"It�s all my fault." Dawn said miserably.

"Nonsense." Spike intoned, sitting on the edge of her bed and patting her hand awkwardly. He was having a terrible night, wanted to run to the liquor cabinet and drink the contents of it down after running into Willow like that. He hadn�t been prepared to face her yet.

But he needed to comfort Dawn. Wanted to her ease her mind."Now, I know the Slayer. She knew what she was doing. She loved you so much that she sacrificed herself for you, wanted you to go on with your life."

"That�s just it, Spike. I�m not real. Not like all of you. I should have jumped." Her voice grew smaller. "Maybe just this body would have died. I-I would still be alive as The Key."

" You are just as real as any of us."

"Everyone misses Buffy like I do, I think they. . .h-hate me now. "

"They don�t hate you, sweet bit. I promise. Buffy did what she wanted to do, everyone knows that. Now, you can�t think about the past all you can do is focus on the future. You are immortal and you will go on, like me."

"Like you." Dawn repeated. "Spike?"

"Yes?" He could tell from the widening of her blue eyes that this question would be a doozy.

"Do you hate me because she died? I know that you. . .that you loved her."

Spike shook his head. The Slayer was long gone from his thoughts, replaced by a red haired witch that he couldn�t have either. "No, nibblet, I could never hate you." He took her by the shoulders. "Not ever. And I�ll be around to help you." His voice grew quieter. "You can�t leave me, can�t wither and die and leave me all alone. We are forever."

"Forever." She whispered. It boggled her mind. At 14, a few weeks sounded like a lot of time. "What will I do with myself?"

"Well," Spike said, seeking a way to distract her and lift her spirits. Couldn�t stand anymore angst for a while. He gritted his teeth. "Why don�t you put on those Back Street buggers and listen to them. Might lift your spirits." He keep quiet and endure the sugary pop songs.

"Will you stay and listen with me?"

"Yeah." He agreed reluctantly, at least it would distract them. You can�t think about a beautiful red haired witch when those wankers were singing.

"Will you sing along?" Spike�s face became mutinous. But she knew how to handle that. "You�ve got such a great voice."

The vampire�s face broke out into a small smile. "Alright, for a while. Then off to bed with you."

Dawn jumped up and put on the C.D., listening carefully to the opening strains of a song. "Will you dance too?" She shook her hips. "Shake your booty?"

Spike�s look spoke volumes. Something along the lines of �I�m a master vampire, I do not shake my booty to the Back Streets sods. I torture people for fun, I break bones and drink blood. I�m a dangerous creature.� Not that he would ever hurt nibblet, he just wanted some respect. But he only said, "Don�t press your luck."

She gave him her best puppy dog look. He sighed, it was only a matter of time before he agreed.

Across town, Angelus was comforting the sobbing redhead . She leaned against his chest as she sat on his lap. "B-breaking up with me isn�t even the worst thing he did." He patted her back, soothingly. "H-he used me."

Angelus� eyes lit with an unholy fury. Used her? As in for sex? Or to get back at the Slayer? Or to get back at his sire? "How did he use you?" He said, deadly calm, already starting to plot his childe�s demise.

"T-to get over B-B-Buffy. I was a j-just a substitute. He must�ve hated, every m-minute he spent with me."

Angelus felt the tension drain from his body. He almost felt like laughing. Spike had obviously wanted the redhead last time he�d checked. There was zero chance of the redhead being a replacement for Buffy. Damn if he�d plead his ignorant childe�s case though. This would only work to his advantage. "Willow, I�m so sorry. That must be so painful. Do you want to talk about it?" While I stroke your soft skin and hold you close?

Willow�s sobs began to quiet, a combination of Angelus� soothing motions on her back and his calming tone of voice. She laid her head down on his broad shoulder."No, just being here helps. I still need to sort some things out. Thank you for being here for me though."

"You never have to thank me, Willow. I like being here for you. After all, aren�t we friends?"

"Of course we�re friends." She sighed, missing the catch in his voice. "It�s funny, it took a visit from Angelus and you moving to L.A. to make us close."

"Angelus certainly leaves an impression." He watched her carefully, wondering what she would say about him.

"You could say that." Willow looked into his eyes, felt goose bumps begin to form on her skin. Angel had never ever watched her like this, his eyes were admiring."We never really talked about that subject."

He smiled. "Maybe because you avoided it?"

Willow ducked his all-knowing eyes. "So did you."

"I didn�t want to make you uncomfortable." Or tip you off to exactly who were talking to! Angelus had never been able to speak about himself and not brag.

"You wouldn�t be. I was kind of afraid you�d be mad at me."

"Why?"

"For not telling Buffy at first. For. . .uh, other things he and I did." She blushed.

He slid a hand down her leg. "Did you like what he did to you? What he made you feel?"

"Yes." The word was whispered. Almost involuntarily, she leaned closer, her lips inches from his. His mouth haunted her. It had felt so right somehow.

"Would you like to feel that way again?" Angelus� hand cupped her cheek.

Suddenly, she was aware of her position on his lap. Aware of the hard muscles of his thigh and another bulge that she wasn�t going to think about. And aware of the curse. . ."N-no. I�m uh, sorry for. . .sitting on you. Not that you weren�t nice to, uh, sit on. Not that I enjoyed it! I mean. . .not that it was horrible." She shook her head. "I must be very tired, Angel. That�s it. We�re just tired and lonely." She tried to ease off his lap but his hands stayed around her waist, holding her in place. "I should go now. G-goodnight, Angel."

"What if I don�t want you to go? What if we could ease each other�s lonliness?" He purred.

Willow�s eyes grew wide and her breath caught. Something about that tone of voice. . .the look in those eyes. Angelus? No, the others cursed him. Truthfully, they�d all agreed not to discuss the issue further. They were still mired in their battle with Glory and dealing with a motherless Slayer. "I really have to go , Angel." She said, he was only seeking some comfort. A moment of weakness.

"No, you don�t. You could stay a while." Angel brushed his lips over the corner of her mouth.

Did he try to kiss her cheek and miss or was he too afraid to kiss her mouth directly? "I have to go, Angel!" Willow said more loudly, straining against his hands.

"Alright, Willow." He let her go. She scampered to the door, but Angel�s voice forestalled her. "I�m sorry, Willow. I don�t know what came over me. I�m didn�t mean to . . ." He ducked his head, trying his best to look chagrined.

"It�s okay, Angel. We�re under a lot of stress. Goodnight." Willow said softly before she left, closing the door behind her.

Angelus smiled to himself. Run while you can, little one. Sooner or later I�m going to catch you.

"Cordy, have you noticed anything. . .different about Angel lately?"

The ex-cheerleader frowned as she contemplated the question. "Well, he�s been shopping a lot lately. He�s become a much better dresser since I started helping him."

"Shopping?" That wasn�t what she wanted to know. " What about his moods, does he seem happier?"

"Well, yes. But not �Angelus happy.�"

"Hmm. Has he eaten any chocolate lately?"

"We�ve kept him away from it because of you warning." She regarded the witch carefully. "Something you want to talk about?"

She took a deep breath and blurted it out. "Angel kissed me."

"Wow, you poor girl. They should have a support group for that." Cordelia said dryly.

"You think it�s a joke? Ask Buffy or Drusilla if they felt they needed a support group after some physical contact with him."

"That was after they met up with Angelus, not Angel. There�s a big difference."

"Getting physical with Angel leads to Angelus! Hence, my problem with the smoochie he gave me."

"What kind of a kiss are we talking about? A deep, opened mouth one? A light kiss on the lips?"

"It was a kiss on the corner of my mouth."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Geez, we should report him for sexual harassment."

"Cordy!"

"What�s the big? He was just being friendly."

"Exactly. We�re just friends and he kissed me. This is Angel we�re talking about, it�s hard to get him to speak to you, let along some physical contact."

Cordy had witnessed the sparkage between Wills and Angel. She thought a steamy flirtation, with no big �happy� moments would be healthy for both of them. Help ease their pain. "He�s changed since living in L.A. Maybe he�s been picking up things from Wes and me."

"Does he kiss you?"

"Well, no." Cordelia said carefully. "He probably feels close to you, you�re going through some things together right now, with Buffy�s death."

"Maybe you�re right." Willow muttered carefully. But she wasn�t sure of it.

"Chicken Soup for the Soul." Willow read the front cover of the book. "Hmmm. Soul food." Her mother had sent to her via Fedex, they weren't planning on coming home for another month. Her mother thought it might help Willow get through her friend's death. She certainly could use some sort of spiritual assistance at this point. Though, she doubted the answer to her problems when is this thin volume of stories. She put in her bookshelf dutifully, maybe she'd read it another time. The truth is Willow was worried.

She'd really gotten in over her head this time. In order to defeat Glory, she'd gotten into Giles' private collection of spell books, the ones that contained dark magicks. It happened right after Glory's minion's had taken Spike back to the god's apartment. Willow had been sleeping when the minions grabbed Spike from the balcony off of her bedroom. She'd heard the struggle to late, waking up only to find them dragging him off into the night.

She'd called Buffy in a panic state, saying that Glory had taken the blond vampire. She'd been forced to lie, saying she'd seen them take him from his crypt. Buffy hadn't cared and Willow had been forced to remind the Slayer that Spike knew who the key was. Buffy had been spurred into action, vowing to find the god and kill Spike before he could blab the secret. Willow was horrified but unable to explain that she cared about Spike. She was afraid that she had just worsened the situation -- two blond women were trying to kill Spike. The young witch had turned to magick to help her situation, she knew of a book that Giles kept hidden.

So, she'd gone to the `Magick Box' by herself. If Willow closed her eyes, she could still see the pages of `Darkest Magic' turn by themselves. With calm resignation, she'd read the answer to her problem, found the power source. Then, she had dragged the heavy book down the ladder and used some of Giles' merchandise to cast a circle. After she'd lit several candles, Willow called on the arch demon, Azriel. And then she promised him her soul in exchange for higher dark powers. . .and he had agreed.

"Wills?" Willow was thrown from her reverie to see Xander standing there looking at her. "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Why?"

"Because I've been calling your name and banging on the door for about ten minutes and you didn't answer me. Are you ready to go?"

"I'm ready. Sorry, I was just thinking." They were going to see Giles, apparently there had been some mysterious deaths in town. An impromptu scoobies meeting was called. She stood up and grabbed a book that she would need and followed him out the door.

When they arrived at Giles apartment, Angel was leaning against a wall smoking a cigarette and Cordelia stood beside him. "Hey, guys." Xander called. He hadn't seen Cordelia since the funeral. Angel's crew and the scoobies didn't have much to talk about anymore. Conversation had been stilted at best between the two groups and they had silently agreed to avoid each other while also working for the same goals.

"As you can see, one of us is clearly a lady." Angel said, gesturing to Cordy. His eyes drank Willow in. "Willow, feeling better?" The young witch blushed and nodded silently. She looked from Cordelia to Xander and back again. The fireworks were about to begin. She'd already seen them argue enough in highschool, she had no desire to do it again tonight. Her nerves couldn't take it. With an apologetic look to Angel she ran inside.

"Thanks, Angel." Cordelia said, bending an eyebrow at Xander. She couldn't' believe her ex-boyfriend was marrying an ex-demon. It was the stuff of nightmares. She looked at the young man. "So, where's the vengeance demon?"

"Anya is at home, she has a cold."

"Wow, and her loss will be felt." Cordelia rolled her eyes and said sarcastically. "We all love hearing about your sex life so much."

"She's only been human a couple of years! She doesn't know how to act yet. And she came up with some very good ideas for defeating Glory! It was her idea to use the troll hammer and the dagonsphere."

Cordelia didn't see a way to win this argument, so she glanced up and down at Xander's bright clothes. "Nice ensemble, Xander. Wear did you get it? Clown store have a `going out of business sale'? " With that, she walked inside with her head held high.

Angelus, who had watched the whole exchange with interest, laughed in delight at his beautiful assistant. He loved it when she could reduce men to tears with just her sharp tongue. When he turned her, they would go hunting together and he would watch her humiliate men before she killed them. But for now. . .Angelus glanced down at Xander's dirt stained tennis shoes. "And just a piece of advice, those don't match the rest of your tacky outfit." He turned on his heel and went inside.

Xander walked in, muttering under his breath about `deadboys' and `prom queens'. Giles was already beginning to lecture about the deaths. Three witches had been murdered. They all had been within protective casting circles and had been drained of their very lives.

"Are we sure that it wasn't some sort of a vampire?" Cordelia asked.

"I thought that at first." Giles said, putting his glasses on. He retrieved the newspaper from his desk. "But the victims appeared to be physically healthy at the time of death. No blood loss, no medical conditions. They simply died.�

"You suspect some kind of demonic activity?" Willow surmised.

"Yes, I think that some kind of a demon is feeding on the witches." He looked at Willow thoughtfully. "I want you to be careful, my dear. If it uses them as a power source, it might be after you as well. I want you to suspend your magickal activities for now. It'll only be attracted to your power."

"I will." Willow promised. "Is it research time, then?" Since Buffy's demise the young witch was in control of the scoobies.

They all broke into groups. Wesley, Cordy, and Gunn sat together researching any witchcraft practices that would attract a demon. Angelus sat next to Willow, reading over the Watcher's Chronicles with her, searching for some sort of reference to a demonic witch-eater . Xander and Giles researched books on demonology. Three hours passed and still they had found nothing.

"Well, I should go patrol." Angelus said, standing up to his full height. He tried to keep the glee out of his voice. Killing would relax him, he looked to Rupert. "I'll call you if I see anything unusual."

"I'd appreciate that." The Watcher said gravely.

Cordy and Wesley stood up, saying they were going back to the hotel, Wesley wanted to cross-reference some books he'd brought with him. Gunn pulled a mace from Giles' weapons collection. "You want some company, Angel?"

"Love some." Angelus said warmly.

Xander stood, glaring at Angel. "I'll be going home then."

As the young man reached the door, the dark vampire's voice forestalled. "Be careful, Xander, there are plenty of vampires out there." He flashed a wolfish sneer. "Wouldn't want you to get bit."

Gunn looked at Angel in askance. "That guy just bugs me." Gunn shrugged and went outside, hoping the boss would be out soon.

Willow pulled the Watcher into a corner and began talking with him in hushed tones. Angelus couldn't make out what they were saying because he was distracted byt the Watcher's diaries. He reached over and ran his fingers along them, noting the years emblazoned on the spines. One spanned the years of 1780 - 1840. Perfect. He slid it into his coat. "Coming, Willow?"

She turned from the Watcher and smiled. They both looked at him speculatively. "Yes, I'm ready." She followed him out the door. " Do you mind more company tonight? I thought I'd stop over later, after your patrol."

"I don't mind at all." Anxious to see him, was she? Good. "What were you talking to the Watcher about?" Angelus asked curiously.

"Stuff." She smiled airily and then walked over to Gunn. "Ready for some demon killing, Hellmouth style?"

Gunn looked down at the young witch, he'd grown to like her a great deal in the short time he'd known her. She had grit and she made Angel happy. . .but not too happy. And that was good enough in his book. "Ready as ever." He smiled over at Angel. "You ready, old man? We need to stop and get you a cane or something?" It was familiar banter between the two demon fighters.

"Oh yeah? Maybe we should pick up a wash cloth, you're still wet behind the ears." Angelus strutted over to the pair.

"No, maybe we need some Bengay for those creaky old joints."

"Or some diapers for you."

"Or for you." The banter continued and all three laughed as they walked to the parking lot.

Angelus settled into bed wearing his bath robe. He and Gunn had killed a few fledglings and killed a couple of Heqler demons. The young man was nothing short of amazing, Angel had no qualms about letting Gunn watch his back. They were quite an effective team. He was still keyed up from the kill.

He cracked open the book he had taken from Giles and scanned the reference page in the back, looking for his name. Then he began to read aloud. "Angelus, the vampire with the angelic face." Got that right, he rubbed his jaw. Pretty good for being 200+ years old. "Also known as the Scourge of Europe." Now those were good times! "Sired by Darla, see page 157." Who cares about her? "Killed his entire village when he was first turned, including his family." They tasted good. "Known for plotting out his victims' deaths with fiendish precision." I'm nothing, if not an artist. "Frequently�"

"Angel?" Willow called from outside the door, she rapped on it.

"Coming." Angelus called and then gave a naughty smile at his words as he opened the door. "Hello, Willow."

"Hi, Angel." She had a bag in her hand.

"What's that?"

"Dessert for us." Angelus looked on in delight as she unloaded two containers of ice cream from a local ice cream parlor onto the table in his room. "For you, I got vanilla ice cream with caramel topping. Mine's chocolate ice cream with mocha fudge and topped with pieces of oreo cookies."

Angelus' mouth began to water. "That looks good." He was eyeing her sundae not his.

She gestured to the other seat and took out two red plastic spoons. She popped the lid off of hers and Angelus could smell it clearly. He opened his and groaned as he took a spoonful of vanilla ice cream in his mouth. Flat. Tasteless. Nothing compared to the dark decadence of chocolate. But he couldn't eat any with her here.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked, taking a bite of ice cream "Why did you groan?"

"Hurt my leg tonight." He lied.

"Poor guy. Least you heal fast, right?" Willow took another bite of ice cream, closing her eyes to savor the taste.

Mocha. Chocolate. Chocolate covered Willow. Licking the chocolate off of chocolate covered Willow. How much can one vampire stand?"Yeah, I heal fast."

She spooned up another portion, scooping the fudge from the sides of the container. "You aren't eating yours. Doesn't it taste good?" He followed the movements of her tongue on the spoon as it swirled around, searching for the last traces of chocolate on the utensil. Tease! Angelus stuck another spoonful of the confection into his mouth. Sometimes being Angel pushed him to his limits. "It tastes fine." Make her stop! Somebody make her stop before I throw her to the floor and spread the ice cream all over her body and then lick her from the tips of her little toes to the--

"You sure are quiet tonight. Wanna talk about it?"

Angelus stood up from the table. "I"ll be right back." He said carefully as he rushed into the bathroom.

Willow grinned as she spooned another bite of ice cream into her mouth. Hmmm. . .the subject had a very interesting reaction. More tests might be necessary in order to prove this researcher's theory.

Angelus heaved a sigh of relief as he found his hidden stash of dark chocolate bars hidden in a bathroom drawer. He ripped open the foil wrapper and bit down viciously, sighing in relief as the rich substance coated his tongue. He took another bite. Any minute now he'd have to go out there and he'd better have a good excuse because vampires' don't go to the bathroom. He took yet another bite. This was going to be a long, tempting and trying night.