PART 1
"Buffy!" Giles gasped and jumped up out of his chair as the young
slayer entered the sitting room, followed closely by Angelus. "Are you
all right? What’s hap--"

"It’s nothing, Daddy," she giggled, swiping at the thick mud that
spattered her cheek. "I fell in a mud puddle."

She took a step toward him only to find herself suddenly tripping over
the long, sodden skirts that had wrapped themselves around her ankles.
Angelus reached out with a quick hand and caught hold of her before she
tumbled to the floor.

"Only fell?" Giles quipped as the dark vampire wrapped a supportive arm
around the trim blonde’s waist. "It looks as though you may have gone
for a swim."

She laughed and shook her head, "I staked three tonight. I really think
that I’m doing much better."

"She’s learning quickly," her companion agreed. "You would have been
proud of her."

"No doubt," the watcher grinned fondly at his daughter.

"Is Willow not with you?" she inquired. "I was hoping to have a nice
chat with her this evening."

Giles’ expression sobered, "She went out for a stroll around the
gardens just after you left. I believe I heard her return a few minutes
ago. She must have gone directly upstairs."

"I’m worried about her," Buffy said sadly and looked up at Angelus.
"She doesn’t seem to be recovering very quickly, doesn’t she?"

The vampire shook his head, "It’s only been a fortnight, Buffy. She’ll
need some time to--"

"Of course," she nodded. "I’m going to go up to her now. Perhaps she’d
welcome some company."

"Yes, well, you might consider taking a quick bath first," her father
suggested, gesturing at her heavily soiled clothing.

"An excellent idea," she agreed, grinning once more. "Thanking you for
being such a wonderful help tonight, Angelus."

"The pleasure was mine," he smiled and raised her hand to his lips.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy rapped softly on the closed bedroom door before opening it to
peek around, "Will? Am I disturbing you?"

"No," the redhead replied from her place on the bed. "I was only
reading."

The slayer nodded and let herself in, closing the door behind her
before crossing to sit on the edge of the bed, "It is an interesting
book?"

"Not very," Willow answered with a little shrug and set the book aside.
"It passes the time."

"Angelus and I thought we would dine out tomorrow evening. Would you
like to join us?"

"I hardly think you require my presence. I thought I’d broken you of
the nasty habit of engaging a chaperone," the redhead grinned.

"It isn’t that. We’d enjoy your company."

"I’m sure you’re father would like to--"

Buffy shook her head, "Father is too preoccupied with council business
to bother himself with unimportant matters such as eating. You’ve
hardly stepped foot outside of this house since we arrived here. You’ve
no idea how many handsome and eligible young suitors there are--"

"Truly, Buffy, I’m not interested in--

The slayer grimaced. "I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me. But please
say you’ll join us. Angelus would like that as much as I would. Do you
remember how you helped me when I needed a pleasant distraction from my
problems? Please allow me to return that kindness."

"In hindsight, I’m not sure we can call that a kindness, can we?"
Willow smiled. "Although, Angelus being the end result doesn’t seem
such a bad thing, after all."

Buffy sighed and reached for her friend’s hand, "You’ve been much too
quiet, Willow. And you spend far too much time on your own."

"And the three of you spend far too much time worrying about me," the
redhead responded. "I’m going to be fine. I promise."

"But you miss him terribly, don’t you?" the slayer asked softly.

"I’ve never known anything that hurt this badly," she admitted a bit
curtly. "But no one forced me to board that ship with you. I left
London willingly, and I have to muddle my way through all of this on my
own, Buffy. Though I know you would like to, there isn’t anything that
any of you can do for me. And to be honest, talking does very little to
help."

Slightly stung by her friend’s sharpness, the young blonde found
herself at a loss to respond and glanced down at her hands
uncomfortably. Willow felt an immediate stab of remorse, and she blew
out a soft breath and reached for Buffy’s hand.

"I’m sorry. Apparently, I seem to have packed my capacity for bluntness
in my suitcase and dragged it right along with me," the redhead smiled.
"I know you mean well, and I love you for it. But I’d much rather hear
how your evening transpired."

Willow was relieved when Buffy’s countenance immediately brightened,
and she began an animated discourse of her adventures with Angelus and
the vampires they had defeated while on patrol that night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike climbed out of the hansom cab, slamming the door closed behind
him, and all but flung the fare up to the cabby before storming across
the street. Upon disembarking from the ship that had sailed into the
harbor from London three nights ago, he had determined to maintain a
low profile. it wouldn’t do for his sire to discover that the blonde
vampire had followed after his redhead so quickly. His reputation as
Angelus’ childe, and as a ruthless and cunning master in his own right,
was well known, even so many miles from his homeland, a fact which made
remaining inconspicuous a rather difficult undertaking. However, it was
imperative that he keep his presence from his sire until he could
locate
Rupert and Belinda Giles, with whom he was certain he would also find
Willow.

He had been searching for the slayer and her watcher’s home since his
first night in the city, but had met with no success, and Spike was
fast losing patience. Except for feeding, he had chosen to keep his
distance from the human element here, deciding instead to obtain
information from his own kind. It had been an easy matter to locate the
larger lairs straightaway, but he had nearly given himself away in the
process. It hadn’t taken long for the older vampires to realize who he
was. When one of the fledglings had foolishly uttered the blonde
vampire’s name aloud, he had latched onto the young minion and ripped
out his throat. The other vampires had quickly agreed that, no, this
was not Spike. Indeed, they had never laid eyes upon Angelus’ infamous
childe, and that he certainly was not dwelling in Boston.

That lapse in judgment having been effectively rectified, Spike was
astounded to learn that none of the vampires he questioned had any
knowledge of Buffy’s presence in the city. He was flabbergasted at the
thought that they could be ignorant to the fact that the slayer was
dwelling in their own territory. Neither could he believe that she
would be anywhere else but on the Hellmouth to which her duty called
her. She and her adopted father must be living here, somewhere, but
Spike now found himself at a maddening loss.

As the blonde vampire stalked toward a crowded pub at the end of the
street, he was stopped by a tentative hand on his shoulder. With a
conscious effort to keep his demon hidden, he whirled around and looked
down at the short, gangly male who was standing behind him. Spike
recognized him as one of the minions from one of the lairs he had
visited, and he glanced around quickly to see who might be watching
them.

"I’m alone Sp--sir," the young vampire stammered softly. "My master
sent me to find you--"

Spike grabbed the fledgling’s arm and hauled him into the shadows of
the buildings along the street, "You have information for me?"

He nodded and kept his voice low, "Several vampires were staked in a
cemetery only a few hours ago. Two of them managed to escape. They said
it was a young blonde woman and a tall, dark haired *vampire*--helping
her, sir!"

"Which cemetery?" Spike hissed.

"Holyhood, sir, in Brookline."

The blonde vampire’s eyebrows rose at this news. He hadn’t even
considered the possibility that the watcher may have taken an estate
outside of Boston proper.

"It isn’t far from here," the fledgling continued. "Is this the slayer
of whom you spoke? The master sent me in his carriage and instructed me
to take you there, if you wish."

"It is, and I do," Spike answered.

"It’s this way," the minion informed him and spun on his heel to start
off down the sidewalk toward a carriage that was waiting a few feet
away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike could still sense the fleeting presence of the slayer as the
minion’s quick footsteps followed behind him through the dark cemetery.
Aside from the tingling sensation that prickled along his spine, there
was no other evidence of the slayer having been here. He stopped and
turned around to scowl down at the young vampire.

"Did the two who escaped see in which direction the slayer went?"

"No, sir," he shook his head. "They fled before she had finished
fighting with the others. They did say there was no carriage on the
street, so she must have come here on foot. She can’t live very far
from here. Shall I assist in your search?"

"No, that won’t be necessary. I will need transport, however."

"My master wishes you to make use of his carriage and driver for as
long as you require their services. I can find my own way back to the
city, if there’s nothing more you need from me."

"Thank you. Inform your master that his territory will remain strictly
his. I’m here for a specific purpose. I have no desire to usurp his
authority over his own minions. With any luck, I won’t even be in
Boston for any great length of time."

"Yes, sir," the minion nodded.

He followed Spike back out to the street and looked on in awed
reverence as the older vampire barked his orders to the driver. Spike
climbed into the carriage, and it pulled away from the curb.
 
 

PART 2
The carriage had been traveling slowly along the gas lit street for
nearly a half an hour when Spike caught sight of two men walking just
ahead. He called out to the driver, who reigned the horse to a halt,
and the blonde vampire swung open the door and leapt out to hurry after
the two men. One of them whirled around, amber eyes flashing a silent
threat, and Spike allowed his human face to slide away. The stranger
immediately took a step back, stumbling into his companion.

"Spike," he whispered, his voice trembling slightly.

"Damn it," the blonde vampire snarled. "How the bloody hell do you know
who I am? It isn’t supposed to be general knowledge."

"It isn’t," the second vampire assured him. "Not to the human element,
at any rate. But word of your presence here is beginning to spread
amongst our own kind."

"Are you seeking the slayer?" the other asked hopefully.

"You know of her presence here?" Spike inquired.

"I knew the vampires who were killed in the cemetery tonight," he
answered. "They were not fledglings. It would have taken a formidable
opponent to defeat them. It must have been her. No other human would
have had the skills necessary to have taken them on alone and destroyed
them."

"She wasn’t alone," the blonde vampire informed him. "Have you located
her?"

"There’s a large estate on Beacon Street that was purchased recently.
That’s where we’re headed," he explained. "We can take you there, if
you’d--"

"Yes," Spike nodded and gestured toward the waiting carriage.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike stood on the dark sidewalk, staring across the street at the tall
looming mansion. The two minions beside him were visibly tense, their
eyes traveling uneasily from the house to the blonde vampire and back
again. Spike, too, could feel the slayer’s presence beyond the walls of
the large structure, but more importantly, he could sense the unique
essence of his beautiful redhead.

"Shall we fetch the others from our lair?" the first minion offered.

"For what purpose?" Spike questioned him. "They cannot get into that
house, and even if she were to come outside, considering what occurred
back in that cemetery, what do you suppose would be the result of such
a confrontation?"

The second vampire, who had no desire whatsoever to find himself a
lifeless pile of ashes, shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the
other, "What do you propose that we do then?"

"I propose that you leave her to me. This slayer is not like the other
who made infrequent visits to this Hellmouth," Spike promised. "Aside
from the fact that this one has set up permanent residence here, she
also as two very capable allies."

"Then what makes you so certain that *you* can destroy her?" the first
minion asked.

Spike grinned coldly, "There are all sorts of destruction, wouldn’t you
agree? I may not be able to rid you of her, but I can make her life
bloody hell."

His companions obviously liked that idea, and nodded in agreement.

"We’ll leave her to you, then," the first remarked. "And should you
require our assistance, in any capacity, you’ve only to find us."

He nodded, "I’ll keep it in mind. One other thing, there’s a young
redhead who is dwelling here with the slayer and her watcher. Keep your
distance from her. She’s mine. I suggest you pass that word of caution
along."

"As you wish," the minion answered. "Is there anything else we can do
for you this evening?"

Spike shook his head, his gaze still pinned on the house before him,
"You’ve done well; I won’t forget it. If I should need anything, I’ll
find you."

He waited as the two vampires turned and walked away; then he crossed
the street to stand in front of the mansion. His eyes traveled over
each window in turn, stopping at last on a second story window, where a
light softly illuminated the room from within. He crept to a tree that
shaded that side of the house and leapt up, grabbing hold of a thick,
sturdy branch and pulling himself up. He deftly moved up through the
branches above until he came to one that stretched out over the balcony
of the window. He traveled along the branch and dropped soundlessly to
his feet and stared into the bedroom through the slightly parted
curtains over the French doors.

Willow was just turning away from her dressing table, and Spike felt an
unneeded breath of air catch in his throat. She had just finished
readying herself for bed. Her long red tresses cascaded around her
shoulders, framing her face and contrasting against the ivory fabric of
the dressing gown that was cinched tightly around her trim waist. He
drank in the sight of her for a long moment before taking a single step
forward and rapping ever so lightly against the window. The redhead
started, and her head snapped around. She took a hesitant step toward
the French doors, and Spike could faintly hear the quickening of her
heartbeat. He tapped against the pain of glass once more, and she came
across the room to flick back the curtain. Her green eyes widened, and
she raised a hand to her lips as she stared out in shocked silence at
him.

He smiled, pressing his palm against the glass, as he spoke her name
softly, "Willow."

Her hand trembled as it reached for the latch, and she opened the door
and stepped back a pace, "William? It can’t be!"

"It is," he assured her. "I’ve missed you, luv."

"But--but how--"

"Invite me in, pet," he asked quietly.

Her eyes clouded with tears, and she nibbled at her bottom lip, "I-I
can’t. William, I know. I know what you are--"

"I know you do, luv," he responded gently. "I’ve never hurt you,
though, have I? I’d never hurt you. Please, invite me in."

"I’m sorry," she whispered. "I don’t think I should.
Buffy--and--and--Angelus--they told me everything. They told me what
you were planning on doing to--"

The mere mention of his sire’s name from the redhead’s lips sent a wave
of rage washing over the vampire, but he quickly stifled his anger and
smiled in at her, "I think I can make a pretty accurate guess at what
they’ve told you. But in spite of what they’ve said--in spite of what
you may believe, now--please tell me they haven’t convinced you that I
never loved you, that I don’t love you, still."

A tear spilled from her eye as she wrapped her arms tightly around
herself, "I don’t know, anymore. I don’t know what to believe."

"Yes, you do, pet. In your heart, you know that I love you. That, at
least, was never a lie."

"And what of everything else?" she wanted to know. "You were going
to--to--make me like you? Angelus was going to use Buffy to destroy the
council. The whole thing was planned out, from start to finish."

"Falling in love with you was something I never planned," he told her.
"But it happened, anyway. I do love you, Willow. I understand that
you’re frightened. How could I expect anything else, especially with my
sire constantly whispering dark warnings in your ear for the past two
weeks? I won’t hurt you, luv. I only want to be with you. We’ve had
lies
enough, haven’t we? Can you tell me, in all honesty, that you don’t
love me?"

She shook her head, staring back at him with pain-filled eyes.

He smiled softly, "You’re all I’ve thought of for a fortnight. I never
really understood that eternity could be empty. It’s empty without you,
luv. Please, invite me in."

"I--I don’t know," she wavered, her voice laced with longing.

"But you do know, Willow," he argued gently. "I want you with me so
desperately. Let me in. Let me hold you."

She took a step toward him, then stopped and raised her hands to her
face, "I can’t. I know what it means. If I invite you in--"

"All right, sweetheart. It’s all right," he whispered. "Then come out
to me. I mean you no harm; I promise. You’d only have to call out, and
you know how quickly the others in this house would appear. I love you,
pet. Please trust that. Come out to me, Willow. I love you."

The redhead looked into his pleading blue eyes, then swallowed a sob
and rushed out to him, throwing her arms around him as he held her
close to him, "William, I’ve missed you so. It’s been so lonely here
and miserable, without you. I didn’t think you would come for me.
Really, I didn’t."

He groaned softly and hugged her tighter, "How could I not? I can
imagine what they’ve told you, but I have loved you, Willow. I do love
you."

She pulled away slightly, turning her tear-streaked face to his, and
cupped a hand to his cheek, "I love you, too. I’ve missed you. I’ve
never hurt so terribly."

He brought his hands to her face and gently thumbed away her tears
before lowering his mouth to take hers in a hungry kiss. She sighed
against his lips, and his tongue moved inside to capture hers, teasing
it lovingly as he drew her more deeply into the kiss. Willow clutched
at him desperately, returning the kiss with equal intensity, until he
finally drew away to allow her to breath. Her face was flushed
prettily, her eyes shimmering with tears, and she smiled widely with a
sense of contentment that she had feared she had lost forever. Spike
studied her lovely face and felt the tension he had been carrying with
him for two long weeks slowly ebb from his body. He pressed his lips to
her forehead before gathering her close against him once more and
coaxing her cheek to rest against his hard chest.

"There’s so much we must discuss," she whispered quietly against him,
and he felt her tremble with a renewed sense of apprehension. "William,
when we fled London--"

"Shhh," he murmured, tenderly stroking her soft hair. "I know, luv. We
must talk. But not tonight, there will be time enough for that.
Tonight, I only want to know that you’re with me again."

"With you," she repeated. "Always with you."

He placed a kiss on her head, "Willow, the others--Buffy and Angelus
and Giles--must not know that I’m here, not before we’ve had the
opportunity to talk."

She shook her head, "I won’t tell them. But how will you come to me? It
isn’t safe here. Buffy says she can sense the presence of vampires."

"That she can," he responded. "I only hope she’s close enough to
Angelus right now to mask my presence here at this moment."

Alarmed, the redhead drew away from him, "Oh, my heavens! William, if
she should discover you out here--"

He nodded and pressed his fingers to her lips, "I must go. Can you come
to me tomorrow?"

She looked up at him hesitantly, "C-come to you? Alone? William, I-I
don’t--"

"Oh, luv," he moaned, taking both of her hands in his. "Listen to me. I
am not going to hurt you. It was deception that caused me to lose you
in England. I have no intention of repeating that error. I never lied
in regard to my feelings for you. Do you believe that?"

"Yes," she answered.

"And are you happy here? The way things are now?"

"No," she murmured. "It’s nearly unbearable. My heart aches without
you."

"Then please trust me. You know the truth--all of it. I won’t lie to
you again. I can’t promise that you’ll always like what I say, but
you’ve never had difficulty in letting me know of your displeasure,
have you?"

She giggled softly and shook her head, and he stepped into her and put
his arms around her waist, "Then come to me tomorrow. In broad
daylight. If you’re afraid, you can make your escape into the sunshine,
where I can’t reach you."

"I’m not afraid of you," she stated decisively. "Admittedly, that may
be foolish of me, but I believe that you love me, and I know that I
love you. And this--us, separated as we have been--is no way to exist.
How shall I find you? Where are you staying?"

"I’ve taken lodgings in Boston. I’ll make arrangements when I get back
there tonight to have a cab fetch you tomorrow morning. Will you come?"

"I will," she answered. "Buffy will be training with Mr. Giles in the
morning, and I shall give some excuse to travel into Boston for a few
hours. They’ve been making a fuss over my self-imposed isolation, so
they’ll be relieved to know that I’m getting out."

"All right. The cab will be here at ten o’clock," he informed her and
reluctantly removed his arms from around her.

He bent and placed a soft kiss on her lips before stepping back to the
railing. She waited until he had found his way back to the ground
below, and he looked silently up at her for a moment before turning and
walking away from the estate.
 
 

PART 3
Willow closed the front door and turned, squinting against the bright
morning sunshine. Buffy and Giles had been visibly elated when the
redhead had casually suggested she might ride into Boston for a few
hours, and she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of guilt over the
half-lie she had told them. They cared so greatly for her well-being,
and she knew all too well what their reactions would have been had they
known her true motivation for traveling into the city.

Even if she could have told them the truth, Willow knew that she would
have had no acceptable argument with which to persuade them to allow
her to go to Spike. But she had missed him more than she ever knew it
was possible to miss anyone. She had slept very little the night
before, her mind drifting back to the feel of his lips upon hers once
again and the relief of his strong arms wrapped around her. Willow
moved down the walkway, and all thoughts of remorse over her deception
quickly fled her mind at the sound of a hansom cab rounding the corner.
It came into view, and she walked out to meet it, and the driver
descended and offered her a hand up into the vehicle.

Less than half an hour later, she found herself standing just inside
the vast lobby of an elegant hotel. She suddenly felt strangely nervous
at having agreed to meet Spike without having told anyone else of her
destination. He had promised that he wouldn’t hurt her, and last night
she had believed him. But had she, after all, been incredibly foolish?
No one knew where she was now. If she went missing, no one would even
think to look for her for hours. She felt no anger toward Angelus or
Buffy for having spirited her away from England, away from Spike. But
the look of hatred which flashed the blonde vampire’s eyes last night
at the mere mention of his sire’s name was testament to his feelings at
having been separated from her. Was she now making the biggest mistake
of her young life?

She scanned the large room, her gaze coming to rest on a wide staircase
from which Spike was just now descending. He moved off of the bottom
step and stood motionless, dazzled by the sight of her, and Willow
broke into a wide grin and only stopped herself at the last minute from
running to him. He met her halfway across the gleaming, tiled floor and
reached for her hands, folding them inside of his own.

She gazed around at the myriad of guests milling in and out of the
hotel and looked up at him, "Is there somewhere--"

"I’ve a private sitting room," he told her, turning her to his side and
linking his arm through hers to guide her back up the exquisite marble
staircase.

Willow’s parents, in an effort to assuage their own feelings of guilt
over making a habit of being absent from her life, had lavished her
with all things material, and the redhead was well acquainted with
lavishness. But the opulent surroundings beyond the sitting room
door stopped her in her footsteps for a moment. Crystal-globed gas
fixtures burned brightly along the walls, dispelling the darkness
created by the heavy, drawn curtains. The furnishings were upholstered
in velvets and leather, and the Turkish rug under their feet was
nothing less than a work of art. Spike noted with amusement the awed
look on her face before she stepped across the room and plopped down
onto the settee. The blonde vampire chuckled softly; there was the
unassuming redhead he’d come to cherish so well.

"This suite is--sumptuous," she stated. "But is it safe for you to be
here, William? Surely, Angelus will find you here."

He shook his head, "It isn’t likely. If Angelus knew I was in
Boston--which he doesn’t-- he would assume that I would seek the
assistance of--others of my kind who dwell here. He would never suspect
that I’d take lodgings in so public a place. His first thought would be
to investigate the local lairs. If he had done so, I would have known
straightaway."

"Then you have--sought their assistance," she surmised.

"It was necessary, to find you," he smiled and sat down close beside
her.

"But will they inform Angelus that you were inquiring of me? Or perhaps
not," she considered. "They could hardly be aware that he’s here."

"They do, now," Spike stated. "And they know that he’s working
alongside the slayer. They’ll give him no information. Of any kind."

A frown creased her brow and she turned slightly toward him, "What have
you done, William? What have you told them?"

"The truth," he shrugged. "Perhaps it’s unreasonable to expect you to
be able to understand this, but my sire betrayed me, Willow. In the
worst possible way. Angelus purposely led me on a futile search for
Drusilla while he made good his escape with both his slayer and you. He
abandoned me."

She lowered her eyes to her hands and whispered softly, "As did I."

Spike tucked a finger under her chin and raised her eyes to his, "I
don’t blame you, luv. I feel no anger toward you. You were left with
little choice. I can imagine what he must have told you. You must have
been frightened beyond reason."

"I was. I didn’t know what to believe. Everything was happening so
quickly, and I could only trust Buffy and Angelus when they warned me
that I must flee with them. And the next thing I knew, we were on a
ship, sailing away from London--"

"I was there," he told her. "Standing along the docks."

"Were you? Oh, William. I’m so sorry," tears welled up in her eyes, and
she reached for his hand and gripped it tightly. "Once we were well and
truly away, it hurt so badly, being separated from you. But there was
no way to reach you. And, then, I was afraid that you would hate me. Or
that you would simply forget me."

"I could never forget you, luv. I do understand, and I don’t blame you
for what happened," he assured her, gently brushing his fingers through
her silky strands of hair. "If only I could have gotten to you, so you
could have talked with me about your confusion and fear. I never
doubted that Angelus must have frightened you witless in order to drag
you away from me."

"He said that you would...change me...that you would make me...what you
are." For a moment, Spike worried that she was still afraid, but a
glimmer of curiosity shone behind her bright eyes as they remained
fixed on his, "Would you have?"

"Yes," he answered and grinned at the wide-eyed astonishment on her
face. "Eventually, after you’d fallen so hopelessly in love with me
that you actually begged me to turn you."

In spite of the darkly disconcerting statement, her lips curled into a
mirroring grin. "And are you so certain that would have happened?"

He shrugged casually, "Of course. Are you implying that you’re certain
it wouldn’t have? That it won’t, still?"

She laughed softly, "I think we’ll leave that open to debate, for now."

"As you please, pet. For now," he repeated with a smile and drew his
arm around her shoulders to pull her close against him. "Willow, I
still don’t fully understand what happened to Angelus. You said, last
night, that he’d told you of our--scheme--so you must be aware of what
he was. What changed him so completely that he would side with the
slayer and betray his own childe?"

The blonde vampire caught the slight tension that overtook his redhead.
She was still coming to terms with the fact that the man with whom she
had fallen in love was a vampire, a being who preyed upon her own kind
for his survival. He placed a kiss on her temple, and she relaxed once
again and turned her face to his. He studied her eyes for a long moment
before she smiled and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"It seems his soul was restored," she finally answered.

"But that makes no sense, luv. How--"

"There was a young girl he stumbled upon in a field in Cambridgeshire.
He--he--"

"I believe I can guess that part," he coaxed her to continue.

"It was immediately afterward that he felt himself changed. The next
morning, he kept himself hidden away in the coal room while he tried to
think how to remove Buffy and me from the estate and take us back to
London, back to Mr. Giles," she explained. "Mr. Giles said the young
woman’s people must have been responsible for returning Angelus’ soul
to
him, though he hasn’t yet discovered exactly how they accomplished
that."

Spike sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, letting that
information settle in his brain. Willow watched him closely, trying to
decipher the look behind his eyes and feeling more than a little
concerned when he neither responded nor looked at her.

"William?" she asked softly, reaching for his hand. "Are you all
right?"

He shook himself mentally and finally met her eyes, "Then he’s really
lost to me, isn’t he, pet? If it’s as you say, if his soul has been
restored, we’re truly adversaries, and we always will be."

"Had you ever hoped otherwise?" the question was sincere. "How could
you have done, after what happened?"

A sigh parted his lips as he shook his head slowly, "I suppose I held
some hope that there might have been--I don’t know--some reasonable
explanation for why he had taken you away from me so abruptly.
Admittedly, it was only a small hope, but still--"

"It pains you, doesn’t it?" she responded. "Angelus told me that
vampires don’t often form attachments with other beings. But you
obviously care deeply for him."

"He’s my sire, luv. We shared many good times together, though you
probably wouldn’t regard them in such terms," he smiled a sad smile.
"I’m not certain I could explain such a relationship to you. Not so
that you would understand."

"I’m truly sorry he hurt you," she told him. "His only thought at the
time was that you would harm me."

"Perhaps," he conceded grudgingly. "But he was well aware of my
feelings for you. And even after he brought you here, he must have seen
how unhappy you were."

"I couldn’t hide it. I’d never known such a loss. And while I
understood that he was only thinking of my safety, I couldn’t quite
come to terms with the fact that he could be with Buffy, but I could
not be with you," she admitted. "He insisted that it had to do with
your
soulless condition, but I had so hoped that you’d really loved me."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Only hoped, Willow? More than that, surely."

"Well," she couldn’t suppress that smile that formed on her lips.
"Perhaps--"

He chuckled and caught her lips once again, and she returned the kiss
eagerly before pulling slightly away.

"What do we do, now?" she wondered aloud. "He may not think to look for
you here, but you can’t expect to remain hidden from him forever. What
can we do? Even if I were to swear to it, none of them will accept that
I want to be with you."

"I’ve no doubt of that," he agreed scornfully. "Rupert Giles may have
come to terms with his ‘daughter’s’ relationship with a vampire--"

"Oh, that he has most certainly done," she informed him. "Buffy even
suggested to me a few nights ago that she and Angelus may soon present
themselves as a married couple. In name only, I presume, since I can’t
imagine that such a ceremony could be performed legally. Considering
Mr. Giles’ vast knowledge of your kind, I’m already half-convinced that
they will persuade him to agree to such an arrangement. No one else
would be any the wiser, so no disgrace would be cast upon the Giles’
social reputation under such a ruse."

Spike’s blue eyes darkened angrily at the thought that Angelus felt he
deserved what he would deny his own childe.

"But it goes without saying that the watcher would never allow us the
same latitude, nor would the Slayer or my sire," he spat bitterly. "I
haven’t a soul, nor do I wish to possess such an encumbrance, but
Angelus knows very well the depth of my feelings for you."

"I love you, too," she said softly, raising a hand to his cheek, which
he drew to his lips to place a gentle kiss on her palm. "We could leave
this place, William. I’d go away with you."

He looked at her in wonder at the unmistakable sincerity in her voice.
A large part of him was inclined to do just that, to take her away from
this city, away from those who would stand in their way. However, an
equally large part of him wanted to make Angelus suffer. To make him
feel the same sort of loss that he had thrust on his childe by tearing
Willow away from him. And that desire for revenge would not be denied.

"We will, luv, but not just yet," he replied. "It will be some time
before Angelus realizes my proximity. I meant what I said last night,
pet. There are no lies between us any longer. You know what I am. But,
I think, you have yet to fully come to terms with that understanding.
You must decide whether you can love me--as I am."

She shook her head, "I’ve already decided. I’ve told you. I love you. I
may not fully understand what you are; but I do know that I need you. I
can’t find a way to be happy when we aren’t together. I won’t lose you
again, William. I can’t."

"Then you must trust me to deal with my sire as I deem fit. Can you do
that? Can you keep your knowledge of my presence from the others?" he
questioned her. "Even if it means that people you care for
may--will--be hurt?"

She looked up at him, her gaze calm and steady, and repeated her
declaration "I know only one thing. I love you. They are determined
that I shall not be with you. But I don’t want to be without you. If
that makes me a self-confessed fool, then so be it."

He laughed softly and pulled her onto his lap, "That makes you mine,
sweetheart. And I’ve never been one to abide fools."

She nodded and grinned at him, "Then I’m yours."

Spike searched her eyes and, finding only truth there, claimed her lips
in a hard, hungry kiss.
 
 

PART 4
Angelus kept his thoughts to himself until Willow announced she was
retiring for the evening and excused herself from the sitting room. The
vampire waited until her footsteps faded away before finally turning to
Buffy and Giles.

"She seems different of late, doesn’t she?" he asked.

"Well, she is getting out more, other than her nightly stroll round the
gardens," Buffy agreed. "I think perhaps she’s beginning to move past
her feelings of loss."

"I truly hope that’s all it is," he remarked.

Giles removed his spectacles and studied the vampire’s pensive
expression, "But you have misgivings?"

"I can’t help but have," Angelus nodded. "This change in her
disposition is rather abrupt, don’t you think? She leapt from morose
silence to...I’m not certain exactly how to describe it. She’s as quiet
as she’s ever been since we arrived here, but I’ve been watching
her over the past couple of days. She appears to be almost...content."

The slayer frowned, "But isn’t that what we’ve been hoping for? Why
should you feel concerned--"

"Of course, I want her to be happy. It only worries me because it’s
happened so suddenly. If you and I were to be separated, would you
recover so quickly?"

She shook her head, "Perhaps her feelings for Spike didn’t run as
deeply as ours do for one another."

He cocked his head, his eyes boring into hers, "Do you really believe
that? Or do you merely wish to believe it?"

"It would be easier, wouldn’t it," she admitted. "But you’re right.
She’s been gravely unhappy for nearly three weeks."

"Until a couple of days ago," Giles added. "So, what do you believe is
the cause of this, Angelus?"

"I’m not certain. Willow maintains her pensive reticence, but it seems
to me that the sadness behind her eyes has changed. It makes me wonder
if she’s using that silence to which we’ve become accustomed to...keep
something from us," he commented. "I thought I might ride into Boston
after we’ve finished patrolling tonight."

Buffy was visibly unsettled by his words, "Oh, gracious! Angelus, you
can’t be suggesting that--that--"

"Spike has made his way here?" Giles finished the question his daughter
had tripped upon.

"I haven’t heard anything to cause me to suspect so, but it does seem
the most plausible explanation for Willow’s change in demeanor," he
replied.

The young blonde shook her head, "No. No, I cannot believe it. If Spike
were here, and if Willow were aware of it, she would never do something
so foolish as to keep that knowledge from us!"

Angelus reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, "Love induces
people to all sorts of foolish actions. At any rate, I don’t believe we
should panic just yet. This is only conjecture on my part, love. I’ve
neither seen him nor heard of any reference to his presence here."

"Still, it would be wise for us to err on the side of caution," Giles
interjected.

"I agree," Angelus nodded. "And even if I’m wrong about this--which I
hope that I am--it will do no harm to take a look around the city.
Buffy will soon be ready to extend her patrol to the streets and
cemeteries in Boston. We’ve been concentrating on honing her abilities
here, and I’ve spent very little time scouting the movements of the
vampires there. At the very least, we’ll gain some valuable
information."

"Shall I accompany you?" Buffy offered.

"I think that would not be the best idea," he refused. "If Spike is
here, and if the other vampires are aware of it, they won’t part with
any information if the slayer is with me."

"True enough," she agreed. "Well, then, shall we go? The sooner we
finish tonight, the sooner you can start out for the city."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angelus’ senses were assaulted by the heavy smell of human blood, and
he slipped around the dark corner of a building along the harbor wharf.
The vampire who was crouched near the far end of the building looked
up, snarling angrily. He dropped the corpse, an immigrant lad who had
stepped off of a ship just that evening, only to have his young life
abruptly ended. Reacting instantly, Angelus growled, and his human
features slid away.

He managed to stop himself from lunging at the other vampire as reason
broke through his anger and reminded him that, if he were to reveal
himself as an enemy to his own kind, his search for information would
be lost before it had even begun. The younger vampire approached
cautiously, staring back at Angelus with curious amber eyes. Angelus
shoved his demon aside, and his visage smoothed back into that of the
human.

"I don’t know you, do I?" the vampire inquired in a strange mixture of
contempt and apprehension.

"You don’t," Angelus responded. "I haven’t been in Boston very long.
I’m looking for someone."

The minion scowled and glanced back at the lifeless body behind him, "A
human? Him?"

"Of course not," the elder vampire spat derisively. "He hardly looked
fit for a meal."

"Blood’s blood," the vampire shrugged, then looked up uncertainly at
the far more experienced stranger before him. "Isn’t it?"

With a casual shrug, Angelus masked his revulsion at the topic of
conversation, "You haven’t been at this very long, have you? Ah, well,
you’ll learn, eventually. If you don’t end up a pile of ashes, first."

The dark passions that had been the master vampire’s driving force only
a few weeks before were palpable to the young minion, and he gazed with
reverence at Angelus, "Who are you seeking?"

"One of our own kind--and a master, at that. He would have arrived here
from England very recently. Blonde hair, blue eyes, considerably older
than yourself. Have you seen him about, or heard of any reference to
someone known as Spike?"

The minion had not needed to hear the name; he had immediately
recognized the vampire from Angelus’ description. He had been told that
the blonde vampire might be sought out by another elder--Spike’s sire,
to be precise--who had allied himself to, of all people, the slayer.
The minion had also been warned that to give away the Spike’s location
would be wholly deleterious to a long unlife. And though he was
inexperienced, he had never been stupid, even as a human. He had felt a
sense of great pride when his own sire had said that he’d chosen the
young man specifically. Now, he found himself in a position to be of
service to Spike--a master vampire whose legend had traveled across an
ocean. Word would get back to the blonde vampire that it had been he
who had effectively mislead Angelus. That, alone, was satisfaction
enough for the minion to resolutely ignore his innate abhorrence for
this once-respected vampire who had chosen to defect to the slayer’s
side, and to feign the part of the dutiful underling.

The young vampire licked his lips, masking the sneer of disgust that
threatened to form, and responded, "I haven’t seen or heard of him, and
I know most of what occurs in this town. You can ask around, if you
like, but if he were here, I’m certain I would know."

"You’re probably right. He isn’t exactly the quiet, unassuming sort,"
Angelus nodded. "However, I think it best to be certain. There must be
at least a dozen lairs scattered about this city."

"At least," the minion was reluctant to confirm even that small bit of
information to anyone who had allied himself with the slayer, but he
saw no way to avoid it.

"Show me," Angelus ordered in a tone that left no prospect for refusal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow crept silently down the back stairs and slipped, unnoticed, out
of the house. The subtle scent of the various flowers which had closed
their blossoms for the evening still lingered in the warm night air,
and she strolled slowly across the vast yard to the small arbor that
landscaped the far left corner. She sat down on the bench that was
sheltered by an ivy-covered trellis and closed her eyes, reveling in
the sleepy sounds of the crickets and the gentle breeze that played
through her hair. Cool fingers brushed across her neck from behind, and
she smiled and turned her head as Spike moved around the trellis to sit
close beside her.

She found his hand, and their fingers intertwined as he placed a long,
slow kiss on her lips. He pulled away to place an arm around her and
draw her flush against his side, her head resting comfortably against
his shoulder. Spike’s fingers played through her long copper tresses
that gleamed in the moonlight, and he placed a kiss on the top of her
head.

"Angelus has gone into Boston this evening," she spoke softly, not
looking up at him. "I’m not supposed to be aware of that."

"And how did you find out?" Spike asked her.

She shrugged, "I rang for the maid to bring me some tea, and she
mentioned that Angelus had called for the carriage. I know he’s been
watching me closely over the past few days. Do you think he suspects
that you’re here, that he’s gone to seek information about you?"

"It doesn’t matter if he has," he assured her. "He’ll learn nothing
until I decide otherwise. He’ll return to the estate completely
convinced that I am *not* in Boston."

"But how long will you wait before you confront him?" she wondered. "I
can’t understand why you are putting it off. We want to be together, so
why don’t we just tell them? There’s really nothing they can do about
it."

"Don’t underestimate my sire, luv," he warned her. "He and the slayer
will do whatever is necessary to keep you away from me."

She turned her head to look up into his eyes, "They wouldn’t hurt me,
Spike. Buffy and Mr. Giles genuinely care for me."

"That may be true, but they don’t seem to care about your wishes, do
they?" he countered. "You must trust me, Willow. I know what I’m
doing."

She smiled softly and caressed his cheek with her fingers, "I do trust
you. I’m only impatient. It’s difficult being separated from you."

"It is," he agreed. "But if they have their way, our separation will be
permanent. I’ll devised a means for us to get away from this place
without there being any possibility of stopping us. Be patient, Willow.
It won’t be much longer."

"Very well," she nodded. "But if you require my assistance--in any
way--you will let me know?"

"Of course," he smiled. "Can you come to me tomorrow? We could spend
the day together."

"Buffy and Mr. Giles are plotting to affect her marriage to Angelus.
They are planning a dinner party for Friday evening, where they will
introduce Angelus as having just arrived from abroad," she told him.
"Buffy has been making noises all day of how painful she is afraid this
will be for me."

"And will it be?" Spike asked her quietly.

"Perhaps, just a bit," she confessed as she stood up, turning back to
face him as he caught her hands and clasped them firmly. "I understand
that the only way for them to be together without scandal is if they
are believed to be married. I only wish they could understand that my
feelings for you are as deep and as genuine as their feelings for one
another. We never speak of you. Your name is never mentioned. It’s as
thought, if we ignore your existence, you shall cease to exist. But you
do exist. You’re always with me--inside. And while I witness their joy
in being together, they have determined that I must forfeit mine with
you. I’ll never agree to that, Spike. I love you, with everything that
I am."

He moaned softly and rose to pull her tightly to him, "You won’t lose
me, pet. I promise you that."

She nodded and smiled against his chest, "I know. Anyway, all I really
meant to say was that they will be busy tomorrow planning the dinner
party. Buffy has already said that I needn’t be involved in the
preparations. I’m sure she’ll be relieved when I decide to spend the
day in Boston tomorrow, out of sight and hearing of their plans for
their future together. I shall arrive at the hotel late in the morning,
if that’s agreeable."

"Most agreeable," he grinned and raised her face in his hands to place
a lingering kiss on her mouth.
 
 

PART 5
Willow had left the estate only a few minutes before Angelus awakened
and crept down to the kitchen. The servants were busy about the house
and or had gone into town, making the necessary arrangements for the
upcoming dinner party, and the vampire found the below stairs rooms
vacant. He went to the larder and pulled from its hiding place a jar of
blood that Buffy had brought back from the butcher yesterday morning.
With the kitchen currently unoccupied, he took the luxury of warming
the red liquid on the stove. He transferred it into a cup and drank it
quickly. He washed out both the pan and the cup he had used, then made
his way up to the morning room.

From the settee, Buffy looked up and smiled as Angelus cautiously
peered around the door, "It’s all right. I’ve drawn the curtains."

He nodded and entered to sit beside her, and she showed him the menu
she and the cook had prepared together earlier that morning.

"I suppose I can pretend to enjoy this," he teased her, handing the
sheet of paper back to her.

"You had better," she grinned. "Because I don’t think our guests will
quite understand if you sit at the dining table sipping from a goblet
of blood."

"Point taken," he laughed. "Has your father gone out?"

"He’s making arrangements for the music after dinner," she nodded. "And
Willow has gone into Boston, thankfully. I don’t think she was looking
forward to hearing all about the preparations for the introduction of
my ‘husband.’ I can’t help feeling more than a little guilty about all
of this."

"Willow understands. She wants you to be happy," he told her softly.

"She does, but at the same time, we’ve robbed her of her happiness."

"We gave her her life, Buffy," Angelus reminded her. "You know what
leaving her in London would have meant."

"I keep reminding myself," she responded sadly. "It doesn’t help very
much."

"Well, she’s safe. That’s what’s important. And none of the vampires
that I spoke to last night had heard anything of Spike being anywhere
near here. I can’t understand the change that’s come over her."

"Perhaps she’s simply pleased that you and are to be together," the
slayer suggested.

"Perhaps," he conceded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike met Willow in the hotel lobby and ushered her upstairs and into
the sitting room of his suite. The redhead felt as though she could
actually feel the nervous energy radiating from the vampire, and she
looked over at him expectantly as she sat down on the settee.

"What is it? What’s happened?" she asked.

He smiled as he opened the lid of a silver box on the fireplace mantle
and fished out a cigarette and lit it before responding, "Angelus’ trek
around Boston last night has worked in our favor. When I returned to
the hotel, there were two minions waiting for me in the lobby. Their
master had sent them to inform me of Angelus’ investigation into my
presence here. If they had any doubts about what I had told them of my
sire, his furtive inquiries raised enough suspicion to have laid those
doubts to rest. They told him they knew nothing of me, and their master
has offered to aid us in any way necessary."

"I see," she commented, though her expression said otherwise. "Can you
not tell me what it is you are planning?"

"I can tell you something of it. You’ll have to trust me on the rest,"
he answered, then tossed the remainder of the cigarette into the
fireplace and went over to her, sitting down beside her and reaching
for her hand, "The other vampires’ assistance will be essential if we
are to get away from here. Friday night, during the dinner party, I
will come to the estate--"

"William! You can’t be serious!" she gasped.

He smiled and pressed his fingers gently to her lips, "Let me finish,
luv. At precisely ten o’clock, you must make some excuse to leave the
others for a moment. When you do, exit the house through the door into
the back gardens. Make certain no one sees you. I will be waiting for
you at the trellis in the arbor."

Her hand trembled slightly in his as she stared into his eyes, "What
are you intending to do?"

Spike shook his head and raised her hand and kissed it, "Trust me,
Willow. I love you. When you return to the estate, pack only a few
things in a bag and hide it out behind the stables. I shall retrieve it
from there. Anything else you may need, we can acquire once we’re away.
Will you do that for me?"

"Yes," she answered, her apprehensive eyes still studying his face.
"But--"

"I love you," he repeated and laced his fingers through her hair,
pulling her to him and covering her lips with his.

"And I love you," she told him when he eventually released her. "And
you know how much I long for us to be together. But William, I would
never wish for Buffy or her father--or even for Angelus--to be harmed.
You won’t--"

"Don’t worry so, luv," he smiled softly at her.

"I can’t help it. I don’t--"

Spike was too close to realizing his desires to have them snared by
Willow’s unease. Though he didn’t share her concerns, he understood the
human’s apprehension concerning her friends’ well-being. But he had
only a few precious hours with her, and he had no intention of wasting
them on a discussion that would, essentially, change neither of their
feelings for one another, nor what must be done to ensure that he and
Willow would not be forcibly separated again. His lips sought hers,
drawing her onto his lap as his tongue explored her mouth with a slow,
sensual indulgence that left the redhead dizzily hungry for more. The
concern that she had begun to voice before his mouth stopped her words
immediately vanished, and she clung tightly to him as he drew away,
nibbling softly at her lips.

"I love you, Willow. Be with me," he whispered, his blue eyes piercing
the hazy green of her own.

She nodded, and he kissed her again, lifting her in his arms as he rose
from the settee and crossed the floor to the bedroom. He carried her
through, toeing the door closed behind him, and walked to the bed. He
lowered her onto her feet, and her trembling fingers covered his as he
reached for the buttons on her high-collared blouse. His lips traveled
a
soft path down the smooth column of her throat as his unfastened each
button and drew the garment off of her shoulders. He moaned at the
beauty of her pale, white shoulders and bent to place a kiss on the
rounded hills of her breasts above the tightly laced corset. A shiver
of pleasure shook the small woman’s body as his cool lips continued
their journey, skimming lightly over her warm flesh.

Spike divested the redhead of the rest of her clothing and reached
behind her to flick back the bed coverings. He moved her back against
the mattress, and she slowly laid down. An enticing red flush traveled
from her cheeks to her breasts as he stood, gazing raptly down at her,
drinking in the beauty of her naked form. He smiled comfortingly at her
and quickly pulled off his own clothing, then moved onto the bed, lying
down beside her and pulling her into his arms.

"You’re exquisite, sweetheart," he whispered against her ear, and he
rolled her slightly so that he was over top of her.

Her hand reached up to caress his cheek, and he lowered his mouth to
hers. Her lips parted, and their tongues met, tangling slowly as his
hand moved down to the soft nubs of her breasts, teasing each one until
they hardened into rosy pebbles. If Willow had experienced a pang of
nervous worry at the thought of her first sexual encounter, it was
quickly dispelled by his gentle caresses and his soft words of
endearment as his lips brushed against hers. Spike smoothed his palm
down the plane of her flat tummy, and her eyes flew to his as his thumb
brushed over her clitoris in slow, teasing circles.

She moaned and instinctively raised her hips, unconsciously seeking to
increase the pressure against the sensitive bundle of nerves. Never
before had she felt such a delicious, tingling longing in the pit of
her stomach, nor did she fully understand what he was doing to her. She
only knew that it felt wonderful, and she wanted much more. Spike
chuckled at the play of emotions that passed over her flushed face as
her juices trickled from her core to coat his fingers. His mouth found
hers once again, and he parted her legs with his knee and placed his
hard cock at her slickened opening. He moved slowly into her until he
felt her body suddenly tense at the unfamiliar and slightly
uncomfortable pressure against her maidenhead.

The vampire looked down into her worried eyes and caressed his
fingertips along her cheek, "I love you."

Her eyes shimmered softly, and she smiled up at him, "I love you, too,
William. I want you."

He nodded and engulfed her mouth with his own, swallowing her sharp
yelp of surprise and pain as he suddenly plunged the entire length of
his shaft into her tight channel. He remained perfectly still within
her as he raised his mouth to kiss away the salty tears that had sprung
from her eyes. The pain she had experienced was quickly subsiding, to
be
replaced by the overwhelming amazement of being filled by this man who
had laid claim to her heart. His lips fluttered along her soft cheeks
as he cooed softly to her, and Willow turned her head, threading her
fingers through his hair and pulling his mouth down hard against her
own as she thrust up against him.

Taking her lead, Spike began a careful rhythm, and Willow’s hand moved
to his shoulders. She gasped softly at the insistent pressure against
her clit as he thrust into her. Without really being aware of it, her
body began to respond to his movements, mirroring them as he quickened
their pace. He slid one hand between their bodies and resumed the
gentle
assault on her clit, and Willow murmured and bucked against him,
dragging her nails down his back. He felt her vaginal walls clenching
around him as his redhead’s body began to succumb to the aching need
that had built to a crescendo inside her belly. Their eyes met and
locked as his handsome features morphed into those of the vampire, and
she nodded once in consent and turned her head, baring her throat to
him.

Spike growled as he sank his fangs into her neck. The sensation of the
pressure of his lips as he drank from her, his seed spilling inside
her, shattered Willow’s reality, and she cried out his name as her
orgasm overtook her. He lapped at the small trickles of blood that
seeped from the wounds on her neck, soothing the punctures with his
cool tongue. Conscious thought slowly reinserted itself into the
redhead’s brain, and she released a trembling sigh as her walls
continued to dance around his cock. Spike raised his head, and his blue
eyes looked down at her. She smiled softly before he kissed her firmly,
turning her body gently as she responded to the kiss. He drew her head
down to rest against his chest and stroked her back tenderly.

Willow snuggled closer against him and whispered, "I love you, William,
with everything that I am."

His arms tightened around her, and he brushed his lips against her
hair, "Sleep now, luv. We’ve the entire afternoon ahead of us."

She nodded and placed a kiss on his chest, then looked up at him, "The
entire afternoon. And then--forever?"

"After Friday night, pet," he smiled. "Then--forever."
 
 

PART 6
Spike awoke long before Willow did, and he quietly slipped out of the
bed and went into the sitting room to order a tray of food to be sent
up to his suite. He waited until the tray was delivered, then returned
to the bedroom to discover Willow was no longer asleep and had left the
bed to stand in front of the large mirror hanging above the bureau.
She had plucked up his shirt from the floor and slipped it on, and
Spike grinned appreciatively as his eyes followed the lines of the
fabric that draped around the enticing curve of her rear end and ended
just above her knees.

Unaware that he had come into the room, Willow stared into the silvered
glass, fingering the punctures on her throat. She started as Spike set
the tray on a table beside the door, rattling the dishes and cutlery in
the process, and she whirled around to face him. He went over to her
and drew her into his arms, and her hand moved once again to the wounds
he had inflicted on her warm, pale flesh.

She looked up at him with worried eyes, "What have we done, William?"

"You’re having regrets?" he questioned her, his dead heart lurching
with a sickening twist.

"No!" she answered immediately, then smiled and placed her hand against
his cheek."Never regrets. Only, how will I ever explain *these* to
Buffy--or--or Angelus? William, we--"

He shook his head and silenced her with a soft kiss, "Do you really
fear that I wouldn’t have considered that danger?"

"How could you have? You had no idea that we would--" she paused and
took a step away from him, placing her hands on her hips. "Or *did*
you?"

"What are you suggesting?" his eyes danced with amusement. "That I
purposely lured you to my hotel suite today with the intention of
having you in my bed? I’m deeply offended, luv. How could you suspect
that I would even have harbored such hopes--"

"William Randall! You seduced me!" she accused him, trying to maintain
the pretense of anger and finding it more than a little difficult,
considering the delighted giggle that threatened to tumble from her
lips.

"I seduced you?" he asked her, all innocence, as he grabbed hold of her
wrist and gently drew her back into him. "I rather thought it was you
who seduced me."

"Did I?" she asked, her eyes wide with hope.

He chuckled and held her close against him and wrapped her firmly in
his arms, "Willow, you beguiled me months ago. At the very least, I
think you ought to concede to a mutual seduction."

She laughed softly and pressed a kiss to his lips, "Mutual seduction. I
do like that."

"Come sit down and eat," he urged her, pulling her over to the bed and
returning to the table to fetch the food.

"Do you know what this brings to mind?" she asked him quietly, tucking
her legs under her as he placed the tray on the mattress and then sat
down, facing her.

"Wales," he nodded with a soft smile.

She smiled back at him, her eyes misting with tears, "I missed you so
terribly after--"

"Hush, sweetheart," he murmured and leaned across the tray to place a
slow kiss on her lips. "We’re here now, together."

She sniffled and helped herself to a sandwich while the vampire poured
tea into the only cup on the tray, "But what are we going to do
about--these?"

He caught hold of the hand that rose to trace the wounds on her neck
and held it firmly in his own, "There are a few things you must be
aware of--"

"Vampire-type things?" she guessed.

He nodded, "We are very perceptive--much more so than humans. We have
keen senses of sight, hearing, and scent."

"Scent?" she repeated.

"Yes," he answered, watching the understanding that began to dawn on
her face. "Any one of my sort would immediately discern that you have
been with a vampire--which, in itself, is no great cause for alarm.
However, Angelus, as my sire, possesses a unique familiarity with me.
He would recognize that scent as mine the very moment he came near
you."

"Oh, no," she whispered.

"It isn’t hopeless," his calm voice assured her. "It simply means we
must take precautions. So, it’s into a hot bath with you before you
leave me this afternoon. And--"

With that, he moved off of the bed and exited to the sitting room,
returning quickly with a dress draped over one arm.

"When I ordered the tray, I also made arrangements to have this
delivered. It may not be a perfect fit, but it should be near enough,"
he told her. "You must leave your other clothing here and wear this
back to the estate. You’ll have to make an excuse for the change in
garments when you--"

"I’ll simply tell them I ordered it from the dressmaker during an
earlier excursion into the city and liked it so well that I chose to
wear it home," she told him as she examined the dress.

"The collar will disguise the marks when you return--"

"And I have several necklaces and garments which will serve the same
purpose," she nodded.

"That will do nicely," he agreed. "Even so, you would do well to keep
your distance from Buffy and Angelus as much as is possible."

She waved her hand casually, "I shall suffer from a cold or something
equally innocuous. They’re so preoccupied with the dinner preparations,
they’ll simply allow me to rest. After all, what else can one do for
such a malady?"

"Perfect," he smiled.

But the little redhead seemed suddenly to have lost her appetite, and
she stared down at her hands and said, "William, I feel guilty about
deceiving people for whom I care so deeply."

He cupped her chin in his hand and raised her eyes back to his, "Pet,
it is they who have made the deception necessary. You know very well
they would never be persuaded to allow you and I to be together."

"Yes, I do know that," she conceded. "And I will do whatever I must to
be with you. I only wish that they could understand--"

"They can’t. They have no desire to understand," he told her. "Buffy
and Angelus may have their happiness. Yours is expendable."

She shook her head sadly, "I truly don’t believe that is their
intention, Yet, I cannot deny that our--situation--hardly seems fair."

"Friday is but two days away, luv. Then all of the pretense will be
ended, and we *will* be together."

Willow smiled and turned to remove the tray to the bedside table. She
moved close in front of him, placing her hands on either side of his
face, and trailed her tongue along his lips as she kissed him. He
moaned happily and parted his lips to her, drawing her tongue into his
mouth as he gently laid her back on the bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow stepped into the house and quietly shut the front door. She
crept quickly across the foyer to the stairway and had just placed her
foot onto the first step when a door across the room swung open, and a
petite, brunette housemaid appeared from the corridor that lead to the
kitchen on the other side of the house.

"Mary!" the redhead squeaked in surprise.

"I beg your pardon, Miss. I didn’t mean to startle you."

Willow cleared her throat and willed her flustered nerves to calm, "No,
it’s all right. Could you bring a tea tray up to my room, please? And a
hot water bottle."

"Are you feeling poorly, Miss Willow?" the young girl asked.

"It’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m certain it’s only a cold," she
answered.

The maid nodded sympathetically, "Best to get right into bed, then.
I’ll bring you a nice, hot cup of tea."

"Thank you," Willow smiled and began to ascend the stairs, then turned
back. "Mary, where are Mr. Giles and Buffy?"

"They’re in the parlor, Miss Willow. Mr. Giles returned a little bit
ago, and I believe they are discussing Friday night’s dinner."

"I see. Well, I won’t bother them, then. If you could just inform them
that I’ve returned from Boston and have retired for the evening?"

"Of course, Miss," Mary bobbed a quick curtsey and hurried away to the
kitchen.

Willow had just climbed into bed when Mary knocked softly on the
bedroom door, and the redhead fidgeted with the collar of her
nightgown, pulling it more securely over the wounds on her throat. She
took the cup of tea from the maid and murmured a "thank you" as the
girl lifted the edge of the covers to settle the hot water bottle close
to Willow’s feet.

She stood back and tilted her head, considering the little redhead for
a moment, before she remarked, "You do look all done in, Miss Willow."

"I am tired," she agreed as Mary turned to pick up the dress that
Willow had draped over the chair in front of the dressing table across
the room.

"Is this new? I don’t recognize it."

"I just picked it up--in Boston--this afternoon. Do you like it?"

"It’s lovely. Though it doesn’t seem quite as tailored as your other
dresses," the young girl suddenly blushed and brought a hand to her
mouth. "Oh! Forgive me--"

Willow giggled, "Actually, I think I agree. I was a bit disappointed in
the dressmaker, myself."

The maid studied the gown more closely, "It’s almost as if it were made
for someone else, Miss. You don’t suppose the lady confused your
measurements with somebody else’s?"

"I’ve no idea," the redhead shrugged. "It’s the first dress I’ve
purchased since we arrived here."

"Well, the fabric is quite fine, and the stitching is excellent. I
could easily take in the waist just a bit."

"Would you?" Willow asked. "It doesn’t fit as well as it should, but I
do like the style."

"It would be no trouble at all," Mary smiled. "It will look quite smart
on you with only a few alterations."

"Thank you, Mary. I thought I might wear it to dinner on Friday."

"Miss Willow?" the maid hesitated for a moment. "I know it’s really
none of my business, and I’ve no place to even ask such a question--"

"Ask anyway," the redhead grinned when Mary paused nervously.

"Well, Miss, my uncle is a member of the council, and he explained to
me all about Miss Giles--duties--so, I do understand. But this dinner
on Friday. It’s to introduce Angelus as Miss Buffy’s husband. Don’t you
think that terribly--scandalous?"

"You do know what Angelus is?" Willow asked.

"Yes, Miss. Mr. Giles explained it all very carefully. But I must
confess that I find it difficult to believe that Angelus truly has a
soul."

"How many other vampires have you known?"

"None, Miss, and I don’t like to doubt Mr. Giles’ word. He’s such a
kind man--"

"That he is, and he would never place any of you in unnecessary danger,
nor would Buffy or Angelus. I can assure you that what Mr. Giles says
is true. You haven’t informed your uncle of the situation here, have
you?"

"No, and I gave Mr. Giles my word that I would not. Aside from the fact
that he pays us handsomely, we all like Mr. Giles and his daughter, and
Angelus has always been very cordial with the staff."

"So, you see? There’s no need to worry. Buffy and Angelus love each
other, and they want nothing more than to be together. Considering the
circumstances, you must understand why a legal marriage would be
virtually impossible."

"I suppose so, Miss. Still, it doesn’t seem quite--proper."

"Perhaps not, but Buffy and Angelus are not ordinary people, and their
situation is most certainly not ordinary. Buffy deserves this happiness
to offset the darkness that her destiny thrusts upon her; don’t you
agree? It’s hardly fair to impose society’s conventions on such
unconventional individuals."

"I reckon that does seem a bit unfair, when you explain it that way,"
Mary nodded. "Anyway, as I said to Mr. Giles, you can depend on my
discretion."

"I’m sure that we can," Willow smiled gently.

"I’m keeping you from your sleep," the maid suddenly realized and
turned toward the door, with the dress still in her hands. "Is there
anything else I can get for you, Miss?"

"No, thank you," she responded. "Good night, Mary."

"Sleep well, Miss Willow."
 
 

PART 7
Willow spent the following day in her room and had lunch brought up on
a tray from the kitchen. When Mary delivered it, the redhead asked the
young maid to dissuade Buffy from checking on her, and to reassure the
slayer that Willow was only suffering from a slight cold and that she
did not wish to disrupt the household, which was busily scurrying about
to prepare for the dinner party the next evening.

Buffy had been as frantically preoccupied as the redhead had expected
she would be. And the slayer had acquiesced to Willow’s request,
stopping by her room only for a few moments in the afternoon to poke
her head round the door and find the redhead comfortably curled up in a
chair in the corner, reading a book. Reassured that her friend was not
seriously ill, Buffy had hurried away to resume overseeing the
preparations, and Willow had spent the rest of the afternoon safely
alone. She had rung for a tray of tea and a light supper early in the
evening, under the pretense of once again retiring early.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The redhead awoke to the sound of birds twittering outside her window,
and she bathed and dressed, carefully selecting a wide, beaded necklace
that fastened securely around her slender throat and effectively hid
the wounds Spike had inflicted on her. As the late morning sun glowed
brightly through the drawn curtains behind her, Willow folded the
remainder of the few garments she had laid out on her bed and tucked
them neatly into a small suitcase. She went to her bureau and extracted
the rectangular velvet case which contained the exquisite emerald
necklace Spike had purchased for her back in London. Flipping open the
lid, she smiled fondly down at the sparkling gems and ran her
fingertips
over the platinum placket. A soft rap at the door startled the redhead
out of her pleasant memories, and she quickly returned to the bed and
placed the velvet case safely between the garments she had packed
before snapping shut the suitcase and sliding it under the bed.

"Come in," she called out, and the door opened and Buffy smiled as she
took a step inside.

"How are you feeling this morning?" the slayer asked.

"Quite better, I think," Willow answered.

"I wanted to check you on before I retired last night, but Mary
informed me that you had gone to bed early. So, I thought I should not
disturb you," Buffy explained as she studied her friend’s face. "You do
look a bit pale, though. Don’t you think you ought to be in bed?"

"I’m certain it’s nothing more than a sniffle. I thought I would
indulge in a brief stroll about the estate, just to take in some fresh
air."

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Would you like some company? I’m
sure Father could do without me for a little while--"

"Oh, no. I understand how busy you must be with the servants and all.
I’m only sorry that I could not be of more help to you," Willow
responded.

"Don’t be silly," Buffy smiled. "You’re doing exactly as you
should--resting and restoring your strength so you can enjoy dinner
with us tonight."

"I am looking forward to it," Willow nodded.

"It will be an evening to remember," the slayer agreed. "Well, if
there’s nothing I can get for you..."

"I’m fine, really," the redhead assured her. "You go along and see to
the servants. I’m going to go outside and luxuriate in that glorious
sunshine and then rest for a bit. I’ll be down before dinner."

"All right. I’ll see you later, then," Buffy agreed and let herself out
of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Willow! There you are," Buffy exclaimed as the redhead took a
tentative step into the parlor. "I was beginning to fear that you were
you were feeling unwell again."

"I’m sorry. I’m feeling much better," she smiled. "I lost track of the
time, and then Mary wanted to fuss with my hair, and you know how I
detest that."

"Well, we can see who won that argument," the slayer giggled, noting
the long auburn tresses that flowed freely about Willow’s shoulders.

"You look lovely, my dear," Giles spoke up.

"She does, indeed," Angelus nodded.

Willow felt a wash of panic sweep over her as the dark haired vampire
moved toward her. She bridled the overwhelming urge to back away from
him and forced herself to remain still. As he stepped up beside Buffy,
the slayer wrapped her arm around his and smiled up at him, and Willow
breathed a mental sigh of relief as Angelus leaned down and placed a
kiss on the blonde’s forehead.

"That’s a new dress, isn’t it?" Buffy asked. "I’d no idea you’d been to
a dressmaker. You should have told me; I would have loved to have
accompanied you."

"It’s just as well that you didn’t, if I may say so, Miss Giles,"
Mary’s voice spoke from the doorway. "That woman can’t be much of a
seamstress. I had to alter the waist and bodice several inches before
it fit Miss Willow properly."

"Well, it’s certainly beautiful on you," Angelus stated.

"Thank you," Willow murmured, visibly embarrassed at being the center
of attention.

"Mr. Haskill sent me up, Mr. Giles. The first of the guests has
arrived. Their carriage has just pulled up outside," Mary said.

He nodded and followed Mary and Willow out of the room, and Angelus
paused to look down at Buffy.

"Are you ready to face them, love?"

She beamed up at him, "I’m ready to face anything, with you by my side.
And now you are about to be introduced as my husband."

"In their eyes," he added.

"In every way that matters," she insisted. "I do love you, Angelus.
Legalities are immaterial. I am yours."

"I love you," he whispered before taking her lips in a soft, tender
kiss.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"They make a handsome couple," a lilting voice spoke softly from behind
Willow’s elbow.

The redhead turned slightly and nodded her agreement. Mrs. Henrietta
Wyndham had been one of the first people Willow had met upon settling
in Brookline. The elderly woman, who had been widowed nearly a decade
ago, lived in the grand house just across the street. She had seen the
little redhead walking past on the sidewalk one morning and had invited
her in for tea, and the two ladies had taken an immediate liking to one
another. Though well into her seventies, Mrs. Wyndham maintained a
sharp mind and an equally keen sense of humor, and she had recognized a
kindred soul in the outspoken young woman.

"Yes, they do," Willow agreed. "I’m so pleased you were able to dine
with us this evening."

"An invitation that, I’ve no doubt, was suggested by you," Mrs. Wyndham
replied.

"I didn’t have to. You were already on the guest list."

"But you stole a look at it--just to be sure," the elderly woman
guessed.

Willow grinned, "I couldn’t help myself. I loathe these social
engagements. I had to be certain there would be at least one bright
spot in the evening."

"Flatterer," Henrietta laughed softly. "Has Belinda’s husband only just
arrived in Brookline? I haven’t seen him about."

"He had--business--to attend to, before he could join us here," Willow
replied, giving the excuse that the four of them had agreed upon when
the plan to introduce Angelus as Buffy’s husband had been conceived.

"Well, they are very obviously in love," the woman remarked.

"Marriage doesn’t seemed to have dampened their feelings for one
another, has it?" Willow agreed with dry humor.

Mrs. Wyndham’s grey eyes sparkled with amusement at the redhead’s
observation, "It doesn’t always, my dear. Married couples have been
known to go right on loving one another for years, in spite of the
bonds of matrimony."

Willow giggled, "I’m sure you’re right."

"But what about you, Willow? Have you no young gentlemen of your own
with you tonight? Or has the institution of marriage frightened you so
badly that you’ve sworn off the male of the species? You mustn’t allow
that to happen," Henrietta cautioned her and placed a hand on Willow’s
arm. "You know how terribly fond I am of you. You’ve often caused me to
wish that my husband and I had been blessed with a child--a
daughter--who might have been much like you. There are many
extraordinary men in the world, one of whom, I’m sure, would be worthy
of your devotion."

"You’re so kind to me," Willow said affectionately. "And no, I haven’t
sworn off men--not entirely."

The elder woman tightened her grip on the redhead’s arm, "Then there is
someone? Do I know him? He isn’t here tonight, is he?"

"No," she answered. "I’ve not mentioned him to anyone else--not even
Buffy or her father. Please, don’t tell anyone."

"Well, of course I won’t, if that’s what you wish," Henrietta agreed.
"How wonderful, Willow! I’ve been worried that you’ve been too alone
since you arrived here. He must be an exceptional man to have caught
your attention."

"He is that," the redhead smiled.

"Perhaps I shall have the good fortune to meet him one day--" she
paused to wave away the tray laden with several glasses of champagne
that one of the maids stopped to offer the two women, then glanced at
the clock on the mantle as the servant moved away. "Oh, heavens! It’s
nearly ten o’clock! Where has the evening gone? Please forgive me,
Willow. I must excuse myself for the night. I’ve an appointment in
Boston early tomorrow morning."

"Of course, Mrs. Wyndham," Willow nodded, alarmed to discover that the
time had passed more quickly than she, too, had realized.

"I’ll just have a quick word with Mr. Giles before I go. Good night, my
dear."

Willow waited until Henrietta had moved away before heading for the
door, pausing only briefly to speak to Buffy, "Mrs. Wyndham is leaving
now. I’ll ask the butler to fetch her wrap."

"Thank you," Buffy nodded. "I’d better thank her for coming."

The redhead exited the room and quickly made her way down the stairs
where the butler was seated on a chair in the foyer.

"Mrs. Wyndham is leaving, Haskill. Would you bring her wrap, please?"

"If course, Miss Willow," he nodded and leapt up from the chair.

As soon as he had left the room, she turned and walked quickly across
the foyer to the corridor that lead to the door that opened onto the
back garden. She slipped outside and glanced back at the house to be
sure no one was watching before hurrying across the dark yard to the
arbor. As she approached the ivy-covered trellis, Spike stepped around
it and held out a hand to her. Willow smiled broadly up at him, and he
drew her close to place a quick kiss on her lips.

"I’ve a carriage waiting just around the street corner, and I’ve
already seen to your suitcase," he told her quietly. "I’ve arranged for
a--diversion--to keep the others from
coming after you when they realize you haven’t returned to them, but we
must leave quickly. Are you ready?"

"Yes," she nodded, looking back apprehensively at the large house
across the lawn. "William, w-what are you--"

"Never mind, luv. Just trust me."

She nodded once more, and he squeezed her hand lightly and set off
across the side yard, toward the street.
 
 

PART 8
From his place near the window inside the large house, Angelus felt a
sudden and unmistakable prickling sensation crawling down his spine.
Buffy’s eyes flew to him as he whirled around and squinted down at the
darkened yard beyond the large pane of glass. The slayer crossed the
room quickly and clasped a hand around his arm.

"What is it? What’s wrong?" she asked, making a conscious effort to
keep her voice low.

"Can’t you feel them?" he questioned, looking around at her in alarmed
surprise.

Her entire body tensed and she nodded sharply, "Vampires."

"A lot of them," he added. "What the hell is happening out there?"

"Buffy?" Giles’ concerned voice spoke from behind the couple.

"Daddy," she turned to face him. "Something is terribly wrong. You must
keep the others here--inside."

"Inside?" he repeated. "Why?"

"Giles, the grounds are swarming with vampires," Angelus informed him.
"Buffy and I are going out after them, but until we return, you must
not let anyone leave this house."

"Good lord," the watcher hissed softly. "I can keep the other guests
preoccupied, but Mrs. Wyndham left only a few moments ago. Buffy, you
must find her and get her to safety."

The slayer nodded, and Angelus gripped her hand firmly in his and
quickly led her out of the room and down the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
From the front lawn, Spike and Willow paused near the sidewalk as four
vampires moved quietly past them. The redhead could just make out the
forms of several others advancing from the shadowy grounds around the
estate, and she glanced uncertainly up at Spike.

"It’s all right, luv. You’re in no danger. They know you’re mine," he
reassured her softly.

"But the others--the guests--"

"Will be safe, as long as they remain inside. I’m sure the slayer and
her father will see that they do."

Her uneasy gaze shifted back toward the house, and the blonde vampire
took advantage of her distracted state to pull a gold-cased watch from
his pocket and let it fall silently to the ground near his feet. At
that moment, the front door of the house swung open, and Spike put his
arm around Willow’s shoulders and held her firmly as he turned her
beside him and drew her quickly toward the sidewalk. She pulled
slightly away from him and turned around to face the sounds of the
battle coming from behind them. Through the inky darkness, it was
impossible to count the number of minions who had positioned themselves
in the watcher’s front lawn, but the redhead could clearly make out
Buffy’s silhouette as the slayer fought alongside Angelus.

"William," she spoke breathlessly. "I don’t understand. Why is this
necessary? Why couldn’t we have just--"

"It would only have been a matter of minutes before they’d realized you
were gone," Spike replied as he carefully surveyed the fray occurring
several yards away from them and decided it was safe to indulge her
curiosity. "Even if we had gotten to the carriage by then, they would
have been after us straightaway. Don’t worry about the slayer, pet.
Between her and my sire, they’re more than capable of holding their own
against a few inexperienced minions."

"A few?" she echoed in open disbelief.

He chuckled and placed a kiss on her head, "I had to be certain that
they would have no opportunity to steal you away from me once again. I
love you, sweetheart, but I will not force you to commit yourself to
this if you feel you cannot. Are you willing to come away with me now?"

Her eyes met his, and a soft smile parted her lips, "I could never be
content anywhere else."

Spike placed a gentle hand on her cheek and bent to brush a soft kiss
along her lips, "My beautiful Willow."

She returned the brief kiss, then took his hand in hers, and he nodded
and turned around quickly. They hurried across the street, and Willow
all but collided with Mrs. Wyndham, who had fled the terrifying
incident unfolding in the yard opposite her own. Overcome with dread at
what was happening around her, she stared at the redhead and then up
into the cold blue eyes of the blonde man beside her. Henrietta’s eyes
widened in fear at the low growl of warning that rumbled within the
vampire’s chest.

Willow smiled at the woman as she squeezed Spike’s hand, "William,
please don’t. She’s my friend."

The elderly woman focused her eyes on the redhead and forced herself to
swallow her fear, and her eyes flickered from the blonde stranger
before her to the horrific scene across the street, "Is this the man of
whom you spoke, Willow? Is--is he--one of--them?"

"Yes," Willow nodded.

"Oh, my dear! You must not do this--"

With her free hand, Willow reached out and gently clasped Mrs.
Wyndham’s arm, "I cannot explain now. We’ve a carriage waiting to take
us away from this place, and there is no time. But you must believe me
when I tell you I love him. However unthinkable you may feel that to
be, please trust that I know my own heart. I do love him, and they will
never allow us to be together. They’ve already torn us apart once
before."

The redhead’s urgent plea struck a cord deep inside Henrietta, and the
old woman’s eyes softened with memories long past, "And you cannot find
a way to be happy without him. Are you sure, my dear?"

"Very sure," Willow nodded. "He loves me, Henrietta."

"Then you must hurry," Mrs. Wyndham replied.

Spike looked down at her, "If anyone should ask you whether you came
across us tonight--"

"Then I shall answer that I did, indeed, but only long enough to see
your carriage fleeing--in that direction," Henrietta pointed toward the
opposite end of the street from which the couple was heading. "Go
quickly. And do be careful, Willow."

"I will," she smiled and placed a soft kiss on Henrietta’s cheek.
"Thank you."

Spike nodded at the woman, then gripped Willow’s hand and pulled her
away, toward the corner where the carriage was waiting. A minion was
rapidly approaching them, and the blonde vampire reached out and
grabbed his arm, spinning him around mid-stride.

"The old woman--"

"Mrs. Wyndham," Willow supplied.

Spike nodded, "Leave her be. See that the others are informed of my
orders. If anyone harms her, he will answer to me. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly, sir," the minion responded immediately, and Spike let him
go.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy’s arm lashed out at the young vampire in front of her, and she
slammed a stake in into the minion’s chest, then whirled around and
plunged the weapon into the vampire behind her.

"Angelus, what are they doing here?" she called out as the large number
of vampires rapidly diminished in clouds of dust and the sound of
quickly retreating footsteps. "Why are there so many of them?"

Angelus reached out and grabbed the hair of a vampire who was
attempting to run past him and snapped his neck with one violent twist,
then thrust the stake he was wielding into the minion’s heart.

"I’ve no idea," he answered, surveying the lawns as the remaining
vampires fled into the darkness. "Attacking the slayer on her own
territory is nothing less than suicide."

Buffy cocked her head and wondered aloud, "Can vampires commit
suicide?"

Angelus grinned and moved close to her to wrap a strong arm around her
waist, "These did."

"Buffy," Giles’ voice spoke from the doorway behind them, and the
slayer turned toward him.

"It’s all right, now, Daddy," she assured him. "The ones we didn’t
stake have fled the estate, and a light has come on in Mrs. Wyndham’s
parlor. She’s safe--"

He interrupted her with an upraised hand, "No, Buffy. It’s Willow.
She--she’s gone missing."

"What?" Buffy gasped and looked up at Angelus. "You don’t think--they
couldn’t have taken her, could they? We would have seen her, surely."

The watcher shook his head grimly, "No one has seen her since she asked
Haskill to retrieve Mrs. Wyndham’s wrap."

"That was several minutes before I sensed the vampires out here,"
Angelus commented.

"But that’s preposterous!" Buffy argued. "Why on earth should they take
Willow?"

The dark vampire shook his head and started across the front yard, with
Buffy fast on his heels.

"Angelus, it makes no sense," she insisted as his keen eyes scanned
first one end of the street, then the other.

He turned around, glancing over the dark grounds of the estate, and
caught a subtle flash of gold in the grass only a few feet from where
they were standing. He strode quickly over to it and bent down to
discover a pocket watch glimmering in the moonlight.

"It makes perfect sense," he hissed quietly as he straightened back up
to his full height. "Damn it."

"What is it?" Buffy frowned, moving up beside him to reach for the
chain dangling between his fingers.

"It’s Spike’s," he told her as he handed the distinctive timepiece over
to her. "I was present the night Drusilla gave it to him. She’d stolen
it from a gallant gentleman she’d seduced, just before she drained him.
Spike carried it with him, always."

"Are you saying--"

"He was here," he nodded soberly. "But he obviously isn’t, now. Nor is
Willow."

"Do you think he forced her to go with him?"

He looked pointedly down at her, "No one forced her to leave the safety
of the house."

"What are you suggesting? That she knew he was here? That she was
waiting for him to come to her? I cannot believe that! Willow knows
what Spike is. She would not have kept his presence here a secret from
us."

He placed his hand on her shoulders, "The sudden change in her
demeanor. The frequent trips into Boston. Would my childe’s presence
here not account for all of that? You may not like to admit it, but the
truth is too obvious to be denied. She is in love with him, Buffy. She
never pretended to feel otherwise, even after we fled London. He came
for her, and she went with him, willingly. The watch is an unmistakable
calling card. Spike wanted to be certain we would know that he had
never truly lost her, in spite of our efforts. We took her away from
him. He’s taken her back."

"Oh, no," the slayer whispered. "Angelus, we must find them."

"We will," he promised and took her hand to draw her back toward the
house.
 
 

PART 9
"Where are we going?" Willow asked as the carriage clipped along at a
rapid pace and soon left the gas lit streets behind.

"We must put as much distance as possible between ourselves and my
sire," he told her. "And a carriage won’t provide quick enough
transport. Once we’re well away from Boston, we’ll book train passage
in some small town along the way. With luck, we should reach Providence
before daybreak."

She looked up at him, "Will we not return to England, then?"

"Would you like that, luv?"

Willow nodded, "I realize it would be unwise to return to London, and
it isn’t that I haven’t enjoyed living here--except for being away from
you. That’s been a misery. Only, England is home, and I would dearly
love to be home--with you."

He smiled and reached out to stroke his fingers gently through her
hair, "If you want to go back to England, pet, that’s what we’ll do.
Duty binds the slayer to the Hellmouth here, and I can’t believe
Angelus will wander far from wherever she resides."

"We’d have an entire ocean to separate us from them," Willow stated,
then grinned at the look of surprise on Spike’s face. "I love Buffy,
William. I always will, but she and Mr. Giles and Angelus spent the
first days after we arrived here explaining at great length why you and
I could not be together. And after the explanations, your name was
never
mentioned, as though you had never existed. But I never, for even the
briefest of moments, stopped carrying you inside me. And as much as I
knew they we’re only thinking of my well-being, it hurt that they could
not seem to comprehend the depth of my love for you and that no amount
of time was going to make your absence easier to bear. They must never
have the opportunity to tear us away from one another again, and I’ll
never feel secure as long as we’re in the same country."

Spike turned her to him and cupped her face in his hands, "You’ll never
lose me again, Willow. I promise you that. We’ll stop off in
Providence, and I’ll find someone who can make arrangements for us to
sail back to England. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days."

She nodded slightly and leaned into him as his lips found hers. He
pulled her onto his lap, and she wrapped her arms around him, tangling
her fingers through his hair as she deepened the kiss.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles was pacing the floor in front of the fireplace in the parlor when
Angelus and Buffy entered the room. He turned to them, and Buffy took
his hands in hers, and he squeezed them reassuringly.

"We patrolled the streets until the guests reached their homes safely.
I don’t know how you explained the situation to them, but they
certainly didn’t seem to feel anything amiss," she told him.

"They never even realized what was transpiring on the grounds. The
servants performed marvelously in keeping them occupied, and the
conversation and music was enough to hold their attention," he told
her. "Did you find none of the vampires?"

Angelus shook his head, "I suspect that most of them are from Boston.
The streets here are completely empty and quiet."

"And did you speak to Mrs. Wyndham?" he inquired.

"Yes," Buffy answered. "Thankfully, she had reached her home just
before the estate was overcome by vampires. She did say she saw a
carriage going by just as she was passing through her front door. She
said it appeared to be in rather a hurry, and she suggested that it may
have been heading toward the city."

"I can’t believe Spike would simply return to Boston," Angelus spoke.
"The fact that he had amassed such a large number of minions to provide
a distraction is evidence that he had been planning this for several
days, at the very least."

"Still, it would be wise to investigate the lairs there," Giles
suggested.

"Perhaps," he conceded. "But it’s doubtful that any of those vampires
will offer any information. I’m certain Spike has explained
my--situation--to them. They must know I’m in alliance with the slayer
and her watcher. They’re hardly likely to be helpful."

"I suppose you’re right," the watcher sighed. "I’ve sent the butler to
dispatch a wire to the council. We have contacts in several of the
larger cities along the east coast. Perhaps we can trace Spike’s
movements through them."

"That carriage won’t provide swift enough transport for my childe’s
liking. I presume he’ll seek a faster mode of transport as soon as he
feels it’s safe to do so. We should inquire at the train stations
outside of Boston," Angelus said.

"That’s an excellent idea," Giles agreed. "I’ll send Haskill and one of
the footmen out the first thing in the morning. They know several men
in the city whom we can hire to assist us. For tonight, I’m afraid
there’s little else we can do. Perhaps Willow will realize her grave
error in judgment and find some way to contact us."

Buffy glanced skeptically from her father to Angelus as she swallowed
the tears prickling behind her eyes. The vampire put a strong arm
around her shoulders and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then
murmured "good night" to Giles before drawing the slayer out of the
room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angelus propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at the
beautiful young blonde sleeping beside him. Their coupling had been
slow and passionate and mind-numbing in intensity, and she had clung to
him like a dark savior amidst the flood of turmoil of the past several
hours. During that brief, all-encompassing moment of ecstasy, he had
felt what it was to be wholly human again, freed from the pain and the
anguish of his murderous past.

He traced a gentle finger along Buffy’s cheek as the demon roared
triumphantly within him. For weeks it had struggled in vain against the
confines of the soul that had been thrust upon it. His eyes darkened
angrily at the realization of what that soul had led him to do. He had
betrayed Spike, dragged away the little redheaded mortal who would have
been his childe’s happiness, and abandoned him an entire continent
away.

An unconscious growl rumbled within the vampire’s chest, and Buffy
shifted slightly beside him. Angelus withdrew his hand and waited until
he was certain she had not awakened before slipping from the bed to
quickly dress in the darkness. He looked back at the sleeping young
woman, and his expression softened. As ludicrous as it was, he had
fallen in love with her, even before he had been burdened with a soul.
Angelus didn’t understand what had forced that damnable soul to
suddenly flee, and he didn’t really care. He was just relieved to be
rid of the offensive presence within him, but he had no desire to harm
the slayer unless it became necessary. And there was still the very
real possibility that she could be used to dismantle the council before
he claimed her as his own.

However, any such plans would have to be suspended for the time being.
He must find Spike and mend the tears in their relationship. He would
rip out the tongues of as many minions in Boston as was necessary in
order to discover where his childe could be located. His reputation may
have been damaged since his arrival here, but that could be quickly
rectified. Angelus had placed Spike’s pocket watch on top of the
bureau, and he scooped it up and clicked it open. More than three hours
of darkness remained in which to acquire the information he needed.
With a satisfied grin, he snapped shut the gold case and dropped the
watch in his pocket, determined to be well on the way toward his childe
before the sun rose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike reached up and placed his hands around Willow’s trim waist and
lifted her down from the train car and set her feet on the platform.
She laughed softly and looked up at him as his hands lingered
comfortably just above her hips.

"The steps would have served the same purpose, you know," she teased.

"Is that a complaint, pet?" he asked.

"Never," she grinned and brushed a quick kiss across his lips.

He turned to her side and plunged one hand into his pocket and drew out
a small object, which he held out to her. Willow gasped softly as she
took the familiar gold band from his palm.

"You kept it," she whispered as memories of their adventures in Wales
flitted through her mind.

"I’ve never let it out of my sight," he replied softly. "So, luv, how
do you feel about being my wife once again?"

"I’m yours, forever," she vowed with a smile as she slid the ring onto
her finger..

"I love you, Willow," he responded before wrapping an arm around her
waist.

They left the train station, and Spike hailed a nearby cab and helped
the redhead up inside. They rode quickly across the city and came to a
stop outside a large hotel just as the sun was threatening to break
over the horizon. They scrambled out, and Spike paused only long enough
for the driver to hand down Willow’s suitcase. Then he gripped the
redhead’s hand, and the couple made a hasty dash for the entrance into
the lavishly decorated lobby.

Spike registered and paid for a room and waved away the young employee
who approached to take Willow’s luggage. The vampire reached out to the
redhead, and she clasped his hand and followed him up the stairs. The
corridor was sheltered from the rising sun, and Spike handed Willow the
key and waited while she entered their room and pulled the heavy drapes
over the windows. She turned around as the door closed behind her and
immediately found herself wrapped in the vampire’s strong arms. His
mouth found hers, and he kissed her firmly, sliding his tongue inside
to revel in the sweet warmth of her mouth. When he finally drew away,
she took in a deep breath, and her eyes sparkled happily up at him.

"Are you tired, pet?" he asked softly and drew his hands to the
uppermost button on the high collar of her dress.

"Exhausted," she nodded, her eyes fastened on his as his fingers slowly
worked their way down the row of small buttons.

"Right into bed, then?" he grinned as her hands moved up to slide the
jacket from his shoulders.

"Absolutely," she agreed, stifling a small laugh.

He chuckled and quickly divested her of her clothing, then drew her
over to the bed and coaxed her under the covers. He pulled off his own
clothes and slid in beside her, and Willow moaned as he moved over her
and kissed her deeply. She parted her legs, silently inviting him to
take her, and arched up to meet him as his hard shaft slowly thrust
into her tight, wet channel. He lowered his mouth to her breasts and
laved each rosy bud in turn and feasted on the soft sounds of pleasure
that fell from Willow’s lips. She laced her fingers through his hair
and drew his mouth back to hers as he moved in and out of her in long,
deep thrusts.

Her small hands gripped his sinewy back, her nails raking along his
cool flesh as they moved down to grip his buttocks. Spike drover into
her, faster and harder, and her eyes fluttered shut as his fingers
moved between them to massage her sensitive clit. Willow cried out, her
walls clenching tightly around him, and she turned her head to the side
as her climax hit her. The vampire placed a single kiss along the
exposed flesh of her throat before piercing it and drinking from her as
his juices mingled with hers. He suckled gently from her, and Willow’s
hand moved up to stroke his hair as she mewled contentedly under him.

Spike withdrew his fangs and lapped soothingly at her wounds before
moving off of her, pulling her into his arms to rest comfortably
against him. Her slender fingers skimmed lightly over his chest, and he
cupped her chin in his hand and raised her lips to his. She returned
the kiss and gave him another before settling back into his arms.

"Thank you for not forgetting about me, for not going on without me,"
she whispered.

He laid his hand against her cheek and rubbed his thumb along her soft
skin, "That is the one thing I could never do, sweetheart. There was
never any choice but to come after you."

She nodded against him, "I honestly didn’t know how I would ever exist,
after we left London. I didn’t know how I would learn to be without
you."

He dropped a kiss on her head and stroked her back softly, "You never
will be, luv. I promise."

She looked up at him, "I love you, Mr. Randall."

The vampire chuckled and traced his finger over the small smile that
curled her lips, "I love you, too. Go to sleep, Mrs. Randall. You’ve
had one hell of a night."

"Mmm...feels like heaven to me," she murmured quietly.

"The bloody closest I’ll ever get," Spike thought to himself and
tightened his arms around her as she snuggled more closely against him
and surrendered herself to exhaustion.
 
 

PART 10
Buffy returned to the estate just before noon, her eyes still puffy and
red-rimmed from the tears she had shed upon waking to find Angelus had
disappeared without a word of explanation to anyone in the house.
Despite Giles’ desire to ride with her into Boston, the slayer had left
him behind to attempt to seek out her missing lover. Giles rose from
his seat in front of the book-covered writing table in the sitting room
and strode quickly across the room to put his arms around her.

"Did you find anything?" he asked softly.

She nodded, "I talked to a man at the train station who recognized
Angelus’ description. He booked passage to Providence shortly after
four o’clock this morning!."

"Spike and Willow," Giles mumbled softly. "Angelus must have discovered
where they were headed and has followed after them."

Buffy shook her head forlornly as fresh tears welled up in her eyes,
"Without telling me? Why would he do such a thing?"

"Come sit down," Giles suggested, putting an arm around her shoulders
and urging her over to the settee. "You know that I’ve been researching
the soul restoration ever since we left London."

She nodded and waited for him to continue.

"I’ve been in regular contact with some trusted associates in England.
Without giving them specific reasons, I asked them to attempt to locate
the people of that young woman that Angelus--killed--the night that his
soul was restored. It took them several weeks to track down those
people, but they finally succeeded."

"Daddy," Buffy sighed. "What has any of this to do with--"

"Just let me explain," he requested and took her hand in his. "The
young girl Angelus killed belonged to a small family of gypsies, which
was the reason it took so long to find them--they move about quite a
lot. At any rate, the soul restoration was their way of exacting
punishment on the vampire who killed one of their own, to condemn her
murderer to an existence of guilt and anguish. However, it would appear
that the curse contained a sort of caveat, if you will. If Angelus ever
forgot--for even a moment--exactly what he was, if he ever had a
moment’s respite from the torment of his past crimes, he would lose the
soul that had been inflicted upon him. Last night, Buffy, after you and
Angelus retired as man and wife, I presume you--celebrated--as most
newlyweds do."

A scarlet blush suffused the slayer’s cheeks, but she nodded and
answered, "He was so happy, so content--"

"Precisely," Giles said grimly. "And as a result, the soul fled."

Buffy raised a trembling hand to her lips as hot tears splashed down
her cheeks, "What are you saying? That our happiness caused us to lose
one another? That we can never be together because--"

"That was the intent, yes," he answered. "Something about the wording
of the curse had been plaguing me for days, but I wasn’t proficient
enough with the language in which it was written to be able to
translate it easily. When you came to me this morning with the news
that Angelus had gone, without waking anyone or leaving so much as a
note of explanation, my thoughts immediately went to his souled
condition, and I was finally able to make sense of the full meaning of
the curse."

She brushed her fingers along her wet cheeks and looked up at him,
"Then I’ve lost him? Truly lost him? Forever?"

Giles blinked back tears of his own and sighed heavily, "I don’t know.
I suspect he may have had deep feelings for you long before his soul
was restored."

She nodded and murmured, "He has told me so, several times, since that
night."

"I’m not certain that it makes any difference, now," he told her
gently. "I’m so sorry, my dear, and I don’t wish to be harsh, but we
must face the fact that Angelus has most likely resumed the same
malevolence he possessed when you first met him."

She squeezed her eyes shut as her heart shattered inside her, and Giles
pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly.

"Buffy," he said softly, hating himself all the while his brain
insisted on focusing on the grave peril this situation had thrust upon
them. "If Angelus is what we fear him to be, and he has gone in search
of Spike and Willow--"

She sniffled and pulled away from him, straightening her shoulders and
forcing her mind away from the bitter ache in her heart, "I’ve no time
for this, have I? But what can we do? We can hardly hope to catch up to
him, even if we tried."

"Yes," he agreed. "I’ll fetch the footman to drive me into Boston. I
know one or two people who may be able to help us--

"Council associates?" the slayer attempted a weak grin.

Well, yes," Giles admitted. "They don’t live in Providence, but they
are much closer than we are. They may be able to find Willow before
Angelus--if he hasn’t already done so."

"You don’t really believe that a couple of strangers could persuade
Willow to leave Spike, even in such circumstances," Buffy said.

"No, I fear not, but at least, they could warn her of what’s happened."

"It isn’t enough. Daddy, I can’t just sit here and wait. We have no
idea of Angelus’ intentions or of how Spike will react if Angelus finds
him with Willow. I must go to them."

"Very well, but please be careful" he implored her. "Ring for one of
the maids to help you pack a bag. I’ll drop you at the train station
before I wire my associates. I’ll return to the estate and continue my
research on the soul restoration, though I can’t see what good it will
do. Do pack quickly, Buffy. We must not lose any more time."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow dropped the newspaper she had been pretending to read and rose
from the chair in the hotel reception area as Spike entered the room.
He crossed over to her and took her hands, raising them to his lips.

"We sail from New Bedford in two night’s time," he told her.

She smiled broadly up at him, "We shall be back in England in less than
a fortnight."

"Yes, luv," he nodded. "We can leave tonight, if you wish, and spend a
couple of days in New Bedford."

"I’d like that," she agreed, and he tucked his arm around her waist and
drew her across the floor to wide staircase.

Spike guided her along the corridor and opened the door, ushering
Willow inside their room. She stepped through, and her sudden gasp of
astonishment brought the blonde vampire quickly to her side. Angelus
rose from a leather chair near the window across the large room, and
Willow reached for her lover’s hand and clasped it tightly in her own.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Spike snarled, a golden flame
lapping behind the blue of his eyes.

"We must talk," his sire responded.

"You bastard. You can’t possibly have anything to say that I--"

"It wasn’t what you think, Spike, all those weeks ago--"

"I know exactly what it was," his childe spat angrily. "Willow told me
about the damned curse, of how you conspired with the slayer to drag
her away from me. She told me everything."

Angelus forced his voice to remain level, "You must listen to me. It
was the soul that--"

"Sod the damned soul!" Spike roared, causing Willow to jump at his
angry outburst. "You betrayed me. You staked Dru, and you stole the one
thing that meant more to me than anything else--"

"I know," the darker vampire nodded grimly. "But I--"

"What the bleedin’ hell are you doing here, now? If you’ve any idea of
forcing Willow away from me--"

"I don’t, Spike. The soul is gone," Angelus explained. "I don’t know
how or why, but it’s truly gone. I would never have deceived you if it
had not been for the curse. You must know that. You must trust that."

Spike snorted derisively, "You expect me to trust you? You must take me
for a fool."

"That, I have never done," his sire shook his head, consciously keeping
his distance from the enraged vampire. "You have always been more than
my childe, from the moment I turned you. You are my equal, Spike, my
partner. You must realize that I would never have betrayed as I did
back in England if not for that damnable soul."

"I know what caused you to act as you did. I was stupid not have
realized the change in you, that morning in your room. You played your
part admirably, Sire. Why should I not presume that this is nothing
more than another accomplished performance? That this is nothing more
than a ruse to steal Willow away from me again? Have you brought your
blonde bitch with you? Have you a carriage waiting outside to force
Willow to return to Boston with you?"

"That is not my intention. Buffy does not know I am here, thought she
may well have tracked my movements, by now," Angelus warned them and
turned his gaze to the young woman still clinging to his childe’s hand.
"Willow, you must listen to me. You must--"

Spike stepped in front of the redhead, barring Angelus’ slow
progression toward her, "If you lay a hand on her, I swear by all that
is unholy, I’ll stake you where you stand. Go back to your precious
slayer."

"Can you hate me so much, childe?" Angelus questioned the blonde
vampire. "After everything we’ve accomplished together, after all we’ve
done and seen--"

"That meant nothing to you twenty-four hours ago, did it?" Spike
sneered. "You’re right about one thing. I am your childe, and you did
not teach me to be a fool. I trusted you once, and you tore out my
heart and dragged it across an ocean so that I might not ever regain
it. While you bedded your slayer, you would have left me alone. For all
your souled conscience, it didn’t seem to bother you too terribly to
know that I was suffering, to *watch* Willow suffer, week after week,
while you had the very thing you would deny both of us. I loved you,
Sire. I would have done--had done--anything for you. You used that bond
between us to effect your betrayal. And now you wish me to grant you
another opportunity to deceive me?"

Angelus looked down at the redhead, extending a hand to her, "Willow--"

"No," she whispered. "Go away. Go back to Buffy. You loved her
before--when you had no soul. You love her, still. Go to her, and leave
us alone. You are happy with her. You’ve no right to deny us the same
happiness. I won’t allow you to take me away again."

He scrubbed a hand across his cheek and growled in frustration, "I’ve
already told you; I’ve no desire to separate the two of you. Do you
remember how it was back in England, before everything went awry? We
can have that again--"

"The only ‘we’ I am interested in consists of Willow and myself," Spike
scowled. "Get the bloody hell out of our room. Tell the slayer you
weren’t able to find us; tell her the truth, or go take a stroll in the
sun. It really makes no difference to me. Just get out."

Angelus’ dark eyes stared back at his childe for a long moment before
he nodded and moved toward the door, "All right. I’ll leave you, for
now. Just think about this. Give yourself time to put the past events
into perspective. I’m back, Spike, truly back with you, now. I’ll call
on you again tomorrow evening."

"You’ll be wasting your time," the blonde vampire snarled before he
slammed the door on his sire.

"William?" Willow’s quivering voice spoke softly from behind him, and
he turned and went to her and put his arms around her. "I’m frightened.
How can we trust him?"

"We can’t," he agreed. "I’ll ring for someone to bring you a tray of
food. Then we should both get some sleep. We’re leaving this place the
moment the sun sets. When Angelus returns this evening, we’ll be gone.
They won’t come between us again, pet. I’ll do whatever is necessary to
keep you with me."

She nodded, and he raised her face in his hands and placed a lingering
kiss on her lips.
 

PART 11
Willow awoke and peered over Spike’s shoulder at the clock ticking
quietly on the little table beside the bed. Propping herself up on one
elbow, she gently jostled the sleeping vampire. When this elicited no
response, she nudged him more forcefully, and he murmured incoherently
and turned on his side, facing away from her. The redhead laughed
softly and took hold of his arm, tugging him onto his back and planting
a hard kiss on his cool lips.

Immediately, Spike’s eyes snapped open. His hand traveled to the back
of Willow’s head, and he crushed her mouth to his and nipped her bottom
lip just hard enough to cause a little trickle of blood to flow from
it. He moaned and sucked her lip into his mouth, and Willow placed her
hand on his chest and pushed herself away from him.

"It’ll be sunset soon," she smiled down at him.

He groaned unhappily, "That’s hardly fair, pet. Waking me up this way
just to drag me out of bed."

"Sorry," she giggled. "But we can continue this when we reach New
Bedford, if you’d like."

His arm traveled down her smooth, bare back and wrapped around her
waist, squeezing her tightly against him, "I’d like."

She grinned and placed a fleeting kiss on his lips, "But first--"

"We must give Angelus the slip," he nodded, bringing her with him as he
sat up.

"Exactly," she said and wriggled off of the bed.

She went to the bathroom to bathe quickly and put on fresh clothing,
and by the time she returned, the sun had just begun to set. Spike had
dressed and gathered up the few belongings that the redhead had left
about the room. He picked up her suitcase with one hand and reached for
her with the other, and they left the room and descended the stairs.

"Are you hungry, luv?"

"A bit. I can wait. I would rather not take the time," she answered.

"All right," he nodded. "We’ll stop once we’re well away from
Providence."

She followed him out of the hotel, and he peered cautiously around,
looking for any sign of his sire. Apparently satisfied, he whistled
once, sharply, and a cab waiting just down the street quickly drew up
in front of them. The vampire hoisted the small bag up to the driver
and gave him his orders before helping Willow inside and scrambling in
behind her. She breathed an audible sigh of relief when the cab finally
rolled away down the rapidly darkening street. Spike smiled down at her
and pulled her close to his side, and she tilted her head to receive
his comfortingly triumphant kiss.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Yes, Miss--Giles, did you say? I’m certain," the man behind the hotel
reception desk nodded. "I saw the couple you described leave just about
thirty minutes ago. He didn’t check out properly, but he left more than
enough money when they registered, so I don’t suppose it really
matters."

Buffy groaned in frustration, "You don’t know where they were going?"

"I’m sorry," he shook his head. "I’ve no idea. I believe one of the
porters said he saw the man hail a cab; he appeared to have been in
rather a hurry."

"Thank you," the slayer responded softly and turned to leave the hotel.

She stepped out into the warm night air and looked around at the
unfamiliar faces of the passers-by. A knot of despondency lodged itself
in the pit of her stomach. She had no idea how to track Willow and
Spike from here or whether Angelus was already following them. Deciding
to send a wire off to her father in the hopes that one of his
mysterious
allies might be able to locate them, she turned and headed off down the
sidewalk. She rounded the corner and muffled a little cry of surprise
as she ran, face-first, into a hard, solid chest. Her body went rigid,
and an icy finger raced along her spine at the sound of the amused
chuckle from the man with whom she’d collided.

"Angelus," she whispered as her head snapped up.

She took a quick step back, and his hand shot out and gripped her arm,
holding her in place, and he smiled down at her, "I was beginning to
wonder if you’d ever catch up to me."

"Let go of me," she snapped, yanking her arm free of his hard grasp.

"Have you found them?" he asked. "If not, I can show you--"

"No, you can’t," she informed him stonily. "They’ve gone."

"Gone?" the amused light in his eyes quickly vanished. "Gone where?"

"I don’t know," she told him. "I suppose you made your presence here
known to them, and they fled as soon as it was safe to do so."

"Damn it," he hissed. "We must find them."

She glared up at him incredulously, "We? I know what’s happened to you
Angelus. How can you possibly expect me to--"

"Because you want to see your friend again," he stopped her. "And
because you’d really much rather be with me than without me. I loved
you before I was cursed with a soul--"

"Why should I trust that?" she asked him.

"You never had any difficulty in believing it before," he reminded her.
"If I had wanted to harm you, or kill you, I could have done so all
those months ago in England, before you ever realized what you were."

"You had a different agenda in mind," she argued. "You wanted to use me
to--"

"That’s true," he conceded. "Considering what I am, that’s hardly
shocking, is it? I do love you, Buffy, just as I did before. But we’ve
no time to debate the point now. The distance lengthens between us and
Spike and Willow with every moment that we waste."

"Why should you care?" she wanted to know. "Why should you want to take
Willow away from Spike, now?"

"I have no desire to interfere with their relationship," he admitted.
"He loves her; they want to be together. I only want to rectify the
situation between myself and my childe."

"Did you speak with them?" she asked.

"At the hotel," he nodded. "Neither Spike nor Willow were very
receptive."

Buffy laughed sadly, "No, I don’t suppose they would be. They must hate
us."

"Spike may well feel that way, but I don’t believe Willow feels any
malice toward you. She only wants to be allowed to make her own
decisions. That doesn’t seem so very unreasonable."

"It did a couple of days ago!" she shot back angrily.

He shook his head, "I was wrong."

"You weren’t wrong to help us get Willow to safety."

"We *were* wrong," he insisted. "They love each other. I told you once,
back in England, that when Spike loves, he loves very deeply. Willow is
with him now because that is where she wants to be. She belongs to him,
and Spike takes that quite literally. We took what was his. He’ll do
whatever is necessary to insure that never happens again. You may call
that obsession; perhaps it is. But the fact that his obsession is
tempered with love makes him all the more determined to keep her with
him. And that is, apparently, what Willow desires, as well. Otherwise,
she would not so willingly have kept his presence in Boston a secret
from all of us. She would not have played her part in that scheme to
escape with Spike. Considering our own feelings for one another, what
right have we to deny them their future together? What right have we to
deny either of them what we have found between ourselves?"

"You won’t help me to return Willow to Boston," Buffy said.

"No, I won’t. Buffy, you love me--with or without a soul--whether you
want to or not. You can’t deny your feelings anymore than either of
them can. I won’t try to separate them. I only want my childe back.
We’d have a greater chance of success at finding them if we work
together, but either way, I am going to find them."

The slayer looked up into the vampire’s determined eyes, torn by the
myriad of emotions racing through her. Her love for Angelus, her
natural abhorrence at his present condition, her concern for Willow’s
safety, her desire for the redhead’s happiness. She sighed heavily
as tears of confusion shimmered in her eyes. Angelus pulled her close
to him and covered her mouth with a hungry kiss. Finally, he drew away
and looked down at her again.

"Together, we can find them," he said. "Will you come with me?"

She nodded mutely, and he took her hand and led her off down the
street. They returned to the hotel where Spike and Willow had taken a
room to search for any clue they might have left behind that would
indicate where the couple had gone, though neither the vampire nor the
slayer held much hope of discovering anything useful. As they entered
the lobby, the man behind the reception desk frantically waved the
young blonde over.

"I’m so glad you returned, Miss," he said. "A gentleman stopped in only
a few minutes after you had gone. When I told him you'd been here,
making inquiries about the same couple as he, he left a message for you
in the event you might return."

Buffy took the square of paper he held out to her and read it quickly,
then glanced up at the desk clerk, "Thank you. You’ve been most
helpful."

He nodded and turned his attention toward a young couple who had
approached the desk, and Buffy and Angelus returned to the street
outside the hotel.

"Bless Daddy for never giving up," the slayer said. "This is from one
of his associates. He saw Spike and Willow leaving Providence in a
carriage, heading southeast. The driver loaded Willow’s suitcase, so he
knew they wouldn’t be returning. He got onto the company that owns the
carriage. The driver sent word that he’d been hired to take a young
couple into New Bedford."

"New Bedford," Angelus repeated.

"Yes," she nodded. "Daddy’s associate said they could book passage back
to England from there."

"He would have had plenty of time to make those arrangements after I
left their room," the vampire scowled. "Hell, we’ll never find them if
they leave the country. How great a start do they have on us?"

"It must be over an hour," she answered.

"Have you taken lodging somewhere?"

"Yes, a hotel not terribly far from here. I can get my bag and be ready
to leave in less than a half hour."

"Quicker than that, if you can. They’re already too far ahead of us for
my liking," he responded and stepped out toward the curb to signal a
carriage coming down the street, toward them.
 
 

PART 12
Spike sat across the table in the corner of the little restaurant,
sipping a glass of wine as Willow finished her meal. Even after they
were miles away from Providence, she had refused to allow the carriage
to stop at any of the several dining establishments along the
way. It wasn’t until they had reached New Bedford that she had finally
allowed Spike to persuade her to eat. She hadn’t realized how famished
she was until they had entered the busy restaurant to be overwhelmed by
a myriad of enticing smells wafting upon the air. In amused silence,
Spike had watched her as she had assaulted the plate of food set before
her. The redhead thanked the waiter who approached to offer her another
cup of coffee and to remove the now empty plate. She sipped carefully
at the steaming hot beverage and glanced at Spike as he fished the
silver case from his coat pocket and extracted a cigarette and lit it.

Having sated her hunger, Willow’s mind now turned to their present
situation, and she asked softly, "By now, Angelus must surely have
learned we’re no longer in Providence. Do you think he’s discovered
where we’ve gone?"

The blonde vampire smiled and reached across the table to take her
hand, lacing his fingers through hers, "It’s possible, luv. It will
depend on how successful Angelus is in finding anyone who is willing or
able to give him information. He’s clever, though, and determined. It
wouldn’t do well to underestimate him."

"You’re still very angry with him," she remarked.

He lifted an eyebrow, "Can you blame me? An apology doesn’t erase the
agony he put you through. Whether or not he still possesses a soul, his
attempts at explanation don’t wipe clean his duplicitous scheme to take
you away from me and leave me in that damned little village back in
England, wondering what the bloody hell was going on."

She lowered her eyes to stare down into her coffee, "I’m sorry, Spike.
I should never have agreed to--"

He squeezed her hand lightly, "Don’t, Willow. You weren’t to know.
Angelus is a master of persuasion, and you trusted Buffy. Why should
you not have done? They put the fear of hell into you. You were too
frightened and confused to have refused to go with them."

She shook her head but finally raised her sad eyes to his, "Still, I
should have come to you. I should have told you what they had told me.
I hadn’t known what you were, before they told me that day. Everything
was happening so quickly, and I couldn’t think. I was so frightened. I
believed that I had lost you forever. After we sailed from London and
reached the States and I watched Angelus’ and Buffy’s love continue to
grow between them, I couldn’t understand why you and I could not have
had the same relationship. Angelus insisted it was the soul that made
the difference. But that didn’t make sense to me. I’ve heard him tell
Buffy that he had fallen in love with her before his soul was restored.
So why could you and I not share that, as well? Angelus never argued
that you didn’t love me, but he told me that I would never be safe with
you, because of what you are. That I must trust them. I wanted so
desperately to talk to you, but I couldn’t, of course. And as the days
went by, I began to convince myself that you must surely hate me for--"

"Stop it," he demanded. "Sweetheart, we’ve been through all of this
before. What happened was not your fault. I thought we had settled all
of this."

"I know," she nodded. "It’s just, well, after seeing you with Angelus
again, realizing just how much you despise him for what happened, I
guess I’m just worried that you’re angry at me, as well. I couldn’t
bear it if you--"

"I could never despise you. What happened in England has nothing to do
with my feelings for you; it’s between my sire and myself," he
promised, drawing her hand to his lips to kiss it lightly. "I love you,
Willow. I’ve never doubted your love for me. Anyway, it’s in the past,
now, as far as you and I are concerned. You’re with me again. That’s
all that matters."

She smiled, at last, "Yes, that’s all that matters. I do love you,
William, so very much."

"I trust that, pet," he assured her. "You would not have come away with
me so willingly if your feelings for me weren’t genuine."

"I can’t help feeling a bit guilty over what Buffy and Mr. Giles must
be going through, now," she confessed. "They’ve always been so kind to
me, and I’m certain they must be terribly worried."

His blue eyes pierced the green of hers, "Do you regret leaving them
behind?"

"No," she smiled. "Not really. I want to be with you more than anything
else. I just wish they could have understood so it wouldn’t have been
necessary to sneak away as we did."

"But you know they would never have understood or supported your
decision to be with me," he said.

"Yes, I do," she answered softly. "Forgive me, William. I don’t mean to
sound as if I’m sorry for what we’ve done. I hate that I’ve had to hurt
them this way, but I want you, and I need you, and I wouldn’t be
anywhere else than where I am right now."

He squeezed her hand and smiled warmly at her, "I love you, Willow. Are
we finished here?"

She nodded, and Spike stubbed out his cigarette and took some money
from his pocket and laid it on the table. He rose beside her and
slipped her arm through his, and they proceeded across the dining room
and out onto the street.

"I wish we were sailing for England tonight," the little redhead
murmured after Spike had helped her up into the carriage that would
take them across town, toward the harbor.

He understood the anxiety lurking behind that quiet statement, and he
draped an arm around her shoulders and scooted closer to her, "I’ll get
you away from here, luv. I promise."

She smiled up at him, "We’re so close to gaining our freedom, aren’t
we? I suppose that’s why I’m so worried that Angelus will catch up to
us and ruin everything."

He shook his head, "I won’t let that happen. I’ve booked a room in a
rather shabby little inn near the wharf."

"You’re thinking he’ll look for us in the larger hotels?" she guessed.

"Hopefully," he answered. "But if he knows we’re here, he’ll probably
find us, anyway."

"It was a good thought, though," she agreed. "We might get lucky."

"Either way, Willow, I won’t let him stop us. In twenty-four hours, we
*will* be on that ship."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy stared out of the carriage as it sped along toward New Bedford.
She wished she had been able to get word to her father, to let him know
that she was with Angelus. In some ways, she knew it was probably best
that she had not had that opportunity. She didn’t relish the idea of
having to explain why she was willing traveling with the unsouled
vampire. From the estate in Brookline, the watcher would have been
powerless to stop her, and he most certainly would have been furious
that she had agreed to such an arrangement. He would have considered it
dangerous, foolhardy, to say the least, and she wouldn’t have been able
to argue that point. But as she cast a surreptitious glance at the
vampire sitting across from her, she couldn’t deny the fact that she
still loved him.

Angelus had noticed the slayer’s eyes as they darted to him and away
once again, "It isn’t so very different, is it, love? The feelings are
still the same."

She stiffened somewhat, embarrassed at having her thoughts so easily
discovered, "It’s quite different. You aren’t the man I fell in love
with."

He leaned forward a bit, a little smile on his face, "Is that so? Do
you mean to convince me that you didn’t love me, before that night I
gained a soul? I won’t believe you, you know."

She scowled over at him, "I didn’t know what you were, then."

"And you loved me, anyway," he nodded.

"And you only wanted me because of what I am," she responded hotly.

"That’s true," he conceded as he reached for her hand. "At first. Do
you have any idea how galling it is for a vampire to realize he’s
fallen for the slayer?"

She yanked her hand away from him, "If you’re so repulsed by--"

"I’m not," he answered calmly. "We’re not all that different."

"We are completely different!" she huffed.

He chuckled and slid forward, his knee brushing against hers, "Well, we
seem to be heading in the same direction, now."

"That isn’t what I meant," she snapped. "As you very well know."

"Yes, I do," he replied, reaching for her hand again and clasping it in
his. "Do you love me, Buffy?"

A resigned sigh escaped from her lips, and she lowered her eyes to
their joined hands, "Yes."

"Well, there you are then. We--"

"But how can this work?" she interrupted. "You’re nothing like you were
before, not even in England, before you were souled."

"I was exactly then as I am now," he informed her. "Only, never around
you. That wouldn’t have done, would it?"

"No, of course not," she smirked. "You had a mission to achieve. You
could hardly have used me if I had known the real Angelus."

He shifted around to sit beside her, "And in spite of all my scheming,
I fell in love with you, anyway. I do love you, Buffy."

"I believe that," she said. "I just wish you were--who you were
before."

"You don’t realize that the Angelus of before is still a part of me, do
you? He’s still with me, in here," he told her and placed her palm over
his still heart.

Buffy let her hand rest against his solid chest, her fingers playing
softly along the fabric of his shirt as she whispered, "Something deep
inside me tells me it’s wrong, but I love you. I can’t stop it."

"You don’t want to," he challenged her before turning her face to his
and placing a hard, slow kiss on her lips.

"No, I don’t," she admitted, her mouth a mere breath away from his.

Angelus brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek and lowered his
mouth to hers once again. When he pulled away, at last, he drew her
close to him, and she rested her head against his shoulder.

"You’re wrong, you know," he said softly. "Wanting to separate Willow
from Spike."

She shook her head, "No--"

"You love me, and he and I are the same, now," he insisted. "Their
situation is the same as ours."

"No, no, it isn’t," she argued.

"But you can’t tell me how," he responded. "He loved Willow even before
I loved you."

"If you feel this way, why are you going after them?" Buffy wanted to
know. "Do you intend to try to make Willow return to Brookline?"

He laughed softly, "I’m more convinced than ever that no one makes that
little redhead do much of anything. It was that fire that first
captured Spike’s attention and then ignited his own flame. I have no
desire to come between them. I only want my childe back. I wronged him,
perhaps unforgivably, though I don’t think so, if only I can make him
listen to me. You can try to persuade Willow that she must not be with
Spike, but any opposition you make is going to seem very weak,
considering our own relationship. I mean, you can hardly put forth my
soul as an argument now, can you?"

"Then you really won’t mind if they leave?" she inquired skeptically.

"Oh, I’ll mind," he answered. "I want Spike to stay here."

"But can’t you demand that of him, as his sire?"

Angelus shook his head, "I forfeited that subjugation when I betrayed
him. Besides, that was never our relationship to one another. I’ve
considered him a partner, an equal, for so long, I can hardly remember
when he was anything less. I can only hope the memories of that past
are as strong within him. Otherwise, he is probably irretrievably lost
to me, and I don’t want that, any more than you want to lose Willow.
You’re going to have to find a way to make your own amends with her, if
you wish to salvage your friendship."

Buffy nodded solemnly, "It’s the only way I have any hope of convincing
her to return with me. But if that requires my blessing on her and
Spike--"

"I hardly think either of us are in any position to be bestowing
blessings," he chided her gently. "You may have to resolve to accept
Willow’s wishes if you want her to stay here. After all, she isn’t
asking for anything more than what we have."

She closed her eyes as the woman and the slayer warred with one
another, "Are we nearly there yet?"

"We must be close. The carriage has slowed," he said.

He leaned out the window and called up to the driver, then settled back
against the seat, "We’re ten minutes away. Then, of course, we’ve
still the small matter of finding them."

"We’ll find them, Angelus," she insisted firmly. "We must."
 
 

PART 13
After having settled Willow in their dreary and sparsely- furnished
little room, Spike went out in search of a meal. He chose quickly and
fed hastily and returned to the inn to find Willow propped up against
the headboard of the bed, a tattered book balanced on her bent knees.
She looked up and smiled at him as he closed and locked the door.

"I found this on the bureau," she explained, indicating the book. "The
last occupant of this room must have left it behind. I can’t say that I
blame him. It isn’t a very good read."

She dropped the book on the night stand as the blonde vampire sat down
beside her and pulled her into his arms. She snuggled close to him and
rested her cheek against his chest.

"You didn’t see anything of Angelus?" she asked quietly.

"No," he answered, his fingers playing idly through her long red locks.
"But sunrise is too many hours away. We’d better stay out of sight as
much as possible."

She tilted her head to look up at him, "You don’t think he’d try to
keep us here by force, do you?"

"I don’t know," he answered truthfully. "I used to know Angelus as well
as I know myself. I trusted him implicitly. Now, I don’t even know if I
should believe him when he says he’s no longer possessed of a soul. I
am certain, however, that he’ll do whatever is necessary to locate us.
We mustn’t help him by allowing ourselves to be visible."

"I agree," she responded before raising her fingers to cover a yawn.
"One wouldn’t think that simply riding in a cab would make one so
weary."

He smiled and placed a kiss on her head, "We weren’t simply riding,
though, were we? We were escaping. You’ve had far too much to deal with
over the last several days. You must be exhausted. I’d ring for some
hot water in which you could bathe, but I’m not convinced this
establishment is even equipped with such facilities."

"It’s all right," she told him. "I washed up in some cold water from
the basin. Honestly, the first thing I’d like to do when we get back to
England is to soak in a hot, soapy tub for three hours."

"Would you like some assistance with that, pet?" he grinned.

"I’d insist on it," she smiled.

Spike chuckled and pulled her closer against him, "I don’t doubt that
for a minute. I love you, Willow."

"I love you, too," she whispered.

"Think you could sleep?"

She nodded against him, "I think so, just not under the blankets. I
shudder to think what might be under there."

He laughed softly and shifted to lay down on the mattress, drawing her
with him, and Willow turned into his arms and closed her eyes as he
stroked her hair soothingly until sleep came upon her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy returned to the lavish hotel suite to find Angelus pacing the
floor in front of the tall, curtained windows. He immediately stopped
treading the opulent rug beneath his feet and turned his gaze upon the
blonde’s somber face.

"You didn’t find them," he surmised.

She shook her head, "No. We searched all last night, and I’ve spent the
entire afternoon inquiring at every hotel in the area. No one answering
their descriptions has registered at any of them, and no one I spoke to
recalls having seen them. Do you think Father’s contact could have
gotten it wrong?"

"I doubt it," Angelus answered. "The council is nothing if not
efficient, on either side of the ocean. I rather think Spike has taken
Willow into hiding. We’re looking in the wrong places; that’s all."

"But where else is there?" she wondered.

"If they’ve booked passage to England, as we’re assuming they’ve done,
they may be staying nearer the docks."

"That’s possible; I suppose," she responded. "I didn’t venture over to
that part of town. From what I’ve been able to discover, it isn't a
very safe area."

"Willow would be safe anywhere, as long as she’s with Spike. He’d see
to that at all costs," Angelus reminded her. "We’ve a couple hours
before sunset. You should order up something to eat. You must be
famished."

"I am," she nodded. "And my feet are in agony. Traipsing about town in
these shoes--"

He went to her and took her arm to lead her to an armchair, then knelt
before her to unlace and pull off her stiff, leather boots, "Relax for
a bit. I’ll ring for a tray for you, and then you can rest. We’ll
search the wharf as soon as the sun has set."

Buffy couldn’t help feeling touched by his gentle show of concern, and
she brushed her fingertips over his cheek and drew his mouth to hers
for a soft kiss, "Thank you, Angelus."

"I care for you, love, whether I’ve a soul or not. You must not doubt
that," he smiled and kissed her once more.

"I don’t," she replied, her bright eyes dimming slightly as a shadow of
concern flickered across her face. "We will find them. Won’t we,
Angelus?"

"We will," he vowed, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"We’ve nearly two hours before we can board the ship," Spike told
Willow as the sky darkened beyond the grimy window of their room. "I’ve
arranged for a cab to pick us up here. We’ll find someplace for you to
get something to eat. The driver will take your bag on ahead to be
loaded, and we’ll follow from the restaurant."

"All right," the redhead agreed and took his hand to follow him
downstairs.

The cab dropped them in front of a pleasant little restaurant in a more
agreeable area of town. Spike ushered Willow inside, and she ordered
and then sat back in her chair and glanced furtively around the small
dining room.

The blonde vampire leaned forward and placed his hand over hers,
"Anxious, pet?"

"Very," she smiled weakly at him. "I’m really not very hungry, William.
Perhaps it would be better to wait until we’ve set sail. I could--"

"Nonsense," he shook his head. "You’ve had nothing since breakfast
except for a cup of tea."

"Which was horridly tepid," she wrinkled her nose. "And the thought of
eating anything served from the kitchen in that inn was far from
appealing."

He chuckled softly, "I’m sorry for putting you up in such a bloody
wretched place. I’ll buy you a mansion when we reach England, to make
it up to you."

She smiled over at him, "I don’t require a mansion, William. I’ll be
happy wherever I am, as long as I’m with you."

"I love you, pet," he whispered and drew her hand to his lips, then
released it as the waiter approached and set a plate of food before the
redhead.

Willow ate as quickly as etiquette would allow and waited while Spike
paid the bill. He took her arm as they exited the restaurant. The
vampire hailed a cab, and they rode the short journey to the dock where
their ship was waiting to sail. Several other travelers were standing
about, talking animatedly with their companions or saying their
good-byes to loved ones who had come along to see them off. A
grey-haired crewman who was standing just beside the gangplank, busily
overseeing the loading of the last of the baggage, courteously informed
the couple that they would be able to board in an hour, if they would
be so kind as to wait.

"An hour," Willow said, clutching Spike’s hand as he drew her aside,
out of the way of the parade of suitcases and trunks passing by them.
"Does that not seem like an impossibly long time to you?"

"It’s all right, luv," he assured her. "We’ll be on that ship when it
sets sail. Come sit down with me, over here, away from the others. The
hour will pass quickly."

She nodded and allowed him to lead her toward a bench in the shadows of
the buildings opposite them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy turned from her spot on the sidewalk as Angelus came out of the
building behind her.

"This is hopeless," she remarked as he came toward her. "We’ll never
find them this way--"

"On the contrary," he smiled and reached for her hand.

"They’re here?" she asked breathlessly.

He shook his head, "Not now. They left a little over an hour ago. My
guess is that they’ve headed for the docks. I think Spike would not
have brought Willow out in the open otherwise."

"Then we must hurry!" she gasped.

He nodded and tightened his grip on her hand and took off down the
street, in search of a transport. They rounded the corner, and the
vampire raised a hand to hail a cab that was sitting along the curb at
the far end of the street. The slayer stumbled as Angelus suddenly
groaned in pain and reeled back into the building behind him before
crumpling to his knees.

"Angelus!" Buffy cried out, kneeling over him. "Angelus!"

"No!" he shouted, scrambling away from her as she reached out to hold
him.

"Angelus, what is it? What’s wrong?" she pleaded desperately.

"Buffy."

The voice caught the slayer by surprise, and she leapt to her feet and
whirled around to face the man who had come up behind her.

"Daddy! What are you doing here? How did you find us?" she exclaimed,
her tear-filled eyes darting from Giles to her lover. "What’s wrong
with him, Daddy? You know, don't you? What have you done?"

"I’ve done what had to be done," he looked down at her, his expression
unreadable. "I’ve brought him back, Buffy, permanently."
 
 

PART 14
"Brought him...back?" Buffy faltered. "You mean...his soul? But how is
that...what do you mean, ‘permanently?’"

"I mean exactly that," Giles answered sharply. "I finally unraveled
that confounded curse and performed it myself, with the necessary
alterations. What the hell did you think you were doing, traveling here
with him?"

At the sound of the angry man’s voice, Angelus huddled back against the
wall of the building and pressed the heels of his hands to his temples.
Buffy stooped down beside him and gathered the shivering vampire into
her arms, stubbornly ignoring his attempts to push her away.

She looked up at her father, "You knew I was with him. That is why I
left the estate, after all."

"I hardly expected you to travel to New Bedford with him. Alone.
Trapped in a carriage, for heaven’s sake!" he responded. "What the hell
were you thinking? He could have killed you--"

"I was never ‘trapped.’ Angelus me, Daddy. He never attempted to harm
me. And I am fully capable of taking care of myself," she reminded him,
growing angry herself. "How did you find us?"

"I tried to get a message to you, to tell you what I had learned about
the curse and to let you know that I could restore Angelus’ soul. When
I contacted my associate in Providence, he informed that you had left
town to follow Spike and Willow to New Bedford. He also informed me
that you were traveling with a male companion. Of course, I realized
straightaway that you must be with Angelus. Can you possibly imagine
how
distressing such news was to me? Regardless of what you are, Buffy, it
was a foolish decision on your part. I immediately boarded a train to
New Bedford and performed the curse the moment I arrived here."

"I am not a fool," she contradicted. "I may have only learned of my
calling a few weeks ago, but I’ve learned quickly and well. You’ve said
as much, yourself."

"A slayer requires more than strength and agility, Buffy. She must also
possess prudence and have the wisdom to know when to exercise it. You
cannot have forgotten what Angelus’ plans were for you in England. You
must know, after he’d lost the soul that had been forced upon him, that
he would carry on with that same scheme."

"I don’t know what he intended," the slayer answered truthfully.

"Then you go beyond foolish. Your actions were utterly reckless," he
admonished her.

Buffy’s eyes hardened as she glared up at her father, "I only know that
Angelus loved me, even without the soul. Our only concern has been to
reach Willow and Spike before it’s too late. In fact, we are now
wasting time we cannot afford to lose."

A ragged breath caught in Giles’ throat, "You know where they are?"

"We think they have probably booked passage to England," she answered
before turning her attention back to the silently weeping vampire.
"Angelus. Angelus, listen to me. It’s all right, my love. You haven’t
hurt me. You loved me, even after your soul had gone. You know that,
don’t you? And you know that I love you--"

"I’ve fed," he murmured, his voice constricted with tears. "I’ve taken
human life--"

"Hush," she cooed softly, cradling his head against her shoulder. "You
couldn’t help yourself. Angelus, I need you. Willow needs you. Remember
why we’ve come here? We must get to Willow."

"Oh, gods. Willow," he whispered against her.

She cupped his cheeks in her hands and raised his head to place a soft
kiss on his lips, "We can deal with--everything else--later, Angelus.
It will be all right. Trust me. I love you. We must find Willow."

"Yes," he nodded, and Buffy wrapped an arm around his waist as he
pushed himself up onto his feet. He looked over at the watcher but was
unable to meet the man’s eyes. "The docks. We don’t know for certain if
they’re even there, but I think it’s very likely. We’ve no idea when
they are to set sail."

"Then we must hurry," Giles replied and whistled to the cab still
standing at the far end of the street.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you cold, luv?" Spike asked as he wrapped an arm around the
shivering redhead.

She shook her head, "No."

"Afraid?" he tried again.

"A bit anxious, I suppose," she confessed. "Oh, William, I wish we were
away from here. Why will they not let us board the ship?"

He squeezed her gently to him, "It won’t be long now, pet. Less than a
half hour.

Willow nodded but could not stifle the impulse to glance around them,
"Perhaps it would be better if we did not stand out here in the open,
where we could easily be seen?"

Spike took her hand and led her away from the scattered groups of
passengers. A familiar, if unwanted, prickle suddenly ran the length of
his spine, and the blonde vampire paused as they neared the concealing
shadow of the buildings opposite them.

"Bloody hell," he whispered.

Willow’s eyes darted up to him, "What? What is it?"

"Angelus," he hissed.

She tensed and drew closer beside him as a tall figure stepped out
around the end of the building, followed closely by two others. Angelus
sensed his childe even before his keen eyes caught sight of him, and he
looked down at Buffy as she moved up beside him and placed her hand on
his arm.

"Are you all right?" she asked softly.

"I--I don’t know," he responded.

"You can do this," Buffy said. "You must, for Willow."

Angelus nodded reluctantly, "Spike was never convinced that I’d lost my
soul. Now that I’ve regained it, he’ll never trust me to--"

"What does it matter?" the slayer interrupted. "We don’t require his
trust to take Willow away from here."

He cast a hesitant look over his shoulder at Giles, and the watcher
judiciously stepped back several paces.

"Buffy," Angelus spoke softly. "I can’t ignore what I’ve done to him,
the manner in which I betrayed him. I told you, while we were riding
here, that the Angelus you fell in love with was still very much a part
of my unsouled self."

"I remember," she nodded.

"Well, the opposite it just as true. The demon that reigned within me
in my unsouled state is also very much a part of my souled self. And
that part of me loathes what I’ve done to my childe. I receive no
pleasure from my betrayal of Spike or from the pain it caused him."

Buffy opened her mouth to respond, but Angelus would have none of it.
"Willow loves him, as he is, and Spike loves her. I told
you--before--that we were wrong to come between them--"

"Angelus, we haven’t time for this, now," Buffy insisted. "Whether
we’re right or wrong can be debated later. Unless--Daddy, could you not
restore Spike’s soul as you did Angelus’?"

He shook his head, "I haven’t enough of the necessary ingredients
remaining, and a certain degree of proximity to the recipient of the
soul is required in order to perform the restoration. I couldn’t
possibly obtain the ingredients until tomorrow morning, at the
earliest. Spike and Willow would be gone long before then."

"There’s nothing else for it," Buffy concluded. "We must stop Spike
from taking Willow away from here."

Angelus hesitated, still torn over hurting his childe once again, still
reeling from the warring emotions within him since regaining his soul
on that dark street corner.

Buffy clutched his arm tightly, "Angelus, we have no choice, unless you
can guarantee that Willow’s mortal soul is not in danger as long as she
remains with Spike."

"You know I can’t guarantee that," he conceded reluctantly.

"Then help us," Giles implored quietly from behind the couple. "We must
convince Willow to return to Brookline with us. A young woman’s broken
heart will mend, given time. But if Spike takes her away, if he makes
her his childe, she’ll be lost to us forever."

The vampire nodded, and Buffy turned beside him to face the couple
waiting in the cover of the buildings several yards ahead of them. She
gasped as her vision fell upon the empty shadows.

"Where are they?" she cried, glancing frantically around them.

"They’re here, somewhere," Angelus answered. "I can still sense him."

"Come along!" Giles barked and stepped quickly around his daughter. "We
must find them!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"William," Willow breathed softly and clutched the vampire’s hand as he
yanked her closer to his side and forcefully brushed his way through
the other passengers congregating near the docks.

"It’s all right, luv," he assured her. "We’re getting on that bloody
ship."

"We’ll never make it before they find us," she lamented.

"Oh, yes, we will," he promised.

"Oh, heavens," she whimpered as he stormed toward the crewman standing
alongside the gangplank. "What are you going to do?"

"I’m going to convince him that he *needs* to let us board first."

She swallowed as her heart thumped within her chest, "Please, William,
don’t do anything--"

"Hush, luv," he chuckled and thrust his free hand into his coat pocket.
"I’m not going to hurt him."

"Sir," the crewman spoke sharply as the vampire broke through the line
of people, with Willow in tow. "If you’d be so kind as to--"

Spike drew near to the man and jammed a fistful of bills into his hand,
"My wife is exhausted, and I’d like to get her to our cabin. I don’t
wish to be rude, but it’s been a tiring day, and my wife has just
learned that she’s pregnant. You understand."

Willow let out a little gasp and blushed to her roots, and the crewman,
thoroughly embarrassed, glanced quickly at the redhead and back to
Spike, "Well, yes...of course...I’m sure
that’s...perfectly...yes...quite...go right ahead, won’t you?"

"Thank you. Oh, and if anyone should inquire, you can’t be certain, but
you think that you saw a couple matching our description heading--that
way," the vampire pointed in the direction of the street that led away
from the wharf. "And we appeared to be in rather a hurry."

The alarmed crewman objected. "You aren’t in any sort of trouble, are
you?"

"Only with my wife’s fiancé," Spike smiled slyly. "Well, former
fiancé--a tall, dark-haired bloke. You see, he wasn’t too pleased when
he learned that she’s expecting because he *knew* the child couldn’t be
his."

"William!" Willow squealed and buried her face against the sleeve of
Spike’s coat.

"Never mind, sweetheart. It just bothers the bloody hell out of him
that no one will ever love you more than I do," he elaborated on the
lie with a grin.

"Yes...I...I see...do go right on board...please," the crewman begged,
silently praying that none of the nearby passengers had overheard this
scandalous exchange. "I give you my word that no one will...disturb
you."

"I knew you’d understand." Spike drew an arm around Willow to usher her
quickly past the man and onto the deck and leaned close to her ear to
whisper, "We’ve nothing to worry about, luv. He won’t be telling
*anyone* that we’re on board *his* ship."

The redhead cast an upwards glance at him and giggled softly as she
moved closer against him.
 
 

PART 15
From his perch on the edge of the bed, Spike reached out and grabbed
Willow’s hand as she paced before him, "Stop, luv. You’ll tread a hole
in the floorboards. Let’s go up on deck."

She looked down at him, "Do you think we should? Is it safe?"

He grinned and stood up, "We’ve been moving for ten minutes, Willow."

"Oh, heavens," she groaned in embarrassment. "I’m so nervous I hadn’t
even noticed--"

Spike chuckled and pulled her into his arms to place a kiss on her
lips, "I know. Come along with me, pet. We’ll watch the American coast
slowly fade into a bad memory."

Nature’s deft hand had flung a sparkling blanket of stars across the
inky sheet of the night sky, and Willow rested her head against Spike’s
chest as he moved up behind her and encircled her in his arms. A warm,
salty breeze danced through her long red locks of hair, and she tilted
her head and smiled up at her lover.

"Beautiful," she whispered as the coastline slowly receded on the
horizon.

"Absolutely," he murmured, his eyes fixed on hers before he turned her
to face him and covered her mouth with his own.

Willow’s arms slid around him, and she held on tightly to him, "I love
you so much, William."

"I love you, too, sweetheart. No one will ever take you away from me
again."

She lowered her head to his shoulder, and placed a soft kiss on his
neck, "Promise me."

"I promise," he answered.

Her lips fluttered across his cool flesh as they curled into a little
smile of contentment, and he hugged her tighter to him and dropped a
kiss on her head.

"We’re free, luv. We can go anywhere you’d like. Shall we take in
Europe, or would you rather stop off in England for awhile?" he asked
her.

"Personally, I’ve grown quite accustomed to Boston," the unexpected
voice from the shadows behind them sent a shiver of trepidation down
Willow’s spine.

Spike snarled and whirled around as Buffy and Angelus stepped into the
dim light, "How the bloody hell did you--"

"We nearly didn’t," his sire admitted. "I can’t imagine what you must
have told that crewman to cause him to be so reticent, but it required
a great deal of Mr. Giles’ money to finally get the truth out of him."

Willow clutched Spike’s arm as she peered over at Buffy, "Your father
knows you’re here--with Angelus?"

"Daddy knows," the slayer nodded. "Fortunately, there were a couple of
cabins that had not been reserved. Of course, it cost him dearly to--"

"You shouldn’t have wasted his money," the redhead snapped angrily. "Or
your time away from the Hellmouth."

Buffy shook her head, "The Hellmouth has survived without a slayer for
months at a time. It can manage the same for a couple fo week. I
promised we’d book a return voyage just as soon as we reach London."

Willow frowned, "Then wasn’t it rather pointless to--"

"No. It wasn’t pointless," the slayer said. "Willow, you have to--"

"I’m *not* going back with you," she snapped. "Why can’t you leave us
alone?"

"How can I? I love you! You know what he is!"

Spike looked pointedly at Angelus, "Do you know what *he* is?"

"I know he lost his soul," Buffy answered. "The same evening the two of
you fled the estate. But Daddy restored it, permanently, this time."

"Bloody convenient for you," the blonde vampire glared at his sire. "If
you weren’t lying from the start."

"He wasn’t lying," Buffy glowered. "You’ve no idea what we’ve--"

"Buffy, don’t," Angelus spoke softly. "This isn’t helpful. Spike, I
need to speak with you. Alone."

"If you honestly think I’m leaving Willow with her--"

"Where could we possibly go?" Buffy asked angrily.

"How the hell should I know? I wouldn’t put it past you to throw her
overboard," Spike responded. "You’d do anything to keep her away from
me."

"Stop it!" Angelus barked. "We’ll go below deck. We’ll stay close
enough for you to keep an eye on Willow."

Spike looked down at the redhead, and she shrugged noncommittally,
"What does it matter? It will change nothing. I’m not leaving you,
regardless of what they say."

"All right," he nodded. "But you stay close. Agreed?"

"Yes," she agreed and pressed her warm lips to his before taking his
hand to draw him inside.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike’s eyes were pinned on Willow, who was sitting next to Buffy just
across the brightly-lit lounge, but the blonde vampire’s ears were
tuned to his sire’s words as he explained how Giles had performed the
restoration only a few hours ago.

"I wasn’t lying to you before," Angelus stated.

"Which ‘before’ would that be, exactly?" his childe questioned angrily.
"No, don’t answer that. The only lie that matters happened months ago,
and it cost me Willow. I’d be a fool to trust you now, and that is one
thing you never taught me to be."

The darker vampire smiled, "I’m not sure anyone ever taught you
anything, Spike. Listen to me. I didn’t come after you to try to take
Willow away."

Spike’s blue eyes finally shifted to Angelus, "Then why *did* you come
after us?"

"Because I couldn’t leave things between us as they were, and I wanted
Buffy to see the two of you together. I needed her to see just how
deeply you care for Willow."

His childe’s face registered a mixture of doubt and surprise, "You
accept the fact that she wants to be with me?"

"How can I not?" Angelus replied. "None of us are blind to what she’s
put herself through in order to get away from--us. She knows how much
Buffy and her father care for her, yet she fled the one place that she
was safe. I know she loves you, Spike. I’ve known that for months. I
was wrong. It’s pointless to try to persuade her to forget you. I’m not
sure we’ve even the right to request that of her. It’s your
decision--yours and Willow’s."

Spike studied his sire’s face skeptically, "Go on."

He shook his head, "I don’t understand--"

"This sudden acquiescence can’t come without a price. So what’s the
stipulation?"

"There isn’t one," Angelus stated.

"That’s damned magnanimous of you," Spike’s tone was antagonistically
sarcastic.

"When was the last time I made any demands on you?" Angelus asked.
"We’ve been equals for a long time, Spike. You know that."

"Is that right? You choose to view what you did to me, back in England,
as ‘equality?’ Funny, that. I see it as betrayal. Being all soul-having
seems to have warped your vision, sire."

The elder vampire blew out a breath of frustration and bridled the urge
to physically strike out at his childe, "I was wrong, Spike. I should
have come to you that morning, after I was cursed. I should have told
you what had happened when you came up to my room. I can’t change any
of it, now. But I can regret it, and I do. Even if I wished to place
stipulations on your being with Willow--which I don’t--I’m hardly in
the position to do so. Maybe it took losing my soul once again to
finally realize how hypocritical I was in opposing your relationship
with her. I’ve tried to help Buffy understand that we have no right to
come between the two you, and I’m making progress. But it’s slow-going,
and she needs to face this for herself. Otherwise, she’ll never let the
two of you be. That’s what this is about, though she doesn’t know that,
yet. She can’t run from it here, and she can’t force you away from
Willow. By the time we reach London, I’m hoping she’ll have come to
understand. If she hasn’t, well, you’ll be on your own territory there,
won’t you?"

"And I’ll bloody well make certain that Willow stays right beside me,"
Spike vowed. "Neither you nor the slayer are going to drag her back to
the States."

"You have my word that it won’t come to that," Angelus assured him. "I
don’t ask you to trust me, but I promise it, nonetheless."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You’re very angry with us, aren’t you?" Buffy asked softly, trying
urgently to pry Willow’s eyes away from the blonde vampire sitting
across the room.

"I don’t know what I feel," the redhead answered candidly. "I know that
you love me--both you and your father. I know that you think you’re
doing what’s best for me. Well, it isn’t. I want to be with William
more than I’ve ever wanted anything. But I don’t have to explain that
to you; you’re well-acquainted with that feeling, aren’t you?"

"Yes," the slayer answered. "But--"

"Ah, yes," Willow nodded. "There’s always a ‘but.’ You can’t argue this
with me. There is no difference between what you have and what I want."

"Angelus has a soul."

Willow turned cool eyes on her friend, "He had no soul when you
followed him to Providence, did he? He had no soul when you accompanied
him to New Bedford. You knew exactly what sort of a man you were riding
beside, and it didn’t matter. You love him so much that you simply had
to be with him. I should think, after all that, you would finally
understand my feelings. Is it innocent short-sightedness on your part
or is it stubborn refusal?"

Buffy reached for her hand, "Don’t be cruel--"

"Cruel?" Willow echoed. "I love you Buffy. We’ve grown up together,
shared too much, for that to ever change. But you have been more cruel
to me--regardless of your intentions--than I could ever be to you."

Tears shimmered in the slayer’s eyes, and she whispered hoarsely,
"Willow, please--"

"You’re here. I honestly wish that you weren’t. It would have been far
kinder of you to have trusted me to make my own decisions. You’re on a
pointless crusade, Buffy. You won’t change my mind, so you’d better see
about changing your own. I won’t return to Boston with you. I’m staying
with William."

Her friend opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it as
Spike and Angelus approached. Willow took the hand the blonde vampire
held out to her, and he pulled her up onto her feet.

"It’s late, pet. Are you tired?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I’d like to go to our cabin."

He nodded and cast a withering glare at the slayer before ushering
Willow across the large room. Buffy rose to go after them, but Angelus’
hand on her arm stopped her.

"Let them go," he said softly.

"But Angelus--"

"Please, love," he smiled and drew his arm around her waist. "There’s
nothing else to be done tonight, and I need to talk to you privately."

"All right," she conceded and allowed him to lead her away to their own
quarters.
 

PART 16
Angelus could feel the anger simmering within Buffy as he quietly
recounted his conversation with Spike, and he tightened his arms around
her as she attempted to push herself away from him to scramble out of
the bed.

"You agree with him! You’ve taken his side!" she shouted. "Angelus, how
could you? You know what he--"

"Hush," he insisted, pulling her closer to him. "It’s far better for
Spike to believe he’s won me over, don’t you think?"

A frown of confusion shadowed her features as she looked up at him, "I
don’t understand."

"Do you trust me, Buffy?"

"Well, yes," she answered. "But you just said--"

"I just told you what I said to *him*. All of our arguments and
justifications have fallen on deaf ears, as far as Willow is concerned,
at any rate. Spike never had any intention of entertaining our
objections. He won’t give her up, and he’s going to be too cautious as
it is. You want Willow back in the States, away from Spike. That’s
going to be difficult enough to accomplish. We have no hope of success
as long he believes that we’re both against him."

"Oh!" she sighed and sank back into his arms, considerably calmed by
his explanation.

"I suggest you might try the same tactic with Willow," he continued.

"I’m not certain I can do that," she shook her head. "I’m not certain I
can support her relationship with Spike, even in pretense."

"You’re only pushing her further away with your insistence that they
can’t be together. She sees the two of us together, and she feels she
should be allowed the same closeness with Spike."

"Her life is in danger as long as she’s with him. Good heavens! If she
should stay in England with him, we’d have no means of protecting her!"

"You were in a very similar situation with me, only a few hours ago,"
Angelus reminded her.

"You’d never harm me," she argued.

"Buffy, you know very well what my plans for you were before I was
resouled that night in England. After I lost that soul--"

"It’s different for us," she interrupted. "I’m the slayer. I could have
defended myself."

"Don’t be so overly confident, sweetheart. Love is an incredible
strength, but it’s also a great weakness, in many instances."

"That may be true, but I was never blinded to what you are--without a
soul, I mean," she contended.

"And you think Willow is blinded to my childe’s true nature?" he
inquired. "I’m not convinced of that at all."

She straightened herself and pushed slightly away from him, "I thought
you said you were opposed to this!"

He chuckled softly and nuzzled his lips against her hair, "I’m giving
you Willow’s point of view, love. Any argument you try to put forth,
she can counter. You won’t win that way. If you want to have any hope
of persuading her, you’re going to have to regain her confidence."

"You don’t have any idea what you’re asking," she grumbled.

The vampire laughed out loud and pulled her to him to kiss her soundly,
"All right. If you can’t pretend to support her decision, at least try
to refrain from being so vocal in regard to your negativity. You’re
only forcing her farther away from you. Let me work on Spike.
We’ve a couple of days before we reach London. Perhaps I can sway him
enough to lower his guard."

"And then we can get Willow away from him?" she surmised.

"If we’re lucky, and careful," he nodded.

"Then I’ll try to do as you wish, for Willow’s sake," she finally
agreed.

"For Willow’s sake, that’s all I’m asking," he nodded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow shifted closer to Spike, and he kissed her forehead and tangled
his legs through hers. Her delicate hand skimmed the outline of his
bare shoulder and traveled down his arm. She pressed a kiss to his
shoulder before lowering her head to rest against his cool flesh.

"It feels wrong," she said softly. "I don’t trust him, William. How can
we, after all that he’s done to--"

"I know," he agreed. "I’m not saying that we should trust him. My sire
is a master of duplicity. His words sounded genuine enough--fully as
genuine as that night in England when he and the slayer stole you away
from me. I’d like to believe him. I’d like to think that he’s finally
accepted that you and I are going to be together, but I can’t afford
that sort of blind stupidity."

"He hurt you terribly, didn’t he?" Willow looked up into his blue eyes.
"I knew that, of course, but I don’t think I ever realized just how
deeply it ran."

"He played me for a fool, luv," the vampire scowled. "In my world,
trust is not a thing to be given freely, but I trusted him implicitly.
I never had the slightest suspicion, not even a shred of doubt, when he
set me up to lose you. Destroying me, as he destroyed Dru, would have
been less contemptuous than his betrayal."

"Don’t say that," she pleaded, placing a hand against his cheek. "You
wouldn’t be here with me now if he’d--"

"I’m sorry," he said and placed his hand over hers, folding it in his
own and drawing it away from his face to place a long, slow kiss on her
lips. "You’re right, of course. This is all that matters now."

"We’ll survive this," she whispered, her mouth so close to his that the
vampire could taste the sweet warm breath of her words. "We’ll tolerate
them for the few days of this journey, and then we’ll be away from them
and together with each other."

"Yes," he agreed, a smile curling the corners of his mouth as he
shifted her slightly under him and nuzzled his mouth against the
velvety flesh just below her right ear.

Willow’s hand moved around him, and she stroked her fingers through his
hair, "They’ll never separate us again, William."

"Never," Spike promised, his lips brushing across her cheek to her
mouth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Angelus had a very interesting conversation with William last night,"
Willow said as the waiter refilled her coffee cup and silently glided
away from their table in the dining room.

"He told me," Buffy nodded.

"And you believe that he meant what he said?" the redhead asked. "Does
that not upset you?"

The slayer shrugged, "He’s trying to help me to understand things. From
your point of view."

"Is it working?" Willow couldn’t help the small smile of amusement that
tugged at her lips.

Unable to meet her best friend’s eyes, Buffy busied herself in pushing
her breakfast plate away from her and removing her napkin from her lap
to place it on the table, "Perhaps. I don’t know, Will. I can’t help
being concerned for your safety."

"You needn’t be. William is not going to hurt me. You trust Angelus.
Why can’t you trust his childe?"

"Because he and Angelus are not--" with difficulty, the young blonde
managed to bite back the argument and paused to brush her fingertips
across her brow. "I’m trying, Willow. I really am trying. I know how
sanctimonious my words and actions must seem to you, and I don’t blame
you for feeling that way. But you must remember the peril I was in when
I first fell in love with Angelus. I didn’t know what I was, then. It’s
ironic that it was he--with a soul--who saved me from himself. And
then, when he lost that soul, and I followed him to Providence, I knew
I could defend myself from him. But if you go away with William, if you
stay in England with him, who will protect you? You’ll be too far away
for either Angelus or me to reach you in time should you need us."

"I don’t need your protection!" Willow insisted emphatically. "I am
fully capable of protecting myself!"

Buffy stared across the table at the redhead, "From vampires?"

"That’s a fair question, I suppose," she conceded. "But I have William.
I trust him completely. He would risk his own existence to protect me,
just as Angelus would do for you."

"Would he consent to living in Boston?" the slayer asked.

Willow shrugged, unconcerned, "What does it matter? I don’t wish to
live in Boston. When I fled England with you, I was terrified. I didn’t
understand--so many things. But I do, now. William hadn’t told me what
he was, but he never lied to me about his feelings for me. He loves me,
Buffy. I want to be with him. I want to go home, with William. I hope
Angelus was sincere when he talked with William last night. There’s no
hope of a reconciliation between them if Angelus tries to separate us
again. And as much as I love you--and you know that I do--I don’t think
I could ever forgive you if you’re plotting against us. Please don’t
try to interfere."

A heavy sigh slid from the slayer’s lips as she paused to consider the
redhead’s plea, "We’ve another day’s travel before we reach England. In
the meantime, I know that you’re safe here, and I promise to consider
all that you’ve said."

Willow nodded, "Well, that’s something, at least."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Willow, luv, you’re pacing again," Spike complained and reached out a
hand toward the redhead.

She turned to him, but the smile on her lips was a fleeting one, "I
don’t like it, William. They’re being too tolerant, both of them."

"Perhaps all of our arguments have finally sunk in," he suggested.

"You don’t believe that," she remarked, and the look in his eyes
confirmed the statement. "For all we know, they may be
planning--something. Angelus may have wired ahead to London, or Mr.
Giles may have done so from the States. We may be walking straight into
a trap."

"Then we’ll be as ready as we can be," he told her. "Angelus, as he is
now, won’t find many allies in England."

Willow shook her head, "There’s the council--"

"We outnumber them, luv," Spike reassured her.

"Who is ‘we?’" she wanted to know. "Your--underlings--in London? Are
they even aware that we’re returning? Do you still have their loyalty?"

"I’d bloody well better, if they value their unlives," he answered.
"We’ll leave the ship immediately after it docks. From that point,
we'll have to play it as it comes. Not particularly my preferred method
of operation, but with Angelus and Buffy dogging us, we haven't much
choice. If it becomes necessary, I may be able to arrange some sort of
distraction, something to put a bit of distance between us and them."

"But if they are hoping to stop us, they’ll be watching us too
closely," she countered.

He took her by the arms and pulled her close to him, "Listen to me,
pet. I promised you I wouldn’t let them separate us again, and I meant
it. If that is their intention, we’ll prevent it. I swear to you,
Willow; I’m not going to lose you."

She looked up into his determined blue eyes and nodded, "I’ll do
whatever you need me to do. I love you; I can’t be without you."

"Then they haven’t a hope in hell of winning," he smiled and bent to
kiss her deeply.
 

PART 17
On the moonlit deck, Buffy slid closer to Angelus’ side as her eyes
continued to rest on the blonde vampire and the small redhead who were
standing near the ship’s railing.

"Can you hear what they’re saying?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head, "They’re too far away, and Spike knows that we’re
here. He doesn’t trust me, Buffy."

"That doesn’t surprise you, surely," she replied.

"I suppose not," Angelus answered. "Though I had hoped that something
of what I’ve said to him would have had some sort of impact."

"I haven’t had any more success with Willow," the slayer admitted
grimly. "At least she says that she doesn’t hate me."

"The same cannot be said for my childe, unfortunately. They spent the
entire day in their cabin, and he’s kept her very close to him all
evening."

"Do you think they’re planning something?" Buffy wondered.

"I’m certain of it. I just wish I had some idea of what it is."

"Well, we’ll just have to stay close to them once the ship reaches
London," she advised.

Angelus nodded and drew from his pocket the watch he had found on the
lawn of Giles’ estate, "We’ve another hour before we dock."

He snapped the watch shut and ran his fingertips over the gold casing,
then left Buffy’s side to cross the width of the deck. Spike turned as
his sire approached, and Angelus held out the timepiece.

"I thought you might like to have this back," he said.

"A remembrance of better days, sire?" Spike remarked dryly, taking the
watch and shoving it into the pocket of his jacket.

"In some ways, yes," Angelus admitted. "I regret what’s been lost
between us, Spike."

"And you’d like the chance to make amends," he added. "I’ve heard the
song, Angelus."

"I just wish you believed it."

Spike drew his arm around Willow and glared up at the elder vampire,
"Belief in you, Angelus, comes at a bloody high price. Tell you what,
though. When we reach London, and you stand by and watch Willow walk
away with me, *then* I’ll believe you. Sound reasonable to you?"

"It’ll be a little late to tell me so, won’t it?" Angelus pointed out.
"Considering you’ll be gone."

"Well, there is that," he smirked. "But it’s the best I can do. Take it
or leave it."

His sire studied him for a long moment before turning on his heel and
walking away.

"Thought so," Spike spat

Willow shifted closer to him and looked up at him, "He worries me,
William."

He kissed her hair and cradled her head against his chest, "I can deal
with worries, luv. It’s losing you that I can’t bear. So, we won’t let
it happen."

"As easy as that," she said skeptically.

"Probably not, but that will be the end result. Whatever it is that the
two of them are planning to do, it won’t stop us. I won’t let it."

She smiled and raised her head to look up into his eyes, "If you can’t
believe in Angelus, neither can I, but I *do* believe in you--in us.
Should we go back to our cabin? My bag--"

"I’ve already seen to it," he told her. "I think it will be wiser for
us to stay out here until we reach land. I don’t want you out of my
sight."

She nodded and sighed softly as, out of the corner of her eye, she
caught sight of Angelus and Buffy still standing nearby, "It looks as
though we won’t be out of *their* sight."

"It’s all right, pet," he told her. "They can stand there and gawk
until we reach London. At least we also know where they are."

"You’ve something in mind, haven’t you?" she asked knowingly.

He nodded slightly, "Will you trust me if I don’t explain it to you?"

"Of course I will," she answered without hesitation.

"Gods, I love you," he whispered, drawing her body close against his
and brushing her hair away from her cheek.

Willow smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Since those two
insist on watching us, I think we ought to give them an eyeful."

Spike laughed softly and cupped her cheeks in his hands, "Do you know
how absolutely brilliant you are, Mrs. Randall?"

No," her green eyes sparkled playfully up at him. "Why don’t you show
me?"

He chuckled and buried his fingers in her hair as his lips descended to
hers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow took a quick glance over her shoulder as she and Spike threaded
their way through the maze of passengers waiting to disembark from the
ship. Angelus and Buffy were elbowing their way around the clusters of
people, the slayers eyes pinned on the couple they were determinedly
trailing.

"They’re right behind us, William," she spoke softly.

"Not to worry, luv," he smiled down at her. "They won’t be for long."

Finally scuttling by an elderly man and woman at the front of the line,
Spike gripped Willow’s hand more tightly in his and set off down the
gangplank in long, quick strides. The redhead’s free hand clutched at
her long skirts, raising them from around her ankles as she trotted to
keep up with him.

"Ready to make a run for it?" he asked the second their feet hit solid
ground.

"If we can’t lose them, it won’t be for the want of a damned good try,"
she nodded, grinning broadly up at him.

"No one will ever label me a fool for falling in love with you," the
blonde vampire’s eyes radiated adoration as he raised her hand to his
lips to plant a wet smack on it.

"I’ll bet I can find a cab before you can," she challenged him
playfully.

"I’ll take that bet," he laughed and felt her hanging on very tightly
to his hand as the two of them broke into an all-out run.

At the same moment, Angelus and Buffy stepped down onto the dock, and
the slayer cried out, "Angelus!" as Spike and Willow suddenly darted
away. With a mute nod, he slipped his hand into hers and set off after
the fleeing couple.
 

PART 18
Spike flew around the long row of buildings and came to a stop only
long enough to search their surroundings. Willow, breathing heavily
beside him, read his thoughts and gestured along the foggy, lamp lit
street toward a hansom cab waiting by the curb several yards away.

"There!" she panted and cast yet another look back over her shoulder.
"William, we’ll never make it--"

"I know, luv," he responded, gazing around at the gatherings of
bystanders who were waiting to fetch their loved ones home from the
overseas voyage.

Willow fidgeted nervously as Spike’s eyes settled upon what appeared to
be a small group of men, huddled together near a building to the right,
who had, most likely, migrated to this area with the hopes of coaxing a
few coins from the well-lined pockets of those who were far better of
than they.

"Ah, there’s what we need," he spoke softly.

Willow looked up at him, "Vagrants?"

He shook his head, a grin of satisfaction curling his lips, "Vampires."

"Vampires?" she gasped, but Spike ignored her slight protest and,
grasping her by the arm, propelled her forward, toward the little band
of minions.

The moment they caught sight of the infamous blonde man stalking
quickly toward them, the minions straightened themselves and exchanged
wary glances. One of them managed to find his tongue and cleared his
throat nervously before speaking.

"Sir! It’s...good to see you again! What are you--"

"Angelus!" Willow clutched Spike’s arm and gestured anxiously over his
shoulder as the dark vampire appeared from around the corner.

He wrapped a reassuring arm around her waist and kept his eyes fastened
on the minions, "He’s taken it upon himself to abet the council and
their slayer."

"We’ve heard," one of them sneered. "It was all over the city the day
after he fled with the bitch and her watcher to the Hellmouth in the
States. What the hell is he doing back here?"

"Following us," Spike answered. "And making a damned good job of it.
It’s Willow she’s after."

The minion eyed the minuscule scar that peeked over the lacy collar of
the redhead’s blouse, started at the low growl of warning that rumbled
in Spike’s throat, and quickly lowered his gaze in obeisance.

"Keep them occupied until I can get Willow away from here, and I’ll see
to it that the docks are yours," Spike ordered.

Golden eyes burning at the prospect of that promise, the vampires
nodded and stepped around the couple.

Spike removed his arm from around Willow’s waist and took her hand once
more, "We must hurry, luv. Determined as they may be, they won’t buy us
much time."

She nodded, and they took off down the pavement, ignoring the angry
voices and panicked shouts that slowly began to erupt from behind them.
Angelus had caught sight of their fleeing forms and had grabbed Buffy’s
hand to chase after them, only to be brought to an immediate halt by a
wall of minions that quickly moved to encircle the elder vampire and
the slayer.

"You would have been wise to have stayed in the States, Angelus," one
of them spat scornfully. "You and your bitch aren’t welcome here."

Barely restraining the demon inside him, Angelus scowled, "Get the hell
out of our way, boy."

Buffy’s eyes darted nervously around at the curious faces that had
turned toward them, "Angelus, we can’t do this here! These people..."

He nodded and reached out, grabbing one of the vampires and shoving him
aside, and another minion snarled and swung a solid fist at Angelus’
jaw. Buffy’s hand shot out and curled around the fist, and she squeezed
until she heard the sound of bone snapping. The minion’s knees buckled,
and a woman shrieked in alarm as the vampire collapsed.

In the distance, Angelus caught a flash of blonde hair nearing a cab
waiting down the street, and he forcefully shoved an oncoming minion,
sending him colliding back into another, and spun around to the slayer,
"Can you draw them away from here? Willow and Spike--"

"Yes!" she answered immediately. "You must stop them, Angelus! Go! I
can handle this. I’ll meet you back at the London estate."

As the bystanders began to move perilously closer to the fracas,
Angelus barreled through the remaining minions, grabbed the slayer’s
hand, and tugged her away with him. Giving his hand a quick squeeze,
she released him and ran away from the docks as Angelus took off toward
the waiting cab. The minions, momentarily confused, watched as the two
fled in opposite directions. Deciding they would rather not face a
Master who might feel they had failed him, the vampires tore off after
the slayer.

With the sound of his sire’s footsteps pounding behind them echoing in
the blonde vampire’s ears, he reached the cab and flung open the door.
Spike scrambled inside, pulling Willow along with him, to be met by the
slack-jawed stare of a well-dressed gentleman.

"This cab is engaged, sir," the stranger informed them.

"Get out," Spike hissed, dropping down into the seat opposite the man
and drawing the redhead down beside him.

"I beg your pardon," the gentleman snapped icily. "I most certainly
will not!"

Spike’s human facade immediately bled into that of the vampire as he
snarled angrily, "Get the bloody hell out."

Willow’s fingers flew to her mouth, and she stifled a giggle as a
choked cry of terror gurgled from the man’s throat, and he nearly
tripped over himself in his haste to abandon the cab and escape into
the darkness. Spike called out to the driver and slammed the door shut,
and the vehicle lurched forward. No sooner had it pulled away from the
curb, when the entire cab was jostled with a violent force. The door
suddenly yanked open, and Angelus vaulted inside, landing heavily on
the seat vacated only moments before. Willow’s eyes widened, and a soft
cry of dismay parted her lips as, from outside, the astonished driver
frantically attempted to reign in the horse. Spike's sire grinned a
broad grin of triumph and yelled out to the rattled coachman to drive
on, with all speed.

PART 19
The only consideration that kept Spike from wrestling his sire from the
speeding cab was the danger that such a brawl might cause an accident,
resulting in harm to his precious redhead. And so the blonde vampire
sat in fuming silence, his right hand clamped almost painfully around
Willow’s, his left balled into a tight fist of rage. Angelus
judiciously
allowed his enraged childe to maintain his icy silence. The driver, at
last, reigned the vehicle to a stop in front of the familiar Belgravia
mansion. Pulling Willow roughly along with him, Spike jumped out and
stormed up the steps while Angelus appeased the sputtering cabby with a
fistful of money. He hurried to the door and thrust out his hand to
prevent it from, literally, being slammed shut on his nose. He walked
through and followed the couple into the cold, dark morning room as the
sounds of scurrying footsteps on the floorboards overhead signaled that
the minions were aware of the alarming and unexpected return of their
masters.

As Angelus appeared in the doorway, Spike whirled around and snarled
through clenched teeth, "You bloody bastard. Get the hell out of my
house."

"Spike--"

He took a menacing step toward his sire, "I’ve put up with your
interference for as long as I can stand. There is no way in hell you’re
taking Willow away from me--"

"I have no intention of trying to take her from you," the darker
vampire said calmly.

"Then why did you follow us to London?" Willow asked, her voice as cold
and angry as that of her lover. "And don’t ask us to believe that it
was only to try to make Buffy see reason. If I had wanted to believe
that before, what you did back at the docks makes it utterly
impossible, now. Why did you force your way into our cab? Why are you
so
determined to keep us within sight? Where is Buffy?"

"I left her at the docks. I told her I’d meet her at her father’s
estate," he answered, then shifted his gaze to his childe. "I knew when
we followed you off of the ship that you’d create a distraction to
attempt to gain some distance from us. Or, at least, I’d hoped that you
would. I used that distraction as a means to separate Buffy from
myself."

"Why?" Willow questioned him.

"Because I needed to speak to the two of you, alone. You must get away
from London, tonight if possible." He smiled sadly as his childe glared
suspiciously at him. "I meant what I said to you during the voyage,
Spike. I realize it was wrong of us to keep Willow and you from one
another. I won’t say I enjoyed my relapse into soullessness. That’s a
hellish existence after one has experiences the opposite condition, not
that I expect you to understand that. But losing my soul did allow me
to see clearly the unfairness of the situation we had forced upon the
two of you."

"You’re good, Angelus. I’ll give you that," Spike scowled. "When you
open your mouth, it’s impossible to distinguish truth from lies. Are we
to accept that you trailed us across an ocean and then halfway across
London only to assist us in escaping your bitch? Escape wouldn’t have
been necessary if you hadn’t brought her here in the first place."

Angelus sighed and dropped heavily down into an armchair, "It’s just as
I told you that night on the ship. I had hoped that, by watching you,
Buffy would come to the same realization that I had. That you and
Willow love each other, that what you want is no different from what
she and I have. I have no doubt that if she had known I’d taken your
side in this, she would have staked you there and then and hauled
Willow back to the States. So, I let her go on thinking that I was
opposed to the two of you being together, and I decided that if she had
not reconsidered her position by the time we reached London, I’d help
the two of you to get away. She’s as adamant as she’s ever been that we
must get Willow to safety. She can’t--or won’t--understand that you
*are* her safety. She may see that, in time. But, as it is, time is the
one thing you do not possess--not here, anyway. She knows I’ve come
after you, and I think that will keep her at the estate for tonight.
But I don’t have to convince you that tomorrow will find her on your
doorstep. If you leave immediately, you’ll at least have a couple of
hours of darkness in which to travel. I’m quite certain she doesn’t
know that I managed to--steal a ride with you. I can tell her that I
lost track of you, that I checked with the minions, but you never
arrived here at the mansion. I’ll tell her I searched the most likely
places in the city, but you were nowhere to be found. Together, we’ll
conclude that you left London straightaway, that you have an even
greater lead on us than you actually will."

Willow arched an eyebrow, "You’re going to deceive her--for our sakes?"

"I don’t like the idea, but I think that I must," he nodded. "You
wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for me. In retrospect, I
should have taken Buffy away that night I was resouled and left you and
Spike together, as you both desired to be."

"Hindsight is a bitch, isn’t it?" Spike remarked caustically.

"So it seems. I would rather not have to keep the truth from Buffy, but
I’ve caused the two of you bitter heartache for months. You’re dear to
me, Willow, and Spike...you’re...my childe," the elder vampire’s voice
was thick with emotion. "I regret the pain you’ve suffered because of
me. I owe you this much, at the very least."

Spike turned away and swallowed against the tears that prickled
threateningly behind his eyes. He felt Willow’s gentle hand on his arm
and turned toward him, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her
close to him.

"Where will we go, William?" she asked him softly.

"Better not to answer that in my presence," Angelus commented before
Spike could respond. "The less I know, the better. I think, Spike, that
you had better call the minions and arrange to leave London
immediately. News will travel fast amongst the vampires here, and those
who may not have accepted what I’ve become will certainly do so once
they have heard what happened back at the docks."

The blonde vampire nodded and withdrew from Willow’s embrace. He walked
toward the door, stopping as he moved past Angelus, and placed a hand
on his sire’s shoulder.

"I’m sorry, Spike. Be happy with her," he said sadly.

"I will be," he answered.

"I know you will," Angelus nodded, then impulsively pulled his childe
into a brief, firm hug.

"Thank you, Angelus," Willow spoke as Spike quickly left the room.

He shook his head, "You don’t owe me your thanks. I’ll keep Buffy
preoccupied here for a few days, we’ll search just enough to convince
her that trying to locate you is futile. She’ll have to return to
Boston soon. The Hellmouth requires her presence, and she won’t neglect
her duties there for long."

"No," Willow agreed and sat down on the settee. "I’ll miss her. In
spite of--everything--I do believe her heart has always been in the
right place. I’ll miss Buffy. And you."

He knelt in front of her and took her hands in his, "You’re very sure
of this, Willow?"

She looked up at him, her eyes clear and decisive, "I am. I could never
be happy without him. I love him, Angelus."

"And he loves you," he replied and raised her hands to his lips.

"Everything is arranged," Spike stated as he reentered the morning
room. "We must hurry, luv. The carriage will be waiting outside."

She went to him, and he slipped his arm around her waist as the redhead
looked soberly over at Angelus, "Will we never see you again?"

"Never is a very long time," the dark vampire smiled softly. "We’ll see
each other again one day. Perhaps Buffy will even have had a change of
heart by then."

"We can hope," she responded.

"We must leave, sweetheart," Spike urged her gently.

She nodded, and the blonde vampire and his sire shared a long look
before Spike turned at Willow’s side and led her out of the morning
room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy took the envelope the butler held out to her, and Angelus frowned
at the slight trembling of her hand as her eyes traveled over the
familiar handwriting.

"What is it, love?" he asked after the butler had left them alone in
the parlor.

"A letter. From Willow," the slayer’s voice was little more than a
whisper as she sank down onto the settee. "At last."

It had been a full six months since she and Angelus had returned to
Brookline, and not a day had gone by that she had not wondered and
worried about her childhood friend. Somewhere, in the back of her mind,
she had always suspected that Angelus had been instrumental in her
inability to locate either Willow or Spike after they had fled that
night on the docks. Angelus had never confessed to her his
participation in their successful escape, but she had strongly sensed
his relief when she had finally agreed to admit defeat and to return to
the States to resume her duties on the Hellmouth.

Giles had been more vocal in his suspicions regarding Angelus’
duplicity. His doubts had culminated in a quiet confrontation one
night, about a week after their return. Buffy’s attention had been
drawn to the hushed voices emanating from behind the closed door of
her father’s library. From her place in the corridor, it had been
impossible to discern what they were saying, and she had hastily
decided to allow them their privacy and had quickly moved away, back in
the direction from which she had come. Whatever had been said
between the two men seemed to have appeased her father’s misgivings,
for afterward, it was apparent that Giles and Angelus had made their
peace and had since treated one another with a warm and comfortable
cordiality.

After that evening, Buffy had chosen not to question Angelus’ movements
that night in London, nor his motives in abetting Spike and Willow, as
she suspected he had done. She admired and respected her father’s
insight, and if he could accept whatever actions Angelus had chosen to
take, then she would find in herself to do so, as well. To Angelus,
Buffy conveyed her understanding in small, but unmistakable,
gestures--the way her hand unerringly reached for his as they left the
house for their nightly patrols; the way her fingers would gently
caress his cheek when they sat close to each other; the way her body
would snuggle close against his in their bed, just before drifting off
to sleep. But over the course of the ensuing weeks, despite her
happiness with her lover, she had longed to hear some word from Willow.
Now, at long last, it had arrived, and as she looked down at the neat,
feminine script on the envelope, she could hardly believe what it was
she held in her
hand.

"Buffy?" Angelus’ concerned voice broke through her thoughts as the
vampire sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

She looked up at him, smiling softly around the tears in her eyes, "I’m
sorry. I think I’m just--overwhelmed with relief."

"And perhaps a bit apprehensive?" he guessed, not unkindly.

"Perhaps," she admitted. "Do you think she hates me?"

"No, I don’t," he smiled. "But you could read it and find out for
yourself."

She nodded and sniffled back her tears as she tore open the seal on the
envelope and pulled out the letter inside to read its contents aloud.

Dearest Buffy,
If only I could tell you how often I’ve thought of you these past
months. I can’t apologize for what happened in London, since we both
know there was no other way for William and me to be together, as we
both wished to be.
I won’t tell you where I am--not that it would particularly matter
since we’re rarely in any one place for very long--I only want you to
know that I am all right. I’m not angry at you for what happened. I
think time has helped put all of that into perspective for me, and
I’ve chosen to move past it, as I hope you have done. No matter what
has happened between us, I love you, Buffy. That will never change. But
I have no desire to return to the States. William and I have agreed
that it’s best if I am not where you are. I’m more content here with
him than I have ever been in my life, and I wouldn’t jeopardize that
for
anything in the world. As much as you mean to me, and as much as I hope
I mean to you, I can’t be near you, Buffy. Perhaps, in time, that will
change.
I’m still breathing, beloved friend. My heart beats; my own blood
courses through my veins. I’m not deceiving myself. I know, eventually,
that will change, and William will make me what he is. To be honest,
I’m not certain how I feel about that, but I am certain about my
feelings for him. I know he will teach me and support me then, just as
he does now. I love him as I have never loved anyone or anything else.
I’ll never leave him, even though that means I will have to forfeit my
human mortality, one day. I made the right choice, Buffy. I’m happy.
Give my love to your father and to Angelus. You are all so precious
to me, and I hope we will be able to overcome our differences and see
one another again, if only for a brief time. Take care of yourself,
dear friend.
With my love,
Willow

"She doesn’t hate me," Buffy murmured, raising a hand to wipe the tears
from her cheeks.

"Did you really think she would?" Angelus asked her. "You’ve shared far
too much, meant far too much to each other, for her to ever hate you."

"But she isn’t coming back, not ever," the slayer stated as another
tear slid from her eye.

"She’s happy with Spike. She loves him, Buffy. You, of all people, can
surely understand that. And Spike cherishes her; he always will," the
vampire assured her.

She turned toward him, "That night on the docks--after you left me--did
you find them? Did you help them?"

"Does it matter?"

Buffy eyes shifted from him to the letter in her hand and back to him,
"No. No, it doesn’t matter. I love you, Angelus."

"I love you," he responded as his lips descended to hers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
With a soft, sigh, Willow snapped shut her suitcase and carried it to
the door. Spike turned from his place by the window and looked over at
her with a small smile.

"Growing tired of all this moving about, sweetheart?"

"It isn’t that," she answered. "Only, we've been here just three days.
We usually have at least a week or two before we move on. Is everything
all right? They haven’t found us, have they?"

"I thought you’d decided the slayer had given up trying weeks ago," he
responded.

"Perhaps that was only wishful thinking. She did contact the council
once she and Angelus reached Boston, and even though we haven’t had any
hint of them recently, we both know the council doesn’t give up that
easily."

"They’ve given up," he told her.

Her eyes grew suspicious as she stared over at him, "You know
something, don’t you? What are you not telling me?"

The vampire’s small smile curled into a wide grin, "Would I
intentionally keep anything from you, luv?"

"Yes, you would," she declared, stomping over to him and placing her
hands on his arms. "What the bloody hell is going on?"

He shook his head reproachfully, and his blue eyes shimmered with
amusement as he admonished her, "Such language from a lady!"

"I learned from the best," she argued. "Out with it, William!"

He chuckled and slipped his arms around her waist, "It was supposed to
be a surprise."

"I don’t like surprises," she contended, then grinned sheepishly as he
looked down at her in disbelief. "All right, I like some of your
surprises. Most of your surprises, in fact, but--"

The vampire arched a roguish eyebrow, "You didn’t complain about *any*
of my surprises in that bed this morning."

She blushed crimson, but giggled and laced her arms round his neck,
"Those are your best kind of surprises."

He laughed and pulled her tightly against him and placed a long, hard
kiss on her lips, which the little redhead returned wholeheartedly. He
finally drew away, but kept his arms firmly around her.

"Tell me?" she asked.

He nodded, "I received word from Angelus."

"Angelus!" she squeaked. "Oh heavens! How in the world did he find--"

Her protests were halted by his gentle fingers over her lips, "Do you
want to hear?"

She nodded and mumbled around his fingers, "Sorry."

He removed his hand from her mouth and gave her a soft kiss before
continuing, "He contacted one of the minions at the mansion in London
about a month ago. Considering his reputation--or lack thereof--with
our sort, the minion felt he had to verify the information in Angelus’
letter before passing it along. Then, of course, it took some time
to track us down."

"Which he finally did, obviously," Willow supplied.

"Obviously," Spike replied. "The letter was delivered to me at our
hotel in Rome last week. Angelus promised that Buffy has finally given
up her efforts to try to locate us. She and the council mutually agreed
that the search was futile."

"How can Angelus be sure Buffy is sincere? And what about Mr. Giles? He
has far more influence with the council. Surely, they would more likely
concur with his judgment. If he feels their search should continue--"

"He doesn’t," Spike told her. "According to Angelus, he and the
slayer’s father had a rather intense confrontation shortly after
arriving back in the States. After listening to Angelus’ arguments, the
watcher concurred that it would be best to abide by your wishes.
Angelus confirmed through Giles that the council’s search has indeed
been terminated."

"And the minion who first received Angelus’ letter and verified its
contents, you trust him?" she asked.

He nodded, "I’ve known him for a long time, pet. I trust him."

The redhead breathed a soft breath, "Then it’s truly over?"

"It is. That’s why I told this morning to pack and be ready to leave
this evening. We’re returning to London."

Her green eyes glimmered with a mixture of joy and disbelief as she
whispered, "Returning to London--permanently."

"Yes, luv. If that’s agreeable."

"I can hardly take it in! After all this time!" she responded.
"But--are you certain it’s safe? What if you should be seen by one of
the council members? Even if the search has been halted, they would
hardly turn a blind eye if they were to discover you in London."

"Yes, well, perhaps it would be wiser to live outside the city, but
more for your sake than mine. There are many more of us than there are
of them in London, as they very well know. Without the security of the
slayer’s presence, they’ll hardly be actively seeking out vampires.
Besides, we know their movements, and we know how to evade them. The
chances of being seen by one of them, even accidentally, are slim at
best. There’s a far greater danger of your being seen on the streets or
in the shops during the daylight hours. I’ve given orders to have the
Belgravia mansion vacated and sold--which should convince the council
even further that we have no intention of ever returning--and to
purchase an estate in Surrey. I’ve kept the minion who first received
Angelus’ letter apprised of our movements and instructed him to let me
know as soon as the necessary arrangements had been completed. I
received word from him when I returned to the hotel last night that the
Surrey estate is settled and ready for us."

"Oh, William!" she beamed and cupped his hands in her face and planted
a sound kiss on his lips. "We’re going home! It’s wonderful! Will it be
safe for me to visit my friends, do you think?"

"I think you should limit your travels into London to the evening
hours, and then only with me--"

"Of course," she agreed happily. "But couldn’t I at least call on Cordy
and Xander? I’ve missed them so, and I’m certain they’d keep our
presence in confidence if I ask them to do so. She understands about
us, you see. Once, back in Brookline, when we were apart and I thought
I’d go mad without you near me, I wrote her a long letter--which was
deplorably self-pitying, I’m ashamed to admit--and poured out my grief
to her. She wrote back the sweetest reply and even offered to sail to
the States straightaway and smack Buffy for me. Which, of course, I
didn’t want. Well, maybe just a little, but--"

Spike laughed out loud and hugged close, "Yes, luv, I think it would be
safe enough for you to pay an occasional evening visit to your friends.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you so elated before, sweetheart."

"Yes, I have been," she contradicted. "The night you came back to me,
on my balcony, in Brookline."

He groaned and held her even tighter against him, "Gods, how I love
you, Willow."

"I love you, too. And now, we’re going home, together."

"Unless the cabby--who is, at this very moment, waiting
outside--decides we’re not coming down, after all," he cautioned her
playfully.

"Oh!" Willow gasped in alarm and planted a quick kiss on his mouth
before grabbing his hand and virtually dragging him toward the door.

Spike chuckled and reached out to snatch up her suitcase as his beloved
redhead flung open the door and pulled him out into the corridor.

End part 19
End Reprisal

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