(Although it might almost have been worth it, just to see the look on his face) Willow thought cheekily as she knocked again, this time with more force. (Just my luck, to prepare myself for the most excruciatingly embarrassing experience of my life, only to-)

Her inner conversation was interrupted by the sudden inward swing of the crypt door, and Spike's unreadable face emerged from the shadows.

"Back for more already, pet?" he asked in his most snide voice.

Willow felt her resolve crumble. (I can't believe it's easier to have sex with him than a conversation) she thought despairingly, as she decided there was no point in beating around the bush.

"I need to go to LA to pick something up for Giles, here is $100" and she pushed the money into one hand "and the keys to Giles car," and she pushed the keys into his other hand. "We need to leave now, and we should be back well before dawn."

Then she put on her best resolve face and simply stared at him.

Spike felt torn between applauding her nerve and putting her over his knee and spanking her. Quickly shaking off the fog of lust that followed that second mental image, Spike focused instead on his sense of righteous anger.

First of all he had helped her - he could have just left her in the park after all. Then she practically flaunted her bleeding neck in front of a poor starved vampire, threw him down on the ground and screwed his brains out - then she disappeared without a word, leaving him trapped by the daylight trying to work out what the hell had happened, and how a not very successful witch (who happened to also be a very sexy red head) had managed to give him the ride of his un-life.

And now here she was, just as he was preparing to track her down and either screw her into unconsciousness or at least get some answers - or preferably both.

Looking at the cash in his hands, Spike shoved it into his duster pocket, then he swung the keys lazily from one finger as he purred "Well, off we go then pet," enjoying the look of suspicion and confusion that met his gaze as Willow turned and followed him into the night.

Inside the cramped confines of Giles' Citroen the tension mounted steadily as both Spike and Willow remained obstinately silent, waiting for the other to speak. Finally Willow could stand it no more, and she decided that as she was already as embarrassed as it was possible to be, she had nothing to lose.

"Anyway," she said, causing Spike's gaze to jerk towards her in surprise as the silence was suddenly broken, "I just wanted, you know, to thank you for getting me out of the park last night, uh, I know you didn't have to help me and it was, um, I mean I didn't really know - "

Spike cut her off in mid-babble with a curt nod and a "You're welcome pet, anytime."

They looked at each other for a brief moment before Spike's gaze returned to the road, and he mused "Well, let's see, what shall we talk about now? Maybe how the Slayer's bestest friend ended up as a late night vampire snack? Or our urgent trip to get a book for a bloke who seems to have more than enough already? Or maybe what the hell happened this morning?"

Willow gulped and decided that option one sounded safest, so she told Spike the story of her ill-fated night time ramble. Spike grunted to himself at the stupidity of anyone, let alone someone who knew as much as Willow did about Sunnydale's non-human residents, taking a stroll after dark, but kept his thoughts to himself as Willow finished her tale with the mysterious demise of her attacker.

"Did you hear anyone else?" Spike queried.

"I don't think so, I mean I was barely conscious so I guess a stealthy person could have done it and I wouldn't have heard anything. Maybe it was the Initiative?"

Despite his personal hatred of the soldiers Spike thought it was unlikely that they would leave a human to bleed to death, but he couldn't think of anyone else who would want to save a human from a vampire - except the Slayer of course, and there was no way that she would simply fade off discretely into the background.

No, more likely Bitchy would have T-shirts made: "I saved Willow!" Spike grinned despite himself at the idea of the Scoobies wearing their matching T-shirts at the next research meeting, then remembered his initial problem with the whole scenario.

"What the bloody hell were you doing walking by yourself in the first place?" Spike growled at his companion.

Willow looked at him helplessly. She was still reeling from her recent discussion with Giles, and needed more time to think about his revelations before she could discuss it with anyone - although for some reason it did not even occur to her that it was strange that she would consider confiding in Spike before Buffy or Xander.

But on the other hand she didn't want to break the mood between them, as she felt as though they were creating a rapport that, if she were honest, she would very much like to build on. She was certain that Spike would not take too kindly to being brushed off, and she was too terrible a liar to consider trying to fool him. So she decided instead on a heavily edited version of the truth.

Spike watched with interest as a multitude of expressions flickered over her face. It was abundantly clear to him that he was not going to get the full story, and he wondered what exactly it was that Willow was hiding.

"Um, well, OK, I have been having some weird dreams lately and I had another one last night, it was, you know, disturbing and I was kind of upset and I couldn't sleep, so I decided some fresh air might clear my mind."

Spike pondered her words for a few minutes before asking cautiously, "So, would these dreams have anything to do with Giles' sudden need for this book?"

Willow gazed at him with wide eyes as she nervously twirled a strand of hair around her finger. She settled for a simple "Yes" as she turned her head to look out the window at the passing buildings as they neared their destination. She prayed to whoever was listening that they would arrive before the conversation headed any closer to dangerous territory.

Unfortunately Spike had no intention of letting her off the hook that easily. He suddenly pulled the car to a halt at the side of the road, and said to her: "Well, since you don't seem to want to talk about our secret mission, that just leaves our little encounter this morning. Want to tell me what that was all about?"

Willow went in a heartbeat from embarrassment to indignation. "What do you mean, what was that about? Don't tell me in over a century you never had meaningless sex before?"

"Sure I have kitten, I'm the original lay-'em and drain-'em king. But since when have you developed a taste for bad boys?"

Willow was torn between arguing just for the sake of trying to put him in his place, and a desire to take a risk and actually try to explain what had happened. So she wavered, until she decided that someone who had spent as much time as Spike with a sanity-challenged vampiress should be better able than most to understand a woman's mood swings.

"I do not have a thing for bad boys," she sniffed haughtily. Then her face lost its momentary poise to reveal her uncertainty as she said, "I just, well, you know, you are very attractive in an evil, I'm going to kill you way, and, well, I have needs too you know!"

Spike couldn't control the grin that broke out at her words, and he leant over to purr in her ear, "Pet, anytime you have "needs" you just let me know and I'll be happy to help out." Encouraged by Willow's outraged look, he added, "Anyway, even if I did kill you, you wouldn't stay dead for long."

And with that Spike started the engine again, leaving Willow to reflect on whether her life could get any stranger now that a death threat qualified as a compliment. And she sat quietly, with a small grin on her face, as they covered the final kilometres to the address that Wesley had given Giles.

Willow knocked on the door, reassured by the "Angel Investigations" sign that she was at the right place despite there being no signs of life. (Although,) she mused, (I guess that's right since Angel actually is dead.)

She smiled to herself as Spike continued to swear under his breath. He was none too keen on visiting his grand-sire again, and was not expecting a warm welcome given the circumstances of their last meeting. He only hoped that Willow's presence would be sufficient to save him from being staked on sight.

He ran his fingers over the dollars stuffed in his pocket, and decided he would try one more time to persuade Willow to let him wait in the car - ( I mean all she has to do is pick up a book, it's not like she needed a bloody bodyguard.)

Before he could make his plea, they heard the locks click as the door was opened, and both looked into the wary brown eyes of Angel.

"Willow, I see you brought company," Angel said, his face expressionless as he moved aside to let them enter. Conscious of the unlikelihood of this becoming a tender reunion - after all, she and Angel were not exactly the best of friends, and from what Spike had told her his last meeting with Angel would not have left the older vampire looking forward to seeing his grand-childe again - Willow decided that the best approach was to grab the book and leave, so she looked around Angel's office to see if Wesley was there. He wasn't.

"Did Wesley leave the book with you? Cos Giles asked me to bring it back as fast as possible," Willow said, abandoning tact and hoping to extricate Spike before he said or did anything untoward.

"Wesley has gone to get it from a friend who has been storing some of his things for him. He should be back soon" said Angel as he viewed the increasingly nervous behaviour of the pair in front of him.

Angel could also smell the faint scent of Willow's blood, and as she moved around the office fidgeting with his meagre belongings he saw the bite mark partly concealed under her collar - but it was not Spike's mark. Curiouser and curiouser.

Angel was also quietly intrigued by Wesley's behaviour after this afternoon's phone call from Giles. He had told Angel that Willow was coming to pick up a book, and Wesley had then excused himself for a few hours, returning looking flushed and nervous, and advising Angel that he would go and collect the book and would return shortly. That had been over three hours ago.

As it seemed they could be in for a long wait, Angel decided at least he could use his time to make sure that Willow was OK. He had always admired her, and had often thought that Buffy did not appreciate how lucky she was to have such a loyal and devoted friend, one who had countless times risked her own safety to help Buffy, and who had received little thanks for her efforts as far as he could tell.

But then again he was hardly in a position to talk. One of the greatest sorrows that Angel had from his years in Sunnydale was that he had never found a way to thank Willow for restoring his soul. Somehow the time had never seemed right, and he could not find the words to convey just what a gift she had given him.

Angel decided that fate was giving him another chance. Clearly Willow had gotten herself into some kind of trouble; Angel decided that this would be his chance to help Willow and repay the debt he owed her. And if it meant he could at the same time cause some grief to Spike - then so much the better.

"We could be waiting for a while. Let's go downstairs, I can get you some coffee if you like" said Angel as he waved the pair into the lift. He concealed his amusement at the way that Willow kept her body between him and Spike, and as the lift came to a stop he pulled the door open and ushered them into his apartment.

Spike raised a mocking eyebrow at the decor and drawled "Sticking with the winter tones I see." Angel ignored him and asked Willow if she wanted something to eat.

"Do you have anything?" Willow asked, surprised.

"I try, but it seems to get eaten faster than I can buy it" said Angel as Willow made her way toward the kitchenette to see what she could find.

Spike and Angel remained gazing at each other, before Spike took matters into his own hands, settling himself in what was obviously Angel's armchair and propping his feet on the table. "This is the prime brooding seat then mate?" queried Spike as he steepled his fingers under his chin in imitation of Angel's favourite "thinking" pose.

Angel took a step towards Spike, reasoning that the Powers would probably thank him for beating some sense into Spike, when he was distracted by Willow re-entering the room to inquire of Spike "There's blood - are you hungry?"

At Spike's nod Willow left again to prepare their respective snacks, leaving Angel to ponder how Spike had ended up with someone who seemed to regard blood-in-a-mug as a normal meal, while he had spent his entire relationship with Buffy pretending to be human, trying to shield her from the reality of his demon nature.

Or maybe, he thought for the thousandth time, trying to fool himself as to what he really was. Angel shook himself mentally, determined to stop brooding about his own problems and try to focus on his mission - helping Willow.

He glanced over at Spike to see the blonde smirking at him, only too aware that Angel had slipped into brood-mode. Luckily any smart remark that Spike may have planned was halted by Willow's re-emergence with a mug of blood, a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Handing the mug to Spike, she settled herself on the sofa and started to eat.

After finishing half her sandwich, Willow broke the silence that had descended by asking Angel "Do you think that Wesley will be much longer?" As she spoke she glanced at Spike, drinking his blood in full demon face with much ostentatious slurping and licking of lips. She frowned at him reprovingly before looking back at Angel to see he was watching their exchange with interest.

"I'm not sure. Are you still practicing magic? I have some rare spell books you can have a look at while you wait if you like."

Willow's face brightened at the possibility of having something non- threatening to occupy her mind, and she nodded eagerly as Angel led her to his study, leaving Spike to gaze at their departing forms suspiciously, wondering what his ever manipulative grand-sire was planning.

The whole soul issue was just a smoke screen in Spike's opinion - Angel or Angelus, they both knew how to get what they wanted.

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