Part Three Of
THE PARADISE SERIES
By Bitch Willow
Rating: PG-13, just to be safe. Very mild stuff this time. (From me? Who knew?)
Classification: Series is Willow/Spike overall, but this section is a bit W/A.
Mention of S/A. (Ahhh!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Willow, but Joss sold me Spike and Angel last week for
a hefty fee. No, not really. I own no one and nothing, but the series. I don't
own the Flash either.
Summary: Angel wants to talk to Willow about this Spike thing. Is it sour grapes,
or just friendly concern?
Author's Note: More Spike next time, I swear! He's coming back to Sunnydale
soon, so look for the sparks to fly. This takes place before Choices, and the
entire third season took place pretty much as it did on the show (Willow got
back together with Oz, etc.), just so you guys know. (Mention of slashy stuff
in here, just in case anyone doesn't like that.)
Dedication: To Tracy. Hey, Brain-twin, I wrote this in a state of miso-coherency.
*snicker*
Willow awoke with a jerk. < Oh? What the hell was that? > she thought with an annoyed groan. < I was having such a nice dream? > About Spike. And his hands, under her sweater? Another short series of knocks sounded on her balcony door, and she threw off her blankets, frustrated beyond belief. < Just when it was getting to the good part, too. Whoever's out there, I'm killing you. >
Tugging down her short t-shirt, she sighed and turned on her bedside lamp. It was probably Buffy, or Xander, or even Oz. Since Christmas Oz had been sleeping with her steadily-well, in the same bed with her anyway. He had made it abundantly obvious that he wasn't ready to sleep with her, and in a way, she was relieved. < Because I still think about Spike, after all this time?it's like being unfaithful. >
"Okay, if you're some sort of demon, I have holy water and a crossbow here?uh, a cross, anyway. So if you intend to kill me, I'd leave if I were you." Grabbing her glass perfume bottle full of holy water, she walked cautiously to her balcony door and pulled it open.
"Can I come in?" Angel, of all people, was standing outside lit by her porch light.
Willow gaped. "Uh, Angel?I thought you were leaving town for a while. Fire demon pit, right?" She gripped the holy water more tightly in her hand. < Okay?I'm guessing this is not good. >
He smiled at her. "Yeah. I'm leaving in a while-me and Buffy, I mean." He brushed back his hair nervously.
Willow smiled at him, mustering as much happiness as she could in her half-asleep state. "That's nice. You know, that you two'll have a weekend together. You two don't get out enough together." He smiled, and she nodded her head at him. "So." Angel stood silently. "This is the part where you tell me what you're doing on my doorstep at 3:00 AM."
"Sorry," he replied, looking at her through his lashes. "I had to talk to you before we left, and it couldn't wait. Me and Buffy leave in the morning." Willow looked at him quizzically and he explained, "I'll be covered with a blanket in the back. So can I??"
"Oh?okay. You're not evil, are you?" she asked worriedly. Angel raised an eyebrow and she bit her lip. < Well. Probably not, cause then Buffy would have told me? > "Okay. Come in." She stood aside as he walked into her bedroom.
Closing the door, Willow turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Well, what is it? I was sort of sleeping, as we humans tend to do at night." Her forehead wrinkled. "Not that you'd know?"
Angel chuckled. "No, I suppose not." He sat down at her desk and gestured to her. "Will you?sit down, Willow. We have to talk."
Willow sat down on the bed, a worried expression on her face. < What is Angel's deal? {mental sigh} Vampires are weird. > "What is it, Angel? Is it about Buffy?"
He shook his head, his usual serious expression pervading over his former humor. "No. It's about Spike." Willow gulped. "Or more accurately, you and Spike."
She choked. "Wha?what? What about me and Spike? You mean how he kidnapped me and all, cause otherwise, uh, I don't know what you're talking about." < Oh, yeah. Great lie, Willow. He didn't see through that. No, not at all. >
Angel narrowed his eyes at her. "You know that I'm Spike's sire, right?" < Eep, > Willow thought, < eep eep eep eep eep. > "And as his sire?vampires have a very good sense of smell. Like wolves, in some senses. We can smell?blood, through skin. Sex? Other vampires, on the flesh of a human." He glanced at her meaningfully and she let out a breath.
"Angel, what is it you think you smelled on me?"
"Him." He moved quickly from the desk chair to a spot next to her on the bed. < Goddess, what is he, the Flash? {mental grunt of frustration} Dammit, Xander, you've made me watch way too many dumb sci-fi shows. > "Willow, what happened in the basement?"
She gulped again and brushed her tangled red hair back behind her ears. "Well?do you promise not to freak out?"
"No," he admitted.
< Well, thank you for that. Damned if I'm going to tell you now. > She changed tactics. "Angel, why do you care? I mean, I'm fine and everything, and Spike's gone. It's been months since it happened-since he kidnapped me, I mean. Cause, um, nothing else happened. Really."
He sighed. < Why is it that vampires sigh so much? They don't breathe. It's a very annoying habit. > "Willow, I just want to know if he hurt you. Or if he?forced you to do something."
Willow laughed. "Angel, nothing happened. He kidnapped me and Xander, dragged us into the basement, and told me to do a love spell for him. That's it." < Please please please believe me? Aw, crap. >
Angel shook his head. "I don't buy that, Willow. You smelled like him, like his skin?your mouth was bleeding. I know?" He continued on reluctantly. "I know you didn't?sleep with him. Your blood is still pure. But I could smell your blood in your mouth, and I'm worried. Willow?"
She sighed. "Angel?he kissed me," she admitted. "But he didn't force me to?exactly. I mean, I was right there participating." He opened his mouth. "And before you start lecturing me about how wrong it was, I already know that. Okay? Believe me, I know. And I'm trying to forget it ever happened."
Angel looked, if anything, completely shocked. Finally his mouth began to work again and he spoke. "Willow, do you have feelings for Spike?"
Willow looked at him fuzzily. "Do you mean, like, warm fuzzy cutesy feelings, or jump-him-next-time-I-see-him feelings? Cause, uh?"
She stood up and walked over to her desk, examining her computer. So, yeah, okay, it was just an excuse not to look at Angel, but if it worked, she wasn't complaining.
"Willow?" Damn. He wasn't buying her distracted act.
She sighed and turned to face him, pulling down the t-shirt that had reached an almost embarrassing point on her thighs. < Hey, if I accidentally flash him, it's not my fault. He's the one who couldn't wait 'til tomorrow night to ask me this. > Thinking that, she leaned back a little on her desk so that the t-shirt rode up a bit. "Yes. I think so, I mean. He's?attractive." She smirked at him. "But then, you're his sire, so I'm guessing you noticed that already. You and Spike were?close?"
He wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. As a matter of fact, he was staring?at her thighs. < Oh my God! Am I just a magnet for the walking undead? > Willow coughed and straightened up a little. "Angel?"
He jumped, and then blushed. < Wow, I didn't know vampires could blush. I wonder if it makes his skin feel warm?bad Willow! > < Maybe it's just?scientific curiosity? > < Sure it is, Will. Sure it is. >
"Um?well, admittedly?" He sighed again. "You're right. It's somewhat hypocritical of me to be dismayed about your?attraction to Spike. But the difference is, I'm a vampire, and his sire. And the only reason that I slept with him was because that's the only way I could dominate him." Willow raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. "Okay, so Blondie's got a nice bod, but besides that? Willow, I was evil. A demon. If you try and get involved with Spike, you'll be in over your head."
She nodded. "I know. And I'm not trying to get involved with Spike. We kissed once, by accident, and he was drunk. He probably doesn't even remember it." < Okay, sure. And I don't remember?calculus. Which I do. > "Angel, I'm involved with Oz. I love Oz." < Is that uncertainty tingeing your voice? Well, yes, but hopefully he doesn't realize that. > "If I'm completely honest, Spike scares the hell out of me. And yes, we kissed, and yes, he's a yummy male specimen, but I wouldn't do anything stupid. I wouldn't do anything to damage my relationship with Oz, and I wouldn't do anything based in silly adolescent hormones."
Angel looked at her intensely, his deep brown eyes staring deep into hers. "But are you sure that's all it is?"
She felt a jolt run through her. "Of course that's all it is. What else could it be?" But even as she spoke the words, she remembered the look in Spike's eyes as he laid his hand on her knee, the pain that she had so identified with. She remembered the oddly...affectionate look in his eyes as he leaned in to kiss her, his interest in what she was saying. Her own interest in his story about him and Drusilla. How she hadn't wanted him to go. No, she was lying to herself, and Angel, if she said it was only hormones making her think and dream and fantasize about Spike, but if she admitted the truth? It'd set off a chain of events that she didn't want to see come full circle.
< Think about it rationally, Will. You tell Angel the truth, he tells Buffy, she tells Giles. They think you're possessed, Xander is disgusted and betrayed beyond belief, and Oz never talks to you again. Big fun there, brainiac. Lie. Not your natural instinct, true, but it's the only way to avoid a total interrogation. Oh, you are so corrupted, Hackerella. Thanks, Spike. You are such the bad influence on me. >
"-cast a spell on you." What? Oh, damn. Angel had been saying something, and she had been thinking about Spike. Internal rambling, Oz called it. This happened way more often than she would have liked it to, but hey-fake it or break it. Whatever that meant.
Willow scoffed, hoping that what she assumed Angel had said was really what he had said. "I don't think he cast a spell on me, Angel. He doesn't have that power."
"No, but Drusilla does." < Oh, yes. The infamous Dru. Her and Spike are probably all cozy and cute and happy and why are you jealous about this? Admit it, girl. 'You got it bad'-in Buffy language-for a guy you only met once. Sure, that once you shared the most fabulous, amazing, soul-rocking kiss ever, but?but, Spike doesn't have a soul. Why is Angel looking at me so funny? Oh, yeah. Talking, conversation?dammit. >
"Willow, you wanna?let me know that you're still breathing?"
She grinned. "Sorry. It is?" She peered at her clock. "3:30 in the AM. I'm usually sleeping at this time."
"You're usually researching at this time," Angel countered.
Her eyes widened. < Damn! He's perceptive. > "Yes, but?um, well, when I do sleep at this time, I like it all to be in a long chain of sleep. Otherwise I get really discoherent. I mean noncoherent! I mean?" She shrugged sheepishly. "See? I can't even say?whatever word I was trying to say."
"Incoherent?" he offered.
"Yeah. That."
He grinned. "I'm like that in the middle of the day. Really. I once told Spike 'Hey, what are you, a bunny?' " Willow held in a laugh and ended up snorting. "I understand." Steepling his hands, he looked up at her sympathetically. "Do you want me to go so you can get some sleep?"
< Yes! Finally some luck. Of the good variety. > "Yes, that'd be?nice. Not that I don't appreciate a nice visit from my friend Angel, but?"
"I'll go." He walked over to her balcony door and opened it, pausing in the doorway for a second. "I won't tell Buffy," he finally said. "Or Oz. That's your decision."
"Thank you," Willow sighed gratefully. "And I promise not to tell Buffy that you were looking at my legs." < Oh my God! Did I just say that? >
From the way Angel was coughing, apparently she had. "Uh, yeah. I'd appreciate that." He shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."
"It's okay." She smiled. "Well?night."
"Night."
She shut the door, slipped into bed, and fell instantly asleep. She dreamed of Spike.
* * *
Angel stopped at the side of Willow's house to brace himself. < Whoa, >
he thought. < Little Willow's growing up. And not exactly in the good way.
> He had smelled Spike's hands all over the hacker as soon as he had walked
into the basement, but he had waited 'til tonight to confront her because he
had only moments before welled up the courage to. And also, if he admitted it
to himself, he had been haunted for nights by visions of Spike's hands on her
body. Teeth in her neck. Tongue in her mouth.
He'd feel a lot better about this whole thing if he could classify his feelings on it as merely concern for Willow and what she might do. What Spike might do to her. But he couldn't help feeling that?Spike was intruding on his territory. And a bit like Willow was.
Spike had belonged to him. And now Willow? He liked the sweet redhead. A lot. Like he liked chocolate, and blood, and other things that tasted good. He wanted to taste her.
"Damn, I need something to drink," he muttered, walking off into the night.
THE END