Willow stared out the window of the carriage, both cursing and thanking the many stars in the sky.  Between their constant light and that of the sliver of moon, she wasn't in complete darkness, but it also meant she could see the man across from her.  The man...the demon...who'd beaten her at poker.

As predicted, it had come down to the two of them toward the end of the day.  While Willow had made a great showing, easily winning many hands in the beginning from the seemingly distracted vampire, Angelus had managed to pull it off in the end with the help of some lucky draws in the cards and expert playing.  Also, he didn't exactly play fair.  Not that he cheated, he was too good for that.  Instead he distracted her--making her nervous by subtly reminding her what was at stake, using wordplay to remind her what was in store for her at his hands, and even going so far as to purposely brush his leg against hers--anything to break her concentration.  It worked.  Willow's only consolation was that he didn't take all her money.  The redhead was able to leave with considerably more than she'd come in with, but when they came to the time that had been previously decided for the game to end, Angelus was ahead financially.  Still, she couldn't help wondering what would have happened if she'd had more time, both to play and compose herself in his disquieting presence.  She thought she could beat him.

Unfortunately, it made little difference what she thought might have happened.  For now she was stuck in a carriage with him under the guise of his protection for the long ride to his home and her own inevitable torture.  The doors had been secured from the outside, and the breakneck pace that the driver was forcing from the horses precluded any attempts to jump for her freedom.  She was well and truly trapped.

Angelus studied her as she stared out the window, trying to ignore him.  Sooner or later, he knew she would speak, so he could wait.  She was so stubborn, even more so than when he'd first met her, and that thought pleased him.  It was going to be glorious breaking her.  After a couple of hours, though, he grew weary of the game and raised the stakes a bit.  Angelus reached over and pulled the heavy crimson drapes closed with a quick, almost dismissive snap of his hand.  Willow contemplated reopening them but somehow managed to hold her hand still, as well as her tongue.

Willow knew why he had plunged them into total darkness.  He wanted her to speak first, possibly even beg to be released or plead for mercy, but she refused to give him the satisfaction.  He'd upped the ante, but the redhead refused to fold.  She kept her eyes trained on the windows, as if the curtains had never been closed.  Unfortunately, she couldn't even see the curtains.  She couldn't see anything, but she knew he was still watching her...probably listening to the sound of the blood as it hurried through her veins or the quickening of her heart.  She tried to calm herself, but it wasn't easy without appearing as if that was what she wanted to do.  She couldn't take a deep breath, or close her eyes and picture her calming place because all of those things would be the same as revealing her cards.  Instead, she used the darkness as her canvas, and as the waterfall formed before her eyes, she felt her body respond almost instantly.  Her breathing steadied and her heart beat calmed.

They rode that way for over an hour, neither speaking nor moving, each waiting for the other to break first.  It was taking a toll on the redhead physically as she'd remained nearly motionless for three hours, save for the swaying and bumping of the carriage as it hurried across the country roads.  Her aching, tense muscles were begging for release.  Just a simple stretch or slump against the soft cushions would cause the throbbing to ebb, but she fought it.

Just when she thought that she would have to bite her tongue to quiet her own body's protests, there was a soft noise from the other side of the carriage, followed immediately by the distinctive sound of a match being struck.  Willow didn't react fast enough, and the sudden flash of light after the hours of darkness was painful, causing the redhead to flinch and shut her eyes before she could control her own reflexes.  Even through her tightly closed lids, Willow could tell the light in the small space had increased, and she slowly reopened them to find that Angelus had lit a small oil lamp that hung in the upper corner of the carriage, just over his shoulder.

"Just wanted ta make sure ya didn't fall asleep on me, my love," Angelus informed her as he settled back into the seat.  "Not when we have so much more ta talk about.  I thought maybe you and I could be takin' this time ta get ta know each other again."

Willow tried hard not to squint or blink against the still-too-bright light, and it caused her eyes to tear as she forced her gaze not to stray from Angelus's face.  A smile crept on to his face as he saw the glistening in her eyes increase.  Finally, one welled over and a lone tear slipped down her cheek.

"Tears?  Already?" he chided with a rueful shake of his head.  "But I haven't even tried yet.  Please don't tell me yer goin' ta disappoint me again?"  Angelus carefully leaned forward, never breaking eye contact with her.  Languidly he reached out with one finger, moving very slowly as he watched the tear trail its way down her face.  He was hoping for several different reactions from this beautiful captive.  After all these years, he thought he knew women pretty well and could predict how they would behave in almost any given circumstance.  One reaction was for her to jerk away from the inevitable contact, or better yet, to try and slap his hand away or perhaps even attempt to bite the offending digit.  In the end, he was almost disappointed when she remained perfectly still...perfectly calm when his long finger traced the damp path on her face.  It wasn't until the lone tear had reached her mouth that he finally captured it with a sensual brush across her heated lips.

Willow's tight control slipped when his cool skin came in contact with her fevered flesh.  There was an intake of breath, so quick, so slight, that only the most observant would have caught it.  Unfortunately, as she watched Angelus's smile broaden even more, she knew that he'd caught the breath, as well as the slight parting of the lips that accompanied it.

Angelus brought the tear-dampened finger to his own lips and moistened them with her salty offering before licking the wetness from his own cruel mouth.  "If I'd known ya were so easy ta excite, my innocent love, I would've done this a long time ago," he teased.

Willow pried her eyes away from his gloating face to finally rest her head back against the cushion and close her weary eyes.  She'd lost to him, once again, and as if that weren't bad enough, she also couldn't see a way out of her present situation.  <At least he let me ride facing forwards.  If I were sitting backwards like he is, I'd be throwing up on his shoes by now...not that that is necessarily a bad thing...> she mused.

As her head leaned back, Willow's hair fell away from her collarbone, once again revealing several bite marks along her ivory throat.  He'd never noticed them before, either because of the clothing she wore or because her hair hid them.  That is, he hadn't noticed them until she sat across from him at the poker table earlier that day.

At first he'd been angry with her for not obeying him by wearing her hair up as he'd insisted, her long auburn strands covering much of the delicate skin of her neck, collarbone and chest that the dress he'd picked out was supposed to reveal.  His anger had distracted him only slightly, but several hands later, when she'd absentmindedly brushed some of her silky tresses away from her face, that was when he saw them--the nearly invisible scars left by another vampire's kiss.  She'd been with him recently, that other vampire, and they appeared to have become quite close, in spite of her virginity.  His anger escalated tenfold, and he had to request a break in the play to find one of his minions to savagely feed from and kill as a means of releasing some of his tension.  Even after that, he'd lost quite a bit of money before he was able to control his jealousy.  Watching her now, seeing those marks again made him crave answers.  And he wasn't about to wait any longer.

"Where did ya learn ta play poker, Rose?  Yer one of the best I've seen, but ya still aren't a match fer me."

"Sp--*He*, the other vampire, taught me the basics," she said quietly with her eyes still shut.  "The rest I learned on my own."

"He took the time ta teach ya gamblin?" Angelus asked caustically.  "What kind of a demon would teach ya ta play cards, and what else did he teach ya, Rose?"

Willow opened her eyes at the tone in his voice.  It was suddenly very cold and angry.  "What do you mean?"

"The marks on yer neck..." Angelus continued, "there are more of them than there were before.  Last time I saw ya, ya had but the one.  Now ya have several, all from the same vampire, all done in pleasure."  The venom in his voice was building.  Willow was actually relieved that she could practically feel his jealousy of Spike in his voice.  She'd discovered her edge; she only wished she'd thought of it sooner.

"We were together for a while," she said slowly, watching his reaction closely.  "We shared a bed...and more."

Angelus found himself gripping the seat beside him, his nails puncturing the fabric.  "How much more, Rose?"

"As much as we could without ruining the spell."  Willow subtly noted with great satisfaction his damage to the cushion.

Angelus stewed about her words for a while, then realized what must have happened.  "He seduced ya, then.  This other vampire?"

"No," she said calmly.  "I seduced him."

Angelus growled softly, the demon in him demanding that she be punished for speaking to him this way and for letting another vampire touch her.  Somehow, though, Angelus kept a tight rein on his stampeding emotions.  When he finally noted the smug look on her face, Angelus knew that she was purposely trying to anger him and make him jealous, probably hoping that he'd grow careless and make a mistake.  He even convinced himself that she was lying about them sharing a bed, since he doubted that there was another vampire capable of controlling himself after one taste of her blood.

He calmed himself before speaking.  "Then he grew tired of ya and left ya?" he asked, almost laughing.

Willow's superior air dissolved as she recalled how her relationship with Spike had ended.  "Let's just say he remembered what he was...suddenly."

"Ah..." Angelus smiled knowingly.  "Ya must not have been as fillin' as he'd hoped fer."

Willow glared at him briefly but kept quiet, wondering if perhaps it was best if she didn't tell him too much about her relationship with Spike.  There was silence for several miles, but then Willow decided to take a chance.

"If I understand correctly, Angelus, because he bit me first...marked me...I'm his, not yours, right?"

Angelus felt his temper flare again.  After all this time, there was no way he would surrender his prize to another vampire.  He'd kill him, if necessary.

"I wouldn't worry about the other vampire, if I were ya.  He's not here, and I am, and since he seems ta have already gotten what he wanted from ya, I doubt ya will ever see him again."

Willow opened her mouth, ready to remind him that Spike would have to come for her one day so that they could go home, but the words died on her lips.  She had no way of knowing if Spike would even want to go back after seeing his Drusilla again, and she knew there really wasn't anything stopping Spike from just staying here with Drusilla.  <Except for William...then there would be two Spikes, and sooner or later...>  Willow groaned inwardly in frustration.  No matter how much she thought about it, she only got more confused.  Plus, it was worse now that Angelus had found her.  <Oh God...You just know this is going to really mess things up!>  Yep, this time-travel thing was a real pain in the ass.

With the lull in the conversation, Willow tried to get a handle on what these recent events would do to the future.  All she got for her trouble, however, was a dull headache.

"I need some fresh air," she exclaimed, simultaneously turning away from his stare to reopen the curtain and allow some of the night breeze in.  Angelus didn't try to stop her.

"How much longer?" she sighed, closing her eyes against the refreshing wind that caressed her face.

"Until when, me love?"

"Until we get to wherever we're going.  Your dungeon, I presume."

Angelus chuckled again.  "Ah, getting anxious, are we?  Don't worry yer pretty little head over it, me love.  We'll be there in a couple more hours."

"You know, trains are much quicker!" she said contemptuously, regretting it instantly since it sounded as if she were in a hurry to get to their destination.

"Impatient wee thing.  And I wish ta get there as quickly as you, Rose, but trains don't give me the control or privacy I need, nor do they run much at night.  I've a trusted driver who knows the fastest way, as well as what's at stake if he fails.  The fear of death makes fer a speedy journey, don't ya think?"

She met his laughing eyes with a withering look.  "I disagree.  This has been the longest and most painful journey of my life."

The vampire shook his head.  "So much wasted energy."

"What?" she asked irritably, turning away to look at the stars once more.

Angelus leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, his fingers meeting to form a triangle.  "Ya try so hard ta behave as if ya hate me..." he stated plainly, "...as if ya can't stand ta be with me, but we both be knowin' better, don't we?"

Willow didn't rise to the bait but continued to stare out the window.  Undaunted by her lack of response, Angelus pushed on.

"When ya look at me, ya still see the man I once was...the man ya loved."

"The man you were is dead," Willow spit out suddenly before she was even aware that she'd spoken.  "You're just evil, wearing the face of a good man," she added, embarrassed that she couldn't control her temper.

Angelus threw back his head and roared with laugher.  "A good man?  I was never a good man!"  The demon inside was bubbling over with joy.  He'd found another chink in Rose's armor, a way to hurt her, and he continued to strike at her weak spot.  "Well, maybe I was good at being bad, but that's about it.  Ya think ya knew the real Angelus Connellan, do ya?  Ya think that man who taught ya how ta ride a damned horse was the real me?  Then yer a bigger fool than I ever realized."

Willow shook her head in denial, even though he was only confirming what Spike had told her decades before.  "No!  You were--I mean, Angelus was-- always kind to me...respectful..."

"And do ya have any idea how hard it was fer him to treat ya like that, when all he wanted to was bed ya?"

"Stop it," Willow said softly, her hands beginning to twist her dress as her stiff demeanor wavered.

"It's true.  All he wanted was to seduce ya into his bed, Rose.  To taste your lips, knead yer breasts in his hands, and get ya to part yer legs for him.  Ya know he would've gotten that, eventually, if it weren't fer this little spell of yers.  Then he'd have forgotten about ya, like he did all the other tarts he bedded."

"Stop!" Willow cried, fighting back the tears.  "I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work!"

Angelus smiled at his small victory and leaned back in the seat again.  "Won't it?  Why not?"

"Because I don't care.  I felt nothing for him but pity because I knew..." her voice trailed off.  She was about to say too much.  "It won't work, Angelus.  I don't care about you, and I never did, so you can't hurt me like this!  The only emotion you'll get out of me is hate.  Pure...cold...hate."

If she had dared to look at him, she would have seen the flash of demon-yellow in his eyes, but it quickly faded, leaving the standard evil glint.

"Is that right, me love?  Ya hate me so much then?"

"Yes," she said firmly and backed it up with a nod of her head.

"And, just how much do ya hate me?" Angelus interrogated further, causing Willow to shake her head at the odd question.

"Enough," she told him softly but with conviction.  She heard Angelus chuckle to himself again and the soft brushing of fabric-on-fabric, but she refused to satisfy her curiosity by looking at what he was doing.  Suddenly, something was shoved into her hand.  She looked down to find she was now gripping a large, sharp wooden stake.  She could only stare at it for a moment as if she'd never seen one before.

"Use it, Rose," Angelus commanded as he sat back against the cushions.  "If ya despise me as much a ya say ya do, then take that stake and plunge it into me heart.  I won't be stoppin' ya, me flower," he informed her casually as he relaxed, closed his eyes, and put his hands behind his head.

Willow could only look back and forth between the stake and Angelus as a million thoughts hammered at her all at once.  She could end this whole thing now.  Angelus would be dead, just as Spike wanted, he could have William turn Drusilla, if she hadn't been turned already, and they could go home...finally.  It would be so easy.  She had killed vampires before, after all, and he was just another very evil vampire.  <Dust 'em, Willow!>

"But I..." she started as a distraction, then threw her petite body at him with all the strength and speed she could muster, or at least she told herself it was.

Angelus was ready for her though and caught both her wrists and forced them behind her, bringing her up hard against his muscular chest.  She struggled for only a moment, more irritated by his laughter than the fact that she'd failed because deep down she knew it was, at best, a half-hearted attempt to kill the future Angel.

"You lied!" she spit out accusingly anyway.  "You said you wouldn't stop me!"

"I didn't stop ya.  We both know ya couldn't have done it.  Ya weren't even tryin' ta hurt me."  Angelus squeezed her wrist until she dropped the stake, then he kicked it under the seat with his foot.  "Now, this is more like it, me love," he said huskily, pulling her closer.  He rearranged their hands so that he was able to hold her small wrists behind her with only one of his larger hands, leaving the other free to roam at will.  He was ready to start the next stage in his plan.

"Have I ever told ya how beautiful ya are, Rose?  Yer fiery hair, alabaster skin, and eyes the color of emeralds?" he asked softly, running his free hand through her long locks.

"Actually, yes, you have.  Several times, in fact," Willow reminded him with a touch of sarcasm that surprised even herself.  "I know what you're up to.  I may be a virgin, but I'm not a child."

"No," he agreed, his eyes roaming her body wantonly.  "Ya certainly aren't a child.  But it isn't that vampires don't appreciate a beautiful, *living* woman.  Ya don't have to be dead to make me want ya, Rose."  His hungry gaze rose to bore into her eyes, then softened slightly, lost in their see-green depths.

She felt her breath catch again when for a moment he looked exactly like the man who'd taken her into his arms so lovingly more than a lifetime ago.

"Although ya might make me want ya to be dead," he added, and with a cruel arching of his lips, he was once again the demon Angelus.

Realizing her momentary slip, Willow began to struggle frantically against him.  "You're just...trying to drive me mad, Angelus."  I won't let you...it won't work."

"Won't it?"  His face changed again, a mask of caring falling so easily into place.  "Haven't ya wondered if there is any good left in me, Willow?  A small bit of the man ya loved that ya could find in me?  The mere fact that I haven't killed ya yet, that I've gone to so much trouble fer ya, must make ya wonder that.  If I'm capable of more...of really caring fer ya...loving ya, perhaps?"

Willow's eyes widened in horror.  Deep down she had wondered that more times than she cared to remember.  "No, Angelus!" she fibbed.  "I'm not that...that simple...to think that you...that you're anything more than a soulless vampire.  Besides, I *never* loved you, so I don't care!"  <Pathetic, Willow.  Could you have sounded a little less convincing?>

"Ya don't lie very well when there aren't any cards in yer hand, Rose," he sneered, before moving his mouth closer, bringing it to rest at the corner of her lips, then trailing down to her jaw.  He kissed her gently, sensually, taking his time to savor the taste of her skin.

Willow arched in protest, trying to bring her face as far away from his as possible. Unfortunately, throwing her head back only served to open her neck to him, and Angelus wasted no time in exploring that nubile flesh.

The vampire did not bite her.  He never even nipped or scratched her with his teeth, instead letting his lips and tongue torture her more than his sharp fangs ever could.  He knew that biting and feeding from her was what she expected him to do--not slow, tender lovemaking.  He kissed and licked every inch of bare flesh that he found, save her lips.  He often brought his mouth close to hers, sometimes hovering a hair's breadth away from it, but he never kissed her.

Willow struggled to stay afloat in the rough sea of emotions that she found herself immersed in.  He was being so gentle--so loving and passionate--that Willow had to remind herself of what she knew him to be.  The forced reminder caused her to renew her struggles.  The young-looking woman once again twisted and turned in his arms, but even she sometimes wasn't sure if she was endeavoring to get away from him...or struggling to get closer.

His hands stroked her face gently, exploring every inch of her cheekbones and jaw, brushing over her lips and eyelids, time and time again.  He wanted her to plead for him to stop, or not stop.  The important thing was that she begged.

"Please," she said breathlessly, instantly hating herself when she heard the word that came out of her own mouth.  She waited for the familiar chuckle or the smirk to appear as he won this hand in their on-going game, but he never paused in his ministrations.

His mouth traveled without mercy to her nearest earlobe.  He gently licked and sucked on it for a while as his hand slid down her down her side, his thumb barely grazing her breast as it traveled down to her waist.

"Please what, me love?" he finally asked.

"Please...stop...we can't...you can't do this..."

He paused for a moment.  Angelus had hardly intended to take her right there in the carriage, although the had thought crossed his mind more than once.  The whole fact that she needed to remain a virgin threw a wrench in his plans.  Nevertheless, he solaced himself with the knowledge that there were still plenty of things he could do to her, over and over again, for the next few centuries.

"I assure you, Rose," he whispered menacingly in her ear, "that one day ya will beg me ta do just that which ya now beg me not ta do."

His momentary pause had given her enough time to gather her wits about her again.  "That will never happen," she said forcefully, bringing a mocking grin to the vampire's face.

"Ya are very sure of yerself, aren't ya?"  He used a hand at the back of her head to force her face close to his own.

As his mouth again lowered toward hers, Willow screwed her eyes tightly shut and waited for his brutal kiss.  To her surprise, one again he instead turned his attention to her neck.  Ever patient, Angelus studied her reaction to his every kiss and swirl of his tongue.  If her heart sped up or even skipped a beat, he made a mental note of the area and gave it special attention.

Willow had lost all track of time.  It seemed like his sweet torment had been going on for hours, and she was nearing the end of her limits.  She felt as if she would shatter...as if he kissed her one more time, she would splinter into a million pieces.  At this point, she almost welcomed it.  Willow was losing control and it petrified her.

"Please..." she whispered one more time in desperation as he paid particular attention to the area around her mouth, still without actually kissing her lips.

"Please what, me love?" he mumbled huskily at the corner of her mouth.

"Just bite me already..."she managed through ragged breaths, forcing her lids open to look at her tormentor.

Angelus stopped for only a moment to meet her eyes.  "Whatever pleases my lady," he replied with a knowing twist of his lips.

Willow was almost relieved as she braced herself for the pain of his fangs piercing her throat, but quickly she discovered that he was far from ready to end his game.  <Oh, God!  Oh, help me!> she pleaded silently when she realized he wasn't going to bite her yet.  <Let a meteor hit the coach...or...or a heart attack would be good right now!  I can't...>  But soon Willow was even beyond praying for help.

Eventually positioning his mouth over her jugular, he teased her hot flesh once again, this time allowing only the slightest hint of teeth as he traced the vein's path.  It wasn't long before the anticipation was too much even for the vampire, and slowly his scratches became nibbles, then his nibbles became bites.

Willow had no idea when he'd let go of her wrists.  It almost seemed like a scene from one of her dreams when she became aware that one of her hands was now tangled in his hair while the other dug into his back like she was clinging to him for her very sanity.  It was after this realization that she gave up the battle, somehow knowing that either trying to fight him or hiding her body's reactions would only make things worse.  While he may be able to arouse her body with his own by using mental trickery, he would never have her mind or her heart.

When he realized her struggles had changed into near-participation, Angelus couldn't hold back any longer.  He allowed his true nature to come through and, before he'd even finished the transformation, his fangs punctured her tender flesh.

Willow gasped at the feeling of his face changing against her and gripped him even tighter.  She felt his teeth, already embedded in her neck, elongated even further, and the soft skin of his face taking on the ridges of the demon.  More than the act itself, it was her body's growing response to the erotic sensations that disgusted her.  <I really am going to go to hell for his...> flitted through her mind, almost drowned out by the sounds of her own heavy breathing.

Angelus fed slowly and carefully.  His hands roamed her body as he reveled in the feel of her holding on to him instead of trying to push him away.  Not that he didn't love it when his victims struggled, but Rose had so much fire in her that the fight was almost unnecessary at the moment.  With gargantuan effort, he eventually pulled away, wanting to see her face when she realized how she'd responded to him.

Her lids drifted open and closed in blood-loss-induced sleepiness, but she managed to focus on him.  She knew somewhere in her foggy mind that she should be ashamed, but she no longer had the energy.

"This...changes nothing, Angelus," she whispered, no longer able to keep her eyes open.  "My body...may react to you, but...you won't make me crazy...I..."

But Angelus would never hear what she had to say because she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Ah, don't worry, me sweet Rose," Angelus murmured as he set about licking the sleeping woman's wounds.  "I think yer body may be enough, fer now."

******

Spike watched impatiently from the shadows where he'd been all night.  He was beginning to  wonder if he had the date wrong or if he should head for the abbey himself when he saw a dusty-but-expensive carriage pull up in front of the large manor house.

Spike's lips curled into a sneer when he saw Angelus step out of the carriage, only to be met within seconds by William.  They talked for a minute, too softly for even Spike to hear, and then Angelus climbed back in the carriage.  After a moment, Angelus stepped back out, carrying a large bundle.  <That's no bundle...that's a body...>  Spike took a chance and scrambled closer, trying to get a better look at the two vampires.

From his improved, though more dangerous vantage point, Spike could see that it was indeed an unmoving woman that Angelus was holding in his arms.  Angelus's cloak was wrapped about her, but Spike could just make out the feminine hand dangling from underneath it and a few trails of long hair that lay against his shoulder.  But before he could get a closer look, Angelus handed his armload to William.  Spike heard Angelus grumble something about having a quick feed before the fun began and then stalked off down the street in the opposite direction.  Once William had carried the woman inside and the driver had taken away the carriage, Spike just plopped down on the damp ground amongst the bushes.  He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  He had waited for this night for so long, agonized over whether he was doing the right thing and about whether everything would happen as it should, that sometimes he'd wondered if this night would ever arrive.  And now it had.  His beloved Drusilla, his Dark Goddess, had obviously been sired by Angelus and was in the arms of his former self.  Now all he had left to do was what he'd come here for in the first place...kill Angelus.

The smile left his face for only a moment as a whispered promise that he'd once made crept into his consciousness--a promise to a warm redhead as she lay quivering in his arms from nightmare-induced fear.  After all that Angelus had done to Willow, the pain and guarantee of more where that had come from and even the horrific dreams that she'd had, Willow had made Spike promise not to kill his sire.  Reluctantly, he'd agreed when she assured him that she'd find a way to alter the future just enough so that Angelus would never make another appearance in Sunnydale.  As a result, she pledged that Spike would never have to help Buffy and betray Angelus, the very act that led to Drusilla's eventual suicide.

"Bugger that!" Spike grumbled caustically.  <She betrayed me, after all!  She'd promised to do anything to get me my Dru back, but she didn't, did she?  She broke her bloody promise, so why the hell should I keep mine?>  "Time to take my future into my own hands, I'd say."

Easily rationalizing to himself that once again Angelus and Willow were the cause of all of his problems, Spike was once again filled with the need for revenge.  Suddenly, he felt young again.  His goal now in sight, Spike rose to his feet, took the ever-present stake from his coat pocket, and strode after Angelus with the kind of energy that only comes with the opportunity for vengeance.

***

Angelus was hungry for something, he just wasn't quite sure what.  It wasn't that he was starving because Rose's blood, whether it was due to magik or her age or her prolonged state of purity, was very filling.  He just needed to take some of the edge off...to do the things he couldn't do with his enchanting captive...like rip at someone's flesh when he fed, or drink until there was nothing left, for example.  There was the other hunger as well...the one that to entirely satiate would ruin all his plans for the future as it could very likely take the object of his obsession away from him.  He had a long time to think during the ride, and while at first he was skeptical about Rose's story and what would happen if she were to be bedded by a man, in the end he believed her...not because he thought she was incapable of lying, he had seen her abundant skills of bluffing at the poker table, but because the pain in her eyes when she spoke about it was undeniable.

After dropping his latest victim, an older man that reeked of smoke and cheap perfume, Angelus decided to go in search of a woman who could fulfill his other needs.  It was at that moment that he sensed he wasn't alone.

Spike stayed in the shadows, watching his prey as a million thoughts crossed his mind.  There were so many things he wanted to say before he turned his sire to ashes, so many things he wanted to do. On the other hand, he had seen enough telly to know that the bad guys always lost because they never simply killed the hero.  They always had to drag it out, make some pithy speech, and kill them in some slow, albeit ingenious, way.  Of course, while Angelus had more in common with Jack the Ripper than James Bond or Indiana Jones, Spike was not about to make the same mistake that the enemies of those celluloid heroes did time and time again.  It was going to be simple.  He had a short but witty speech all planned and was going to use the few moments when Angelus was confused as to who he was to deliver it.  The blonde vampire had a few things to tell him about himself, as well as Willow.  And when he saw the ego deflate, Spike would deliver his blow and it would be all over.  No fuss, no muss.  Then all he had to do was make sure that William was taking good care of his Drusilla, and then they could go home--once he found Willow again, that is.

And from they way Angelus stood up and cocked his head, Spike knew it was time to begin.

Angelus stopped, catching a familiar smell in the air, then shook his head in dismay.  "William?  Why are ya here?"

Spike took only a small step forward, keeping himself partially obscured in the moon's shadows, not that it mattered since Angelus hadn't even bothered to turn around.

"Where else would I be but at my sire's back?"  His hand gripped the stake that was hidden in the depths of his pocket, his fist repeatedly clenching and releasing around it.  He didn't want to make his move too soon, nor did he want to be just another failed adversary.

"Yer supposed to be taken care of her!  Makin' sure that none of those idiot minions of ours get any wrong ideas!" he growled.

<Minions of ours?  That'd be a first!>  "She's in good hands, mate.  I can promise you that," Spike drawled, brushing off his own question.

"Ya know ya are the only one I trust her with, Will!" Angelus went on, too disappointed in his childe at the moment to bother to turn around and look at him.

"She's safe as houses."  Spike took a few steps closer, with each step feeling the comforting weight of stake against his thigh.  A flash of anger coursed through him as he realized that his sire wasn't even going to turn around to look at him.  <Damned, bloody, arrogant bastard!>

"Did ya come to tell me somethin' important, then?  It best be damn important that ya put everythin' we've worked so hard fer at stake, William."

"No pun intended, right Angelus?"  <If only the pillock knew just how much I was going to 'put at stake'.>

With a frustrated shake of his head, Angelus ignored his childe's attempt at humor.  "Ya don't understand all the time I've invested in this woman, I suppose?  Ya've come here ta straighten me out, then?"

Spike walked slowly forward, finding this conversation more fascinating than the speech he'd planned, at least for the moment, anyway.

"Can't ya see how special she is, William?  I don't know why I didn't see it before, but the woman practically glows with a power, of sorts.  I haven't had a chance ta tell ya everythin' she told me yet, but she has so much promise that ta not take full advantage of it would make us damned fools!"

Spike snickered silently.  <You're telling me, mate!>  It was perfect.  Just as he'd hoped.  Angelus had become obsessed with Dru and now saw her potential because of her visions.  <Too bad you didn't change her earlier.  She may have been able to warn you that today you were going to die...for good, this time.!>

"She's special all right," Spike said, standing directly behind his sire, close enough to feel the coolness emanating from his body.  "She makes a beautiful vampire...a Dark Goddess even," he added, with a touch of wistfullness in his voice.

Angelus knitted his brow.  William had seemed fine when he'd first arrived back at the house, but now he was acting so strangely.

"William, I thought ya understood!" Angelus started impatiently, finally spinning around.  "I can't turn Rose..."  Angelus's explanation came to an abrupt halt when he finally saw who he'd been talking to.  In the blink of an eye, the Irish vampire instantly shifted to his game face.

The victorious smile on Spike's face faded fast as Angelus's words finally filtered through his brain.  "Um, did you say Rose?" he asked in a state of confusion, barely noticing that his sire was now wearing his demonic face and staring at him with murderous intent.

Angelus's hands flew out, grabbing Spike by the lapels and dragging him closer.  "Who are ya?"

Spike vamped out the moment Angelus touched him.  His own hands latched onto Angelus's wrists, easily breaking his sire's hold on him.  It was just as Spike had hoped.  He was older than Angelus now, and as a result, stronger.  He'd never have to submit to him again.  However, as much as he would love to take the time to gloat, he had more important matters to worry about at the moment.

"You have Rose?" Spike demanded, louder this time.

Angelus was surprised by the strength of the other vampire but was undaunted.  This time he grabbed him by the neck, again demanding, "Who are you?"

Spike's only answer was to mimic his sire's move, grabbing him too by the neck.  "Do you have Rose?" he demanded in return.  "What about Dru?"

The two vampires stared at each other, utter bewilderment and anger keeping their demons at the forefront and their grips tight.  It was unlikely that they could truly hurt each other this way, it was more a show of strength--a test for dominance--and they both knew it.

Just when Spike thought his plan couldn't go any more awry, it did.

"This is just too bloody perfect," Spike muttered, releasing one of his holds on Angelus's throat to quickly reach into his pocket and pull out the stake.  Angelus's grip on Spike faltered, his eyes opening widely as he caught sight of the stake in the blonde vampire's raised hand.  As Spike let all of his hatred flow into that one tightly clenched grip, he let go of Angelus's throat, thrusting the wooden weapon at the vampire's chest with all of his energy.

The surprised vampire was unable to utter a strangled cry before he disintegrated in front of Spike's eyes.

"Sorry mate," Spike said resentfully as he kicked at the ashes.  "But that's what happens when you muck up my plans!"

Spike finally turned to look at the silent vampire beside him.  "Bloody hell, Angelus!  How many people are trying to kill you, anyway?" he snarled, barely able to hide his disappointment.

Angelus's amber eyes studied the ashes of the rival master vampire and then turned back to the blonde vamp that had saved his life.  "I'll ask ya again.  Who are ya?  Ya look and sound like me William, but..."  Angelus shook his head in total bewildered.  The master vampire didn't appreciate being confused, nor did he care for his lack of the control of the situation.

"What?  Don't you recognize your own childe anymore, Angelus?  I'm crushed, pop, truly I am," Spike said with distaste, brushing some ashes off of his coat.

Angelus jumped to his feet, ready to beat some answers out of the other vampire if necessary.  "Listen here, Blondie.  I'm only goin' ta ask this one more time.  While I'm thankful fer ya savin' me backside just then, I'm not goin' ta put up with yer games.  Now tell me, vampire that looks like William, who are ya?"

Spike had to think fast.  "I *am* William...or at least what William will be around the end of the 20th century.  Just call me the bloody ghost of Christmas future, Ebenezer."

Angelus's confusion only grew, but before he could gather his thoughts enough to question him further, the blonde vampire began demanding answers from him again.

"Now what the hell happened to Wi--er, Rose?"

Unfortunately for the already impatient Spike, Angelus wasn't about to back down after that little bombshell he'd just dropped. "Yer...from the future?"

Spike took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "Okay...I can see that you're having trouble with this point, Angelus, so I'll sum up.  Pay attention.  I'm William, your childe.  I'm from the bloody future, brought back by a damned spell.  Was that simple enough for you?"

Angelus wasn't pleased with the way the other vampire was talking to him, especially if he truly was his childe.  Luckily, he had more important things on his mind than putting William in his place.  As he continued his cold scrutiny of the white-headed vampire, he finally remembered where he'd seen him before.

"You...yer that vampire from Galway, aren't ya?"

Spike tried to contain his anger has he saw his plans falling to pieces around him.  "Yes, yes, *yes*!  Now, can we move on?" he demanded.  "God, I forgot how slow you could be on the uptake sometimes, mate," he muttered more softly to himself.  "Now, do...you...have...Rose?" he repeated.

Angelus studied the other vampire, not even really hearing what Spike was saying.  After a moment, he knew.  It was William.  The hair was different, but everything else was the same--the piercing eyes, the chiseled features, even the way he clenched his jaw when he was frustrated.

"William..." he uttered in awe, almost like a prayer.

The tone of his sire's voice, the raw emotions behind it, almost blindsided Spike for a moment.  He hadn't heard that from Angelus in centuries, but he quickly pushed his own chaotic feelings aside--the blonde vampire had become pretty good at denial by now.

"Rose, Angelus.  I asked you about Rose," he groaned.

The dark demon furrowed his brow at his childe's colder-than-normal behavior, but he chalked it up as an effect of the time-travel spell.  "I have me Rose, yes."

Spike clenched his jaw and stepped closer, drawing his face with in an inch of his sire's.  "Then where's Dru?"

"Dru?" the darker vampire asked, his eyes now blazing with anger at the vampire that seemed to have forgotten his place.  Yet, it wasn't the time or the place to punish him.  There were still too many questions, so Angelus squashed his fury for the time being.

Spike had to keep himself from rolling his eyes in impatience..  "Drusilla...the girl from the confessional, remember?  I know you met her.  I was there at the church just a few weeks ago, watching the whole thing.  Now, where the bloody hell is she?"

"Ah!" Angelus said with a slight smile and a shake of his head.  He didn't know what was going on, but he was bound and determined to find out soon.  It was obvious that Drusilla became important to William at some point, which surprised Angelus.  "I remember her now.  It was quite a bit of fun toyin' with her.  She was so simple, so trustin'.  With each word I whispered in her ear, ya could practically hear the tiny threads of her mind come undone.  Each time I killed a member of her family, ya could see it in her eyes that she was one step from an asylum."

This time, Spike couldn't control himself.  He rolled his eyes.  "Spare me the bloody history lesson, mate.  I mean, I've been there before, haven't I?  The question is, why weren't you at the convent tonight?  You were supposed to change her, right there when she took her vows!"

Angelus shrugged, then reached down and picked a blade of grass and twisted it between his fingers.  "It sounds like I missed quite a time, but I had other things to do.  I got a lead on me Rose about a fortnight ago, and while drivin' Drusilla mad is always good fer a spot of fun, Rose is much more of a challenge...a woman of mystery, ya might say."

<I don't bloody believe this!>  Spike snarled internally.  Everything had gone to hell in a hand basket, and once again, Willow was the cause.

"Oh, so suddenly the great Angelus can't handle terrorizing two women at the same time?  You aren't the demon I remember then, Angelus," the blonde vampire sniped.

<William...where did all this anger come from?  What did they do to ya in the future ta make ya so bitter?> he wondered.  "Why is she so important to ya, Spike?" Angelus inquired aloud.  "Ya were never much one fer the more subtle side of torture before.  Ya always said if it doesn't make 'em bleed, then what's the bloody point?"

Spike chuckled.  He remembered saying that a lot back then, whenever Angelus would try and get him to wile away a few months driving some poor person insane without ever touching them, like he did with Drusilla.

"Things change, Angelus.  Things change."

Angelus slowly approached his childe, staring at him intently.  "Why is she so important to ya, then?"

The blonde vampire clenched his jaw but managed to maintain his sire's intense gaze.  "Let's just say we become very close, and her gift of foretelling comes in bloody handy.  We don't want to lose it."

Angelus shook his head, surprised by his childe's devotion to the woman he and William had been taunting a few week's earlier.  "If she's that important to ya, what difference will a day make, right?  Now, tell me, what did ya come back fer, William?"

Spike winced at the use of his former name, it just seemed ill suited to him now.  "Spike," he told his sire firmly.

"What?"

"I go by 'Spike' now.  Have for over 100 years, so learn it and use it, all right?" he grumbled bitterly.

Angelus briefly pondered his childe's disrespectful attitude before once again advising himself not to become too concerned over it at the present time.  There was still too much at stake.  Besides, apparently they would have plenty of time for appropriate punishment later.

"Spike?  Spike..." he ventured, rolling the word around on his tongue a bit until it felt more natural.  "Well, if that's what ya want, it'll make it a bit less confusin."  Tired of the games, Angelus stood up straight, looking at his childe with the air of complete authority that Spike remembered so well.  "Now, tell me, *Spike*, why are ya here?"

<Ah!  There's the Angelus I love to hate.  Now, think fast, Spike.  There's no room for any more bloody errors!>  "Didn't Rose tell you?" he queried after a quick internal debate.

Angelus shook his head in the negative, but Spike noted his sire's eyes gleamed yellow briefly at the mere mention of her name.

"She wouldn't talk about ya much.  I planned on gettin' it out of her later," he said with a knowing smirk.  "All she said is that ya forced her ta do a spell and now she can't die or enjoy the company of men until ya end the spell.  Apparently me little witch forgot ta mention that she was from a different time as well."

Spike laughed, "She so sweet and innocent looking, isn't she, with those big green eyes and pouty little lips?  She lied to the great Angelus and got away with it!"

The gleam was there again.  "Explain yerself, Wil-- Spike."

Spike grinned as an idea dawned on him, just in the nick of time.  He leaned nonchalantly against a tree, took out a cigarette and lit it, taking several slow draws before speaking.  "It's simple, mate.  She came here to kill you.  I came to stop her."

"What?"  Angelus stared at the blonde vampire like he'd suddenly sprouted a halo.  "No," he said firmly, shaking his head.  "I gave her several chances to harm me, and her attempt was half-hearted at best.  She doesn't have killin' in her."

"She wasn't going to just come right out and knock you off, Angelus," Spike said impatiently.  "She's too bloody smart for that.  Rose was just trying to keep you from being changed.  That's why we were in Galway, Angelus.  She was trying to keep you busy until Darla left town."

After a pause, Angelus grunted a vague acceptance that what Spike was saying might perhaps be true.  "Why?" he asked as he began to pace.

"So many reasons, Angelus.  You're quite notorious in our time...get up to all sorts of mischief...Hellmouths, awakening demons, torturing, you know, the usual stuff.  I guess she and her slayer friend didn't care too much for your antics."

"Slayer?"  Angelus stopped his walking.  "Do I get me a few slayers in me time?

It was one of those conversations that Spike knew someday he would look back at and just laugh his undead ass off.

"Yes, you'll *have* a few Slayers, mate.  One way or another."  <If you can't kill 'em, shag 'em, right Angel?>

Angelus stood a little straighter, his pride showing in his countenance like a beacon.  "I can't believe it.  A hundred years from now I cause enough mayhem that a woman decides ta actually come back in time ta stop me from ever becomin'."

<Egotistical bastard!>  "That's about the sum of it."

Pushing pride aside, Angelus had more questions.  "But ya tried to stop her?  She said it was yer spell..."

Spike was thinking fast.  "It was, in a way.  I interrupted her at the last moment...and just came along for the ride.  The virginity thing is her own damn fault, but she thought she'd be here for months only, not decades."

Angelus eventually plopped down on a small boulder, trying to absorb all the information.  Things were starting to fall into place now...Willow's comments and odd behavior when he was human, her vampire companion's cryptic remarks the night after he was sired by Darla.  It all was beginning to make sense, but there were still plenty of questions to be answered.

"But why are ya still here, then, Spike?  I was changed, thanks ta you, and you were sired.  What more is there?"

Spike clenched his jaw and kicked at a pebble on the ground, his brain working in overdrive.  "Rose got a way from me the night you were changed.  I didn't see her for decades after that.  I had to stick close to you in case she found enough of a backbone to actually kill you after all."

"You've been followin' me around?  Watchin' me back?"

"Off and on."

"I'm touched by yer obedience, Spike," Angelus said honestly, "but we both know there's more ta it than that, now, isn't there?"

Spike didn't answer.  He simply took a few more puffs from his cigarette and watched the smoke drift away in the gentle breeze.

Angelus stood up and approached him.  "Aye, I'm sure there's more ta this than yer tellin' me."  Angelus reached out and lightly traced the very familiar scar on Spike's eyebrow, as well as the new one on his jaw, causing Spike to grind his teeth in a concentrated effort not to break his sire's hand for even touching him.  If Angelus noted his childe's increased tension, he didn't let it show.

"It's Drusilla.  She's important enough to ya ta go to all this effort?"

Spike nodded, meeting his sire's gaze again.

"She must be somethin', then..." Angelus said lightly, taking a few steps back from the other vampire, "...ta make me William go ta so much trouble fer a woman when ya keep tellin' me that they're all the bloody same.  She is fer you perhaps what Rose is fer me?"

Spike stifled a laugh at the irony of the situation.  "It's different, Angelus.  Drusilla becomes a bloody marvelous vampire.  One that will make you proud.  Rose is human and always will be.  She's good for only one thing, and you'll soon get bored with that."

<Like ya did, my childe?>  Angelus's face darkened when he remembered the bite marks on his Rose, but he was able to contain his jealousy.  His control came easier with the knowledge that the vampire he'd been envious of was, in truth, his childe.  That changed everything.

"We shall see," he said coolly.  "We should be gettin' back, Wil--Spike.  It'll be light soon, and we need ta be discussin' yer Drusilla somewhere more private."

<My Drusilla?  Bloody hell...things have changed!>  Spike nodded, engrossed in his own thoughts of Drusilla and Willow.  This was a little overwhelming.  Only an hour before he'd been about to kill his sire, and now not only had he saved Angelus's hide, they were going to have a calm discussion about the future of his Princess as well!

"And I suppose ya want ta see Rose," Angelus added reluctantly.

Spike dropped his smoke and ground it out with his boot, unable to keep the smirk from his face.  "I guess I should see how the old ball and chain is doing."

Angelus chuckled softly, happy to know that his childe hadn't lost the sense of humor that he'd come to appreciate so much.  He slapped an arm on the blonde vampire's shoulder.  "Let's get ya home.  I can't wait fer William ta be seein' ya...especially the hair."
 

~Chapter Thirty-two~

Willow half-heartedly searched her new room in vain, looking for a way out even though she knew it was doubtful that one existed.  She was mainly searching for inspiration, hoping a plan would come to mind, but more than anything she was simply trying to keep herself occupied.  There were too many things that she didn't want to think about.

When she'd awakened in the strange room earlier, it had taken Willow a few moments to get her bearings.  Unfortunately, all the memories of her carriage ride with Angelus had come back to her in a stomach-clenching rush.  "Oh, Willow..." she'd moaned softly to herself.  "What have you done?  You practically threw yourself at him.  Heck, you barely even struggled!  And...and...Angelus gave you a chance to kill him and you didn't even make a dent in that conceited demon!"  <When did I become so pathetic?> she'd speculated silently, rolling over to bury her face in the pillow.  <Only a few short decades ago I was learning how to play the guitar and pick pockets with the Rom!  I've gambled with old pirates and young thieves, and I explored every inch of Italy!  Not to mention the fact that I learned a couple of self-defense moves while I was in Asia, and all of this in a time when women aren't even supposed to travel on their own!  But now, because I keep letting my childish emotions get the best of me, I'm Angelus's prisoner.  Not so smart now, am I?  All this wonderful new knowledge isn't going to help me escape!>

With a groan, Willow pulled herself together.  She couldn't afford to wallow in self-pity or embarrassment at the moment.  Right now she needed to figure out how to get away from Angelus.  Besides, if she succeeded in that, she'd have plenty of time to kick herself later.

Willow sighed and looked around her new quarters despairingly.  The large bedroom in which she was being kept was as opulent, if not more so, than the one she'd just stayed in at Mr. Simms' country house.  Rich velvets and brocades adorned the room, and everywhere she looked, dark woods and fine antiques met her eye.  The artwork was exquisite, and she had to admit that someone, maybe even Angelus, had very good taste for the finer things--much better than her last host.  But she wasn't here to admire the decorating, so instead she studied the room for what it really was...a prison...a thing to escape.

The room had only two windows, and they were behind the bed.  When Willow threw open the heavy drapes that kept out every ray of light, she discovered that they were covered with wrought iron bars on the inside.  Even if she could reach the very thick, opaque glass through the ornate bars, she doubted that she'd be able to break it.

"Maybe I'll just have to keep the curtains open day and night.  I could sit right in the middle of the warm sunshine, and they wouldn't be able to get me!" she said with a hint of renewed hope, but her face soon fell when reality hit.  "At least until it's *nighttime* and there is no sun, Willow!  Duh!" she reminded herself sharply.  She was also keenly aware that the tiny amount of self-defense that she'd learned wasn't going to be of much use in this situation.  Sure, it was handy anytime a vampire, or a living man for that matter, caught her unaware because it surprised them, giving her the chance to escape or grab her stake.  Unfortunately, in hand-to-hand combat, she still had almost no chance of winning.  Realizing this, Willow began to look about for a weapon of any sort, but Angelus had obviously been a step ahead of her, again.  <Still no fire poker or vase to smash anyone over the head with!>

Next she tried the doors...for the fifth time.  The large one opposite the bed that obviously led to the hallway was still locked.  There was also a locked door on a side wall, and she guessed that it led to another room, a sitting room perhaps.  Across from that was the only unlocked door, and it opened to a private bathroom, complete with the most modern indoor plumbing for the time, including a large tub.  All the fixtures looked as if they'd never been touched, let alone used, and Willow's heart fell as she realized what the sparkling new tub symbolized.  Not only were they planning on her being a 'guest' for a very long time, but also if they brought her food--that was assuming they weren't going to starve her to death--she'd never have to leave the room.  Angelus really had thought of everything.

When she opened the wardrobe it only got worse.  As if being his prisoner wasn't bad enough, apparently Angelus planned to treat her like a toy as well.  While her trunk and travel bag were there, all of her normal clothes were gone.  He'd left her with only some of her more personal belongings.  Willow realized how lucky it was that she'd decided not to bring her journal with her on the poker weekend because if Angelus had gotten his hands on that...Well, she didn't even want to think about those consequences.  Nevertheless, even though all of her clothes were gone, she wasn't lacking in things to wear.  The closet was full of dresses, appearing to somehow be the right size, but none of them very Willow or Rose-like.  Granted, they were beautiful and obviously very expensive, but they were all more provocative that what she was used to wearing lately.  It wasn't that she was opposed to showing her cleavage or that she was ashamed of her body.  On the contrary, while she had been with the Rom she'd grown quite used to the peasant-style blouses that the women wore.  The gypsy females were never shy about displaying an ample amount of bosom, but this...this was different.  Back then she was trying to fit into the gypsy way of life, while now she was supposed to be a lady...not an over-dressed trollop.  The clothes Angelus had chosen for her were not for everyday wear.  Instead, the resembled more what one would wear to a fancy-dress ball or a very special evening on the town.  Showing this much skin before nightfall was a big faux pas in Victorian society.

"And what's with all the red?" she whined.  Unfortunately, she had little choice since the dress she'd worn on the trip was dusty and wrinkled, and to her dismay, it now had a large rip up the seam, similar to the one Angelus had put in her other dress.  Putting off the inevitable, Willow slammed the door shut, blocking her view of the clothes she was expected to wear, and plopped back down on the bed.

Looking about sullenly, she had to admit that it was truly a beautiful room, but Willow couldn't enjoy it.  She was completely aware of what Angelus was up to, or at least she hoped she'd figured out his plan.  He was trying to make her comfortable and relaxed so that when she let her guard down, he could swoop in and be his usual evil self.  Torture was still torture, no matter how lush the settings or grand the costumes.  In fact, she almost wished she'd been thrown in a cell or a dungeon instead.  The niceties only made her more uneasy.  <Which is probably also part of his plan,> she reminded herself.  <No matter what, he wins.  If I get comfortable, he'll enjoy taking that away from me, and if I worry about what he's up to, he'll take pleasure in my frustration!>

She sighed again and then made a decision.  Really, she had no choice.  She could get dressed and play along for now in hopes that a means of escape would present itself, or she could sit there in her smelly and torn dress until he forced her to change clothes.  And she didn't even want to think of how he might go about doing that.  So, after a quick bath, Willow chose the least distasteful dress.  It was a wine-colored silk, worn off the shoulders and made to be tight fitting around the middle so that it would show all of her assets to their greatest advantage.  She was grateful for one thing, however, as she stared at the garments--the matching hoop petticoats, or crinolines, were not as wide as many she'd seen.  It took practice to sit down in the narrowest of the hoop skirts, but some of the more recent styles were so wide that the wearer could scarcely fit through the average doorway.  Normally, Willow wore the simplest designs she could--sacrificing style for comfort and classic clothing that required the least amount of fuss to put on.  On some occasions, she would even stay in her dressing gown all day when she wasn't going out or expecting company.

"What I wouldn't give for a pair of jeans and sneakers!" she lamented as she stared at the finery.  "Even the styles of 50 years ago were better than this," Willow said, fondly remembering the short Empire period in which women were corsetless and the gowns much lighter and loose fitting.  Fashions in Victorian England seemed to change faster than they did in Sunnydale High School.

Deciding she'd better get started, Willow easily slipped on the chemise and then shimmied into the corset.  After all these years, she was getting pretty good at doing it up all by herself, but it helped that she didn't wear it as tight as most other women of the time.  The dreaded hoop petticoat followed that uncomfortable item.  Then she put on the embroidery-trimmed over-petticoat before finally wiggling into the expensive, double-flounced gown itself.  Willow griped the whole time she was putting the intricate ensemble on, allowing the grumbling to take her mind off of her impending meeting with Angelus.  It took her awhile to get all the buttons fastened, but eventually, after slipping into some handed-beaded slippers, she was fully dressed.

Her hair was another matter.  Fashion dictated that during the day women were to wear bonnets or hats of one variety or another when in public.  Otherwise, it was usually worn up or at least pinned back with ringlets about the face and neck, but she didn't really give two hoots about fashion at the moment.  Sitting at the dressing table covered, Willow quickly combed out the drying tangles.  She twisted and then pinned only a small section of hair back on each side, just enough so it wouldn't hang in her face and annoy her.  The rest she brushed forward so that it fell to the front, allowing her some degree of coverage along her neck and chest.  It wasn't fashionable but it was comfortable and quick.  She only wished she could find her cross to wear, not that it would help, but it had mysteriously vanished the night Angelus had appeared in her room.

Annoyed for having to put so much effort into her appearance considering what was likely to happen to her, Willow voraciously started inspecting the room again.  She was so busy examining every nook and cranny, she wasn't aware of William when he unlocked and opened the door behind her.

Unnoticed, William watched her scurry about the room that he'd had only a fortnight to prepare for her.  In fact, they'd barely made it on time.  It was a good thing that he and his sire had turned quite a few laborers over the years.  As a result, beneath their own roof dwelled all the carpenters, masons and plumbers that they'd required to get the job done.  Angelus had insisted that Rose's room, which had been created from two smaller rarely used bedrooms and a tiny sitting room, have an attached private bath with all the modern conveniences.  Angelus's instructions had also made provisions for a small, private library for Rose.  His only offered explanation was that his Rose was an intelligent woman who liked to read.  Unfortunately that room wasn't quite ready yet.  The carpenter had only finished the shelves the day before, and the books still needed to be put on the shelves.  When that was done, hopefully later than night, Angelus would check it one final time to make sure there was nothing in the room that his Rose could use to aid in an escape.  To William, it all seemed like a lot of trouble for someone Angelus just wanted to torment until she lost her 'intelligent mind', but William gave his sire the benefit of the doubt.  Angelus always knew what he was doing.

What would be interesting though would be Darla's reaction when she came back in a little over a week.  After all, it was her house that Angelus was renovating without permission.  Fortunately, Darla's personal quarters were much larger and far more luxurious than those made especially for Angelus's captive, so that shouldn't cause a fuss.

Darla had come by the estate only a few years earlier after paying 'special' attention to an older wealthy man.  After estranging him from what little family he'd had, she'd promised him eternal life in exchange for all of his worldly possessions, including the huge and relatively new mansion that was now their home.  Within days of the will being finalized, he'd died of a heart attack while Darla sat back and watched.  She'd never intended on turning him, but the man didn't realize that until it was too late.  The end result was that Darla and her extended demonic family now legally owned a secluded London mansion that suited their special needs perfectly.

William smirked to himself.  Yes, Darla's reaction to the whole Rose situation should prove very interesting indeed, and he couldn't help wondering if she'd be jealous of the redhead.  <Bloody hell...even I'm a little bit jealous of Rose since she's all Angelus has bloody talked about for weeks...decades, really,> he admitted.  Then he remembered what had happened only a few hours ago.

When Angelus had put Rose into his arms earlier, telling him to take care of her, William had carried her into the house and to the room they'd finished for her only a couple of hours earlier.  Just as he'd been about to place her on the bed, Willow had stirred restlessly in his arms.

"Don't worry, love," William had hushed sarcastically.  "You're home.  This is where you belong now."

Then the most curious thing had happened.  Her lids fluttered open only for a moment to look at him.  When their eyes met, she smiled softly, whispering, "I knew you wouldn't forget me..." before they closed again and she seemingly snuggled closer.

At the time, he'd just chalked it up to the ramblings of one of Angelus's playthings.  Their minds were always so fragile that they rarely made sense after a few days in his sire's presence.  That thought disappointed William though.  He'd been hoping that this one would offer Angelus, and of course his favorite childe, the challenge they'd been counting on.  Now he couldn't help wondering why it was that had Angelus become so totally obsessed with her.  Sure, she was a pretty lass, especially for one that was over 100 years old, but he'd seen women who were more beautiful.  Obviously there was more to her than met the eye, and he was looking forward to finding out exactly what that was.

"Lose something, Pet?" he finally asked, revealing his presence.

Luckily, Willow had been expecting to see William sooner or later.  That was just the way things seemed to go in her life now.  She took a quick glance at the door and noted him casually leaning against the doorjamb.  He was no longer wearing the military uniform she'd seen in him two times before but was instead dressed in the same manner as Angelus and any other man of the time.  Plain, dark trousers and a white shirt, with the only real color coming from the richly embroidered vest that peeked out beneath his frock coat.  Plus, he was wearing Spike's familiar smirk.  As a result, if it weren't for his dark hair, Willow could have easily mistaken him for Spike.

Forcing herself not to stare at the vampire, she tried to pretend as if he were just another one of Angelus's lackeys as she answered his question.  "Only my ever-loosening grasp on reality," she mumbled caustically, continuing to cast her eyes about the room.  "What do you want?"

"Unfortunately, what I want isn't important right now.  Angelus is asking for you.  Says he has a surprise for you...for both of us, actually.  So, shall we?" he leered, yet offered her his arm like a true gentleman of the time.

Willow shuddered at the kind of surprise that Angelus might have in store for her.  Apparently, it was time for her torture to begin.

"I'd be eternally grateful if you would be so kind as to tell him that I don't really like surprises," she said a little too sweetly, trying to stall for time.

"Don't think so, Pet," William snickered.  "Besides, the surprise is half the fun.  Now, do you want to be dragged out of here by your hair, or do you want to walk down the hall like the proper lady that you are?"

"Fine," she grumbled under her breath, then brushed past her escort and walked out into the hall to wait for him.  "After you, Sir," Willow said, with a mocking curtsy.  "Since I have no idea where we're going," she added, trying to make it sound like an offhanded remark.

Disappointed that there would be no hair pulling, William ignored her display, turned left, and headed off down the long hallway without another look at her.  He didn't need to see her to know that she was following him as instructed.  At one point, they passed a tall, brass candleholder that sat on the floor.

"Don't even think about it, love," he warned her without turning around.

Willow's hand, which had made only the slightest movement toward what she'd thought was the perfect makeshift weapon, fell back to her side.  Neither's steps had faltered.

After a few turns, Willow was already wondering if she'd be able to find her own way out on her own, when they came to a large, intricately decorated vase, resting on a hall table.  Again, just as Willow thought to reach out, grab it, and smash it over his head, William's voice put those notions to rest.

"I'd think twice about that if I were you.  All that shattered glass flying about, you're likely to get a nasty cut in the process.  Next thing you now, a dozen hungry vampires will descend on you like bees to honey, and I won't be able to do a thing to help you," he told her indifferently, never stopping his forward momentum.

Willow felt the panic begin to rise again, her feet getting more leaden with each step that brought her closer to Angelus.

"We're almost there, Pet.  I know you must be dying for your surprise.  I know I would be...*dying*...if I were you," his sardonic voice wafted back to her.

Willow spotted a chair in the hallway and faltered, but before she could take more than a step toward it, William was upon her, grabbing her by the forearms and pushing her back against the wall.  His hands slid up her arms to her wrists and pinned them above her head.

"Stubborn thing, aren't you?" he asked, leaning his full weight against her wrists.  "Not too fond of following instructions, are we?"

As William's demon came to the forefront, Willow tried not to let the memories of her last day with Spike flood back to her, but it was difficult.  The future version of him had held her the same way that time, pinning her against the wall of her own home.  She didn't struggle this time though, partly because she refused to give him the satisfaction but also because the dress she was wearing didn't allow for it.

"If I were you, Rose, I'd play nice with me.  From what Angelus had told me about his plans for you, we're going to be around each other for a bloody long time.  And, of course, my sire and I share everything," he warned, his eyes flashing with a familiar hunger.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," she informed him bravely.  "In fact, go ahead and bite me...we'll see what Angelus has to say about that!"

William grinned lasciviously, unable to resist a challenge.  "Don't mind if I do, Rose."  He lowered his eager mouth to her throat, waiting to hear her whimper or beg him to stop, but it never came.  Even when he licked at her pulse point and grazed her delicate skin with his blunt teeth, she didn't give in to fear.  With a supernatural effort, he stopped himself, but it wasn't easy.  While Angelus would most likely share her after a while, William knew she was special to him, and he doubted that even he would be forgiven for daring to mark her.

The dark vampire pulled away to penetrate her eyes with his own.  He shifted his grip, easily holding her two wrists captive with only one of his hands, allowing the other to slowly fall until he was running a finger along her collarbone.

"Aren't you afraid of me, little virgin?" he asked huskily, and Willow felt an icy-cold stab of pain at all the similarities between William and Spike.

Willow clenched her jaw, unconsciously mocking the man in front of her.  "No, I'm not.  I know you better than you know yourself.  Nothing you do can surprise me."

A smirk grew on the vampire's face.  He was starting to now see the inner fire that kept Angelus so enthralled with her.  She was cocky, and he liked that.  Once again, William had to remind himself that Rose was Angelus's.  His sire had marked her ages ago, which caused a slight twinge of envy in the younger vampire.  At that moment he could think of nothing better than dragging her, kicking and screaming, back to his room so that he could teach her the proper way to behave.  <Soon,> he reminded himself.  <When Angelus grows bored, he'll allow me to indulge myself...if she survives that long, that is.>

"I'm really looking forward to watching Angelus teach you your place, Pet.  After all, everyone works better with an audience."

Just as William was about to release her, he let his eyes drift over her one last time.  That was when he noted it--a faded scar on her neck.  It looked so familiar that he had to look at it again.

He abruptly pulled back and grabbed hold of her chin, forcing her to look at him.  "That mark...who gave it to you?"

Willow stared at the vampire defiantly. <You wouldn't believe me if I told you...>  "That's none of your business, is it?  Hadn't we better get going?  It isn't good to keep Daddy waiting, is it?" she sniped.

Ignoring her words, William touched the scar that looked like one of his, as if making sure that it was really there and he wasn't just seeing things.  Then he let go of her abruptly, letting his human visage slip back into place.

"Angelus will get it out of you, Pet," he advised, then started back down the hall. "But I think before he's done you'll wish you'd just told me."  <Crikey, she's a spirited one!  Hope Angelus knows what he's getting himself in to.  We may be better off with that religious nutter he met at the church a while back.  At least she wouldn't give him so much bloody trouble!> he mused as he brought Rose closer to Angelus.  Nevertheless, he didn't believe his own thoughts for a moment.  Deep down, he agreed with his sire--the more spirited they were, the longer the amusement would last.  And much like his sire, William couldn't wait for the fun to start.  He only hoped Angelus really would share her one day.

Willow followed weakly behind William as he led her down a staircase and across the marble floor.  It was impossible for her not to notice the two large vampires that were blocking the front door.  With a sinking heart, she realized there was no way she could 'muscle' past those two brutes.  From the no-nonsense looks they were giving her, it was apparent that they'd already been given instructions about her.  <Doesn't look like I'll be walking out the front door anytime soon since I doubt that I could flip one of them over my shoulder...let alone hurt them,> she thought morosely.

Finally stopping before a set of double doors that led off of the foyer, William opened them with a flourish and gestured for her to enter.  Willow took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.  Unfortunately, before she could even exhale some of her tension away, her feet were already in motion.  What she saw within the room, though, forced Willow's breath out in a coarse hiss, and she was as close to fainting as she thought she'd ever been in her whole life.  Angelus she was expecting to see, in all of his arrogant glory, but not Spike, and especially not the two of them chatting amiably like old school chums.  That was the last thing she'd counted on.

Willow froze just inside the doorway as the two laughing vampires turned their cocky grins on her, chasing away much of her own spirited strength.  William, who had stepped back in order to make her enter first, had yet to see them.

"Go in, Pet," William instructed.  "Angelus won't bite.  Well, actually, he will, but..."

"Miss me, Pet?"  Spike asked, taking a few steps toward her and opening his arms for a hug.

Hearing the new voice, William finally poked his head around the door.  "Who the bloody hell is this?" he demanded.

Willow didn't even hear William's question.  Her attention was fully consumed by the blonde vampire in front of her.  "S--spike," she stammered, not moving any closer to him.  "I'd recognize that lying, selfish, conniving voice anywhere," she managed shakily, remembering her words from a previous meeting.

Spike smiled devilishly while inwardly hoping to every deity he could think of that she wouldn't say the wrong thing.  "You flatter me, love."

As hard as she tried, Willow couldn't hold Spike's gaze.  Her confusion as to his presence in the room and the coldness she saw in his face, cut her to the quick, and she had to turn away.  Unintentionally, she looked straight at the smug Angelus.  Realizing that looking at the darker vampire wasn't any easier, she admitted defeat and lowered her gaze to the floor.

Angelus observed the pain in his captive's eyes with great interest, not only when she looked at him, but also when she looked at Spike.  William, meanwhile, was staring slack-jawed at the other vampire as he slowly entered the room. <He looks just like me!  That bloody wanker stole my face!>  He turned to Angelus, who was too busy watching Spike and Willow's interactions to notice his childe's bewilderment.

"Angelus!" William exclaimed, getting his sire's attention immediately.  "You better tell me who this pillock is or I'll stake him, no matter how good looking he may be!"

Angelus gestured for William to lock the doors and come closer.  He was loving every second of his childe's confusion, not to mention Willow's obvious distress.  The air in the room was thick with tension, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"William," he said, putting an arm lazily about his childe's shoulder, "I would like ya to meet yerself in about...um, how many years was it again, Spike?"

Spike tore his attention away from Willow and turned back to his sire and his former self.  "A hundred or so," Spike said casually, strolling up to come face-to-face with William.  "Hell, I'd forgotten just what a good-looking bloke I am!" he said with a broad grin, taking in every inch of William's perplexed appearance.  "No wonder you can't keep your hands off me, Red," he teased cruelly.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Angelus's smile vanish, replaced by a look of jealousy.  Behind him, Spike heard an angry, sharp intake of breath from Willow.  <Damn, this is fun!>

"You're supposed to be me?"  William snorted incredulously as he circled Spike.  When he'd come full circle, William stopped and brought his face closer to the one that was almost a twin for his.  He reached out, planning to touch the identical scar on Spike's eyebrow, but he was stopped by a shout from Willow.

"Don't touch him!" she wailed.  Willow rushed forward, ready to throw herself between them if necessary.  The redhead had been unable not to watch William and Spike's first meeting.  <Sort of like a fire or a car wreck,> she'd first thought, trying to cheer herself up.

William looked at the distraught woman's face, then back to Spike.  "What's she got her knickers in a knot about?"

Spike smiled again.  Even his own voice was sexy.  "Don't mind her.  She has some theory that if we were to come in physical contact the whole soddin' world would come to an end...some blither about the same matter not being able to occupy the same space at the same time, or something like that."  He rolled his eyes and made one of those all-encompassing 'Women!  What the bloody hell are you going to do?' faces.

"It's true," Willow said, trying to shrug off his demeaning behavior.  "Although you come from different times, the matter that makes you up is the same yet distinctive to you alone.  According to the theory of..." When the matching faces of two annoyed vampires turned to her in impatience, she stopped her scientific rant.  "Just don't touch...if you two think you can manage to keep your hands off of yourselves," she muttered, trying to find strength in sarcasm.

Angelus smiled in spite of himself at her audacity.  She was so intriguing that the vampire found it difficult not to stare at her in front of the others.  In all the years that he'd roamed the world, Angelus had never found a woman her equal.  More beautiful perhaps, if one were to go purely by society's current vision of the perfect woman, but there was something about Rose that he thought outshined all the women that he'd known, both living and dead.  He couldn't quite put his finger on exactly what it was that had kept her in his thoughts for over a century now--an impossible combination of innocence and passion, mystery and candor, youthful vitality and worldly maturity, perhaps.  No, Angelus didn't know what it was precisely, but at least he now had the time to find out.

Willow was watching the two Williams study each other, trying to figure out what Spike was doing there in the first place, when she sensed it.  Wrinkling her brow in consternation, she reluctantly looked over at Angelus and found him looking at her as well.  The strange thing was that for the first time, he wasn't studying her like she were a bug under a microscope or like he was plotting the easiest way to rip her heart to shreds, he was just...*looking* at her.  No...that wasn't quite right either, he wasn't just looking at her...he was gazing at her in the way that a man looks at a woman.

She knew she should turn away, but she couldn't because it wasn't the vampire or the demon looking at her, it was the man.  She had only seen brief flashes of the Angelus she remembered during the past couple of days, and even if it were only a cruel trick, she found some strength in the human Angelus's eyes...Angel's eyes.

At the sound of William's voice, they were both ripped back to reality.  Angelus's face hardened, and Willow's eyes fell back to the floor.

"So, you're me in about 100 years?"  He pointed to the scar on Spike's jaw.  "Then where did that beauty come from?" William asked skeptically.

"Just a token of Rose's love," Spike answered, raising a hand to rub the scar himself.  "Won't heal properly because of the spell, I suppose."

William pursed his lips, studying it a while longer.  "A bloody spell, eh?  Well, it's not too horrible...gives you some character."

Spike raised an eyebrow in faint surprise then began patting his pockets for a cigarette.  William began doing the same.  Finding his first, he offered one to Spike, and the blonde vampire took it with a smile.

Deciding that if he was ever going to get his Rose alone he would have to interrupt the two vampires that seemed intent upon staring at themselves for all eternity, Angelus spoke up.  "Apparently, me little witch here cast a spell in the future, hopin' ta come back and keep me from bein' sired by Darla.  Isn't that right, me love?"

Willow glanced nervously from Angelus to Spike, wondering why the blonde demon had told his sire that, even if there was a smidgen of truth to it.  She hated not knowing what Spike was up to, and his face revealed nothing.  In fact, the blonde vampire only smiled at her and then pursed his lips for a moment.  Realizing that Spike's lie sounded far more plausible than her did, not to mention the fact that Angelus would of course believe his own childe over her, Willow had to turn around under the weight of their stares.

Not seeing how she would benefit from telling Angelus the truth, Willow twisted her hands together in front of her.  "I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about," she said weakly, praying that Spike knew what he was doing.

Angelus approached her from behind and placed his cool hands on her trembling forearms, drawing her back to him.  "Ya lied to me, my flower," he whispered in her ear, before sharply sinking one fang into her lobe for emphasis.  He was not surprised when she only gasped against the pain and didn't cry out.  He knew her self-control was considerable, despite her behavior in the carriage the night before.  "Yer goin' ta have ta be punished, no matter how impressed I might be that ya were able ta fool me."

Spike had a harsh but outwardly invisible reaction to Angelus's biting Willow.  Spike's demonic side had claimed her and did not take kindly to another taking her blood--or anything else for that matter--when it was rightfully his.

"You see," Spike blurted out a little more loudly than he'd planned, "Angelus caused a bit of a ruckus in the town where...Rose...lives.  Since she and the Slayer couldn't seem to kill him the standard way, she came up with this little back in time spell...sort of a demonic 'What came first...the chicken or the egg?' thing to try and stop him."

"And you...I mean, *I*..." William started, trying to puzzle the whole thing out.

"And I had no other choice but to come along on her little trip, uninvited, and make sure that Darla and Angelus still found their way to each other," Spike offered in explanation.

William clenched his jaw as he continued to scrutinize Spike.  "And the bloody spell did that to my hair?"

Spike groaned and shook his head before running his fingers through his cropped locks.  "Trust me.  It's all the rage in the future."

William made a snort of disgusted disagreement, yet the more he looked at his older self, the more he liked the lighter hair.  It brought out his eyes and sharp features.  <Damn, I get better looking every day,> William thought to himself.  Finally becoming serious for a moment, William pondered everything that had been said, and it all began to make sense...Rose's bite marks, her behavior and comments...

Willow took the time afforded by William's analysis of the twisted timeline to move away from Angelus and sit down in the nearest chair.  It felt as if her legs would give way beneath her any second, and she didn't want to faint in front of the three vampires.  To her dismay, Angelus followed to stand behind her chair, casually leaning on the back of it and stroking her hair occasionally as if she were a child or a pet.  Willow tried hard not to grimace or shy away from his touch, wanting to appear as if she hardly noticed his attentions.  It was difficult, though, considering all she really wanted to do was slap his hand away.  <Calm down and breathe, Willow,> she reminded herself.

William took a long drag from his cigarette, looking at Willow and Angelus before turning back to Spike.  "What...didn't you want to sire yourself?"  William asked with a laugh before sitting on the arm of the sofa.

Willow smothered a smile at the fleeting look of chagrin that passed over Spike's pale features.  She remembered very well how he'd considered doing just that very thing when they'd first arrived in Galway a century too soon.

"Sire myself?  How bloody thick do you think I am?" Spike answered, looking incredibly insulted at the question.

"So, how long will we have the pleasure of my own company?" William continued.

"As soon as I know that you, Angelus, and Drusilla are all fine and dandy again; Rose and I will be on our merry little way."

"Drusilla?"

Angelus fielded that question.  He stepped out from behind the leather wing chair only to perch on its arm next to his Rose, letting his hand rest of Willow's bare shoulder.  "Apparently, the three of us make a great team, William."

"Really?"  William lifted an eyebrow in surprise, but he couldn't say he was displeased at the thought of having the beautiful brunette as a new member of the family.  He and his sire had spent many an enjoyable evening tormenting the poor girl, and it would be a shame to see all of their hard work go to waste.

Spike spoke up.  "William, she makes a brilliant vampire...beautiful, cunning, deadly.  I'll have you know, she'll bag herself a slayer in the future."

William laughed in delighted surprise.  "You're joking, right?  She's off her rocker, mate!"

A ghost of a smile appeared on Spike's face as he thought about his vampiric lover.  "That's one of the things you two will learn to like the most about her, and her visions save your asses more times than I can count!" he added, trying not to let his desperation show.  He had to convince Angelus to change her and soon, but the very fact that he was trying to fan Angelus's interest in Drusilla was painful beyond measure.  This was not that way it was supposed to happen.

Spike finally allowed himself to look at Willow again--the woman he blamed for this new torture that he had to endure.  As he saw her sitting so close to his sire, putting up with his attentions without the slightest bit of protest, Spike felt a surge of anger.  Although somewhere deep within the desperate vampire he knew Willow had little choice in how she reacted to his sire, it was far easier for Spike to put his grand plan's most recent failure squarely on her shoulders.  If she'd only managed to stay out of Angelus's way, Drusilla would already have been sired and Angelus would be ashes.

At that same time, Angelus was studying Spike.  It was obvious how his childe felt about the odd girl he'd had met in the confessional, but Angelus wasn't about to change his plans just to play matchmaker.  The blonde vampire also appeared a bit territorial over his Rose, but Angelus wasn't worried about that either.  Spike was his childe, after all.

Angelus spoke up, watching his Spike's reaction carefully.  "We won't be needin' Drusilla anymore.  We have you and Rose now.  She can tell us anythin' we need ta be knowin' about the future, can't she?"

Willow grimaced and shifted uncomfortably in her seat while her future was being discussed as if she weren't even in the room.  She'd remained sitting quietly while they'd discussed Drusilla's future, glad to be temporarily forgotten about.  In fact, when Spike had mentioned that they would be leaving as soon as Drusilla was turned, she'd even allowed herself to believe that maybe Spike knew what he was doing after all--that he had some sort of plan.  It was also plainly evident that Spike was trying to channel Angelus's attention back to Drusilla.  If he was successful, Willow could see how it might just be possible for her to get out of the situation relatively unharmed.  So she found herself once again having to trust Spike, no matter how difficult it was for her to place even an ounce of faith in him.

<Bloody hell...> Spike thought when Angelus spoke the words that basically dismissed their need for Drusilla.  Spike had almost been hoping that it wouldn't come to this, but he saw no way around it.

Spike stood up straight and stubbed out his cigarette.  "You can't have her Angelus.  Rose is mine," he said firmly, fixing Angelus with a no-nonsense glare.  "I marked her first, so next time, ask permission to touch her."

Angelus's smile faded at the tone in his childe's voice.  He slid off the chair and approached him with deliberate steps.  "Ah, but ya seem ta be forgettin' somethin', my childe.  I claim the Rights of the Sire.  She's mine fer the askin'.  Actually, I don't even have ta ask.  I can just take her, and I have every intention of doin' so!" he informed his blonde childe in no uncertain terms.

Spike shook his head.  "No.  You seem to be forgetting the Rights of the Elder, Angelus.  I'm older than you by a hell of a lot of years now.  Plus, if it weren't for me, you'd be long dead and buried.  The chit is mine."

The two stared at each other in the middle of the room, and Willow held her breath, strangely relieved that Spike was fighting for 'ownership' of her.

Seeing the truth in Spike's claim, Angelus was the first to back down.  He turned back to look at Willow.  "I acknowledge yer rights, Spike," he said darkly, but what Willow saw in Angelus's eyes was anything but surrender.

"I'll trade ya fer her," Angelus added quickly.  "Ya can have Drusilla.  Ya can be her sire.  And since *I* marked *her* first, I'll release all me claims on her, if ya do the same on Rose."

The room was deathly quiet for a moment.

"What?"  Spike exclaimed, breaking the silence.  He was completely thrown for a loop by this new development.  It was something he'd never expected.  For Angelus to *offer* sireship of Drusilla to him was more than he'd ever hoped for.  It had always been a last choice for Spike.  He'd told himself that he'd only sire her if absolutely necessary.  Not only for fear of changing the past and future too much, but also because he knew sooner or later he'd have to leave her to return to his own time.  Otherwise, there would be two of him running around the 19th century.  Besides, William needed the chance to fall in love with her the same way he had.  But this...for Angelus to just give Drusilla to him...that changed things a bit.

Speechless, Spike looked at William for support.  From the look on his face, it was obvious that his younger self was pleased with the opportunity.  Angelus, meanwhile, had not taken his eyes from Willow's, and she found herself unable to look away.  There was no sign of forfeiture in the dark, fathomless orbs that were negotiating for her future.

"Ya heard me," he snapped at the vampire behind him.  "Is it a deal?"

"Yes," Spike answered, his voice shaking with emotion.  "Wait...no!  I can't be her sire, Angelus," he backpedaled, having gathered his wits.  Although the offer was tremendous, he knew he'd still only have the same problems in the end.  There would be two Williams, or Spikes, and sooner or later he'd have to leave her.  That wasn't acceptable.

Angelus was on the verge of losing his temper.  "Then let William do it!  Same thing in the end," he grunted.

That choice was even better and solved many of Spike's problems.  The chance to be Drusilla's sire, to break all ties that his Dark Goddess had to Angelus, and to never again have to hear her call him Daddy or compare him to his sire was an opportunity too good to pass up.

Almost.

"No," Spike said with great effort.  "I was not her bloody sire the first time around, Angelus!  You were, and that's the way it has to be," he ground out, still not believing that he was passing up such an offer.

"Are you daft, mate?" William demanded.  "Do you know what you're saying?  She could be ours alone...to be her sire...to have that kind of control over her.  You must have wanted that before."  William had not sired a true childe at this point, and since he seemed destined to be involved with the woman anyway, he preferred to have some authority over her.  Besides, Angelus would be occupied with Rose now, and William wanted someone as well.

"Give us some bloody credit, William!" Spike growled.  "As you very well know, the sire-childe relationship is different...it's a forced bond.  What Dru and I had, well...what you and she *will* have is different.  If you sire her, nothing will be the same!"

"Fine!"  Angelus snarled, finally prying his eyes away from the trembling redhead.  "William, take Goldilocks here and go get Drusilla from the convent as soon as the sun sets!  Bring her here, I'll sire her, and then she's yers.  I'll relinquish all rights to her and give her to ya in exchange fer the witch.  Now, is that deal ta yer likin' or not?"  Angelus may have phrased it as an offer, but the three vampires knew it was one that Spike couldn't refuse.

Willow couldn't contain herself any longer and jumped to her feet.  This was it...the moment of truth.  She stood just behind Angelus, staring at Spike beseechingly over his shoulder. <Don't do it, Spike.  Just get us out of here and we can fix everything...please, Spike.  Don't listen to him!> she begged with her eyes.

Spike's looked from Angelus to Willow.  He walked closer to the beautiful redhead, drinking in the sight of her in the flattering gown and luxuriating in the sound of her quickening heart and rapid breaths.  He reached out to drag his finger along her collarbone like he had done countless times before, ending at his mark of ownership.  The blonde vampire smiled at her, receiving a weak smile in return.  Spike could sense Angelus's growing anger with his delay, but he was enjoying every moment of his torment.  It wasn't often that he had the chance to create such a reaction in his sire, so he stretched it out as long as he could.  Spike then ran his finger up the other side of her collarbone, stopping abruptly at a nearly healed wound that he hadn't noticed before but recognized well as being left by Angelus's passionate bite.  It only made his decision that much easier.

Reluctantly ending the sensation of her heated skin beneath his cooler flesh, he started to search his pockets.  This time he found his own hand-rolled cigarettes, lit one, and then took a deep drag before slowly and deliberately blowing the smoke directly in Willow's face.

Willow didn't look away even as her eyes began to water under the assault, but she did slowly begin to shake her head as his decision began to become clear.  "No...no...Spike...no..." she pleaded, barely above a whisper.

Ignoring her, Spike turned his attention to Angelus, whose patience was growing thin.  "It's a deal, Angelus.  William and I will wander over to the abbey as soon as the sun sets.  When I have my Dru, you can have Rose."  He stepped away without a second glance at Willow and walked to his twin.  "Now, since my old room is taken by you, I assume, show me where a demon can get some bloody sleep," he said coolly, following the widely grinning William out the door.

Willow sank to her knees right on the spot.  She couldn't believe that Spike was going to abandon her like this.  What's more, Willow couldn't believe that she'd even thought for a moment that he wouldn't.  Angelus had just offered him everything he'd ever wanted--Drusilla, no strings attached--and he didn't even have to kill his sire in the process.  So what if that doomed her to long and painful life, or death, with Angelus?

Spike's voice echoed down the hallway, each syllable causing tiny pinpricks of anguish to her soul..."For the minions' sake, I guess we'd better say that I'm a long-lost brother or something.  Oh, and call me Spike, mate.  It'll be less confusing that way."

"Spike?" she heard William question.

"Yeah, Dru thought it up a couple of years from now.  It's a funny story actually..." and then his words faded away to Willow's ears, either due to distance or the sound of her own sobs.

Angelus looked down at the crying woman with surprise.  "I didn't know William had it in him," he said softly to himself.  His childe had never taken much of an interest in breaking women's' hearts before.  He'd always been more of a love-em and eat-em kind of vampire up to this point.  Angelus couldn't help being proud of his childe.  He truly had followed in his sire's footsteps.

Staring at her a moment longer, Angelus tried to decide which direction to take this.  He could try to comfort her, show her a more compassionate side by playing the good vampire against Spike's bad vampire only to destroy her later when she found out that he truly was worse than Spike could ever be.  Or he could continue with the original plan...make her want him, demon and all.  So many wonderful choices and so much time ahead of them.  Unfortunately, it would all have to wait until after the ritual when she was officially his.

"Follow me," he said abruptly then started for the door.

Willow looked up to watch Angelus swagger out of the room.  She wiped her tears away and got to her feet, but she didn't follow his command.  She wasn't going to make this easy for him, no matter how much worse it would make it on her.

Sensing that she wasn't following, he turned.  "Rose, me love, ya best be rememberin' where ya are.  Now, ya aren't in a position ta be defyin' me, are ya?"

Willow crossed her arms about herself.  "Spike is still my...master," she spat out reluctantly, clutching at straws.  "I don't have to obey you."  Willow awaited his wrath, bracing herself for yelling, grabbing and possible biting.  She was almost disappointed when Angelus just started laughing.

He looked at her with a genuine--although a still truly evil--grin on his face.  "I told ya once, Rose, that ya will beg fer my attentions one day, and ya will.  Now, either follow me as I show ya back ta yer room or ya can wander about this place on yer own.  There are guards posted at the only exits, knowin' that they are dust if ya escape.  There also be about twenty other vampires milling about the place.  Now, I told them not ta be touchin' ya, but they aren't the brightest demons in the world."  With a last smirk for her stubbornness, he left.

Willow held her ground for what felt like an eternity, but in all reality it was only about 15 seconds.  She darted out the door, spotted Angelus on the staircase, and hurried to follow him.

To Willow's surprise and enormous relief, Angelus did just that and only that.  He escorted her back to her room, telling her that he would come for her when William and Spike were back with Drusilla.  That said, he then shut and locked the door behind him.

Willow numbly removed the dress and corset, collapsing on the bed in only her chemise.  Then, for the first time in decades, cried herself to sleep.
 

~Chapter Thirty-three~

Willow stood by the window, watching as the day threatened to give in to night.  Even though her room didn't catch the afternoon sun, she could tell by the softening of the light that it was getting closer to sunset.  Soon, Spike and William would leave to get Drusilla, and in exchange, Willow would be handed over to Angelus.  It all seemed so very matter of fact, as if she were nothing more than a school lunch to be traded between choosy yet hungry children--peanut butter and jelly for ham and cheese, a Twinkie for a Ding-Dong.

Willow hugged her arms tightly about herself as she focused past the opaque window.  Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.  She had thought that she knew Spike pretty well by that point, in spite of their past difficulties or maybe even because of them, but she could not figure out what he was thinking when he agreed to surrender her to his sire.  <He wasn't thinking at all.  Not about me, anyway.  All he can think about is his precious Drusilla,> she whined to herself but soon regretted it.  Once again, she was sounding even to herself like an immature, lovesick little girl, but love really had nothing to do with it.  Willow had always known she could never replace Drusilla in Spike's heart, nor did she want to.  But she had always thought that they had something special.  Somewhere along the line she had convinced herself that they had some magical and rare relationship that transcended the boundaries of mere friendship--a bond that would always find a way through of all their respective pain.  Maybe it happened the night he didn't feed from her when she had practically dared him to.  Or perhaps it materialized during their discussion on the special properties of chocolate, but it had definitely been there long before the night that Spike had painstakingly released her from so much more than just her restrictive clothing.  But now, as the light in the room faded, keeping time as well as any clock or hourglass, she saw the truth.  Whatever bond they had shared was flimsy, as any bond between a demon and a human would have to be.  The bindings of steel that Willow could have sworn she once felt between them were now scattered in the wind.  They were nothing more than paper, torn under the first signs of stress.  Without that connection, she felt naked and totally lost for the first time in decades.  Even during the past few years when a part of her hated him and never wanted to see him again, deep inside she'd always thought that they'd find away through this.  Not anymore.  Willow saw their relationship for what it really was.  She had always just been a means to an end for Spike, and this was just the final example because by being given to Angelus, she was fulfilling Spike's greatest desire.  In exchange for her, Drusilla would be his, free and clear.

"At least I know I'm worth something to someone, I guess," she mumbled, letting herself sink into another moment of despair.

It was all too confusing.  The repercussions on the whole timeline from Spike giving her to Angelus were enormous.  How would they get home?  Spike couldn't leave this timeline without her, so it was now her fear that Spike was planning to stick around instead.  Maybe Angelus's grand gesture had restored his once-strong feelings for his sire, and instead of wanting to kill him, perhaps Spike hoped to rebuild what they once had.  If so, where did that leave her?  She guessed as long as she stayed a virgin they could go on in this timeline indefinitely, but the willpower that that would require on everyone's part...she didn't even want to think about it.  Besides, she didn't want her torment at Angelus's hands to happen at all, let alone last for an eternity.  No matter how she looked at it, it was a nightmare with no real escape.

A short time later, even though submerged in her own melancholy thoughts, Willow heard the door open and the vampire step inside.

"It's almost time, Red.  We're about to go fetch Dru.  Are you going to miss me?"

Willow continued to stare out the window as she felt the vampire nearing.  She didn't think she could look at Spike right now without embarrassing herself one way or another so she refused to turn around.  Instead she focused on a smudge that marred the otherwise immaculate windowpane.

"Get out," she said firmly, but even she could hear the undercurrents of pain in her voice.

"Ah, that's no way to behave, is it?" he teased, his hand lightly caressing her shoulder.  "Not after all we've been through...all we've done to one another."

His touch sparked her into action.  "Spike, don't you dare..." she began and whirled around, ready to slap the vampire who had sentenced her to a desolate future without so much as a second thought, but she was shocked to instead find a cockily grinning William the Bloody.

"I'm not Spike...well, not yet anyway, but when I grow up, I hope to be just like him," he taunted, placing a tray of food on her bed.

"William..." Willow acknowledged warily, sidling away from him.  She glanced at the food hungrily, but the look on the vampire's face chased away her desire to eat.  He looked as ravenous as she felt.

"It all makes sense now--" William admitted, following her as she tried to put some distance between them, "my marks on you, the way you were acting towards me, your cryptic little speeches.  And to think, I was starting to feel like a naughty boy for being a little jealous of my sire, knowing that you were to be his, when you were actually mine all along.  You are mine--"

Willow shook her head.  "No!  I'm not yours...I'm not anyone's!" she denied adamantly.

William continued his advance until she was backed into a corner.  "You're Spike's possession, even Angelus had to admit it, which was nearly bloody impossible for him, believe me," he snickered.  As he spoke, William found himself rubbing the fairly fresh wound on his own neck that was a reminder of just how frustrated Angelus truly was at the whole turn of events.  His sire took his anger out on him, and now William planned on doing the same with his Rose, as was his right.  At the thought, the hunger in his eyes burned brighter.

"Now," William continued, "since Spike and I are actually the same person, I own you, Pet.  I think it's about time I sample the goods, don't you?" he asked menacingly as the look of fear mixed with hatred in her eyes threatened his own self-control.

Somewhere, Willow found a shallow well of strength that Spike's betrayal had yet to drain from her.  Drawing from it, she raised herself up and looked him squarely in the eye.  "Any closer, and you'll regret it!  I swear!" she warned crossly, but William's smile only grew.

"That's all right, Pet.  As I'm sure you already know," he leered, flicking a finger over Spike's mark yet again, "I don't mind a spot of pain with my pleasure."

As her loomed over her, Willow screwed her eyes tightly shut, hoping that it looked to William as if she were simply surrendering to the inevitable, when in fact she was drinking again from her small pool of willpower.  When she felt his face close to her own, she slammed the top of her forehead into his nose with every drop of energy that she could find while simultaneously shoving him backward with all of her might.  Ignoring the howl of pain from the vampire as well as her own now-throbbing head, Willow made a break for the door that the vampire had left open in his complacency.  She had no doubt that the bloody nose she'd inflicted upon the vain vampire would only gain her seconds at most, but it was the best she could do.  The clothes she wore did not allow for kicking, flipping or any other form of the defensive measures that she had learned during her travels.

Once in the hallway, she turned left, trying to remember the path that would lead her out of this maze.  <Left...then second left...and then right...I think...> she tried to recall, running as fast as she could in the overly tight and awkward gown.  Realizing that she was only a couple of turns away from the staircase--a couple of dozens steps from the front door and possible freedom, she somehow managed to quicken her pace as she rounded that last corner...

...where she ran directly into Spike.  "Get out of my way!" Willow grunted, trying to push past the astonished blonde vampire.  She wasn't about to let a little thing like a lying demon stand in her way when she was so close to freedom.  Unfortunately, Spike wasn't about to let a little thing like a virginal redhead stand in his way of getting all he ever wanted either.

Quickly getting over his surprise at seeing her free, Spike spun around and easily grabbed Willow by the hair as she tried to dodge him. "Not so fast, Princess," he laughed.  "Can't let the belle of the ball escape before she gets her final dance with Prince Charming, can we?"  Ignoring her venomous and crude reply, Spike literally dragged the struggling woman back toward her room just in time to see William stumble out her door.

Spike shook his head in disgust.  "You have to keep a closer eye on her, mate!  She's a tricky one."  Following William back into her chambers, Spike shoved Willow violently, sending her sprawling on the floor.

William growled at his older self as he brushed himself off and checked to make sure his nose had quit bleeding.  "Obviously," William said in his own defense, "you haven't trained the little girl very well, Spike.  She doesn't know her place, which at this point is either at my feet groveling for her pathetic life, or in my bed...well, or your bed, I suppose."

Willow climbed to her feet, not wanting to give Spike the chance to comment to his dark-haired twin.  "I'm the pathetic one?  Look who's talking!  You two are the ones begging for Angelus's castoffs!"  She didn't even pretend that it was meant for William.  Every word was said directly to Spike.

The blonde vampire glowered and stormed up to the redhead, but she didn't budge from her spot.  "You seem to have forgotten, my little virgin, that I threw you out like last century's old rubbish long before this little bargain with Angelus was struck.  I'm just afraid he'll realize what a rotten deal he's getting and try to welsh on the whole arrangement!" Spike informed her vehemently.

Willow, momentarily revitalized by her anger and the embarrassment over her failed attempt to escape, returned his glare.  "If you ask me, Drusilla's the one getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop!  She should have Angelus, but now she's going to be stuck with a pitiful substitute!"

At the comparison to his sire, Spike's true visage slipped into place, and he lashed out at his ex-lover.  Gripping her throat in one, cold, punishing hand, he dragged her closer.  "Such devotion to your future master already, Pet?" he sneered, casting a quick glance at Angelus's latest marking on her neck.  "Angelus will be touched, I'm sure.  Although, I must say we're all bit disappointed, actually.  We thought you might last more than a day before you succumbed to his charms.  Guess we were the bloody stupid ones to think you were special!" he spat out, enjoying the winces of pain and guilt that crossed her face.  Abruptly, Spike let her go, shoving the woman away as if he were repulsed to touch her.

William was particularly disappointed.  He was expecting Spike to severely punish her for her insolence.  "Is that it, mate?" he asked, casting a glance at the stricken redhead as she struggled to catch her breath.  "Come on, she deserves to be whipped within an inch of her long-life for speaking to us like that!"

Spike's bitter lips pursed in amusement at his younger self.  "If she were anyone else, I'd agree with you," he commented to William.  "But not with our little virgin, here.  She likes to get a bloke all worked up, wants you to lose control with her, and then waits for you to make a mistake.  That way, at least she can blame all of her troubles on you.  What she actually needs to get through her thick skull is that this is all her own bloody fault!" he continued, his voice getting louder.  "She stuck her nose in where it didn't belong, and this is what she gets for it!"  Spike stopped himself before he completely lost his temper.  Reminding himself that he was only hours away from having his Dru in his arms where she belonged, the blonde vampire managed to calm himself down and finally slip back into his more humane face.  "No, William," he said calmly and coolly.  "The only way to really punish Rose is with words and guilt.  It's all she's ever understood."

William forced a sigh.  "Well, that's a bit of a bloody let down, mate.  Here I am expecting some big finale--skyrockets, screaming, pleading for her life, maybe a little world peace--but instead all I get are more words.  I'm starting to think the future isn't much fun if you can't even shed a little blood when your pets misbehave!"

"It's not like this with everyone, William," Spike reminded him with a wry smile, "just Rose.  And trust me, mate.  You aren't missing anything.  One virgin is pretty much like the other.  Plus she's got a bloody big mouth...never shuts the hell up...never!"

Willow's glistening eyes shot daggers at the blonde vampire, but that was all she could manage--dirty looks.  She thought she'd better save what little strength she had left for what lay ahead--not that it would be enough, but she refused to curl into a ball and give up.  Still, just being in the room with Spike and seeing the hatred in his eyes was sucking the life out of her.  Willow had to turn away lest she lose the will to continue fighting altogether.

William watched as the redhead tried to keep her emotions in check and she finally had to resort to turning around so she wouldn't have to look at them.  Spike's words had obviously hit their mark, hurting her as intended.

"Still..." William commented, continuing to speak about her as if she weren't in the room, "Angelus seems to think she's special."

Spike laughed. "Of course he does, mate.  He's bloody obsessed with her!  I don't think he can help it, really.  I mean, he fancied her a bit when he was alive, she was his first meal after he was turned, she's a virgin, and some might even consider her attractive, I suppose.  It's a recipe for obsession if I've ever heard one, and a recipe for disaster if we don't get Drusilla turned before it's too bloody late!"

The younger vampire listened to his older self, acknowledging that what he said could very well be true, but he wasn't able to shake his desire to teach the redhead some respect.  He wasn't exactly sure why Spike let her behave in this manner, even though it was obvious that he had other ways of keeping Rose in line.  Still, as impressed as he was with Spike, William wanted in on the fun.

"Come on, Spike," William whined as he moved towards Willow.  "Let me have a little snack while she's still ours.  Just a little something to fill the gap until we find Drusilla.  Besides, it'll shut her up."

The younger vampire's forward momentum was halted by a strong grip on his shoulder.  "Not now!" Spike said impatiently.  "It's time to..."

William turned to stare at the hand on his shoulder and then at Spike.  Spike's eyes were also glued to the spot where they touched.  Slowly, their awe turned to mirth, and they started to laugh heartily.

Hearing the stereo laughter, Willow had to appease her curiosity, and she tuned to find the two vampires poking at each other like bratty children.  Her eyes widened.  "But...matter...space...*boom*..."

"What do you know, Red," Spike laughed through a smirk.  "It looks like you were wrong...*again*!  I'm beginning to believe you aren't as smart as we thought, Pet."

Willow bit her tongue as she puzzled over this new twist to their time travel.  It looked like she was going to have to add physics to the long list of her belief systems that would have to be sorted out when she got home.  *If* she got home.

"I seem to be missin' all the fun, yet again," Angelus's voice boomed over the laughter as he strolled into the room.  When he noted Spike and William making physical contact with one another without any catastrophic results, he added to Willow, "I see the world has yet ta end, me flower.  This just hasn't been yer day, has it?"

"It hasn't been my century, actually," she murmured meekly, once again having to look out the window instead of at the vampires in her room.  When it was only one of them, Willow felt as if she could almost handle the situation, keep her cool, perhaps even get the demon to lose his.  When she was alone with Spike and William, her unease had increased, but she had somehow managed to maintain some of her dignity.  But now as she stood in a room with all three of them, Willow crumbled inside.  As a team, she knew instinctively that the three vampires would be nearly unstoppable, terrifying in their scope for evilness.  Their combined cruelty when they were together was almost palpable, easily crushing Willow's already weakened sense of hope.  She could feel herself deflate in their presence, all of her previous bravado seeping away as her empty well of strength was quickly refilled, only this time with doubt and guilt.

Satisfied that nothing devastating would happen if he and his later self would accidentally come in to contact, William answered his sire.  "You haven't really missed anything, Angelus.  Well, except for your little captive trying to make a go of escaping, but Spike here put a stop to that."

Angelus's smile faded at the possibility of Willow's escaping.  "Once again I seem ta be indebted to ya, Spike," he told him gravely, but soon Angelus's more indifferent facade was back into place.  "And although I doubt she'd have escaped from the house, I'd hate ta see her as some undeservin' minion's dinner."

"No, we couldn't have that," Spike snickered.  "Not when there are so many of us more deserving."

Angelus turned his attention from Willow to Spike.  "The carriage is out front, waitin'.  It's finally time."

Spike looked to his sire, suddenly deadly serious once again.  He was at a rare loss for words.  He was on the verge of having all his dreams come true--a gift from the vampire that he'd hated with a passion that equaled his love for Drusilla.  Angelus held his eyes, as if somehow understanding the turmoil within his childe.  It was Spike who broke the intense gaze first and without at glance at Willow, he headed for the door with William at his heels.

Angelus remained still as stone as the locking of the door behind the other vampires signaled that he was finally alone with his Rose.  He waited for Willow to acknowledge his presence, but she was being stubborn.  So during their test of wills, Angelus took the time to enjoy the slight movements of her slender body, caused by her ragged breaths, and the tension in the lines of her shoulders as she forced herself to remain calm.

Actually, Willow wasn't purposely trying to ignore Angelus.  She was still reeling from the fact that Spike had finally left her and obviously intended to carry on with Angelus's plan.  It was when the last glimmer of hope was extinguishing itself that she actually felt the Irish vampire's eyes boring into her.

"Take a photograph.  It'll last longer," she told the vampire bitterly without turning around.

Angelus smiled at his success and languidly moved closer to her.  "These new photographs that ya speak of, they can hardly do justice ta a beauty such as yerself.  Only through a man's hand can every detail truly be captured, don't ya think?" he asked, but didn't wait for her answer.  "Ya see, a photograph can only show one brief moment in time...of yer life. But in a drawing, I can reveal all yer secret thoughts, desires, and fears.  It sees beyond the present into the past and even the future.  And all this, with simply a piece of paper and a bit of charcoal...no witchcraft's needed," he murmured into her ear.  "Where's the sketch I did of ya the other night, Rose?  Look at it again.  You'll see the truth in what I say."

Finally turning to face him, she thrust her chin up in a small act of defiance.  "I threw it away...I burned it," she lied, sliding away from him.  "So, is that why you are here?  Do you want me to model for you one last time before my body is covered by the scars of your brand of attention?"

Delighting in her continued attempts to defy and anger him, even if they were weaker than before, he laughed.  "Don't worry, Rose.  I plan on doin' a lot more sketches of ya.  That way, I won't be forgettin' ya, even after yer long dead and gone.  But," he continued quickly, "since we can't yet begin all the fun I have in mind fer ya until yer mine, I guess we'll just have ta wile away the hours talkin'."

Once again, the irony hit her.  She'd barely been able to get more than two sentences out of Angel all her time in Sunnydale, but Angelus seemed almost incapable of being taciturn.

Angelus leaned back against the dressing table and fiddled with some of the items that sat on top.  "Now, tell me about the future..." he began casually, "all the horrible things I did ta make ya want ta stop me from every becomin' what I am."

"I don't think so," she replied quickly.  "I don't want to give you any ideas.  You'll see soon enough, unfortunately."

"Tell me just about you and I then.  What delicious horrors did I rain upon ya that made ya need ta see that I never came ta bein' in existence?"

The exhausted redhead was a little bewildered by the question.  "To me?"  When he nodded, she almost laughed but she caught herself.  "Angelus, you really didn't do anything to me.  You barely knew I existed."

Angelus's lips curled into a half-smile.  "I find that hard ta believe, Rose.  Now, ya wouldn't be fibbin' ta me again, would ya?  Because, in his absence, I'm sure Spike would want me ta punish ya fer lyin'."

"I'm not lying.  You were...busy...trying to destroy humanity...kill the Slayer, the usual stuff."  Willow shook her head and rubbed her temples for a moment as she tried to think straight.  But she was so tired that she was finding it hard to outright lie.  It took too much effort.  She could only hope that generalities would be enough for the vampire.

Puzzled by her confusion, Angelus continued his interrogation.  "I did nothin' ta ya?"

Willow forced herself to concentrate for a moment as she tried to decide how to sidestep around the 'Angel issue'.  "Well, when *you* first came to town...the first time I saw...Angelus, you did try to kill me," she offered weakly.

"Now, that sounds more like me!" he said with a cruel grin.  "What did I do ta ya?"

"You just grabbed me and held me by the throat..." Willow trailed off with a disinterested shrug.  Surprisingly, she hadn't thought about that in a long time.  Only now did she remember just how petrified she was that first night Angel had lost his soul.  "Oh...and later..." she continued, "you...you killed my fish.  You gutted them and strung them up, leaving them on my bed."

Angelus finally closed the space between them to brush a cool hand down her cheek.  "See.  And ya thought I didn't care," he said sardonically.

She grimaced under his touch and jerked her head back before stepping away from the vampire.  "Trust me, you didn't.  I wondered sometimes if you even knew my name," she said softly as she recalled how little attention Angel had ever shown her.  Not that he was really rude, he was always just too preoccupied with either Buffy or saving the world to bother himself with one red-headed bookworm.

Caught off guard by the hurt in her voice, Angelus started to defend himself.  Not only was he confused by the pictures she was painting of him, he also didn't want to rest on the laurels of his future actions.

"Names aren't important, me little flower.  The only thing that's important, that's real, is passion...fer living, fer death, fer risk, fer revenge...it doesn't matter what, as long as ya have that passion, ya will truly be alive.  Without it, yer dead...no matter how many people be knowin' yer name...no matter if yer heart is beatin' or not."

Willow finally looked the dark vampire in the eyes.  Even laced with threats and dark promises, his words were so enticing.  "I was wrong when I once told you that you should be an actor, Angelus.  You should have been a poet instead.  You can make anything sound so beautiful and inviting, even a hideous and pointless death at the hands of a monster.  Don't tell me women actually fall for your, 'Aren't I deep and mysterious' routine?" she queried with a brave smirk.

The only thing that betrayed he even heard what she'd said was a slight creasing of his brow, but it was short lived.  "Obviously, you don't believe me, Rose.  So tell me.  How did I hold ya that night ya thought I was goin' ta kill ya?"

She swallowed hard.  "Y-you...had me by the throat...I wasn't sure if you were going to break my neck or rip it open."

He shook his head.  "But *how* did I hold ya?  Was it like this?" he asked.  As quick as lightening his hands darted out, grabbing her by the neck and pulling her to him.  Staring down into her glistening green eyes, he squeezed hard enough to frighten her, but not enough to leave bruises that might upset Spike.  Then, before Willow could catch her breath to answer, he loosened his hold and spun her around so that she faced away from him.  Angelus yanked her back against his hard body, one hand pulling her head to the side to expose her throat, while other arm kept a firm grip across her chest. "Or was it like this?" he asked huskily.

Willow gasped for breath, more from shock than from his hold on her throat.  She nodded her head and answered in a gravel-like voice, "Like this...you held me like this..."

Unable to help himself, Angelus licked the side of her neck from shoulder to temple before softening his grip.  "If I held ya like this, Rose, I certainly noticed ya.  This is so much more intimate, don't ya think?" he murmured.  "Yer whole body is exposed to me, my hands can do what they will, and ya can't stop me.  Yer delicate little neck sets before me like a banquet.  From this position I can kill ya, drink ya, or seduce ya.  While the other way I'm more likely just ta snap yer neck like a twig."

He released her so quickly that Willow barely stayed on her feet. Yet, even as she shakily made her way to the other side of the room, she wondered if her unsteadiness didn't have more to do with his words than with the way in which he had let her go.

"So, don't think that I didn't notice ya, Rose," he said to the retreating woman.  "Obviously, I had some plans fer ya that evening, perhaps similar ta the ones I have now.  Now tell me what happened...how did ya escape?"

Willow forced herself to take a few relaxing deep breaths.  "Y-you were..." she stopped herself.  She was just about to tell him the truth...how her friends had come along just in time.  She had already told him far more than she should have, but lying to Angelus just took more energy and willpower than she seemed to have anymore.

"Um...I just got away.  I think you were distracted by something, and I used it to my advantage," she informed him.  She didn't outright lie, just skirted the truth a bit.

Before Angelus was even aware of it, he was moving toward her again.  To be in the same room with his Rose and not touch her was becoming increasingly difficult for the dark vampire.  He hoped his childe would hurry back with Drusilla so that he wouldn't have to wait any longer for that which he had already waited a century.

"Well, my love, it appears as if fate is givin' me another chance ta be finishin' what I'd started that night, and there's nothin' ta distract us this time."

Shrinking into the corner as he approached, she shook her head in slow denial.  "B-but you can't!  Because of Spike..."

Stopping before her, Angelus brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes and neatly tucked it behind her ear.  "Such loyalty ta a man that can't even stand ta look at ya," he clucked.  "Ya deserve so much better, Rose.  But if that dolt of a childe of mine can't see what's right before him and prefers the company of some weak-minded fool, then it be his loss."  Angelus drew his face closer until he could feel Willow's harried breath warm his own lips.  He waited until her frightened but obstinate green eyes found his.  "Ya once accused me of always lookin' fer somethin' better and more excitin'.  Do ya remember that, Rose?  How hurt ya were ta think that I was just triflin' with ya?  Ya said that I didn't see what was right in front of me.  Well, me love," he whispered against her lips and then her cheek, "I'm a changed man, and it's all because of you.  When yer mine, I'll give ya all the special attention yer worthy of, me flower.  That ya have always been worthy of."

"I don't want or...or deserve any special attention," Willow whispered when he pulled back to gage her reaction.  The look in Angelus's eyes--that impossible mix of passion, lust, and cruelty--made rational thought difficult.

Seeing her state of confusion, Angelus's eyes softened a little more as he pushed his advantage even further.  "Ya deserve everythin' a man can give ya, Rose, and more.  It won't be all pain, ya know.  When ya behave, ya'll know pleasure and be richly rewarded with jewelry, beautiful gowns--"

"I don't want any of those things," Willow retorted, trying to sound smug.

Angelus's grin broadened.  "I'm not surprised, Rose.  Ya never were like other women, were ya?"  Not expecting an answer, Angelus walked away from her to the small door on the opposite side of the room that had always been secured.  "I have a surprise fer ya, Rose," he said softly, unlocking and slowly pushing open the door.

Willow didn't move, but from where she stood, she could see that it opened to a small library lined from floor to ceiling with filled bookcases interspersed with huge windows and already lit oil lamps.  In the middle of the room sat a large, comfortable-looking reading chair.  Her mouth fell open.

"It's fer you, Rose.  I also remembered how ya once told me that ya love ta read."

She took a hesitant step forward, straining to see some of the titles on the large selection of neatly arranged leather volumes.

"When ya are good," Angelus continued, "ya will be allowed ta spend time in here."

Willow felt as if she had been hit in the gut.  How had she been sucked in so quickly?  She had actually thought for a moment that he had done something nice for her, but now she knew that it was all just a part of the game.

"You might as well throw away the key, Angelus," Willow said brusquely, trying to hide her disappointment.  "I don't plan on giving in just for some decent reading material.

Shaking his head, Angelus turned and closed the door.  "I'm sorry ya feel that way Rose.  All ya have ta do is thank me, and I'll leave this door unlocked.  It will give ya somethin' ta do until Spike and William are back.  All it would take is a simple, 'Thank you, Angelus,' which truly is the only proper thing to say when someone gives ya a gift anyway," he reminded her as he locked the door.

Stepping back into the corner, Willow looked from the library door to its benefactor.  "No, Angelus.  I won't sell my soul to you, not even for every book in the world"

"Suit yerself, then.  The books will keep.  Everythin' will keep, and there's no hurry anymore, is there?" Angelus asked as he leaned back against the door and looked at her.  Willow tried to return his scrutiny but couldn't, and once again her line of sight fell to the floor.

"Is it worth it?" Angelus asked.

Looking back up, Willow weakly answered his question with one of her own.  "Is what worth it?"

Pushing himself away from the heavy oak door, Angelus moved nearer until once again he was standing in front of her.  "Yer pride," he finally answered darkly as he traced the contours of her face with one cold but gentle finger.  "I know ya want ta be with me, but yer pride won't let ya."

"You're very wrong, Angelus," Willow whispered as she tried to regain control of her manic emotions.  "I--I don't want to be with you.  I just want to go home."

Again Angelus smiled.  "Go home ta be with me, no doubt," he boasted, his eyes glimmering dangerously.  "But don't worry.  I'll take care of that pesky pride fer ya until one day yer beggin' fer my attentions."

Before Willow could form a suitable retort, Angelus's face quickly hardened.  He walked to the door and unlocked it.  "I must go grab a bite to eat.  I'll be back fer ya when the others arrive with their new toy," Angelus informed her coldly and then quickly left.

After hearing the sound of the door locking behind him, Willow went to the library door and banged her head against it gently.  The slight pain she felt as the door impacted with the bruise left from William's head did not help to clear her mind.  She was utterly lost as everything the three vampires said danced around in her head.  Numb from the recent events, Willow slowly removed her clothes until she was only in her shift.  Then, she collapsed on the bed, hoping the dreams would stay away long enough for her to find some short-lived comfort in sleep.
 

~Chapter Thirty-four~

It was too good to be true.

It had to be a dream.

He stared out the slivered opening between the carriage's curtains as it darted through the dark streets of London before looking back down at the peaceful face of his beloved. <If this is another bloody dream, I don't want to wake up,> he told himself.  Then Spike bit his tongue, not just to make sure he was awake, not just hard enough to draw a few drops of his own blood, but viciously until his mouth filled with his own coppery-tasting essence.  He didn't swallow the blood or even swish it around to savor his own unique taste like a fine wine.  He simply held it.

It wouldn't take much.  Drusilla was already substantially weakened, and he could finish her life--or at least this miserable existence that was her 'living life'--in an instant.  Then, with his own already flowing, immortality-giving blood, a simple kiss would be the beginning of their eternity together...just a kiss.

But he didn't.  And that was how Spike knew it wasn't a dream.  In countless dreams before he'd stolen Drusilla away from the same nunnery and then had the opportunity to sire her.  He had never hesitated...not once.  This time he didn't follow through, though, because this was real and so would be the consequences of any hasty, albeit passion-generated, actions.  The blood that, at that very moment, was both setting his own taste buds aquiver and his demon on edge, was not meant to create a childe today.  Drusilla was not his to sire.  It was a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow it he did, and along with his blood, a future as Dru's sire that he once thought he'd do anything for.

Spike gently combed his fingers through her ebony hair, smiling in both remembrance and anticipation of their years together.  <So much to look forward to.  Or back to, depending on how you look at it,> he told himself.

William watched his older self with great interest.  When Spike had slit his own tongue on a sharp fang, William could smell the blood.  He knew exactly what was crossing the blonde demon's mind at that very moment.  In fact, William was a little disappointed, again, when Spike didn't carry through and change Drusilla right then and there.  However, William also understood the reasoning behind the other vampire's restraint.  Why ruin a good thing in the future?  Some chances weren't worth taking, and he understood that concept better the more time he spent with Spike.

It amazed him to think how much his unlife had changed in the past 24 hours.  Outwardly, it may have appeared to Angelus and Spike that he was handling this all quite well.  Inwardly, however, his turmoil easily matched that of his sire's or his future self's, perhaps even Rose's.  It's bad enough to encounter your soon-to-be self, but to suddenly have your future laid before you was somehow both comforting and unnerving at the same time.  Sure, it was great to know that he'd still be around in a century plus.  But on the other hand, to already see the results of his decisions really took those very same choices out of his hands.  He had only two paths now, the way he saw it.  He could accept and embrace his apparent future as it was shown to him by Spike, or he could try to blaze his own trail through the coming years.  The latter was tempting, to say the least, since he always loved to play the role of the rebel, but as he looked at his future self and the woman in his arms, he knew the decision was already made.  Whether it was right or wrong, William didn't want to fight it.

"Not much longer now, and she'll be ours, mate.  All ours," the younger vampire offered in support.

Spike looked up for a split-second.  He'd almost forgotten the other vampire was there.  "She's beautiful, isn't she?" he whispered reverently, already fully focused on Drusilla once again.

"Yes, she truly is quite a handsome woman," William admitted.  In truth, he'd thought she was beautiful from the first moment he saw her, and he'd always hoped that Angelus would decide to turn her instead of just killing her.  Unfortunately, before they'd ever had a chance to fulfill either of their desired plans for Drusilla, they'd both become distracted by the news of Rose being back in their fair country.

"But you haven't seen anything yet, mate," Spike said, beaming with pride.  "Wait until she's one of us.  She can make a grown man cry using only one fingernail.  Bloody hell, her cruelty and bloodlust are breathtaking sometimes!"

"But I don't breathe," William retorted, eyes flashing mischievously.

Spike rolled his matching blue eyes.  Now he could almost understand why Willow seemed to constantly sigh while in his presence.  He could almost be annoying sometimes.

Willow.  Without meaning to, and certainly without wanting to, she was in his thoughts once again.  Desperately looking for something take his mind off the redhead and put it back on Dru where it belonged, Spike grasped onto something that had been nagging at the back of his mind.

"Tell me something," he began.  "When we went into Dru's room, she looked right at you and said, 'You're back...you're real'.  Care to explain what that was all about?"

William quickly took out a cigarette while he listened to the odd question.  "Obviously, you ninny, she remembered me from the last time Angelus and I paid her a little visit.  I think that was the night we killed the uncle.  You must remember that!  What a bloody wanker...begged like a girl, he did, which of course only made us torture him more slo--"

Spike bolted upright in the carriage seat, jostling but not waking the woman on his lap.  "Y--you helped Angelus with Dru?  He let you go along and join in the fun?" the blonde vampire interrupted.

William was puzzled by Spike's line of questioning.  He paused to watch a stream of smoke drift out the window of the moving carriage as he wondered what it all meant.

"Of course," he finally admitted.  "Didn't you?"

Spike's face grew dark as just another difference between his past and this one surfaced.  "No, I didn't.  Drusilla was one of Peaches' special projects.  I barely knew anything about her until the day he brought her lifeless body back to the house."

"Well, that's bloody terrific, isn't it?" William grunted.  He knew enough to realize that these kinds of differences could prove very important down the line.  Leaning forward in his seat, he fixed Spike with a steely gaze that demanded answers.  "Why the difference, Spike?"  When the blonde vampire didn't answer immediately, he went on.  "Look, you stupid git!  I can tell you're hiding things, even from me...from yourself.  If you can't trust yourself, whom can you trust?  Just spit it out already!"

Spike groaned in frustration as he ran a finger over his Dark Princess's warm lips, something he'd never felt before.  For a moment he was completely lost in the new sensation, but he quickly pulled his attention back to the matter at hand at the sound of William clearing his throat.

"Well, I've noticed just a few tiny differences between your sire and mine.  He seems..." Spike stopped himself.  He wasn't about to pour his heart out like some jealous adolescent, even to himself.

It was William's turn to groan and then clench his jaw in impatience.  "What kinds of differences?  Did he used to wear a bloomin' tiara while he danced the can-can in your past or something?  Or did he keep you chained up in the attic and only feed you dirty old men?  What is it, already?  Do you think I can't see the bloody hate in your eyes sometimes when you look at him?  Do you think *he* can't see it, Spike?"

Spike winced.  He'd thought he did a fairly good job keeping his emotions in check, considering the situation.  <Fine!  You want to know?  Want to see how pathetic you become?>

"Your Angelus is much more bloody attentive to you than he was to me, at this point in time, anyway," Spike admitted reluctantly, ashamed of the envy in his own voice.  "The way he looks at you...hell, I haven't seen that in a very, very long time."

As William considered Spike's confession, he lit another cigarette and passed it to Spike.  He couldn't imagine Angelus not involving him in his interest in Drusilla from the beginning.  Still, he understood some of what Spike was talking about.  He also knew that it couldn't have been easy for the blonde demon to admit his feelings, because...well, William would normally rather pull out his own hair than admit to any jealousy as far as his sire was concerned.  William gave Spike a moment to relax with his smoke while he started trying to decipher what could have changed.

"Well, I don't know about 'Dear ole Dad' always liking me best," William joked after a while.  "But you forgot one little thing...I've been sharing him with the ghost of Rose since about a fortnight after he turned me.  Sure, he'd often go months without mentioning her, but she was always bloody there...in his preference for redheads, the way he treated the pure ones...so many damn things I can even begin to tell you." William ran a hand down his face.  "Crikey, the first time I saw Rose, I felt like I already knew her so bloody well that I didn't know whether I hated her or loved her!"

"That's the effect she seems to have on vampires, Will," Spike chuckled, then caught himself and hastily added, "Must be another side effect of the bloody spell."

"Must be," William agreed with a knowing smirk.  "So, you see, Rose has always been a part of my life with Angelus.  Maybe I'm just used to it.  Besides, I'm the one that should be jealous, Blondie!"

"What for?"

"You had our sire to yourself for years...no mysterious woman haunting his every thought."

<Could that be the only soddin' difference?> Spike wondered as he took some long draws from the cigarette.  <That William was used to sharing Angelus's attentions from practically night one?  But with me, by the time Drusilla had come along, I'd never really had to share him.>  He shook his head violently, trying to make some sense of it all.  <No!  That's not bloody all...there's got to be a helluva lot more to it...>  But two cigarettes later, Spike eventually conceded to himself that perhaps the difference in Angelus had more to do with Willow than anything else.  Apparently, his sire's obsession with his time-traveling companion differed quite a bit than his previous fascination with Drusilla.  Nevertheless, Spike needed more information before he'd let himself believe that.

"In the beginning," Spike began, "right after he lost Rose after stumbling across her in the park, you two set about trying to find her, didn't you?  I watched you two, in some pub or other, flirting with the barmaid..."

"Oh God, the hours we spent going from pub to pub looking for her!"  William laughed, easily recalling that time.  "And the night we found out the chit was gone--disappeared from London--I've never seen Angelus like that before.  He was out of his bloody mind--crushed but not trying not to let it show, you know?  I'd thought for a while that he was going to go mad, but it wasn't long before he was back to himself again--killing innocents left and right.  I think Angelus somehow knew they'd meet again.  You know, destiny or some other tripe like that, so he never really stopped looking for her."  William stopped as more fond memories of his sire came to mind.  "Now, I don't know how cruel Angelus was in your time--"

"The cruelest," Spike answered without hesitation.  "He was beautiful to watch...the way he stalked his victims, toyed with them.  You know, all I ever wanted was to be just like him.  Well and irritate him, too.  Sometimes I'd purposely defy him just to...well, you know," he said with the lift of a scarred brow.

William completely understood since it was also one of his favorite ways to chase away the boredom.  "So, when did it go wrong?"

Spike's face grew darker and he looked back down at the girl on his lap.  "We were a bloody great team in the beginning, believe me--just like the two of you are now.  Then, around the time Drusilla came along, well, I guess he didn't know how to be a sire to the two of us at the same time, or something...I don't know..." Spike's voiced faded away and he looked out the window again.  There was much more to it, including Angelus's abandoning them, but he figured that was another thing that William would be better off not knowing.

There was a silence as the two contemplated all that had been said.  Spike was the one who broke it first.

"So, how'd Angelus find our little Rose, anyway?" he asked casually, just trying to change the subject again until he could get his emotions under control regarding Angelus.

"Well," William began in reply, knowing perfectly well that Spike was trying to steer the conversation in a different direction, "after we got back from Paris, having had our fill of the bloody frogs, I kept hearing in certain circles about this mysterious little girl.  Rumor was that she could hold her own at a card table with the best of them, and being the gambling bloke that I am, I just had to see her.  She sounded like the kind of women we might want to meet, right?  So anyway, I lurked at a game that I heard she'd probably sit in on--this was just a couple of months ago, mind you--and I watched her through the window.  You know, just checking out the competition.  The very bloody second I saw her, though, I knew it was Rose.  He'd described her so many times to me and in such detail that I could picture her clear as a bell in my mind.  Plus, Angelus's has sketches of her all over the bloody place.  It's like a shrine in his bed chambers...gives me the willies."

Spike flinched at the mention of Angelus's bedroom, but once again managed to avoid that line of thought.

William continued, unaware of Spike's baser thoughts.  "The look on Angelus's face when I told him I'd found her...well...it's a lot like yours when you look at Drusilla...except darker...less luvie-duvie."

"Luvie-duvie?  Sod off, mate!  I've never looked luvie-duvie in my life!" Spike said in indignation.

"If you could see yourself...it's bloody sickening," William teased.  "Well, actually, you can see you, can't you?"

"Yes, I can.  Talk about sickening...cut your bloody hair or something, would you?"

They joked for a few minutes, exchanging insults like brothers before a silence turned the conversation back to Angelus.

"Look," William groaned.  "I'm not saying unlife with Angelus is all bloody hearts and flowers this time around.  I mean, he can be a right bloody prick at times, but..."

"Some things never change," Spike laughed softly, exchanging a wistful smile with William.

"...but," the younger vampire continued, "I couldn't have asked for a better teacher...sire...lo--"

Spike held up a hand.  "That's enough!  If you keep going on like that and sounding like a right bloody poof, I may have to heave."

William wrinkled his nose.  "Actually, I think I made myself a bit sick.  If you ever tell him I said any of that, I'll just have to kill myself later...or something...to get you back for it."

"Your secret's safe with me," the blonde vampire chuckled before looking back down at his future lover's face.  So many things were different for William than they were for him.  Through some odd twist of fate, Angelus's obsession with Willow had brought William and his sire closer together--probably because it happened so early in their relationship.  However, when Drusilla had come along in his own lifetime, Spike had been left out and therefore jealous that his sire's attention had been divided for the first time.  Spike groaned and leaned his head back against the seat.  In that instant, everything became clear.  He knew what he had to do.

Spike sat up straight and shifted in his seat a little.  Picking up Drusilla, he set her on William's lap.  William looked from her beautiful face to his own questioningly.

"She's yours, for now," Spike informed him painfully.  "Someday, she'll be mine, but not yet.  So you better take bloody good care of her, mate...or..."

"Or what?" William challenged.  "You'll do something even more ridiculous to my hair?"

Spike smiled in spite of himself.  "Worse...I'll put us in a baby blue, polyester leisure suit in the 1970s and learn to do the hustle!"

William grimaced. "Ooh, sounds bad...that some kind of futuristic torture?  Like an iron maiden?"

"Damn, close, mate.  Damn close."

*****

Angelus was awaiting their arrival.  When they pulled up, he was a little surprised to see William climbing down from the carriage with the girl in his arms.  He was expecting Spike to be reluctant to part with her, even for William.  Angelus took the frail woman into his embrace when William offered her, but he didn't even glance at her.  Instead he was fully focused on Spike.

"Are ya ready, then?"

"No," Spike growled, "but I don't have a bloody choice, do I?  None of us do."

"There always be choices, Spike.  Most of us will never be knowin' the consequences of the paths we didn't take, but perhaps ya will...or ya have already?"

<Great!  Riddles...that's all I need.  I almost forgot how much the wanker used to love to listen to himself talk!>  "And sometimes your choices come back to bite you on the ass," Spike grumbled, his eyes glued to his future in Angelus's arms.

Following his childe's line of sight, Angelus finally peered down at Drusilla and felt his hunger awaken.  She wasn't Rose, but he was going to make the most of the situation anyway.  She would make a sufficient substitute for one night.  Angelus turned on his heels and re-entered the house, heading for his room.

"Ya can come and watch me turn her, if ya want," he called over his shoulder.

Spike insides clenched at the thought.  It took all his determination not to run after them and rip Drusilla out of his sire's arms.  Instead, he gritted his teeth and stared at the ground.  "Go on," he instructed William.  "Make sure he doesn't muck this whole thing up.  The moment she has the demon in her, find me!"  William nodded his agreement before rushing to follow his sire up the stairs.

After taking a moment to gather himself, Spike headed for Willow's room.

Willow was lying asleep on her bed when he unlocked and opened the door.  He was actually relieved to find that she wasn't awake.  Spike didn't want to talk to her.  He didn't even know why he'd come to her room.  He guessed he was simply trying not to think about what was happening just a few doors down.  Having to occupy himself somehow, Spike simply sat in an armchair in the corner and watched her sleep for a couple of hours.  Although, it would be more accurate to say that he watched her *try* to sleep because soon she started tossing and turning, obviously in the throes of one of her nightmares that he was very used to.  In the short time that they'd shared a bed, he'd become accustomed to her waking in the middle of the night or day, trembling from some terrifying image of Angelus as her mind tried to make sense of what he had in store for her.  The blonde vampire would hold her until she fell back asleep or until they became otherwise distracted, but always whispering to her that he'd take care of her and that he would never allow Angelus to harm her again.  <How's that for a bloody plot twist?> he speculated silently.

Willow awoke with a start from nightmares that this time involved all three vampires.  Before she could even begin to straighten it all out in her head, she sensed she wasn't alone.

"Leave me alone, Angelus," she said softly, her sleepy voice coming across as a whimper.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Willow, but it's only Spike...not your beloved Angelus," he said coldly, getting to his feet.

"Spike?"

"'Fraid so, Pet," he replied, already opening the door to leave.

Willow sat up and focused her vision on the figure by the door.  This was the first time they'd been alone since she'd been brought to the house.  There was so much she wanted to say, not to mention a strong desire to pummel him until he begged for her forgiveness, but at that moment the thing she wanted the most was answers.  She tried to center her thoughts, knowing that she had to get through to the part of Spike that she knew so well.  They'd spent too many years together, building their unusual friendship one step at a time, for him to act as if she were nothing to him.

"Did you ever care about me?" Willow asked in a child-like voice that she instantly regretted.  Nevertheless, it did have the desired effect, stopping the demon in the open doorway.  "I mean, even as a friend?  Lovers aside, a friend wouldn't do this.  I wouldn't have done this to you...no matter what."

Keeping his back to the redhead, Spike didn't move for a moment.  Willow thought she'd gotten through to him, but all too soon he resumed closing the door behind him.

"Don't I even deserve an answer?" she demanded more strongly this time as she slid out of bed.  "Am I so insignificant now that you can't even bear to speak to me?"

Finally turning around, he regarded the woman approaching him skeptically.  "What do you want me to say?"

"I--I just want to know why."

Spike threw his head back and laughed.  The coldness to the sound left Willow feeling chilled to the bone.

"Why?  You practically gave me your bloody permission, Pet!  Don't you remember?  Something about doing anything for me...wanting me to be happy...whatever it took to get Drusilla for me," he taunted, once again impersonating her.  "Sound familiar?"

Willow blanched and shook her head in denial.  "No...don't even try and turn this around on me..."

Furrowing his brow, Spike continued his hurtful speech.  "But you said we were friends, and you'd do anything for a friend, right?  Let's see...you came on this magical mystery tour to help your little chum Xapper, and you stayed because you were worried about Slutty the Vampire Slayer.  So, what did you do for me...your bestest pal who has known you longer than they have put together?  You gave your future and eventually your life for my happiness.  That's the mark of a true bloody friend, isn't it?" he said through a sentimental smile.  "The willingness to sacrifice yourself in the name of friendship?"  The sappy grin quickly changed to a lewd snicker.  "If I'd known in the beginning that all it would take was a little bit of the old 'how's your father?' to get you to willingly trade places with Drusilla as far as Angelus is concerned, then I would have done it ages earlier."

Willow couldn't speak as the tears flowed freely down her face.  All she could do was shake her head in denial.  She tried telling herself that while he was saying all of these horrible things on purpose just to hurt her, that he didn't really mean them--just like that time in the park after his first betrayal--but it didn't feel that way this time.  His contempt for her right now was almost palpable.

"Oh...did I forget to say thank you?" he asked, suddenly looking concerned.  "Well, don't think I don't appreciate it, Pet, because I do."  Spike reached out to stroke her cheek, but Willow jerked her head away, pulling another cruel grin from the vampire.

"Drusilla's here, and as we speak, she's becoming one of us.  So you better get ready...for the ritual...for Angelus.  Oh, and don't forget to make yourself look pretty for him...*again*."

Spike turned to exit through the open door, but Willow refused to believe it was really happening.

"Spike...please...tell me this is a joke.  I'll laugh, I promise!" she said, trying to sound cheerful but instead sounding as desperate as she felt.  "Y-you know what he's going to do to me...everything Angelus has in store for me.  How can you--"

"Yes, I do know," Spike informed her, not giving her the chance to finish her questions.  "I'm only sorry I can't help him, Rose."

Willow sunk to the floor as the resounding 'thud' of the door closing behind him reverberated through her very soul.

In the hallway, Spike almost bumped into Angelus who was walking out of his own room a few doors down.  He saw the unspoken question in Angelus's eyes, wondering why he'd been in Willow's room.  Before his sire could speak, the blonde vampire motioned to Willow's door with a jerk of his head.  "Just getting her warmed up for you, mate.  Although, I don't think I'll ever be a match for you when it comes to this mental torment malarkey, it does have its own special charm.  Still, I think I'll stick to nasty sharp implements of torture from now on and leave the more cerebral fun to you," he offered hastily.

Angelus physically relaxed a little but his possessive look didn't wane a bit.  "From what I can tell, ya've been doin' just fine on yer own, Spike.  Luckily, in only a few minutes, you'll no longer need to be worryin' yerself with such matters."

At that moment, William exited Angelus's room with a no-longer-breathing Drusilla in his arms.  Spike was at her side, the previous conversation already forgotten about.

"Take her downstairs," Angelus directed them after watching Spike fawn over the dark-haired vampiress for a brief time.  "I'll go get me Rose."

Spike nodded an absent-minded acceptance of the directions before escorting William and his destined love down the corridor.
 

~Chapter Thirty-five~

When Angelus entered her room, Willow was still sitting on the floor, clothed only in the shift that she'd slept in.  Her arms were encircling her knees, holding them tightly to her chest as she stared vacantly at the floor.  She hadn't taken Spike's terse advice to get prettied up for his sire.  There was no point.  How she looked wouldn't make a difference in the end.  Instead, she'd just curled herself up against the pain--the pain of the past, the present, and the inevitable pain that was yet to come.

"It's time," Angelus informed her, closing and locking the door behind him.

Willow heard the excitement and anticipation in his voice, and it did nothing to dull her fear.  That's when she realized she had only one hope left.  Even though it was a minute one, she had to try.  Willow let go of every last vestige of her pride before looking up at him.

"Please, Angelus.  Let me go!" she begged, moving forward to clutch at his leg.  "I don't want any of this...I just want to go home.  Please?" she begged.

After listening to her pleas, Angelus knelt before Willow and peered into her tear-streaked face.  The vampire wiped the dampness away more gently than she'd ever thought possible.

"Save yer tears, Rose, and yer beggin'," he said softly.  "There's too much fer us ta do yet tonight fer me ta be able to enjoy 'em right now.  So save all yer cryin' and pleadin' fer the days yet ta come.  But I did enjoy the beggin', Rose, and I thank ya fer the gift," he sneered, pulling her to her feet as he stood.  "Now, ya have fifteen minutes ta put some clothes on and make yerself presentable but no longer.  Otherwise, I guess I'll be havin' ta dress ya myself!" he warned.

Once again, he grabbed a gown and other necessities out of her wardrobe and threw them at her before pointing to the bathroom.  Without a word, Willow trudged into the other room and closed the door behind her.  She was barely aware of herself or her surroundings as she removed the wrinkled undergarment that she'd slept in and began to wash up.  When she was clean and dressed in the clothes that Angelus had picked out for her, she grabbed a hairbrush, intending just to drag it through a few times.  However, when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Willow was mesmerized by her own reflection.  The stress, not to mention her lack of both sleep and appetite from the past few days, had finally caught up with her.  All she could see was her own dull hair, sunken cheekbones, and lifeless, dark-ring-encircled eyes.  It was almost as if it were a stranger staring back at her from the mirror--one Willow couldn't seem to tear away from.

Entranced either by exhaustion, fear, or emotional shock--most likely a combination of all--she didn't hear Angelus yelling at her from the other room to hurry.  Neither did she hear him a few minutes later when he threatened more loudly to come in.  Willow wasn't even aware of the vampire as he burst through the door or of the worried look on his face, as if he were afraid of what he might find.  She was lost in her own little world.

It was a strangely relieved Angelus who took the brush out of her motionless hand and slowly began brushing her hair for her.  He'd thought the worst when she hadn't answered, fearing that she'd somehow attempted to take her own life.  Her life was not her own to end, as far as he was concerned.  It was his, or at least it would be as soon as they finished the ritual.  Nevertheless, it was apparent that Spike had wounded her deeply.  Angelus had heard the cruel words his child had uttered at his Rose's expense.  Although he was proud of Spike, he was envious as well.  Angelus's pride would never allow him to take advantage of the pain that the blonde vampire had inflicted.  If she were to break, it would be by his doing alone and not his childe's.  Which meant that now Angelus had to play a role that was a little less familiar to him--protector, caregiver.  That was the only way he could get the Rose back that he remembered.  Then, only when her spirit was refreshed and her body once again trembling with anger and passion would he begin the very pleasurable task of tearing her down, piece by piece.  But for now, Angelus had to be content to gently brush her hair and wait for Willow to come out of her zombie-like state.

It wasn't until she saw the brush seemingly move of its own accord in the mirror that Willow appeared to come back to reality somewhat.  She stayed silent, letting him smooth the tangles out of her hair.  Too weary to protest, Willow closed her eyes and submitted to his pampering.  After a few moments, she felt relaxed completely.

With her eyes still closed, she finally spoke, but barely above a whisper.  "You can't destroy me, Angelus.  I'm already dead on the inside...Spike beat you to it."

The long, even strokes of the brush never wavered.  "Shhh...my love," Angelus comforted her, ignoring stabs of jealousy from Willow's reference to his childe.  "Yer very much alive.  He just wounded yer girlish pride.  It seems Spike knew exactly what ta say ta hurt ya."

Willow nodded lightly in agreement.  "He always has."

"Of course he does because I taught him well.  Besides, he had enough time with ya.  He should know the best way ta hurt ya by now," he said shortly.  "Now, it seems ta me that if ya knew his main purpose was ta crush yer spirits, that it would be easy ta ignore.  It's like he was raisin' the stakes on ya.  I must say, I'm surprised ya folded so easily, Rose.  Ya basically handed him the game and all yer money."

She didn't respond right away, and Angelus began to think that she had actually fallen asleep.

"I'm so tired," she finally admitted in hushed tones.  "I don't care about winning anymore..."

It was Angelus's turn to remain silent as he tried to decide his next course of action.  He really didn't like her like this, not when he wasn't the cause.  But before he could make any decisions, Willow surprised him by turning her head so he could brush the other side better.

"Mmmm...feels good...but I guess I shouldn't have said that...because you'll stop now," she sighed, her eyes still closed.  The tiny part of her mind that was still clinging on to logic tried to remind her that this was just part of Angelus's game, but it was a very quiet and small part.  Frankly, she didn't care.  Not only for the reason that she didn't really believe it was happening, but because it had been a long time since anyone had done anything so nice for her.

Angelus chuckled.  "Ya think ya know me now, do ya?"

Willow shook her head slowly.  "Not really, Angelus.  It just seemed like a logical way to drive someone insane.  Be kind for a while, until they relax, and then hit 'em where it hurts."

Angelus raised a confused eyebrow at her comment, not that she could see it.  "I wasn't plannin' on hittin' ya...*yet*."

Willow actually smiled.  "It's just an expression, Angelus."

Angelus saw her smile in the mirror.  It was the first time he'd seen her smile since Ireland, and he was the cause of it.  His plan was coming along quite nicely.

"Angelus?"  Willow asked softly after a long ebb in the odd conversation.

"Yes, me love?"

"Are you going to kill me or are you going to make me a raving lunatic?"

He continued brushing her hair as he considered her question.  Looking at her, eyes closed, totally relaxed, he wondered if she was playing a game with him.  Was she trying to make it easier on herself by behaving in such a strange manner or had she truly taken the first step into madness?  Normally, he would be pleased if that were the case--if his Rose was showing signs of true weakness--but not this time because he wouldn't be able to take the credit for it.  It was all Spike's doing.

"It's a hard decision to make since both choices have their own benefits," he admitted warily, watching closely for her reaction.  "Supposin' I let ya choose yer own fate, which would ya prefer?"

Willow shook her head.  "Oh no," she half-giggled.  "You'd just do the exact opposite of what I say."

"Ah, but then, if ya knew that, bein' the smart thing that ya are, then ya'd just lie and say the opposite, wouldn't ya?"

"But you'd be expecting that, and so..."  Willow's voice trailed off, and she smiled again.  "This is right out of 'The Princess Bride'...it must be a dream...that's the only explanation..." she said in a far-off voice.

"Maybe it is, Rose, and maybe it isn't," he responded softly, not really understanding what she was talking about.  He continued to brush her hair, not wanting to break whatever spell she seemed to be under.

"Make a choice," Angelus whispered in her ear, "not that I'll honor it.  I just want ta hear yer choice."

She didn't even stop to think.  The words just flowed out of her.  "I always wondered what it would be like to not worry all the time...not to fret over every little thing or have any responsibility at all.  I mean, if you're well and truly mad, you wouldn't even know it, would you?  You'd probably live a happy existence in your own mythical little world."  She paused for a moment to take a deep, almost mournful sounding, breath.  "It sounds...simple.  My life has never been simple.  Unfortunately, there aren't any guarantees, are there?  Knowing my luck, I'd be the opposite type of a madman...I mean, mad *person*.  I'd probably be in perpetual terror of some sort, running from giant frogs and forever sleeping through finals or forgetting where my classes are.  I'd probably be tearing my own hair out and screaming at the top of my lungs and end up locked away in some horrible institution somewhere with no shoelaces and only green Jell-O to eat.  I--I wouldn't like that," she said, shaking her head.  "And I think that somehow, no matter what, I'd know I was insane and that things didn't have to be that way.  That there was a better world somewhere that I wasn't a part of.  Like right now...this very conversation..." Willow made a slight gesture with her hands, "...this isn't right.  It's my first little sojourn into madness, I think, and yet I know it's not right," she said morosely.  Willow paused for a moment and leaned her head back against the broad chest behind her.  "Yep, just like now, I'd know it wasn't real...so I'd never be free from responsibility for my own behavior.  I'd either do everything in my power to make myself well or I'd probably succumb to the guilt.  And I've never handled guilt well as it is."

Angelus listened closely to her ramblings.  They gave him more insight into the way that she thought, even if he didn't understand half of what she said.  But with every word, he became more fascinated with the complex creature before him.  Forced to stop brushing her hair when she leaned back against him, the vampire was now content to smooth it with his hands instead.  He only hoped that the change wouldn't bring her back to reality.  There was so much more he wanted to know.

"What's yer choice then?" he asked gently after she'd stopped speaking.

Willow sighed.  "I think maybe I'd prefer death...no pain...no decisions...no more regrets.  It sounds...simple," she repeated.

"There is a third choice," he reminded her.

"No, not for me.  I can't be turned, since I can't die, remember?  Nope.  No fangs for me."

"Ah, but, if ya can't die, then how am I goin' ta fulfill yer wishes and kill ya, as ya asked me to?"

Willow pouted.  "See?" she asked with a faint hint of disappointment.  "Nothing's ever simple with me, is it?  Only I can kill me...or...well, we don't know what would happen with the spell if I were to..." Willow ended her ramblings in mid-sentence with another long release of breath and a slight shake of her head.

"This is the strangest dream of you I've ever had, Angelus," Willow admitted.

Angelus smiled.  She really did think it was all just a dream.  That explained a lot.  "So ya admit that ya've dreamed of me before, then?"

She nodded.  "All the time, at least lately anyway, but we don't usually talk much in my other dreams."

"If we don't talk, what do we do?" he questioned her, already guessing the answer.

Her face darkened and he felt her begin to tremble.  "It's different every time, but usually you're...hurting me...doing h-horrible things to me...and--"

"Sshhh..." Angelus soothed her, not wanting his Rose to get too agitated and 'wake up' no matter how interested he actually was in the details of her dreamed torment at his hands.  After all, maybe she'd give him some new ideas.

"Were they all about me torturin' ya, then?"

Willow shook her head.  "No...some weren't so bad...in some you...um...we..." she couldn't finish the sentence and quickly turned to bury her face in Angelus's chest out of embarrassment.

Totally taken by surprise, Angelus could only hold her closer in a comforting embrace, which didn't come easily to the master vampire.  However, he did it anyway because he wasn't ready for this revealing experience to come to an end and also because he rather liked having her in his arms.

"Sshhhh...Rose, ya don't have ta tell me.  I know yer dreams already, don't I?"  He felt more than heard her slight whimper of agreement and then she actually snuggled a little closer.

"This certainly is a strange dream, but I like it," she murmured against his chest.  "I wish it didn't have to end...and that when I got back home we could..." she stopped herself.  Even her subconscious wouldn't allow her to think about holding the soulful Angel in this way.  He wasn't hers to hug.  "But we can't...the spell...curse...and the slayer...it ruins everything," she muttered almost imperceptibly, but Angelus's supernatural hearing was able to pick out most of her words.

And they confused him.  The talk of spells and curses only meant one thing to him--the spell that had brought him his Rose.  Maybe it seemed like a curse to her now, but Angelus, on the other hand, viewed her mystical appearance in his life as a stroke of good fortune.

Unfortunately, as much as he desired to pry her for more information, Angelus knew he was already pushing his luck.  Plus, there was the little matter of the ritual.  Tucking away her mumbled confessions in the back of his mind to use against her later, he very gently pulled out of her arms and turned her back around to the mirror.

"This dream needs ta end soon, my love, but don't worry.  There will be others."

Willow nodded her head in acceptance of the dream-Angelus's words.  Relieved that she had yet to come to her senses, the vampire placed the brush back in her hand.

"Brush yer hair fer me, Rose.  Make yerself pretty fer me," he whispered in her ear.

When Angelus felt her take over control of the long, slow, stroking motions, he backed away.  He took one last look at the beautiful redhead in the mirror--her eyes still closed amidst the wistful expression on her face--before silently leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
 

"Rose."

"Rose!"

"ROSE!"

It was the third one that forced Willow's eyes open.  She blinked at herself in the mirror and then at the brush in her hand.

"Rose!"  Angelus's voice boomed from the other side of the door, startling Willow and fully bringing her crashing back to reality.  "If ya don't hurry up, I'll come in and dress ya myself!" the cold voice warned her.

"I...um...I'll be right out...I'm almost done.  Just, er, brushing my hair..." she stammered loudly.

"Ya have one more minute Rose.  No more!"

"Okay..."

Willow shook her head, trying to clear her foggy brain.  "I know I'm tired," she whispered to herself, "but I can't believe I fell asleep standing up...brushing my hair."  <And that dream...so strange...>  Not getting any answers from her tired reflection, Willow set the brush down.

"Might as well get this over with, I guess," she told herself fatalistically.  Then, after one last look in the mirror, Willow opened the bathroom door and exited.

"It's about time," Angelus said coldly.  He was lying on her bed, purposely looking very bored and impatient as he fiddled with a small porcelain jewelry box that usually sat on the dressing table.  Not waiting for her to explain her delay, Angelus quickly got up and put the trinket back where it belonged.

"Now that yer presentable, barely, let's get on with the festivities, shall we?"

Angelus was out the door before Willow could utter a sound.  Not seeing any other choice or finding the strength to fight, she followed weakly behind.

As they made their way through the mansion, they passed several other vampires.  Some of the demons just happened to be in the corridors on their way to somewhere else, while others were obviously placed as guards.  Willow felt all their eyes on her, even hearing whispers of "That's the redhead!" and "She's the one!"  Their hungry and curious stares made the bone-weary woman pick up her pace until she was actually walking beside Angelus.  <Running to *Angelus* for protection...what's wrong with me?> she berated herself.

Apparently, Angelus was none too pleased with the other vampires' attentions as well.  The very next one that dared to look openly at his Rose, soon found every bone in his face broken when it impacted sharply with the stone floor and was held there by Angelus's large, booted foot.

"It's hard to stare when ya can 't open yer eyes, isn't it?"  When the lesser demon whimpered his agreement, Angelus spoke louder so that all the vampires that had witnessed his punishment could hear, "It's even harder when yer a pile of dust.  Ya don't look at Rose, ya don't even think about her, and if any of ya are dumb enough ta touch her, I'll make sure that yer death is as slow and painful as possible.  Now, ya best be rememberin' that.  All of ya!" he growled in warning.  Before Willow could hide her look of disgust, Angelus was already lifting his heavy boot from the injured vampire's head.  With lowered eyes, the frightened lesser vampires quickly scattered.

"I told ya they weren't very bright," Angelus reminded her as they left the scene behind to continue to the parlor.  "And get that sympathetic look off yer face!  Given the chance, they'd tear ya apart in an instant.  Yer just a meal ta these fools.  I probably should've killed him, but since he's a bit young, it'll take him awhile ta heal.  He'll be a good reminder the rest.  Every time they see him, they'll remember yer off limits.  A pile of dust is much easier ta forget."

"I'm honored by your gallantry," she managed softly, completely lacking the sarcasm that she'd hoped for.  "It's so rare you meet a man who's willing to fight for your honor, just so he can do much worse things to you himself," she added.  Willow was a little more pleased to hear a tinge of venom in her voice that time.  The nap, even if she had taken it standing up, seemed to have helped her despondent mood somewhat.

"And it's even rarer ta meet a woman who understands that," he responded, gratified to see a little life in her again, no matter how dim.  Perhaps he wouldn't have to wait so long to have his Rose back after all.

She was almost relieved when they finally arrived at the ground-floor parlor that she'd been in the day before.

Angelus opened the doors for her and stepped back, making a sweeping gesture with his arm.  "After you, me lady."

Willow squeezed her eyes tightly shut for a moment.  She tried to picture her calming place, hoping to rid her mind of both the memories of her latest disturbing dream and what was about to happen before she shuffled into the room.  Although it hardly soothed her, the moment of meditation did allow her the ability to enter with some sense of dignity.

Upon hearing the door open, Spike gripped the cigarette between his fingers so tightly that it practically disintegrated in his hand.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Willow walk in, head held high as she quickly moved to a reading chair in the opposite corner.  Right behind her was his sire, stopping only to close the parlor doors before once again taking his place on the arm of Willow's chair.  With only a cursory glance, Spike noted that while she still looked exhausted, Willow seemed to have already recovered, for the most part, from their previous encounter.  <Bloody hell, Red.  What do I have to do to kill that damned spirit of yours?>  Violently stubbing out what was left of the crumpled cigarette in a nearby ashtray, Spike focused his attention on William for a moment and was pleased with what he saw.

William was perched on the sofa next to the prone, unconscious Drusilla.  Every now and then, William would run his fingers through Dru's hair or caress her hand as he waited for her to 'wake' to her new life.  Spike was relieved to find that his younger self actually seemed quite taken with Drusilla and was already looking at her with more than a bit of desire.  <At least one thing is progressing like it should...> he thought to himself.

What Spike saw when he shifted his focus to his sire was also quite gratifying.  Angelus appeared to barely notice that Drusilla was in the room, let alone want to spend any 'quality' time with his newest childe.  Unfortunately, Spike's elation was only fleeting.  All too soon he recognized the anticipatory glint in the Irish vampire's eyes.  He had seen it many times before in the old days, and often times it was focused on Drusilla.  But not this time around--this time Willow had Angelus's full attention.  As a result, Spike doubted that Angelus would be able to restrain himself with Willow for very long once the ceremony was complete.  <Crikey, Willow!  Why do you have to be so damned stubborn?>

Somehow, Willow was managing to ignore Angelus's nearness.  Even when his pale hand moved to fix an out of place tendril of her hair, she managed not to flinch.  It was obvious to Spike that Angelus was eager to do more but was holding back until the ceremony was over.  Luckily for Willow, Angelus had always been a stickler for ritual.

Trying to focus on anything other than the vampire next to her, Willow forced herself to look at Spike, only to find that he was studying her.  She felt desperate enough to plead with him one last time, just like she had with Angelus--beg, cry, anything.  She opened her mouth to promise the world to the blonde vampire yet again, but he fixed her with an icy glare that froze the words to her lips.

Feeling his Rose tense, Angelus looked into Willow's eyes just in time to see another flash of pain.  Following her line of vision, he was disappointed to find that, yet again, Spike had gotten beneath her skin.

"I see ya controlled yerself, Spike," Angelus commented coolly, his eyes now darting between Drusilla and Spike.  From where he sat, Angelus couldn't see any bite marks on the dark-haired woman save his own from when he'd sired her.

"As did you, Angelus," retorted Spike.  "Rose seems...intact."

"She is fer now."

"Can we hurry this up a bit, lads?" William interrupted, grinning lewdly at the now vampiric yet still inanimate Drusilla.  "Me and the Mrs. have some plans."

"Yes, let's get on with it already; it's a simple bloody ritual," Spike grunted.  "Besides, we should probably get this done before Drusilla wakes up.  She'll be confused enough."

The other two vampires showed their agreement by allowing their ridged, yellow-eyed faces to come to the forefront.  Angelus slid off the chair and sauntered over to the newest member of their bizarre family.  Without ceremony, he lifted her frail arm to his mouth and sunk his teeth into her wrist until a slow trickle of blood trailed down her arm.

"What is mine, by rights, I offer willin'ly ta ya," he said, looking to William and Spike.

William approached and took the offered wrist.  After meticulously licking clean the path of blood from her arm, William fed for a moment and then deferred to Spike.  The blonde vampire took her alabaster wrist with shaking hands, biting into her tender flesh reverently.  As her blood flooded his mouth, so were his thoughts flooded with memories of previous times he'd fed from his beloved.  Reluctantly, he suckled at her wounds for only a moment before gently placing her arm back across her chest.  Finally, he placed a long, soft kiss on her now cool lips.  With a barely audible moan, Spike pulled himself away.

"This childe's blood, protection, destiny is now yers ta do with what ya may," Angelus continued.  "My claim is no more."

"What was yours, is now mine.  Your claim is no more," William and Spike affirmed in sober unison.

Willow watched in sickened silence as the other woman was verbally swapped between the vampires.  <Swapped for me...> she reminded herself as Angelus turned to look at her.

"Come ta me, Rose," he commanded.

Aware that it was now her turn, Willow clambered to her feet and backed away in horror.

"No!" she squeaked, finally finding her tongue.  "This is disgusting...barbaric!  And I won't allow you to trade me like...like some sort of...of vampiric baseball card!" she whimpered.

"Fine, Pet," Spike said quietly, dragging his gaze away from his Dark Goddess.  "You don't have to take part if you don't want to."

"I--I don't?" she asked suspiciously.

Spike smiled gently as he approached her.  "You don't have to do a bloody thing, Red."

Watching him warily, she heard a low growl emanating from one of the other vampires.  They seemed almost as confused as she did.

Stopping in front of her, Spike placed his hands gently on her shoulders and peered deeply into the sea-green eyes that were once again seeking answers.

"I can't believe you didn't trust me," he whispered with a tired grin, and before she knew it, Willow found herself smiling weakly back.

Spike moved to stand behind her, his hands still resting on her shoulders.  "I will not allow either of you two to hurt her," he said defiantly.

Willow beamed at the other two very disconcerted vampires.  However, when they began to slowly advance, she started to back away out of reflex.  Of course, her escape was hindered by Spike's presence directly behind her.  Only the sensation of Spike squeezing her shoulders reassuringly kept her from panicking.  Feeling a slight twinge of optimism, Willow took a deep breath and waited for him to reveal just how they were going to escape.

"Nope," Spike continued.  "You two aren't going to hurt her..."

Willow exhaled sharply in relief.

"...that's still my bloody job!"

Before Willow realized what was happening, Spike's grip tightened, and he pushed her into William's arms.  "Hold her for me, will you, Will?" Spike asked politely, grinning at his own play on words.

"Be my pleasure, Spike," William retorted, catching her and spinning her around so that she faced his blonde double.

"No!" Willow cried as she saw her hopes for escape fade away.  She struggled, but William's held her firmly, his fingers biting deeply into the soft flesh of her upper arms.

"I can't believe how gullible you are!" Spike mocked, using her own words from five years earlier against her once again.  "Turn about's, fair play, and I think I owed you one, Red."

Oh, how Willow wanted to slap the egotistical smirk right off of his scarred face!  <Better yet,> she thought, <I'd love to give him a matching scar on the other side of his face!>  Unfortunately, with her arms held to her sides, all she could manage was another hate-filled glare.  Before she could even fully deliver that, along with a few choice words, Spike had already turned away to look at his sire.

"Aw, what's wrong, Daddy?" Spike gibed.  "Did you really think I'd choose her over you or Drusilla?  Oh, come on!  I was just trying to avoid a messy fight.  Plus, I wanted to have a last bit of fun with the silly cow while she was still mine."

Angelus's eyes narrowed, revealing a hint of exasperation.  "I never doubted ya, Spike.  Yer my childe, of my blood, and I'd trust ya with my life...again," he said, his grave tones invoking Spike's full attention.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Willow spit out at she struggled against William's hold, not caring that she was interrupting an important childe-sire moment.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk..." Spike snickered, turning on her.  "Since Angelus is my sire, I don't think he takes too kindly to his future property referring to him in such crude manner.

"And such foul language, Rose," Angelus laughed. "I expect ya ta act like a lady."

"I promise I'll try to scream as daintily as possible as you maim me, Angelus," she hissed.

"Oh, ya'll scream, my little flower," he smiled cruelly, "of that I have no doubt."

William and Spike traded knowing chuckles, each having lost sleep in the past because of the seemingly never-ending screams of their sire's victims.

Still laughing, Spike closed in on her again.  He was running out of time, so he chose his words carefully.

"What is mine, I am so bloody happy to willingly give to you, Angelus," he began as he none-too-gently grabbed Willow's wrist and bit into it, drawing only a harsh intake of breath from her in response.  He didn't drink, which wasn't easy, instead offering the bleeding wrist to his sire.  Angelus took it without hesitation, and latched onto the wound, feeding like he hadn't eaten in weeks.  Willow grimaced and turned her head from the scene before her.  This time no images of chocolate came to mind whatsoever.  Spike's voice soon reminded Angelus of the situation, causing him to take one last swallow of her soporific blood.

"This servant's blood, life, destiny, excessive need to babble, irritating persistence in the thought that she is smarter than the rest of us, and so on, are now yours--you poor sod--to do with what you may.  And might I add...good bloody, luck, mate.  My claim is no more."  For added emphasis, Spike propelled her into Angelus's arms.  "Marriage made in hell, if you ask me," he grumbled, then looked back to Drusilla.

"What was yers, is now mine.  Yer claim is no more," Angelus repeated solemnly, holding Willow tightly to him.

"Is it over?" Willow wondered aloud, clutching her throbbing wrist close to her.

"Not quite, Rose," Angelus answered, looking from her to his childer.  "Not quite."

William was the first to offer his wrist to his sire, and in response, Angelus held his before his dark-haired childe.  Their eyes joined, and as one they bit into the other's cool skin.  They took only the mouthful required before ceasing.

Spike gritted his teeth as he watched them feed in unison.  It was such an intimate act for vampires, one that he hadn't participated in for a very long time.  Knowing what was expected of him when William walked away, Spike approached the Irish vampire.  He thrust his wrist out to Angelus and seized the one that he offered in response.  Biting into his sire's flesh for the first time in a couple of hundred years, he felt something stir within him that he thought was deader than he was.  He was unable to look Angelus in the face as they shared themselves, nor could he look at Willow who was still being held firmly by his sire's other hand, so he screwed his eyes tightly shut.

If Spike hadn't been so busy trying to deny to himself how much he missed his sire's blood, he would have noticed Angelus's look of unabashed hunger and awe as the first drops hit his tongue.  To him, Spike's blood was like William's only immensely magnified in strength due to his age.  As a result, it was potent, maybe even more powerful than was his own.  More importantly, it was tinged with that same mystical spice that made Rose's blood so intoxicating.

Each managed with some difficulty to take only the token amount required for the oath before quickly letting go of the other.  At the moment, neither wanted to make the effort to come to terms with their demons' stronger than expected response to the other's blood.  In fact, they were both actually relieved when Willow's questions broke the sudden tension in the air.

"That's all there is...a few words...some slurping and nothing more?"  Willow asked without thinking.

The trio of demons laughed in unison at her, their ridges and yellow eyes giving way to their human masks.

"What were you expecting, Pet?" Spike snickered.  "Candles...incense...virgin sacrifice maybe?"

"But...those are only words...just a promise...There wasn't any magick, black or otherwise...no call to a higher power...not even some archaic language..." she babbled.  "Not much of a ritual, if you ask me."

Amused by her honest ramblings, Angelus smirked.  "To demons, a promise made with an exchange of blood is a bond forged of iron...stronger than any witch's spell ya can come up with.  We don't make them lightly, believe it or not, and ta break such an oath is unheard of."

"It's nice to see that there are some promises a vampire might actually keep, I guess," Willow commented, unable to look at Spike as she uttered the bitter words.

"That's because those that break them, don't live to tell about it," William the Bloody reminded them as he headed for the door, carrying his Drusilla in his arms.  "Are you coming, Spike?"

Spike's feet carried him to the door, but his mind stopped him there.  He banged his head against the doorframe in frustration, trying to clear it.

"No, William.  I can't," he finally admitted in a pained voice.  "She's yours...all yours for now, remember?"

The identical pairs of penetrating blue eyes locked as William and Spike recalled the long conversations they'd had about Drusilla--in the carriage as well as only short time earlier while they had been awaiting their sire.  With a firm clenching of his jaw, William nodded his understanding before he turned to continue the journey to his room.  Spike closed the door behind them and leaned his forehead against the cool wood.  His pain from having to let her go rivaled that from when she had first killed herself.

"Take good care of her," he whispered, before finally bringing himself to look at Willow and Angelus.

Angelus kept a firm grip on Willow's arm but took a step toward Spike.  "Why aren't ya with Drusilla?  That's what ya've been wantin' all these years.  I know that's why yer here, Spike, not fer me, but fer her.  Go and be with her.  Rose is no longer yer concern."

Spike heard the tone in his sire's voice.  Angelus was not only dismissing him but warning him to stay away from Willow as well.  The blonde vampire closed his eyes and took a deep breath before focusing on his sire's dark orbs, sending a message of his own.

"I *will* be with my Drusilla, but not now...not until I'm back in Sunnyhell where I belong...until we all are," he said pointedly without looking at Willow.

Releasing her, Angelus stalked over to this blonde childe.  "What are ya sayin', Spike?" he demanded.

Spike stood up straight.  "I can't have Drusilla now, just as you can't have Rose!  We need to end the bloody spell.  Only then will Drusilla be mine, and only then will Rose be yours.  Not before.  It won't work any other way, Angelus."

Angelus simply glared at him for a moment.  Then, as quick as a cat, he delivered a fist to Spike's jaw that sent his childe spinning to the floor.  Willow was too confused to do anything but wince at the sound of the impact.  She obviously had missed something.

Climbing to his feet, spike rubbed his jaw.  "There's the sire I knew," he jeered.  "Wondered how long you've been dying to do that!"

Shaking his head in frustration, Angelus brutally shoved Spike to the wall with a forearm to his throat.

"What is goin' on in that mind of yers?" he demanded.  He was used to his childe trying to goad him just for their mutual enjoyment, but this was different.  Plus, Spike had that look in his eyes again--one that he'd never really seen in William, but it seemed to taint Spike's every move.  Hate?

"Tell me what yer thinkin', Spike!"

"Don't you bloody know?  I'm your childe...the product of your teachings...you tell me what I'm thinking!" he snarled.

When he didn't reply instantly, Spike used a leg to sweep the dark vampire's feet out from underneath him while pushing him backwards at the same time.  Spike followed his tumbling sire to the floor where he swiftly straddled his sire's chest, pinning his wrists to the ground.

"Now, this isn't a position you're used to, is it, sire of mine?" Spike gloated, staring down into Angelus's face as he held him to the floor.  "What's it really bloody like to have your own childe as strong as you, if not stronger?  To know that I've held your life in my hands for almost as long as you've been on this earth?"

"Proud."

The single word, spoken without hesitation or the slightest hint of sarcasm, echoed in the room, seeming to linger simply to ensure that Spike had understood him correctly.

There was a pause as Spike struggled with this side of Angelus that had died for him a very long time ago.  But there it was, stronger than he could remember.  Suddenly, Spike threw his head back and laughed, letting go of his sire's arms at the same time.

"This is just too bloody priceless..." he managed through his laughter.  "You're proud of me...*now*?!"

"Yes," Angelus conceded, but he knew he still hadn't gotten through to the stubborn vampire, and tonight was too important to let things go unsaid.

Spike was still laughing when his sire bucked his hips with all his might, sending Spike toppling over his head.  Angelus quickly spun on his backside and grabbed the no-longer amused Spike from behind, pulling him back against his chest, and trapping his childe's arms to his sides with his own very strong grip.  He wanted to make sure that the incredibly headstrong vampire heard every word that he said.

"This is a little more what we're both used ta, isn't it, Spike?" Angelus whispered in his ear.  "And I'll tell ya what yer thinkin'...ya blame me fer all the misery in yer life...all these years ya had ta be alone and put yer life on hold just ta keep one little redhead from ruinin' everythin' ya ever had...everythin' *we* ever had...and ya hate me fer it.  The last century has made ya independent and ya think ya don't need a sire anymore, especially one that yer *almost* as strong as, but yet yer actually findin' that ya like bein' here with me again.  But mostly, ya hate yerself fer hatin' me so, and fer not havin' the damned balls ta just take what ya want, become Drusilla's sire, and ta just say sod the consequences!"  He paused just long enough for Spike to get the full effect, then added in a hiss, "How's that fer knowin' my own childe?"

As Angelus spoke, Spike struggled uselessly to escape the degrading position his sire held him in--kneeling on the floor with the dark vampire behind and over him--but he was well and truly trapped.  He burned holes in the floor with a malevolent glare as everything his sire said hit home, one way or another.  Eventually, Spike's struggles ceased and he let himself listen to his sire.  For not knowing the 'real' truth of the situation, Angelus had still managed to deliver a pretty good description of Spike's inner turmoil.  That was when the truth finally sank into his obstinate, hatred-fogged mind.  This man restraining him wasn't his Angelus, just as he was no longer William.  For whatever reason--be it fate, coincidence, or Willow--their lives had been changed so much that Spike's previous future was inconsequential.  It no longer held any meaning in the great order of things.  As far as everyone but he and Willow were concerned, it may as well never have happened.  While it may have seemed like an obvious conclusion, one that he should have reached ages ago, for Spike it was like a slap in the face.  Consequently, like a slap in the face, it stung a little and Spike didn't exactly embrace it right away.

Willow, meanwhile, had shrunk into a corner.  She didn't totally understand what was going on in front of her.  While she did know enough to stay out of it, Willow was too fascinated by the scene in front of her to take advantage of their distraction by trying to escape.

"That about sums it up, Angelus," Spike finally admitted, letting his anger for his sire seep away for the time being.  Spike still had to convince Angelus to let them go, and fighting wasn't going to get them anywhere.  "Now, are you going to bloody listen to me or do you just want to wrestle all day?"

"It wouldn't be the first time we did that, would it, Spike?" Angelus insinuated with a chuckle before letting him go and rising to his feet.  Obviously, he and his future childe still had a lot of problems that needed to be ironed out, but for now, they both realized there was a more dire issue at hand--one that couldn't be solved with violence--Rose and the spell.  "Now, explain yourself."

Climbing to his feet, Spike brushed himself off, trying to regain some of his dignity.

"It's simple, really," he finally offered, looking into his sire's chocolate-brown eyes.  "Like I said before, you have to let Rose go, so we can end the spell."

"No, I'm not lettin' her go," Angelus concluded aloud, easing himself back onto the desk.  He folded his arms across his chest, sending a clear signal that he wasn't going to even entertain the thought.

Spike rolled his eyes heavenward, then realized how silly that was and rolled then hellward instead.  At this point, he needed to cover all the bases.

"Come on, Angelus.  Think for a bloody moment, would you?  We, Rose and I, can't stay here.  The longer we do, the more likely we are to muck everything up, and we'll all end up as a notch on some Slayer's belt.  This way, you'll still get to have Rose and without the damn spell to ruin all your fun!"

Willow couldn't take anymore.  She had no more tears to cry over Spike's betrayal.  Besides, little good either her tears or her self-blame had done so far.  Instead, she stormed up to him, face darkening in anger.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, her fists tightening into balls at her sides.  "Now you're promising me to him in the future as well!  You're going to take me home, let me see the life that I miss so much, just so Angelus can take it all away from me again and probably even more?  How can you do this to me?"

Spike looked down at Willow, surprised to see the fire back in her eyes.  He'd have to do something about that before it was too late.

"Look, Rose.  I hate to bust your bubble, but I'm not doing this for you!  I couldn't give a flying fig what Angelus does to you.  But, since we both know what he is planning on doing, and if I know you both as well as I think I bloody do," he implied, "it'll be more sooner than later.  If that happens--if you *sleep* with him, whether by force or choice--chances are you'll either die, or everything will get so screwed up we won't know who we are anymore.  This is the way it has to be, Pet.  The way it was always meant to be, and I'm not going to let your hormones ruin it!"

Spike's words had the opposite effect on the red-haired time traveler.  Instead of hurting her and weakening her resolve as he had desired, it only made her that much angrier.  Willow was furious.

Forgetting that they weren't alone, Willow brought her nose to within an inch of Spike's.  "My hormones?  We both know this has nothing to do with me, Spike!  This is all about you.  It always was!  And when this is over...if this is ever over...you better watch your back!"

<Bloody hell...why isn't anything ever simple when it comes to Willow ?> Spike whined internally.  He had to think quickly.

"Is that another threat, love?" he sneered, suddenly remembering a similar threat on one of their first nights in Galway.

"No, Spike.  It's not a threat.  It's a promise!" she retorted boldly.  She wouldn't allow anymore crying, even if the tears were those of anger and hate.

Spike laughed icily, momentarily getting caught up in the argument.  "It might be a tad difficult for you to do that if Angelus has you shackled to his bed, dearie."

"You seem to be forgetting something, Spike.  I have friends...strong friends...friends that have kicked your ignorant ass before, and they'll do it again," Willow reminded him with a wicked smile.  "I actually have people that care about me in the future, and I didn't have to manufacture the past to make that happen, did I?  I said it before, Spikie, and I'll say it again, you're pathetic!"

At first, Spike was disappointed to see Willow respond so adamantly to his insulting comments.  After all, she was supposed to be wallowing in self-pity, not trading insults again.  But then, as Willow practically came to life before him, Spike's face contorted into a manipulative grin of his own.  This could work to his advantage if he played his cards right.

Spike's hand shot out yanked her to him so viciously that it threatened to bring more tears to her eyes.

"No, Rose.  You just wait, because the second your life isn't necessary anymore...when you quit being useful because the spell is complete...I'll shut your gob for you, permanently, and there is nothing your little Slayer and her sidekicks will be able to do to help you!"

"Oh yeah!" Willow retorted a little childishly, but she felt energized by finally being able to release some of her anger on the vampire that seemed to relish in ruining her life.  "It'll be a little hard to do that with a stake sticking out your backside, Spike!  In fact, I may miss the first few times on purpose...just so it hurts a little more..."

Damn he loved arguing with Willow.  He could in engage in verbal war with her for hours and never grow bored.

"Sounds to me like you are just looking for another excuse to practice your own *special* brand of stake removal, Pet!" he scoffed with an evil and thoroughly lewd grin.

Willow's eyes widened, but she was pleased to note that she didn't blush.  At least, she didn't think she was.

"The only stake I'll be removing is the one from your pile of ashes!  It will be a nice memento...I might bronze it and make it into a paperweight!"

"You and what army?  Those little playmates of yours again?  Xapper and the dog-faced boy?"

"It's *Xander* and *Oz*," she said through gritted teeth.  "And as a matter of fact, yes!  If I--"

"Well, that's all very temptin', I must say," Angelus finally broke in, reminding them that he was still in the room.  He'd enjoyed their little show immensely and had once again been mentally taking notes.

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered, quickly letting her go.  He knew he'd stepped over his bounds by touching what was no longer his, and now Angelus had every right to 'remind' Spike of his place.  Standing up to your sire, even defying him was one thing, but to threaten his property's life?  That was just asking for trouble.  Spike moved away from the redhead, grabbed a cigar from Angelus's desk and lit it, not wanting to waste time finding his own cigarettes.

"I'm sorry for touching your new little pet, Angelus.  I'd forgotten she was no longer mine to punish.  Old habits die hard, and sometimes she makes it so bloody difficult not to rip her tongue right out of her mouth," he explained between puffs, surprising himself on how easily the word 'sorry' came from his lips.

Angelus moved so quietly that Spike was a little startled when his sire's hands gripped his shoulders.  Once again the blonde vampire found himself nose to nose with his sire.

"As long as ya don't forget again, Spike," he asserted, looking him squarely in the eyes.  It'd be my right ta punish ya, then, wouldn't it?  And don't think I'm not considerin' it even now.  Rose is not yer concern, understand?  Fer yer threat ta harm her alone, I could kill ya.  So listen closely...ya won't hurt her...not now...not *ever!*" Angelus stressed, the double meaning obvious to the blonde demon.  "Unless, of course, ya have me permission," he added with a sly smile.

Spike didn't back down from the eye contact, but he didn't argue with his sire, either.  Angelus was right.  He deserved a severe bum kicking, if not worse, for this error with Willow.  After all, Spike himself would have killed anyone or anything that had dared to touch Dru in that manner back in the 'old' days, and he wasn't even her sire nor did he have any vampiric rights over her.  All he had was a lover's claim.  <And the old Angelus would have dusted my bloody ass for less than that,> he reminded himself.  Or would he?  Even Spike wasn't so sure anymore.  It was nearly impossible to separate his hatred for his sire from his jealousy because of Dru.  <If I hadn't fallen in love with the object of my sire's damned obsession, Drusilla, then maybe...>  Spike clenched his jaw at his new thoughts then tucked them away for later.  Once again, now was not the time.

"Yes, Angelus," was all he could managed to say.

Angelus walked away from his ever-more confused childe to attend to his Rose.  She was still breathing hard from her heated argument with Spike, her eyes dancing with fire and her cheeks flushed with her hatred.  She was always beautiful, but this was the way he liked to see her the most...angry, indignant even, and while he enjoyed her tears and self-pity, they didn't hold a candle to what was before him now.

"There's me Rose...there's the fire.  Now that ya again have something ta lose--yer future, yer family, and yer friends--ya've come ta life again," he all but murmured, slowly tucking a few strands of hair behind her ears that Spike had pulled astray when he had mishandled her.

Willow shoved his hand away and purposely mussed her hair back up.  She felt better than she had in days, despite the fact that Spike had just found an entirely new way to ruin her life.

Grinning at her barely controlled anger, Angelus once again calmly smoothed her hair and caressed her reddened face.

"Maybe that's the problem, Rose.  Ya don't stand ta lose anythin' now, not in this lifetime anyway," Angelus surmised.  But I'm bettin' that when yer back in yer own time, surrounded by yer family and friends, maybe things will look a little differently to ya.  The risk will be back then, won't it; the stakes will be higher?  I'd dearly love ta see ya like that again, Rose."

If looks could kill, both Angelus and Spike would have turned to ashes at that moment.  She threw not just daggers with her steel-green eyes, but stakes, knives, and double-headed axes as well.  Even so, this time she didn't shove his hands away from her face.  Instead, she stood still, almost daring him to try more.

Just seeing her once again in all of her furious glory made something inside of Angelus clench and skip.  It wasn't his heart, because he no longer had one in either the useful physiologic or romantic sense.  Whether it was lust or simply pride from knowing that the fiery nymph before him was now his alone, it was urging him to take her right then and there.  However, he couldn't 'take' her...not now, not ever if he wanted to go on seeing her like this, and that's what Spike was telling him.  The worst part was that Angelus had known it all along.  He'd just refused to admit that he--for lack of a better term--'cared' enough to worry about how long he would have with the virginal redhead.  Nevertheless, when he was with her now, not even touching or tasting her, days, weeks, even months would not be long enough for all the he yearned to do to her...an eternity would barely do.

Regaining the control that a master vampire should have, Angelus strolled away from her.  "Let me see if I have this straight," he said, more to himself than to the room's other occupants.  "I'd be able to see my little Rose and her friends try ta defeat us and fail miserably.  Also, since our futures will no longer be at risk nor will some ancient magick spell be tryin' ta stop all my fun, I'd also be able ta punish her in the manner that she so richly deserves...even kill her or change her if I so desire.  Yes, " he said with long look for both Spike and Willow, "that truly is a temptin' offer."

Willow held her breath.  She couldn't decide whether this was a good thing or not.

"But I need more than just the promise of some interestin' fights, Rose," Angelus said, his eyes searching out his own bite marks on her neck even from across the room.  "I'll let ya go, if ya give me another reason to...somethin' else ta look forward to."

"I don't...I don't understand," Willow admitted, glancing quickly between the two vampires.  Things had changed so suddenly that she felt like she'd been left out of some private joke.

He gave her a sadistic smile.  "I can have everythin' I want from ya, right now.  Why should I wait over a century?"

"Look, mate," Spike interjected.  "You can't have everything you want from her now, and we both know it!  You can't kill her, you can't take her virginity from her, and at the most you'll be able to drive her insane.  But in a little over a century, you can have it all, Angelus.  You've practically waited that long already.  It'll be here before you know it.  You know, time flies when you're having fun, and all that crap."

Angelus took to pacing back and forth in the room as he thought it all through.  Spike, having calmed down considerably, continued to puff away on the cigar as he watched his sire decide their futures.  Willow was once again frozen in place as she tried to sort things out for herself...especially Spike's new twist to their little soap opera.

Finally, Angelus stopped his pacing directly in front of Willow.

"Kiss me," he said.

"What?"  Willow replied, her mouth dropping in surprise.

"Kiss me.  Show me what I'm waitin' fer.  Give me a taste of what ya promise will be mine when we meet in the future, Rose.  Kiss me."

Willow shook her head viciously.  "No!  I won't...I can't!  I mean...Spike--"

"Don't look at me, Pet!" Spike exclaimed adamantly.  "You're not mine to worry about anymore, and I could care less who you kiss.  I just want to get home so I can have Drusilla and get out of these bloody ridiculous clothes!"

She looked between the two vampires and just knew that somewhere, some great cosmic force was having a good laugh at her expense.  However, her desire to go home outweighed her embarrassment, but just barely.

She moved slowly to Angelus, who was once again sitting on the edge of the enormous desk.  His face didn't reveal anything of what he was thinking or planning, but it was apparent that he was not going to make it easy for her.  The vampire didn't lean forward or bend his head, which forced Willow to stand between his parted legs.

The kiss was a non-event.  Willow reached up and pressed her closed mouth against his closed mouth, without even bothering to shut her eyes.  It was over in a heartbeat, ending when she stumbled back a few steps, eager to put some distance between herself and the dangerously handsome--and just plain dangerous--vampire.

"There," she said breathlessly.  "Was it good for you?"

Spike had to stifle a laugh by covering his face with his hand as if he were ashamed of his former protege.  Having been on the receiving end of Willow's ardor before, he knew that if she put any effort into it at all, they'd be out the door before Angelus could utter, 'Bob's your uncle.'

<Come on, Red,> Spike found himself silently cheering.  <You can do it...show him how we do it back home...>

Angelus forced a very loud sigh of disappointment.  "Remember how I once told ya that beautiful women were always worth waitin' fer?  With a kiss like that, I'm startin' ta think I may have been wrong," he said with a smirk.

Willow added her sigh in response.  She couldn't believe this whole situation, let alone that she was supposed to prove to the world's most nefarious vampire that she was worth waiting for...that he should wait another 100 years to torture, maim, and kill her...or worse.  And how was she to do this?  With a kiss, no less!  But, if the only way out was a kiss, then she had to do it, and she had to make it good.

This time as she approached him, she had already determined her course of action.  Willow guided herself between his legs, making sure that she brushed repeatedly against his thighs as she settled herself into a 'comfortable' position.  Willow received no reaction from the vampire, but then again, she had no false hopes that it would be easy to impress him.  She met his eyes and felt her confidence waiver.  There was nothing there...not even the poker face that she'd studied for hours across the card table only days before.  At least that face held a kind of mocking superiority, but this facade was devoid of all emotions, even pride.  She dropped her eyes quickly before she lost her nerve and let them fall on his tightly clenched lips.  She brought herself closer, resting one of her trembling hands on his chest before slowly brushing her mouth softly against his.  She allowed contact for only a brief moment before moving her mouth away from his lips to travel along his jaw.  Willow placed wet kisses from his chin to his ear.  Her tongue and teeth tasted his cool skin while one hand explored his chest and the other dug into his hard thigh.

She reenacted everything that she remembered Angelus doing to her on the ride from the country, teasing him, paying particular attention to his Adam's apple and jugular veins, nipping harder there.  She felt him stiffen, the muscles in his neck and back constricting, but he still didn't actually move to return her attentions or even utter a sound.  The reaction, however slight, boosted her confidence enough to let her continue.

She trailed a path back up his neck.  Then, using his long hair for a firm grip, she pulled his head back slightly so she could reach a particular spot under his strong chin before daring to look into his eyes once again.  His face was still firm, but for a brief second, she thought maybe his eyes had been closed, only flying open when he'd sensed she was moving back toward his face.  She couldn't be sure, though, because his stone features betrayed nothing.  Only his blazing eyes sparked the bravado in her to go on.  This time, she flicked her tongue along his lower lip before venturing down to his collarbone.  Her hands, meanwhile, found their own courage, exploring his chest and back before slowly ascending to trace the contours of his face.

As she shifted her weight once again, not even trying to lessen her body's contact with his, she found the first true sign that she was having some effect on him.  She felt him harden against her thigh but still his hands had not moved and his lips did not open beneath hers.  Pushing self-doubt to the back of her mind, she moved her assault back to his neck in order to bite just hard enough to gain his attention.

Once she had his notice, Willow brought a single finger to the smooth flesh of one of Angelus' cheeks.  With careful deliberation, she flexed the digit, scraping her nail deeply into his skin as she drew her hand downward.  Once she reached the line of the vampire's jaw, she retraced her finger's path through the thin line of blood her sharpened nail had purposely drawn.  Although she knew that pain was almost an aphrodisiac to vampires, the motivation was actually more of a stall for time than an act of seduction.  The truth of the matter was that Willow needed the extra seconds to come to terms with the fact that she was about to break an oath she had previously made, both to herself and to Angelus.

"Please, Angelus," she pleaded in a whispered voice.  "Please kiss me."

The sound of her begging, the pain she'd inflicted upon him and the scent of his blood was too much for the master vampire, destroying his legendary level of restraint.  He waited until she pulled away from his ear to peer into his eyes, her own hooded with hate, fright, and lust.  It was like a siren song to him.

Encouraged by the slight smirk that turned the corners of the vampire's mouth, Willow brought their mouths together again.  This time, however, Angelus came to life under her lips.  Suddenly his hands were everywhere...in her hair, on her face, and on her neck...in an effort to pull her closer.  Willow had passed logical thought the moment she'd opened her lips to his, inviting him to plunder her mouth with his own.

She wasn't thinking about who he is, was, or whom he someday might become.  She also wasn't thinking about what he could do to her or what she wanted him to do to her.  She was pure need.  Willow had let the logical side of her brain have its say for most of her life, save those that were spent in another vampire's arms, and now she was letting her hunger rule her.

It wasn't until Angelus's mouth lowered to her neck that the spell was broken, but not because she had the presence of mind to protest, only because Spike chose that moment to remind them that they had an audience.

Spike cleared this throat loudly.  "Um, Angelus...you said you wanted a kiss, not a bloody seven-course meal."

Willow started at the sound of his voice, her face flushing in embarrassment.  She tried to step out of Angelus's embrace, but his hand was once again firmly entangled in her hair, preventing her escape.  It was at that point that Willow decided that the first thing she was going to do when they got home was cut her hair.  She was tired of it being used as a weapon against her.

Angelus snarled at Spike's interruption as he pulled her back against him.  "I told ya one day you would plead fer my lips on yers," he murmured in a voice thick with passion, "but I think we both be knowin' that this wasn't quite what I was talkin' about."

Willow's mouth opened but no words came out.  Her voice was lost in confusion while her heart, brain, and libido waged a bloody war within.  <Oh God...I kissed him...I *really* kissed him!>  Not just anyone, but Angelus, the vampire who'd promised her only exquisite pain at his hands.  <Angelus...Angel...Buffy...Oz...Oh yeah, I am so going to hell for this...> she told herself.

It was Spike's turn to sigh as he left the wall that he'd been leaning against to watch the floorshow.  Because too much was riding on this, the blonde vampire quickly locked his emotions away before they could get the best of him yet again.

"Angelus, I know you have plans for her, and if there were any way for you to do that without risking our lives, mine and yours, I'd be tickled bloody pink to let you have your merry way with the little witch.  But I'm not willing to take that chance, mate."  Spike put a supportive hand on his sire's shoulder.  "What we need now is patience."

Angelus couldn't pry his eyes from Willow's flushed face.  In all his years, he had never seen anything so beautiful, nor had he ever experienced anything like what had just happened with his Rose.  He wanted more...he *needed* more.

"You expect me to wait longer for somethin' I've been wantin' fer as long as I can remember?  Somethin' that my childe has already had a taste of?" Angelus demanded with an unusual combination of bitterness and pain tainting his words.  It reminded Spike of his own voice when he used to speak about Drusilla and his sire.

The blonde vampire's hand moved from Angelus's shoulder to his chin, firmly turning his sire's face to him.  "You can start by letting her go," he said firmly.  "Trust me, Angelus.  I've done it before, and I'm doing it again.  It's not easy, and it certainly isn't any bloody fun to wait around for a woman, but you're strong.  You can do it."

The two vampires' eyes locked, and from Willow's vantage point only inches away from the both of them, she watched spellbound as something passed between the sire and his childe.  <How sweet,> she almost found herself thinking.  <They're bonding.>

Angelus eventually looked back at Willow.  A smile grew on his lips when he noted her frank display of interest at his interaction with his childe.  The future did promise so many exciting new possibilities.

He pulled his captive closer one last time to whisper in her ear.  "As I said before, Rose.  A woman as beautiful as yerself is worth waitin' fer."

Angelus loosened his grasp on her fiery locks to languidly draw his fingers through her long hair until she was free.  Then, in a move that caught Willow by surprise, he brought her left hand to his mouth.  As he had done two times before, the dark-haired vampire kissed the soft flesh around the silver band on her ring finger and then bit into it just hard enough to bring forth a few drops of blood.  He licked them away slowly and sensually, wanting to commit to memory her taste and her scent...everything about her.  With a final possessive growl that was wrenched from the very center of his demonic self, he lifted his head to look at his Rose's face one last time.

Willow could only return his somber look with one of utter confusion.  Before she could form a coherent thought, Angelus broke the spell.

"Lambert!" he called loudly, waiting for the minion guard to enter.  "Escort Rose safely to her room.  Spike and I have a few things we need ta be discussin'...in private."

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