Title:  Thicker than Water (6/?)

                 See, I told you it would be soon!

                 Please see previous parts for disclaimer, etc.

                 **********

                 Spike stepped through the door of the magic shop,
                 nodding to the Englishman who looked up at his
                 entrance.  “Hey watcher, heard anything from Red
                 lately?”

                 “You mean Willow?” Giles asked.  He looked surprised
                 by the question for a moment before frowning slightly.
                  “Actually, no.  Angel usually calls, but I haven’t
                 heard from him in some time.”

                 “Yeah, you’re right,” Xander chimed.  “Maybe you ought
                 to give Deadboy a call.  Make sure he’s taking care of
                 our Wills.”

                 “Yes, I think I will.”  Giles dug through several
                 drawers before finding the new phone number for Angel
                 Investigations.  He picked up the phone and dialed.

                 Spike tapped his fingers on the table, suddenly
                 nervous without really knowing why. His head jerked up
                 when he heard the watcher begin to speak.

                 “Willow!” Giles exclaimed.  “It’s Giles.  How are you
                 doing?”

                 On the other end, Willow froze.  Angel noticed the
                 redhead’s sudden tenstion and took the phone from her.
                  “Who is this?” he asked tightly.

                 Giles was visibly flustered.  “Angel, it’s Rupert.
                 Ah, is Willow alright?”

                 Spike frowned, wondering why the poof was suddenly on
                 the phone.

                 Angel relaxed.  “Willow is fine.  You just caught her
                 off guard.  Can you hand on for a minute?”  Angel put
                 the man on hold without waiting for his reply.  “Do
                 you want to talk to him?” Angel asked his childe.

                 “He doesn’t know, does he?” Willow said softly.

                 Angel shook his head.  “I haven’t said anything about
                 turning you or about us.  I was waiting for the right
                 time.”

                 Willow chewed her lip nervously, an action that never
                 failed to arouse the dark vampire.  “I’ll talk to
                 him,” she finally said.  She reached for the phone
                 tentatively and hit the hold button.  “Hi Giles.”

                 “Willow,” the Englishman breathed.  “It’s so nice to
                 hear your voice.  How are you enjoying LA?”

                 “It’s great, Giles.”  Willow gave her nervous sire a
                 reassuring smile.  “Angel takes good care of me.”

                 “I’m very glad to hear that.  We were actually a bit
                 worried since we hadn’t heard from Angel in a while.”
                 Spike snorted at Giles’ comment, thinking that he’d
                 been the one to bring it up in the first place.  Giles
                 ignored him.

                 “Well, things here have been, um, busy.  But
                 everything is just fine.”

                 “Yes.  Good.  Would you like to talk to Xander?”

                 Xander, who’d been hovering over Giles’ shoulder
                 expectantly, snatched the phone from the older man.
                 “Hey Wills!  I miss you.  When are you coming back?”

                 “I, I don’t know, Xander.  Angel really needs me
                 here,” Willow offered.

                 “I thought he was a big bad vampire.  Can’t Deadboy
                 handle things by himself?” Xander asked irritatedly.

                 “Xander, please,” Willow pleaded.  She didn’t want to
                 fight with her best friend.

                 “Okay, okay.  But you are coming down for my birthday
                 this weekend, right?  You’ve never missed my birthday
                 before.”

                 Willow grimaced.  She couldn’t believe she’d almost
                 forgotten about it.  “I know, Xan.  I’ll be there, I
                 promise.”

                 “Cool.  I miss you, Will,” Xander replied.  “Did you
                 need to talk to Giles again?”

                 “Um, no, I’ll just talk to him on Saturday.”

                 “Okay, be at my apartment around 9ish.  I don’t know
                 what we’re doing exactly, but we’re all going to meet
                 there.”

                 “Okay, Xan.  See you soon.”  Willow hung up the phone
                 and looked at her sire.  “Want to go to Sunnydale with
                 me?”

                 “I wouldn’t let you go without me,” Angel said softly
                 as he gathered the redhead into his arms.  She closed
                 her eyes and returned his embrace, sighing softly as
                 his hands began to trace circles on her back.

                 “Um, Angel,” Wesley’s voice interrupted the tender
                 moment.  “I hate to bother you two, but that giant
                 lizard isn’t going to wait forever.”

                 “You’re right, Wes,” Willow said, reluctantly
                 withdrawing from her sire’s embrace.  “And you did say
                 we had to get to the eggs before they hatch, right?”

                 “He sure did,” Wesley said, hoisting the sledgehammer
                 over his shoulder.  “Let’s say we go make an
                 omelette.”

                 **********

                 “Ugh, this stuff is disgusting,” Cordelia exclaimed as
                 she wiped at the sticky purple liquid.  “Why can’t the
                 PTB’s ever send us after bad guys that don’t explode
                 into goo?”

                 Willow giggled at the ex-cheerleader’s comment.  She
                 glanced around at the group, who were all covered in
                 the same purple slime.  “Maybe they secretly bought
                 stock in dry cleaning companies,” she joked.

                 Cordelia laughed.  “I’m just glad we finally convinced
                 Angel to buy another washer and dryer for the office.
                 At least I can clean up before I go back to the
                 apartment.”

                 “Yeah, Dennis is still mad at you for spilling wine on
                 the carpet,” Gunn teased.

                 “It was Wesley’s fault,” Cordelia protested.  “He
                 bumped into me!”

                 “I told you I was accident prone,” the Englishman
                 replied.

                 “Guys,” Angel interrupted.  “Let’s just get back to
                 the hotel and clean up.  Some of us aren’t interested
                 in being out until morning.”

                 Willow rolled her eyes at the dark vampire playfully.
                 “Always the responsible one,” she said dramatically.

                 Laughter echoed through the warehouse as the team made
                 their way through the mess of broken shells and out
                 into the night air.

                 **********

                 “I think Cordy is right,” Willow said as she toweled
                 off her hair.  “Why do demons and other assorted
                 baddies have to die so messily?”

                 “I think it’s just the PTB’s doing me a favor by
                 giving me lots of opportunities to shower with you,”
                 Angel teased, smacking the redhead playfully on the
                 ass.

                 “Whatever,” Willow replied.  She drifted into the
                 bedroom and plopped onto the bed.  Her mind drifted
                 back to the conversation she’d had with Xander
                 earlier, and a serious expression crept over her face.

                 “Thinking about going to Sunnydale?” Angel asked,
                 settling beside her.

                 “Yeah,” Willow murmured.  She laid back on the bed and
                 snuggled up to her sire.  “I’m just worried about how
                 they’re going to react.”

                 “It’ll be okay.  They’re your friends, they’ll
                 understand.”  Angel began to stroke the redhead’s hair
                 softly.

                 “I know.”  Willow was silent for a moment.

                 “You’re worried about seeing him, aren’t you?”  Angel
                 tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice, but he
                 doubted that he succeeded.

                 “Yes,” Willow admitted.  “I still really care about
                 him, Angel.  And what about Buffy?  She doesn’t know
                 your soul is permanent.  What is she wants you back?”

                 “It doesn’t matter, Willow.  First of all, I have you
                 now.  And I don’t want Buffy.  Besides, she has Spike
                 now.”  He felt the redhead flinch at the reminder.

                 “But you love Buffy,” Willow said softly.

                 “No.  I love you.”

                 Willow sat up and stared down at the older vampire,
                 surprise evident on her face.  “You what?”

                 Angel sat up and held her chin in his hand.  Staring
                 deeply into her emerald eyes, he repeated himself.  “I
                 love you, Willow.”

                 Willow dropped her head.  “Angel, I, I don’t know what
                 to say.”

                 “Don’t say anything.  I didn’t expect for this to
                 happen, well, at least not so soon,” he amended.  “But
                 I love you and nothing is going to change that.
                 Nothing and no one is going to come between us.”

                 “But, Angel,” Willow protested.

                 “What?  Are you going to say that you don’t love me?”
                 Willow’s eyes filled with tears and she nodded slowly.
                  “I knew that already, Willow,” Angel said gently.
                 “But I’m a very patient man.  If it takes a hundred
                 years before you love me, I’ll wait that long.  I’d
                 prefer not to, but I’ll wait if I have to.”

                 Willow smiled at the dark vampire, wishing she could
                 reciprocate his feelings for her sire.  She opened her
                 mouth to speak, but he silenced her with a finger
                 against her lips.  “Don’t say anything, Willow,” he
                 said softly.  “Just feel.”  He crushed his mouth to
                 hers in a demanding kiss, groaning as he felt his body
                 respond instantly.

                 Angel cupped the redhead’s firm breasts in his hands,
                 kneading the flesh gently.  He lowered his mouth to
                 lave one erect nipple with his tongue.  Willow moaned
                 and arched her back, leaning into the contact.  Angel
                 bit her gently with blunt teeth, causing the redhead
                 to whimper softly.  He pushed her back onto the bed
                 and trailed kisses over her firm stomach, his hands
                 caressing her bare skin.  He made his way lower,
                 placing featherlight kisses on her soft mound of
                 curls.  Willow growled softly.

                 Angel glanced up to see her face hovering between
                 human and demon.  He smiled, secretly proud of himself
                 that he could make her lose control so easily.  He was
                 reminded of the task at hand by the feel of her
                 fingers in his hair, urging him closer to her core.
                 Angel placed gentle kisses against her sex, savoring
                 the clean scent of her for a moment.  He breathed
                 deeply before tasting her.  Willow groaned and Angel’s
                 cock throbbed in response.  He explored her slowly and
                 carefully, enjoying every movement as the redhead
                 squirmed beneath him.  He slowly eased a finger inside
                 her and began to stroke gently.  Willow groaned
                 louder, tightening her muscles around the dark
                 vampire’s finger.  Angel worried her clit with his
                 tongue as he continued to coax more moisture from her
                 core.  As he bit down gently, he was rewarded with a
                 loud cry and his face was flooded with her release.
                 Angel continued to lick and suck for a moment as the
                 redhead quivered beneath him.

                 He lifted himself over her and guided his member to
                 her soaked channel.  He brushed the head of his cock
                 across her sex and began to slid into her when he was
                 stopped by her soft voice.

                 “Angel, can I?”  The redhead stopped and grinned shyly
                 before continuing.  It never ceased to amaze Angel how
                 she could still retain such innocence, even after all
                 that had happened between them.  “I want to be on
                 top,” she whispered.

                 Angel smiled and laid beside her on the bed.  Willow
                 smiled at him shyly and began to kiss her way across
                 his smooth chest.  She followed the same path that he
                 had, biting gently at the dark skin of his nipples
                 then tracing her way down his stomach.  She stopped
                 and pressed her face against the dark curls at the
                 base of his cock, breathing in the musky odor.  She
                 placed light kisses against the smooth skin of his
                 erection, giggling softly as it twitched in response.

                 “Willow,” Angel murmured softly.  “Don’t tease.”

                 She smiled at him and moved back up to kiss him
                 hungrily on the lips.  She threw one leg over his
                 hips, straddling his crotch.  She reached down to ease
                 him slowly into her, her breath catching as she felt
                 herself stretched by his considerable size.  Angel
                 growled beneath her, his senses focused entirely on
                 the tight, wet body of his childe.  He bucked his hips
                 to meet her causing her to cry out softly.  His hands
                 gripped her hips, driving her down onto his aching
                 cock.  She leaned forward, her hard nipples brushing
                 against his chest.  She mashed her clit against him
                 with each downward motion as their movements became
                 more frantic.

                 “Willow,” Angel hissed as he neared his release.  He
                 could still feel her muscles spasming around him from
                 her earlier orgasm.

                 “Oh, God, Angel,” she moaned.  His fingers dug into
                 her hips as he struggled to keep control, to let her
                 find her release with him.  “Bite me, Angel, please,”
                 she whimpered.

                 Angel’s stared at her for a moment, drinking in the
                 sight of her body, naked and waiting as his face
                 shifted.  He pulled her down to him, sinking his fangs
                 into the smooth skin of her neck.  She screamed as she
                 came, her body trembling with release.  Angel released
                 her neck to scream her name as he emptied his cold
                 dead seed deep inside of her.  He kissed the bite mark
                 softly before capturing her lips and sharing the taste
                 of her.  Willow sighed into the kiss and laid her head
                 on his chest.

                 “I do love you, Willow,” Angel said softly.

                 Willow smiled and hugged him tighter.  She was falling
                 in love with him too, but she was still too frightened
                 to admit it even to herself.

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