Title: The Night Calls
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: PG13 (for now)
Spoilers: general fourth season. And some rumors I heard about “Doomed”
Category: Willow/Spike – Who else would I write about?
Summary: Willow, still upset over Oz’s departure, attempts to ‘bounce back’ with some help from her friends.
Distribution: Fire & Ice. Anyone else, ask, and you shall receive.
Feedback: Yes, please!! I need to know if I should quit while I am ahead.
Author's Notes: This takes place after Something Blue & Hush. Oz has never returned, and The Scooby Gang is somewhat frustrated with the amount of time it is taking Willow to recover. Spike is still ‘neutered’ although he no longer lives at Giles. Mark is of my own creation.

Willow heard Buffy enter their dorm room, and continued checking her Email. She was chatting back and forth with an online friend. Someone who didn’t know her. Who didn’t know about Hellmouths, werewolves, or vampires, but someone she could speak to more freely about her loneliness?

It had been months since Oz had left, and she hadn’t heard a word. Not a single phone call, not a letter, nothing. That angered her more than hurt her. In the beginning Willow just wanted to die. She wanted nothing more than to have Oz come home to her, and for things to go back the way they were, but now, she was just angry. Angry with everyone. She was angry with Oz for leaving, for deserting her. She was angry with herself for allowing him to have that much control over her, and she was angry with her friends. They had grown frustrated with her. Not that she could blame them. She had just wallowed in self-pity for so long she didn’t know if she would ever recover.

Then there was that spell, which caused Buffy and Spike to fall in love. There was an odd couple if she ever saw one. Neither one of them had let her forget it. The whole thing perturbed Buffy, Whereas Spike found it amusing. Not that he had loved Buffy, that he found disgusting. What he found amusing was the spell itself, and the malice with which it had been unintentionally used. He told her she had a dark side. She tried to convince him he was wrong, but somewhere, deep inside, she believed he was correct. And the scary part was, it didn’t frighten her.

“Willow?” Buffy asked from the closet. “You alright?”

Willow turned around; “yeah I’m fine. How was patrol?” She smiled, trying to reassure her friend. It seemed like lately she was always trying to appear to be okay, for everyone else’s sake.

“Good. We took down at least a dozen vamps. Then there was the fight between Spike and Riley I had to break up, if you could call it a fight.” Buffy laughed as she remembered Spike clutching his head like a wounded puppy after he had attacked Riley.

“A fight? What happened?” Willow asked, concerned.

“Nothing really. We ran into Riley… and company, on patrol. Spike lost his temper, and attacked him, but the pain in his head prevented him from doing too much damage.” Willow turned back around to her computer and sent her email, and then shut it down. She then got up and grabbed her jacket, and headed out the door.

“Wills? Where are you going?” Buffy called after her.

“Out.”

Willow left the dorm, intent on going to Spike’s to see if he was all right. However, she didn’t make it more than a yard past the building when she could hear footsteps behind her. She stopped and turned around, but she couldn’t see anybody, so she continued walking, a little faster this time. She was halfway to Spike’s house when the sound became louder. She started to run, but was halted by someone grabbing her from behind. She let out a scream as she turned around, to see it was Mark, one of Riley’s commando buddies.

“Shit!” Willow exclaimed, “Don’t do that! You cared me half to death!”

Mark looked apologetic. “Sorry. But you shouldn’t be out here. It’s dangerous.” Willow knew he was just concerned, but she was irritated that he felt she needed protection. “I know! You forget, I know what goes bump in the night!” She snapped as she started to continue on her way. Mark grabbed a hold of her arm, and spun her back around.

“Where are you going?” He asked. When Willow didn’t answer, he continued, “Let me take you home.” He turned and started to drag her back towards the dorm. Willow struggled for a moment, and then released herself from his grip.

“No!” She shouted, “Look, I know you don’t want me to get hurt, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine” When he didn’t look convinced, she sighed, “I have to go see a friend.”

“Okay,” Mark conceded, “I’ll walk you.”

Willow grinned, “You really, really don’t want to do that.”

“Why not?” He asked, curious.

“Well, my friend, he doesn’t exactly like you commando types, and to be honest, neither do I.” Mark looked hurt for a second before he replied, “Willow, be reasonable. I’m sure your boyfriend will understand.”

Willow laughed at the last statement. “First things first, he is * not * my boyfriend, second, I do not need you to protect me!” Willow turned around and ran the rest of the way to Spikes house.

Mark was stunned for a second. She seemed pretty adamant about not needing any help, but he couldn’t just let her walk away, so he decided to follow her. He wondered who this *friend* was. He hoped it wasn’t her boyfriend. Riley had told him she wasn’t seeing anybody. He had been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out, but every time he chickened out.

After about seven minutes or so, he saw Willow turn down a side street. He had to run to keep up with her. Finally she slowed down as she approached a house. After she stood at the door for a second knocking, she let herself in.

Confidant that she was probably safe, he turned around, and left, making a mental note to ask Riley again if she was available.

The house was dark when Willow entered. She thought that maybe he had gone out. She was about to leave when she heard a noise coming from upstairs. She quietly walked upstairs and knocked on Spike’s bedroom door. When all she heard was a grunt coming from the other side, Willow let herself in.

She found Spike leaning up against the far wall, clutching his head. She ran over to him and knelt down, gently pulling his hands away. He growled softly.

“Headache?” She asked quietly, ignoring his growling.

He looked at her with amber eyes, which she ignored.

“Let me see.” She commanded. He turned to look at her, his face returning to its human visage.

“I’m fine.” He forced his voice to sound calm.

Willow shook her head, as she stood up and walked over to his bed and sat down. “Come here.”

Spike stared at her for a second, wondering if he could argue with her, and win. After taking one look at her face, he realized he couldn’t. She was determined, and he had known her long enough to know that there was no arguing with her when she was like that. He walked over to the bed, and sat next to her.

“Riley? What happened? It wasn’t very smart to attack him like that” Her voice was quiet, but Spike could read the undertones. He groaned.

“I just lost my temper. We were patrolling, just like normal, and the wanker comes out of the bushes, like Rambo!”

Willow leaned back up against his headboard, bringing Spike with her, so that he could lie down. She brought her hands gently to his face, and began to rub gently at his temples. “The headaches, are they getting worse?” She asked quietly, trying to steer the conversation away from Riley, so that Spike would relax.

Spike closed his eyes, enjoy the calming sensations she was creating. He was asleep in a matter of moments.

Willow sat there silently for several moments, watching the vampire sleep. It never ceased to amaze her how he could look so peaceful in sleep, yet, be so unruly awake. She chuckled to herself as she imagined him lunging at Riley. She knew she shouldn’t find it funny. He could have been hurt, but now that she knew he was okay, she could see the humor.

Willow frowned as her thoughts returned to Spike’s headaches. They had gotten worse lately. He never told her about them, but she always knew. He would get moody sometimes. Cranky. Not that he wasn’t cranky in general, but she could tell the difference. These headaches bothered her. She was sure they were related to the implant. She only hoped it was something they could fix.

Willow gently moved off of the bed, trying not to wake Spike. When she was sure she hadn’t disturbed him, she walked noiselessly out into the kitchen, and picked up the phone.

Giles sat on his couch, and looked up from his current volume. It was the sixth book he’d looked through that evening. And he had found nothing new. He was running out of places to look. It was times like this when he missed his connections within the council. He still had some contacts, but most people preferred not to deal with him. It was aggravating. The council knew that they were the last stand for anything trying to make it’s way to the Hellmouth. But yet, they insisted on this silence. It wasn’t doing anybody any good. He was working blind.

Giles was startled out of his thoughts by the telephone ringing. He glanced briefly at the clock, to see what time it was. It was almost two-thirty in the morning. He wondered who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Giles?” Willow whispered into the phone.

“Willow?” Giles asked. She was speaking so quietly he wasn’t sure if it really was her on the other end.

“Yes,” She whispered, “I need some help. It’s Spike.” She paused, waiting to see what the watcher would say. When he didn’t respond she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her.

“Giles? Can you hear me?” She asked, speaking a little louder.

“Yes. Willow, what is it? Where are you?”

“Spike’s. He needs our help.” She waited for him to say something, when he didn’t she continued. “He’s been having these headaches. They’re getting worse. I think they have something to do with the implant.”

“I take it he doesn’t know you’re calling?” Giles asked, making note of her soft tones.

“No. He’s sleeping. Can you help?” She asked hopefully.

“I’ll look into it. Why don’t you get some sleep.”

“I’m not leaving!” She told him adamantly.

Giles smiled. “I didn’t think you would. Surely you can sleep in the spare room, or on the couch?”

Willow let out the breath she was holding when she realized Giles wasn’t going to talk her out of staying. “Yeah, of course. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thanks.”

Willow gingerly hung up the phone and headed back up to check on Spike. When she found him still sleeping soundly, she went into the spare bedroom and fell exhaustedly on the bed.

Buffy awoke from a dreamless sleep to discover she was alone in the dorm room she shared with Willow. She looked at the clock to discover it was close to five a.m. She briefly wondered if Willow had gotten up early and was showering, but then noticed her bed hadn’t been slept in. Willow didn’t usually make her bed until after she had showered.

Buffy shot out of bed and headed over to the phone. After several rings, Giles picked up the line groggily.

“Hello?”

“Giles? Is Willow there?” Buffy asked concerned.

“N... yes.” Giles answered after a moment’s hesitation. He realized Buffy would not be as understanding about Willow’s concern for the blond vampire as he had been.

“Why?” Buffy asked curiously.

“Huh?” Giles had forgotten what they were talking about.

“Why is Willow there? Are you researching?”

“Uh, no. But we were. She was helping me go through some of these volumes. She’s asleep now.” Giles was struck with the lack of difficulty he had in lying to his slayer.

“Oh, okay. I was just worried when I didn’t find her in bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I guess I’ll see her in class.” Buffy hung up the phone, convinced Willow was okay, and safe.

When Willow awoke the next morning, she was unsure where she was at first. After a few moments, she realized she was in the spare bedroom of Spike’s house. She crawled out of bed and decided she should probably take a shower. She felt self-conscious showering in Spike’s house, with him asleep just a couple of doors down. But she definitely couldn’t go back to the dorm. Buffy was there, and she wasn’t ready to deal with her. She didn’t know what to tell her. She hoped that maybe Buffy hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t come home, but Willow realized that was very unlikely. Maybe she could tell her she slept at Giles.

*What the hell am I worried about? * Willow asked herself, realizing she was an adult, she didn’t need an excuse to stay out all night. Determined to not be bullied she crept out of the bedroom and walked softly into the bathroom.

Somewhere on the edge of sleep, Spike heard water running. He opened his eyes, and listened. It was the shower. Who was in the shower? He tried to remember the events of the previous night, wondering if he’d gone out drinking again. Maybe he had brought someone home. *No, that can’t be right. * He thought. Then he smelled it. It was her. The redheaded witch. She was taking a shower, here, in his house. He sat up in bed. His head was killing him. He tried to remember if he had indeed gone out and gotten drunk. He hoped he didn’t doing anything stupid, especially not in front of her.

*Damn! You’re starting to sound like Peaches! * He growled to himself.

He walked out into the kitchen and decided to make some breakfast. If Willow had stayed the night, she was probably hungry. After two mugs of warm bagged blood, and a cup of coffee, Spike still couldn’t remember what had happened. He heard the water turn off, and after several minutes Willow came out, looking refreshed. He tried to look her over to see if she showed any signs of what may have happened the previous night. She didn’t smell any different, so he knew that nothing too embarrassing happened.

“Morning, pet. I made some coffee.” He nodded towards the coffeepot as she walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

“Thanks. I, uh, I wanted to apologize for crashing here last night. But I didn’t feel like explaining where I had been to Buffy.” She was looking at the table, unable to meet his eyes. She felt awkward for making herself at home without asking. She didn’t think he would really mind, but it was the principle of the thing.

Spike brought her a cup of steaming coffee and sat down across from her.

“It’s okay, Luv. I don’t imagine the slayer would be happy to know you spent the night with me.” He chucked at the thought, still unsure of exactly what had happened, although he could tell from her reaction that they hadn’t slept in the same bed. He was glad. If she was going to sleep in his bed, he wanted to remember it.

Willow grinned, “no, I don’t suppose she would.” She looked over at the clock. “I, uh, I have to get going. Class.” She stood up, and after taken several large gulps of her coffee she set the mug in the sink and ran out of the kitchen.

“I’ll, uh, call you, or stop by, later.” She ran out his house before he could stop her.

Spike watched her in amusement. She seemed to be a bit flustered. He briefly wondered if anything had happened the previous night. But then decided that he was just imagining things. His head was pounding. It felt as if it was going to explode. He walked back to his room, hoping that the grinding would stop if he got some more sleep. It was early still and he was exhausted.

Mark found himself wandering the streets of Sunnydale just after dawn. He couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking about Willow. He wondered who she was going to see so late at night. He had inadvertently walked to the street Willow had turned down, subconsciously hoping to get a good look at her friend. After about thirty minutes of staring at the house, he was getting ready to leave when he heard the front door open. He barely had enough time to hide behind a bush, before Willow came running out of the house, wearing the same clothes she had on the previous night.

She was in a hurry. She started to run, towards the park. He followed her, again. This time to a house on the other end of town. It belonged to that watcher. She knocked on the door for several minutes, and then was lead inside.

Mark was even more confused than before. Willow had apparently spent the night with her ‘friend’, even though she had told him he wasn’t her boyfriend. He headed over to the fraternity, determined to get some answers from Riley.

Willow walked into Giles house, unsure of how to ask him for her favor.

“Giles, I was wondering if… you could do me a favor?”

“You don’t want me to tell Buffy that you spent the night with Spike? Uh, at Spike’s, I mean” Giles corrected.

Willow smiled. “Yeah. I just don’t think she would understand.”

“Yes, quite right.” Giles agreed. “She called last night.”

A look of horror crossed Willow’s features at Giles words, and he hurried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. I told her you were here, researching, and you fell asleep.”

Willow sighed. “Thanks. Did you… did you find anything?” She asked, afraid to hear the answer. Giles looked down and shook his head.

“No, I’m afraid not. I’m gonna keep looking, but I’m afraid the only people who can answer your questions are the people responsible.”

“Riley?” She asked softly. Giles nodded.

“Well, I’ll see if I can talk to him today, without revealing my reasons, of course. I’ll come by after class.” She headed to leave.

“Willow?” Giles called just as she had opened the door. She turned around.

“Be careful. We don’t know very much about these people, or their agenda. We don’t know Riley. Don’t tell them anything they don’t already know.”

Willow smiled and nodded her head. “Of course not.”

Willow walked into class with a purpose. She was determined to confront Riley. Ok, maybe confront wasn’t the right term. But she knew she had to get some answers. She just hoped Riley had them, and would be willing to share.

She saw Riley in one corner of the room, intently looking at a stack of papers. Without thinking she headed for him. A part of her brain told her this wasn’t the time, or the place, but she was driven by a need that was overriding her rational thought.

She had almost reached him when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Willow whirled around to see who had kept her from her goal.

“Willow” Buffy smiled uncertainly at her friend.

“Buffy. Hi!” Willow waved slightly at her friend. “I, was, uh, I was just coming to class, here, where we are.” Willow babbled, realizing she had lost her chance to speak with Riley.

Buffy turned towards their seats, and shook her head slightly. Willow had been acting rather strange lately.

After they had sat down in their seats, Buffy turned to her friend. “So, you spent the night at Giles?”

“Uh, I Uh, yeah.” Willow busied herself will opening her Psyche book, avoiding having to look Buffy in the eye, while she lied. “I, uh, had to help him with some research.”

Willow took a moment to look up at the slayer, and seeing the confusion in her eyes, was sorry she did.

“With what?” Buffy asked, a million questions forming in her mind.

“Huh?” Willow asked, not understanding the question.

“What kind of research? Giles’ didn’t mention anything to me.”

Willow stared at her friend blankly for a moment, trying to think of an answer. “Uh, it was… it wasn’t important. Just some new book he found. He…” Willow was relieved to have her explanation interrupted by the entrance of Professor Walsh.

As the professor took control of the class, Willow couldn’t help but wonder how she had gotten herself into this mess. Why she felt the need to lie to Buffy about where she had spent the night? It wasn’t like anything had happened. Hell, it wasn’t even like she wanted anything to happen. Her and Spike were just friends.

Spike awoke to the pounding in his head. It had gotten worse recently. It felt like someone had taken a jackhammer, and let it loose inside there. He groaned, as he tried to move. His body wasn’t cooperating. It felt stiff, and heavy. If he didn’t know better he would swear something was pinning him down. He relaxed his body for a second against the bed, and then tried again.

Every muscle in his body ached. He could feel every cell constrict in pain at his movement, and the pounding in his head was getting louder. His vision was starting to blur, he knew with sudden clarity that he was going to loose consciousness. He would be glad for the silence.

Willow rushed out of class before Buffy could corner her and ask anymore questions. She decided that talking to Riley at school might have been a bad idea. She would have to talk to him later, away from here, away from Buffy.

She had been so lost in her own thoughts; Willow barely noticed when she ran into something, or rather someone.

“I am so sorry. I didn’t even see you.” Willow apologized as she bent down to pick up her dropped books.

“Mark.” She smiled.

“Willow. Are you alright?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I, uh, need to go. I have, uh, uh thing.” She smiled again and walked past Mark and disappeared down the hall.

Mark stared after her for a moment, and then turned back to his destination. When he entered the classroom, he found Riley standing in one corner talking to Buffy Summers.

“Hey, Riley. Buffy.” Mark nodded at Buffy, “What’s with Willow?”

“What do you mean?” Buffy asked,

“Well I just ran into her in the hallway, and she seemed a little distracted. Did she… did she have a fight with her boyfriend or something?”

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Riley stated and then looked questioningly to Buffy, “Does she?”

“No. They broke up.”

“Oh, well I assumed, after last night… and then just now…”

“Last night?” Buffy asked, confused, “What happened last night?”

Giles set his book down. He was trying to concentrate, but his thought’s kept returning to Willow, and her concern for Spike. The girl had unwavering compassion and limitless love, however she wasn’t one to overreact. If she was concerned, there was probably good reason to be. The problem was, he couldn’t seem to find out any information. Gile’s knew that Riley had the answers they sought, however, he was also fairly certain the boy had no intention of providing them.

Willow walked briskly to Spike’s house. There were still a few hours before sunset, so she knew he was probably sleeping. But she wanted to make sure he was okay. She couldn’t really explain it, but an overwhelming sense of trepidation had come over her.

When she arrived at his house, she walked in after a moment’s hesitation. It was completely silent. Which was to be expected, but there was something off. It just didn’t feel right.

She walked into his bedroom carefully, and nearly gasped at the sight. Spike was lying on the bed, apparently sleeping. But what shocked her was the way he looked. His body looked stiff, and he was sweating. *Could vampires even sweat? *

Willow sat on the bed and took a closer look. She was almost afraid to touch him. She gently laid a hand against his skin, and was shocked to find it feeling warm. A clammy, icky kind of warmth, but warm nonetheless. She had been accustomed to the coldness of his skin, and the warmth she felt now, gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong, very wrong.




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