Title: Secrets & Lies: The Lie Compounds
Author: Kylia
Email: kylia_bug@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Nobody belongs to me, unfortunately. They belong to Joss & Mutant Enemy, and a few other people I don't know.
Rating: Starts out PG-13 but will eventually be NC-17
Spoilers: Welcome to the Hellmouth, The Harvest
Category: Willow/Spike
Summary: Okay, think of this as an alternate reality. Some of the events of the series will happen just as they did on the show, others won't.
Distribution: Fire & Ice, WitchFanFic, Of Sire & Childe, anyone else, ask, and you shall receive
Author's Notes: The second part to the Secrets & Lies Series.
Dedication: To my girls. Maybe losing my voice was a good thing. :)

"The poof is here?" Spike asked incredulously.

Darla smiled. "Yes. He thinks he's one of them. But we know better don't we?" She asked seductively.

Spike ignored her, "So, the harvest is tonight?" Who is the vessel?"

"I am." Luke came from somewhere behind him. He smiled evilly at Spike. "It's been a long time. What brings you here?"

Spike motioned to Darla. "Grandma calls, we come." He said cockily. "So, where is this party being held?"

"The Bronze. It's a local club the mortals frequent." Darla snorted.

"I've been there." Spike told them remember the little redhead he had met the previous night.

"So, will you take care of Angel?" Darla asked bringing the conversation back to the real reason she had called Spike.

Spike smirked. "Sure. Why not. The wanker has it coming to him." He started to leave when Darla's voice stopped him.

"Don't kill him."

Spike turned to face his grandsire, "He won't join you." He told her, when her hard expression didn't waver, he sighed needlessly, "No, I won't kill him, just detour him from helping the Slayer."

"I'm really sorry." Buffy apologized for the fourth time. She felt really bad. She had allowed one of her new friends to be captured and turned into a vampire.

Willow smiled easily at the slayer. "Its not you're fault Buffy. Jesse is gone now, and we just have to deal." She turned back to her computer. "Okay, this is what I've found out…" She started to tell them what she had learned about the Master and how he had gotten stuck in the 1930's when there was an earthquake.

"So, this Harvest thing, is supposed to give him enough strength to break free?" Buffy summed up.

Willow nodded. "That's the idea." She pointed to an image on her computer. "The vessel will wear this symbol."

Buffy looked at the image over Willow's shoulder. "So, I dust any vamp sporting this symbol, and no Harvest?" She asked.

"Yes, that appears to be accurate." Giles told her. "What can you tell me about this… person who warned you about the Harvest?"

"Well, he was tall, dark hair, and eyes. Gorgeous… in a creep kind of way." She stopped for a second thinking about the guy she had met the previous night. "Why don't you ask, Will. He's the one who saved her, she could probably tell you more than I could."

Willow froze as three sets of eyes stared expectantly at her.

"Willow, what do you remember?" Giles asked.

"Nothing! That is, I don't remember much. It was dark, and it, uh, happened so fast." She explained nervously. <Why did I lie? > She asked herself.

Buffy shrugged. "Okay, well don't worry about it. I have a feeling I'll be seeing him again." She headed towards the library doors. "I'm going home for supplies, I'll meet you outside the Bronze." She stopped and looked at the three of them. "Don't do anything until I get there!"

"Does anybody else feel like a last meal?" Xander asked after the slayer had left.

Spike waited until the Slayer entered the Bronze and her little friends separated before he came out of the shadows. After he had left Darla, he did some checking around town on the poof. It seemed he had come to town recently. No one was certain why, except a lot of people seemed to think it had something to do with the Slayer. The thought of Angelus trailing after the slayer brought no end to the amount disgust he felt for his sire. Angelus had been brilliant. He was cunning, and deadly. Of course that was before the curse. Now he was nothing but a nancyboy.

After several hours of careful observation, Spike realized that his sire had no intention of helping the Slayer stop the Harvest, aside for a warning here or there. He hadn't decided if he was relieved or disappointed. True, it was his job to prevent him Helping the slayer, but Spike had no desire to see the Master rise.

Contrary to popular belief, not every demon wanted to destroy the world. He liked it here. This world had an ample supply of food. It had lots of excitement to keep a bloke entertained. And it had Red.

He had given a lot of thought to his redhead. He had seen her on the way to the Bronze with her friends, and felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. He didn't know why. He didn't even know her, but he felt like he did. He had seen to much fire in her eyes. She had seen his true face, and wasn't afraid. He wanted to keep her safe. So when he had seen her about to walk into a bloodbath, he made his mind up to do something.

Willow watched as Buffy climbed onto the roof and entered the Bronze through there. Giles and Xander had gone in through a side door. She was about to follow when she was grabbed from behind. A cold hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her into an alley before she could scream. She did the only thing she could. S he bit her assailant.

"Shit, Pet!" He exclaimed as he pulled his hand away.

Willow turned to face her attacker and found herself staring into the ice blue eyes of the vampire whom had saved her the previous night.

"Sorry." She blushed. "Did I hurt you?" She knew that he was a vampire and could probably kill her in an instant, but she felt safe with him.

"I'll heal." He grinned. "I didn't mean to scare you. But you really shouldn't go in there. It isn't safe. There are vampires in there." He told her.

"There are vampires out here." She reasoned

Spike laughed. "That there are, Red."

"Willow." She told him quietly, unsure of what to do next.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Willow. My name's Willow." She told him, and then added, "But you can call me Red. I kind of like it." She smiled at him.

"Red it is."

"If we're gonna keep meeting like this, maybe you should tell me your name." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Spike. William the Bloody, at your service" He grinned cockily in a mockery of an old-fashioned introduction.

"I don't want to know where you got the name Spike, do I?" She asked.

"Probably not."

They stood there staring at one another for a long moment; each lost in their own thoughts.

"Let me walk you home." Spike asked, wanting to get her as far away from the danger as possible.

She thought about saying no, but she really didn't want him to leave, and she didn't think Buffy really need her help, so she nodded. "Okay. But I'm not inviting you in." She grinned at him and took his offered hand.

Spike chuckled. "I wouldn't expect you to, Red. Yet."

Buffy was exhausted. She had killed the vessel, and that was what was important. The Master wouldn't rise. She looked around and for the first time noticed Willow was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Willow?" She asked Xander.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since we split up." Xander looked at Giles.

"No, I haven't seen her either."

"Maybe she's…" She let the words trail off, not wanting to voice them.

"No! She probably went home… or something." Buffy told them, not willing to accept anything less.

"I suppose so." Giles agreed as he looked around the Bronze. "We didn't see her… her body, so that's positive."

Xander glared at the librarian. Buffy took a quick look around. "I'm gonna go check out her house, make sure she's alright. Why don't you guys go home."

The three of them left the Bronze and headed towards their destinations.

Angel watched the three from a darkened alley. "I'll be damned. She did it." He said to himself. He was surprised. He had never really expected the slayer to stop the Harvest. But she had surprised him, and he had a feeling she would continue to.

He wondered what happened to her redheaded friend. He had thought she would have been with them.

Willow sat at her desk searching the net for any reference to a vampire named William the Bloody. Most of the sites she had found didn't have very reliable information. Just as she stumbled on one she believed might have the information she wanted, she heard a pounding on her front door.

She ran downstairs and opened the door to see Buffy standing there looking frantic.

"Buffy? What's wrong? Did something happen?" She asked, suddenly feeling guilty for leaving.

Buffy pushed her way into Willow's house. "Are you alright, Will? We were worried when we couldn't find you. What happened?" She asked looking the hacker over. She noticed she was wearing her pajamas and had her long red hair up in a ponytail.

"I'm fine, Buffy really."

"What happened? Why'd you leave?" She asked.

"I, uh…" Willow's mind searched for a believable reason without having to mention Spike. "I, I couldn't get into the Bronze. And I uh was getting nervous waiting outside. I figured I'd be safer at home." She told her smiling slightly.

Buffy seemed to think about her explanation before she nodded. "Okay. That makes sense. I was just worried." She hugged her friend and then turned towards the door. "I'm gonna go. I'll see you tomorrow."

Willow shut the door and breathed a sigh of relief. "What's the matter with me?" She asked herself. "I meet a vampire and all my morals go out the window." <An extremely sexy vampire. No! Bad thoughts! > She tried to block those thoughts as she went back up to her bedroom.

She sat down at her computer and began to read the information the website provided. S he wondered how much of the information was accurate and made a mental note to check some of Giles' books.