Trouble was in the process
of shredding. She pulled off what was left of the lid and lifted a
cranberry colored cashmere sweater out of it. She and Spike exchanged a
look.

"Are these all filled with clothes?" Willow asked.

"Most of them," Joseph answered. "I went through your closets and
dressers while you were sleeping this morning to see what you needed."

Trouble buried his head inside a bag and pulled out another garment.
Willow scooped it up from where the dog dropped it on the floor.

"I don't need all this stuff. I--" she stopped, her eyebrows arching,
as she studied the article in her hand. "What is this?"

"A corset," Darnell answered.

"A corset," she echoed in disbelief. "What do I want with a corset?"

"What a minute!" Spike protested, snatching it away before Willow could
toss it to the floor.

She shook her head, a grin forming on her lips, as the blonde vampire's
eyes traveled from her figure to the corset and back to her.

"What else do you have in these?" he asked, suddenly interested.

He grabbed the nearest box, tore off the lid, and pulled out a very
short, very lacy, very sheer negligee.

"This is a keeper," he announced.

"Right. I predict it'll last five minutes before it's laying in tatters
on the bedroom floor," Willow teased.

"Damn right," he grinned.

"How did you manage to buy all this stuff in a single day?" she asked
Darnell.

"I picked up a few things last night. The rest of it--the phone, the
internet, the slayer, and Christina."

"Ceara and Christina got in on this?"

"They both said something about payback," he told her.

"Figures," she mumbled. "What am I going to do with all this stuff?"

"Not to worry. I ordered that big mahogany wardrobe you admired at the
antique shop a couple of weeks ago. It's being delivered this evening.
I'll put all this away for you," Joseph promised. "First, though, are
you hungry?"

"No!" she shouted, visions of grapes dancing through her brain.

At the sound of her outburst, Trouble's head shot up over a pile of
boxes, a lace garter looped over his ears.

"You sure?" Spike asked Willow, holding up a jar of gourmet chocolate
sauce.

"Keep that out," Willow grinned and said to Joseph.

"And this," Spike added, tossing the corset to him.

"We're going out. Can you get all this put away before we get back?"
she asked.

"Consider it done. I'll get Elena to help me."
***
Ceara and Angel were already at Giles' house by the time Spike and
Willow arrived.

"Does anybody remember who exactly got Darnell involved in this farce?"
Christina asked them. "Because whoever it was is the one who must
rescind it."

"That would be me," the slayer admitted sheepishly.

"Do you have any idea what kind of mess we have piled up in our living
room?" Willow grumbled at the two women.

"Well, it was Darnell's idea. We just helped," Ceara replied.

"So I heard," Willow said dryly. "Anyway, let's get him back to his
charming, normal self, okay?"
 

Darnell was waiting just inside the front door when Willow and Spike
returned to the mansion. She looked at him quizzically as he shoved a
fresh cup of coffee into her hand.

"Don't worry. It's just a peace offering," he said softly.

"Oh," she replied in relief. "I accept. Did you get everything put
away?"

"The living room is back to its usual tidy state," he nodded. "It took
Elena and me an hour."

"Did you leave out the corset?" Spike asked as he climbed the stairs.

"It's on the foot of your bed," Joseph answered. "Right next to the--"

"Chocolate sauce," Willow giggled at Darnell's discomfort.

"Yeah. And I'm afraid you've more or less lost one wall of the bedroom.
That wardrobe was much larger than I remembered."

"Never mind. I really wanted it, you know," she smiled. "Just do me one
favor."

"Anything," he agreed eagerly.

"Don't _ever_ bring grapes into this house again."

He nodded and turned away.

"Where are you going?" she asked, concerned that she had hurt his
feelings.

"To clean out the refrigerator," he answered.

"Ah. Grapes."

"Grapes," he grinned.
***
Willow got out of the shower and entered the bedroom, wrapping a towel
around her as she stepped over the corset that was hopelessly stained
with chocolate sauce and lying on the floor.

"I never realized just how sticky chocolate was," she said as she slid
into bed next to Spike "And what's the deal with dashing out of the
shower and beating me into bed?"

"Strange noises," he answered.

"Huh?" she propped her head on her hand and looked down at him.

He fingered the fresh puncture wounds he had inflicted on her neck
during their shower, "I didn't want to worry you, with everything else
that's been going on. I thought I heard noises in here."

"You did? What was it?"

"Trouble. He got his nose stuck in the chocolate sauce jar," he
answered with a silly grin and a slight giggle.

Willow's eyes widened at the uncharacteristic sound, "Spike? Are you
okay?"

He pulled her down onto him and buried his fangs in the same small
wounds, lapping hungrily at her blood. He dislodged his teeth as she
pushed against his chest.

"Precious vintage," he murmured, looking up at her with hazy, blue
eyes.

"What?" she asked, her brows furled in confusion.

"Better than the most expensive wine," he continued happily.

She stared at him, dread realization slowly rustling in her brain, as
she thought back over their meeting with Mathala a few hours ago. She
had made but a brief mention of how Darnell had stuffed grapes into her
mouth until she felt like a walking wine bottle. And she had repeated
the wonderful comment Spike had made the night before when she had
joked about bleeding wine.

"But I didn't mean for her to--" Willow's voice caught in her throat,
and she brought her hand to her mouth. "Bloody hell! It can't be!"

"What can't be, luv?" Spike asked, brushing his fingers along the thin
rivulet of blood that seeped from her neck and sucking the liquid from
his fingers.

Willow's own finger traced the path his had made, and she brought the
reddened digit to her mouth.

"It's blood," she spoke, the words rushing out on an unneeded sigh of
relief.

"Mmmm...no it isn't," Spike argued and wrapped his arms around her,
flipping her under him.

He lapped at the drops of blood on her neck as she wriggled under him.

"Hold still," he ordered. "Wine bottles aren't supposed to wiggle
around, even incredibly beautiful wine bottles with sexy legs and
nipples that beg to be--"

Willow squealed as Spike bared his fangs and lowered his head to her
breast.

"Get off!" she shouted. "I'm not breast-feeding a drunk vampire who's
having delusions that I'm a wine cask!"

"Oh, c'mon, sweetheart. I'll only take a little."

"You've already had more than a little!" she told him.

She tried to scoot out from under him, but his strong arms pinned her
firmly to the mattress.

"Joseph!" she yelled at an ear-splitting volume.

The door burst open, and Darnell landed on his ass as Troubled barreled
past him. Willow pushed a surprised Spike onto his back, and he groaned
in pain as the dog flew up onto the bed and landed squarely on the
vampire's blanket-covered cock.

"Good dog," Willow praised, scrambling out of the bed.

Spike was on his feet and around to her side by the time she'd latched
onto a robe and thrown it around herself.

"Spike!" she squeaked, not even bothering to fight the giggle that
resulted from the sight of the totally naked and inebriated vampire who
was weaving his way toward her.

Trouble jumped off the bed and planted himself on all fours in front of
the redhead. Spike lunged over the pup and landed on Darnell as Willow
laughed and ran out the door, with Trouble at her heels. The blonde
vampire pounded down the stairs and into the living room, where Willow
quickly put the sofa between herself and her sire.

"Come here, baby. I want you," he said softly.

"Not on your unlife," she shook her head.

Spike grinned and started around the sofa after her. Willow took
advantage of his unsteady gait and leapt over the sofa. He moved around
it, and Trouble darted toward him, placing himself in the drunken
vampire's path. Willow dashed out of the room as Spike tripped over the
pup and landed on his face.

Scrabbling to his feet, he followed Willow into the kitchen. Darnell
appeared in the doorway, looking frantically from Spike to Willow as
she picked up a frying pan from the stove top.

"I love it when you play hard to get," Spike slurred, his eyes
gleaming.

He crawled over the top of the table in an effort to reach her. The dog
ran between Darnell's legs and jumped up on Spike, sending him
sprawling out over the table. Willow brought the frying pan solidly
down over his head, and Spike's body went limp.

"I didn't hurt him, did I? He'll be all right, won't he?" she cried out
as Joseph moved to the table.

"He'll be fine," he assured her, throwing an arm over her shoulders.
"He may have one hell of a headache when he comes around, but he'll be
okay."

Willow grinned and handed him the frying pan, "Who says I can't cook?"

"Shall I telephone the watcher?" he offered.

"Please, right away," she nodded and scooped Trouble up off of Spike's
naked back.

She buried her face in the pup's fur and kissed him.

"Maybe I'd better see about getting some clothes on the lush," Joseph
suggested looking down at the prone vampire.

"_After_ you phone Giles. Mind if I rummage around in the fridge for a
reward for my furry protector?"

Darnell grinned, "There's still some of that Brie in there, and a
steak, as well, I believe."

"A steak?" she asked.

He nodded, "If you hadn't gotten that demon to make me right again, it
would have been your dinner tonight. I was going to serve it to you
with--"

"Don't tell me. Grapes," she laughed.
 
 

"Oh, damn. I feel like hell. My bleedin' head," Spike groaned with his
head in his hands.

"Serves you right," Willow told him, suppressing a giggle.

"Me!" his head shot up and he groaned, clutching his temples in his
hands. "I'm not the one who fucked up that request."

"Oh, that's true," she agreed contritely. "Sorry, baby."

"That's better," he managed a sickly grin.

"I think the frying pan probably didn't help much, either," Darnell
suggested as he handed the blonde vampire a large glass of blood.

"Frying pan? What frying pan?" he asked.

"Never mind," Willow answered quickly, shooting a glance at Joseph.
"Drink up. It'll help your hangover."

Spike eyed the glass distastefully, and Willow breathed a forced sigh
and took it out of his hands. She swept her hair away from her neck and
tilted her head slightly. Spike smiled and scooted close to her,
placing his hands on her waist and lowering his mouth to her neck. He
pierced her flesh and took a tentative taste of the red liquid that
flowed over his tongue. Satisfied that it was indeed blood, he relaxed
against her. Willow caressed his hair as he drank lazily from her. When
he pulled away, his eyes had returned to their normal, clear blue, and
he licked the traces of his childe's blood from his lips.

"Thanks, sweetheart," he said sincerely.

"I owed you that much," she admitted.

Spike moaned and pulled her onto his lap, "I didn't hurt you, did I?
During that little chase through the house, I mean."

"No. Trouble makes one hell of a road block," she grinned.

Spike drew away and looked quickly around him, "Where is the damned
mutt, anyway?"

"Chewing on a bone in the kitchen," Joseph answered.

"Good. I really hope we're rid of that demon for good, this time."

"I think we're okay, now. Giles did the summons, and I rescinded my
request, and then I got the hell out of the room before I could say
anything else I'd regret," Willow explained.
***
Spike looked back through the terrace doors as Ceara and Angel waited
beside him.

"Where the hell is she?" he grumbled. "I thought she said she'd be
right out."

He stepped back inside to see Willow's rear end sticking up over the
cushions of the sofa as she scrambled about on her hands and knees
looking under it.

"Willow?" he said.

She sat back, and Spike was surprised to see bloody tears trickling
down her face. He knelt next to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Baby, what is it? What's wrong?" he said softly.

"I can't find it!" she shobbed. "I can't find it anywhere!"

"Can't find what, sweetheart?" he asked as she crumpled into his arms.

"My mind!" she wailed through her tears.

"Your--mind?" he repeated, a familiar sinking feeling gripping his
stomach.

"I looked upstairs, in the kitchen, in here. I've lost it," she
sniffled.

"Spike, what's going on?" Angels asked as he and Ceara came in from
outside.

"I'm going to throttle that demon," the blonde vampire hissed.

"She's crying!" Ceara gasped in alarm. "What's wrong? Did Mathala hurt
her?"

"I have to find it," Willow murmured as Spike pulled her to her feet.

"Find what?" Angel asked as he watched her go to the bookcase and begin
removing great handfuls of books from their shelves.

"My mind! I can't find it! Help me look."

"Her mind," Angel echoed, staring at Spike.

Willow had picked up a large vase and peered down inside it before
turning it upside down and shaking it.

"Maybe Joseph has seen it," she muttered, heading out of the room.

"Seen what?" Darnell asked as he came around the corner and nearly
walked into her.

She looked down at Trouble who was following Darnell.

"Oh, no!" she cried out, looking up at Joseph. "You don't think Trouble
took it, do you? What if he buried it in one of the rose beds? I'll
never find it!"

"Master?" Darnell's confused eyes looked over at Spike.

"Her mind. She thinks she's lost her mind," he answered, trying not to
laugh.

"Ah," he nodded as if the answer made perfect sense.

Willow put her hand on Darnell's arm, "You don't think he took it, do
you?"

"Trouble? No. He's been inside with me all night."

"Will you help me look?" she turned pitiful eyes on him.

He looked over at Spike.

"You do that," Spike grinned. "I have a phone call to make."
***
Spike entered the bedroom to find clothes strewn about the floor and
Willow's head stuck inside the large wardrobe as she rapidly flung
articles of clothing over her shoulder. He crossed the room and turned
her to look at him.

"It isn't here. I've looked everywhere, Spike."

A wide grin spread across his face as he put his arms around her.

"You think this is funny," she accused him bitterly. "I've lost my
mind, and you think it's funny."

"Willow," he chuckled and entrapped her against his chest with his
arms. "It's all right, pet. I've telephoned the watcher, and he's on
his way here."

"To help me look for it?" she asked hopefully.

"Uh, yeah," he answered. "Come back downstairs with me."

"Will you still love me without my mind?" she asked forlornly.

"I love you no matter what, for always," he promised.

"Really?"

He brushed the red tears from her cheeks with his thumbs and smiled
down at her, "Really."

"But I like my mind," she lamented as he led her out of the room. "I'll
miss it if I can't find it."

He laughed softly and brushed his hand over her hair, "I don't know.
You're kind of cute when you're mindless."

She stopped along the corridor and pulled a painting away from the wall
to look behind it.

"Not there," she announced sadly.

Spike grinned and wrapped his arm around her and ushered her down to
the living room.

"Check your pockets," she said as she entered the room.

"What?" Ceara asked.

"Check your pockets," she repeated. "Maybe someone picked it up by
mistake."

"And shoved it into our pockets?!? Willow--" Angel spoke.

"Check them!" she pleaded, shoving her hand into one of the front
pockets of Spike's jeans.

"Luv, you keep that up, and you're going to find something, but it
won't be your mind," he warned her, gripping her wrist and pulling her
hand away.

He pushed her down onto the sofa and took her clenched hands in his,
rubbing the backs of them with his thumbs. Trouble jumped up beside her
and leaned his head against her arm in commiseration. Angel and Ceara
shared an amused glance over the pathetic sight and turned away to hide
their reactions.

Darnell led Giles and Christina into the room, and Willow leapt up from
the sofa.

"You're here! You can help me look. You check the urns on the terrace,
and I'll clear out the kitchen cupboards," she suggested.

"Oh, dear," Giles moaned.

"What did you say after Willow left the room while that demon was
here?" Spike asked him.

"I'm afraid I muttered something about poor Willow thinking she's lost
her mind, what with everything she's endured. I didn't exactly phrase
it as a request," Giles explained. "But I guess Mathala took it that
way."

"Well, get her back here, and fix it," Spike demanded.

Giles nodded and pulled the well-used summons from his pocket.
***
Willow relaxed against Spike after Giles rescinded his request, and her
befuddled brain cleared.

"Better now?" her sire asked softly, his cheek nestled against her
hair.

"Much," she nodded, and her eyes scanned the wreck of the living room.
"Please tell me the rest of the house doesn't look like this."

"It doesn't," Darnell assured her.

"Good."

"It's much worse," he grinned. "You've managed to decimate the kitchen,
the bathroom, and three of the bedrooms. You even squirted all the
shampoo onto the bathroom floor thinking your mind might have been
floating around in the bottle."

"Bloody hell," she muttered.

"May I go?" Mathala asked desperately.

"Yes, go. Now," Giles answered quickly.

"I could sleep for a week after all of this nonsense," Ceara declared.

Mathala nodded and disappeared as the slayer's eyes closed, and she
collapsed to the floor at Angel's feet.
 
 

"Ceara. Honey, wake up," Angel spoke softly, brushing his hand over the
sleeping slayer's cheek.

"Forget that," Spike told him.

Angel looked up from the sofa over which he was kneeling.

"She did say a week," the blonde vampire reminded him.

"She can't sleep for an entire week!" Angel snapped.

"Want to bet?" he grinned.

"Giles, get Mathala back here," Angel demanded.

"That won't do any good," Willow told him. "The person who makes the
request is the only one who can rescind it. And, if I'm not mistaken,
that person is snoring at the moment."

"How the hell can you possibly think this is funny?" the dark vampire's
eyes glared at the them.

"Just be glad she's not running naked through the house," Willow
grinned.

"Or looking for her mind in Trouble's food dish," Darnell added.

"What!?!" Willow squeaked. "I didn't!"

"You did--for fifteen minutes," Joseph laughed.

"This is serious!" Angel snarled. "A week with no slayer!"

Spike waved his hand dismissively, "Oh, just take her home, tuck her in
with Miss Buffy, and let her sleep it off."

Angel stood, his brown eyes flashing amber, and Giles stepped forward
to ward of an all-out brawl.

"Let's just calm down. Angel, take Ceara home before the sun comes up.
I'll see if I can find some way to counteract this."

Angel nodded and lifted the slayer from the sofa.

"Rupert, what will happen if we can't wake her up? Is the town in
serious danger without her?" Christina asked after Angel had gone.

"I don't know," he admitted and looked over at Spike.

"I'll keep the boys reigned in," the vampire nodded. "I can't answer
for the other demons slithering around, though."

"Well, we're not facing any horrendous prophecies at the moment. We
should be able to handle any situations that might arise if we can't
wake Ceara," the watcher said.
***
"Is she going to starve if she doesn't eat for a week?" Willow asked as
she looked from the door into Angel's bedroom over to Ceara's sleeping
form.

"She wakes up long enough to eat. Then, she stumbles back in here and
collapses on the bed," he told her.

"So, she could rescind the request when she wakes up to eat," she
suggested.

The vampire shook his head, "She's completely out of it when she's
awake. She just jabbers nonsense. Has Giles come up with anything?"

"No. I think we're going to have to resign ourselves to a sleeping
slayer," she answered.

"Hang on," Angel said as Ceara began to stir.

Willow returned to the living room to wait beside Spike as Angel helped
Ceara out of bed and guided her down the hallway. She reached up a hand
and ran her fingers along Spike's cheek as she wandered past him.

"He's hot," she mumbled, her eyes half closed and unfocused.

Willow's eyebrows shot up, and Spike chuckled as he felt his lover grab
his hand possessively.

"How does she do that?" Willow wondered as they watched the slayer open
the fridge and prepare to make a sandwich.

"I don't know. I think she's on automatic pilot," Angel answered,
pulling out a chair at the table for Ceara.

Willow helped herself to a chair across the table and propped her chin
in her hand, her eyes riveted to the slayer. Ceara slapped a slice of
salami onto a piece of bread and fished a knife around in a jar of
grape jelly. She spread the jelly on a second slice of bread and
plopped it on top of the salami. She took a bite of the sandwich as her
eyes stared blankly into space.

"Ick," Willow wrinkled her nose.

"Wait. It gets better," Angel couldn't help grinning.

Ceara rose and poured a cup of coffee, adding three teaspoons of salt
and a splash of soda before returning to her seat and stirring the
coffee with the knife.

"She's going to be ill if she drinks that," Willow warned Angel.

"She did the same thing this morning. Don't ask me how she kept it
down," Angel told her.

Spike grinned and shoved a pepper grinder toward Ceara. Willow snorted
as the slayer cranked out the pepper on top of her sandwich and
continued to eat.

Three pairs of eyes followed her as she rose again and wandered down
the hallway and into the bathroom. When she reappeared, Angel put an
arm around her waist and led her back to bed, pulling the covers up
over her. He leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead, and Ceara's
arm snaked out and wrapped around his neck, pulling him over beside
her.

Angel grunted as she shoved him over onto his side and positioned him
so his back was up against her chest. One arm wound around his waist,
and she pressed herself snugly against him as her other hand wrapped
itself around his nose, clutching him like an over-sized teddy bear.
Angel groaned as Spike and Willow's amused laughter drifted through the
open door.

"Nighty-night, Angel," Willow giggled.

"Go away," he grumbled.
***
After four days of keeping a watchful eye over Ceara as she slept
soundly, woke briefly to eat, and returned to bed, dragging Angel in
beside her, the vampire was at his wit's end. He glared down at Giles,
and Christina put her arm around the watcher's shoulders.

"This isn't Rupert's fault, Angel. Ceara's the one who--"

"I know that," he snapped. "Look, we have to undo this. I don't think I
can stand three more days."

"I can summon the demon, but if Ceara can't rescind the request, it
won't do any good," Giles spoke.

"I've been working with her during the times she's awake. She should be
getting up soon. I think I can get her to say what she needs to," Angel
said.

The watcher sighed and dragged a hand through his hair, "I'm certainly
willing to try."

Christina jumped to her feet at the sound of a loud thud, "What was
that?"

"Just Ceara," Willow's voice called out from the hallway. "She fell out
of bed."

Angel hurried to the bedroom, shoving past the redhead, "You could have
helped her!"

Willow held out her hands and shrugged, "One minute, she was sleeping,
and the next--boom--she was nose-first on the floor."

Angel scooped her up and carried her out to the living room, with Spike
and Willow following behind him. Mathala had appeared and was now
standing near Giles, silently waiting. Angel sat Ceara on the sofa and
patted her cheek as she murmured and her eyes opened a bit.

"Ceara," he said softly.

"Mmmm?" she responded.

"Remember what we practiced this morning? I want you to say it again."

"Are you sure it'll fit?" she mumbled.

Angel covered his face in his hand as Spike and Willow broke out
laughing and Giles' mouth dropped open.

"No, Ceara, listen to me," Angel tried again. "I'm rescinding the
request. Say it, baby. I'm rescinding the request."

"I'm reselling the guest," she muttered.

"Oh, lord," Christina groaned.

Angel cupped the slayer's cheeks in his hands and tried to get her to
focus on him.

"Ceara, repeat this--'I'm.'"

"I'm," she parroted.

The vampire nodded and spoke the next word, "Rescinding."

"Cinder--"

He clapped his hand over her mouth, "Rescinding. Say that, Ceara.
Rescinding."

"Rescinding," she repeated as he drew his hand away.

"Good," he smiled. "I'm rescinding."

"I'm--hungry," she said.

Angel forced a sigh from his lungs and leaned his forehead against
hers, "Ceara, please. Focus, honey. I'm rescinding the request."

"I'm refusing the breast," she muttered.

"Angel," Giles ignored Willow's uncontrolled laughter. "This isn't
going to work."

The vampire looked over at the little demon, "Can't you just rescind
it?"

Mathala shook her head, "It's the slayer's request."

"Request," Ceara echoed.

"That's right!" Angel praised her. "I'm rescinding the request."

"I'm rescinding," she babbled. "Hungry."

Christina glanced doubtfully at Giles as the slayer wriggled away from
Angel and glided into the kitchen. She took a pint of ice cream from
the freezer and opened it before turning back to the fridge. Latching
onto a bottle of ketchup, she squirted it over the ice cream and
grabbed up a spoon from the counter.

Angel went quickly over to her and took the spoon away, then placed his
hands on her shoulders.

"I'm rescinding the request," he said firmly.

"Not now, honey. I have a headache," she babbled.

"Ceara!" he shouted.

"She's busy at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep, and
she'll get back to you," Ceara responded.

Angel ignored the howls of laughter from Willow and her sire. He
gripped the slayer's shoulders and shook her.

"I'm rescinding the request," he repeated through clenched teeth.

The container of ice cream slipped out of her hands and tumbled to the
floor, splattering over their feet.

She pouted for a moment before sighing sleepily, "No ice cream on the
tip of Angel's--"

"I'm rescinding the request. Say it, damn it!" Angel shouted.

"I'm rescinding the request," she hissed, her voice low and angry.

Ceara's eyes snapped wide open, and she looked around her in confusion.

"What's going on?"

"Ceara?" Angel asked. "Are you in there? Are you awake?"

"Of course I'm awake. How did I get in the kitchen, and why are we
standing in ice cream?"

Angel smiled in relief and pulled her into his arms.

"Anything else?" Mathala sighed softly.

Giles quickly shook his head and released her.

"Why do I get the feeling Angel doesn't want us to know what they do
with that ice cream?" Willow grinned.

Angel whirled around and growled impatiently, "Why don't you two go
home and fuck each other speechless? That would be a welcome change!"

Christina gasped as Spike and Willow vanished at the same moment
Mathala disappeared.

Ceara looked at the empty spot where the vampires had stood and
giggled, "Cool."
***
Willow felt Spike's arm gripping hers as they stared around at their
bedroom.

"They just don't get it, do they?" she muttered, recalling Angel's last
words."

"On the other hand," Spike whispered, lowering his head to nip at her
earlobe. "This is a request I can definitely deal with."

Her eyes sparkled up at him as her hands clutched his duster and
dragged it off of his shoulders. Spike chuckled and pulled her mouth to
his. His lips traveled from her mouth down her neck to the hollow of
her throat as his hands reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it
up over her head to expose her bare breasts. He captured one soft, pink
nipple in his lips and bit gently as she held his head to her and
arched into him.

Spike pulled off Willow's skirt and panties as she toed off her shoes.
He pushed her back toward the bed, sitting her down on the edge as he
knelt in front of her. He moved forward to capture her lips, and she
moaned into his mouth as he inserted a finger between her moistening
folds and thrust it into her channel. He teased her clit with his thumb
until she broke the kiss, panting soft, unneeded breaths. He slid a
second finger inside her and nibbled her lips, parting them with his
tongue. His other hand cupped her breast and rolled the nipple between
his fingers, pinching firmly as her juices flowed from her core and
coated his fingers.

He stood and pulled off his clothes as Willow scooted back onto the
bed. Spike crawled over her and parted her legs, holding her thighs
still as his tongue darted out to lick the length of her slit. Willow
groaned and ground her hips against his cold mouth. Placing his hands
on her hips, he pinned her to the bed as he took her clit between his
lips and sucked it. Her hands latched onto his hair, and she whimpered,
trying futilely to bring herself closer to him.

Spike's tongue delved inside her, and Willow's body quivered as he
lapped at the nectar that flowed from her. She cried out in protest as
his mouth left her sex to trail kisses up her stomach and over her
breasts and throat, to capture her lips once again. She spread her legs
wide, clutching his buttocks as she tasted herself on his lips. Spike
entered her completely in one powerful thrust that pushed her small
body back into the mattress. Willow locked her legs around him and met
his long, deep thrusts with urgent need. Her eyes closed as her orgasm
began to burn through her.

"Look at me, baby," he whispered, his lips against hers.

Their eyes met and held one another's as he pushed into her. She
clutched his arms, and her lips, red and swollen from his kisses,
parted as she moaned under him, and Spike marveled anew at her beauty.

"Come with me, Spike," she pleaded as her body raced toward its climax.

The call of his childe's blood and the sound of her soft whispers drove
Spike over the edge, and he sank his fangs into her neck as she milked
his engorged shaft. Willow cried out his name, crushing him to her as
he spilled his cold seed deep inside her twitching core.

Spike pulled out of her and wrapped her small body in his strong arms,
enveloping her close to him as he licked the blood from her wounds. She
snuggled closer against him, reveling in the way his embrace tightened
in response. Willow opened her mouth to speak, and Spike watched as her
lips moved, but no sound emerged.

Her eyes met his, and she mouthed an, "Uh oh."

Finding himself in the same predicament, he traced the curve of her
mouth with his thumb and brushed his tongue over her lips, silently
telling her what his voice could not say.

Willow smiled and laced her legs through his. Spike's hand moulded
around her ass and pulled her tight to him, and they fell into a
contented sleep.
 

"Christina has found a way to release Mathala from her Master," Giles
explained after they had summoned the little demon, and Angel had
rescinded his request.

"Why would we want to do that?" Willow asked, looking over at Mathala.

"Because it's her Master who requires her to fulfill requests,"
Christina answered. "If we release her from him, all this nonsense
should stop."

"That sounds good to me," Ceara agreed. "It's getting to the point that
I don't even want to speak, anymore!"

"I've brought everything with me. It's a fairly simple procedure,"
Christina continued.

"I think Mathala should have some say in this," Willow told them.
"Maybe she doesn't want to leave her Master. It isn't her fault none of
us say what we mean."

"I would like to be released," the demon spoke. "I'm so very tired of
trying to untangle what everyone says."

The watcher looked at each of the others, and they nodded their
agreement. He helped Christina prepare the ingredients, and less than
half an hour later, the task was completed.

"Well, did it work?" Ceara asked Mathala.

"I'm free," the demon nodded and walked over to Willow's side. "I
choose you."

"Huh?" the redhead looked down at her. "Choose me for what?"

"You're my new Master."

"What?!?" several voices shouted at once.

The demon eyed them as if they should have known what she was talking
about. Giles snatched the ancient tome out of Christina's hand.

"I thought you said you researched this!" he reprimanded her, flipping
through the pages of the book.

"I did! It says nothing in there about--"

"It wouldn't," Mathala confirmed. "No one has ever released me from my
Master. No one would have known I'd be free to choose a new one."

"Except you," Willow added dryly.

The demon nodded happily.

"But I don't want my own personal demon--except for this one," she
amended, lacing her arm through Spike's. "How do I get rid of you? Can
I grant you your freedom?"

"You can, but it would destroy both myself and you," Mathala shrugged.
"I must have a Master to serve."

"Can we release you from Willow?" Angel asked demon.

"No. I could only be released from my original Master, not the Master
I've chosen for myself," she replied.

"Can Willow send you back to your own realm?" Giles asked.

"She can. I don't need to be in my Master's physical presence in order
to serve her. I can do so just as easily from there."

"How exactly _do_ you serve her?" Spike asked, not at all sure he
really wanted to know.

"I can fulfill direct requests, as before, with her permission. And I
can grant answers to all her questions and desires--spoken or
unspoken."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Willow decided hesitantly.

"Until you read the fine print, whatever that may be," Ceara mentioned
glumly.

Willow's eyes flew to Ceara and Angel. The slayer was clutching Angel's
hand, and the dark vampire had wrapped his arm firmly around her.
Willow suddenly found her mind flooded with visions in answer to the
brief thought that flitted through her mind as she looked at them. The
demon had answered her unspoken question, and the redhead grinned as
images raced through her mind--Angel sucking still-frozen ice cream
from Ceara's puckered nipples, lapping it from within the folds of her
sex, and Ceara licking Angel's shaft clean of the sticky confection.

"Joseph?" Willow spoke suddenly.

"Yes, Willow."

"Run out and get me a gallon of ice cream, would you?" she grinned.

Giles and Christina looked at her strangely, and Ceara blushed a deep
shade of red as she realized where Willow's mind must have been.
***
"You're quiet tonight, baby," Spike noticed, sitting down next to
Willow on the wrought iron bench on the terrace. "You can speak now,
remember?"

"I know," she nodded. "I was just thinking."

He fingered the red tresses that framed her face, "About what?"

"I don't want Mathala following my thoughts everywhere they might
happen to wander."

"The boys are very impressed. They've never known a vampire who was
Master of a demon," he told her.

Trouble appeared out of the darkness and dropped something from his
mouth onto the slate floor.

"What is he doing?" Spike asked.

"I was just sitting here, and I sort of casually wondered what he has
buried around in the rose beds," she replied.

"Ah. And now you're finding out," he nodded.

"I'm almost afraid to think at all," she murmured.

He pulled her onto his lap, and she leaned against his shoulder.

"I can see how this could become a problem," he agreed. "The watcher
doesn't seem to think there's much we can do about it, though."

She groaned and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. Spike kissed
the top of her head and watched as the pup returned yet again to the
terrace.

"What has he got?" Spike asked.

Willow slid off his lap, and they knelt down over the little pile the
dog was building.

"My lighter," the blonde vampire said, picking it up and flicking open
the top to allow the dirt inside to fall out.

"Giles' glasses," Willow spoke, fingering the well-chewed frames and
poking her thumb through the hole where the right lens should have
been. "What's this?"

Her sire looked at the object in her hand and arched an eyebrow, "It
looks like teeth."

"Dentures! Ick!" she grimaced and dropped them quickly. "I don't even
want to know where those came from!"

Spike lifted a torn and dirty bra by one strap and held it in front of
Willow.

"That's where they've been disappearing to!" she exclaimed. "I stopped
wearing them after the fourth one went missing."

"I knew I liked that mutt," he grinned and dropped the garment.

"Joseph was looking for this," Willow said, sifting a corkscrew from
the pile of objects.

"Condoms?" Spike questioned, turning a torn package over in his
fingers. "Who's the only person who ever comes around here who could
possibly need these?"

Willow's jaw dropped as she squeaked, "Giles!"

"I say we hang onto these and return them to him," the blonde vampire
grinned wickedly.

Willow giggled and stood up, brushing the dirt from her hands, "I think
I've seen enough. I could use a cup of coffee."

"Where is Darnell, anyway? I haven't seen him in hours."

"He doing Elena, out back, in her cottage," Willow answered easily.

Spike looked down at her with interest.

"You asked," she shrugged. "All I have to do is wonder, remember? She's
also doing half the vampires who reside on the grounds."

"Does Darnell know that?"

She nodded, "They aren't in love, you know."

"Most vampires aren't. Is he in love with you?"

"Yes, but not like that," she answered. "He thinks you and I belong
together."

"He's right," Spike smiled. "This demon stuff could come in handy."

"It's a pain in the ass," she told him. "I don't want all my questions
answered. What happens when I wonder about something that I really
shouldn't know the answer to, only to have it revealed to me, anyway?"

"Oh, baby," he murmured, pulling her close to him. "I'm sorry. This
must be hell for you."

"I wonder if it would be easier if I was soulless. Not the kind of
soulless where I'd want to kill anyone I love, just the kind of
soulless where I wouldn't care anymore. Maybe I wouldn't even bother
wondering about things."

Spike squeezed his eyes shut and held her tighter, "Sweetheart, I think
we're about to find out."
***
"She wants to do what?" Darnell asked incredulously.

"She wants to go hunting with me," Spike repeated.

Joseph looked across the living room at Willow, who was pacing
impatiently in front of the French doors.

"But she's souled! She doesn't hunt! She _is_ still souled, isn't she?
That demon didn't--"

"She's still souled," Spike answered. "I called the watcher as soon as
she started in on this. He's sure her soul is permanent. Willow just
thinks she's soulless, thanks to Mathala. I tried to talk Willow into
wondering what it would be like to have a soul again, but the demon
inside her isn't cooperating."

Darnell nodded, "She's suppressed that side of herself for months. I
suppose her demon is thrilled to finally have the chance to act out."

"That's what the watcher thinks, too. For now, we're going to have to
deal with her like this."

"But you can't let her hunt. You know what that will do to her if she
ever comes out of this delusion of being soulless," Joseph warned his
Master.

"I know," he agreed. "Go get her some fresh blood. Between that and
coaxing her to feed from me, we should be able to put her off. The sun
will be up soon, so that will take care of hunting for a few hours."

"I'll go now," Darnell replied.
 
 

Darnell came around the corner and into the living room just in time to
see Willow lean down to snap a leash onto Trouble's collar.

"Pet, what are you doing?" Spike asked from the armchair as he tossed
the newspaper he'd been reading onto the floor.

"Well, you won't take me hunting, so I'm going with Trouble," she
answered.

Trouble, who was far from impressed by the leash, had promptly trotted
around the redhead's legs three times, winding the leather strap around
her ankles.

"Willow, that pup has never let anyone take him anywhere on a lead,"
Joseph pointed out.

"He'll learn," she shrugged, raising her feet in an attempt to free
herself.

"You fed from me less than an hour ago. You can't be hungry," her sire
told her.

"I want to hunt!" she insisted. "Trouble will help me find someone."

"Oh, really? What makes you so sure of that?"

"Well--he hunted down that mouse the other night and carried it onto
the terrace, remember?" she said.

"You aren't hunting mice," Spike responded.

"Then you take me," she pleaded. "Please, Spike. You've never taken me
hunting."

He stood and went over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders,
"You've never wanted to hunt."

"That was before. I'm not all soul-having and smarmy anymore," she
argued.

"You _are_ still souled, and you've never been smarmy, luv," he
replied.

"Let me get you some blood," Darnell offered.

"I don't want to drink warmed blood from a mug. I want to hunt!" she
snarled.

"You are not going hunting," Spike stated emphatically.

She glared up at him, amber embers glowing in her eyes, "Am, too."

"Willow, don't make me play the evil sire," he warned her.

Her features slid into those of her demon, and her fangs flashed from
behind scarlet lips as she hissed, "I'm going hunting, whether you like
it or not. You do it every--"

"Willow, stop it!" he gripped her shoulders and shook her. "You will
not address me in that tone of voice, my childe."

Joseph choked back a laugh as Willow closed her eyes and heaved a
dramatic, if totally unnecessary, sigh. When she reopened her eyes, the
amber hue had been replaced by the more familiar emerald, and her human
features had returned.

"Come on, Spike," she said softly. "Everyone says what a skilled hunter
you are. Teach me how."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, baby," he grinned and caressed her
cheek with his hand. "You think that this is what you want, but it
isn't. Not really."

"Says you," she grumbled.

He tucked a finger under her chin and arched an eyebrow, "What was
that?"

"Yes, dear," she tried again.

Spike chuckled, "That's what I though you said."

"I'll just go for a walk, then," she suggested and turned quickly away
from him.

Trouble had rooted his rear end firmly to the floor, and between his
added weight and the leather leash still twirled around her ankles,
Willow quickly discovered she was going nowhere fast.

Spike reached out to steady her as she lost her balance and then knelt
down to unsnap the leash from the pup. Trouble swiped his rough tongue
over the blonde vampire's cheek and padded happily over to sit on the
toes of Joseph's shoes.

"Nice try, sweetheart," Spike grinned as he raised himself back up.

"I don't get what the fuss is all about. You hunt. Joseph hunts. Hell,
even Ceara hunts."

"Ceara hunts demons," Joseph pointed out. "Unless you're planning on
draining one of the boys, which I'm not entirely sure they'd mind, it
isn't quite the same thing."

"It's still hunting! That doesn't bother you, Spike! It makes me wonder
just who you'd rather go skulking around with. I'll bet you think
Ceara's pretty hot when she's in slayer mode."

Her eyes opened wide and glared angrily up at him as the absent Mathala
instantly put an end to her wondering.

"You DO think she's hot, you bastard!" she shouted, thumping an angry
fist against his chest.

"I do not!" he argued.

"Don't lie to me, buster! I know what you think! Hell, I'll bet
watching her slay gets you all hot and horny," she growled.

Darnell snorted in amusement, and Spike shot him a look before turning
back to his childe.

"Willow, I haven't been anywhere close to hot in two hundred years," he
answered calmly. "I'll admit she's pretty--interesting--when she's
going in for the kill, but the slayer does NOT make me horny."

She paused to think silently for a moment on this last statement and
discovered he was telling the truth.

"Well," she answered weakly. "I'll bet if you took me hunting, _I_
could make you horny."

"You make me horny just standing there," he grinned.

"I do?" she asked with a smile.

Darnell slunk out of the room as Spike put his arms around Willow and
nibbled her soft pale neck.

"Now, hold on a minute," she demanded, trying unsuccessfully to push
him away. "You're trying to change the subject."

"How am I doing?" he murmured, capturing her earlobe between his teeth.

"Well, actually, not too bad," she whispered, then shook her head and
pushed at his shoulders again. "I mean, cut it out! Spike, baby, please
take me hunting. Please?"

"Wouldn't you really rather have me?" he asked, his voice low and
seductive.

"Yeah," she answered on an unneeded rush of air as he nipped at her
neck. "NO! I want to go kill someone!"

"No, you don't," he murmured against her ear and caressed her rounded
buttock with his hand.

His hand snaked down between her legs and brushed against her
denim-covered folds. Willow moaned softly and melted against him. He
scooped her up and plopped down onto the sofa, smelling her arousal as
his hand rubbed insistently over her sex.

"Can we go hunting later?" she babbled as her thoughts were swept away
by the pressure of his hand.

"It'll be sunrise before we're finished with this," he told her,
pulling her mouth to his and dipping his tongue inside.

"Tomorrow?" she mumbled against his lips.

"Tomorrow is hours and hours away, baby," he skirted the question.

Willow moaned as he cupped her hand in his and brought it to the bulge
inside his jeans. Her mouth devoured his as his shaft hardened under
her hand.

"But I'm hungry," she whispered.

"Me, too," he groaned nipping her throat with his fangs just enough to
spill out a thin trickle of blood which he promptly cleaned away with
his tongue.

He lifted her up and headed out of the room, ignoring her whimper of
protest and her longing look back at the open French doors. Darnell met
them at the foot of the stairs and pressed a warm mug into the
redhead's hand.

"I really, really would rather hunt," she asserted softly, looking down
into the mug.

"Well, then, let's go up to the bedroom and see what we can find,"
Spike answered.

Another protest was lost and quickly forgotten as his mouth captured
hers while he carried her up the stairs.
***
"I managed to put her off last night, but it isn't going to be so easy
tonight," Spike told Giles. "She's determined to go hunting."

The watcher looked from the blonde vampire to Angel and Ceara who were
seated on the sofa in the living room of the mansion. Spike looked up
as Willow entered the room and went to stand beside his chair.

"You're talking about me," she said knowingly.

"Yes, we are," Spike nodded. "I don't know why you refuse to ask that
damned demon of yours what it would be like to have a soul again. This
charade is not going to get you anywhere."

"It isn't a charade," she insisted.

"Willow, you haven't lost your soul," Giles assured her. "You merely
wondered what it would be like if you were to do so, and Mathala is
providing you with the answer. If you hunt, if you take the life of a
human being, you're going to suffer the agony of what you've done when
you finally realize you do have your soul."

She cocked her head to one side and looked over at him, "Has anyone
ever told you that you talk too much?"

"Willow!" Ceara protested loudly.

"Well, he does," she insisted and looked back down at Spike. "Anyway,
it doesn't matter. I don't need you to take me hunting tonight."

"And why is that?" he asked her.

"Because I'm going to make Joseph take me."

"Excuse me?" Darnell spoke as he entered from outside.

"If you don't I'll tell Elena that you think she's just a good fuck,"
Willow threatened.

Giles blushed uncomfortably as Darnell chuckled and shook his head,
"She already knows that, Willow. It's mutual; believe me."

"Oh," she said defeatedly. "But you like me!"

"Of course I do."

"Then you should take me hunting. It would make me happy," she told
him.

"Taking you hunting without your sire's permission would make me
ashes," he corrected her.

"Willow," Angel's voice broke into their discussion. "I can tell you
first-hand that hunting down and killing people is extremely painful to
deal with."

"Yeah, but you're soulboy," she shot back.

"Would you knock off the insults?" Ceara demanded ignoring Spike's
amused laughter. "We're trying to help you, here."

"Some help," she muttered. "Making me drink day-old blood from a
microwave and drinking used thirds from old blondie."

Spike reached his hand around her and swatted her hard on the ass.

"Ow," she said softly, blinking away prickly tears and rubbing her sore
rear end.

Darnell leaned against the back of the sofa and looked over at her with
fondly laughing eyes, "You've been drinking fresh blood, anyway. I make
those kills myself less than an hour before you drink."

"Did we really want to know that?" Ceara asked weakly as the color fled
from her cheeks.

"Tell me the truth," Willow requested. "Would you want to be sentenced
to drinking blood from a mug?"

Angel looked up at her, "I--"

"Not you," she waved her hand dismissively. "You don't count."

"I swear I'm going to smack her," Ceara hissed, and Angel took her hand
and squeezed it gently.

"What about you guys?" the redhead asked Spike and Darnell. "You hunt
every night!"

"That isn't the point," her sire told her. "We don't have souls to
contend with. You do."

"I do NOT!" she shouted.

He stood slowly and turned around to face her. Willow squeaked quietly
as his eyes bored into hers.

"If you persist in acting like a petulant childe, I'm going to treat
you like one. Now, are you going to behave yourself, or am I going to
drag you upstairs, right now?" he asked her, the implicit threat heavy
in his voice.

"I'm going to behave," she answered softly.

He nodded and resumed his seat, pulling her down onto his lap and
trapping her in his arms.

"Now, here's the deal," he murmured close to her ear. "You are not
going out hunting. Not tonight, not any night. In fact, this whole
discussion is now closed. Is that absolutely clear?"

"Yes," she whispered.

Ceara, Angel, and Giles relaxed at her profession, but Darnell and
Spike's eyes remained fixed on the hint of defiance in her eyes that
they both knew so well. The vampires looked at one another, and Spike
shook his head almost imperceptibly and returned Joseph's faint grin.
 

"Master, what is she doing?" Darnell asked from behind Spike as the two
vampires watched Willow walking away from the mansion.

"She's sneaking, unnoticed, out of the house," the blonde vampire
grinned.

Darnell raised an eyebrow and laughed softly, "Ah, of course. And why
is she sneaking out?"

"She's going hunting."

"What?!? You're letting her go off on her own to--"

"Not exactly," Spike answered, slipping out the French doors and
looking briefly back at Joseph. "Want to come a long to watch the
show?"

"I wouldn't miss it," he smiled.

Staying well out of Willow's range, they followed her down the winding
driveway and along the dark, empty streets that led into Sunnydale.

"She's beautiful in the moonlight," Spike whispered to himself as he
watched the distant moon and the street lights dancing on his childe's
red hair.

"That she is," Darnell agreed, equally as quiet.

Willow made her way to the park and slowed her pace, stopping briefly
to listen for footsteps. Her followers stopped, too, and waited for her
to step off of the sidewalk and onto the grass, heading for a bench
under the shadowy cover of tall, leafy trees. A young man was just
rising to find his way home, his gait a bit unsteady, the result of one
too many beers in the pub down the street.

A flash of deadly, white fang glimmered through the darkness as Willow
stepped around the end of the bench.
The man turned toward her, smiling lustily at the small redheaded
beauty who was advancing slowly toward him, her hand outstretched in an
unspoken invitation.

"You aren't really going to let her--"

Spike silenced Darnell with a look and shook his head. An unrealized
breath caught in the blonde vampire's throat as the diffused light of a
nearby street lamp created an ethereal glow around the pale form of his
lover. Spike was captivated as she slipped into the face of her demon.
Even after years together with her as a mortal, and several months as a
vampire, he still often wondered at his blind luck that such an
exquisite creature would devote herself to him.

Darnell found himself watching the display of emotions on his Master's
face and, once again, felt more than a trifle jealous that Spike had
the capacity to love so completely. On the other hand, he thought to
himself as his gaze turned to Willow, if any woman could create such
feelings in a vampire, it would be she.

Spike could just make out the soft, slurred drawl of the man in front
of Willow.

"Hello, gorgeous. Buy you a drink?"

Her sire swallowed a chuckle as Willow responded, "A drink with you?
I'd love it."

Darnell looked at Spike in alarm as Willow reached over and took the
young man's hand, and he wondered how far his Master was willing to let
this game go.

Willow latched onto the man's hand and squeezed hard. The drunkard
cried out and fell to his knees. His cry of pain turned to one of
horror as his blurred vision registered the vampiric features that
grinned cruelly down at him. In his panic, he jerked his hand away hard
enough to pull Willow off balance. Even from the distance that
separated them, Spike could hear the snapping of bones in the man's
wrist as a surprised Willow found herself on her ass on the ground. She
looked up in time to see the man fleeing into the darkness.

"Bloody hell," she muttered to herself, rising to brush herself off.

"As lovely as that demonic face is, it would be helpful if you'd wait
until you were close enough to bite before putting it on, luv," Spike
laughed as he neared her.

She whirled around and resumed her human features as she felt his arms
go around her waist.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Are you following me?"

"Yeah," he nodded with a grin. "Him, too."

Darnell smiled from behind Spike, and Willow gave both of them a
withering glare.

"I'll bet you got a good laugh out of this," she snarled.

"Face it, sweetheart. You're not the evil stalk-and-drain type," her
sire told her. "You're the
put-your-arms-around-me-and-kiss-me-breathless type."

"Actually, I'm the I-could-do-this-if-you'd-bloody-well-teach-me type!"
she grumbled. "As long as you were back there, you could have helped,
you know!"

"You're beautiful when you're stalking. I was mesmerized, pet. Why
don't we go home, and you can stalk me around the bedroom?"

"That's all you think I'm good for," she hissed.

"Willow, you know that isn't true," he said impatiently.

"I'm sorry. I just thought, you know, if I could make a kill by myself,
you'd be proud of me."

"I'm already proud of you. I've been proud of you since you stood by my
side while Sunnyhell burned to the ground."

"I'm not that person, anymore," she told him.

"Yes, you are. You just think you're not."

Willow turned her head at the sound of soft footsteps moving along the
sidewalk a few feet away. Her gaze followed a young, brunette woman as
she passed along the lit pathway.

"I'm going after that one," she announced quietly.

Spike took his arms away and raised his hands in compliance.

"Will you help me?"

"No," he answered, smiling. "But I'll watch."

"Fine. Watch this!" she responded confidently.

Willow turned away from her sire. As she drew nearer, she noticed the
woman's face was tear-stained. The brunette stopped when she realized
Willow was blocking her path. The vampire stared at her as a shuddering
sob wracked the young woman's body.

Spike ran his tongue over his lip and shook his head as he heard
Willow's compassionate voice asking, "What's wrong?"

"Have you seen a man anywhere around here? He's tall, black hair. He's
wearing a blue sweatshirt."

Willow cocked her head as a vision of the man who had fled moments
earlier flashed through her mind.

"Um...maybe. Why?" she asked hesitantly.

"He's my fiance. We had a terrible fight. He stormed out of the
apartment three hours ago. I knew he was headed to that bar he likes to
go to, but--" the brunette paused to sniffle. "He--he isn't there, and
Sam said he left an hour ago. What if he's really left me this time? I
love him!"

Willow stepped back as the woman crumpled to the sidewalk, sobs shaking
her slight shoulders. The redhead ventured a look across the lawn at
her sire who was standing in the shadows. Spike arched an eyebrow.

"I think he's probably not very far away," Willow said to the
heart-broken female.

"You've seen him, then?" the woman asked hopefully, her eyes blurred
with tears.

"I think I might have seen him running past," Willow answered. "Maybe
he went back to your apartment. Now that I think about it, he did look
kind of--hurt."

The woman rose from the sidewalk, her eyes downcast and unseeing as
Willow shook herself from her feelings of sympathy and slid into game
face.

"You might want to--ungh!" Willow groaned heavily as the brunette flung
herself at the vampire and crushed her in her arms.

Darnell bit his lip and silenced a laugh as a strangled Willow looked
over the woman's shoulder at him and Spike and tried to extricate
herself from the brunette's bear-hug.

"If he's hurt, he'll need me!" she cried. "Oh, thank you!"

She impulsively planted a wet smack on Willow's demonic cheek and
turned to run back down the sidewalk in search of her lover.

"Well done, baby," Spike grinned. "I guess you showed her."

"Oh, shut up," Willow snapped and began walking away.

Spike hurried to her side and threw an arm around her shoulders, "Were
to now, luv?"

"I'm going home," she huffed. "Damned mortals. Joseph, do you happen to
have any more of that fresh blood in the fridge?"

He grinned and nodded his head, "I'd just gotten in with some before
you left the mansion."

"Good, because I'm starving."
***
Willow took another long swallow from the mug as Trouble leapt up onto
the sofa, scooched tight to her side, and curled up in a grey, furry
ball. She lowered her hand to absent-mindedly stroke the pup's fur.
Spike entered the room and stared at them silently until her eyes
finally met his.

"So much for becoming a legendary vampire," she mumbled dejectedly. "If
your boys find out I sent dinner free to go look for her boyfriend--"

"I won't tell if you won't," he smiled and went to her. "Anyway, you
don't have to be a great hunter to be legendary. You're half-way there
already, pet."

"Only because I'm yours."

Spike brushed Trouble away from Willow's side and sat down next to her,
pulling her legs across his lap to drape over his. The dog promptly
added his body to the pile of legs, crawling on top of them, and
nuzzled his snout into Spike's elbow. The vampire buried his fingers in
the pup's thick coat and scratched the fur around his neck.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" he asked Willow. "If I were
staked tomorrow, the boys would all follow you."

"Don't say that," she replied. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he answered and took the mug out of her hands.

Trouble repositioned himself as Spike pulled Willow closer and drew her
head down to his neck.

"Let me make it better, baby," he whispered.

She breathed a sigh of cold air and rested her head in the crook of his
neck. Her tongue traced a slow path along his skin, and he wound his
fingers through her hair as her fangs pierced his throat to drink
slowly from him.

"That's better than the blood from some drunken sod on a park bench,
isn't it?" he asked as she licked at his wounds.

"I suppose."

He drew his head back to look down at her, "You suppose?!?"

"Sorry," she giggled.

"You don't sound it."

"I am, though," she promised and kissed his lips softly. "Still, I
wonder what it feels like to hunt and drain someone, even with a soul."

Suddenly, the redhead sat straight up. Red tears spilled out of her
eyes, and she brought her hand to her mouth as Mathala supplied her
with the answer.

"Oh, no," she groaned, choking on her tears. "Oh, Spike! What have I
done?"

Immediately understanding what had happened, he took her hand in his
and squeezed it.

"You've done nothing, sweetheart," he reminded her, his voice calm and
soothing. "You let both of them go."

"But I wouldn't have! If that man hadn't--"

"Willow, nothing happened. They're both still warm-blooded and
breathing," he assured her. "Aside from the possibility of a broken
wrist, both of those people are all right."

"I broke his wrist!" she gasped. "Oh, hell! I have to help him!"

"You don't know who he is or where he lives. Let it go--"

"I can't! I'm going to call a doctor--"

"And tell him--what? To start pounding on every apartment door in
Sunnyhell looking for some shit-faced guy in a grass-stained
sweatshirt? Willow, he'll be fine."

She nodded, "I'll bet that woman has found him by now. She'll see he's
taken care of, won't she? I should pay for his doctor's bills. I'll bet
Mathala could--"

"No! Willow, don't even think it!"

"He lives in the apartment building across from the bus terminal," she
said with certainty. "I'll just go over there, and--"

"No!" he shouted, grabbing her arms to keep her from rising. "Leave
them alone, pet. If their relationship is on the skids, this could fix
everything. She can fawn all over him and make him feel all manly and
needed."

"Oh! That could work!" she nodded. "I know what I'll do. I'll go bake
them some cookies and take them over there! Yeah--"

"Not in my kitchen," Darnell told her as he appeared in the entryway.
"The last time you stuck something in the oven, it exploded."

"That was the microwave, and I didn't know an egg would explode if
you--"

"You just stay away from the appliances," Joseph demanded.

Spike's curiosity, mixed with the relief of having his Willow back, got
the better of him, "Why were you cooking eggs, anyway?"

"Trouble likes them," she shrugged. "With ketchup."

"You cooked that mutt eggs with _ketchup_?" he asked.

"Well, no. After I made a mess of the microwave, I made Joseph cook
them," she answered.

Spike looked from his childe to Darnell and shook his head in
bewilderment.

"Don't look at me that way!" she told him. "How was I supposed to know
ketchup would make Trouble sick? Anyway, I got it cleaned up before you
even saw it."

"Well, most of it," Darnell added.

"Most?" Spike asked.

"I'm not an octopus! I couldn't very well reach the bits that seeped
under the refrigerator," she reasoned.

"Bloody hell! You mean there's still a mess under--"

"No," she cut him off.

He stared at her questioningly.

"She made two of the boys move the fridge so _I_ could clean under it,"
Joseph explained.

"That wasn't my fault! You'd banned me from the kitchen by that point!"
Willow reminded him. "I had to stand in the doorway and watch!"

"Damn right," Darnell nodded. "So just forget about getting your hands
on that oven!"

"Well, how am I supposed to make it up to those people?" she lamented.

"You really want to do them a favor?" Darnell asked.

"Yes!"

"Then _don't_ send them baked goods. Hell, you'd probably end up giving
them food poisoning."

"That wasn't very nice," Willow pouted.

"I thought you were thinking of their welfare," he argued.

"Would you two stop the fucking Martha bloody Stewart routine!" Spike
shouted.

"Okay," she nodded, then looked at him curiously. "How do you know who
Martha Stewart is?"

"She's on the top of my 'people I'd most like to kill' list. Annoying
twat," he answered.

"Huh," Willow murmured in wonder. "So, what you're saying is, if I'd
have gone after her, you would have helped."

"I'd have held her down for you, pet," he grinned.

"Now he tells me," she grinned over at Joseph. "So, I can't make
cookies, then?"

He looked at her, considering the question for a moment, and then
answered, "I doubt it."

She tried to look disgruntled, but the effect was ruined by the grin
that tugged at her lips.

"Would you make some?" she asked.

"Willow, I am _not_ making cookies for two humans! I'm a vampire!"

"So am I," she argued.

"You're souled."

"I am, aren't I?" she nodded. "Oh, well. Maybe I should just leave them
alone."

"Finally!" Spike said with a forced sigh of relief.

"So, would you make cookies for _me_?" she continued.

Darnell stared at her and laughed softly before turning to leave.
Willow jumped up off the sofa to tag along after him, and Trouble
tumbled to the floor to tag after her.

"Chocolate chip?" her voice drifted back to Spike as she disappeared
around the corner. "With those nuts--what are they called?"

"Macadamia--which, surprising as it may be, we don't have, or chocolate
chips, for that matter," Darnell's voice answered.

"You could get some, though, right?" she persisted.

"Willow, you don't really want cookies, do you?" he asked.

"Yeah! And coffee! Please? I'm all soul-having again--"

"You never stopped being soul-having," Darnell's voice rose from the
kitchen. "And what does that have to do with cookies, anyway?"

"I don't know. It's just--my soul wants cookies."

Spike stood to follow after his childe, chuckling as he heard Darnell
grumble and capitulate.

"If you EVER tell the boys I made cookies for you--"

"I won't tell; I promise! Come on and sit down, Trouble. I'll let you
lick the bowl."

Her sire leaned against the doorpost as Willow plunked down into a
chair at the kitchen table, and Trouble dutifully sprawled out at her
feet.

"You are not letting that mongrel lick out of the bowl!" Darnell told
her.

"Why not? You're going to wash it, anyway," she responded. "Besides,
it's not like _you_ have to worry about germs."

Darnell's shoulders slumped, and he looked imploringly at his Master.

"Would you do something about her?" he pleaded.

Spike shook his head and pulled a chair close to Willow's, taking her
hand and kissing it, "I like her just like this. She's bloody perfect."

Darnell looked over at the redhead and grinned, "Point taken."
 
 
 

"Sweetheart, you okay?" Spike asked softly as Willow stared up at the
stars from a chair in Giles' back yard.

"Hmmm?" she answered, not really hearing him.

He scooped her up and sat down in her chair, lowering her onto his lap.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and cuddled close to him.

"I'll listen, if you want to talk," he told her.

She smiled and kissed him, "I was just thinking about being soulless
and then--not."

"Baby, you were never soulless," he reminded her.

"I know," she nodded. "But I thought I was. I kind of got a feeling for
what Angel must have gone through when he--"

"That was a long time ago, pet. Angel has long since moved past all
that."

"I hope so. I remember how hard it was for him when he first came back
from hell, and how difficult it was for Buffy and...all of us," she
murmured wistfully. "Do you ever miss those days, Spike?"

"Not really," he answered. "Now is so much better."

"It is," she agreed. "Still, I think about them sometimes. I still miss
them. Well, everyone except Faith. But the rest--Buffy, Oz, Xander,
even you were different back then."

"No, I wasn't," he objected. "You were. You didn't love me."

"You didn't love me, either," she pointed out.

"Yes, I did. My heart just didn't know it, yet," he replied.

She smiled and kissed him again, "You're so good at knowing what I want
to hear."

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," he asserted.

She caressed his cheek with her hand and placed several soft, quick
kisses on his lips before settling back against him.

"Everything is so different now. They're all gone, and Sunnydale has
changed since it burned. You and Angel and I--we've all changed so
much. I wonder what it would be like if everyone--the way we were then,
well, except for Giles, he never changes much, and Faith, she just
turned too...ick--were here now."

From her demon realm, Mathala silently provided her Master with an
answer. Willow jumped up off Spike's lap as an eerily familiar voice
spoke from the darkness of the lawn.

"What the hell happened? Where are we?"

Spike rose slowly beside her, a look of shocked disbelief written
across his face, as Buffy stepped into the light of the patio, followed
closely by Xander, Oz, and apparently different versions Angel, Willow
and himself.

"Bloody hell," Spike whispered, clamping a hand over Willow's shoulder.

Buffy stared from the Willow at her side to the Willow beside Spike as
the two Spikes and the two Willows looked curiously at one another.

"What is this? Who are you?" Xander asked.

"Xander!" Willow squealed and moved past Spike to fling her arms around
her old friend.

The Angel behind him snarled softly and flung Willow away from Xander.
She looked up at him, her eyes clouded with sadness.

"She's a vampire," Angel warned the others.

"No, Angel! I'm souled--like you!" Willow told him.

"But you're--me!" the other Willow gasped.

"I'll get the watcher," Spike said and stepped through the patio doors.
***
Two hours and several confused interruptions later, Willow and Giles
had explained to the others how they had come to find themselves in his
back yard.

"So, we're dead," Oz spoke.

"Does that mean we're here, or not?" Xander asked.

"And what about us?" the Willow from their past asked, looking at
Angel. "I mean, if they're us--how can we be here, too?"

"I'm at as a great a loss as you are," Giles answered. "Suffice it to
say Mathala has managed to find a way to answer Willow's query."

"Which Willow?" Xander asked, still puzzled by the whole situation.

"I'm not a witch, really. I don't practice, anymore," Willow answered,
completely misunderstanding his question.

"No, you just run around with a demon stuffed in your pocket," Spike
grinned.

"This could get very confusing," Christina spoke. "Especially between
the Willows and Angels and Spikes."

"Well, we can call our Willow, Will," Buffy suggested and looked
quickly at the redheaded vampire. "Not that _you_ aren't our Willow."

"It's okay. I know what you mean," she answered.

"That's a good idea," Giles answered.

"And Spike was once William," Buffy continued. "So we could call ours
that."

"Yours, slayer?" the past version of Spike smirked. "I never knew you
cared."

"Oh, shut up and be helpful, for once in your sorry unlife!" Buffy
snapped.

Willow looked up at her sire and laughed softly, "You _haven't_ changed
much!"

He chuckled and put his arm around her waist as he looked over at Will,
"You have, luv. I'd almost forgotten what you were like back then."

"What about Angel, though?" Xander asked. "He's always been Angel, or
Angelus."

The mirror images of the dark vampire both winced noticeably at the
mention of that name.

"I think we can manage to keep the two straight," Giles said. "Names
aren't as important as--"

He stopped at the look of happy wonder on his former slayer's face and
walked over to hug her, "It's so good to see you again, Buffy."

Ceara looked uncertainly up at her Angel, and the vampire folded his
arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"So, you're the new slayer," Buffy said with a smile.

"Not so new, not anymore," Ceara answered defensively.

"I didn't mean it like that. And you're--with her?" Buffy looked over
the dark-haired slayer at the vampire who was holding her.

"Yes," Angel nodded.

"You moved on," Buffy stated, a trace of sadness staining her words.

"Not for a long time," he told her. "And I've never forgotten."

"Hell no, just ask Miss Buffy," Spike grinned.

Angel shot him a warning glare as the blonde slayer asked, "Miss
Buffy?"

"Never mind," Angel groaned.

"And Willow's been turned," Oz added.

"She's Spike's childe," Giles answered.

"She's a hell of a lot more than that," William noticed. "I always did
have an eye for a good piece of--"

Spike snarled and bared his fangs as he stepped around Willow.

"Baby," she giggled. "You're growling at yourself!"

He looked back at her in obvious annoyance.

"Well, you are!" she insisted. "How come I never noticed how hot you
were back then?"

"Are you telling me you didn't, pet?" William asked smugly.

"Okay, maybe I did," she conceded. "But I was afraid of you back then.
How was I supposed to know that instead of running from you, I should
have been shagging you senseless?"

"Bloody hell, I can pick them! Care to rectify that mistake, little
one?" William offered.

"Listen, you bloody moron! You may be me then, but you're not me now!
You keep your fucking hands off my childe!" Spike growled.

"Did anyone else understand a word of that?" Xander asked.

"I always knew she'd make one hell of a vampire," William continued.

"You did?" Willow asked delightedly.

"Yeah, but what the hell did you let her go all souled on you for?" he
glared at his contemporary counterpart.

"Because I love her this way, you sod!" Spike snarled.

William eyed Willow for a long moment before nodding, "Yeah, I do. She
isn't a simpering git like dear old Dad, anyway."

"He is NOT simpering!" Ceara bristled.

"He's still shagging slayers," William shrugged.

"Shagging?" Buffy's trembling whisper went unnoticed.

"Can I stake him?" Ceara asked Spike, her eyes burning with anger.

"Let's all just calm down," Giles interrupted loudly, removing his
glasses to rub his temples as a headache threatened to beat at his
brain.

"I cannot believe you're working with these prats," William said to
Spike.

"If you had any idea what this town has been through, it would make a
hell of a lot more sense to you," Willow told him.

"Sunnydale burned down," Oz spoke as old memories flooded his mind.

"That's right," Willow nodded.

"So, what happened after we--were gone?" Xander asked her.

"Maybe we should sit down. It's a long, long answer," Christina
suggested.
 

Buffy stepped out into the warm night air and looked over at Willow,
who was enfolded in Spike's arms. Aside from her clothes--which were a
bit more revealing and much more form-fitting; the length of her
familiar fiery hair--which now tumbled about her trim waste; and the
deathly pallor of her skin, this Willow was a mirror image to the
blonde slayer's old, beloved friend. Buffy shook herself mentally,
reminding herself that this Willow was actually different in many ways
from Will, not the least of which was that this one was the respected
childe and lover of a Master vampire--a Master who had always been her
mortal enemy.

Willow shifted in Spike's arms as the soft pounding of Buffy's
heartbeat echoed in her ears.

"Needed some air," the slayer smiled uncertainly.

"Well, there's lots out here, and we're not using it," Spike replied
brusquely, running his fingers through Willow's silky tresses.

"Spike," Willow's admonishment was soft but unmistakable.

He grinned and kissed her forehead.

"It's weird, you know?" Buffy spoke. "Seeing you with him."

"We've been together for a long time, even before he turned me," Willow
responded.

"I never would have dreamed this would be Sunnydale's future," the
former slayer's voice was laden with a gentle sadness. "Or that I'd
ever get the chance to see it. Giles has been telling me some of what
happened here, after I--died. It's hard to take it all in."

"It must be," Willow nodded. "The town is completely different from
what you remember. I expect Ceara and Giles and Christina will take you
around when it's light."

"I don't think Ceara likes me too much," Buffy admitted.

"It can't be easy for her--seeing Giles' favorite slayer and Angel's
old flame come to life before her eyes," Willow defended her friend.

"I suppose not," the slayer agreed. "She and Angel--your
Angel--are...."

"Living together in a disgustingly cozy apartment and shagging like
demons," Spike said with a cold smile.

"Spike!" Willow's voice was much firmer this time. "Come on, baby,
don't be cruel like that."

"How can they...I mean, how is it possible for Angel to--" Buffy
faltered.

"His soul is permanent, now," the redhead answered. "It happened long
after you--left us, but they've been together for quite awhile, now."

The slayer breathed a ragged sigh, "Even my Angel and I couldn't--could
we?"

"I don't think so," Willow shook her head. "Your Angel is long before
ours had his soul anchored."

"Which is probably another reason the slayer--this slayer--wouldn't
mind throwing poisoned stakes at you," Spike added.

"Meaning?" Buffy asked, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Meaning don't even think about messing with her vampire," he said.
"Or, then again, maybe you should. I haven't seen a good cat fight in
ages, and she'd stand a damned good chance of taking you."

"Well, at least some things haven't changed over the years since I've
been gone," Buffy spat back. "You're as big a bastard as you ever
were."

"Thank you," he replied with a curt nod.

Willow's emerald eyes flashed from the blonde slayer to her sire as she
snarled softly. Spike arched an eyebrow at her and chuckled. At that
moment, both Angel's appeared in the doorway behind Buffy. The only
thing differentiating the two was their clothes, and Buffy immediately
went to stand beside her version of the dark vampire.

"The sun will be up in an hour," he said softly to her. "Giles has a
room in the basement that Spike...uh, William...and I can sleep in."

"Bloody hell, that sounds like fun," Willow's sire remarked
sarcastically.

"Just as caustic as ever," the former Angel stated, glaring over at
Spike. "Is he this big of a prick to you?"

The other Angel looked at his twin and shrugged, "I guess we got past
it, at some point. Watching Sunnydale burn to a cinder gave us common
ground, ironically enough."

Buffy shook her head as her brain tried to process what she was seeing
and hearing, and found herself secretly wondering whether this Angel
found her at all attractive.

"We actually work pretty well together, now," Angel continued. "Spike
and Willow have gotten damned good at running interference and keeping
the vampire population in general in its place."

"Hon?" Ceara's voice drifted out from the open door, and she pointedly
looked past Buffy to her lover. "It'll be dawn soon."

He nodded and walked over to her, taking her hand.

"You guys coming with us?" Ceara asked Willow.

The redheaded vampire recognized the flicker of insecurity behind
Ceara's eyes, and she slipped her hand into Spike's and nodded at her.

"We'll be around tomorrow night," she said to Buffy as she and her sire
stepped off the patio to follow Angel and Ceara.

Buffy watched as they disappeared around the side of the house, then
turned to look up at her Angel.

"Part of me is thrilled beyond words to be here," she told him softly.
"And part of me just wants to die all over again."

"I know," he whispered and cradled her head in his hand, lowering it to
his chest and rocking her gently.
 
 
 

"Goddess," Will breathed as she looked over the crest of the hill at
the sprawling mansion and the well-manicured grounds that surrounded
it. "You must need a map and a compass to get around this place."

Spike grinned and squeezed Willow's hand, whispering softly to her,
"Ducks, now I remember why I fell in love with you to begin with."

"Oh, yeah?" she replied, a playful gleam in her eyes. "When exactly did
you _forget_ why you fell in love with me?"

"When all the reasons started piling up on top of each other, and I
lost track," he answered without missing a beat.

Her green eyes brightened, and she smiled softly at him as his mouth
descended to hers.

William looked in silence from the two vampires on his right to the
tiny, mortal redhead on his left. Will blushed as she realized his eyes
were lingering on her, and William smiled at the delicate flush that
graced her cheeks.

"Are you sure it's safe for us to be here?" Will asked Willow. "I mean,
there are vampires in there, right?"

"There are vampires out here, too," Willow laughed softly.

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "But you're souled, aren't you?"

"Thanks to Spike," she nodded.

Her sire brushed his hand over the back of Willow's head, letting a few
of the long, silky strands flutter through his fingers. She smiled up
at him and pulled him along toward the mansion. They entered the living
room through the terrace doors, and Will stopped with a soft squeak as
a formidable ball of grey fuzz came racing around the corner, headed in
their direction.

"Is that a--a wolf?" she gulped.

"It's Trouble," Willow answered and reached down to scratch the pup's
ears.

"It certainly is," Darnell agreed, appearing at the entryway and
staring over at the two sets of twins. "Either I've been into a bad
bottle of bloodwine, or this is the latest Mathala farce you were
telling me about."

Willow nodded and plopped down onto the sofa beside Spike. Trouble
catapulted himself up to sprawl out on the other side of the redheaded
vampire, draping his front paws over her lap.

"This is Joseph Darnell," Willow told their guests. "He's my best
friend."

"Excuse me, pet?" Spike arched an eyebrow.

She giggled and planted a quick kiss on his lips, "Sorry. Second best
friend."

Darnell smiled and helped himself to an armchair as Spike waved Will
into another chair. William looked at the human version of Spike's
childe with decided interest and perched himself of the arm of her
chair.

"I can't get over it--me, living with vampires," Will confessed.

"I'm one, too, you know," Willow reminded her.

"With a soul," Will added, just to be sure.

"With a soul," Darnell reassured her. "We like her this way. She's an
absolute terror when she's soulless. Trust me. You don't want to go
there."

"You were soulless?" William asked her.

"Well, not really. I just thought I--it's a long story," Willow warned
him.

"Mathala," Will guessed.

Spike nodded and chuckled, "You should see her hunt, though."

"Shut up!" Willow laughed and looked over at William and Will. "I don't
really hunt."

"Truer words were never spoken," Joseph teased.

"So, how did you two ever get together?" Will asked. "I mean, I thought
I--or should that be you--was scared to death of Spike."

"I was, before death scared the both of us at the same time," Willow
answered. "We failed miserably at keeping Sunnydale in one piece."

"That was a long time ago, baby," Spike said softly, raising her hand
to his lips.

"Looks like you've got Sunnyhell by the balls now," William told them.
"Not that I ever would have doubted it."

Will rolled her eyes and laughed, until William's blue eyes caught the
emerald of hers, and she squeaked softly as he leaned closer to her.

"Think that's funny, luv?" he asked her.

Before offering an answer, she looked over at Willow and asked, "You
wouldn't let him bite me, would you?"

"Not unless you'd like him to," she grinned back at her.

"Oh," Will blushed yet again and turned her eyes back to William. "In
that case, yes."

"Yes, you think that's funny, or yes, you'd like me to bite you?" he
asked, a smile curling the corners of his mouth.

He chuckled as the pink stain on her cheeks darkened, and he
unconsciously dropped a cold, gentle hand onto her shoulder. Darnell
smiled to himself when the redheaded human did not pull away.

"So, Sunnyhell's back to it's normal Hellmouthy state, more or less,"
William said to Spike. "And Angel is still shagging slayers, bloody
git. Soulboy always did have questionable taste in women."

"Hey! No insulting Ceara!" Willow scolded him.

"Or Buffy!" Will said.

"Or Angel!" they both added at the same time.

Spike and Darnell laughed out loud at the tangled emotions that raced
across William's face.

"So," Will spoke to Willow over their laughter. "I'm not all skanky as
a vampire?"

"Look at her," Spike answered for his childe. "Does this creature look
in the list bit 'skanky' to you?"

"She's bloody gorgeous," William replied, though his eyes were on Will.

Darnell heaved an unnecessary sigh and pushed himself up out of the
chair.

"Hungry?" he asked Willow.

"Ravenous," she nodded. "You know what I'd really like?"

"No, and I don't want to," he answered as he walked out of the room.

"Oh, come on, Joseph!" she protested, wriggling out of Spike's arm to
take off after him.

Trouble slid off of her and landed on his feet, his eyes affixed to the
redheaded vampire as he followed her out of the room.

Darnell's anguished voice drifted back to the trio, "Willow, there are
still pumpkin seeds stuck to the ceiling from--"

"That wasn't my fault!" her raised voice replied.

"What?!?" he shouted.

"I didn't know that spoon was going to act like a catapult. I forget my
own strength sometimes!"

Will giggled and scrambled out of the chair to follow after them,
curious to see what they would get up to. Spike and William looked at
each other for a brief moment before a loud crash sounded from the
kitchen. Simultaneously, they leapt to their feet and took off out of
the room.

"Bloody hell!" Darnell moaned. "Get out of my kitchen! This room will
never survive TWO of you!"
 

Giles surveyed the other occupants in the room with interest. It was
only the second time they had all been together, and the reality of
seeing past versions of his contemporary friends was still a fresh
amazement to the watcher. His eyes drifted toward the doorway as Ceara
and Angel entered, just having returned from patrol.

"Everything's pretty quiet tonight," Ceara announced. "Word has gotten
out that there are two Spike's and two Willow's floating about. I think
the vampires are scared senseless."

"Of me?" Will asked with obvious delight. "I'm not a vampire!"

"Believe me; Willow had a way of making demons shiver in their immortal
shells even before Spike turned her," Ceara grinned.

Oz, who was standing an arm's-length away from Xander, shifted
uncomfortably from one foot to the other as he witnessed the look on
William's face as the blonde vampire's eyes traveled over the small
human. He had effectively glued his pale form to the redhead's side
since the two of them had returned from the mansion. And Will, Oz
noted, hadn't seemed to mind in the least. Oz and Will had talked for
two hours that morning and had discovered their feelings for one
another had changed since Sunnydale's former existence.

Whether it was due to their strange, new surroundings, or merely the
result of the unconscious passage of time, the fact remained that,
while they still cared for one another, they no longer loved each other
as they had before. Nevertheless, Oz was uneasy about William's overt
interest in Will. His eyes wandered to the redheaded vampire who was
seated next to Spike on the sofa, his fingers curled around her leg,
just above her knee. Willow's hand had crept around Spike's back, and
her fingers were gently toying with the blonde hair along the nape of
her sire's neck.

Oz suddenly found himself wondering if his concerns about Will and
William were unfounded. After all, he thought to himself, Spike made no
effort to conceal his obvious devotion to his childe, and Willow looked
for all the world as if she belonged nowhere else than by the Master
vampire's side. Oz reasoned to himself that, since Will and William
were an earlier version of these two vampires, it was more than likely
that those same feelings might exist between them, as well.

The werewolf looked around as the Angel from their past stepped quietly
up to him to stand just behind Oz's elbow.

"It's a little strange, isn't it, seeing them so happy together?" Angel
asked, his hushed voice unheard by everyone except Oz and Xander.

Xander looked around Oz to Angel, "A little strange? She's a souled
vampire. She's practically Mrs. Deadboy, Jr., and if she sat any closer
to him she'd actually be _in_ him. If that's your idea of a little
strange, I'd hate to hear your idea of a big strange."

Oz ignored Xander's ramblings and merely nodded as his gaze returned to
Will and William. Angel smiled as he realized where Oz's thoughts had
been.

"Spike loved this Willow before he turned her," Oz finally spoke. "Do
you suppose--"

"William and Will?" Angel asked. "I'd put money on it. You okay with
that?"

"If I have to be," he answered. "If she'd be happy."

"Look at them," the vampire replied, nodding in Spike and Willow's
direction. "Do you think William could make Will as happy as that?"

"Yes," Oz responded.

"Will doesn't seem too upset by the fact he's been lurking over her
shoulder for the past half hour," Xander admitted. "Which means she's
either comfortable with it, or she's comatose."

Angel grinned and gave Oz a reassuring pat on the shoulder before he
returned to stand beside Buffy. The blonde slayer's eyes looked
questioningly up at him, and he shook his head slightly and slipped his
hand into hers. The room remained silent for an awkward moment before
Christina took Giles' hand and pulled him up out of his chair.

"Rupert and I have business to attend to," she spoke.

"Have we?" the watcher asked her, clearly confused.

"Yes," she nodded, and her eyes swept over the others in the room. "You
know--watchery business...upstairs...in the library."

"Oh!" he replied, finally catching her meaning. "Right, yes, 'watchery'
business. We'll just be...upstairs, if anyone needs anything."

Ceara shook her head and grinned as Christina and Giles beat a hasty
path up the stairway, "I hope they're going to research the meaning of
'subtle' while they're up there."

"So, what do you think of the new Sunnydale?" Ceara's Angel asked the
old gang.

"It's...different," Buffy answered. "There really isn't anything left
of the old town, is there?"

"The school was the only thing left standing after the fire," Willow
told her. "And they tore that down when they started the rebuilding."

"I feel sort of responsible for what happened," the blonde slayer said
sadly.

"It wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for dying, Buffy," the
current Angel responded softly.

Ceara bristled at the tone of his voice and the look of compassion in
his eyes. The former Angel put an arm around Buffy, and she leaned
slightly back against him.

"It's a lot to take in," Will admitted. "Nothing's the same."

"Almost nothing," William spoke in her ear as his blue eyes darted to
the redhead beside Spike and back to the one standing just in front of
himself.

Will felt a quick, not unpleasant, shiver run down her spine, and the
vampire behind her chuckled and trailed his cold fingers up the back of
her arm.

"Take a walk with me, ducks?" he asked softly. "Let's check out this
new version of Sunnyhell in the moonlight."

She looked around at him and nodded, and his hand curled around her
elbow to guide her toward the patio door.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Buffy's clipped voice asked as William opened
the door.

"It's safe," Spike answered. "The boys have their orders."

"That's reassuring," the blonde slayer scoffed. "Considering we all
know what your idea of control is."

Willow's eyes impulsively flashed an amber warning at Buffy, but her
voice remained calm as she addressed her old friend, "Buffy, that's
unfair."

"If Spike says it's safe, it's safe," Angel promised from Ceara's side.

The blonde slayer stared in disbelief at his pronouncement, "Since
_when_ did you two start defending each other?"

"Buffy, you're still thinking history, which I can understand. But this
is now. We trust Spike," the dark vampire insisted firmly.

"Let it go, honey," the former slayer's Angel said, giving her waist a
quick squeeze.

Buffy shook her head, but remained silent as Will followed William
outside. Darnell's form immediately took their place in the doorway,
and he blinked against the brightly-lit living room.

"Willow?" he spoke.

She looked up at Spike before getting up from the sofa to walk to the
door. Darnell turned, and she followed him out onto the patio.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she saw the look of concern on the
vampire's face.

"Have you seen Trouble?"

"No, he was at the mansion with you when we left," she answered.

"No, he wasn't. He followed you outside. I didn't realize it until I
couldn't find him in the house. Elena had just returned from hunting
when you left, and she saw him trailing behind you," Joseph explained.

"Well, if he was following us, he can't be very far," Spike reasoned
from the open door where he had been listening.

Willow nodded and brought two fingers to her mouth. Darnell cringed and
clapped his hands over his ears as she blew out a shrill, ear-splitting
whistle.

"Bloody hell, baby. Give us a warning before you do that!" Spike
growled.

Joseph suddenly grabbed Willow by the arm and pulled her out of the way
as the pounding of footsteps raced toward them. Spike jumped aside as
Trouble barreled past him and into the house. The pup skidded on the
little rug Christina had thrown down in front of the door. The fringe
of the rug wrapped itself around a stand next to the doorway, and the
plant on top of it hurtled across the room, smashed into a bookcase,
and landed on the floor, scattering leaves and potting soil over the
carpet.

Trouble, carried along by his own momentum, landed against the end
table beside the sofa, and the lamp and vase of flowers sitting on top
of it crashed to the floor. The dog just missed being hit by the lamp
as he vaulted over the arm of the sofa. He stood for a moment, creating
muddy footprints on the upholstery, as his wildly-wagging tail whipped
around, sending the items on the coffee table--a TV remote, an empty
teacup, the evening newspaper, and a small, crystal dish full of
mints--sailing across the room.

Buffy, her Angel, Oz, and Xander stared at the animal with stunned
expressions as he plopped his rear end down onto the sofa and happily
pricked up his ears as the three vampires entered the room.

Spike stood behind Willow, put his arms around her waist, and rested
his chin on her head as she looked sheepishly around at the decimated
room and said, "Oops."
 

"I hope this turns out to be a better idea than I think it's going to
be," Angel said to Ceara as he took a chair next to hers at the table
in Giles' library.

"I'm not particularly crazy about the idea, either," Ceara admitted.
"But you heard what Spike said. The vampires in Sunnydale can tolerate
two of him and two Willow's, but two slayers--particularly when one of
them is Buffy--isn't sitting too well. And the fact that she decided to
do her own personal patrol after we left last night didn't help things
any."

"This town has had the protection of two slayers before," he argued.

"That was the old Sunnyhell," Spike reminded him from the other end of
the table. "Her death was what brought this town to its knees, if you
recall."

"That was _not_ her fault!" Angel snarled.

"No one's saying it is," Willow spoke softly. "But her reputation as a
slayer will probably last for eternity. I think you can understand why
the boys are nervous now that she's prowling the streets again."

"Well, that's a real ego boost," Ceara mumbled sadly.

"Honey, it's nothing against your skills as a slayer," Angel assured
her, placing a cold hand over hers. "I think what Willow is trying to
say is that you and I have an--understanding--with Spike and Willow
that Buffy and my old self don't."

"Exactly," Willow nodded. "None of us wants to see a repeat of what
happened here before, which is why the boys understand the need for us
to work together. But Buffy isn't part of the equation, and I can't see
her agreeing to become part of it, either. Her history stops before all
of ours began."

"So, what are we going to do about it?" Ceara asked. "I mean, are you
planning on asking her to leave town, or what?"

"You don't like her," Willow said. "Which, I suppose, is natural, all
things considered. But Buffy isn't unreasonable, and Sunnydale is her
home as much as it is ours. We can talk to her. Maybe persuade her
to--"

"You could at least have waited until we got here before you started
making plans for how to get rid of me," Buffy's cold voice spoke from
the doorway.

"Buffy," her Angel said from behind her as he laid his hand on her
shoulder. "Take it easy. We're all on the same side."

"I'm beginning to wonder," she admitted, looking pointedly at Willow.
"Four against two is hardly a fair fight."

"This isn't intended to be a fight," Willow told her. "Can't we just
talk about--"

"About what? The fact that I don't belong here anymore? It isn't my
fault that I am, is it?"

"If you aren't going to at least try to be reasonable, there's no point
in even trying to discuss this," Ceara interjected.

"Who the hell are you to tell me to be reasonable? This was my town
long before it was yours," the blonde slayer hissed.

"All right," Angel rose from his chair beside Ceara. "That's enough.
Sit down, both of you, and let's talk about this."

Buffy heaved an impatient sigh and threw herself down into an empty
chair. Angel stood behind her, both hands upon her shoulders and looked
over at his double.

"So, talk," she growled after a prolonged silence.

"Buffy, I know I'm not the Willow you remember, and I know it's my
fault you're having to deal with all of this. But I do have my soul,
and I do consider you my dear friend. Please--"

Buffy ran her palm over her forehead, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound
the way I do. I just keep expecting, well, I don't know what I expect,
anymore. I'll try to listen with an open mind, if you just want to back
up and start this conversation over again."

Willow smiled and relaxed back into her chair, "Thanks. Just tell me to
shut up when I've said too much."

Buffy laughed softly, and Spike shifted impatiently in his chair.
Willow dropped her hand to his thigh and squeezed gently. He reigned in
his temper and addressed himself to the former slayer.

"The boys are--nervous, with you being here. Word has it you went out
last night and dusted half a dozen of them."

"It's a Hellmouth," she shrugged. "It's what I do."

"It's what you used to do," Ceara spoke. "That's my job now."

"What? I've been relieved of my duties as a slayer? By whom? You? I
don't think so," the blonde woman snapped.

"Buffy," Angel spoke from Ceara's side. "Sunnydale isn't the town you
remember."

"As if I haven't been reminded of that often enough. It's still a--"

"I know that," he nodded. "But things work differently here, now."

"Meaning you are now in allegiance with the enemy," she retorted.

Spike snarled and rose to his feet, "We're supposed to reason with her?
Look, unless you want Sunnyhell torn to pieces again, you'll keep your
ass off the streets at night. The boys aren't going to stand for you
running around staking at will."

"Well, what does _she_ do?" Buffy responded angrily, gesturing toward
Ceara. "Ask your permission first?"

"Of course not," Angel answered calmly. "But the four of us have to
work closely to keep things in balance here. I know your aversion to
Spike is natural, but his alliance is invaluable to this town. Even
Giles understands that."

"Good for Giles. I'm surprised the council hasn't kicked him out on his
British ass," she said.

"Giles heads the council, now," Ceara's tone was dangerously even. "Our
association with Spike--and now, his childe--has the council's complete
support."

"Buffy," her Angel spoke from behind her. "I think what they're trying
to say is that the council works under a different agenda, as far as
Sunnydale goes, than it used to."

"It has to," Willow nodded. "After what happened here. There's more at
stake than just killing off vampires. Every demon in existence knows
that this Hellmouth was destroyed not so many years ago. A lot of them
would like nothing more than to see that happen again. We're never
going to rid Sunnydale of all its demons. The fact that its a Hellmouth
precludes that ever happening."

"Look, your take on this is hardly objective. You're one of those
demons, now," Buffy pointed out. "And before that, you were screwing
one of those demons."

"You stupid bitch," Spike growled. "Do you really think neither one of
us cares what happens to this town? You weren't here when it burned
into oblivion. You weren't here when Willow watched everyone she cared
about die while Sunnyhell was overrun by demons. You have no bloody
idea what she's been through, so I strongly advise you to shut your
fucking mouth."

Willow shoved back her chair and grabbed Spike by the arm as he headed
around the table.

"Oh, hell," both Angel's mumbled at the same time.

"Calm down, both of you," Ceara's Angel demanded, placing himself
between Spike and Buffy.

Spike glared at him as Willow's fingers dug into his arm, "If she
mouths off to my childe one more time, I'll rip her fucking throat
out."

"See what I mean?" Buffy arched a disdainful eyebrow.

The blonde vampire tore his arm out of Willow's grasp and shoved Angel
aside. The Angel from their past pushed Buffy behind him, shielding her
from the irate vampire. Willow grabbed for Spike's hand and tugged him
forcefully backwards, then wrapped both of her arms around one of his.

"Willow, Spike," the current Angel looked at the couple. "It might be
better if you left. Let Ceara and me talk to them."

Spike shrugged his arm out of Willow's embrace and latched onto her
waist with enough force to drive an unneeded breath from her lungs.

"Whatever. But you'd bloody well better make her understand just what
kind of shit she's going to land this town in if she doesn't--"

"I know," Angel said firmly. "Just go. Now. Ceara and I will stop by
the mansion later."
***
"That was an awful lot of shouting coming from up there," Will stated
as Spike and Willow descended to the living room. "Giles turned
absolutely chalk-white, said he was taking everyone out for dinner, and
practically pushed Oz, Xander, and Christina out the front door."

"But not you?" Willow asked.

"I--wasn't hungry," she answered, blushing faintly as she tried to
extracate her hand from William's without being noticed.

William chuckled and stubbornly increased his grip on her warm hand as
he looked up from the sofa at the two vampires, "Kicked you out, did
they?"

"More or less," Willow grinned.

"I'm glad you can find the humor in this, baby," Spike told his childe.
"Because if Angel can't make that bitch see reason--"

"I know, Spike. He will. He has to," she replied, then looked back at
Will. "We're going back to the mansion. Want to come along?"

Will's hopeful green eyes met William's, and he nodded and pulled her
up with him as he rose to his feet. They led the way to the front door,
and Willow stopped to run her cool fingers through Spike's hair.

"It'll work out," she promised him. "Angel will get through to her."

He smiled as her lips found his, and they shared a brief kiss. Putting
his arm firmly around her, they followed Will and William out of the
house.
 
 
 

"What do you think Angel's chances are of getting through to Buffy?"
Willow asked as she reached for the mug of blood Darnell handed to her.

"Which Angel?" Will responded from the armchair across from the sofa.
"And why ask me? You know her as well as I do."

"Either Angel, or both. I'm afraid I don't know Buffy as well as I once
did. Too much has changed," the vampire's words held a note of sadness.

"Maybe. Buffy can be a very understanding person, though. Remember?"

"I remember," Willow nodded. "I'm beginning to understand how selfish
of me it was to want you all back here. I didn't think about how all
these changes would affect the old gang."

"Oh, come on! We're pretty adaptable. Besides, as weird as it is to see
myself running around as a vampire, I'm glad I'm here. Most of the
changes are pretty cool," Will smiled. "Where are Spike and William,
anyway?"

Willow grinned at her human counterpart's sideways step from good
changes to William's whereabouts.

"Hunting," she answered.

"Oh, yeah," Will looked mildly uncomfortable, but quickly shook it off.
"But you don't."

"I'm souled," the vampire reminded her, raising the mug and taking a
long swallow.

"Because Spike wanted you to be. That's pretty incredible!"

"_He's_ pretty incredible," Willow answered. "I don't think I would
have made it through the destruction of this town with my sanity intact
if it weren't for him."

"Still, he's no Angel," Will pointed out.

"Would we want him to be?" Willow looked pointedly at her twin. "I love
Angel, but I don't want him that way--not the way I want Spike."

Spike and William had returned to the mansion, and Willow's sire put
his hand on his twin's shoulder, halting him, as he heard Willow's
voice speak his name from inside the living room.

"He loved you before you were turned?" Will's question drifted out to
them.

"Long before," Willow nodded. "I lived here with him even when I was
still human, which really wasn't all that long ago."

"Giles told me Spike had to turn you."

Willow drained the blood from the mug before responding, "We'd always
planned on it at some point, just not quite so soon. I was attacked one
night in the park a few months ago. I was dying--"

"And he couldn't loose you," Will smiled. "And then he got your soul
back."

"One of the nicest things he's ever done for me, though I certainly
wouldn't have said so at the time," Willow grinned.

"He loves you," Will murmured, her thoughts turning inward. "He's just
like William, isn't he?"

"Just like, except for a few year's worth of memories."

"And I'm just like you," Will added. "Except for a few year's worth of
memories, a set of fangs, and no heartbeat."

"Uh huh," the vampire laughed softly, following the human's thoughts.

"Huh," Will breathed.

A grin curled William's lips as he heard her soft, slightly pleased,
reaction. At that moment, Trouble trotted into the living room and
across to the French doors. He leapt over the threshold and latched
onto the hem of Spike's duster. The vampire shook his head as the pup
began to snarl in a one-sided game of tug-of-war with the coat. Spike
stepped inside, pulling Trouble in with him, and reached down to scoop
up the pup.

"How long have you two been standing out there?" Willow shot him an
accusatory look.

"Long enough," he grinned.

William chuckled as Will blushed and dropped her gaze to her hands.
Spike sat down close to Willow on the sofa, and Trouble wriggled out of
his arms, jumped off the sofa, and took off out the terrace doors.
Willow laced her fingers though her sire's and grinned as William put a
hand on Will's shoulder.

"It's a beautiful night out there," Willow spoke, glancing back at the
terrace. "The gardens are pretty in the moonlight."

William nodded and pulled Will up out of the chair. His hand found
hers, and he led her back outside.

"Very subtle, pet," Spike grinned.

"What are you complaining about? I got us alone, didn't I?" her emerald
eyes sparkled up at him.

"That you did," he murmured, lowering his mouth to capture her lips.
***
"Buffy?" her Angel's soft voice asked.

She removed her hand from the doorknob and turned as he descended the
steps from behind her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Out. Just--out. I need to think," she answered.

He placed his hands on her waist and looked down into her tired eyes.

"I'm all right," she smiled, anticipating his concern. "I understand
everything you and--this Angel--told me. It's just really weird, you
know? Being back in Sunnydale and discovering it isn't really Sunnydale
at all. Not our Sunnydale."

"I know," he nodded. "But Angel is right. We can't do things here the
way we used to. There's too much at stake."

"I know. I really do. I'm just going for a walk to kind of clear my
head. I promise, no slaying--of anything."

He kissed her softly and stepped back as she opened the door and left
the house.

The night air was pleasantly warm, and she walked slowly along the
deserted sidewalks, careful to keep well out of the places she figured
any vampires might be lurking. Shaking off the dull ache in her heart
brought on by the longing for her old town, the town that was her home,
she headed down the streets to the mansion on the hill.
***
Buffy's mouth dropped open as her eyes scanned the large house from
across the expansive grounds. This mansion was nothing like the one her
Angel had once occupied. The lush lawns were landscaped with beautiful
flower beds, and the delicate scent of fragrant roses drifted through
the air.

The house itself was obviously well-lived in and well-cared for. Lights
glimmered through the windows along the ground-level story. Situated
well away from the left end of the house, the blonde slayer could just
make out the dark shape of a large out-building built at the very edge
of the estate. Her senses prickled with the realization that the
grounds were crawling with vampires, and she wondered how many more
out-buildings there must be to house them all.

She took a deep breath and walked across the lawn toward the set of
open French doors. Two shadows moved through a darkened flower bed just
off the terrace. Buffy moved quickly toward the door, trying to avoid
any confrontation with Spike's boys, when a flash of familiar red hair
caught her eyes. The taller figure, whom Buffy immediately recognized
to be William, bent toward Will and whispered something close to her
ear.

The blonde slayer took a quiet breath and opened her mouth to call out
to her friend. Then, thinking better of it, she turned back to the door
and quickly stepped inside.

From over the young redhead's shoulder, William grinned to himself as
he watched Buffy's reaction and hasty escape. Will stepped back a pace,
and looked questioningly up at the smug expression on his face.

"Hold still," he said softly.

"Why?" she asked nervously as her body suddenly tensed.

"Because," he smiled and stepped into her, curling an arm around her
waist and brushing his lips over hers.

"Oh," she breathed shakily against his mouth. "You had me worried for a
minute. I thought maybe there was a vampire nearby."

"There is," he chuckled and pulled her into a hard kiss.

After a moment of stunned inaction, he felt Will relax in his embrace.
His tongue teased her lips until they parted slightly, allowing him
entrance into the warm cavern of her mouth. She clutched his shoulders
as he deepened the kiss, playing gently with her tongue, exploring the
sweetness of her mouth. When he at last pulled away, she was slightly
breathless as she forced her eyes to meet his.

"There's also a slayer in the house, of the blonde variety," he told
her with a sly grin.

"What?!?" she gasped, trying futilely to wriggle out of his arms. "Why
didn't you say so? Goddess, she didn't see us, did she?"

"I made sure of it," he laughed.

Her eyes flashed up at him, "You made--"

She smacked her hand against his chest and pushed herself away from
him. William laughed out loud and grabbed her hand, letting her drag
him back inside.

"Buffy," Will spoke as she hurried through the doors. "I didn't see
you--"

"I noticed," she nodded, giving William a cold stare.
"I came to talk to Willow. I didn't know you two would be here."

"Oh, well, we can leave. I mean, if you came to talk to Willow, we
probably shouldn't be here, because then you wouldn't be alone, which
would pretty much defeat the whole purpose. Yeah. So we should
probably, um, leave," Will babbled.

Darnell, who had joined Willow and Spike when Buffy appeared, shared an
amused grin with his Master as they watched the flustered redhead.

"It's okay, Will. I've already had a long talk with Angel and Ceara
and...uh...Angel. So, it's your turn now, anyway," Buffy replied.

"Okay," she nodded.

William lowered himself onto the other end of the sofa and pulled Will
down beside him, and Buffy scowled slightly as she looked at the two
sets of twins.

"Get over it, slayer," Spike advised her and wrapped an arm around his
lover.

Willow saw the flash of annoyance pass through Buffy's eyes, and she
nuzzled her mouth close to Spike's ear and whispered, "Please, try to
be nice. For me."

He turned his head to plant a soft kiss on her lips and curled his free
hand around hers, drawing it over to rest on his lap.

Buffy found herself oddly moved by the display of affection between the
childe and her sire and forced herself to relax back into the chair.

"I'm sorry about that fight back at Giles' house, and about going out
last night to patrol on my own," she began in a soft voice. "Your Angel
filled me in on everything that's happened here since I left. He went
into great detail, actually. Two hours worth of great detail. When the
hell did he learn to talk so much?"

Willow chuckled, "Sunnydale isn't the only thing that's changed."

"Obviously," she smiled. "Anyway, I understand now where you're coming
from. Unfortunately, I think it might be too late."

"Why?" Willow asked.

"Ceara really has done one hell of a job here, hasn't she? Too bad I
did my best to make her loathe me before I got the chance to tell her
that," Buffy grimaced.

"I have a feeling our slayer understands better than you think she
does," Darnell assured her.

Buffy looked over at him, obviously surprised at his words of
encouragement.

His eyes sparkled playfully as he explained, "After all, if she's still
talking to Willow after everything she's put her through--"

"Hey!" Willow protested loudly. "Listen, buster, how would you like it
if I told you I'm suddenly in the mood for pizza? _Your_ pizza!"

"He makes pizza?" Will asked curiously.

Joseph's dark blue eyes widened and he shook his head, "No, Willow! You
are positively, absolutely, NOT going into that kitchen and--"

"With extra cheese and LOTS of pepperoni!" she added. "You do still
like pepperoni, don't you Will?"

"Love it," the redhead beside William grinned.

"Oh, Willow," Joseph groaned. "Come on! You can't be serious."

"All right, then. Come on, Will. We'll make it ourselves," she
declared, pushing herself up off the sofa and darting out through the
entryway.

"Like bloody hell you will!" Darnell shouted, running out after her.
 
 
 
 
 

Xander appeared at the open patio door just in time to
see Spike pull Willow into a long kiss before leaving
her at the edge of Giles' patio. The young man waited
until the vampire had vanished into the darkness
before taking a step outside.

"Maybe it's something in the water. It can't be the
air because you don't breathe. Then again, you used
to, so maybe--"

"Xander, what are you talking about?" Willow grinned.

"Redheads and vampires--blonde vampires in
particular," he answered. "First, you and Spike. Now,
Will and William."

"We belong together," she shrugged.

"It's unnatural," he told her.

"And werewolves and slayers aren't?" she asked.

"Okay, forget that," he conceded. "I wonder what would
have happened if Oz hadn't died back then, though."

"Will's Oz isn't dead," she pointed out.

"No, but he was. Their feelings for each other are
different now from what they were. And her feelings
for William are _definitely_ different."

"Different," she repeated. "In a bad way?"

"Do I have to answer that?" he grimaced uncomfortably.

Willow smiled and reached for his hand, "No, you
don't. It's easy to forget that you've all been gone a
long time, and what I am now is unfamiliar to you."

"I still recognize you--inside there--though," he
replied.

"I'm glad," she nodded.

"And after what you went through, I guess I can
understand how you ended up with Spike," he stopped as
if considering his own words. "Well, actually, I
can't."

She laughed and linked her arm through his as they
went back inside.

"But what really confuses me is how Will can be with
William," he continued.

"Is she?" she asked hopefully. "With him?"

"Well, not 'with' him, just--with him. At least, I
don't think so."

"Oh," she said. "Well, that'll change soon enough, I
expect."

"Will is more like Willow than we'd like to admit,"
Oz's voice joined the conversation.

Willow turned toward the entryway to smile at him,
"She _is_ me, or was."

"Or will be," he added. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," she nodded.

"Why did you let him turn you?"

"Because I wanted to be with him. I didn't want to die
and leave him behind," she answered. "Spike and I are
good together, Oz."

"I know. I think that's what bothers me," he
confessed. "We would never have been like that, would
we?"

Her silence was confirmation enough for the werewolf.

"And now, Will," he went on.

"You don't love her the way you once did," she told
him.

"No, but I care."

"So does she! So do I," Willow professed. "He'll make
her happy, Oz."

"Yes," he nodded. "I know. And he'll turn her one day,
just like Spike turned you, if we stay here."

"If?" Willow asked in alarm.

"Do we have that option? Or do we just pop back out of
existence some day?"

"You stay, if that's what you want," she told him. "I
don't understand how Mathala brought you here, but she
did, and you're real.

Xander and Oz exchanged a glance that did not go
unnoticed by the redheaded vampire.

"What?" she asked.

"We want to stay," Xander told her.

"But not here," Oz added. "Not in Sunnydale. Things
are too different here, now. I can't speak for the
others, but we don't feel like we belong here
anymore."

"You're leaving? When? Where will you go?"

"In a couple of days. Maybe the east coast, New York
City," the werewolf answered.

"Oh," Willow's voice was laden with sadness as she
dropped down onto the sofa.

Oz and Xander sat down on either side of her.

"This isn't our home anymore, Willow," Oz explained.
"Everything we knew is gone. Even the people we
knew--you, Giles, Angel--have all changed."

"But that doesn't mean--"

"Yes, it does. You had the chance to adjust right
along with all the changes. We've been dropped into
the middle of them. That isn't easy."

"If you'd just give it some time--"

"We've been here almost two weeks," Xander reminded
her.

"Come on, guys! Two weeks isn't that long!" she
protested.

"It's long enough to watch Will and William become
attached at the lips," Xander argued. "It's long
enough for Buffy to realize this isn't her territory
anymore."

"But it's too soon! I just got you back!"

"We'll still be here. We'll talk and write," Oz
promised. "We just can't live here."

"You've really made up your minds about this, haven't
you?" she looked from one to the other.

"Yes," Oz answered. "Giles has offered to give us
enough money to get along on for awhile. We'll be
leaving the day after tomorrow."

"I don't know if I'm ready to lose you both again,"
she said unhappily.

"You aren't losing us. I promise we'll keep in touch,"
Oz responded.

He took her hand and held it firmly for a long moment
before glancing over at Xander. They stood, and
Willow's eyes dropped to her now empty hand as they
left the room. Spike watched them exit before he
entered the room. He went to the sofa and sat down
next to her.

"They're leaving," she said softly.

"I know," he nodded and pulled her into his arms.

"Was I wrong to bring them back?" she asked, nestling
her head against his chest.

"What do you think?"

She thought about it for a moment before answering,
"No. I'm glad they're back, and I think they are, too.
It's just--hard."

He tilted her head and placed a long gentle kiss on
her lips. Her arms went around his neck, and his lips
brushed over her cheek to rest near her ear.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she answered.

He held her tight to him as she dropped her head to
his shoulder and wept silent, red tears.
 
 
 

"William was looking for you," Will said to Spike as
the vampire stepped out onto the terrace.

"I just talked to him," he nodded.

"So, what do you think? Is it a bad idea?"

"No, not bad. I'm not sure how Willow is going to
react, though," he answered and sat down next to her
on the bench. "You're so much like she was."

"I _am_ what she was," Will grinned. "Do you miss
this--her human existence?"

"It's still there, inside of her, which is why I
wanted her to have her soul after I turned her. It's
what makes her the person she is."

"I think it's incredible that you fell in love with
her. I never would have expected it--before. I mean,
you were so--inhuman. Well, of course you
were--are--you're a vampire, but she was so different
from you. And then to turn her and give her soul back.
That isn't a bad thing, though, because an unsouled me
would be weird, but you were so--well----evil. Pretty
much," she gave him an uneasy, sideways glance. "I'll
just shut up now before you decide to bite me."

He laughed and put his hand on her arm, "I'll try to
keep my fangs in my head, pet."

"Oh, good. That's better than having them in my neck,"
she sighed.

"Don't be so sure," his eyes glimmered mischievously.
"Anyway, to be honest, I never gave Willow much
thought--aside from the obvious getting her alone and
naked thing--before Sunnyhell went crazy when the
slayer died. But she was just amazing when the
Hellmouth went psycho. She's a hell of a fighter. What
happened between us was inevitable. We belong
together."

"I can see that," Will agreed. "That's what William
says about us."

"He's right," Spike told her. "You two are what we
were. You could be what we are now, if that's what you
want."

"I think it is," she replied softly. "Everything is so
different here than it used to be, but William, I
don't know, he just feels like--home."

Spike stared at her for a moment before reaching out
to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

She blushed and looked down at her hands in her lap,
"That sounded crazy, didn't it?"

"No," he shook his head. "That sounded like my Willow.
She's said pretty much the same thing to me."

She looked over at him with a shy smile, and Spike
leaned closer, nuzzling the warm skin of her cheek.
Her heart beating softly in her chest and the sound of
her blood coursing through her body brought back a
thousand memories in one swift moment. The vampire
brushed his lips over hers, kissing her softly.

Willow appeared at the door and smiled at the gentle
embrace between her sire and her former self. Trouble,
who had padded along behind her and stopped at her
feet, was having none of it, however. He scooted out
the door and landed with a heavy thud in the blonde
vampire's lap. Spike chuckled as the animal planted
himself between the vampire and the redheaded human.
He looked from the pup to his childe and reached out
his hand to her. Willow went to him and clasped it in
hers, and he stood and drew her into his arms, holding
her tight to him. Reassured that all was right in his
furry world, Trouble took off to explore the dark
gardens.

Will watched the two vampires for a moment before she
rose from the bench, "I think I'll go find William."

"He's right here, luv," Spike's twin spoke from the
edge of the terrace.

Willow smiled against her sire's chest as William
pulled Will close to him and drew her mouth to his in
a lingering kiss.

"Do you miss that?" she whispered softly to Spike.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her
forehead, "Baby, we still have that and a hell of a
lot more."

"We do," she agreed happily. "Are they staying here
with us?"

William pulled Will to his side and answered, "We're
leaving for Chicago tomorrow."

"Chicago! Why?" she asked.

"Because it's a Hellmouth, and from what Spike tells
me, it could do with a Master," he grinned. "And you
bloody well don't need another one here."

"But the four of us could--"

"Sweetheart," Spike cut short her protest. "They need
a chance to find what we have. They'll be back."

"Will you?" she asked her double.

"Promise," Will nodded. "There's a lot I can learn
from you."

"He can teach you everything you don't already know,"
Willow said looking from her twin to William.

"Damned straight," William grinned.

Willow snorted and looked up at Spike, "He is just
like you."
 
 

"I guess it's our turn, isn't it?" Buffy said softly
as her Angel reached for her hand.

From Giles' sofa, Willow's eyes snapped to the blonde
slayer as Ceara asked, "Your turn?"

"All the others have gone," she nodded. "Oz called
this morning to let us know he and Xander made it
safely to New York City. Will and William have taken
off for another Hellmouth."

Willow couldn't help grinning at the puzzled
expression that accompanied Buffy's last statement.
The former slayer caught her amused look and smiled
softly in response.

"He really will watch out for her," the redheaded
vampire assured her.

"As strange as that seems, I believe it," Buffy
answered before returning to her original thoughts.
"Anyway, I guess Angel and I should--"

"You don't have to," Ceara interrupted.

"I think we do," the old Angel told her. "You admitted
just last night that the vampire activity here has
become more--erratic--since we arrived."

"It's me," Buffy added. "They don't trust us to follow
the same path as the two of you. As much as I love
you, Willow--and I do--I can't imagine myself working
with a Master vampire and his childe. This isn't my
world. The rules here have changed, and I don't know
how to play."

"You could learn," Willow told her.

Buffy's gentle eyes stared silently over at her for a
moment.

"You don't want to," the redhead's reluctant
concession was a statement, not an accusation.

"No," the young blonde confirmed. "I'd never be
happy."

"Where will you go, then?" Ceara's Angel asked.

"Giles offered to set me up in London, in a position
with the council," Buffy told him.

Willow started at the low snarl that rumbled
unconsciously in her sire's chest.

"Don't worry," Buffy's Angel spoke. "She didn't accept
the offer."

"He didn't mean it like that!" Willow assured her old
friends.

"Willow, he's in game face!" Buffy argued with a wide
grin. "Of course he meant it like 'that!'"

"Oh, Spike!" Willow scolded. "You could at least try
to--"

He silenced her with a look, "Pet, there's no way in
hell I'm cooperating with the council if she's a
member. You know I'd have my fangs stuck in her neck
the first time she tried to interfere with our plans."

"Who says she would?"

"I do," Buffy answered. "Willow, I can't function like
this. I kill vampires--soulless ones, anyway. It's
what I do, what I am. It just wouldn't work."

"Then, you're leaving, too?" she asked forlornly. "I
brought you all back here just to lose you all over
again?"

"What were you hoping for?" the old Angel asked. "This
isn't our world, Willow. That world was extinguished
in the flames of this town."

She looked down at her sire's hand which had curled
itself around hers, "Are you sorry I brought you
back?"

"No," the former slayer answered. "I wouldn't have
missed the chance to see this--to see you--again.
There's still so much of my old best friend in you. I
can even admit that I'm grateful to Spike for allowing
that part of you to remain. It's probably the most
decent thing he's ever done."

"It's probably the only decent thing I've ever done,"
Spike snorted. "And the most selfish."

"And you, of all people, would find a way to wrap both
up into one," Buffy's Angel laughed.

"So, where will you go?" Ceara asked them.

"Angel and I talked have already spoken to Giles about
this," Buffy said, looking at each of them in turn
before her eyes settled on her old friend. "Willow, we
want you to send us back."

"Back?" Willow echoed.

She nodded, "Yes. You don't realize this--at least, I
don't think you do--but we can be together there,
Angel and I."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know if I can explain it so you'll
understand," Buffy replied. "Angel--my Angel--never
died. You just brought back his former self. You
haven't spoken with Mathala recently, have you?"

"Not since I asked her to bring all of you here,"
Willow answered. "Why?"

"Giles did some research. Since my Angel isn't
technically dead, Mathala can bring him over to her
realm."

"She's a demon!" Ceara reminded her. "Why would your
Angel want to--"

"She's a benevolent demon," Buffy replied. "Her realm
isn't a dark one. If she brings Angel into her realm,
the demon inside of him will take on the same
benevolence. He'll never be in danger of losing his
soul. He'll never revert to Angelus again."

"But we can do that right here. Giles has access to
the restoration spell," Willow informed her.

"Willow, listen to me. We don't want to stay here. We
love you, and we've loved being here with you, but we
can't stay here and be happy," the old Angel insisted.

"You're Mathala's Master, now," Buffy continued before
Willow could protest. "If you ask her, she can bring
my Angel into her realm, and he can take me with him.
We can be together--really together--forever. Just the
way you and Spike are. We can share all the things we
couldn't share before. Angel's soul in that realm will
be permanent. We'll never lose each other."

"Giles is sure about that?" Willow asked.

"Talk to Mathala," Buffy nodded. "She'll confirm it.
It's what we want, Willow, more than anything. Please
give this to us."

Red tears welled up in the vampire's eyes, but she
nodded and stood up, her hand still clasped tightly in
Spike's, "Give me a few minutes."

The two slayers and their Angel's watched in silence
as Spike followed Willow out the patio doors. Once
alone, she stepped into his arms, and he placed a kiss
on her head as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You have to let them go, baby," he told her. "As hard
as it is for you, Sunnyhell can't survive if she
stays. At least you know they'll be happy."

She nodded against his chest and softly summoned
Mathala. The little demon appeared amidst a flash of
green haze and waited patiently for her Master to
speak.

"Is it true?" Willow asked. "Can you take the former
Angel and Buffy back to your realm?"

"If you wish it," Mathala answered.

"And they'll be happy and safe?"

"They'll have everything they desire. All demons in my
realm are benevolent. No harm will come to either of
them."

"What about Angel's demon?" Spike asked Mathala.

"It will be transformed once it enters my world. No
evil exists in my realm. Therefore, the evil side of
his demon will be banished to hell for eternity, but
only that side. The side that is Angel will remain
with us."

"But Buffy isn't a demon," Willow said.

"She loves one," Mathala explained. "And he loves her.
That love will grant her passage to be where he is."

Willow looked up at Spike, silently pleading for a way
to avoid the request.

"It's what they want, luv," he reminded her. "You
didn't know when you brought them back that they could
end up being together forever. Maybe that alone was
reason enough to bring them here in the first place."

"But I--"

"Would you want someone to deny us the possibility of
being together for eternity?" he asked.

"No," she whispered, running her fingers through his
hair.

He kissed her softly, and she pulled away and looked
over at Mathala, "Do it, but let me say goodbye
first."

The demon nodded, and Spike tucked his arm around his
lover's waist as she turned back toward the door. She
left her sire's side and walked directly to Buffy,
putting her arms around her and hugging her.

"I love you, Buffy," she whispered.

"I love you, too," the former slayer answered.

Angel took his slayer's place, holding Willow tightly
for a long moment before lowering his mouth to her
ear, "Thank you, Willow."

She smiled up at him, and he kissed her softly before
stepping back.

"Take care, you guys," Buffy said to Ceara and her
Angel. "Don't let the vamps get off too easily."

"We'll keep them in line," Ceara smiled.

The blonde slayer took the current Angel's hand and
squeezed it. He pulled her against him and placed a
kiss on her forehead.

"I'm glad you found her," Buffy told him.

"I'm glad I found you first. I couldn't have loved her
the way I do if you hadn't taught me how," he smiled.

She reached up and kissed him before stepping back to
her Angel's side. The couple looked over at Willow,
and Buffy nodded.

"Never forget," the blonde slayer spoke as Mathala
suddenly appeared, encompassing Buffy and her Angel
within her green haze.

"Never," Willow promised.

The green light intensified for the briefest of
seconds before Mathala vanished, taking Buffy and her
Angel with her.

Willow turned away from the now empty spot, and
Spike's strong arms enveloped her.

End

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