New Beginnings

Author: Shannon

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Not mine. All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, FOX, UPN, WB.

Distribution: My Site SoG (http://sog.magical-worlds.us/), NHA, WLS.

Spoilers: BtVS and AtS through their respective finales.

Summary: The AI gang receives some last minute help.

Author's Notes: The one thing I really wasn't happy about with the finale was that none of Scoobies were involved. So I decided to try to do what if one of them had decided to help.

Thanks to Gabrielle for beta-ing this for me.

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~Prologue~

Cordelia watched nervously from her vantage point. Maybe giving Angel that vision wasn't her smartest move. Okay he needed to know what he was up against, but this plan of his wasn't going to work. They couldn't take on the Senior Partners and survive. Of course, he seemed to know that already.

It wasn't as if she had a better plan though. Taking out the Black Thorns was the only option, but that was definitely going to force the Senior Partners' hand. They would have to attack, and the physical strength of Angel, Spike, and Illyria wasn't going to be enough to fight it. She didn't include Lorne, Wes, or Gunn in this because even if they survived the attacks on the Black Thorns they wouldn't stand a chance against the Partners. They would end up dead.

She had been watching them all for three months now; she was grateful for that much. She couldn't interact with any of them, that was a condition of her being allowed to view them at all, which was her biggest problem right now as she watched them while they discussed taking on the Senior Partners. She wanted to just reach out and shake all of them. They were walking into a death trap. They couldn't do this alone. Physical strength wasn't enough, and Illyria was only at partial strength. Still impressive strength, but partial, nonetheless.

She wasn't sure that any of them realized that that moron Harmony was telling Hamilton everything she knew. Okay sure, it was Harmony so she didn't really know all that much.about anything really but still the blonde vampire was going to make it even more difficult.

They were going to act within a day or so. That didn't leave her much time to figure out a way to help them. There had to be something she could do without violating her agreement to not contact Angel, Wes, Gunn, Spike, or Lorne. Actually she wasn't even sure she could contact any of them, Lorne maybe. The way she understood it was that it was difficult to contact or affect someone who didn't have a connection to other planes of existence. She also didn't want to cause them the pain of seeing her again anyway; it wasn't fair to any of them. They had to deal with her death and then Fred's so soon afterwards. She couldn't put them through it all again.

Even if she did contact one of them, would it do any good? What could they do with the information that their plan sucked and they would all die? On some level they were aware of the hopelessness of their plan, anyway. She had to find a way to help them, not just notify them of their impending deaths.

Question was: what could she possibly do to help them? She couldn't fight from here, and she doubted the PTB would let her go back again. That was a one time deal. Who else could help them? What they needed was their own supernatural army, but it wasn't as if those were easy to come by.

Supernatural Army? Buffy had activated slayers world wide and was currently tracking them all down. That would be one hell of an army. Of course Buffy was currently being a bitch about Angel working at Wolfram and Hart. Sure it was a stupid move on his part but it wasn't like she always made good choices and he had never just turned on her like that. So Buffy was out and Giles would probably follow Buffy's lead. Or she would follow his, it was hard to determine. There still had to be a way to get Angel the help he needed, Slayers, a lot of them and the resources that came with them. Maybe if she went to.

It could work. The worst that could happen was that she got her message through and it was ignored. She doubted it though, if she could get her warning across it would be heeded and acted upon. She had to take a chance.

~Part: 1~

Willow sat up in her bed. She glanced over at Kennedy sleeping next to her. She was still in her room, that was a good thing; but then was it a dream? It didn't feel like a dream, it felt very real. There was a knock on the door. Then Dawn's voice could be heard from the other side.

"Will?" The younger girl said nervously, "You okay?"

She must have screamed. She had thought that was part of the dream she had been having. It hadn't disturbed Kennedy; not that much did when she was sleeping. A trait Willow was sure couldn't be good for a slayer.

"I'm fine Dawnie," Willow said swinging her legs off the bed, "I'll be out in a second."

She needed to talk to Dawn and Faith. If that wasn't a dream they had a big problem. She considered calling Buffy or Giles but decided to see if the younger Summers girl knew anything first. She glanced over to Kennedy, she would let her sleep for a little longer, no need to wake her until she knew something for sure. Kennedy had been out with Faith and the others patrolling late last night. Sliding her feet into a pair of slippers, she went to find Dawn.

She found Dawn and Faith sitting at the kitchen table of the small house several minutes later. Both girls had cereal and juice in front of them and were talking quietly. Dawn was visiting for the summer. Buffy was off with the Immortal somewhere and Dawn hadn't wanted to stay in Italy alone, or. well. with Andrew. She also hadn't been happy about the idea of going to stay with Giles in England. Willow and Xander had both offered her a place for the summer. Dawn had decided to go to Willow for a while and then go to visit Xander later in the summer.

Faith had come to live with them several months ago. She and Robin had tried to make their relationship work but with the Hellmouth gone, Robin had turned back to being a teacher and Principal first and a demon hunter second. Faith grew bored quickly and wanted to go work with the new slayers, or at least somewhere that she was needed. Buffy hadn't really needed any help in Italy, and Faith hadn't been sure she would like living in England so she had opted to go to Willow to help her, Kennedy, and Rona with training new slayers down there.

They had well over a hundred girls there right now. Not living in the house, but living on the property. When so many girls started turning up in South and Central America, Willow and Giles had agreed it was best to buy enough land to build housing for them all. So now they had several rows of small, hotel-type cabins built on a large ranch. Faith lived in the house with Willow, Kennedy, and Rona, while the new girls lived in the individual rooms. It was an arrangement that worked well. They also had a few girls that lived close enough to remain home with their families and just come to the Ranch for training and meetings.

"Morning guys," Willow said as she walked over to the coffee machine.

"Hey," Dawn looked up and smiled as Faith raised a hand in greeting. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Um, I don't think so," Willow poured her coffee and took a seat at the table between the other two girls. "Have either of you heard from Angel?"

"Not since Andrew said he showed up in Rome looking for Buffy and The Immortal," Dawn replied.

"Nothing here," Faith agreed, "Why?"

"This is going to sound totally crazy but hear me out, okay," Willow said. Then, when Faith and Dawn nodded in agreement, she continued. "I think Cordelia is trying to contact me. I think Angel needs our help, but if he did why wouldn't he call Buffy or Giles."

"What kind of help?" Faith asked looking up; if the vampire was in danger she wanted to know about it.

"I'm not sure exactly, but it's big and more than he can handle," Willow replied, "Cordelia said he needs a supernatural army."

"He hasn't called and asked for help?" Faith asked. She knew the vampire didn't like depending on Buffy, but if he was into something that deep why wouldn't he ask for help?

"He may have," Dawn said quietly.

"What?" Both of the older girls turned their attention to the teen-ager.

"Buffy and Giles they. um," Dawn hesitated. She had thought Willow was aware of her sister's stand on Angel's new position in L.A. "They think he can't be trusted. They don't want to help him."

"Dawnie, Cordelia said something about Fred dying and no one would help," Willow said watching her closely, "Is that true?"

"I think so, I mean I don't know Fred but I remember Andrew telling Buffy that Angel had called for help, looking for you because someone was sick and it was magical and Giles wouldn't tell him how to." Dawn stopped talking because Willow was out of her seat and dialing the phone, Faith right behind her.

"Andrew, I need to talk to Giles," Willow was saying into the phone. "Now, Andrew."

"If anything happens to Angel I swear I'm going to-how could B be such a." Faith's ranting was cut off when Giles came to the phone.

"Giles did something happen to Fred Burkle?" Willow asked then a few seconds later, "Yes, Angel's friend."

Dawn watched as Faith continued to pace, looking like she was ready to hit the first thing that drew her attention. Willow was tapping her foot as she listened to Giles talk. Dawn couldn't help but think that she would hate to be her sister or Giles if anything happened to the vampire. She had known about their view of Angel and the others in L.A. and she didn't particularly agree with Buffy, but it wasn't as if Buffy had ever given Dawn's opinion a lot of consideration before.

"Giles are you telling me that girl is dead because you don't approve of Angel's job?" Willow said with barely contained anger into the phone, "And worse, that it was magical and I might have been able to help?"

Faith stopped walking and watched the red-head. She hadn't seen Willow truly angry very often, and had never seen her anger directed toward the watcher. However, she had no doubt the girl was getting angrier the longer the older man tried to explain his actions.

"Giles, what's going on in L.A. now?" Willow said after taking a deep breath, "And I want all of the truth."

Faith and Dawn had both moved closer to their friend, waiting for the news. Judging by Willow's face, it wasn't good. Dawn found herself very happy that Willow had learned to control her temper and magic considerably in the last couple years.

"Fine. Bye." Willow slammed the phone down and turned to face the other two girls. "Giles says Angel's trying to join the Black Thorns."

"What's that?" Dawn asked.

"A very evil organization that does Wolfram and Hart's work on this plane," Willow explained.

"Isn't that what the firm does?" Faith asked.

"Not really, they deal with some of it, but this is a group of demons, very powerful, very elite."

"Angel wants to join them?" Dawn asked, "So Buffy and Giles were right to not trust him?"

"I don't think so," Willow sighed and sat down again, "I mean if that were true, what was Cordelia telling me to help him for?"

"Are you sure it was real?" Faith asked, "You said you thought it was a dream."

"I did but then again I didn't think Giles would ever." Willow frowned, "I woke up before she was done telling me, I think. I need to try to contact her."

"How?" Dawn asked, "Didn't she die?"

"I may be able to astral project myself to whatever heavenly dimension she's in."

"When?" Faith asked.

"Now," Willow replied, "Dawnie, can you help me?"

"Sure," Dawn agreed.

"Need me?" Faith asked, setting her bowl and glass in the sink.

"No, go on out and work with the girls. I just need someone to keep me grounded. Dawn can do that."

"Come get me when you know something," Faith said before heading out the door.

*****

Willow felt herself moving away from her body. Dawn was sitting on the floor holding her hands. She was going to a heavenly dimension so there really was no danger and she shouldn't need someone to hold her, but she felt better knowing that the safety net was there, just in case. It hadn't been hard to find the dimension Cordelia was in, locating her once she got there could prove more difficult, but she was determined to find out all she could as quickly as possible.

"Willow, how did you.?" Cordelia's voice pulled Willow from her thoughts. "You didn't die did you?"

"Cordy," Willow grinned, "No I didn't die. Um, this is going to sound really stupid and crazy if I'm wrong, but did you try to tell me something about Angel when I was sleeping?"

"Oh thank God," Cordelia said relieved, when Willow had woken up she thought she had lost her chance to get help for Angel. "I thought you didn't get the message."

"I got part of it but, well, sorry for freaking out on you and waking up."

"I probably would've too," the former seer smiled. She was still surprised that she considered Willow to be a friend.

"Angel's in trouble then?"

"Yeah, a lot of trouble," Cordelia frowned, "The PTB let me go back one last time to give him a message. Then he ran with it, but it's a suicide mission Willow."

"What about Fred?"

"Fred died. That's what triggered this craziness. He wants her death to mean something so he's going to try to take out the Black Thorns and then the Senior Partners."

"Alone?"

"Spike, Gunn, Wes, and Lorne will help him," Cordelia frowned, "But Lorne isn't a fighter. Wes and Gunn are human. Illyria will probably help, but she's a wild card from what I can tell."

"Illyria?" Willow asked, "As in the Old One?"

"You've heard of her?"

"Read about her, yeah," Willow shrugged, "Back when we were looking for Glory, we did a lot of research on Old Ones because all we knew was that what we were looking for dated back to before the written word. She's alive and with Angel?"

"She's in Fred's body, that's how she died," Cordelia explained, "But she seems really loyal to Wes."

"When does Angel plan on doing this?" Willow asked.

"So you'll help?"

"I'll try, Buffy isn't going to help from what Dawn has said, but Faith will and I can probably get some other slayers. How long do I have?"

"Tonight."

"You're kidding right I have a day?" Willow started pacing; this wasn't giving her much time at all.

"Yeah, I've been watching. He told them they were moving tonight."

"Great, I'll get there as soon as I can then."

"Will, thanks," Cordelia smiled. "I knew I could count on you."

"Don't thank me yet," Willow frowned, "I could just end up dead with them."

Before Cordelia could respond ,Willow reentered her body and opened her eyes. Dawn was still sitting in the same position she had been in when she left.

"Dawnie?" Willow said quietly pulling her hands from the teen-ager.

"Yeah, did you find her?"

"Yeah, go get Faith and Rona," Willow said getting to her feet, "Is Kennedy still sleeping?"

"Yeah," Dawn was already on her feet and heading to the door. "Meeting?"

"Yeah right now," Willow replied as she headed to the bedroom to wake Kennedy.

*****

"What did you find?" Faith asked as the five girls gathered around the kitchen table.

"What's going on?" Rona asked.

"Angel is in trouble," Willow said quickly, "A lot and we don't have much time. He's planning on taking out the Black Thorns tonight. If he does that, the Senior Partners will attack and they'll all be killed."

"What can we do?" Kennedy asked. She hadn't met or spoken to the vampire but she knew that Spike was now with him and that both vampires were fighting the same fight as they were, only fighting it in Los Angeles.

"I can't make any of you do this," Willow said quietly, "It could be a suicide mission. These are among the most powerful demons in existence. I'm going, there's no question. I can't let this happen. It's bad enough that Fred died because Giles made the decision that he didn't want me to help them. I'm not going to let the rest of them die. It's up to you guys if you choose to join me. Dawnie you can stay here or go to Xander if you want."

"I'm going with you," Dawn said without thinking.

"Dawn it's."

"Dangerous. My whole damn life is dangerous. I'm not going to sit here while Spike gets killed again."

"I'm in," Faith said.

"Me too," Kennedy agreed, followed by Rona.

"Okay then more is better. Kennedy go out and see if any of the other girls are willing to join us. It's their choice; they don't have to if they don't feel ready."

Kennedy quickly headed out. "We have to leave soon. Faith, call and see if we can charter a plane. Dawn, you and Rona pack weapons, I'll start gathering magic supplies."

Everyone separated to go accomplish their tasks so they could leave as soon as possible. Willow was in the bedroom throwing various supplies into a duffel bag when Kennedy wandered in. "Most of the girls are going with us, and Faith said the plane will be ready in two hours."

"Great, then we may make it in time." Willow said.

"What can I do?"

"Pack for us," Willow suggested, "We may end up being there a few days."

"That's what I told the others. They're packing and will meet us out front in an hour."

*****

An hour later Willow stood in the center of the group of mostly teen-age girls and once again explained what was happening and telling them they could still back out. She didn't expect any of them to do this if they didn't feel ready. She couldn't guarantee their safety and wouldn't be angry or disappointed if they chose to stay behind.

When everyone confirmed they understood and wanted to help, they boarded the large bus and headed out to the airfield. Once they had all boarded the plane, they began to discuss the possible strategies they could use, but soon found it to be useless since they had no idea what they were up against, or even if they would find they had arrived too late to be of any help.

"Should I call Buffy?" Dawn asked Willow. She was already pretty sure of the answer. If she called her sister, Buffy would make her stay away from the fight. She didn't want to turn her back on her friends. A big part of Dawn was disappointed in her sister for doing exactly that. Buffy knew that Angel hadn't turned his back on the good fight, but was punishing him for something that Dawn hadn't been able to figure out yet. She was punishing Spike too; for leaving her, Dawn imagined. Whatever it was Buffy was angry with them for, it wasn't fair to let them die without even trying to help. Spike had died to save them last year; they wouldn't have been able to win in Sunnydale without Spike and Angel. That fact alone earned the two a certain amount of loyalty.

"It's up to you Dawn," Willow replied. "She won't be happy that you're with us."

"Then I say what she doesn't know won't hurt her," Rona said sitting in the seat next to Dawn.

"Right, so no telling Buffy."

"Willow, will we be there before dark?" Faith asked.

"No," Willow frowned, "I'm afraid we'll miss the attacks on the Black Thorns but hopefully."

"We will make it to help them," Faith said, "We have to."

"Yeah, we do." Dawn mumbled.

Willow picked up her book and once again began reading the spells. She had brought along her dark magic books. It wasn't something she wanted to use, but benign spells weren't going to help here. She was going to have to draw on the power that she had been trying to deny.

She had also been able to find out a little bit of information from various sources about Illyria's return. Wesley had taken away a great deal of the demon's power because it was destroying her body. Fred's body couldn't handle the power. Willow found a spell that might be able to help that. If it worked it would restore the demon's power and allow it to exist without destroying the body. For her to perform it, she would need several minutes of safety. If they didn't make it before Angel made his move she would need a shield to protect them long enough to do the spell. That was what she was looking for right now, a shield powerful enough to at least slow down an attack by the senior partners.

~Part: 2~

"You take the thirty thousand on the left." Gunn said, coming to his feet at the sight of the demon army approaching.

"You're fading, you have ten minutes at best," Illyria said, turning to face the approaching demons.

"Then let's make them memorable," Gunn came to his feet and began moving forward.

"Any sort of plan?" Spike asked.

"We fight," Angel responded.

"Bit more specific than that?"

"Personally I want to slay the dragon," Angel said with a slight smile, "Let's get to work."

Suddenly the demons stopped moving forward. It appeared that they had hit an invisible wall. They were pushing against something but didn't seem to be able to move forward.

"Heard you guys needed help," A voice said from behind them. They all turned quickly toward the sound of the voice.

"Red?" Spike said, squinting into the rain and darkness.

"Yep," Willow grinned, "That shield isn't going to hold for long. So I'll explain later."

"Who is this human?"

"It's Willow, she's a friend," Gunn responded.

"Illyria right?" Willow smiled at the demon that tilted her head to the side when Willow addressed her, "Want your power back?"

"Yes, but the shell cannot hold it."

"I can fix it," Willow smiled, "By the way, I brought help."

Before anyone could question her, Faith and Dawn emerged from the darkness followed by what appeared to be around a hundred Slayers. "Hey guys, having an apocalypse without us?" Faith grinned.

"I need a minute with Illyria, but be prepared for the shield to go down," Willow said then noticing Gunn's holding his stomach, "Are you hurt?"

"His wound is mortal," Illyria responded.

Turning her attention to Gunn Willow muttered a spell and the bleeding stopped, "It's not permanent, we make it out of here and you'll  need a doctor."

"Thanks."

"Keep reading this until I finish with Illyria," Willow said handing Dawn a book, "It'll reinforce the shield."

With that said, Willow grabbed Illyria and pulled her behind the slayers so she could perform the spell without the distraction of several thousand demons. She recited the first of the two spells she had memorized on the flight over. Then did the same for the second one, she watched as the bolt of blue light slammed into the demons back.

"Okay that shield's going down any second, you ready?"

"I wish to make them pay for Wesley's death," Illyria told her.

"Great me too," Willow agreed, "Let's go kick some demon ass."

"Hey, Blue," Spike said as they approached, "Can you slow time for everyone but us?"

"Yes."

"Then do it," Faith said, "If they're moving slower we stand a chance."

"Right, and I'll be up there," Willow pointed to the top of the building next to them. "I'll start from the back."

"Ready then?" Angel asked.

"Let it go Will," Faith said as she and the slayers raised their weapons. Willow closed her eyes and mumbled something Faith didn't understand, but she disappeared and reappeared a second later on top of the building.

As soon as she landed, the shield dropped and the demons surged forward. Suddenly Willow saw that everything was moving very slowly. Everything except the slayers and the people they came to help, that is. They were rushing at the demons swinging weapons as quickly as they could, taking out as many as possible before Illyria's magic failed. Smiling, Willow began aiming spells toward the back of the army of demons. Taking out several at once by setting a few well-placed demons on fire.

They were able to take out many of the demons before the time spell failed, but then demons attacked again. Willow was keeping one eye on her friends and the slayers as she continued to use her magic to destroy as many demons as possible. She frowned as she saw several girls fall before time slowed again. She wasn't really surprised by the casualties; she knew there would be some. Overall, they were faring better than she could've hoped for but the optimist in her had wished there would be no slayer deaths.

*****

Several hours later, Angel walked into the deserted lobby of the Hyperion. He hadn't been back here in almost a year, but now he didn't see any other options. He was followed in by everyone who had survived. Overall, they had very few casualties. They had lost a few slayers, but it wasn't the massacre he had been expecting. Now that they were done fighting and straggling inside they could get a clearer view of how many had been lost.

"I can't believe we survived that," Spike said, coming to stand beside Angel.

"We wouldn't have if Willow and Faith hadn't shown up when they did."

"How did they know anyway?"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Angel responded as the last of the group crowded into the lobby.

"It's seriously dark in here," Faith commented.

"Sorry no power here anymore; I can take care of that tomorrow," Angel responded.

"Illuminate," Willow said from the doorway and the lobby instantly lit up.

"Great having a witch around again," Spike commented.

"We need to see who's here and who's not," Faith said, climbing on top of the counter to get a better view. "Do we actually have a list of slayers or something, Red?"

"No," Willow frowned, "We have a number though, "Rona, Kennedy see if you can get a head count please. Where's Dawn?"

"I'm right here Will, but um, Kennedy she."

"Willow, Kennedy was hit," Faith said quietly.

"She's.Kennedy didn't." Willow stared at her friends in shock. She knew there would be deaths but she hadn't even considered that one of them would be Kennedy.

"I'm sorry, Willow," Dawn hugged her friend.

"I'm-I'll be okay Dawn I just need-," Willow stuttered, "Gunn needs to be taken to a hospital because that spell is going to wear off soon."

They all stood and watched quietly as Willow ran into the office behind the counter. No one knew exactly what to do for her. Dawn was relieved that she was taking it better than she had Tara's death. The last thing any of them needed to deal with now was Willow turning evil on them.

"Anyone else need medical attention?" Faith asked after several moments. Several girls raised their hands. "Great I'll take Gunn and all of you to the E.R. Rona try to see who else is missing so we can contact their families," Faith suggested as she helped Gunn to his feet and led him out the door.

Once Faith had led all the injured out of the hotel and Rona and Dawn were busy counting slayers, Angel and Spike headed upstairs to see how many habitable rooms they could manage. They had a lot of people to house for the night.

Illyria walked over to the door that Willow had gone through earlier and pushed it open. She stood staring at the crying girl for several moments before speaking. "You feel grief for your slayer's death."

"Um, yeah grief," Willow mumbled. Her head was still down, not wanting really wanting to talk to anyone yet.

"I feel much grief for Wesley's death, too."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here in time to save him," Willow frowned, "I'm sorry we had any casualties at all."

"All wars have casualties," Illyria commented.

"Yeah I guess they do," Willow said quietly, "And I've been involved in too many."

"I am grateful to you for restoring my power," Illyria said, "I am in your debt for this."

"Don't worry about it I'm grateful that we had a kick ass demon on our side," Willow smiled slightly, "I mean, not that Angel and Spike aren't, but you have some serious power."

"So do you. I have never met a witch as powerful."

Willow watched in confusion as the demon turned and walked out the door. After seeing her fight tonight, she was glad Illyria was on their side. But she was a very confusing person to have a conversation with. She had brought up some things Willow hadn't wanted to think about, though. She didn't feel nearly as much grief as she should have over Kennedy's death. She was sad of course, but it wasn't the same as when Tara died; she didn't feel as if her world had ended. Right now she needed to go back out there and see how many others were lost tonight. Sighing, she headed back out to the lobby to look for Rona.

"Rona, how are we doing?" Willow asked noticing that several girls were missing that she thought had been there before.

"Faith took about twenty girls to the hospital," Rona replied, coming to stand with Willow, "And there are about ten or fifteen unaccounted for. Illyria and Dawn went back to the alley to see if."

"Okay, I guess it's not as bad as I thought then," Willow frowned, "Girls everyone over here please."

"Willow, I'm really sorry about Kennedy," Rona offered as the girls gathered around them.

"Thanks, Rona," Willow smiled slightly at her, "Obviously, we're all here for the night. I'm going to stay for a while, make sure this is really over. You guys can all head back tomorrow though; I'll call Giles and have him find a plane to return you all to the ranch. Rona, do you mind going with them? I'm not sure what Faith will decide to do."

"Sure."

"The missing Slayers are dead," Illyria said, coming back into the hotel followed by Dawn. "There are trucks taking them away."

"Ambulances," Dawn explained at the puzzled expressions on Willow and Rona's faces.

"Right," Willow said, "Dawn, Rona and the girls are returning home tomorrow. You can go with them if you want."

"Can I stay with you?"

"Of course, though we will have to tell Buffy then, because I'll have to call Giles tomorrow for a plane," Willow responded.

"Whatever, it's done. She can't do anything now, anyway."

"We should have enough rooms if everyone doubles up," Angel said, coming down the stairs. "You can choose whichever rooms you'd like."

"You heard him, pair up and pick a room," Willow instructed, and the girls headed up the stairs leaving Willow alone with Spike, Angel, and Dawn.

"You gonna be okay, Red?"

"Yeah, Spike, I'll be fine," Willow answered, "But hey, welcome back."

"Yeah welcome back Spike," Dawn repeated, hugging the vampire.

"Glad to be back," Spike smirked, returning Dawn's hug, "Hell, glad to still be back."

"So, Willow, how did you know we needed help?" Angel asked. He was grateful for her help but he still hadn't been able to figure out how she had known.

"Cordelia," Willow answered simply.

"Cordelia?" Spike and Angel both said.

"Yeah apparently she's been watching you and was concerned about your plan."

"So she did a ghost-y thing and told you to help?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Sort of, she tried to tell me in a dream but then I went to her for more information," Willow explained, "I'm so sorry I couldn't make it here before Wesley.And I would've helped Fred, Angel, Giles didn't tell me. Which is something he and I are going to discuss in more detail one day very soon."

"We're grateful for all the help you did give us Willow," Angel replied. "Are you all leaving tomorrow then?"

"Well, the girls are, but Dawn and I would like to stay if it's okay."

"Fine with me, I'll get power turned on here in the morning," Angel offered.

"Great, and I have to contact Giles to get us a plane for all the girls to return to Rio," Willow frowned, "And call Buffy to tell her where Dawn is."

"Slayer isn't going to be happy," Spike interjected with a frown, "Then again can't say I care."

"Do you want me to call her, Willow?" Dawn offered.

"No I'll do it, "Willow smiled, "Wanna go find us a room though so we can shower?"

"Sure," Dawn agreed and headed up the stairs, "But since I'm finding the room I get to shower first."

Willow sat and talked to Spike, Angel, and Illyria while Dawn was gone. One of the girls came down to point out that they had left their bags in the alley. The four remaining down stairs left to go retrieve the bags so that everyone could shower and get some sleep before they headed home in the morning. Faith returned with Gunn and several of the girls shortly after everyone had retrieved their bags and gone back upstairs.

"The others had to stay but should be released in the morning," Faith said helping Gunn to sit on the couch near Spike.

"Great, I'm sending them all home in the morning," Willow replied, "Dawn and I are staying."

"I'm staying too," Faith agreed. "Haven't had a fight like that in ages."

"Gotta love a girl who enjoys violence," Gunn replied. "We all staying here?"

"Yeah," Angel tossed him a room key, "Saved a room for you."

"I'm turning in then; see you all in the morning," Gunn responded coming slowly back to his feet and heading upstairs.

Dawn came to the landing and hollered to Willow that the shower was free. Willow stood up and told everyone goodnight before heading to the stairs. "Faith, do you mind sharing a room with Illyria?" Angel asked.

"I'll stay with Blue; its fine," Faith agreed, "But I'm off to shower now."

"So guess we're bunking together tonight?" Spike asked Angel when the room had cleared.

"Unfortunately yes," Angel frowned, "And I'm showering first."

Before Spike could respond, Angel was halfway up the stairs. "Wanker," he muttered and followed him.

~Part: 3~

"Willow, Faith brought back breakfast," Dawn said from the doorway, "You hungry?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute," Willow opened one eye and stretched her arms over her head, "Don't have the slayer stamina thing, I actually need sleep."

"I'm not a slayer and I'm up," Dawn pointed out.

"Made from the slayer remember," Willow sat up and reached for her robe, "And don't forget big ball of shiny green energy."

"Good point but, um, there are many hungry slayers and a limited amount of food so I'd hurry."

Willow decided to risk missing breakfast and shower and get dressed before going downstairs. It was late but the magicks of the previous night had taken a lot out of her, and the prospect of having to call Giles and Buffy wasn't making her any more eager to join the others.

"Did you save me anything?" She asked when she finally reached the kitchen.

"Bagel?" Rona asked holding up the plate. "And coffee is about it. Sorry."

Willow grabbed the offered bagel and poured a cup of coffee before taking the chair next to Dawn. The room had already begun to clear out leaving only a few slayers and Dawn, Spike and Angel in the room.

"You two are up early?" Willow commented to the vampires.

"I need to get the power and phones turned on before dark," Angel pointed out. "Seems Wolfram and Hart already disconnected our cell phones."

"Can't imagine why," Willow grinned. "I need to find a phone too."

Dawn reached in her pocket and pulled out a cell phone and tossed it to Angel. "I don't know how much time you'll have before it goes dead, but you should be able to get something done at least."

Angel caught the phone in midair but before he could respond a voice sounded from the doorway. "You survived."

"Connor," Angel smiled, "You sound surprised."

"Last time I saw you the building was falling down around you," Connor replied.

"How did you find us?"

"Not hard to guess where you'd go," he responded then turned to the others, "You're Willow, right? I think I've met you but some memories are a little foggy. I don't think I know you?"

Dawn smiled and held out her hand, "Dawn Summers."

"Hi Connor," Willow responded.

"Connor?" Dawn frowned, "Angel's son?"

"Yeah, except not," Connor smiled and shook her hand.

"I'll explain later," Angel said at the questioning looks from both girls. "First let me make those phone calls. I'll try to be quick enough for you to call Giles."

"Thanks."

"You can use my phone if you need it," Connor offered reaching for his phone.

"Thanks but, um, Giles is in England, how's your plan on international calls?"

"No idea," he admitted.

"Here you use Dawn's," Angel handed Willow Dawn's phone and reached for the other one. "Mine are local."

"I'm gonna do this upstairs," Willow said, "It may get kind of ugly."

"Want support?" Dawn offered.

"Sure," Willow grinned and the two girls headed up the stairs.

"So what's the deal with the hundred or so girls in the lobby?" Connor asked his father as the door closed. "And how long is Dawn staying?"

"The girls are slayers but they're all leaving today. I'm not sure how long Dawn will be here."

"She have a boyfriend?"

"Don't know," Angel answered as he pushed another button on the phone and waited on hold once more, "But her sister is a slayer so I'd be careful."

"Uh huh."

*****

"Hi Andrew I need to speak to Giles again," Willow said into the phone.

"Willow where are you, we've been trying to."

"Andrew, Giles please," Willow said impatiently. She was tired and had no desire to deal with Andrew's questions right now.

"Hello?" Giles voice came over the phone, "Willow?"

"Yeah Giles, I need you to do me a favor and I don't have long to explain."

"What is it?"

"I need you to charter a plane to get the girls from L.A. back to Rio."

"Why are you in L.A.?"

"Angel needed help," Willow said simply, "We helped."

"Willow Angel is."

"Angel is the same as Angel's always been, but thanks to your narrow-minded viewpoint that you decided I shared, Fred and Wesley are both dead. As well as several slayers, including Kennedy."

"Kennedy?" Giles sighed, "Willow I'm sorry."

"Whatever," Willow said, "I'm staying here and so are Faith and Dawn for now, so we need to get Rona and the girls home."

"I'll make the arrangements," Giles agreed, "You brought Dawn into a fight?"

"Right, that was wrong 'cause she's never been in danger before. She wanted to come."

"Willow, Buffy will."

"I don't care," Willow responded, "Giles you and Buffy are kind of low on my list of priorities at the moment. Two very good people died and I may have been able to prevent at least one of them."

"Willow."

"Don't Willow me," Willow said angrily as the phone beeped a low battery warning, "I've gotta go before the line goes dead. Can you arrange the plane and I'll call you back in a couple hours?"

"I'll take care of it," Giles agreed as the lights in Willow and Dawn's room flickered on. Willow grinned at the amazingly fast service.

"I'll talk to you later Giles," she managed just before the phone went dead.

"He's going to do it?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure I'm in for a lecture when I call from a land phone though."

"At least we have light now," Dawn smiled.

*****

Two hours later the power and phones were working again and Faith and Dawn had headed out to buy groceries and blood for the vampires. Angel and Connor had left to take the slayers to the airport. Angel had managed to locate a company that would allow him to charter a bus that day for only a few hours. Willow wasn't sure exactly where Illyria had gone; she had spent most of the day wandering the halls of the hotel complaining about humans living in filth. Spike had also been in his room most of the afternoon and had also been complaining about the accommodations.

Willow sighed, she was bored and needed to do something constructive so she headed upstairs to check on Gunn and find Spike. As she walked past several rooms, she was reminded of how run-down this place really was. No one had lived here in nearly a year and before that it was really only occupied by Angel, Lorne, and Fred. Their rooms had been in good shape, as well as the ones used by Gunn, Wesley, and Cordelia when they would stay. The rest of the Hotel, however needed a lot of work. She knew that Xander had been growing restless in Africa; she would have to call him and see if he'd be interested in coming here and helping to remodel some of the rooms.

"Gunn?" Willow said as she knocked on door to his room.

"Yeah," Gunn replied sleepily.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," Gunn responded and pulled himself up further in the bed. Wincing at the pain in his stomach. "Hi Willow."

"Hi, just wanted to make sure you were okay up here?" Willow smiled and sat in the chair next to his bed, "Did you want to come downstairs?"

"Maybe later," Gunn replied, "I'm really very sorry about your friend."

"Thanks," Willow shrugged, "It's, um, it's a hazard of dating a slayer."

"Everyone else out?"

"Yeah," Willow explained where the others had gone, "Illyria told me about Wesley, but what about Lorne? He wasn't.?"

"As far as I know he's okay," Gunn frowned, he couldn't really blame the demon for leaving but it would've been nice if he had at least stopped by to let them know he was alive, "He couldn't do.this anymore. He told us he was leaving if he survived."

"So you don't really know then?" Gunn shook his head. Willow frowned, she could understand the demon wanting out but it had to be hard on his friends to just have to wonder if he was alive or if he was lying dead or injured somewhere. She would have to look into ways to help them at least find out if their friend had made it out of town.

"I heard you were sticking around a while." Gunn said.

"Yeah. Not that I don't love the girls but a break from teen-age slayers would be a nice change," Willow grinned. "I'll let you rest, just holler if you need anything."

"Thanks for everything Willow." Willow nodded and pulled the door closed as she left and went in search of Spike.

While she searched the halls, her mind once again moved to the idea of making this hotel more livable. She wasn't sure how much Angel could do financially and it would take him some time to rebuild Angel Investigations. That would be even more difficult without Wesley and Cordelia to assist him. She doubted either of the vampires had any computer knowledge, and Spike's attention span was shaky at best. As she passed an open door she saw the blonde vampire attempting to rearrange furniture in a run-down room to make it more livable.

"Hey Spike," Willow said from the doorway, "I don't think moving that chair will make it any better."

"Right, the room needs an overhaul," Spike agreed, "Maybe we could get on one of those room makeover shows."

"I was thinking about that actually," Willow said moving into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Makeover show?" He raised one eyebrow in question.

"No, remodeling at least some of the hotel."

"Doubt Peaches can afford it, Luv," Spike sat next to her, "I'm sorry about your slayer. To lose another person you loved so soon after."

"It's been two years since Tara," Willow said quietly, "But that's the thing Spike, I'm not as.I don't.I'm not nearly as hurt by Kennedy's death as I should be. I mean I loved her and I'm not ready to party or anything but."

"When Tara died you were upset enough to destroy the world?" Spike suggested, "And you're only sad now."

"Yeah, shouldn't it hurt more?"

"She wasn't Tara," Spike replied after a moments thought, "Kennedy came into your life during a horrible time, a lot was happening and you were thrown together. Your life has calmed down a lot from what I understand, maybe things have just changed."

"Maybe," Willow agreed. Glad to see that the vampire understood how she was feeling, "Now about the makeover I was thinking of calling Xander about remodeling some of these rooms, and maybe make the downstairs more business-y for Angel to re-open Angel Investigations. I'm sure Xander wouldn't charge much, and I have money, my parents had a big trust fund for me that I got on my last birthday, and with Giles in charge of the Watcher's Council it pays very well."

"I don't know if Angel wants to do that but it sounds like a plan," Spike smirked, "But you really believe Xander will come here to help Angel when even Buffy doesn't trust him anymore?"

"You've been away a while Spike," Willow frowned, "Things have changed with all of us. Xander isn't quite the blind Buffy supporter he was a year ago."

"Then I'm all for it."

"We're back!" Willow smiled, at the sound of Dawn's voice. "Anyone going to help carry this stuff?"

"Groceries are here," Willow said.

"Let's go help her out before she comes looking for us." Spike agreed.

*****

Angel listened to the plan for renovating the hotel and rebuilding Angel Investigations that Willow, Spike, and Gunn had carefully laid out for him. He actually hadn't given what he would do now much thought, but Gunn was right, they needed to do something to make money and there was still a city full of people in danger from the vampire and demon world. Wolfram and Hart would rebuild and it would all start again.

"Can we do this without the others?" Angel asked, "I don't know anything about computers and we won't have the visions and."

"I can stay as long as you need me," Willow replied, "You'll all be experts on the computer before I go home, I promise."

"The visions were helpful but we managed without them while Cordelia was gone, we can do it again," Gunn pointed out.

"Wes and Fred were the experts on."

"All of Giles books are in a database," Willow said. "I'll duplicate it here."

"And Xander will do this?" Angel asked, not really believing the other man would be interested in helping him.

"I'm not going to say he likes you, but if you're occupied working here you won't be near Buffy," Willow smiled, "So I'm gonna say he'll help, but I'll call him. Also don't assume he agreed with Buffy and Giles decision, we don't always agree on everything."

"If you wish to continue to help the humans I believe you should listen to Willow," Illyria said from the doorway. She had been listening to the conversation with Angel as well as hearing most of the planning while he was out.

"Well I guess if Gunn and Spike are willing to stick around." Angel was cut off by the phone ringing.

Illyria who was closest to the phone reached over and picked it up much to everyone's surprise, "Hello," she listened for several moments before holding the phone out towards Willow, "It is for you. I do not like this human."

"Hello," Willow said into the receiver and immediately understood the demon's problem. Buffy was yelling loud enough that Willow was surprised the others couldn't hear her. "Hi Buffy."

"How dare you take my sister into the middle of a war," Buffy shouted. "She could've been killed."

"She wasn't," Willow said calmly, "And it was her decision. She's almost eighteen Buffy."

"You knew what Angel was doing, that he worked for them and you still went there. Still helped him?"

"Yes I did, and I'm staying here for a while. You had no right to make the decision for all of us."

"Willow you don't know what being in that firm may have done to."

"Buffy, I don't tell you how to deal with your life or your relationship with yet another demon, hell this one doesn't even have a chip to claim as your reason. So please do not tell me how to live my life."

"Fine but I want Dawn to come home," Buffy conceded.

 "She doesn't want to do that. She'll be an adult in a few weeks Buffy. If you do this she'll just end up leaving as soon as she can and you may lose her forever. Do you want that?"

"Of course I don't want to lose my sister," Buffy sighed, "I don't want her hurt either."

"She won't be, the battle is done, she'll be as safe as she can ever be," Willow pointed out, "If you're interested Wesley was killed in their effort to stop Wolfram and Hart."

"Oh God," Buffy said quietly then was silent for several seconds, "Willow I'm.um, Giles told me about Kennedy. I'm sorry."

"Thanks Buffy."

"Can I talk to Dawn?"

"She's not here; she and Connor went to a movie."

"Have her call me later then," Buffy said.

"'Kay, Bye."

"Bye."

Willow hung up the phone and turned back to Spike and Angel. "She's fine now."

"Really she didn't sound fine?" Gunn asked.

"She wasn't at first, but she calmed down," Willow explained, "It'll be better in a few days."

"So do I call Xander?" When everyone nodded their agreement she dialed Xander's number.

"Hello?" Xander said answering after several rings.

"Hey Xan," Willow smiled into the phone. She didn't talk to her friend nearly as often as she wanted to, and saw him even less.

"Hey Will. You're in L.A.?"

"Yeah, I'm with Angel and Spike," Willow said and smiled at the groan from the other end, "So would you be interested in taking a break from training slayers?"

"Why?" Willow quickly explained the events of the last two days and her idea to rebuild Angel Investigations. "You want me to fly back and help Angel?"

"Yeah."

"I can't personally renovate an entire hotel," Xander pointed out.

"Yeah we discussed that," Willow sighed they had discussed the options and had a plan, "They won't really need the whole place, we were thinking just the main and second floors."

"Still that's a lot of work."

"We'll all pitch in, and we can probably manage to afford some other professional help if you need it."

"Well I guess with vamp and slayer strength we can probably do it," Xander agreed if nothing else it would be having some time to visit with Willow again, "When do you want me?"

"As soon as you can," Willow said giving the others the thumbs up sign.

"Give me a few days then," Xander offered, "I'll see if one of the girls can take over training for a while."

"Great then just call and give us your flight information when you have it and we'll come get you."

They talked for several more minutes before saying good-bye. They both were looking forward to seeing each other again, since it had been several months since they had done anything more than talk occasionally. Xander was going to fly to Rio first and pick up more of the girls' belongings since they had only packed enough for a few days.

~Part: 4~

Willow leaned on the railing of the second floor landing, smiling as she listened to the two vampires arguing over something. She couldn't quite make out what the disagreement was about, but she had learned quickly in the last week that it wasn't likely to be anything important. They rarely argued over things that mattered. It was always the little things, like where to put a chair or where to buy blood, that they couldn't agree on.

"Hey, guys," Willow said cheerfully, as she walked down the stairs. "Spike, wanna patrol?"

Both vampires turned their attention to the red-head now standing on the bottom step. Faith had already left to patrol and said she preferred to do so alone. "Why?" Spike asked.

"Because I'm bored," Willow responded and began searching through the large cabinet holding the weapons, "And Faith can't possibly cover the entire city alone. It's not like Sunnydale."

"I guess I could use some violence."

Angel smirked as the blonde vampire walked over to join Willow with the weapons. She had obviously just been trying to separate them. Not that it mattered, either way he would get some peace with the younger vampire gone for a few hours. He still had to work on making the list of former contacts that Willow had requested from him.

Xander would be arriving the next day, so they had spent this last week compiling the information needed to start rebuilding the agency. A lot of their records were still in the office since they had simply abandoned the building, and hadn't bothered selling it; squatters had made their homes in a few rooms but had left the locked office alone. Many of their demon contacts were gone, or just not interested in helping anymore. They feared drawing Wolfram and Hart's wrath if they continued to work with the vampire who was now on their most wanted list.

"Where do you want to start Red?" Spike asked as he followed her to the door carrying a large axe.

"Don't know," Willow responded, "You know the city better than I do."

Angel watched them leave, Willow waving to him as the door closed behind Spike who was making suggestions of places to start. He waved back and headed into the office to continue going through Cordelia's address book.

*****

An hour later, Willow was ducking behind a headstone as Spike staked the last vampire. They had found a group of four or five cutting through the cemetery and while Willow had been hesitant to take on so many at once, Spike had jumped at the chance. She had forgotten how much the vampire enjoyed a fight, even more so if the odds were against him. She had killed one and Spike had been more than happy to take the rest. She just kept her eyes open in case it looked like he would lose then she would step in with a few well-placed spells. Of course the spells were trickier patrolling with a vampire instead of a slayer. She had perfected the sunshine spell she had been working on a couple of years before but that wouldn't work with Spike; it would dust him as well as the others.

"Ready, Pet?" Spike asked pulling Willow out of her thoughts.

"Sure, where to now?"

"There's another spot a few blocks away we could hit, then I guess head back," Spike suggested.

"'Kay," Willow smiled, "Lead the way."

She followed slightly behind the vampire once again lost in her own thoughts, something she was aware wasn't a good idea when out after dark. He wasn't the same vampire that had kidnapped her all those years ago, or the vampire that had spent months tied up in Giles bathtub. He wasn't even the same one that had died when the Hellmouth closed. He still liked and craved violence but it wasn't the same now. The violence was more focused, it served a purpose. Sure, before, it was aimed at being evil but he had never really focused enough to carry out a plan. He also wasn't acting on the impulse to please Buffy anymore. He was doing the right thing, working to stop the demons, but he was doing it because he wanted to help. He wanted to do the right thing. If it pleased anyone else, that was just a side effect.

She was glad that those things had changed. The evil part for obvious reasons, the not wanting to please Buffy part for more complicated ones. The biggest of them being; Buffy would never love him, not really. Certainly not the way he loved her. Willow had doubted his feelings for the slayer in the beginning; he was a vampire and had tried to kill Buffy many times. After Buffy died, Willow realized that his love for her friend was deeper than anything she could imagine. It was as real as her own love for Tara. Then when he had left and came back with a soul any doubts she may have had vanished.

Buffy had always insisted that Spike couldn't love, not without a soul. Looking back Willow doubted that too. He had remained with Drusilla for over a hundred years. When he had wanted her to do a love spell for him, it was genuine pain he was feeling, okay he was more than a little drunk too, but still he was in pain. When Buffy had died she had thought it was going to kill Spike. His pain had been every bit as real as her own had.

She was still angry that Buffy and Giles had so coldly turned their backs on both Spike and Angel because of Wolfram and Hart. Both vampires had gladly risked their lives for Buffy more than once, that she would refuse to even speak to them was something Willow was having trouble forgiving. Willow was quickly beginning to think that both vampires were too good for the slayer and she hoped that they found women they deserved.

"Penny for your thoughts," Spike said as they turned down a dark alley. "You seem like you're in another world."

"Sorry, just thinking," Willow shrugged. "Um.demon."

Before Spike could react Willow waved her hand and a large board swung into the air and hit the demon on the back of the head knocking it forward to the ground. "Nice work Luv," Spike smirked, "Forgot how handy patrolling with a witch could be."

Willow smiled at the compliment, and watched as Spike raised the axe and brought it down decapitating the demon that she had knocked out. "Glad to help."

"We should head back, it's getting late," Spike suggested. "You have an early day tomorrow."

"Right, have to pick up Xander," Willow agreed as they turned and headed back toward the Hyperion. This time she led the way, Spike trailing a few steps behind.

Spike was glad to have this time alone with Willow. She had really been the only one of the Scoobies he never truly wanted to kill. Yeah, he had threatened her many times, but if he had bitten her he would've turned her. He still believed she would make an impressive vampire. Not one he would ever want to challenge, but impressive. He had never fully understood why she remained loyal to the Slayer. Buffy had always had a tendency to dismiss her friend's opinions without truly listening. Xander's were rarely worth hearing but Willow was intelligent and often saw things the Slayer didn't.

He was glad to see that things had changed among the Scoobies; they were separating a little. He didn't doubt that in a crisis they would all form a complete army against any evil that endangered any one of them, but Xander and Willow were starting to act on their own. It had really started last year when Xander had lost his eye. They had begun to see that Buffy wasn't infallible. It may not have been the best time for them to try to strike out on their own but their eyes had begun to open.

As he watched the strong, confident woman walking in front of him he realized that she barely resembled the shy, hacker-witch-wannabe he had first seen so many years ago. She had changed in so many ways; he found it unfortunate that those changes were brought about first by Tara and then by Tara's death. He had liked the other witch, and she had obviously been good for Willow but it meant that he had no chance of ever attracting the red-head's attention.

He was attracted to her, always had been on some level. If he hadn't been, he never would've considered turning her that night in her dorm. He would've killed her and left it at that. He doubted she had ever felt the same and for the last few years she had told all of them repeatedly that she was no longer interested in men in general. This wasn't something that should surprise him though, he always found himself attracted to women that he couldn't have. For Dru and Buffy he could never be Angel. For Willow he'd never be Tara. or well any woman at all.

"How was patrolling?" Gunn asked as they pushed through the large hotel doors.

"Not much out there," Spike shrugged as Willow took his axe and went to replace it in the cabinet.

"Kinda slow," Willow agreed, "But I thought it was just me, you know too many years on the Hellmouth; where the evil never stops."

"Slow or not, I can't wait to get back out there," Gunn said. "I'm tired of sitting here."

"It'll be soon," Willow said, "I can help you meditate to speed it up if you want?"

"I'll wait," Gunn smiled, "Actually I'm going up to bed. See you all tomorrow."

Willow and Spike both told him good-night before he headed up the stairs leaving the two of them alone once more. "Wanna watch a movie?" Spike asked.

"Why not?" Willow agreed and moved to sit next to him on the couch to have a better view of the small television, "What's on?"

"Don't know," Spike began rapidly flipping through the channels until they found a movie they could both agree on.

They watched the movie for a while in silence before Willow turned her attention to the vampire, "So I never did really hear how you ended up here?"

"Lindsey mailed Angel the amulet," Spike explained, "Don't know how he got it though, but it brought me back all ghost-y. Eventually Lindsey wanted me corporeal again and here I am."

"But you stayed?" Willow frowned, "I would've thought you'd go after Buffy."

"No point really," Spike responded, his months as a ghost had opened his eyes to a lot of things especially the slayer's feelings for him. "She didn't love me, never did. I'm not going to keep chasing after something that won't happen again, like I did with Dru."

"It really isn't worth it. You're right; nothing you did would've made Buffy see what a good person you are," Willow laughed at Spike's raised eyebrow, "Sorry, I love Buffy I really do, but if she was worth your effort she wouldn't have been so quick to believe you and Angel were a waste of time now."

"Right," Spike said not wanting to talk about Buffy anymore, "So what's life like off the Hellmouth, and out of constant danger."

"Boring," Willow grinned, "Rio had vampires and demons obviously but we also have over a hundred slayers. No need for me to do much more than the occasional research."

"So this was a good thing for you then?"

"Yeah in a way, I mean I feel useful again. I feel needed here, even if it's just really to help open a company with my computer skills. I'm doing something to help. Oh look," Willow pointed to the television, "My favorite part."

Both turned their attention back to the screen and became engrossed in the movie once again. Willow leaned her head on Spike's shoulder as they watched; he moved one arm over her shoulders pulling her closer to them. This was how Dawn found them when she came down the stairs several hours later looking for Willow to go pick up Xander.

~Part: 5~

Willow sat on the couch next to Xander, handing him a large mug as she sat. They hadn't seen each other in months and until she saw him this morning she hadn't realized how much she missed him. Dawn was seated on the other side of him. They had spent the ride from the airport catching up on the last few months, but now they were all gathering to discuss the plans for the Hyperion and reopening Angel Investigations.

"Let's get this meeting started," Faith said jumping up to sit on the counter behind them, "I don't have all day."

"Actually, you do. Don't you?" Dawn asked smiling at the slayer. "Can't patrol until dark."

"Okay so I do, but I could be downstairs working out or sleeping or well, anything else," the slayer grinned.

Before anyone could reply, Illyria came down the steps, stopping when she spotted Xander on the couch. "I do not know this one."

"This is my friend Xander, Illyria," Willow explained, "He's here to help us."

"I do not sense any power," she responded cocking her head to one side, "And he is injured. I do not believe he will be an asset."

Xander frowned at the demon, before turning his attention to Willow, "So Will, who's your blue friend."

"Xander this is Illyria, she's an old one," Willow responded, then turned back to the demon, "He's here to help us rebuild the hotel, make it livable. He's human."

"He does not fight?"

"He can if he has to," Dawn immediately defended her friend, "Like Wesley or Gunn."

"Right," Spike cut in, it would take longer than he felt like sitting here to explain to Illyria why Xander was useful. Although, he was rather interested in hearing the reasons himself, "What do you need to fix this place?"

"Well," Xander sighed, he had looked around the hotel when he first arrived and the place was not in good shape. Since they didn't plan on using it as a hotel they should be able to do something with it though. "There are a lot of rooms just on the second floor. Then this floor has the office, lobby, kitchens, dining room, and a couple conference rooms. It's not going to be cheap or easy."

"Do you know how much?" Angel asked, Willow had said she would help pay for the repairs but he didn't want her using her entire savings to fix his hotel.

"No, I do think that we can do most of the work ourselves though. Plumbing and electrical will be a problem, we'll have to hire help for that."

"So where do we start?" Dawn asked.

"I guess it depends what you want working first," Xander said, "We should do one floor at a time. You need this floor in good shape to reopen the company right?"

"Getting back to work and making some money should probably be priority," Gunn agreed, "We could take clients while we're working on the other floor."

"Then we need to decide what you want this to look like," Xander said, "Do you want all the rooms just repaired and made useable but with the same function as they have now? Or do you want something different?"

"Different?" Faith asked.

"Like offices and stuff?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, right now there's only the one office, wouldn't it be better if everyone had one?" Xander suggested.

"Can you do that?" Spike asked.

"Yeah," Xander nodded, "You don't really need two conference rooms of that size. We can turn one of them into several offices. Maybe even add a library for research material."

"That sounds good to me," Willow agreed, "How many offices do we need?"

Angel hesitated for a moment, everyone having an office would make things easier, but he had never considered this much work being done. The more he thought about it, the more the idea appealed to him, it would be turning this into a real work environment, and less like everyone working out of his home. "Can we put a training room in somewhere?"

"Why not?" Xander nodded.

"So we need a training room, and three offices," Dawn said, scribbling notes on a piece of paper, "anything else?"

"A general place to research," Willow suggested, "a library like Xander suggested maybe, with lots of shelves and a place for computers too."

They spent the rest of the afternoon discussing what changes they wanted to make to the main floor and what materials would likely be needed. Xander knew an architect in the area and made plans to meet him in the morning to see what he would charge to make some blueprints for them. Several hours later they had finally agreed that they could work on the second floor until they had the blueprints for the main floor. Nothing was being structurally changed on the other floor so they shouldn't have to worry about permits.

"How long will this all take?" Spike asked.

Xander picked up the notes Dawn had been making, she had filled two sheets of paper and they had only really covered the basics of what had to be done, "Things will go faster with all the super-strength here but Gunn's kind of out of the game for a while yet and Illyria."

"I wouldn't count too much on her help," Angel interrupted.

"Yeah, so that leaves Willow, Dawn, Faith, and the two of you," Xander said nodding at the two vampires. It'll take a while.

Gunn stood up and began slowly pacing the room. They needed an income coming in; they didn't have a lot of time, before the money ran out. Willow certainly didn't have enough to support them, and shouldn't be expected to pay for the entire remodeling. No one had really discussed money though, he had a little saved, from the last year, and Willow and Angel were picking up the bulk of the costs. "How are we financially on this?" He asked.

"Money isn't a problem," Willow confirmed, "I mean we can't spend carelessly but I can always get Giles to loan you some if necessary."

"It's the least he can do," Xander agreed, then faced Angel, "I still can't believe.I mean I don't even like you and I wouldn't have assumed you were evil without more proof than you took a job."

"Agreed," Faith jumped from the counter, "You guys are keeping L.A. as safe as can be expected the least the council can do is help out with a little cash."

"I may be able to get us some help," Gunn offered, "We'd have to pay but a lot less than hiring contractors."

"Who?" Angel asked, knowing Gunn had little contact with his old gang now.

"Anne," Gunn replied, "She's always looking for ways to help her kids earn a little extra money."

"Kids?" Dawn asked.

"She operates a home for runaways," Angel explained, "Its not easy for the kids to find jobs, because they have little education and no address."

"If they can learn how to use basic tools then it sounds good to me," Xander agreed. The more help the better.

"Great I'll call her in the morning," Gunn replied, "And now if you all don't mind I'm going upstairs, the stomach wound kinda takes a lot out of you."

"'Night, Chuck," Faith replied, "I'm going to head out for patrol. Never realized how much I missed the violence."

"Can I come?" Dawn asked.

"Grab a stake," Faith nodded toward the basket on the floor near the weapons cabinet. When the two girls had left, the conversation turned back to the work that had be done tomorrow.

"We should probably start by seeing what furniture is salvageable. A lot of what's here is antique and is worth refinishing," Willow suggested.

"We should check all the floors," Spike said, "I saw some useable furniture on the higher floors."

"You guys can work on that, while I talk to the architect. After we move all the usable furniture down to the first two floors I can block off access to the higher floors because they probably aren't all that safe," Xander agreed, "Speaking of my meeting, I should really turn in, morning is going to come really soon for the jet-lagged."

"'Night, Xander," Willow gave him a quick hug. He said goodnight to everyone else and disappeared up the stairs.

"I feel like doing violence," Illyria said moving in front of Spike, "Come with me."

"Care to join us Red," Spike asked. "I can use some magical intervention for this now that she's back to full strength."

"Right behind you," Willow agreed.

*****

Two hours later, Willow, with Spike leaning heavily on her shoulder, followed Illyria back up the stairs. She had seen Spike in many fights over the years, more than a few of them against Buffy but had never seen him beat quite so badly. Illyria hadn't hurt him, not nearly as much as she could have. Mostly she had just knocked him around for a while. The demon actually appeared to be fond of the vampire, and Willow would have interfered if she had believed he would be seriously hurt. Most of the damage was to Spike's ego, which Willow was sure would recover from the blows.

"This would be easier if you'd stand up Spike," Willow grimaced at the weight pressing down on her.

"I'm injured, Pet," Spike smirked and leaned further into her shoulder.

"Sure you are, but not nearly as badly as you will be if we both fall down the damn stairs."

Spike stood straighter removing some of his weight from her shoulder so she could walk a little easier. Had he realized how badly the demon was planning to kick his ass, he never would've suggested an audience. Nothing to make you feel less masculine than having a girl watch you get thrown repeatedly into a wall repeatedly. He wasn't really hurt all that badly but it had gotten the witch's attention. "Wouldn't want that to happen."

When the reached they lobby, they found that it was empty. Angel had decided to patrol since everyone else was busy and had taken off in search of Faith and Dawn. As soon as they were close enough to the couch, Willow dropped the vampire onto the cushions before flopping down next to him. This was the last day they would have that wouldn't involve some serious labor and she wanted to enjoy the time to relax.

She considered going up to her room to work on some research. She had started looking for ways to locate Lorne for Angel. She knew the demon didn't want to be found, and neither Gunn nor Angel was willing to tell her why, but she hoped to at least be able to tell them he was still alive. She knew several locator spells to find him if he was still in the area, but he may have left town, hell as a demon it was possible he had left the dimension. If she didn't find something soon, she would call Giles again, and hope he would help her.

She had also been researching ways to help Xander, that was something she had already talked to Giles about, but he was against her doing anything magical about his eye. It was wrong to change nature. Willow understood that, but nature wasn't the reason Xander only had one eye. Caleb was. This wasn't the same as Joyce having a brain tumor. She also knew she couldn't give him a new eye, not safely, but she was hoping that maybe she could do something to improve the one he did have. She had found a few possibilities but they would have to be altered for what Xander needed.

As much as she wanted to work on both of those things, she didn't want to go sit in the run-down bedroom alone. It was quiet down here, well, except for Spike, "Wanna help me research?"

"Research what?" Spike asked, surprised. He had been lost in his own thoughts and wasn't aware there was anything to research. Willow explained what she had been working on. "Why not?"

Willow ran upstairs to grab her books, leaving Spike alone for several minutes. His mind wandered back to the thoughts she had interrupted with her question. He needed to snap out of this, his thoughts were too wrapped up in the red-headed witch. He couldn't let himself do this again. He had done it with both Dru and Buffy. He had fallen for women who would never really return his feelings. This time it was obvious from the beginning it wouldn't happen, not only did he doubt that Willow would ever do anything she believed would hurt Buffy, but she was a lesbian. He couldn't think of a more obvious guarantee that she wouldn't be interested.  "Spike do you want some blood?"

"Sorry, Luv?"

"I'm going to grab a soda. Do you want some blood while I'm in there?" She repeated.

"Right, thanks," he said nodding his agreement.

Willow dropped several books on the table in front of him and retreated back to the kitchen for the drinks. Returning a few minutes later, she handed him a mug and popped her can open. "What do you want to do first?"

"I'll take Lorne," Spike grabbed a book on locator spells, "What am I looking for?"

"A spell that will locate someone at a greater distance, even another plane, would be good," Willow explained, and grabbed another book and began flipping through it.

They worked quietly for a long while, Spike occasionally breaking the silence to ask a question about something he had found. Finally Willow decided to ask Spike about Lorne, since she hadn't gotten an answer from anyone else. Spike rarely bothered to lie to pacify or protect anyone. If she was going to find out what made the demon leave so abruptly, he was the one to ask. She slammed her book closed and turned her attention to the vampire, "Spike, why did Lorne leave?"

"He said he couldn't live this way anymore," Spike said hesitantly, "He's not really a fighter."

"Yeah, I know, that's what Angel and Gunn said too, but he's never been a fighter, Spike." Willow frowned, "Why did it matter now, and not a year ago when Angelus was back, or when Cordy died, or Fred or.Why now?"

Spike frowned, he knew the reason the demon had left. He didn't want to be the one to tell Willow though. She wasn't going to be happy about Angel deciding to sacrifice Lindsey, no matter what the lawyer had done in the past. This was the girl that hadn't been willing to let him dust himself when he had gotten chipped. He had made no attempts to redeem himself at that point, but she had wanted to save him. She would never be okay with Angel deciding that Lindsey couldn't be trusted when he had just risked his life to help them. They couldn't have destroyed the Black Thorns without him. "Angel asked him to do something he wasn't.comfortable.with," Spike said slowly.

"What could be that bad?" Willow asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know. It was obvious Spike wasn't completely happy with whatever had happened. If the vampire found it distasteful, she couldn't imagine accepting it.

"You're not going to like it," Spike said before explaining the events that had led up to their battle with the Black Thorns. When he finished Willow was staring at him, not speaking. Her frown had deepened as he spoke. The one thing he was sure of was that he was glad he wasn't Angel, when she did finally speak.

"Angel told him to kill someone that had agreed to help him?" Willow asked slowly as the realization of what the vampire was capable of sank in.

"Yeah, he said he Lindsey couldn't be trusted."

Willow took a deep breath, counting slowly to herself. She never would have believed the vampire was capable of such coldness. Fine, the man had done some less than trustworthy things in his past. But so had Angel, and Spike, and. everyone involved in this whole thing had done something they weren't proud of, well except Dawn. "Well that explains why he left then doesn't it?"

"You aren't angry?" The surprise evident in Spike's voice.

"Oh, no, I'm angry, but.he could've refused I guess," Willow frowned again, "I'm not sure how much I trust Angel at the moment either, but it's done. I can't fix it now."

"So you're going to let it go then?"

"No, Angel and I will have to talk about this," Willow confirmed, "I can't condemn him for it without his side, Spike. It wouldn't be fair."

"Why do you care about a human you've never met?" Illyria asked. Willow jumped slightly. She hadn't realized that anyone else was in the room. "You are more powerful than he could ever have hoped, he should be dispensable."

"No one is dispensable," Willow turned toward the demon, "Every human life is precious. Before you start, Spike, I know I killed someone too. It doesn't make it right or okay though."

"Wasn't gonna say it did," Spike shrugged, well aware that the girl had been punishing herself for two years over what she had done.

"I'm done for tonight," Willow stood up, "I need some time to think about this."

She gathered the books, said good night to the other two and headed upstairs as Spike flipped the television on and began switching channels searching for something to watch.

"The witch is angry," Illryia stated after several minutes of silence.

"Yeah."

"She has more power than Angel."

"Yeah," Spike responded again, not sure where she was going with her statements.

"She would make a good leader."

"Yeah," Spike agreed again. The summer after Buffy's death was hard on all of them, and Willow had been the one to take over and keep them organized and working efficiently. As much as he had believed he loved the slayer, he had often wondered how differently so many things in the last few years would've been if Willow had not given the power back to Buffy when she returned.

Before the conversation could go any further, Angel walked in the door followed by Faith and Dawn. "The witch is unhappy with you," Illryia said.

"Why?"

"She values all human life," Illryia responded, "She is unhappy with your disregard for it."

"Spike?" Angel questioned, unsure of what Illaryia was referring to.

"She wanted to know why Lorne left," he shrugged. "Glad I'm not you, mate."

Angel glared at the younger vampire, but waited until Faith and Dawn were out of sight before responding. "Why did you tell her?"

"She wanted to know," Spike responded his attention back on the television. "You said you said that you had nothing to feel guilty about, so I don't see why it's a problem."

~Part: 6~

Xander dropped a pile of papers on the counter and turned toward the blonde vampire and blue demon sitting in chairs watching the closed office door. Spike had a slight smirk on his face; Illyria's head was cocked to the side as she listened to the shouting coming from the small office.

"What's going on?" Xander asked glancing back at the door.

"Willow's talking to Angel," Spike replied.

"She's very angry," Illyria added as the last round of shouting stopped.

"Yeah, got that she's angry. Why?"

"Angel got all high and mighty, Willow thinks it was a bad idea," Spike replied, "Now if you don't mind, we can't hear if you talk."

*****

"Willow, you never met the man," Angel said his voice low.

"It doesn't matter, Angel," Willow said her temper barely controlled, "You ordered Lorne to kill a man. A human being, because you decided you didn't trust him."

"Willow, he tried to kill me."

"I don't care, Angel," Willow interrupted. "You had no right to decide that he didn't deserve to live. You've made mistakes, I've made mistakes, does that mean someone should get to decide our fate?"

"It's not the same thing," Angel was pacing the small room. He knew Willow was right, it was a bad decision. Lorne left because he knew it wasn't right. No matter what his feelings for the lawyer, the man didn't deserve to die. "I'm sorry, Willow. I shouldn't have done it."

Willow took a deep breath, she was glad he was finally seeing her point in this. She was fairly confident that he did see her side; that he wasn't just agreeing to end the argument. "Is there anything else I should know, Angel? Before we go any further, I have to know if I can trust you."

"You can trust me," Angel said turning toward her, "You know that."

"I thought I did, but I'm not so sure."

"Willow."

"Just don't, Angel," Willow sighed, she wanted to trust him. "It's going to take time."

Before he could respond there was a knock on the door and Faith pushed it open. "Just making sure everyone's still alive in here."

"We're fine," Willow smiled at the slayer, "Any luck with furniture?"

"Yeah, but we could use some help moving it," Faith responded, "Dawn and Chuck not good with the heavy lifting."

"What about Spike and Illyria?" Angel asked.

"Way more interested in your argument than moving furniture."

"We'll be right up," Angel responded.

*****

"What about this one?" Spike asked pushing a large chair toward the center of the room he and Willow were working in.

"It looks good to me," Willow glanced at the chair, "Anything that doesn't have too much fabric and isn't broken will probably work."

They had chosen to take the top floor and while Faith and Dawn took the second, and Angel and Xander had taken the third. Gunn had left to pay a visit to Anne and see what help he could recruit. Willow was becoming increasingly sure that they would have enough furniture for all the second floor bedrooms, and would only need to replace the mattresses.

This was the last room she and Spike needed to check then they were going to start carrying the trash down to the large dumpster they had rented that morning. They had been working together in relative silence for most of the afternoon, occasionally discussing various pieces of furniture, or her views on the plans for the hotel.

"Will?" Xander's voice came from the floor below, "You guys almost finished?"

Willow looked at Spike, "You done in here?" When he nodded his agreement she moved to the door and yelled "Yeah, we're ready to move the trash out."

"Want dinner first?"

"We'll be right down," Willow answered.

"Find anything else you could use to locate Lorne, Red?" Spike asked as they walked down the steps.

"Actually, I may have found something last night," Willow grinned, "I don't want anyone to know though. Wanna help with a spell tonight?"

"Yeah," Spike agreed. "Can you do it without anyone knowing?"

"I think so," Willow frowned, "Dawn's going to help too. I just don't want Angel or Gunn involved yet. You probably shouldn't be either, but I need someone stronger than Dawn around if there's a problem. Faith's going to keep Angel out patrolling."

"You could've sent me out with Angel," Spike suggested, "Then you wouldn't have had to tell me about it."

"True, but what are the odds of you two not staking each other?"

Spike didn't have a chance to answer as they reached the bottom of the stairs and found themselves surrounded by a room full of teen-agers. The pair made their way through the crowd until they located Gunn on the couch in the center of the room. "Pizza?" he asked as they approached.

"Thanks," Willow reached into the box and grabbed a piece, "Who are all these people?"

"Our new help," Gunn said, "At least for today, we may have more tomorrow."

"With this many people we may get done faster than I thought," Xander said approaching them. "I thought you'd come back with three or four kids."

"We could lose some of them, but I figured we could use all the help we can get," Gunn explained.

"We're going to need to get the supplies right away then," Xander said, "We're going to get it all cleaned out quickly with this much help."

"They only have a couple hours tonight," Gunn said, "Anne is pretty strict about curfew and I don't want to be responsible for any of them not having a place to stay."

Once everyone had finished eating, they quickly decided that they would get the second floor emptied and worry about the other floors in the morning. They would all meet back at the hotel early, and Xander, Dawn, and Gunn would go shopping for what they would need for the second floor and furniture repair. They had to wait until they received the blueprints and permits for construction before work could begin on the first floor.

They quickly separated into groups, some carrying out the furniture that was to be thrown out, and the rest moving the good furniture into the basement, which they had all decided was the best place to store and work on it. After an hour, everything had been moved and everyone was heading out, Angel and Faith were leaving to patrol as the teen-agers all headed back to the shelter for the night.

"Mind if I join you guys?" Xander asked as Faith was finding the sword she wanted to use.

"Sure," Faith agreed tossing a stake in his direction.

Gunn turned to Willow, Spike and Dawn, who were all sitting on the couch, eating the remaining pizza, "I'm going to turn in if we're done for the night."

"I'm exhausted, so no more work for me tonight," Willow smiled.

"Good night then," Gunn said and disappeared up the stairs.

"Where are we doing this?" Dawn asked when they were alone.

"My room is probably best," Willow frowned, "In case anyone comes home early."

*****

"Did it work?" Dawn asked as soon as Willow's eyes opened. The spell had taken longer than the younger girl had expected and she had become worried. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Willow smiled at her, then at the vampire sitting on the other side of her trying his best not to look worried, "And yeah, it worked."

"He's okay then?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, still in Los Angeles actually," Willow responded, "I was thinking maybe we could go see him."

"I thought he didn't want." Dawn began.

"He did say not to try to find him," Spike interrupted. "Is visiting him the best idea?"

"I know what he said, but wouldn't he want to know that you're all okay too," Willow asked.

"He did work with Angel for a long time," Dawn agreed, "I would want to know, even if I didn't want to work with you anymore."

"So, what we all drive over to his house?" Spike asked.

"No, I was thinking the two of us," Willow responded.

"What about me?" Dawn asked.

"Sorry he's in a bar," Willow answered, ignoring the other girl's frown, "It's not open but I'm in enough trouble with Buffy as it is."

"So when do we do this?" Spike asked, wanting to see for himself that the demon was all right.

"Tonight," Willow responded, "We'll leave when the other's go to bed. That way we don't run into them while we're out."

*****

Several hours later, Willow and Spike walked into the deserted building that once housed Caritas. It was obvious that the demon had begun making plans to re-open the bar. Spike briefly wondered how he planned on keeping Angel from locating him if he was returning to the same place he had first met the vampire. "So this place is a demon bar?" Willow asked.

"Was," Spike answered, "Not like Willy's though. This was a safe haven for all demons and humans. No violence in the building."

"Liking Lorne more already," Willow grinned.

"What are you doing here?" A voice came from a dark corner, "I said I didn't want to be found."

"Should've hid better," Spike said, as Lorne stepped out of the shadows, "And Red was worried about you."

"I'm sorry Cupcake," Lorne turned his attention to Willow, "I told them I was out of the game now. It isn't for me."

"I know about all of it," Willow said, "None of it should've happened, but I wanted to know you were okay. Everyone did."

"Angel doesn't know."

"Where you are no, and he won't unless you tell him," Willow smiled, "No one does except for Spike."

"So then everyone is okay?" Lorne asked, turning to Spike, "They all made it out?"

Spike and Willow looked at each other; neither had considered the fact that they would have to tell Lorne that Wesley had died that night. "I'm afraid not," Willow frowned, "Wesley didn't."

"The magic was more than he could fight," Spike finished.

"This is why I left," Lorne said quietly several minutes later, "I can't keep watching my friends die."

"I understand that," Willow said quietly, "But consider letting them know where you are, they do care about you. You don't have to be involved in their work but let Angel know you're here."

"I'll think about it," Lorne agreed, "Come back and visit when the place is open. I'd love to have you sing for me."

"I don't sing," Willow smiled, "Well, except that one time but."

"We'll be back," Spike said, cutting off Willow before she could begin babbling, "But we need to get back before we're missed."

~Part: 7~

Willow dropped the paint brush into the empty can as she finished the last chair. She never wanted to paint anything again, ever. For the last week she and Spike had been part of the group painting and staining the salvageable furniture. Everyone else was upstairs cleaning and painting the second floor. Their plans to do the first floor first had been changed because it was going to take more time than they thought to get the plans and permits they needed.

"You almost finished, Spike?" Willow asked wiping her hands on her jeans, "I need to get out of this basement. Doesn't the smell bother you at all?"

"Don't breathe, Pet," Spike pointed out. "But I'm finished."

"Great, let's clean this up later then," Willow said and started up the stairs, Spike following behind.

"Hey guys," Faith said when they reached the lobby, "Thought you two left when the kids did."

"Nope, there were only a few pieces left so we wanted to finish up so we could start moving everything up tomorrow."

"What's for dinner?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, well. again we thought you were gone," Xander said.

"So you ate without us?"

"Well, yeah." Xander responded.

"Great," Willow frowned at her friend, "Spike, wanna grab a pizza or something?"

"Sure," he agreed, "Got time to shower and change?"

"Well I'm not going like this," Willow said gesturing to her paint spattered clothes.

*****

An hour later Willow lay sprawled across Spike's bed waiting for him to come out of the bathroom. She had showered and changed into clean jeans and a t-shirt and had still been waiting over thirty minutes for the vampire. She was tired and hungry and if she thought she would get any of it, she would've just ordered the pizza to be delivered. She knew that would be useless, though, both Faith and Xander would eat again if the pizza arrived before she got to the door. Actually they would eat again unless she took the pizza and hid from them until it was gone.

"Spike, you don't have a reflection; how long can it possibly take to get ready?"

"Quit complaining," He yelled, "I'll be out in a minute."

"Those of us that actually require food are hungry," she pouted, "You do realize I put on make-up and was still ready first."

She left the bed and began wandering around the newly decorated room. Cleaning and painting had been finished yesterday, so today everyone who wasn't locked in the basement finishing the furniture had began moving the finished items into the rooms that were needed first. There were still a number of rooms left unfinished on the floor but everyone's bedrooms were done now. Hers had been done in soft greens and yellows. Spike's was done in greens too, although as far from the soft, almost white, green in her room as you could get and still remain green. She knew that Faith and Dawn had been sent shopping for the bedding for all the rooms and was surprised at how well they had chosen. The dark colors fit Spike perfectly, as well as the softer colors fit her.

She noticed that one wall had a small bookcase on it. It was filled with old books, all very worn. She wandered over and began pulling them from the shelf. She was surprised to find that most were books of poetry. She would never have guessed the vampire read them, but why else would they be here. "Spike, seriously, gonna die of hunger soon," she called out, re-shelving the last book.

"I'm ready," he said from right behind her. "Didn't want to interrupt your snooping."

"I wasn't snooping," she defended automatically. He raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "All right I was, but I wouldn't have if you had been ready faster."

"So it was my fault then?"

"Well, yeah," Willow grinned, "And if you had told me more about you then I wouldn't have to snoop."

"I thought you read all those old watcher's books about me?" Spike asked, "Should've cleared up everything you wanted to know."

"They didn't mention the books," Willow replied, "Nothing Giles had on William the Bloody mentioned he liked poetry."

"And never will Pet," Spike warned. "Don't tell anyone about those books."

"And what if I do?"

"Red." Spike moved closer. "Don't tell anyone."

"But I want to," Willow grinned, "Xander really should know about this."

Spike reached for her and she ducked under his arm and ran toward the door. Spinning around and chasing after her, Spike grabbed her and pushed her toward the bed until she fell back on it. "Do NOT tell the moron," Spike straddled her legs and pinned her arms down with one hand.

"But he's been so depressed since Anya died and this would so make his day," Willow said struggling half -heartedly to free her hands, "Spike don't."

She gasped when his free hand began to tickle her sides. Her struggling increased, "Are you going to tell him?"

"Yes," she gasped.

"Will, what's.?" Spike and Willow both froze at the sound of the voice behind them.

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered, releasing Willow's hands and moving to sit next to her as she sat up.

"Buffy," Willow said still trying to catch her breath.

"Slayer."

~Part: 8~

Buffy stood in the doorway, staring at the couple on the bed. "Did you want something, Slayer?"

"What's going on?" Buffy asked angrily, not moving from her spot in the doorway, "What are you doing with Willow?"

"Buffy, I.We." Willow began to explain, only to be interrupted by Spike.

"Not that it's any of your business, but what does it look like we're doing?"

Willow frowned at the vampire. She didn't doubt the vampire knew exactly what the slayer thought they were doing. He was baiting her. There was no reason for it, not really, and it was only going to make a bad situation worse. The situation was ridiculous; it was obvious nothing was going on. The door was open and they were both fully dressed. She also knew Buffy tended to get angry first and think later. Add Spike's comment to that, and there was no chance of getting out without an argument.

"How could you? I thought we. You said you loved me," Buffy yelled at the vampire. During her yelling both Buffy and Spike had moved and were now standing a few feet from each other.

"I did love you," Spike agreed, "It didn't matter though did it?"

"Of course it mattered," she snapped, "But you were.and Angel.It doesn't matter if you love me, how can you be here with her?"

"Past tense Slayer. I loved you."

"And you can just forget about it like that?" Buffy yelled, "Some love, Spike."

"A year Buffy," Spike argued, "I've been back a year, and you've known for nearly that long. Have you made any effort at all to find me? To talk to me at all?"

"That's so not the point, Spike," Buffy sneered, "Love doesn't just disappear. You should've."

Willow frowned, she had heard enough. Standing up she moved to stand next to Spike. "Should've what, Buffy?"

"Stay out of this, Willow," Spike warned.

"No," Willow responded, not taking her eyes from Buffy, "What should he have done? Loved you forever? Spent the rest of eternity loving someone who treated him like a piece of dirt on her shoes and would never love him back?"

*****

Gunn glanced up at the ceiling and then back at Dawn and Xander who were sitting on the couch watching a movie. It amazed him that both were able to so completely block out the yelling coming from the second floor. "Shouldn't someone go up there?"

"Why?" Dawn asked.

"Make sure they're all right?" Gunn suggested.

"Get between them without someone with super-human strength as back-up?" Xander asked in surprise, "That's, well, insane."

"Yeah, and as long as they're yelling it means they're all still alive," Dawn agreed.

*****

"Your girlfriend just died," Buffy turned on her friend, "That's why I came here. I thought you needed me, needed your friends. Did you even mourn at all? I mean it's been, what, two weeks and you've moved on to. God, you're supposed to be my friend."

"I am your friend," Willow said angrily. "I've always been your friend."

"Yeah, friends don't sleep with."

"Don't go there Buffy," Willow warned, "You do not love Spike; he is not your boyfriend anymore. If he ever was. And what we do or don't do is none of your business."

"You don't know what." Buffy began before Willow stopped her again.

"I know that you never even told me he was alive," Willow pointed out, "I found out from Andrew. I know that even back in Sunnydale you were too ashamed of him to admit you were sleeping with him or that you may have felt anything at all for him. I know that you claim now to love him. But you didn't even consider coming here to help them fight when you knew what they were up against. It doesn't work like that Buffy. If you loved him, none of this would've happened."

"How dare you?" Buffy's fists clenched at her side and she started to move closer to the red-head.

Spike started to move between them only to have Willow hold out her hand to stop him. "Don't," she said quietly, then, turning her attention back to Buffy, she said, "This is over, I'm not going to argue about this with you. I'm an adult. Spike is not with you, hasn't been in a very long time. What we do is our choice not yours. Let's go get that dinner, Spike."

Before Spike had a chance to fully process her words she grabbed his hand and pulled him from the room, leaving Buffy staring at the space they had just vacated.

*****

"We're going for pizza," Willow told Gunn, Dawn, and Xander as she pulled Spike out the door of the hotel. "We'll be back later."

"You should go talk to Buffy, Dawn," Xander said.

"Why me?"

"Because she's your sister," Xander reasoned.

"Yeah, but she'd probably rather talk to a member of the 'I hate Spike club'."

Gunn watched in amusement as the pair continued to argue over who should go upstairs to talk to the slayer. If she was half as angry as Willow, he didn't blame them for not wanting to lose this argument. They were saved having to settle the disagreement when the very angry slayer came down the steps, followed closely by Illyria.

"Go upstairs and back your things, Dawn," Buffy said as she reached the bottom step, "You're coming home with me."

"No I'm not," Dawn said, standing up to face her sister.

"Dawn, get your things, now."

"No. I'm staying, Buffy. They need help and I want to help them."

"Dawn, you're my sister," Buffy glared at the younger girl, "You need to come home."

"I'll be eighteen in a few days, and I want to stay here. I miss this," Dawn responded, "I miss helping and being part of something. I don't want to go back to Italy or England. I want to stay here with Willow and Xander."

"Dawn, just do what I say, please," Buffy said, moving closer to her sister.

Xander stepped between Buffy and Dawn, "She wants to stay, Buff."

"Xander, stay out of this. It doesn't concern you."

"Yeah, it does," Xander argued, "You want Dawn to come home because Willow made some choices, although I think you're wrong about what's going on, that you don't like. Well, guess what? You've made choices without consulting us too. Choices that hurt other people. What Willow is or isn't doing with Spike won't hurt anyone but Willow. I'm not going to let you punish Dawn because you're paying for the choices you made."

"Dawn," Buffy looked past Xander to her sister, "Don't make me force you."

She started to move toward her sister and Xander again, only to be cut off by Illyria stepping into her path. "The young one doesn't wish to leave."

Buffy glared at the demon, "You really need to stay out of this. She's a kid, she doesn't get to decide."

"The child fought with us. She is part of the reason we survived. She has earned this decision."

"So that's it then?" Buffy asked angrily, "You're all going to take Willow's side? You've all turned on me?"

"We aren't taking sides, Buffy," Xander tried to explain, "We've all made a decision to help Angel rebuild his business. What Willow does is Willow's business. Our reasons for staying have nothing to do with her and Spike."

"Fine," Buffy snarled at the group as she stormed out of the hotel, passing Faith and Angel, who were just coming back in as she walked out.

"Was that B?" Faith asked.

"Yeah," Xander sighed, "She's, uh, angry."

"So I see," Faith threw her jacket on the couch, "What happened?"

Dawn quickly explained what they had heard of the argument upstairs. When she finished, Angel raised an eyebrow at her, "Spike and Willow are.?"

"I don't think so," Xander responded. "But whatever was going on up there made Buffy think they were."

"Do you think she'll just leave?"

"I think so," Dawn shrugged, "What's she going to do? Kidnap me?"

"The kid's right," Faith agreed, "She isn't going to do anything. She can't take on me, you, Spike and Willow."

"And Dawn's eighteen in a few days; she can always leave again and Buffy knows it," Xander pointed out.

"Where did Willow and Spike go?" Faith asked.

"Pizza."

"She okay?" Angel asked.

"Angry, but she's fine."

"So are we waiting up for them to get back and tell us what happened?" Dawn asked.

~Part: 9~

"How dare she accuse me of not being a friend," Willow said angrily pushing the last of her pizza across her plate, "She was willing to let all of you die, and I'm not a good friend?"

Spike hid his smile behind his bottle of beer. Willow had been ranting about the slayer since they left the hotel. He had never seen her so angry, of course, he hadn't been in town when Tara had died. She wasn't trying to kill the slayer or cause an apocalypse so overall, he supposed, this was better. She was staring at him, and he realized she must have said something that required a response from him, "Sorry, Luv?"

"Are you even listening to me?"  She asked, frowning at him.

"'Course I am."

"Why aren't you angrier about this?" Willow asked, "I mean, I can't believe she would even think that we. That you would even want to.with me."

"I'm angry about a lot of things that happened tonight," Spike leaned forward in his seat, forcing Willow to look at him, "That the slayer hurt you. You didn't deserve it. That she ruined a perfectly nice evening; that Dawn probably won't be there when we get back; I'm sure the slayer will make her leave now. I am not angry that she knows I don't love her anymore, or that she knows I do love you."

"Do you really think she made Dawnie leave with her?" Willow asked, worried, she had been so angry over everything else she hadn't thought about the repercussions the argument would have on the younger girl. "Spike we have to get back before."

"Relax Red," Spike said, "If Angel and Faith can't keep her from taking Niblet, I doubt you can."

"Spike, I would feel better if we checked," she insisted.

"I'll go call Gunn," Spike offered, and slid out of the booth.

Willow watched him walk away to find a payphone. She had been so preoccupied by her anger at Buffy's assumptions and tantrum that she hadn't thought about the possibility she would force her sister to return to Italy with her. She had been so worried about a completely innocent situation ruining any chance Spike had of repairing his relationship with the slayer. Although he had just said he didn't love her that he.

"Dawn is fine, Pet," Spike said sliding back into the seat, "Illaryia stopped her from."

"Spike," Willow interrupted, "Did you say you loved me?"

"Wondered if you caught that," he smirked.

"I'm a little slow sometimes," she smiled slightly, "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"When would've been a good time?" Spike asked, "When I kidnapped you when you were still in high school? Or when you were grieving over the wolf? And then you had the witch."

"Yeah, I guess there wasn't really." Willow frowned, "In high school? You loved me then?"

"Well, not really," Spike shrugged, "Too drunk and angry to love anyone that night. But I thought about you a lot."

"Spike, I don't know," she stopped and looked at him, not sure what to say, how to explain what she was thinking, "I like you, a lot but."

"You don't love me?" Spike frowned, "Kinda used to that anyway."

"That's not it," she knew that was how he would interpret what she was saying, "I never thought about it. Not really, I mean, you were the big scary vampire trying to kill us, and then there was Tara and Kennedy and I didn't.Can I have time?"

"Why?"

"Because for the last several years I've been very sure that I don't.feel that way about men, remember? Now you say you love me, if you had said that back in Sunnydale, when you kidnapped me or when Oz first left I would've been thrilled." Spike raised an eyebrow, and Willow shrugged, "Okay it would've scared the hell out of me but that crush on you would've won out eventually, now I'm just confused."

"You had a crush on me?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "I did, or do still, kind of. Kennedy just died, Spike; I don't know what I think right now. I don't want to say something or start something and then one or both of us be hurt later."

"Right," Spike responded, he could see her point. She may not have loved the slayer as much as Tara, but she still had to grieve, "I can wait, I guess."

"Any idea what we can do about Buffy?"

"Make sure Dawn stays with someone so Buffy can't force her to leave, I suppose," he suggested, "But other than that, no."

"Not about Dawn, about her attitude. Spike, she can't just come in here and demand you do what she wants. She turned her back on you, not the other way around."

"She's not worth it," Spike shrugged, "Let it go."

"I don't want to, she had no right." she stopped talking when she realized Spike was watching something over her shoulder and not really listening, "Spike?"

"Really want to get even, Pet?"

"Yeah, I mean not physically hurt her but." she was cut off again when Spike pulled her to her feet and kissed her.

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