Remembered Dreams

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She put her black boots on, got up from his bed and looked at herself in the mirror. Everything was in place, she thought. She walked over to the nightstand quietly, hoping not to wake him. She fished a couple of fifties out of his wallet and picked up her backpack. She walked into the bathroom and swiped all the soap and shampoo she could find. Even swiping the conditioner, lotion and a few washcloths, any little thing could help even if she didn't like their brand. A hundred bucks would pay her rent for a week and buy her a few groceries too, she thought. Maybe she could go check into one of those cheap places near where Angel's old office used to be and see if their apartments were any better.

Oz had told her where it had been when he came by to drop of the Ring of Amarra. Thoughts of Oz and how happy and semi-normal (it was the Hellmouth) her life had been at that time brought sudden tears to her eyes, she brushed them aside violently and slipped out the door. She always took a shower, applied black eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss, and changed clothes after business. Now she just looked like some angsting teenager instead of the angsting prostitute that she was. It had been a year since she had seen any of the gang from Sunnydale only exchanging a few emails with Giles a month and three letters with Xander, and that was how she liked it. It was too hard to lie to them if she had to hear from them often. Buffy was really too wrapped up in her own life to worry about the redhead.

Her parents had found out that she was spending time with Tara and they disowned her. Tara, that was a laugh she thought, she was only after me for my power and all I wanted her for was some human companionship. Everyone else had dumped me for their significant others and I wanted a friend, someone that would ease the loss that Oz had inflicted upon me because he was too weak to stay and work through his betrayal. When he finally did come back Tara had me completely blinded with some sort of spell, not that I'd have wanted to take Dogboy back, anyway, but Tara hadn't wanted to take any chances, Willow thought. The redhead had only found out about it when she did that spell for Buffy before the slayer had taken on Adam. Something happened when that spell took affect that snapped the control and energy siphon Tara had set up. Willow felt the whole thing and knew immediately of Tara's deception, and coincidently enough, Willow never saw the other girl in anything but a dream again.

Willow had tried to explain to her parents that she and Tara were only friends, but her parents wouldn't listen and told her not to bother coming back. Willow's scholarships had paid for her first year of college but she hadn't had time to apply for more to pay for her second year with all the Initiative stuff going on so she was out of funds. She wasn't going to put anyone else out and vowed to make it on her own. She told everyone in Sunnydale that she was transferring to UCLA and packed her stuff into a cab and took it straight to the pawn shop. She sold everything she had except her laptop and backpack filled with some magical supplies and a few books. Most of her clothing was sold to a second hand store. She had made enough money to buy the black clothing she was wearing including the boots and the two outfits she worked in.

She couldn't say she was completely unhappy with her life. She still had a few online friends and all she had to do was spend a couple of hours with some unknown person three times a week and she could pay her rent and utilities and even buy some food. She never took more than fifty dollars an hour. She didn't want to chance that person waking up and following her home to get the money back. She also always put them into a spell sleep once they were done. That way she could shower and take the money and go without having to deal with them afterwards. No one had ever complained about how much she took, so she figured it was a decent enough amount and kept with her routine. She was lucky this guy only wanted a bit of kink and took her to a room that had plenty of trial size toiletries.

A bit of kink, she smiled without humor, not like the first guy who'd picked her up wandering a few blocks from the bus station. He'd marked her pretty good. He used some sort of leather strap on her back. She didn't get a close look at it, but she knew it had metal studs placed an inch apart half way down by the way it marred her back. She didn't think he'd have used the strap, but after about an hour he found the claw mark scarring and a small uppercase 'D' on her lower back above her right hip. Apparently that was the first letter in the name of the girl he was obsessed with and it set him off.

Willow had no idea he was that crazy, although, she had to admit that anyone that picked her up would probably think she was underage and that would automatically make them disturbed, but she had needed the money. The locker at the bus station didn't cost a lot, but she did have to eat and she had spent most of her money on her clothing and the bus fare to LA. She was hoping to get enough from this guy to find a place to stay for the night so she could spend a few hours figuring out what to do next because the people at the bus station had found all the places she'd hid while she caught a few hours of sleep at a time.

Who would've thought that a few nights with Angel's insane childe would prepare her for her life to come. She didn't even flinch when her first client had started raving and pulled that strap from goddess knows where. It took her a long time to heal from that encounter though, emotionally and physically. She had tried to focus on conserving her energy and somehow ended up noticing the little things. She never did find out his name, not that she really cared, but she would never forget his eyes, his tattoo, or that painful looking scar. He had a deep royal blue heart, the same color as his eyes, with a black 'D' in the center crossed with a silver arrow on his right shoulder just under his collarbone. The heart almost looked like it was beating as he pulled his arm back for another blow. She also spent time studying the scar running down his left side that looked like it was done with something sharp and thick. She didn't think he was a vampire, unless maybe he had just fed because he wasn't cold. He didn't try to drain her, so she figured she must've been right. She calmly took what he gave until he was satisfied, sent him into a deep spell-induced sleep and swiped a hundred and fifty dollars from him. She figured she deserved at least that much for letting him mark her more than she already was.

She'd found an apartment that rented by the week, bought some food, retrieved her stuff and moved in. After a few days she wrote Giles and told him she was ok and that school was fun and asked how the gang was and said she loved him and hoped everyone was ok. She didn't think Giles knew enough to find out that she really wasn't at UCLA, and didn't think that he'd become suspicious enough to make the effort to learn how.

She'd had many clients both male and female since that first one, and none of them had been as rough as he was. Of course, she'd learned to read their surface thoughts since then too, so that helped her determine if the risk was worth the money they had to offer. Mainly she just looked for older business men and women who were bored with their suburban lives gave them a few hours of pleasure and a good nap in exchange for a few bucks they could obviously afford. There was always a willing supply of clients. She was surprised about the women at first though, but they generally treated her better. They always felt like they had more to lose, she guessed.

She kept to the club areas and dressed in the most current party wear she could afford so that she could blend in with the crowds easier if trouble arose. She figured she was almost as good at blending as Angel was now, and if it came right down to it, she could always use a bit of spellcraft to make it seem like she wasn't there. She couldn't make herself invisible, but she could make observers' eyes slide over her as just another non-descript club-goer and not the person they were looking for. She always thought of it as that mind trick in that old space fantasy movie Xander had made her see over and over when they were younger.

She stopped walking when she saw the lighted sign of the convenience store near her apartment. She pulled the door open and blinked owlishly in the sudden brightness of the store.

"Hey, Red! How's it going? You want to hang around until my shift ends and get something to eat?" the man behind the counter grinned at her.

"No thanks, Jarod, I'm pretty beat. I'm just gonna get a can of soup and a soda." She had met Jarod Green about six weeks ago after the old man who owned the store was shot by a couple of would-be robbers. It had really been the night-time manager who wanted to take over the store and thought the old man was in the way. Jarod had somehow proven the night-time manager was really to blame and got him sent to prison. Jarod was taking care of the store until the old man was well enough to come back. Willow thought he reminded her of Angel a little, always trying to help, always with the pain of loss in his eyes, in the world, but not really a part of it. He was always trying to coax her into eating with him. She knew that he had an idea of what she did and how little money she actually had from seeing her place. Maybe she would go to dinner with him again soon, but not tonight. Tonight she just wanted to go home and go to bed. He rang up her purchases.

"Alright, but the offer still stands. I'm still staying above the store, I told Kay you could come on up whenever you want. Here's some peanut butter cups for dessert, on me! I tried them last week and they're delicious!"

"Have you tried them on ice cream? They're really good." From what he had told her, he'd lived a very sheltered life and every time she saw him she mentioned something else that she thought he hadn't tried yet. She would never forget the time she told him about movie nights with friends with junk food and pepperoni and jalapeno pizza with extra cheese. He had gotten her talking about what she missed most about being back home. She had told him about being over at Buffy's with Giles and Xander and how they all watched movies until they fell asleep. Jarod had talked her into a movie night the following night so she could help him experience it for the first time. She didn't think she'd have the money to spend on pizza or renting movies, or even convenience store junk food, but he said he'd buy everything and gave her a smile that reminded her of Xander in the junk food aisle right after payday.

She couldn't resist that smile and even agreed to accompany him on his search to find the right movies and junk food. He had been happy that she wanted to share this with him. He had missed out on so much because of his childhood. She knew he was still searching for his mother. That his father, sister, and two brothers were all together in hiding. Willow just wished that she had a family that cared as much as his did. Or even just people that cared about her. She knew that Giles did, he was like the father she needed but never had. Joyce was even more of a mother than her own, and Spike, well, he was a demon and probably didn't care about her the way she came to care about him. The redhead came back from her thoughts, smiled and waved at Jarod and walked out of the store.

He knew there was something different about her. She hadn't told him her real name, just that he could call her Red. She intrigued him. He didn't have a lot of real friends, but he just knew he could trust her. He didn't know what she did with her time or how she really lived, but he had a good idea. The Centre might have sheltered him, but he did know a young girl alone in this city wasn't the best life for her. She seemed so smart.

One day he decided to ask her where she worked, he just slipped it into normal conversation, and her face hardened a little and she said here and there. Jarod had a tough time trying to accept what she was saying without wanting to help her. He stayed well past his little crusade with Jacob Jensen's shooting just so he could find out more about the little redhead that came in with either large bills or change to buy a can of soup and a soda once a day. She never bought the same kind of soup either, she liked to switch flavors every day. She told him once that variety was the spice of life. He'd never heard that phrase before, but it sounded true from his point of view. Except that she didn't seem to apply that to her wardrobe, she always wore all black. It made her hair and complexion more striking. He imagined she got a lot of second glances.

He clenched his jaw, he really didn't want her doing what he thought she was doing. It was dangerous. He knew he could help her somehow, if only he could find a way for her to accept his help. He remembered back to his first movie night. She was so sweet to show him what normal people did with their friends. He had a lot of fun and it was all because of her. That night before she left his house, after refusing a ride home, she had asked him if he was religious. He had told her he didn't really know. She handed him a chain with a cross on it and told him to wear it at all times, especially if he was out at night and then she handed him a small glass bottle and said that if someone came after him that had an abnormal face and yellow tinged eyes that he should throw the bottle at them, aiming for their face and then run home as fast as he could.

He thought it was strange that she said for him to run home as fast as he could, rather than running to the nearest shelter and hiding. He also took a few drops from the bottle and tested them and came up with plain water. It made him think her requests were that of an insane mind, but she seemed so lucid and sincerely worried about his well-being. A thought tugged at the back of his mind, but he couldn't figure out exactly what it was so he left it there, knowing that it would come back when he really needed to figure it out. He hoped that by complying to her wishes, she would trust him more.

Willow opened her apartment door, pulled out her key from the lock and closed the door behind her. She locked it and put her stuff in the kitchen. She busied herself with dinner preparations while thinking over her life. Jarod always did that to her, made her think and wish for a better life. She had so many dreams when she came to LA. Little did she know that she wouldn't be able to find any work without experience or a degree. She had thought about working at a topless place, but they didn't like her assets when they could choose from plenty of other girls. Then she tried food service, but all the places in the area didn't need anyone. That software company that had been courting her in high school ended up being a front for the mayor. She had been extremely disappointed. After pounding the pavement for an entire week, she decided to see if she could prostitute herself out again so she could pay the rest of her next week's rent.

The place she was staying at charged her ninety dollars a week for rent with a fifty dollar utility charge at the beginning of every month. She knew that was cheap, but after looking at the place in the daylight, she couldn't see how the owner could charge any more than that. So she pulled out her short skirt and halter top and went towards the club area. She found two clients that night. It was enough to take care of the next week with a little left over so she could eat, more than twice if she was careful.

After about the first ten clients she went home and cried herself to sleep. The only thing she could say is that she was surviving, but she had hated her life then. She even tried to get into UCLA, but since at the time she had just turned twenty and didn't have any military service, they kept asking for her parents information, and they made too much for financial aid.

Now she couldn't say she hated her life, she only had to work three nights a week most of the time and she could detach herself from the actual work part now. They called her Red and she was no longer Willow Rosenberg, shy hacker/witch. She was Red, the survivor who did what it took to get by. For the longest time she was in a daze just moving from day to day without thinking of the future or even worrying past the next week. Since she met Jarod however, she started thinking about her future again. There was something about him that made her want to really live. She started working four nights a week and even started looking for a real job again.

With all the cheap labor around most places still weren't hiring, but Willow was determined to stop hooking. She saved her money in an old coffee can under the sink and right now she had a little over four hundred dollars. It was really hard not to want to go out and spend some of it on a real meal or new clothes or even some new books, but she was resolved that the money was going to go to getting her back in school and a different job and maybe even a new place, but that was last on her list.

She finished up her dinner and cleaned up after herself. She sat back down on the couch she had found and brought in with Jarod's help. He seemed to think all apartments, even efficiencies, needed a couch. It was nice to sleep on something besides that old egg crate padding she'd used before. She had found it in a dumpster behind a nursing home and hosed it off really well before bringing it in. It was the first and only time Jarod had been to her place. She was embarrassed by it, but he didn't seem to mind, apparently he'd stayed in worse places than hers. She reached over and picked up her laptop off of one of the milk crates she used as a table and berated herself for leaving it out while she worked. She had never been robbed before, but that was partially because her apartment was empty and looked like there wasn't anything worth stealing left out in the open. Anyone who realized the value of her books probably wouldn't be snooping around her apartment in the first place and anyone else would see a couple of empty milk crates with a few books on them, a couch with a pillow, a few blankets and a floor lamp.

She wondered how the gang was doing back in Sunnydale. She wasn't curious enough to risk calling them, but she did wonder. Willow was glad that she set her internet service up through one of her parents credit cards before she had even graduated high school. She knew they wouldn't look at the bill hard enough to notice her monthly payments. Her wireless modem wasn't very fast, but it was fast enough to get her email, and until she could afford something better she was going to be happy with what she had.

She checked her inbox and saw a letter from Giles. She clicked on it and read what Giles had written. It seems that Spike had gotten his chip out two weeks ago after suffering for over a year. Graham and Riley had found a couple of the Initiative scientists who were willing to take the implant out. Spike in return had promised not to kill any of the gang because they had fed him and taken care of him until he could take care of himself again. Xander was still wondering why she hadn't written him back yet. Giles said that he had been over every day with Spike of all people the past 3 weeks asking about her.

She wondered what the sudden urgency was, it was only, oh, she thought as she kept reading, her birthday was three weeks away. She'd never really had a party before. Her parents weren't around often enough to give her one when she was younger and now Xander wanted to give her one. He thought she should take a break from school and come home. Buffy and Riley had gotten married a few months before and the slayer hadn't even thought to send Willow an invitation until the day before the wedding, and now Xander wanted her to come back for a birthday party. She smiled at the screen. Good old Xander, she thought. I can't believe Spike's still around, its been two weeks since he was re-fanged, and he's still around Xander and Giles both. She sighed and worded a short reply saying she would think about coming back then as long as her studies weren't interrupted. She sent it and went on to her other email when there was a knock at her door.

She couldn't imagine who would be at her door at eleven at night so she waited a couple of seconds and went to the peephole in her door. She couldn't see anyone at her door but a young man was placing a flyer on the doorknob across the hall and knocking. He walked down the hall to her right and she couldn't see him any more but she could hear faint knocking noises every few moments. She waited until she thought he had finished with her hall, unlocked her door, peeked out and picked up the vanilla colored flyer that had dropped on the floor. She shut and re-locked her door.

Self-defense classes, hmmm... maybe I could go to one of these, they're giving them on my off nights, and I could stil have Sunday night to rest! Perfect! Willow had convinced herself to go and continued to read the flyer. The instructor was Liam Keegan and the associate instructors were Wesley Prause and Thomas Gunn. Classes were being held for six weeks from seven until nine Monday and Tuesday nights in the east wing of the community center starting this Monday night. The flyer only had one bit of artwork at the lower left corner. It looked like it was an artistic rendition of an butterfly, or an owl, or maybe even an angel. Anyway, it was kinda pretty in a you can't tell what it really is way, Willow thought. Classes were free and registration was at six-thirty before the first class.

Willow went back to her computer and finished her emails. She closed her computer down, hid it under the cushion where she put her feet and re-checked the lock on her door. She wandered in to her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair had grown out past her shoulders. It was still a little wet from her earlier shower. She took the time to braid it loosely so it would be wavy in the morning. She figured it was time to dip into her savings and buy a pair of black denim jeans that were looser than the ones she already owned and a couple of black cotton tank tops. If she was going to learn to fight she needed to learn in the clothing she'd be wearing normally. She pulled out her spaghetti string top and boxers out that she slept in and was thankful for at least the hundredth time that she kept her underthings instead of trying to sell them. She couldn't imagine who would want used underthings anyway, but she was thankful that she didn't try.

"Angel, are you sure we cannot go pull that Gunn chap, and retrieve the flyers?" Wesley pleaded as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"No. He's already passed them out around the area. What's so important that you want them all back?" Angel walked across the front office to where Wesley was standing near the coffee maker.

"Look, right here." Wesley pointed to the cream colored flyer. "It says Wesley Prause, when my name is clearly Wesley Wyndham-Pryce on the original."

"Maybe they ran out of room. If it makes you feel any better, you sound less like a pompous loser." Cordelia smiled at the watcher and continued her typing.

"Thank you Cordelia, for your ever stellar insights." Wesley grumbled before grimacing at the cup of poison he was sure he was drinking. The ex-watcher walked over and sat in the chair across from Cordelia's desk. "Delia, didn't I ask you to wait until I came in to make coffee?"

"You weren't here and Mister Sunshine Hater over there is even more growly when he doesn't have coffee first thing." Cordelia snapped closing the file she had been typing into the computer.

Angel listened patiently as Wesley complained for twenty minutes before making the man get to the point, but knowing that the pair were about to get into their daily argument over coffee made the vampire decide that now was a good time to exit stage right. He didn't care if his employees thought he was brooding too much, to be honest he really just didn't have anything to add to the great coffee debate and resulting conversation every morning. He'd much rather skip it altogether. He knew that they started it every morning to allow him to escape to his office so they could discuss whatever it was they needed to talk about without the vampire around. He also knew that they generally talked about one of two things that had come to light six months after the old office and Angel's apartment blew up: Angel's lack of love life even after the PTB's told them that Willow had made Angel's soul permanent three years earlier, or the feelings the cheerleader and ex-watcher had found still existed between them despite their awkward first attempt in Sunnydale.

"Wes, you can correct them at the first class tomorrow night. If you want I'll even find a chalkboard for you to write it on. If you don't like Cordelia's," the vampire grimaced, "coffee, don't drink it. I'm going into my office. Let me know when you're both ready to go home, and I'll drop you off before patrol."

He was glad that he had a mini-fridge and microwave set up in his office, as well as a couch. He was not in the mood to try to convince them of what he wanted or didn't want in a relationship no matter what the status of his soul was. Angel didn't really care about starting a relationship with a new person. The brunette vampire knew that if he stayed for the discussion today he'd want to douse himself in holy water and dance in the mid-morning sun. He walked towards his office thankful they didn't try to stop him.

Wesley hadn't moved out of Cordelia's apartment since their old office had blown up. In the beginning it was only to protect Cordelia while Angel was out, but after the two revived their lost romance Cordelia wanted him to stay. Dennis was jealous at first, but settled down after a few days. Angel was glad he didn't live there. He loved them both like family but also didn't want to live with them every second of every day like family either. He moved into a building, that David Nabbit had started the day after the explosion, two months to the day after the vampire's office and apartment blew up.

The set up was nearly the same except the building only had two stories above the basement level. He hadn't done much to the second floor yet, focusing primarily on the office and his living quarters in the basement. Each floor had a large kitchen and full bath, Angel was thinking of turning the top floor into another apartment, but he hadn't made up his mind yet. The first floor had his office and the front office with connecting doors to the library and the armory where most of their actual work was done. Since the episode with Vocah, Angel made sure that Cordelia and Wesley spent at least an hour and a half a day in the armory practicing hand to hand and weapons training.

He was even thinking of getting Willow to come over from Sunnydale to cast a few protection spells on the building and on Cordelia's place, even though Cordelia had her own built in protection with Dennis being around. No one could enter Cordelia's apartment unless Dennis agreed to open the doors or windows. Thoughts of Willow always made him a bit melancholy. She was one of the two reasons Angel didn't want to go along with any of the schemes Cordelia cooked up to get him to start dating again. It had been almost a year since he'd heard from her or any of the Sunnydale gang. With his apartment blowing up and all the turmoil that resulted from that he had been too busy to try to keep up with Willow or anyone else living in Sunnydale.

The last time he had seen Willow, he'd practically attacked her in the street to keep from catching Buffy's attention. She probably should've recognized me for the monster I am and kept screaming, but she didn't. She was so sweet and pure and innocent and beautiful and I have to stop thinking about her or I'll need a hard workout followed by a cold shower. I've been completely on edge for the past year. I've felt like every night I've had to fight for my very existence. Maybe Willow could make me a charm, or maybe an herbal mixture for my liquid diet. Liquid diet, that's a laugh, always trying to hide behind euphemisms, no wonder she wouldn't give me a second glance, I'm pathetic.

His thoughts were cut off by the phone ringing on his desk. Cordelia must've thought it was important enough to send through to his office and disturb him. Angel got up from his couch and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Angel sat down on his desk top.

"Peaches? That you?" Angel straightened at the sound of his childe's voice.

"Yes. What is it Spike?" Angel absentmindedly fiddled with the cord.

"I think something's wrong with the witch. You know how the chit said she transferred to the university in LA last fall, right?" Spike actually sounded concerned, which amazed Angel to no end.

"No. You know I haven't spoken to any of you in a year. What happened, and why do you think Willow's in trouble?" Angel growled out the last part. He knew he shouldn't take it out on his chipped childe, but something about hearing that Willow could be in danger set his teeth on edge. If it weren't so damned sunny outside, I'd go find a Sanski demon to fight with, they're always good for a few hours, he thought. Spike continued to explain what had tipped him off to Willow's possible deception.

"Spike, if she hasna been in school fer the past year, where has she been? Why didna any o' ye catch her at it earlier?" Angel knew he was starting to lose the careful control he kept on his speech as well as his emotions.

"Soddin' hell you wanker, you know how smart the chit is! She could make up a bleedin lie that anyone could believe when you combine it with her sweet innocence. The only people that wouldn't believe a word out of her mouth are her worthless excuse for a mum and dad!" Angel knew from past experience that Spike was about to explode into an extremely long tirade and was already long past his own breaking point at the mere mention of Willow being in trouble. The elder vampire decided quickly on the best course of action.

"William." He growled out and continued with a low rumbling in his chest. Spike stopped and listened to his sire intently. "Get in yer motor an be in me office before sundown this e'en. Dinna dally nor try me patience, boy." Angel hung up the phone before allowing his favorite childe a chance to respond. He went to his mini-fridge pulled out a bag of blood and nuked it to human body temperature. Angel didn't even bother with a mug, he ripped into it with his elongated teeth and sucked it straight from the bag. It helped a little, but Angel figured he needed to work the body bag in the armory, skipping the front office completely until his temper cooled.

******************

Willow rolled over and groaned. The one day a week that I actually let myself sleep in and I have nightmares all night. I can't believe Southwest Chicken soup would give me that many. Every one of them had that guy from the bus station in them. Maybe I'll be able to get Jarod to do something fun today. It's his off day, I think. With that decided, Willow got up, folded her blanket and placed it under her pillow on the far end of her couch. She had to admit, she liked seeing Jarod. She didn't have any friends in LA that she spoke to. Angel, Cordelia and Wesley were friends, but they didn't have a clue she was in town. She really missed Angel. They hadn't been all that close before Buffy sent him to hell, but after she restored his soul a second time they had formed a tenative friendship. She always felt that he was beyond her reach and completely Buffy's and tried not to give it too much thought.

She wondered about the rest of the gang in Sunnydale. Well, she was specifically wondering about a certain bleached vampire. She wondered if he was killing people again or if he was feeding and letting them go. She hoped it was the latter, but was pretty sure it was the former. She sighed and went to her bathroom. She pulled out her one towel and went to the bathroom to get ready for her day.

Thirty minutes later she was ready to face the world. She put the outfit she had worn last night for a total of an hour back on. She figured it wasn't too dirty because she'd showered right before she put it on the night before and it was the only outfit she had that looked decent enough to be out wearing during the day. Her make up was simple and understated. She picked up her keys and glanced around her apartment making sure that everything valuable was hidden.

She walked out and locked the door behind her starting towards the stairs. She decided half way through her journey to take a shortcut through the alley between two buildings. She never knew what hit her when someone grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her head back harshly. Her assailant kissed her hard bruising her mouth and cutting the inside of her cheeks on her own teeth. He threw her down hard on the pavement causing her to see stars. She looked up and his unnatural royal blue eyes were the last thing she saw before passing into oblivion.

She came to slowly. Everything hurt. She felt cold and sticky. A hand was gently shaking her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, you ok? He's gone. You're safe for now." Through her groggy gaze she noticed it was the young black man who put the flyer on her door last night. He had a cut above his right eyebrow that was bleeding slightly. He took off his jacket and placed around her shoulders. Her clothing was ripped and torn and her jeans were undone but looked like they were all in one piece. She pulled her clothing together and shivered. Her face felt like it was about four sizes too big for her head and her mouth was stinging. Her left temple was itching near her hairline. She reached to touch it and whimpered. She brought her hand away and saw her own blood and nearly lost last night's dinner. She could taste the coppery tang of blood where her cheeks were cut on the inside.

"You got somewhere to go. Somewhere I can take you? A hospital maybe?" He didn't touch her after giving her his jacket, he simply kneeled at her feet. He could see the bruises starting to form on her arms and face and was really glad he happened to be walking down the alley before the guy could have killed her or worse.

She finally got her mouth to move and thanked him and told him to take her to Jensen's store. He helped her get to her feet after letting her try for herself first. Her right ankle was sprained at the very least and she couldn't put much weight on it.

"It's not very far. Why do you want to go there?" She leaned heavily on his shoulder as they stepped towards the exit of the alley.

"Friend. Jarod." She didn't really have a lot of strength to focus on any of his words, but he nodded like she'd said the right things.

"Do you mind wearing my bandana? It'll look less like I attacked you if you do." Willow nodded and he leaned her against the brick building. He tried to be as gentle as he could tying the bandana around her forehead, but she winced anyway. He knew she was keeping it together by her sheer force of will alone. He had to get her to her friend pretty fast and he hoped the man was a doctor.

He helped the barely concious redhead into the store. He'd spoken with Kay a lot of times before when he happened to run in the store. Old Man Jensen was pretty cool and let he and his gang have food every now and then when times were lean. Kay kept up with the old man's tradition.

"Kay, is there someone named Jarod around? Red here wanted to see him and she's kinda beat." He winced at the really bad pun and he hoped Kay didn't notice the redhead's appearance.

"Yeah, sure Gunn, go through the back, and up the stairs. Jarod's building some sort of model out of strawberry licorice. I don't get him sometimes, but he's sweet enough." Gunn nodded and helped Willow up the stairs. He called out when he reached the top.

"Jarod? Jarod? I got a redhaired girl that wanted me to take her to you. I hope you're a doctor, man." Gunn sat Willow gently on the couch. He untied his bandana and loosened her boot strings. He heard a noise behind him and stood up quickly in a defensive position.

"Who are you?" the man asked as he walked around the room. He sucked in his breath when Willow came into his view and forgot all about being wary of the young man standing in his current living room. He rushed over to her, pulling an eyelid open one at a time, checking her dilation. "Never mind who you are. What happened to her? Who did this?"

"I don't know, man. I was cutting through this alley and this guy was whaling on her. I don't think she's lost any teeth or anything, he was pretty careful of her face, but I ran him off with a bit of a struggle. He didn't seem to want to fight with my police issue. I just wish I could've gotten there sooner. She said you were her friend and didn't want to go to a hospital. I'm Gunn by the way, and you are?"

"Jarod. Did she say anything about who did this?" Jarod paused in his examination to look up at the young man who'd saved his friend's life.

"No, she hasn't said more than ten words since I ran that guy off. Is she gonna be ok, Jarod?"

"Yes. I think so. Nothing seems broken. Her right ankle is sprained and should have ice on it. She mainly has cuts and bruises. She has a knot on the back of her head but her pupils are normal so she probably isn't concussed. She wasn't..." Jarod trailed off.

"No. I know he was thinking about it, but he never got that far. She was out when I got there so I don't think she knows he was gonna do that." Thank goodness, Jarod thought and then had an idea.

"Gunn, if I tell you where she lives, can you go lift her stuff and get her some clothes? I can pay you." Jarod figured if the young man was honest and decent enough to wade into a fight that didn't have anything to do with him, he wouldn't possibly steal Red's stuff.

"Nah, you don't have to pay me. We'll call it a favor. Maybe I'll need one from you some day." Gunn smiled.

"Thanks." Jarod told Gunn where she lived and focused his attention back on the sleeping girl. He would find out who did this to her, and whoever it was would pay very dearly for a long and painful time to come.

*******************

Angel spent the next three hours working off his tension and wondering about Willow. He'd even went down to his apartment and pulled out the sketches he'd done of her during his time in Sunnydale, before and after his soulless time. Even Angelus had done sketches of her. They were sitting haphazardly on his desk while he paced around the office. He knew his errant childe would be there soon to explain himself.

There was a knock at the door. Cordelia peeked her head in and watched Angel pace a moment before speaking.

"Angel, Gunn called, he said he had to run an errand before he stopped by, but that he'd be in right after. Do ya need anything? What did Spike want, oh--" Only Angel's vampiric speed caught the seer before she fell from the pain of her vision. He brought her over to the couch and sat down beside her rubbing circles on her back. Wesley had heard her stop suddenly and saw her crumple into Angel's arms and knew the vampire would take care of her until he got her some aspirin and water.

"What do you see Cordelia? What is it?"

"A man named Jarod. April Arms apartments. Apartment 3-B. Four o'clock. Half-demon warlock." She gasped out.

"What kind of demon? Can you describe him, dearheart?" Wesley came back into the room and gave Cordelia the pain killers and water and sat down next to her.

"Thanks. He looked human at first, had royal blue eyes, had a royal blue heart-shaped tattoo with a black 'D' in the center with a silver arrow passing through it on his right shoulder just under his collarbone. He has dark hair and pale skin and dresses like King Brood. What is it with human looking demons and their fashion sense. They either dress badly like Whistler or they dress like they're going to their own funeral like Angel does?" Cordelia leaned back over to Wesley's shoulder and shut her eyes.

"Delia, fashion later. Can you tell me anything else?" Angel continued to pace his office taking notes and trying to come up with a quick game plan.

"He had shiny blue scales when he was fighting with the guy I'm assuming was Jarod. All of his other features were the same. The tattoo was glowing when he was in his demon form." Wesley rubbed her back tenderly and brushed her hair away from her face. He kissed her on the forehead and went into the library to retrieve a book.

Angel stopped sketching and showed Cordelia his drawing pad, "Is this the tattoo?"

"Yeah," Cordelia nodded, "that's it, but the 'D' was uppercase and the heart was fatter and squishier-looking." Wesley pulled a book off the shelf and began reading part of it aloud as he walked back into Angel's office.

"The shiny blue scales make it sound like a Resal demon. They're known to like mild to warm climates and they feed on sex and pain. I've never heard about them breeding with humans before, however, I'll have to research the differences that might make. They don't have any major powers except for being able to fascinate or influence a person that looks into their eyes. I believe if you can cut off his energy supply, you'll be able to incapacitate him long enought to--" Wesley stopped in the doorway, with his book and his mouth open, "Oh, my. We'll have to find a victim of his with spell casting abilities, that can bind him from doing harm. It says here that it won't kill him, only destroying his eyes will kill him, but it will limit its feeding habits and keep the general population safe from everything except sexual excess. Of course we don't know what the binding will do to his psyche, it could very possibly drive him insane."

"Best case scenario, will weapons hurt it?" Angel stopped directly in front of the ex-watcher.

"Yes, but none of the damage will be permanent and would only scar if the damage happened in his human form. You could decapitate the Resal and given enough time, two hours or so at the most, it would regenerate. The only way to kill him is for the binding to take place and then the destruction of its eyes. On the bright side, its fighting skills are minimal, the demon chooses to use its eyes as its main weapon. I believe you'll be able to knock him out and then take him to a place where he's surrounded by thick walls and doesn't have any kind of stimuli to feed from. Once he's been weakened, it should be simple enough to bind him, and then destroy him if he needs it."

"How can you say 'if'? He feeds on pain! Did you breathe in too much dust in the library and short out all your brain cells?"

"Cordelia, we're not in the business to judge. We're only trying to help the hopeless, remember? I have enough time to go over there and be back by sundown. Wesley, could you dig up more of what you can on the Resal demons and Cordelia use the internet to dig up what you can on that tattoo as well as homicides or suicides linked to S&M in the past year. If Spike and Gunn show up before I get back, make sure they don't kill each other. I have a feeling I'm going to need both of them."

He was really glad David Nabbit had taken an interest in their office. Angel didn't even mind the man's occasional awkward visit. He was extremely grateful that David had allowed for underground access to the sewers, as well as a garage for his car and four others. The special tinting for his car windows allowed Angel access to assignments during the day. He was anxious to save this Jarod guy and work off some steam with the Resal demon, before having to deal with his favorite childe and his suspicions about the red-haired hacker.

Less than ten minutes after Angel had left, Gunn came strolling in the office. He saw Wesley walking through the office from the kitchen area back to the library with a large musty book in his hands, while Cordelia was typing furiously on the computer sitting on her desk.

"Vision?" Gunn asked, already knowing the answer.

"Vision." Cordelia answered without looking up.

"What's this one about?" Gunn asked as he walked towards the kitchen area for a soda.

"Angel's notes are on his desk. Its about some guy named Jerry or something and a resale demon and the kinky leather crowd." Cordelia shrugged as she continued her search.

Gunn walked into Angel's office and retrieved his notes as well as a few sketches without looking at them. He sat down on the couch beside Cordelia's desk and flipped through them. He saw the words 'Jarod' and 'April Arms' and got a sinking feeling. He saw the sketch of a rounded heart with a 'D' and an arrow. He knew he wasn't going to like what was next, but nothing prepared him for the shock of seeing the red-haired girl's face staring up at him from the rest of the sketches. She was in various situations, sleeping, laughing, concentrating on a book or computer, even one where it looked like she was casting a spell. In all of the pictures except one she had looked happy. Gunn wondered what had made her so unhappy, and more importantly how she related to this case and Angel. The Jarod that Angel was going to help at Red's apartment complex had to be the same one that lived above Jensen's store.

"Cordelia?" Gunn knew he had to tell the brunette secretary about the sketches and what happened in that alley.

"Yeah?" She glanced up at Gunn, wondering why he looked so anxious all of a sudden, it was almost like he'd seen a ghost.

"I know this girl." Gunn handed her the sketches.

"Let me see them," she glanced over them and looked up in shock, "you know Willow?!?"

*******************

Jarod really didn't want to leave Red alone, but he needed to find out more about who would want to harm her. Gunn had brought back her things quickly. She didn't have much, a few books, clothing and toiletries, and money in a coffee can. Jarod had no clue how Gunn would've known to find Red's stash of money, but he knew she'd be grateful. What was surprising was that the girl had a highly sophisticated laptop. Jarod wasn't going to delve into the girl's computer unless the situation worsened and she couldn't give him the answers he needed to help her. He knew she was a very private person and didn't want to hurt their friendship by breaking into her files unless it was absolutely necessary.

He did however glance at the books Gunn had brought back. They were all about witchcraft and the supernatural. Some of the books even spoke of vampires and other demons. He glanced at a few of the bookmarked pages dealing with vampires, specifically three that were captured in a sketch around the turn of the century: Angelus, the one with the angelic face, also known as the Scourge of Europe rumored to have a soul, William the Bloody, also known as Spike for his penchant of torturing his victims with railroad spikes, and Drusilla, the insane and extremely deadly vampiress rumored to have visions of the future. These three caused hundreds, maybe even thousands of deaths in the years they were together.

There was a note in simple handwriting that was a reminder to update the book on the vampires' current histories, that Angel was good, Spike couldn't harm people, and Drusilla was out of the country, in Brazil possibly. Whoever had written that note obviously believed the book as truthful and as outrageous as it was, thought they knew the vampires in question.

Jarod wondered if Red had written the note. It would explain her bizarre requests about the water, which must've been holy water, and crucifix. The medication he'd given her to rest would probably let her sleep another three hours or so, Jarod thought he would go to her apartment and see if there were any clues there for himself. He decided that he would barricade the door and charge it with an electrical shock leaving a note for her not to go anywhere if she could help it, and instructions on how to disarm the door if she needed to get out. He picked up his jacket, rigged the door, and walked towards the stairs.

The walk to her apartment was short and even though it was broad daylight, there weren't many people out on the street; definitely no children playing outside in this neighborhood. He walked up to her apartment and noticed the door was cracked open. He thought maybe Gunn had left the door open in his haste to get back to Red and get to work. He pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped carefully into Red's apartment.

Jarod barely sidestepped the man rushing him from the kitchen. As it was Jarod hit the door jamb heavily and watched the man continue in a controlled roll into the wall across the hall. Jarod ducked and dodged the man's fists and kicks thankful for the Centre's martial arts training for once. Jarod could tell that his assailant wasn't trained in any discipline, but he kept trying to get Jarod's face up. Jarod didn't know why it was so important that he look at his assailant and instinctively kept his eyes down. He finally found an opening and flung his opponent down the hall. What he saw then made him pause. The man, or so Jarod thought was a man, had shiny blue scales and had a glowing tattoo of some sort that was visible through his shirt.

Before the blue man could rush him again, he was picked up by his arms currently being roughly twisted behind his back by another man. Jarod hadn't even seen the man approach and was rather envious of his stealth never mind the strength it took to lift a man a foot off the ground with one hand. The dark haired stranger bent to the shiny blue man's ear and whispered something. The blue man struggled and Jarod heard him shout something like 'she's mine' and 'she can't take her away from me' but he couldn't be sure from his vantage point. The dark haired man looked like he was loosing his patience and shoved the blue man towards the stairs. The blue man took off running as the man walked over to Jarod. Jarod finally took a good look at the man's face and was shocked to see the same face as the one in the drawing of Red's book.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" The man's eyes looked over Jarod carefully, noticing the dazed look on his face, but snapped out of it the moment he spoke.

"Are you Angelus?" Jarod realized how strange that sounded and shook his head, "Never mind, it can't be true. Yes, I'm fine. I'm Jarod. Thank you for getting rid of that guy, you wouldn't have happened to have lifted his wallet would you?" Jarod hoped the man didn't mind being mistaken for one of the most vicious vampires in folklore and hoped that he wasn't up on the same books Red had kept. The man in question studied him a moment before replying.

"I prefer Angel, what do you know about Angelus, and was there any reason that guy was after you?" The man kept his face nearly expressionless which made Jarod wonder if the man was saving him from a predator only to become the prey all over again. Jarod remembered the concern in his eyes before he had mentioned Angelus and decided to take a chance.

"A friend of mine was attacked today, but Gunn didn't say anything about body art." Jarod started his explanation but the man cut him off with a hand.

"Wait a minute, Gunn was attacked? I need to make a phone call."

Angel walked a few feet and pulled out his cellphone. He checked with Cordelia and she said that Gunn had come in a few minutes ago with a cut above his eyebrow, and said he knew Willow from the sketches that were left on the vampire's desk. While Angel was talking Jarod tried to slip away, but was unsuccessful due to Angel's arm shooting out and catching his own in an iron grip. Cordelia went on to say that Gunn wasn't saying anything else until Angel got back to the office. Angel flipped his phone closed and put it back into his pocket and turned to the man he had just saved. Jarod started speaking before Angel had time to form a question.

"Look, I appreciate you saving me, but I really need to look at my friend's apartment, she was the one attacked earlier, Gunn just happened to have stopped the guy." Jarod had shrugged away from Angel's loosened grip and walked towards the askewed door.

"Gunn works for me, I'm a P.I. I need to help you, so we'll take a glance at your friend's apartment and then I'd like for you to come back to the office with me." Jarod understood the need to help people implicitly. He found himself nodding his head in agreement before entering the apartment in front of Angel. Jarod knew that if Angel did turn out to be another predator; he would get out of any situation Angel put him in eventually, years of avoiding the Centre sweepers taught him that.

******************

Willow watched herself walk over to her window and checked the lock on the door. She saw herself close her blinds and walk away from the French doors towards her bed. She saw herself pull on her Snoopy pj's and climb into her bed. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'I don't live with my parents, I must be dreaming, I don't want to be dreaming about this house, I want to wake up, why can't I wake up?'

Willow was powerless to stop the onslaught of memories that she had kept carefully hidden during the day. The only physical reminder she had was when she looked into a mirror at her back, but the emotional reminders were always there. Her viewpoint changed to first person rather than the outside view she had in the beginning. 'no, no, no, no' she repeated over and over. 'I don't want to re-live this, I want to wake up, please Goddess, let me wake up,' she begged. She knew that her thoughts would direct her dreams and knew that she'd already started her mind on a path she didn't want to follow to the end.

She pulled the covers up over her head like she'd done many times since she was eight. That was when her parents first thought she was old enough to stay on her own. They didn't leave her for long in the beginning. They normally stayed gone overnight three times a week being home the rest of the time. It was only until she turned twelve that they took extended trips. She had thought it was fun the first few weeks, but after that she felt lonely. She was lucky to have Xander though, he came over a lot. It was ironic really, he came over to get away from his parents and she just wanted hers to spend more time with her, but that was then. She heard a tapping at her French doors and sighed. She knew what was coming, cursed her parents once again for leaving her, and couldn't seem to be more than a not so casual observer in her mind.

"Look at me, lovey. Be in my eyes." Drusilla waved her hand in front of Willow's eyes and spoke in that velvety hypnotic voice she had once Willow had moved aside the curtain. "Invite me in Little Tree. The stars are singing a beautiful song. Invite me in." She crooned. She smiled wickedly as Willow unlocked the doors, opened it and invited her in.

"What fun we shall have my Little tree." She wrapped the girls hair around her fingers and pulled the girl gently to her side, "We shall have tea and cakes and invite Miss Edith, she loves tea and cakes. We'll leave the boys out, it'll just be us girls, but not that nasty smelling slayer. She makes the stars sing so horribly, pet. It will be fun, you'll see. Mummy is always right." Drusilla licked the side of her cheek like a six year old child would lick ice cream causing Willow to shiver.

"None of that now, luv. Let's get you to bed, eh, pet? We'll play such lovely games tomorrow." Drusilla walked over to the doors, locked them and pulled the curtains shut tightly so the morning sun wouldn't burn her lovely skin. She pulled off her outer garments leaving herself in a white lacy full slip. 'Don't want to scare my Little Tree just yet, Daddy and my Spikey will love her.' Dru slipped in beside Willow under the covers. Willow whimpered slightly, making her first sound since Dru had tapped on her window. Dru spooned in behind the redhead and wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled the younger girl closer.

Willow awoke with a start, it must've been a dream she thought, but the weight of a cool arm across her waist made her realize that it wasn't. 'Why can't I get out of this dream, I'm dreaming that I'm waking up, how annoying is that?! Usually by now I've been able to gather control of the dream and pull myself out of it and either wake myself up or send myself to a dreamless state.'

"Come back to me lovey. Don't you want to have tea? Maybe its too early. We should have breakfast cakes and eggs, oooh, they're all warm and squishy, like a still-beating heart. Can we have eggs, pet?" Willow nodded and got out of bed stopping off at her closet door to snag her robe. Drusilla didn't seem to mind what she was wearing and followed the redhead downstairs.

"Drusilla?" the redhead looked up from her breakfast plate questioningly.

"Yes, pet?" Drusilla put down her fork with the squishy eggs which were actually scrambled and walked over to Willow's side. "Is there something you need, dearie?" The vampiress stroked Willow's hair until the girl visibly relaxed.

"School, I have school today, no wait, its parent-teacher in-service day, and the gang, they'll expect me at the library and Bronzing, we're supposed to go to the Bronze tonight, and--" Dru shushed Willow's babbling with a cool finger to her lips.

"Breathe my Little Tree, breathe. I'll call the watcher and take care of everything." Drusilla stilled her hand upon Willow's head and Willow could feel her head tingling a little until the vampiress removed her hand. Drusilla walked over to the telephone and dialed a number.

"Rupert, Rupert Giles?" She said in flawless Sheila Rosenburg tones, "This is Sheila Rosenburg, Willow's mother. Her father and I are taking her on a trip this weekend to a seminar on the pysychological adjustment of the adolescent to a more ergonomic environment with the absense of a cinematic presence in Northern California. She'll be back at school on Monday and insisted that I call." Willow looked over at Drusilla in shock. She had no idea the vampiress was that talented with her mind, only seeing the insane babbling before. Drusilla winked at her before continuing.

"Yes. Yes. You'll tell Bunny and Alexander, won't you? Thank you, Mr. Giles. Good-bye." Drusilla hung up the phone and went over to stand behind Willow's chair once more.

"There now, lovey, Mummy has it all taken care of." Drusilla smiled at the redhead stroking the pale column of Willow's neck gently.

'Ok, I really want to wake up now, I know what's coming next and once was enough, really! Please wake up. Come on! Why can't I wake up? Oh no! What if I'm in a coma? Then I'll always relive things I don't want to re-live.' Willow felt herself pulled back into her memories with a snap.

"Lovey, you can't keep leaving me. I want you with me always, pet." Willow couldn't figure out how Dru always knew when she was lucid dreaming, but at the time she really had wandered off with thoughts of escape and why she wasn't trying harder. Drusilla bent down to look Willow straight in the eyes. Willow could see the sanity and caring in them, and something else... lust? The beautiful vampiress was in lust with me? Willow Rosenburg? Plain mousy Willow?

"None of that Little Tree. I won't have you spoiling my tea party. Now my beautiful pet, we'll get you all cleaned up and ready." Drusilla swooped in and caught Willow's lips unaware. Willow gasped allowing Drusilla's cool tongue into her mouth. Her kiss spoke of promise and seduction. It was over before Willow could form a coherent thought. Dru took her hand and led her upstairs to the bathroom. Willow couldn't figure out what the vampiress' game was, but she knew that Drusilla wouldn't harm her in a permanent way.

'No, no, you're wrong, run, Willow, run!' Willow felt odd yelling at herself like that, but felt compelled to at least try. Her weekend with Drusilla was both the best and worst weekend of her life. Pain and pleasure intermingled nearly overwhelming her but she was brought back to her current reality by a squeeze from Drusilla's hand on her bare shoulder.

Somehow Drusilla had gotten her all the way up to her bathroom and undressed her. Drusilla reached into the tub area and turned on the water letting it get hot while she undressed herself. Willow's eyes were glued on Drusilla's naked flesh. Uncontrollably her nipples hardened and she became aroused before Drusilla had even touched her.

"Oooh, naughty thoughts, ducks. I like naughty thoughts, all blood scented and wonderful." Drusilla sing-songed while weaving slightly. She pushed the mortal girl into the shower and stood behind her washing both their bodies with the peach scented bath gel. Drusilla tweaked Willow's nipples until Willow thought they couldn't possibly harden any more. The redhead's juices were starting to flow. Drusilla leaned Willow against the wall and swiftly kneeled in front of her. She lapped at the girl's juices occasionally letting her tongue rub over Willow's clit. After a few moments of this the brunette had to hold Willow still with her hand. Finally Drusilla took Willow's clit into her mouth and sucked hard. Willow screamed out Drusilla's name and came explosively, then fell limp against Drusilla's shoulder.

The next thing Willow remembered was that she was tied to her bed in a spread eagle position on her back. Drusilla had used some of her silk scarves that her mother insisted on buying for her, saying that she would look more lady-like if she wore them. She squirmed a bit in place testing her bonds.

"Ah-ah, lovey, don't wriggle like a little worm, I'll have to punish you later, my pet." Drusilla came into sight, she was still naked and so beautiful. Willow became aroused all over again and cursed her body's reaction to the vampiress.

"I won't kill you dearie, but this will hurt a bit, but I promise it will be delicious pain and Mummy will even kiss it all better." Drusilla repeated the process she had done earlier in the shower but right before Willow went over the edge she stopped. The redhead whimpered and Drusilla moved her head down a little and bit gently into Willow's inner thigh. This action sent Willow spiraling into the second orgasm of her life and Drusilla cleaned her juices up once the trickle of blood stopped flowing.

The rest of the day passed in a blur to Willow. She remembered eating and going to the bathroom but mainly just remembered Drusilla's mouth and tongue that day. After a few hours had passed Drusilla had untied Willow and let her rest a bit. Willow had tried to reciprocate, but Drusilla had stopped her and said something about Sunday and the stars singing. The first day was to be all about pleasure it seemed. The second day was to be about pain.

"Mummy's pet needs a mark of ownership. I hope Miss Edith isn't too lonely with the boys. I told her to watch over them, do you think she's watching over them Willow-mine? They have to be taken care of properly. I told them I was working on a prezzie for them and would be gone a few days. You'll be a great prezzie. They'll love you, but the moon says they'll have to wait a while. You'll see, pet. It will be so wonderful!" Drusilla ushered Willow's tired body into the shower and washed and later dressed them both. Willow's mind was in a fog. She knew that she should be worried, but couldn't muster up enough strength to bother with it. So far Drusilla had only pleasured her and nibbled a bit. It couldn't be worse right? Uh-oh, Willow thought, you never say that on the Hellmouth, I just jinxed myself.

Luckily for Willow, her subconscious shied away from the day of pain. She saw glimpses of Dru scratching her like a playing cat and even the tattoo place where she argued for something more elaborate. Willow settled when Dru said elaborate later, the stars said now was the time for simplicity, that she already had a plaything that had a more elaborate tattoo but he was a disappointment.

So far Drusilla hadn't done anything besides the tattoo that would permanently scar Willow, but you couldn't tell her body that. Willow had to sleep on her left side to avoid the pain of her tattoo. Drusilla had woken up in the night and went out to feed leaving Willow in an exhausted sleep.

On Sunday Willow had woken up hardly able to move. Willow learned the fine line between pleasure and pain from Drusilla's talented hands that day. Drusilla took Willow's virginity quickly but not painlessly and tried to make the experience as pleasurable for the redhead as possible. The entire day alternated between first pain and then pleasure until Willow's body couldn't take any more and she fell into unconsciousness. This time she woke up tied spread eagle facing down into her pillow. Her head was turned to the side a little so she could still breathe. Drusilla had a few more marks in mind for the redhead's back. Drusilla didn't make deep cuts into Willow's back with her claws, just enough to scar and draw the blood she eagerly licked away. After Drusilla had made eight perfectly straight claw marks from Willow's shoulder blades to her waist the vampiress untied Willow and took her back to the bathroom to clean her up. She dressed the girl's wounds, put her back in her Snoopy pj's and tucked Willow into her bed laying her on her tummy to avoid hurting the girl anymore.

"Sleep, lovey. When the false snake bites, and the rivers dry, go to the city of my angel, by the light and dark of night you will find peace. You're perfect my pet. I'll love you always my Little Tree."

Sleep flung itself from Willow body like a sudden crash of thunder. She sat straight up and looked around violently. I'm at Jarod's apartment. I'm at Jarod's apartment. She repeated to herself over and over rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped tightly around her body.

******************

Jarod walked into the offices of Angel Investigations and glanced around. The front office was decorated with antique weapons, a couple of chairs in front of the secretary's desk. A couch was placed off to the side away from the window, and direct sunlight he noted. Jarod was even more surpised when he focused on a hand weapon from the Byzantine era. He wondered what other fascinating things the vampire must have.

Jarod didn't want to spend a lot of time with Angel though, he really wanted to get back to Red and see if there was some way he could help her. There was a pretty brunette sitting behind the desk typing on a very sophisticated computer system. Must be one of David Nabbit's personal designs, Jarod thought, interesting. The secretary looked around her monitor towards the door as it opened smiling when she saw Jarod. Angel made quick introductions when he saw the flash of blonde through the hallway to the kitchen area.

"So, Jarod, what brings you to the City of Angels? You're not a director or an agent, are you? Because I'll have you know I can act better than any of those blonde bimbos they have around today!"

"Down Cordelia. Jarod, could you go wait in my office? Make yourself comfortable, Cordelia will get you a drink if you want one." Angel whispered asking the wherabouts of Gunn, knowing that his favorite childe was more than likely pulling out every straw in the kitchen and building some sort of fortress with them.

"Gunn's in the library, he didn't want to be anywhere near Spike when the fangless wonder showed up. Spike told me he could amuse himself in the kitchen. Should I be worried about anything? We haven't seen Spike in a year and in one day he calls *and* comes to visit. Gunn says he knows Willow, but won't tell me anything. What's going on, Angel, and don't go all broody cryptic on me!" Cordelia placed her hand on Angel's shoulder keeping him at eye level.

"Delia, ye'll jest have ta be patient. Let me be gettin a feeling fer things and then we'll talk." The brunette vampire straightened up and walked towards the kitchen to interrupt his favorite childe's architectual endeavour.

"Well, me boy? Let's have it." Angel opened the refridgerator and pulled out a can of soda for Jarod. He called for Cordelia and asked her to take it to him so she'd be out of earshot when he questioned Spike. He knew that Jarod didn't trust any of them yet, but he was out of immediate danger and could wait until Angel heard all he could about Willow.

"You remember last year, when Slutty and her little friends defeated Adam and the Initiative, right?" Angel nodded his head that he did.

"Well, Willow found out that Tara had set up a siphon on the chit's magical energy during the spell they used. Red cut it off and Tara disappeared shortly thereafter. To make a long story short, I think that Tara bitch told her parents that they were sleeping together and they threw Red out. Mind you, she didn't know I'd been watching her get home every night and saw the whole argument. The next day she announced that she was moving to LA to go to UCLA. She's been sending regular emails to Giles for the past year." Angel digested the information his childe had given him silently.

"So what makes you think Willow's not at UCLA or that she's in trouble?" Angel asked, which made Spike pace back and forth across the kitchen. It was distracting to Angel, watching the younger vampires predatory grace, but he knew it helped his childe concentrate on working out a problem better. Angel remembered taking his childe many times after losing patience from watching him pace. The elder vampire shifted a little and repressed those errant thoughts. Willow now, shag later, he reminded himself, mmmmm.. how about shag Willow later, that definitely works. Angel's thoughts were interrupted with Spike's body pressing him into the kitchen counter.

"You listening to me, Sire?" The bleached vampire growled.

As much as Angel was enjoying their position; he couldn't let the challenge go unanswered. Angel deftly switched their positions and held the bleached vampire until he bared his neck in submission. The brunette vampire swiftly bit hard enough just to break the skin and take a swallow of his childe's blood in a show of dominance. "I was thinking about the problem with Willow. I don't see why you were suspicious. She answered all Giles' emails. Where's the problem?"

The bleached vampire resumed his pacing in long strides across the kitchen, "She never says how school is or what classes she was taking or anything like that. She always answered that she was wonderful and that she missed everyone. Every email she answered couldn't have had more than three bleedin' lines to it, and when have you ever known Red not to babble? The chit didn't send the watcher or slayer a card for their birthday. And get this, she missed Xapper's birthday too! You know how the chit is about birthdays. So anyway, I figured after she missed the watcher and Slutty's birthdays that she was a little busy. After she missed Xapper's, I knew something was going on and so I hacked into the computers at UCLA and looked for her schedule or address and she wasn't listed. In fact, they show she applied but it was too late for her receive any financial aid and she never registered. So what the bloody hell has she been doing this past year?!"

Angel ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, "I don't know, but she would be smart enough to evade housing applications and things of that nature. But where's she been working and how has she survived a whole year on her own? And how does Gunn know her."

"Bloody hell, you said Gunn knows her? As in your employee, Gunn, who's in the next friggin' room?" Spike stalked into the library preparing to torture any bit of information he could out of Gunn to find his redhead.

*************

Jarod stood next to the door of Angel's office until Cordelia handed him a soda. He placed it on one of Angel's Las Vegas casino coasters. He was about to sit over on the sofa when he caught a glance of some drawings and notes stacked haphazardly on the vampire's desk and froze when he saw a picture of Red. She was a few years younger in each picture, but the one picture that she was unhappy in looked as if it were drawn less than a year and a half ago. Jarod wondered what had made the girl so unhappy, but decided to file that thought away for later and look over the notes. He read over the words 'Jarod', 'April Arms', saw a brief sketch of the blue guy's tattoo, and in another person's handwriting the name 'Willow Rosenberg'.

Jarod started thinking furiously. Willow must be Red's name, but how did Angel know about everything that was going to happen, unless he set it all up to bring me in and sucker me into letting him have Willow. She must've been running away from him. There's no way I'm letting him have her. But why would he have her beaten by the blue guy, if he just wanted to get her back, he could've just gone to get her himself. All right, I'll make my phone calls and have her moved. Then I'll see what the stakes are and how to play this one.

Jarod peeked out the door and saw the blonde man who'd built a remarkable Tower of London out of straws and Angel walking quickly towards the other end of the office. He opened his cellphone and dialed a number, "Hello, Syd? Where are you?" Jarod could not believe his luck, "Good. I need your help."

*******************

"Red? Red, can you hear me? Red, pick up the phone," Willow finally heard the voice speaking in the room and pulled herself from the dark haze created by her dream of the not so distant past.

Looking around for the sound of the voice, his words finally sunk in. She reached across the sofa to the phone on the end table wincing as she jostled her ankle, "Hello? Jarod?"

"Yes, it's me. How are you feeling?"

Willow could hear the concern in his voice, "I'm a little sore, but otherwise I'm fine. I didn't hear you leave. What's going on?"

"I'm sending someone over to move you. His name is Sydney. He'll take our things to another safehouse. Go with him, he'll take care of you until I get back. He's been like a father to me since I couldn't be with my real father." Jarod sounded like he was in a hurry, but Willow couldn't miss the affection in his voice when he spoke of Sydney.

Willow shook her head, and instantly regretted the action, both for the pain and the knowledge that he couldn't see her, "Jarod, why do I have to move, what's going on?!"

Willow's voice had a note of alarm that Jarod regretted putting there, but he had to keep her safe until he could figure out a plan of action, "Look, I know your name is Willow Rosenberg. I think I've met some of the people you are running from, but we're going to move before they find you. Please trust me?"

Willow froze at the mention of her name but thought half-truths and denial were the best policy for now, he couldn't *know* that was really her name, "Jarod, I don't know what you're talking about. No running here, and besides, what kind of parent names their kid '*Willow* Rosenberg'? They'd have a complex ten miles wide from all the teasing, but I'll go somewhere else if you think its safer from that creep that attacked me."

"Look, Willow--"

"Stop calling me that! Call me Red. You've been calling me that since we've met. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Ok, Red, I'll call you that until you trust me with your real name. I left you a note on how to disarm the door when Sydney shows up. You'll go to his safehouse, but don't unpack anything because we're going to move again after I get out of the situation with the people that are after you, two hours, tops."

"Fine, whatever." Willow resigned herself to moving for a bit.

"Sydney has an accent and should be there within the next few minutes, he's probably about the age of that Rupert Giles you told me about, well, maybe older. I have to go now, they're coming." Jarod ended the call, placed his cellphone in his pocket and sat in the chair facing Angel's desk just as the door opened revealing Gunn, Angel and the agitated blonde man from the kitchen.

When he noticed the trio didn't seem to be moving from the doorway, he turned the chair until the back was facing the wall to their left and made himself comfortable. He stuck his hand back into his jacket, but was surprised at the speed in which Angel flew across the room and grabbed his elbow stopping his hand's outward progress. Jarod glanced up at Angel, "If I had a gun, wouldn't I have used it on the blue guy at my friend's apartment?" Angel released the pressure on Jarod's elbow allowing him to pull out the item he'd been reaching for. Everyone relaxed and felt a bit foolish when they saw the candy dispenser with a witch's head.

Jarod popped a piece of the sugary candy into his mouth, "You ever try these? They're really good!"

At which point Spike lost his temper and lunged for Jarod's throat, "Bollocks about the candy! How do you bleedin' know Willow?!" He stopped short when Angel strong armed him back towards the sofa by his duster's collar.

"Behave or I'll chain you in the sewers and go after her myself!" Angel glared at Spike until he reluctantly climbed onto the arm of the sofa and leaned back into the wall.

"I work in a store where Red, that's all she'll let me call her, buys soup for dinner. That's it, end of story." Jarod leaned forward in his chair earnestly practically screaming honesty in his body language.

"So if you just sell her soup, why did she want to go to your place, and why would you want me to lift her stuff?" Gunn was not convinced. He knew there was more going on with Jarod than the "store clerk" was telling.

"Look, I've talked with Willow when she's been in the store. She won't even admit her name is Willow. She's safe and I'm not going to push her into anything she doesn't want to do." Jarod leaned back again and crossed his arms over his chest.

Angel nodded to Gunn significantly. Gunn tilted his head in an answering nod and walked out the door.

"Look, Jarod, I know you want to help Willow," Angel started.

Jarod smiled inwardly at the non-verbal exchange and Angel's awkward attempt at empathy, "I've had her moved, by the time Gunn gets there even government sweepers wouldn't be able to find a clue. She's safe, it would be best if you just left things up to Willow."

Angel walked over to his desk and leaned on the edge, "I don't know exactly how much you know about her teenage years, but the person after her isn't normal, and the only way to help her is to--"

"Bloody hell, you nonce!" Spike interrupted angrily, "always taking the pansy route, I don't know why I came here thinking you'd be any friggin' help! A nearly unkillable demon is after the chit and she's the only one that can stop it."

"Spike--" Angel growled.

"Bleedin' sire is such a nancy-boy," the bleached vampire muttered loud enough for Angel to hear, then finished his thoughts silently, 'E's never met one, I have.

"Did you say demon?" Might as well let them know I've looked through her books, Jarod thought, then spoke aloud, "So you're the 'Spike' from Willow's book, right? William the Bloody? The blonde hair suits you, nice Tower of London by the way. So, you two are really vampires? That's why you couldn't enter the apartment! Are all the old wives' tales really true, garlic and holy water--" Jarod was excited and grinning at the new knowledge he'd found, but was just as suddenly sobered by the thought of all the previously unknown dangers to people everywhere.

Angel decided that maybe a little honesty would open the way for cooperation even if he really just wanted to go hurt something, "Garlic is just an annoyance, imagine having a heightened sense of smell and having someone breathing in your face after eating a clove or two, but you're not far off with the Holy Water. It burns like acid, and yes, I said demon."

"Ok, so the blue man, demon, as you say, attacked Willow and then was at her place when I went to look for clues." Jarod started but Angel was already lost in thought. That was Willow's place I was looking at. Why didn't I think of it before and how could she live in a place like that? I'm *way* off my game. I don't see how I can help her like this. Angel's thoughts were interrupted by Spike's attempt to smack him on the back of his head. Angel might have been re- souled but his reflexes were still sharp as Spike could attest to from his position on the floor. Angel never released the grip on his childe's wrist as he stood and pulled him off the floor. Spike was his favorite childe, but the bleached vampire could try anyone's patience. Angel was obviously beyond patience muttered, "Excuse us," and pulled his childe out the door.

Jarod watched through the open blinds as Angel flung Spike into the office window. Jarod was surprised it didn't break with the force, but realized it must be reinforced glass. He flinched at the knot forming on the back of Spike's head and tried not to stare at its miraculous healing before his eyes. Nonchalantly Jarod tried to read Angel's lips. The only parts of Angel's speech he caught were something about Willow being safe and a child's behavior, whatever that meant. Then Spike must've said something that surprised Angel, and not in a good way because Angel's face lost all the anger he had previously sported.

Jarod was distracted by his phone ringing, "Yes?"

"Jarod? It's Broots," came the nervous reply.

Jarod glanced up at the vampires quickly and was thankful to see them still involved in their intense conversation. Jarod knew if Miss Parker's pet computer expert was calling something had to have gone seriously wrong, "Broots? Where's Sydney? Did he move the girl I asked him to?"

"Miss Parker got suspicious and we followed him to the place where the girl was. We, uh, didn't bring any sweepers though. Um, Miss Parker thought it would um, blow our cover," Broots stuttered.

"The girl, Broots! The girl!" Jarod whispered harshly not wanting to alert the vampires just yet.

"Right, um, see that's the deal. We were downstairs when we heard Sydney and the girl. Then we heard a scuffle, and um, we ran upstairs. Sydney was standing there. It was like he was frozen and the girl was struggling with this blue guy. He had the most detailed body art I've ever seen--" Broots began to wander slightly from the topic.

"Broots, I don't have time for this," Jarod came periously close to raising his voice, "what happened to the girl?"

"Um, right," Broots voice became a little more confident, "Right, so the girl slips out of his hands and hits the floor and Miss Parker gets a clear shot. She emptied a clip into him, Jarod, and he didn't even flinch. He looks up at Miss Parker and she drops her gun and freezes just like Sydney! He knocked them both out and took the girl. I tried to stop him but he shoved me down the stairs. I really tried Jarod. I did!"

Jarod tried to curb his frustration, "I know you did Broots. I know you did." Jarod saw some sort of conclusion reached in Angel's expression and said, "I have to go now. Thank you for calling. Tell Sydney I'll call him later." Jarod hung up before the two vampires walked back in the office.

"Who was that, mate?" Spike resumed his perch on the arm of the sofa.

Jarod decided to deflect the blonde vampire's question for the time being. He knew that these two cared about what happened to Willow, but still didn't completely trust them, "So, how do you two know Willow? When was the last time you talked to her? What do you know about the demon that attacked us? More importantly, how did you know my name and the exact time and place he was going to attack me beforehand?"

Angel shifted uncomfortably while Spike anxiously kicked the side of the sofa. Angel placed his hand on Spike's thigh effectively stopping the bleached vampire's twitching. The brunette vampire took an unneeded breath and began, "We're Willow's friends. We all lived in Sunnydale at the same time and were involved in the same activities. Neither of us have actually spoken to Willow in a year, and as far as the demon goes, we'll talk about that in a minute. My secretary, Cordelia, graduated from high school with Willow. Delia gets visions from the Powers That Be."

"Powers That Be?" Jarod interrupted.

Angel leaned back and ran his left hand through his hair, "I don't think I can explain it properly, I'm just a warrior for the Light. They are the Light. Cordelia gets visions of people in trouble and I go save them. All I knew about your situation was the time, place, type of demon and your name, but I think Spike knows a little more about this particular demon. I'll let him take that part." Angel removed his hand from Spike's thigh and nodded to his anxious childe.

Spike stood and resumed his pacing, "Right, see, when me and Dru were together 'bout twenty-five years ago or so, she took a pet. I believe its the same bloke that's after Willow. Me and Angel figure that you just ended up in the crossfire."

Jarod looked puzzled, "A pet? What does a dog or cat have anything to do with-- Wait, you said the Resal demon is the pet? Explain, please?"

Angel held up his hand to stop Spike from further explanations, "Jarod, I know you can't know anything about vampiric society, but its mainly based on dominance. Sometimes we extend that dominance in keeping a human for our whims. Some even become lifemates and are turned. Dru took this half-Resal demon as her pet--"

Spike turned to Jarod and interrupted the brunette vampire, "I didn't know what she'd done the first time I came across him, jumped him with my trusty railroad spike. I had to listen to her blathering for weeks even though it healed almost immediately, left a beaut of a scar though, if I do say so myself." Spike grinned evilly.

Jarod leaned forward resting his chin in his hand while tapping his index finger on his lips. After a moment of introspection he spoke, "But why is he after Willow? What are the odds that this Resal was your friend Dru's pet and after someone else you know? We're missing part of the puzzle here, and we can't help Red until we figure it out."

Spike leaned against the doorframe, "We know he's my princess' pet because she tattoos all of her pets with a 'D' as a mark of ownership, picked that trait up from Peaches, here. This bloke has the tattoo."

Angel did not want to think about the times his demon had made both Drusilla and Spike both get marked with elaborate A's before they were turned. The pain was delicious, but entirely too tempting to dwell upon for any length of time. "Well, there is more," Angel once again ran his fingers through his hair, as if the action would ease some of his frustration, "when I was fighting him at Willow's apartment, he was yelling, 'She's mine' and 'She can't take her away from me! The red-headed bitch can't have her! I'm the only one she needs.' At that point I assumed he was a raving lunatic, since you were neither red-haired nor a female, and threw him toward the stairs."

Jarod absently popped another piece of sugary candy into his mouth, "So obviously, this Resal thinks that Willow is a threat to his relationship with this Drusilla person, and not that he actually wants Willow, right? Is that what we're getting at here?"

Spike flopped down into the cushions gracelessly, "Does it bleedin' matter what he wants?! We need to find Willow and kill him, end of story."

Angel turned his childe's head until they were nearly touching, "No, that's where yer wrong, me boy. It does matter what he wants. If he sees Willow as an interloper and not a real pet, he'll--"

Spike interrupted his sire, jerking his head out of the brunette's grasp angrily, "Wait a friggin moment! When did we decide Willow was another of Dru's pets?"

Jarod ground the sugary candy into powder, a vague plan forming in his head, before speaking, "He didn't say she was, we were talking about the Resal, remember? So how do we stop him? You said he healed up almost immediately?" Jarod thought of Miss Parker emptying a clip into the demon and asked, "Is there anything that can hurt him and why was he so interested in me looking at him?"

"According to Wesley," Angel glanced over at Jarod, seeing the puzzled look, he continued, "my assistant in research and magick, the demon can only be killed by first binding his power and secondly by destroying his eyes. He wanted you to look into his eyes because he has an almost hypnotic power to draw you to him. The Resal demon feeds on pain and sex, to weaken him we need to cut off his energy supply so one of his victims can perform the binding."

Jarod nodded realizing that the Resal used his "power" to freeze Miss Parker and Sydney. "That makes sense," Jarod said aloud, "so if we're going to get close enough to stop this demon, we need to give him what he wants."

Angel glared at Jarod, "You want to what?! You want to give him my childe? There's no way in hell, and I've been there by the way, that I'll give my beautiful dark childe to anyone. I have no doubts Drusilla could control him, but if she's to pick him back up again, it'll be her decision. Giving her to the Resal gives him entirely too much power for a half-human pet."

The way Angel's eyes flashed golden and spit out the words 'half-human pet' reminded Jarod of the vampire trio's history, and his own mortality. The two vampires looked and acted human for the most part. Jarod realized that he had fallen into the trap of thinking their behavior would be entirely human. Probably an extremely effective weapon in their arsenal, both offensive and defensive, Jarod thought.

"Bullocks to that anyway, Mate. Even if you could get Peaches permission, Dru was in Brazil shacking with a slimy Chaos demon last I heard. You heard from our dark princess lately, Peaches?" Spike glanced over at his sire.

Angel shook his head, "Not since last Halloween. She kept telling me how she was going to eat a priest a day until she stopped getting visions of red trees haunted by blue vipers, but I think she just wanted to eat a priest a day. She would have called if she was thinking of moving, though."

"Maybe I should re-phrase that. I should've said, we should make him *think* he's getting what he wants. He wants Drusilla, and he thinks that where Spike is, Drusilla is not far to follow, right?" Jarod looked towards both men.

"Bloody hell! Its genius! We can use Princess as the bait to lure 'im out," Spike paused a moment in a parody of thought, "wait, no, we don't have Dru, you fucking moron! As much as I'd love to tear your throat out, you're still our only link to Willow."

Jarod blanched at Spike's words, but continued nevertheless, "This Resal doesn't have any special senses, so all I really need is her voice print. Can either of you get her on the phone?"

"Its five hours later there. She's probably out hunting right now and won't be back for a few hours at least," Angel speculated.

Jarod mentally ran through his plan again, "Do we have a way to feed the Resal information that won't arouse his suspicions?"

Angel nodded at Jarod's question, "There's a club near here that demons like to frequent. Information spreads outward from there fast."

Jarod smiled, "Good. That gives me enough time to set things up and you time to get Drusilla on the phone. We will rescue Red. Angel, I need you to go to this club and mention that you've seen Spike in town and that Drusilla is probably close. It would be best if you implied some sort of intimacy. I'm going to pick up some equipment--"

Jarod was interrupted by Spike's hand around his throat. Angel sent out a warning growl, to keep Spike from killing the man outright. Spike had a tendency to act first and think later, but he was damn observant and for that Angel grudgingly let the situation play out. However, Angel did think that his childe needed some long overdue discipline when this case was over.

"Back up a minute, Mate," Spike leaned closer. "What do you mean by rescue Red? You had her moved to a safe house. I suggest you explain yourself right quick before I pull out your entrails and feed them to you."

"Breathe. Breathe." Jarod gasped causing Spike to release the pressure of his fingers slightly.

"I suggest you open your gob and spill your guts now, or I'll do it for you, Mate." Spike growled.

Jarod hung limply, deciding the passive tactic would be best with the bleached vampire, "The Resal overpowered the people moving Red. He has her, but I know where he's taking her."

"And how would you bugger-all know that, eh, chum?" Spike squeezed a bit tighter.

Jarod took as deep a breath as he was able, "Look, I might not know vampires, but dom games I understand. If he sees Red as a threat to his standing with Drusilla, he will take her down on her own turf to show that he's more worthy of Drusilla's attention. He won't see any other alternative."

"Then why are we sitting here on our bums, we can go back to her place and kill the tosser there." Spike dropped Jarod back into his chair.

Jarod rubbed his neck gingerly, "You show up there and I can guarantee it will spook him. He might be unbalanced enough to kill her the second we knock on the door."

Angel finally spoke up, "What's to stop him from killing her outright?"

Jarod shrugged, "It would defeat the purpose and he wouldn't risk truly angering his mistress. He needs to prove to Willow that he's above her in status on her own ground and then let her live as a permanent reminder of her lower status. That way he wins and Drusilla won't be unhappy with him either, but it will take him time to make everything perfect according to his obsessed mind. He'll want to break her mentally first. He won't start any kind of physical torture until tomorrow evening. So, we have roughly twenty-four hours to lure him in if we get started now."

Both vampires thought it over and reluctantly had to agree with Jarod, "All right chap, you said something about equipment?"

Jarod grinned, "You guys up for a little breaking and entering?"

***********

"Auugghhh," Willow moaned, sitting up awkwardly. This has got to be one of the worst days I've had in a while, she thought. The redhead took stock of herself. Hmmm... ankle's still a little stiff but definitely usable, head doesn't hurt as much, arms... I don't remember saying I'd work kink... Oh yeah, Mr. Not-so-nice Blue Guy. These bindings aren't even all that tight. I hope the others are ok, Jarod's friends, Sydney was nice. Broots was sweet, he reminds me of someone though, and Miss Parker. Wow. She's definitely tough. Or at least I think that's the impression I had of them. I was still too drugged to think *that* coherently. Wonder why he didn't tie my feet... Add that to the loose bindings, I guess he's a little over-confident. Where am I? She cracked her eyes open and glanced around the room under her lashes. He had his back to her talking on his wireless phone. Oh! He is entirely too over-confident. He's not paying attention to me *and* he's got his back turned. I'm even at my apartment; this is going to be fun!

Willow calmed her rambling thoughts and concentrated on freeing her hands. The Resal listened to the person on the phone. Willow caught quite a few words pointing even more towards his underestimation of the redhead: here in twenty minutes, tomorrow night, that Angelus bastard, and Drusilla.

Drusilla?!?! Willow's hands slipped free from her bindings but her mind was in too much shock to take advantage of her free hands. Her mind whirled in circles until she caught the Resal ending his phone call. She rubbed her wrists quickly and put the bindings back right before he turned around.

"You know, when we first met I saw the marks on you," venom dripping from his words. "I wanted to kill you for that, for pretending to belong to Mistress, but you slipped away before I could finish my fun." He smiled evilly, Willow tried to look as small and meek as possible as he continued, "Since then I've had a year to plan what I would do when I found you again. There wasn't even a chance you would slip through my fingers this time, but now that I've seen that bastard Sire of Hers here, I know you have to belong to Her. Mistress would be most unpleased if I killed you, but she would love to have you broken at her feet, and I intend to give her that pleasure. Well, I have to go arrange some things my dear red-headed whore," the last words spit out like poison, he turned back towards the door.

Which was his mistake, Willow struck quickly, waving her hands and chanting furiously. He dropped to the floor like a toppled tree. Stupid over-confident poophead, she thought, he might know I'm Dru's now, but he gives her little credit for taste in strong toys. No wonder she wanted me to be different from such a disappointment. Willow could see where Dru would have thought this demon had potential, but his mind wasn't together enough to be worth keeping. That probably was what drove him over the edge completely. Wonder what that scene was like, she looked over the demon dispassionately. Broken by *him* at Dru's feet? Whatever!

If he were any kind of magick user at all he would have noticed the semi-permanent circle I have cast here. Never mind that I had already put him to sleep once, dumb weenyhead, she thought as she kicked him once in the ribs. "Ow, ow, ow, ow," she whimpered as her ankle reminded her of the tumble she had taken earlier in the day. She didn't kick him hard enough to really hurt him, or wake him up for that matter, but it made her feel a little better even with the throbbing ache in her ankle.

Willow took the discarded bindings and began to tie her would-be kidnapper like a calf in a calf-roping event. She, however, was a bit more vicious than the roper, pulling his arms and one leg behind his back rather than in front, ensuring that on his own he'd be tied for while. Wrapping the rope around his arms and leg three times she stood up and threw both hands in the air. She grinned wildly knowing she was being silly, dropped her arms and wiped her hands on her jeans. Willow glanced around the room. Seeing nothing she would miss, she took her circle down, picked the demon's pocket retrieving his wireless, and walked out her door whistling her favorite tune.

*************

"So what are we supposed to be getting here, Mate?" Spike took in the squatty grey building from the alleyway. Jarod was jimmying the security system to believe that it was still working at this entrance when in reality the circuit skipped around it keeping the rest of the building perimeter secure.

Jarod finished his circuit loop, and turned back to the blonde vampire, "Well, Spike, this is a Centre building. I think it's going to have everything we need to lure and capture the Resal."

"And you know this is an empty unguarded building, how?" Spike arched his scarred eyebrow.

"I always know what the Centre holdings are in each city before I arrive. This building houses some of the Centre's communication equipment and has a couple of sensory deprivation rooms for experiments." Jarod opened the door and motioned the vampire in the building.

Spike shuddered at the mention of the sensory deprivation rooms, it reminded him too much of his unpleasant stay with the Initiative. Spike repeated his earlier question as he followed Jarod down the hall, "and you know this place is unguarded, Mate? I mean, I'm practically bulletproof, but a .45 would do a nice bit of damage to that human carcass of yours. Don't even think I'll take a friggin' bullet for a wanker like you. The only reason I'm not at Willow's place killin' the Resal now is because my pansy Sire wants to do things your way." Spike's eyes flashed yellow in the darkened hallway, "Bleedin' redemption!"

"We're here," Jarod stopped in front of a room marked 'Communications' and pulled out a small bundle from his jacket, "I just need to pick up one of their laptops and download the software. It should take about five minutes total."

"Right, I'll play look-out and be bored off my arse," Spike growled tugging on his duster in frustration.

Jarod looked up from the lock he'd been working, "Actually, Spike, you can go down to the nineth lower level and make sure the Deprivation Chambers are empty. Go down the hall, and take the second left to get to the elevators. The security code to that floor is 'Ares'--"

"Ares? As in the bleedin' God of War?" Spike looked skeptical.

"Yes, Project Ares had something to do with the US Defense Department, Raines thought the name was perfect. Only those with the highest level of clearance were allowed to even know the operation existed, but it was supposed to have ended twenty years ago," Jarod heard the tell-tale click, put the small bundle back in his pocket and opened the door.

"Right then, I'm off," Spike pushed off the wall he'd been leaning on, nodded to Jarod and stalked down the hallway towards the elevators. Spike could hear the hum of the air conditioner and various machinery as he passed the first hallway. The second hallway was more quiet, no machinery, just A/C, he thought. Ah, Records, that makes sense, although why this place would keep paper trails, is beyond me.

Spike reached the elevators and depressed the down button. The elevator doors swung open like they'd been waiting for him to hurry down the hall. He stepped in and visibly forced himself not to shiver as they slowly closed. He glanced at the floor buttons, SL-9, that must be the floor, he thought and smacked the button with his palm before he could change his mind. I'm a master fucking vampire, I will not let those wankers get the better of me! I will not! He repeated his mantra for the seemingly interminable ride down.

To his surprise the doors didn't automatically open when he arrived at SL-9. Instead a sliding panel in the wall of the elevator opened to reveal a keypad from one to fifty. He thought for sure that the code would be on another door outside the elevators. Guess these chaps are more like the Initiative than I thought. Hmm... numbers, Jarod said the code was 'Ares' so that'd be 1 for A, 18 for R, 5 for E, and 19 for S. Spike entered the code and two short warning buzzers alerted him to his error. Ok, so its not the standard A equals 1 code, he thought, not even close to letting himself panic. This place's similarity to the Initiative made his attempt at coolness much harder, but his Sire's iron will kept him from bolting through the elevator shaft. He glanced at the keypad again, wondering how many wrong guesses it would allow him before he was gassed or something else equally nasty.

Wait, if its not the standard, maybe I'm thinking of the wrong standard, he realized. Spike yanked the wireless phone out of his duster, jostling his keys against his lighter. Willow had gotten him the phone over a year ago when he moved out of Giles' place. To keep in touch with the Scoobies, he thought with a smile. Spike flipped the wireless open and studied the number pad, 2 is for A, 7 is for R, 3 is for E, 7 is for S. He entered the corresponding code and held the breath he didn't need in a reflex from his lost humanity. Spike heard a long low tone and, to his relief, the door finally opened. The vampire grinned, stepped out of the elevator and pulled out his battered pack of Reds. He smacked the pack on the palm of his left hand three times before pulling out a smoke. He retrieved his lighter, opened it and swiped the flint across his denims. He lit his cigarette and pulled in a lungful of smoke. Feeling calmed, he released, and started down the left hallway.

******************

Do I really want to do this? Angel asked himself for the fifth time as he glanced through his closet. It's for Willow, so I don't really have a choice, he thought as he pulled out the leather pants and blood silk shirt. I hope Jarod's idea works, Angel thought, unused to following any plans other than his own, unwilling to think of the consequences if it didn't.

Carita's was crowded for a Sunday night, and Angel melted into the masses like a panther stalking its prey. He noticed many of the female denizens casting longing glances his way but only stopped when he reached the bar, "Scotch, 1753, straight up, and don't water it," he ordered the bartender.

"My, my, my, looking good my friend," Merl appreciated the view before stepping closer, "and to what do we owe the pleasure tonight?"

"I've heard my childe Drusilla is in town with William, figured she'd want to come here for a bit of fun, and I thought I'd join them. My insane princess never could resist singing," Angel paid for his drink and took a large gulp, letting the alcohol burn down his throat.

Merl took a long look at the Irish vampire, "She's not really in town is she?"

"No, but Spike is, and as far as everyone else is concerned, Drusilla's with him," Angel finished his drink and set his glass on the bar. "I'm not going to start any trouble here--"

"Good, because I'd have you bounced in a second if you didn't heed my first warning, but I don't mind what you have planned, as long as its a good show." Merl smiled and went up to the stage, cueing the music he'd gotten from Angel's mind and announcing that Carita's had a returning favorite.

Angel sauntered onto the stage and took the mike, "A lot of you remember my renditions of Mr. Manilow. Well, tonight's going to be a little different," he scanned the crowd, noticing a full-blooded Resal demon sitting at a corner table and smiled. "My children are in town and this first song always reminds me of Drusilla," the music started and he began to sing,

"Raven hair, ruby lips,
sparks fly from her fingertips,
echoed voices in the night,
she's a restless spirit on an endless flight..."

Angel knew he had the whole crowd entranced the moment he walked on stage, and grinned outright when the Resal made a phone call after his first dedication. It wouldn't be long before the prey took the bait. Sure enough, the Resal left during the first song and didn't return until the third song with the half-demon who had Willow. He smiled again and spoke into the microphone sounding all the while exactly like his soulless counterpart, "This next song goes out to my princess. Wherever you are baby, Daddy loves you." He heard the familiar thunderclap and smirked,

"The sky is burnin',
I believe my soul's on fire,
you are... I'm learnin'
the key to my desire...."

What Angel didn't count on was the half demon trying to rush the stage. The vampire finished his song while watching Dru's pet forcefully taken to the bar. Merl spoke quietly with the unbalanced demon, who nodded and sat quietly. The green demon walked back to the stage, handed Angel another Scotch and said, "how about one more song to close the night out? Your friend over there isn't quite convinced."

Angel nodded and picked out his last song. He glanced back over the crowd and froze momentarily. Regaining his composure, he switched songs and took a catlike posture on the stool, only standing when he began to sing.

****************

The music swirled about her.

"It's the time of the season, when blood runs high...."

She gazed at the singer onstage dreamily. Oh this night is going *so* well, she thought, I love it when they sing of blood. She smiled as if she'd eaten a whole roomful of wrigling children when he jumped off the stage and slinked towards her spot near the wall. His predatory smile turned her insides squishy as he sang.

"What's your name, who's your Daddy..."

Her eyes flashed yellow; one thought consumed her as he sang that particular line.... *My* Daddy.

**********

Damn. Wish I'd picked up his wallet instead of this phone. It's not like I'm going to call anyone, Willow thought as she walked up the alley behind her apartment complex. I guess I could go to Jarod's apartment and see if my stuff is still there, Willow decided.

The redhead started down her regular shortcut to Jensen's store. She shivered a little as she passed the spot where that guy jumped her and pulled Gunn's jacket tighter. She was lucky he didn't ask for it back. It was the first jacket she'd had in over a year. With the California warmth, she just hadn't felt right about spending the money.

Right before stepping out of the alley she peeked around the corner. Just as she thought, Jarod's friend, Sydney, and those two other people, Broots and Miss Parker, were sitting in a dark sedan in front of the building. Willow hoped they didn't think they were being inconspicuous, because in this neighborhood, that kind of car screamed G-man. She giggled inwardly at the word, imagining Giles in a dark suit and shades. He could be a covert operative, maybe, but Willow couldn't see him settling into the bureaucracy of being a Fed or CIA. She glanced again at the car holding the three near-strangers. They could also pass for cops, or even organized crime, she speculated, must be hoping for the organized crime angle.

Gonna have to find another way up, Willow sighed inwardly. She glanced back and saw the metal fire escape on the side of the building. How she was going to reach the bottom rung hanging about three feet out of her reach was a mystery though. She took in her surroundings and spotted a dumpster on wheels. The hacker pushed it as silently as she could, and was thankful that the street was busy enough to cover most of her noise. She clambered up the side of the dumpster and stood on the metal lid. Willow was glad this was one of the old kind that didn't use those plastic lids because she was *sure* that wouldn't have held her weight long enough to climb up the bottom rung.

She reached the right window and peeked through it. The window was locked from the inside, but at least Jarod hadn't wired it too. Now how to get in? Willow asked herself. The redhead spotted a loose brick and fidgeted with it until it came loose. With a brief 'I'm sorry Mr. Jensen', Willow shielded her face and broke the window near the latch. She reached in, unlocked the window and slid it open.

Climbing through the open window, she tried to be careful of the broken glass on the pane and floor. The sound of her boots crunching on the glass seemed loud in her ears as she walked through the glass to the living room. His front door was still slightly ajar, looking closer Willow found the reason why. Bingo, the redhead thought. Her backpack was stuck in the doorway. Willow hoped her laptop wasn't damaged. She'd tried to keep her backpack low to the ground when he'd advanced towards her the second time. She was surprised that she'd thought of it in her semi-drugged state.

Time to stop dilly-dallying, the hacker thought, and picked up her backpack. She was glad she'd repacked it for stealth. It contained the only things she'd miss if she had to move again, her laptop, wallet, a few pictures, a couple of spellbooks, a few toiletries, and all the money she had managed to scrape together, sans the coffee can. She looked at her cash again, and promised herself to mail Mr. Jensen some money once she was safe for the broken window.

Willow glanced around the apartment absently, deciding on her next order of business. Her stomach chose that exact moment to growl, she giggled at the timing, her decision made. Food was first, then a place to stay. She had a sudden stroke of inspiration, an answer to both her immediate problems in the form of a cheap motel near the community outreach center. It only cost twenty-nine ninety-nine a night and had a kitchen where she could order room service. The food might not be great, but she hadn't had the opportunity to be choosy for a long time. It was an expensive splurge, but it would be low-profile and entirely worth it until she could figure out how to get rid of the Blue Guy for good.

*********

The trip down the left hallway was disappointingly uneventful-eventful. Spike lit a second cigarette off his first dropping the butt on the floor. He ground it into the floor with his boot, imagining the bastard that had Willow in its place. Smirking at the imagery, he stalked down the hallway back towards the elevator. As he reached it, he paused thinking he heard something. He sniffed the air, grinning as he recognized the telltale scent of a scared human.

His demon reveled in the smell of fear, but he reined it in, and concentrated on his hearing. The footsteps were faint, a few steps, a pause, a few more steps. Apparently the human had heard him earlier, but why was he in a supposedly unguarded building. Who bloody well cares? Spike thought as he resumed his way down the hall. He reached the third open doorway before he pinpointed the human's location, the masculine whispered curse gave him away. The blonde vampire started singing his favorite cover of a Sinatra song as loudly as he could manage to throw the human off and lure him out as he stalked closer.

The security guard jumped out of his hiding place with a squeak. The vampire was sure the human meant for it to come out a manly shout of 'halt, who goes there' but the guard failed miserably. The guard had drawn his gun, yet allowed Spike to come within six feet of him.

Spike grinned viciously, "you should really work on that squeak, Mate, it doesn't intimidate me in the least," and dropped his human facade. The guard took one look at the demon's visage, mumbled something about Mr. Lyle, dropped his gun and ran back the way he came.

Spike's demon screamed 'Prey!' and pounced on the man before he'd gotten even three steps away. He jerked the man's head to the side and sunk his fangs in before the human could even think about screaming. The blonde vampire had just enough rational thought left to leave the man alive, sending the unconscious human sprawling to the floor.

The bleached vampire flipped open his cellphone and dialed, "One security guard down here, Genius; thought you said this place was unguarded?"

"Just because a Centre project was supposed to be ended twenty years ago, it doesn't mean it *has* ended. More than likely they just moved the project and let everyone assume it ended. Where is the guard now?"

"Lyin' in a spot of his own blood. At my feet, I might add." At Jarod's swift intake of breath, whether in anger or fear Spike didn't know but continued, "Relax, he's relatively unharmed, unconscious, but he'll bloody-well live. I thought about finishing him though." Spike trailed off.

"That's the second time you've been able to inflict harm; Willow's book said you couldn't do that."

"Don't believe everything you read, Mate, didn't anyone ever teach you that?" Spike loved taunting Jarod. As far as Spike was concerned this cock-up was all his effin' fault. Smart-boy could've just taken us to Willow and be done with it. We could've protected her, Spike thought angrily. "He mentioned something about Mr. Lyle. You want me to finish 'im?" Spike asked.

"No, I don't want you to finish him. Put him in one of the rooms, or better yet, bring him back up with you. I'm finished here. I have another call."

Spike looked at his phone and smiled. Tosser hung up on me, the vampire thought smugly, Guess I'll have to work harder at getting under his skin. He grabbed the guard's arm and pulled him back towards the elevator.

*************

"It's the time of the season for loving." The dark-haired vampire sang the last vocal line of the song letting the music wash over him and his childe. He reached around her waist to the small of her back, pulled her in close and kissed her hard. The temperature in the room rose several notches as he tossed the mike backwards into Merl's waiting hands, never letting up for air. Merl cued the lights away from the two vampires and took back the audience with jokes about Angel needing to give up Manilow for good.

As soon as the spotlight left, Angel broke away from the kiss, leaving Drusilla wrapped in his arms, speaking softly, "Dru, baby, I didn't know you were in town."

The vampiress smiled wickedly, "Daddy, you sing such lovely songs, but Little Tree needs help. She's been alone too long, Daddy, why haven't you and Spikey claimed her yet?"

Angel was taken aback by Dru's directness, but smiled at the look of concern in her eyes, "Love, she's had some trouble with that half-Resal you took up with years ago. He's here tonight, behind you at the bar to be more specific. Will you help William and I take care of him? For Willow? Since he's here, Willow's probably alone somewhere. A friend of ours thinks she might be at her apartment, but we don't know if she's been hurt or..." Angel trailed off.

Drusilla hugged Angel tighter, "She's safe for now, Daddy, tucked into a sea of air, all light and fluffy. What would you like me to do? I *love* playing games."

Angel flipped open his cellphone, had a brief conversation with Jarod followed by an even more brief call to Wesley, then turned back to Dru, "Here's what I need you to do..."

**********

Jarod ended his second call from Angel, and started walking towards the elevator, thankful that the blonde vampire's trip back was lengthy. He reached the doors just as they opened. Spike had the security guard by one wrist and was dragging him through the doors. Jarod just shook his head and grabbed the other arm, thinking that the man was heavy.

"I've got it, Mate," Spike brushed Jarod's unnecessary help away, picked the man up off the ground by his wrist and slung him over a shoulder, "where do you want him?"

Jarod was momentarily distracted by Spike's nonchalant use of inhuman strength, "Let's take him back to Records and tie him up." They started down the hall to Records, "I'll send someone for him after we're done here. I've spoken with Angel. Dru's with him. Our timetable has been moved up a few hours. They're bringing the Resal here now."

Spike froze for a split-second, regained himself, tossed the human through the open doorway into Records, and turned towards the exit. His intent on finding Willow written clearly across his face, but Jarod interrupted him, "Wait, Spike, Angel's already sent Gunn to Willow's place. She's not there."

"Bloody hell, how hard can it be to keep up with one red-haired chit?!" Spike didn't want to analyze the return of his Black Goddess too closely yet, not with Willow still out there.

"Look, Spike, I don't like it any more than you do, but you have to admit, she's made it on her own this long. One more night won't make that much difference, especially when *we* have the guy who's after her under control." Jarod finished tying the knots firmly and stood.

"You don't *know* that, Mate. Just because you're all bleedin' smart doesn't mean you *know* my witch s'ok!" The vampire spat angrily.

"Look," Jarod paused at the golden flash of the vampires eyes, "I know you don't completely trust me, but you do trust Drusilla, right?" At the agitated vampire's nod he continued, "Drusilla told Angel that Willow was safe and tucked into a sea of air, whatever that means."

"Bubble bath," the blonde vampire smiled increduously, "the chit's taking a bubble bath. Dru always called the bubbles a sea of air."

"And if she has the time and inclination for a bubble bath...." Jarod trailed off grinning at the vampire.

"Right, she's found a safe place to hole up." Spike returned the human's smile briefly, steadfastly refusing to admit he actually liked the wanker. The vampire was briefly reminded of the whelp when Jarod reached into his pocket for his ever present candy dispenser.

"So," Jarod popped a sugary pellet into his mouth, "what was she like?"

"Red?" At Jarod's nod Spike answered, "She was a bit of fire, Mate, always looking for knowledge, loved the library, magic, and was hell on a computer. Could hack anything in minutes." Spike grinned outright, "But don't give her coffee, she bounces right off the ceilings, and has the cutest little babble."

Jarod smiled sadly at the description, it barely matched the girl he knew. "I wish I had known her then," Jarod said honestly. "She was always so quiet when she came into the store, but I did get her to have some fun when neither of us were working."

"Working?" Spike arched an eyebrow questioningly.

Jarod cursed himself for the slip, there was just something about the young woman that caused him to be more open and watch his mouth less. "Well, she *said* she was working, I don't actually *know* what she did with her time." Jarod didn't want to betray Willow, preferring to let the redhead tell her own story. Jarod tried to subtly steer the conversation elsewhere, "we should probably head down to SL-9 and start setting things up. Wesley, Gunn and the others will be here soon."

**********

"You have got to be kidding me, Sydney." Miss Parker said icily glancing around the empty observation room for Deprivation Chamber JXM-32, lighting up her fourth cigarette since dinner. "You want me to go *along* with Jarod's cockamamie plan?"

"He said if you'd do this for him, he'd come back to the Centre quietly, Parker." Sydney responded placatingly waving the smoke away from his face.

"Yeah, right. If you believe that, I have a shiny new bridge to sell you. Tell me again why I have to read this mumbo-jumbo bullshit?" Miss Parker glanced at the paper in her hand while taking another drag off her cigarette, "I say we just capture the weasel and move on."

"He's not *here* Miss Parker," Broots swallowed audibly at Miss Parker's glare. "Um, unless you've seen him somewhere we haven't," Broots suggested shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

"You have the inner sense, Miss Parker," Sydney stepped in front of the daggers Miss Parker was still shooting at Broots, "That's why Jarod wants *you* to read the chant. Don't you want to stop the person that could take a full clip *and* incapacitate the both of us? Never mind saving the life of that poor girl?"

"That *poor* girl," Miss Parker's skepticism plain to see, "probably brought this upon herself, and even if she didn't, why should I care?"

"You don't mean that Miss Parker--" Broots started.

"He's right, Parker, you saw the girl," Sydney, spreading his arms wide in a pleading gesture, interrupted Broots. "Can you honestly say she asked for that? I don't think she's had a decent meal or slept peacefully in a long time, and more than that, she looked lost, like she was struggling to make it alone."

Miss Parker's face hardened even more as Sydney's comments hit a little too close for her comfort. Of course she knew that's exactly what he was trying to do, but she didn't have to like it, "Save your psycho-babble for someone who cares." She took another drag. "Fine," she blew smoke into Sydney's face. She reached into her leather jacket pulled out her cellphone and dialed. She didn't even give the person at the other end to speak, "I want sweepers surrounding Annex 12 in a three block radius." She listened for a moment, "I don't care if Mr. Lyle thinks Jarod is in Chicago. Do it! Now! Or would you like to explain to my father (never mind that he's *not* my father, she thought silently to herself) and what's left of the Triumvirate how its *your* fault Jarod slipped through our fingers again?" She listened for another moment, and a nasty smile slipped across her face. "Right," she drawled, "just get them here," and snapped her cellphone shut.

"You know, Jarod won't come back like a hunted dog, those sweepers--" Sydney began but was stopped by the door opening.

A masculine British voice floated through, "Pardon me for interrupting, but we're ready for you now."

Miss Parker glanced around the chamber. Body-art guy was kneeling in a chalked pentacle gazing dazedly up at a slender young woman, Drusilla, Miss Parker thought. Another young man, Angel, she reminded herself, had his arm wrapped around the young woman, apparently holding her up. Both were standing outside the circle. Gunn, the young man that led them from Jarod's apartment, began lighting the candles filling the room, leaving the thicker candles at each point inside the circle to the British gentleman, Wesley, who'd beckoned them from the observation room.

The introductions *were* made, and although Miss Parker didn't bother *trying* to remember any of them, for some insane reason their names just stuck. She actually liked the sound of 'Spike' and 'Gunn', but who the hell named 'Angel'. It sounded ridiculous. He *was* very handsome, but his name sounded so feminine. He must've been taunted mercilessly as a child. The cocky blonde, Spike, that joined the four of them as they entered the building was no where in sight. Miss Parker was rather glad of that, every time he spoke she wanted to wipe the smirk off his face with her gun. Did everyone *have* to push all her buttons tonight? She just wanted to get this done. She read the chant silently again,

Goddess of the Moon, Lord of the Night, God of the Sun, Lady of the Day, Bind Forever the Blue-Skin's Sight, Never More to Seduce His Prey. Kircani, Kircana, Varaun.

It sounded just as stupid as it had the first time she'd read it, but at least it was mostly in English. She glanced again at the kneeling figure. Her eyes widened slightly at the iron shackling his hands and feet to the floor keeping him within the circle. She arched an eyebrow, "Iron shackles?"

"To keep him contained. He only has to have his feet within the circle for the spell to work," Wesley answered. "Jarod and Spike should be back momentarily with the herbs for the ceremony. All you need to do is let some of your blood drop into the herbs, wait three breaths, repeat the chant three times, and that's it." Wesley said as he pulled a chair forward for the pale young woman to sit.

Miss Parker watched absently Angel lower Drusilla to the chair gently, leaving his hand resting on her shoulder before registering exactly what Wesley had spoken, "You wait one fucking minute, no one said anything about blood!" Miss Parker grated out. "Jarod! Jarod!" Miss Parker raised her voice turning around the room angrily, "I don't know what kind of scam you've got going on here, but I'm *not* bleeding for one of your little tramps!"

"Miss--" Sydney started to grab her shoulder to hold her still and stop her shouting but was brushed aside by the young man previously standing with Drusilla. Everyone seemed frozen as Angel lifted the woman by her throat into the glass window of the chamber wall.

"She's not a tramp," Angel gritted past his teeth.

Miss Parker had never seen *anyone* move that fast. Correction, she had never seen him move at *all*. One second she was yelling at Jarod, the next second Angel was holding her against the deprivation chamber window. Her back was starting to bruise, never mind the stranglehold he had on her throat. She started to reach for her gun.

"Oh, please do," the vampire whispered into her face, "you'll never make it before I snap your wrist and tear your head right off. Now *say* it!"

"No," Miss Parker spat.

Time regained its forward motion, Drusilla opened her eyes and looked over, "Daddy, no! You can't kill her yet. We need her to save Little Tree, but you can kill her later if you'd like," Drusilla smiled wickedly.

Daddy? Miss Parker wondered, but her attention was quickly drawn back to the young man who was impossibly holding her off the ground with one hand without struggle or breaking a sweat. Must be dusted, she thought, I can't believe Jarod has gotten us in with a bunch of lunatics. Broots and Sydney were off to one side, while Gunn and Wesley were opposite them near the door. No one seemed ready to fight except Angel, and even then Miss Parker noticed that he wasn't actually trying to kill her. Bruising her throat, yes, but she had plenty of air to breathe.

"Well, Parker, my little girl says I can't kill you just yet, but you know," Angel said conversationally, "she didn't say anything about maiming and torturing. You see I have this thing about chainsaws."

Little girl? They looked the same age, they must have some kinky fetishes. "Look, kid--" Miss Parker paused when she heard three sets of snickers, and the huge smile on Angel's face. She didn't know what was so damned funny, but it was starting to annoy her. "I'm sorry I called your girlfriend a tramp. Happy now?" She smiled icily, "Put me down."

"Sure, lass," Angel whispered in her ear, purposely letting his brogue slip, "I'll have ye know, I've been walkin' this earth for over 250 years." He kissed her on the cheek and let her drop.

"Daddy," Drusilla said softly, "I can't hold him anymore."

"It's all right, Princess. He's chained. He's not going anywhere. It's ok to let go," Angel soothed.

The vampiress smiled briefly, and let go of the chained demon's mind. The Resal, still disoriented, rocked back onto his ankles, wincing as the iron bit into his skin.

Jarod and Spike walked into the room bantering good naturedly. Miss Parker had never seen Jarod kid around with anyone without playing some sort of mind game. It was a bit disconcerting to her. She rubbed her neck absently. Jarod noticed, thrust the bowl of herbs at Spike, and rushed to her side, "Miss Parker, are you ok? What happened here?" He demanded.

"Just a difference of opinion, Jarod," Miss Parker growled pulling out her cigarette case for another smoke, "relax!"

Spike turned to Angel and arched a brow in inquiry. Angel nodded almost imperceptably. Spike walked over to where Miss Parker and Jarod were conversing quietly, switching her unlit cigarette with the bowl of herbs, "Here ya go, Ducks, no time for a smoke."

"Thanks, Blondie," Miss Parker grumbled without even a hint of gratitude, "Let's get this done."

"Right, shall we?" Wesley nodded at everyone to follow him into the observation room.

"You're all leaving?!" Miss Parker's normally controlled voice held a bit of panic she couldn't quite cover.

"I'll stay with you, dearie," Dru lilted.

"Drusilla?" Jarod whispered. The look on his face conveyed his gratitude that someone able to handle the demon would be with Miss Parker as she chanted. It also held a tiny bit of uncertain fear for the vampiress. Miss Parker was the only one they knew besides Willow who could attempt the spell, and Willow's disappearance made asking the redhead impossible for the moment. Drusilla had no need to *even* be in the room, let alone guarding Miss Parker's safety from a securely manacled demon. Jarod shook his head in resignation as he followed the others through the open doorway, Angel and Spike staying behind.

"Princess--"

"Pet--"

"No, my luvies, he was my mistake." Drusilla smiled, that wide-eyed innocence and old world wisdom shining in her eyes.

Spike looked deeply into the eyes of the demoness who'd been his lover for over a century and visibly caved, "C'mon Poof, Dru can take care of herself."

Angel didn't look convinced at the bleached vampire's words.

"Shhh, it's all right," Drusilla soothed, knowing exactly what to promise, "the chains will hold." The brunette vampiress deeply kissed Angel, then Spike. "You both need to go find my Little Tree now, keep her warm and snuggly. Tell her that Mummy loves her and that it's time." With one last caress for both vampires, she gently pushed them out the door, closing it and sliding the bolt.

Spike and Angel immediately turned and started banging on the door, probably begging Drusilla to open it, but the soundproofing didn't allow their words through.

Miss Parker had a sinking feeling in her gut at Drusilla's words, and shivered at the ominous grating of the metal bolt, but didn't know what else to do besides start the ceremony. She tried to juggle the bowl and piece of paper, wondering how the hell she was going to spontaneously cut herself and bleed all over a bunch of parsley or whatever it was when Drusilla drifted her way.

Drusilla adjusted the bowl into Miss Parker's left hand. The vampiress moved the young woman's right hand over the bowl. Drusilla took the piece of paper with the chant written on it from Miss Parker's right hand kissing it softly. The vampiress opened her mouth and sliced into the human's palm. Miss Parker gasped and almost dropped the bowl, but Drusilla kept her left arm steady. Dru replaced the scrap of paper in between the human's fingertips, nodded, and stepped aside.

The first drops of blood hit the herbs in the bowl and sizzled. Gold and silver smoke intertwined and poured from the bowl. The demon's head snapped up, "You won't finish this! You won't! Mistress, you can't allow her to do this! She was pretending to be yours! I couldn't let that go unpunished!"

At the third breath Miss Parker started the first round of the chant.

"Look at me!" The demon struggled with his chains, smashing the shackle at his wrist into the chair in front of him.

Miss Parker took a calming breath, forced herself not to look up, and started the second round of the chant.

"Look at me, dammit!" His frantic movements smashed the chair, "you think its an accident I found Willow last year? You think its an accident that I waited for her and found her again after a *whole* year? You can stop me but she won't ever be safe!"

Drusilla turned to the window where she could see Spike and Angel touching the glass with their hands and foreheads. The vampires looked hopelessly into the room at Dru. She blew them butterfly kisses and turned back to face her failure of a pet. Drusilla could see the half-Resal desparately wanted to stop the Rite. Miss Parker was on the last repetition, the silver and gold smoke becoming a whirlwind in the circle, when he struck. He took the only weapon available to him and threw it as hard as he could. Drusilla stepped in front of the wooden shard and looked into Miss Parker's eyes as the human said the last words of the chant, "His eyes, lovey, destroy his eyes..." she gasped and crumbled into dust.

The demon let out an inhuman wail as Miss Parker stared disbelievingly at the spot where Drusilla had been. Somehow Drusilla had sacrificed herself for the completion of the ceremony. Miss Parker knew the shard would have more than likely killed her, at the very least it would've critically injured her puncturing a lung or some other vital organ. Dropping the bowl, she reached into her jacket and pulled her gun. Miss Parker sighted before the whirlwind became strong enough to alter her aim, and fired twice.

His demise was even more outlandish than falling into dust. She watched him liquify from the point of entry down to his feet, and then the remains were pulled into the whirlwind that had increased its strength in the center of the circle until he was absorbed completely.

Miss Parker, suddenly drained of her adrenaline rush, stumbled over to the door and unbolted it. She was thrown to the side by a blonde blur and landed on the floor, knocking a candle stand over in the process. She turned her head as the blonde kept running his hands through the dust, tears in his eyes. She didn't feel she had the right to watch his grief. It echoed her grief for Tommy so clearly.

"Miss Parker," she jumped, opening her eyes as Jarod touched her shoulder, "you did everything you could."

"But it wasn't enough," she whispered, still thinking of losing Tommy. She anguishedly blinked away a few tears of her own as she nodded towards Spike and Angel. The latter had come up behind the younger vampire placing his hands on Spike's shoulders. Angel knelt down with the bleached vampire, wrapping the rest of his larger frame around his childe.

"Sometimes it's not," Jarod agreed, watching Spike crawl backwards as far as the younger vampire could into his Sire's lap as Angel awkwardly rocked his favorite childe, "but you haven't lost everything, you know. You'll always have me."

******

"Stay at the office, Cordelia, I want you safe. You might have a vision, Cordelia. You have to keep looking for Willow, Cordelia. Why do I have to miss out on the fun? It's not like *I'm* going to be able to find Willow in a city of millions." The brunette grumbled as she performed yet another search on her PC.

Cordelia was waiting for two more phone calls, one from a friend of Gunn's and one from Wesley. She'd already spent the past two hours searching the hospital, police and media archives. Nothing came up unusual, unless you counted the sheer multitude of beheadings, ick, the seer thought. Angel, Wesley, Spike and Gunn had given her several contacts, but so far each had led her nowhere. Most of the vampires' contacts wouldn't even speak to her because she was human. Wesley and Gunn's contacts were tight-lipped as well, not trusting the seer no matter how she explained herself. Not hearing from Wesley made her the most nervous. She had seen the half-demon in her vision and *knew* the damage he could inflict. She just hoped Jarod knew what he was doing and that everything went according to plan.

Cordelia noted the same three motels that had shown up in her last six searches and marked them down on her list of possible Willow-places. Only one was within walking distance of Jensen's store and Willow's apartment, so she put a star beside its name. It had been a while since she'd seen the red-haired hacker, but Cordelia missed her just the same. She wished that Willow had written her during her stint at UCLA, which according to the bleached wonder, was bogus. Maybe she *really* doesn't want to be found, the ex-May queen thought, maybe we're going about this all wrong.

The ringing of phone startled Cordelia out of her thoughts, "Angel Investigations..." She paused a moment, "Yeah? Really? That's great! No, no. I'll take care of this myself. Thanks again, we owe ya one. No, not that much. I have a man, but you can take it up with Gunn. Great. Bye."

Cordelia stared at the receiver in her hands long after the "if you'd like to make a call" message came through, dropping it in its cradle only *after* the jarring pseudo-dial tone started. Wow, she thought, I know where Willow is!

The brunette seer broke into a huge smile, "Ok, if I were Willow and I were staying in a cheap-rate motel room, what would I want most?"

******

"Damn." Willow leaned back against the headboard, absently picking at a corner of the room service menu. Room service had ended an hour earlier, and now she was either going to have to get dressed and risk going outside or go to bed hungry. Neither sounded particularly appealing to the redhead as she reached for her comb. The hacker sighed. It won't be the first time I've gone to bed hungry. I wouldn't even be in this position if I would've researched that jerk earlier, she thought combing out the tangles. The witch floated the menu back to its holder next to the bolted down television on top of the short dresser.

The redhead flipped open her laptop and booted it up, I might as well check my email and stop by a few sites. Maybe I'll get lucky, she snorted, and pigs will fly. She scrunched down on her side, propping her head on her shoulder, leaving only one hand free to type. The hacker went to her favorite demonology search engine, typed in 'blue-skin' and let it search while she opened her email program.

Why do they keep sending me porn invitations? Do I look like I want to see young Asian schoolgirls? I mean, I know sex is my business right now and all, but schoolgirls?! That's just sick! Delete. Delete. Delete. Oh, here's one from Giles! That's twice in a week, I wonder what's going on? Willow opened her email and her jaw would've dropped if it hadn't been resting so close to the bed. Spike is here, *in LA*, visiting Angel. Gods, I miss them both so much. I wish I could see them, but I don't want them to know. Maybe I could ask around and visit Angel's office. I'd even like to see Cordelia right now.

Willow smiled at that last thought, glancing back at her computer when the search engine pinged at her. She looked over the information quickly, 'Resal', nearly indestructable. She kept reading, ah, here it is, she thought, his weakness, the 'Kir-Va chant of Duality' and destroying his eyes. Today's show was brought to you by the number '2', the hacker giggled, but abruptly stopped at the half-hearted knock on her door.

The hacker heard a muffled sound that could've been 'room service' and another scratching knock. Puzzled, she went over to the door and looked through the peephole. Willow thought the *idea* of a peephole was great, but ninety percent of the time she couldn't recognize the person on the other side of the door through it anyway, so she didn't know why the builder bothered.

The brunette girl was dressed in a pair of khakis, white t-shirt and a flannel. She was wearing a baseball cap, and carried an over-stuffed satchel and a pizza box. "No wonder she couldn't knock on the door," Willow thought aloud. She looks harmless, kinda reminds me of Cordelia, the redhead continued silently.

Making her decision, Willow opened the door, "Look, I didn't order any--"

The brunette pushed through the door and dumped her cargo on the table. She turned around and took off her ball cap, flashing her million-watt smile, "Willow!"

Willow leaned back against the door, closing it in the process. She was definitely speechless. Slipping the lock the witch moved forward in a daze, "Cordelia?!" She whispered.

"Yeah, it's me, silly!" The brunette pulled the hacker into a hug. "Now come on, let's eat!" The Seer said as she dragged Willow to the table.

Willow's eyes misted, I think that's the first real hug I've had in a while, she thought silently, but said aloud, "How did you find me? It's too dangerous for you to be here, and flannel?"

Cordelia smiled at Willow's rapid-fire questions. The ex-cheerleader pulled out a couple of paper plates, and opened the pizza box. The aroma caused Willow's stomach to growl. Cordelia laughed and handed Willow a couple of slices on her plate, "Here, sit down, you need to eat! You remember me mentioning Gunn?" At Willow's nod she continued, "One of his friends happened to see you check in here. It was only a matter of my sparkling personality to find your room number, and these are my blending clothes! Well, ok, these are actually Gunn's clothes, but I look less conspicuous, right?"

Willow smiled at how far Queen C had actually come from the snobby bitch she had been in high school. "I'm serious Cordy, its not safe for you," Willow picked up a slice and bit into it without looking, her eyes widening at the jalapeno pepper hitting her tongue. "You remembered!" The redhead shrieked excitedly.

"Course I remembered, Wills," Cordelia smiled reaching for her own pizza, "we ate enough of it in the library." The brunette took a bite and dropped her slice back into her plate. Cordelia wiped her hands on the napkin she pulled from the satchel and reached in again. Pulling out a couple of sodas, she passed one and a napkin to Willow.

The redhead popped open the can dropping the napkin in her lap, "Thanks." She took a sip, it had been a while since she'd had a real soda too, generic just wasn't the same.

"Look, I know what's going on," Cordelia started, "Drusilla, the guys, Jarod and some of his people are taking care of it. There's nothing to worry about."

"Drusilla?!" Willow whispered panic-stricken. The witch hadn't seen Drusilla in *so* long, and didn't know if she should be pleased, or scared. Pleased, because the vampiress was so near, or scared because the redhead wasn't sure she wanted to deal with another painful encounter. The sudden craving of the vampiress' touch caused Willow's skin to tingle.

The hacker berated herself for losing it *twice* at the mention of the vampiress' *name* let alone Drusilla's actual presence. The redhead was going to have to get a grip on her emotions if she wanted to keep her secrets, well... secret. The redhead noticed that Cordelia had stopped speaking, "Um, what?"

"Yeah, as I was saying, turns out Miss Looney wasn't as looney as we thought," Cordelia continued, shrugging. "She's helping bring the blue guy in and they're going to tie him up or something so he can't hurt anyone."

"The Kir-Va chant of Duality?" Willow took another bite of her pizza.

"Yeah, how'd you--," Cordelia glanced at the open laptop, "nevermind."

"Um, yeah." Willow shrugged. Both women finished eating their slices silently.

"Ok, Willow," the seer smiled, "now, its time for dessert!" Cordelia reached into her satchel of many treasures and pulled out a two pound bag of chocolate covered caramels, and it was the best kind of caramel, gooey.

"Oh, Cordy, these are *so* good," Willow groaned with pleasure.

"So, what have you been doing? I haven't seen you in forever! C'mon, spill!" Cordelia urged.

Willow's face lost all expression for a moment. The redhead smiled shakily and looked down, "I, um, I've been going to school and stuff, you know, study-girl and all."

Cordelia's expression softened, radiating concern. "Willow," the brunette put her hand on the hacker's shoulder, "we know you haven't been at school."

Willow didn't look up but replied, "Look, I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch, I've just been kinda busy..." Willow trailed off with a fake smile.

Cordelia, thinking back to the summer she spent alone when she first came to LA, pulled the redhead into a quick hug from across the table, "You can tell me, Willow. It's ok."

"No. No, its not, but I can't help that." It was Willow's turn to shrug, "I've been working, keeping my head above water, ya know?"

"Working?" Cordelia arched an eyebrow, "Doing what?"

"Look, I really don't want to--" Willow froze mid-sentence. Emotions crossed the witch's face one after another, shock, disbelief, horror, grief, and finally desparate loneliness before the redhead landed face down on the table, missing her empty paper plate and the pizza box by inches.

"Willow," the ex-cheerleader shook Willow's shoulder when nothing happened she nudged the witch again, "Willow?" Cordelia's wireless rang insistently from its spot inside a pocket of her flannel, "This better be good!" The brunette snapped into the phone, more out of worry for Willow than actual anger. "What? Oh no! What about Angel and Spike? Did you take care of the blue guy? Ok. Listen to me but don't repeat a word. I've found Willow. I'm with her now. We're at that motel across from the Community Outreach Center. No! Look, there's something wrong with her. No, I don't *know* what's wrong with her. I'm vision-girl, *not* a doctor. She was just fine a second ago. Right before you called she got this suprised look on her face, then looked like someone had shot her favorite kitten and passed right out. You think?" Cordelia glanced at the semi-conscious Willow beginning her struggle to wakefulness, "She's waking up. No! Don't send them over yet. Don't lie, but don't tell them I'm with Willow. Look, I don't even know if she wants to see them. Wait. What?!? Ok, yeah, I'll tell her. Love you too, honey. I'll call you before I leave. Bye."

Cordelia helped her friend from the chair into a stumbling walk to the bed. The brunette was lucky Willow was already prepared for sleep. The seer bit her lip as she noticed the scarring and tattoo on the hacker's back. Willow hadn't said anything, but the ex-cheerleader had a good idea about their causes. The seer turned the covers down and helped the witch onto the bed. Cordelia stretched the redhead's legs out and covered her with the sheets and blanket, leaving the spread on the floor.

Willow looked up at the ex-cheerleader and smiled faintly, "Thanks, Cordy. Um," the redhead paused, "Dru?"

Cordelia saw the glimmer of hope in Willow's eyes and hated to destroy it. Sighing, "She's gone, Wills. She stepped in front of a shard of wood to save one of Jarod's friends, Miss Parker or something," Cordelia rushed on, "but the demon that was after you is gone. Drusilla told Miss Parker how to destroy him, and she did."

Willow rubbed one of her eyes tiredly, "Oh."

Cordelia watched Willow shrink into herself and a single tear rolled down the redhead's face, "Dru said to tell you she loved you and that it was time, whatever that means."

Willow felt incredibly small, yet incredibly old as well. She had belonged to Dru, even in the vampiress' absence, for so long now that the sensation of being without her was unsettling. If anyone knew the loss she felt, it would be Angel and Spike. Willow sighed silently, Dru did say it was time. "Um, Cordy," Willow started hesitantly.

"Yeah, Will?" Cordelia tucked a strand of red hair behind Willow's ear.

"Can you send Angel and Spike over? I think I'd like to see them," Willow sighed dejectedly. She did *not* want her first meeting with the two vampires in over a year to be shadowed by Dru's death, but she didn't have much choice. She couldn't change the things that had already happened.

*******

Wesley, lost in thought, tucked his wireless back into his jacket pocket, and turned toward the melted shackles Broots and Sydney were studying in the center of the room. He hadn't expected Cordelia to call back so soon. In a way Wesley was glad Cordelia had been absent for the Rite, and not strictly for her physical safety. The ex-watcher was afraid that seeing Angel lose another person close to him would remind the Seer of losing Doyle. The British man *knew* they'd had a special relationship, but not exactly what it entailed. Cordelia had hinted that she knew Doyle *before* she'd met up with Angel in LA, but Wesley didn't push her to reveal any more than she felt she could.

The ex-watcher glanced around the room. The two vampires were still huddled together, but had stopped rocking and were silent. Wesley didn't have a clue as to how he was going to get the two vampires off the floor and over to Willow in their current state. Gunn was still in the observation room talking heatedly over the phone with one of his people. Broots was nudging the iron with his right foot while Sydney sketched the chalked design into a tiny notebook, both studiously ignoring the two pairs on the floor nearby. Jarod, wrapped around Miss Parker, was trying vainly to create a buffer between her and rest of the world. Wesley had never met anyone that needed a buffer *less* than Miss Parker. They were conversing quietly and Wesley wondered how long she would allow that comfort.

"C'mon, junior. It's time to go." Wesley jumped at Miss Parker's voice as she pushed Jarod's arms from her shoulders abruptly, confirming Wesley's earlier thoughts. She angrily wiped away a few tears, picked up her gun and brushed off her leather pants before standing with the help of the wall behind her and Jarod's shoulder. "You two," she pointed her gun vaguely towards Broots and Sydney as she absently helped Jarod up, "clean up this mess and make sure this annex is locked tight. Wesley, I want you four out of this building immediately. I'd rather not have the Centre try to add you to its menagerie of freaks. If there's anything you need, I suggest you get it now. I'll deal with the sweepers."

Wesley watched as she re-holstered her weapon, flipped open her wireless phone snapping orders with military precision, and followed Jarod out of the chamber. Wesley didn't fail to notice that Miss Parker kept one point of physical contact with Jarod at all times. Lovers? he thought, but was distracted by Gunn's arrival into the chamber.

"My man saw a redhead fitting Willow's description at the motel across from the Community Outreach Center. He thinks he saw Cordelia there too," Gunn brushed past the exiting pair, "You wanna go see?"

Two sets of golden eyes snapped up at the hacker's name, but only Angel recovered enough to speak, "Let's go." He grated out, his voice still roughened with emotion.

Wesley nodded at the two vampires. "It's almost dawn, maybe we should--"

A low growl stopped the watcher's words, "*Now*."

"Um, yes, right. We'll take Angel's car over," Wesley paused for confirmation from Angel which he received when the elder vampire reached into his pocket and tossed the keys to the convertible up to the ex-watcher from his position on the floor. "Right," Wesley nodded once more mainly to himself before echoing Angel, "now."

The trip back up to the ground floor was an interesting experience for the two humans. Angel shifted Spike in his lap until the younger vampire had his legs wrapped around Angel's waist. Angel stood up fluidly and shifted Spike's weight until the brunette vampire was balanced enough to walk easily. Gunn quirked an eyebrow at Wesley, but remained silent as the ex-watcher led the way out.

When they reached the elevator's interior, Angel leaned against the back frame. Holding the blonde vampire steady with one hand, Angel reached up and sliced a shallow cut into the side of his own neck. The elder vampire tilted his head and pressed the almost completely unresponsive vampire's lips to the cut. The trickle wasn't enough to feed Spike or harm Angel, but it was enough to let the bleached vampire know he wasn't alone and that his Sire still cared.

****

The knock on the door startled Willow from her restless slumber. She cracked open an eye to see Cordelia crossing the room from where the Seer had closed the drapes against the coming light. The hacker shifted upright to the side of the bed to catch the brunette's attention before the ex-cheerleader reached the locked door whispering, "Let them in."

Cordelia nodded, unlocked and opened the door. Her mouth dropped at the sight of Spike clutching the side of his Sire, with the bleached vampire's face buried in Angel's neck. Angel just nodded and stepped into the room with half his childe's weight in his arms.

Cordelia caught sight of Wesley and Gunn stopping them before they crossed the room completely, whispering, "We should come back later. I think they need the downtime."

Gunn nodded, "Good idea." He dropped a cooler near the table. Cordelia's eyes brightened at the sight of the mini-cooler. She piled the rest of the pizza onto Willow's plate, opened the small cooler and fit the plate snugly on top of the bags already ensconced at the bottom. Not knowing how long the trio would need, she pulled out several more sodas and squished them into the corners, causing the plate of pizza to curl slightly. Satisfied with the fit, the ex-cheerleader closed the lid and tugged the two silent men past the vampires to the partially opened door.

Willow gave the two men and Cordelia a half-hearted wave and which they returned with tenative smiles before backing completely out of the room. The redhead turned her attention to the two vampires leaning heavily upon each other at the foot of her bed. Unsurprisingly enough, they hadn't changed physically, but tonight there was a sadness in their bearing that matched her own. Standing slowly, made her way unsteadily to the two vampires.

****

I canna believe she's gone, Angel grieved silently wrapping his arms as tightly as he could around the bleached vampire. The Irish vampire vaguely remembered getting out of his car and being led to a room. While he had yet to open his eyes, the souled vampire knew he needed to hold it together for his last remaining childe. Dru *had* to know what was going to happen, her last words too much of a goodbye to indicate otherwise. His princess had wanted Willow to be safe and happy, and even more surprising Drusilla *loved* the girl, giving the redhead freely to her two remaining family members. Damn, the brunette vampire cursed himself silently, she hasna been gone an hour and I'm already speaking in past tense. Spike clung tighter at Angel's sudden tension but didn't even attempt to lift his head. Angel soothed his childe by stroking the younger vampire's back gently.

Angel's eyes snapped open when he heard the creaking of the motel bed, why he had heard *that* rather than the hasty departure of his three employees, he didn't know. Willow was wobbling towards the two vampires. Angel thought she looked beautiful, ethereal, even though the redhead seemed underfed and saddened. Willow touched the elder vampire's arm and led them to the bedside she had recently absented. Angel felt a surge of protectiveness flow through him at her gentle actions. He loved both Willow and Spike in equal, yet different, ways. The redhead worked on his childe's shirts and shoes, leaving Angel to his own. The witch hesitated at the buttons of the bleached vampire's pants, but Angel could see her steeling herself and popping the first button. The elder vampire smiled at her relief upon seeing the silk boxers Spike had chosen to wear. Angel wanted nothing more than to wrap them both up in his arms and sleep a week. While he knew this wasn't possible, he could at least watch over them the rest of the night.

Angel leaned back into the pillows the witch had piled up in the center at the head of the bed. He pulled Spike with him and draped the bleached vampire over his left side, wrapping his pale muscular arm around his childe's waist. Angel looked over to the redhead standing uncertainly beside the bed. Reaching his hand out in a pleading gesture, the Irish vampire spoke for the first time since leaving the Centre building, emotions cracking his voice, "Willow... please."

The souled vampire hoped that would be enough, because he didn't think he had any more words left in him that night. Drusilla's death seemed to wash them all away, not that he had many in any given situation. The witch's green eyes blinked once as she stared deep into Angel's. He felt like she could see deep inside him where his soul and demon met. The brunette vampire heard Spike whimper softly, the sound distracting him from Willow's face, breaking the moment. Angel rubbed soothing circles on the blonde vampires back, kept his eyes averted and dropped his right hand. He tried to ignore the pang of hurt following her rejection.

****

Willow tried not to blush at the two nearly naked vampires in the bed. The redhead was nowhere near inexperienced, but it had been a long time since she'd shared a bed with anyone as *herself* instead of the facade they'd bought. Willow was touched at Angel's treatment of Spike, but was eerily unsettled at the blonde's lack of banter or even *vocalization*. Angel turned to Willow after settling Spike comfortably. The redhead froze, lost in Angel's eyes, his words shattering something inside her, some wall she hadn't realized went so deep. So lost in her internal struggles, she barely heard the blonde vampire's whimper, nor did she register the lowering of Angel's hand.

It was the abrupt way that Angel scrubbed his eyes with his free hand, that caught Willow's attention and spurred her into movement, "No, wait, Angel, no!" Willow crawled into Angel's side, yanking the covers up over them as she went. "I'm sorry," she muttered over and over into his neck, squeezing him as tightly as she could. The witch lifted her head and looked into his eyes again, "I didn't mean that as a rejection, I was just caught up in my thoughts, and you know my thoughts, they ramble on and on and you were just *wow* and in bed and you wanted *me* to join you, and--" Willow's rambles were cut short by a quick heart-melting smile, before Angel reached behind her head and pulled her in for a kiss. "Wow. That was... wow."

Angel caressed her cheek gently, "I've missed you. *We've* missed you."

Willow's throat closed at his tenderness, "me too." The hacker scrunched down and rested her head on the brunette vampire's chest.

"You've missed yourself too?" The souled vampire grinned briefly at the top of the witch's head, feeling her smiling into his chest.

"Ok, smartass," the hacker sighed and inquired softly, "Spike?"

"Hasna spoken all e'en." Angel slipped into the brogue of his youth, not noticing in the least, "Blamin' himself."

"Why?" The redhead whispered.

"'E said Dru could take care of herself," the Irish vampire shuddered, "she told us he was her mistake and she had to make things right. He said she could take care of herself," Angel repeated, "and we left. We *left* her in there. She bolted the door behind us."

Willow hugged the vampire tighter, "Angel."

"She knew, Willow. She *knew*."

Angel's voice tugged at Willow's heart, tears threatening to spill over her eyes, she whispered, "Shhhh, sleep, Angel. I'll be here. We'll talk more later. Sleep now."

***

Willow woke to the sound of the shower running. She glanced about, but didn't see either vampire. Must be in the shower, she thought, together, yum. The redhead briefly considered joining them, but discarded the idea grabbing her clothes instead. She dressed quickly and grabbed a cold drink and equally cold slice of pizza leaving a couple of each still in the cooler. She did notice a couple of the bags were missing. They must've eaten early, Willow dropped herself into a chair.

Munching on her breakfast Willow thought over her options. There's no way I'll be able to pack up and leave again, she thought. Now that they know I've run before, they'll be wary, and it'll be too hard to wipe my trail with them this close. Willow sighed. She didn't really want to leave Angel and Spike, she just didn't know how they'd all manage. We haven't even spoken in a year, Willow thought dejectedly, and even if they haven't changed, *I* have.

The door to the bathroom opened abruptly, revealing a slightly damp Spike, clad only in jeans, toweling his bleached locks. He tossed his towel on the dresser and reached for his smokes. Digging in his pocket for his lighter with one hand, he popped an unlit cigarette into his mouth with the other. Lighting his cigarette, he took a deep drag. Blowing the smoke towards the door, he flicked the drooping ashes with his left hand in the general vicinity of the ash tray on the dresser.

Willow had simply watched Spike when he'd come out the bathroom. It was almost normal to see him fumbling with his lighter in search of his first cigarette of the day. She could remember many times after a night of slaying staying with him, just sitting through the night and talking. Of course, he'd been chipped then, so the situation was different, and Drusilla was... her eyes watered, the pizza suddenly feeling four times harder to chew, never mind attempting to swallow.

Spike shot a look at Willow out of the corner of his eye and held out his right hand, "C'mere, Luv."

Dropping her pizza back into her plate, she wiped her hands, took a sip of her soda before dabbing her eyes, and joining Spike in front of the dresser.

"I'm sorry," Willow whispered into the blonde vampire's chest.

"Not your fault, pet." Spike kissed the top of the witch's head.

Willow squeezed Spike tightly, "Not your fault either."

"Group hug?" Angel joked feebly, wrapping his arms around both Willow and Spike. "Willow, I don't want you to leave again."

Willow stiffened within their embrace, but the two vampires held fast until Willow relaxed. "I don't want to leave. I can't go back to who I was in Sunnydale," the hacker shrugged, "but I can't keep going the way I have here."

"Then stay with me, luv," Spike stroked Willow's hair absently.

"With us," Angel corrected pulling back to look into the redhead's eyes, "It's not much, but the third floor's empty. Um, that is, if you don't want to stay downstairs with us."

"It's up to you, Ducks."

Epilogue:

Willow smiled at Cordelia as she walked past the Seer's desk towards the kitchen, "Hey, Cordy, how's it going?"

"Wes and Gunn are wrapping up the ES Danes case." Cordy called out over her shoulder, "Spike's downstairs talking Angel out of gutting him."

Willow paused in her rumination for munchies, "What?!?"

"Well, Blondie left a red shirt in the wash, and His Majesty didn't bother to look before throwing in his clothes," Cordelia smirked.

"Oh, no!" Willow gasped in mock horror while walking back to the front desk. When the redhead saw the barely contained laughter in Cordelia's face she chuckled, "Let me guess... Pink t-shirts?"

Cordelia laughed, "Pink socks too. Oh, hey," the Seer dug through the stacks of mail, "this came for you today."

Willow took the thick legal envelope Cordelia offered and glanced at the return address. UCLA, she thought, wonder what they want. The witch shrugged at the Seer, "I'll open this later, I think I should go make sure my vampires don't inflict permanent damage first."

"Wills?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll buy you a pan of double chocolate fudge caramel brownies and that book on Watcher history you wanted, if you'll get Angel to *wear* one of those pink t-shirts."

Willow's eyes sparkled, "Deal."

The redhead bit her lip as she descended to the basement. She hadn't sent anything to the university since she'd moved out to LA and couldn't imagine what they'd be sending. Suddenly impatient, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the cover letter, the opening words causing her to frown, 'We regret to inform you...' The redhead continued reading, pausing to open the door to her shared living quarters. She didn't hear anything from their bedroom, but wasn't worried enough to stop reading. Reaching the end and not believing what she'd read, the hacker started over from the beginning. When the words didn't change, she let the envelope drop from nerveless fingers.

After another moment of consideration, she glanced through the open doorway to their bed. A broad smile appeared across Willow's face. Both vampires were naked except for the poor color-tortured socks they each sported.

She didn't want to wait a moment longer to tell them her news, picking up the envelope she called out, "Um, guys?" Willow reached the bed and tugged on their feet. They both jerked awake.

Seeing their redhead standing there, Spike and Angel parted just enough to fit her between them. "Hello, luv, how was the Green Chalice?" Spike patted the bed.

"They didn't have anything on permanent trans-dimensional portals, but Shandra did have that book with the Prelarian demons." Willow crawled forward, "She'll have it sent to the shop this evening so we can pick it up."

The redhead paused in her journey towards the head of the bed as Angel arched an eyebrow in her direction. Willow smiled wickedly, "You want 'em off you'll have to do it yourself."

"Up for that, pet." Spike reached around Willow's waist pulling her tighter against him, while nuzzling her neck.

"I'm in." Angel smirked at his childe over the hacker's shoulder.

Being the first annual recipient of a full tuition grant up to the doctorate level from the Chameleon Foundation out of Blue Cove, Delaware, whose motto was 'Become Anyone You Want', was wonderful but the two vampires were highly distracting. Willow leaned back into Spike and yanked the souled vampire in for a kiss, deciding her news could wait until later, much later.

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