"Bastard!" Spike yelled at the on coming vampire. He had liked that shirt.
Willow threw him a stake and he lunged towards the vamp and buried the
stake
in his heart.

"Looks like he got past the shirt, Spike." Willow said and she checked over
him.

"Bloody hell." Spike cursed as he winced at the touch of Willows hands.
"This is the third time this week we've been attacked. Let's not even mention
all
the other times we've been attacked lately."

"Spike I've been thinking," she looked away from his wound and into his eyes,
"and talking with Giles. He pointed something out to me the other day and as
much as I hated to admit it I think he is right."

"What are you getting to pet?" He knew what was coming the thing they dreaded
each day of their lives as Briana got older.

"I think it is time we take Briana to Sunnydale." she stated and avoided his
gaze turning to stare at a tree. "She's 13. We can't wait any longer. You and
I both know that Slayer are made early. Buffy was only 15. We can only hope
we have that long. What if fate decides that Briana becomes a slayer at
14?"

Spike ground his teeth together. He was upset. He wanted to just bash
something in. But unfortunately she was right. Briana needed to train. She
may become immortal. But that still doesn't stop a stake from going through
her heart.

Willow dropped her head down and stared at her feet. "I'm sorry Spike. I know
we had chosen to ignore the whole thing till now but we can't any more. We had
13 wonderful years. Now we have to deal with it."

Spike remained silent. He wrapped his arm around her waste and pulled her to
him. She cried softly into his chest, they had had there 13 year break. Now
it was time to return to there job of fighting vampires and defeating
demons.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello?" Willow asked as she put the phone up to her ear.

"Willow?"

"Oh hey Buffy how are you?" she asked brightly.

"Giles told me you two talked the other day." she said flatly.

"Yea. What about it?" Willows asked curiosity creeping into her voice. Buffy
was acting out of character.

"Have you made a decision?"

"Yea. I think it is time we joined you and Giles in Sunnydale. Why is there
something important going on that I should know about?"

"Maybe" Buffy said a little hesitantly.

"Buffy yes or no. If we are coming down there I need to know so I don't get
attacked on the way in by some huge slimy snake or something."

"All right Willow. It isn't like there is a specific problem. It's more like
a wide spread problem. Remember when we found the second page to Briana's
prophecy and it said the reasons that such a powerful slayer was being sent
was because the forces of darkness were going to grow?" Buffy asked.

"So what your saying is that the forces of darkness are growing?"

"Yea you could say that. Increase in demons, vampires coming from all over
the place fighting to be the new master. We've even had to ask Angels help a
few times." Buffy hadn't told Willow any of there current problems. She
hadn't wanted to and neither had Giles. It would only worry her. But the time
for secrets where over.

"And you are still expecting me to bring her into the middle of all this?"
Willow asked incredulously.

"No. We can't force you to. But we are hoping you will. Willow I've learned a
long time ago I can't stop fate. And neither can you. It's going to happen
Willow. All you can do is prepare her for it." Buffy said quietly. She was
scared as hell that her friend would decide to just protect Briana.

Willow breathed deeply and shut her eyes. Silent tears sliding down her
cheeks. "I know. I knew a long time ago I couldn't stop it Buffy."

"Then what are you going to do? The longer you put it off the less time we
have to ready her."

"We are going to tell her first. I want her to know what she is getting into
before we go back. Tonight when Spike's awake we'll do it, then we will get
there as soon as possible. I promise Buffy." Willow said softly.

"Don't put it off Willow. We need your help." Buffy said.

Willow and Buffy said their good-byes. She stood up and went back to her
bedroom. Spike was still sleeping soundly and Briana was still at school.
As much as she hated it tonight her happy home would be ending. Briana knew
about the slayer, watchers, and vampires But she didn't know about herself or
the prophecy that had bound her parent together. Willow crawled under the
sheets and wrapped herself around Spike. Her time would be ending soon. The
promise that she had made to Spike was still as solid as ever. They rarely
talked about it but it was still there. When Briana's time cam so would
Willow's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow turned her head and met Spikes eyes. They had talked earlier. It was
decided. They would tell her tonight and leave tomorrow night. Briana had ran
strait to the phone after dinner to call Alex.

"Spike we can't wait any longer." she whispered to him.

"Bloody hell." he mumbled and fell down into a chair. He pulled out a
cigarette and lit it up. Normally she would fuss at him and make him go out.
But it was his way of calming down. Willow stood up and walked to the
doorway. "Briana I need you to say bye to Alex and come here."

Briana yelled back with an acknowledgment and Willow went back over and sat
next to Spike.

A girl of ten bounded into the kitchen. She was tall and skinny. But was
built nicely and looked like she had the body of a fighter. Her long curly
red hair bounced as she walked and her blue eyes shone bright. Her face was
happy. Her world was happy up till now. "Whatchya need?"

"Take a seat." Willow said solemnly.

Briana took a seat and gave her mother a strange look. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Nothings wrong. There just things that you need to know." Willow
took a deep breath. "You know my history with Xander, Cordy, Buffy, and
Giles. But there is things you don't know Briana."

"Like what?" she was worried. She knew about there pasts and the strange
things in them but rarely did her parent or there friends elaborate.

"Well, I'll start form the very beginning. Buffy was the slayer. She came to
Sunnydale changing mine and Xander's life forever." Willow preceded to give
Briana the background on the group. Buffy and Angel doomed relationship which
surprised Briana to say the least. Willows relationship with Oz who Briana
had met a few times. Then she came to Spike but was interrupted by him.

"I think I'll do this part." he interrupted. Who better to explain his past
them him. Willow nodded grateful not to being doing this all on her own.
"You know the bloody poof Angel. Well, he is my sire." Briana opened her
mouth to
question him. "It means that he made me a vampire."

"When?" she asked. Her father had never revealed his age to her.

"A long time ago. He had also made another vampire Druscilla who I was in
love with. Me and Dru came to Sunnydale to wreak havoc. So back then I was
the bad guy."

Briana stared. How could this be true? Her father was bad? She had always
known that he wasn't the nicest guy. But this wasn't the father she had
known. Her parents told her about Angel losing his soul then gaining it back
and her father leaving town after he made a deal with Buffy.

"You can't be telling me the truth. Your telling me that you actually where a
bad guy. Did you kill people?" Briana asked painfully.

Spike did the hardest thing ever. He nodded.

Briana's mouth dropped open. Her father was a killer. "Wh-what happened?"

"He came back once again. Only to kidnap me and Xander. But he left again."
Willow felt terrible for unloading this all on her all at once. But she had
to know. "When he returned again a prophecy was in the works." Briana had
already been told about the dreaded prophecies. But not this particular
one. "One involving me and your father. It said that a human woman and a
vampire
would have a child together. I-It was you." Willow said and bit her lip.

"I don't understand. You had told me that vampires and humans had had
children together. Why would they have a prophecy about one? And if there
was one how would you know if was you, if it had happened before?" Briana
asked
disbelievingly. She couldn't believe this.

"It isn't true. Vampire and humans can't have children. They don't even
like each other. But that obviously doesn't count in prophecies. So one night
it
happened. Neither one of us knowing why. Then a couple of weeks later I was
tipped off that I might be pregnant." Inside she winced at the distant
memory. She didn't look at Spike. They had never talked about it. But at
that moment in time she had been afraid for her life. "And it was true. I was
pregnant with you."

"What are you talking about?" Briana asked disbelievingly. "Why would I be
in a prophecy?"

Willow wanted to cry. But she wouldn't let herself. She had to be strong
for Briana. "Briana you are half vampire and half human. You never noticed
that
you where exceptionally strong for your age?"

Briana didn't respond to the question. She noticed it now. But she hadn't
before. She had always been in fights with kids. A lot of the time boys.
"If I'm half vampire how come I can be in the sun and I can't vamp out like
dad?" She had always wanted to do that.

"Because Giles said you would take the positive parts from both parents.
Mine is walking in the sun. You will become like your father one day. But you
will still be able to walk in the sun. " Willow bit her lip and glanced at
Spike. He met her gaze expectantly. For the first time in his life he is
remaining
quite. Wonderful. "That's not all." Willow said quietly.

Briana eyes opened wider. She couldn't believe there was more.

"Briana you are going to be a slayer. And immortal slayer. When it's your
time you will gain your slayer abilities and the vampire ones. But you'll
stop aging."

When Briana had been little she had looked at Buffy with awe. Wishing she
could be as powerful as her. Then at the same time looking at Angel and her
father the same way. Now to find out she would be like both. She had always
ignored the dangerous part she knew was there. But now she knew she would
be one and all she could think about was the danger. "I-I can't do that."

"You have no choice." Spike said sternly. He had never been good handling
emotions.

"Briana you where chosen. Buffy was chosen. She had no choice. I can't stop
it as much as I wish I could." Willow said sadly still on the verge of
crying

Briana was trying her best to keep control. She knew her parent had no
choice. No one did. This she understood. But she was angry. Angry that this
was happening to her. Then it hit her. And it hit her hard. The words finally
sunk in. She hadn't noticed them before. "What do you mean immortal?" she
asked worriedly now wanting to know the answer.

"When you are moved into full slayer status you gain the slayer's powers
including the vampires powers. The pros of the vampires qualities is
immortal life." Willow explained softly. She wanted to run over there and
take her
in her arms. But she was scared. Of her own daughter. She was scared she would
despise her for telling her these things.

"Momma you can't be serious." Briana pleaded. She didn't want to live
forever. Her friends would die. Not to mention her mother.

Willow shut her eyes and swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Briana turned to her father who was looking down to the ground. "Why-why
now? Why couldn't you tell me before?"

"We didn't want you to have to live with it as a child. But we can't wait
any longer Briana. We have to go to Sunnydale." Willow said quietly.

"Why?" Briana asked incredulously.

Willow grimaced. "We need to get you ready."

Briana opened her mouth to argue, to plead with them not to make her leave
her friends. But it wouldn't work. Briana wasn't stupid. Her whole life she
had been raised knowing about vampires and slayers. She had been taught
everything. Maybe it was because they where getting her ready for this. But
what she did understand unfortunately is that a slayer was chosen and there
was no way around it. She couldn't just back out of it. She may have her
father's temper but she still cared for others as her mother did. It was a
hell of a combination. Maybe she was crazy or something. But he excepted
it. What she couldn't except was leaving everyone. And then there was her
moth-
"Mom! Wh-what about you?" she started to cry.

Willow turned alarmed to Spike. She jumped up and ran over to Briana and
kneeled down in front of her. "Briana it's okay."

"No, it's not! You're going to die!" Briana sobbed.

"No, I'm not Briana." Willow started to cry. She had always been a crier.
She pulled Briana down and into her arms. "I'm sorry for all of this. Before
you where born I promised your father something. I promised him that when it
was your time that I would let him turn me."

Briana stopped suddenly. Was she hearing right? Briana pulled away from her
mother and looked at her. Red curly hair stuck to her face. She brushed it
away and turned to her father who was sitting there. He never really was an
emotional person. She turned back to her mother. "You're going to become a
vampire? But what about a soul?"

Willow wiped her tears away. "I gave Angel back his soul. I can get mine
back."

"Are you sure?" Briana asked hopefully.

"Positive." Willow said and nodded trying her best to smile.

Briana wrapped her arms around her mother. Willow looked over her to Spike
who was still sitting there brooding. It would have made her laugh if this
situation wasn't so serious.

Spike had watched the whole thing quietly. He didn't really know where he
fit into the whole conversation. He had explained himself but that's where it
ended. He had always babied Briana truthfully. Although he had told her to
stand up for herself and for that Willow would always yell at him. Briana
would come home with holes in her clothes. Cuts on her knees and a couple
of times a black eye. But Spike had been proud. Now it
was different. Now she would be the slayer. Fighting vampires and demons,
not stupid boys who decided to make fun of her when she was little because of
her hair or because she was a tom boy. Now it was all different

Briana looked around her empty room. It was the saddest thing she had ever
seen, how could she leave all of this? Her life wasn't great but she had
what
she needed. She had her parents and Alex, that's all that mattered. She
didn't have many friends. Most boys wouldn't have a thing to do with her,
they didn't like a girl who could beat their ass. She didn't have many
girl friends because she wasn't like them. She was a tom boy. But she was
happy with what she had. True she was still going to have her parents. But
this was her home. And she wouldn't have Alex, he was her best friend. Her
Mom wouldn't even let her call him to say good-bye. He didn't know yet about
her. That was another thing that surprised her. Alex's parents had known
about her. Alex knew about vampires. He had known because his parent wanted
him to know the dangers out there. But they where going to tell him about
her.

"Briana. We need to go to the airport now," her mother said quietly from the
doorway.

"Alright," she nodded and turned back to her room. They had decided to take
a
plane instead of driving. It would get them there earlier leaving them more
time for more long talks. After many long discussions over the other night
and the day she's was beginning to understand. Giles and Buffy where going
to
train her. Giles was once again going to take up residency in the Sunnydale
high school library which her mother told her had been rebuilt some years
back after they had blown it up. Her mother must have had a weird life. But
she would be attending the very same high school.

Her father had had his own talk with her. It was different. He was more or
less giving her the blunt end of the story. He told her all about vampires.
About what they where really like. She had known the blood sucking part. But
she didn't know they were cruel. She though they where more or less like her
dad. Which brought up another part of the conversation. Finding out her
father wasn't the great man the though he was made her ask questions. And he
answered her. But now she regretted the question. If he had been a stranger
she would have feared him. And as it was it seemed now that he wasn't the
same man that had let her stay up late when she wasn't supposed to or chased
her around the house with his game face on. When she had been little it was
a
joke to her. Him in game face. She would laugh if he growled. Now it seems
it
was something to fear. She vaguely remembered years ago her mother fussing
at
him about him playing in game face. Then sometimes they would joke about him
being a bad vamp a little girl laughing at him. It was just those little
jokes she never got when she was little. But now she understood. She grabbed
her bag and her pillow.

"Well bye," she said to her room and turned around leaving the childish days
behind her forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Giles you know you can't just expect this kid to pick up a stake and want
to
dust vampires. She may be strong but haven't received the full extent of her
powers. And she may just not be ready to do it," Buffy explained. She had
changed much from her high school years. Being a slayer kept you in shape.
Giles had of course aged. He had wrinkles. Gray hairs. But he had kept in
pretty good shape also. Defeating demons and training a slayer will do it to
you.

"I know this Buffy. But we can start to teach her," he said and went back to
placing books on shelves.

Buffy frowned. The whole thing was weird. They had went through a number of
slayer since she had come to Sunnydale. Some had come to Sunnydale. Other
hadn't. But lately they hadn't been lasting long. Briana's time would be
soon.

Buffy also hadn't been fond of the idea of going back to the damn high
school. Of course it wasn't the same. It was whole new school. She just
didn't like it. It reminded her to much of the past. And sometimes the past
hurt. In less then a couple of years she lost everyone. Angel left. Willow
and Spike left and then after college Xander went to be with Cordelia. She
treasured the times when it was her Willow and Xander and she was with
Angel.
Before Angel had lost his soul. It was simple then.

"Buffy?" Asked an unsure voice.

Buffy spun at the sound she hadn't heard in over 3 years "Willow!" Buffy
bounded for her friend and grabbed her in a tight hug. "I'm so glad your
here," she said through her tears.

Willow unable to control her own tears let them fall. "I didn't realize it
had been so long," she pulled away from Buffy. "You look the same!" Willow
exclaimed.

"I work out." Buffy smiled.

Willow smiled back.

Buffy turned to the other two figured. One was Spike. He was standing in the
background looking as careless as usual. The other was standing right next
to
him. The same sweet face as her mother but had the same obvious cocky
attitude as her father. Buffy could tell she had the body of a slayer. She
was tall and wiry just like Willow but she had muscle more then Buffy did at
that age, of course at that age Buffy had been a lazy snob. She had the same
shyness as Willow though. that was obvious. She was keeping close to Spike
of
all people. But from what she had heard from Willow she could be a little
more then a sweet shy little girl. Willow had also mention quite a few times
that she was a daddy's girl. Which explained the tom boyish look she was
sporting. She had her curly red hair in a pony tail. A pair of shorts and a
t-shirt. She had the same piercing blue eyes as Spike though which Buffy
found unnerving.

Buffy walked up to Spike and smiled sweetly. "How are ya Spiky? Run into
Angel anytime?"

Spike glared. "Nice to see you to slayer."

Buffy returned the glare which she took as a challenge. That's one thing she
missed. Being able to fight with Spike.

Buffy was about to say hello to Briana, but was called over by Giles.

Briana watched as Buffy walked away. Briana had always like Buffy. She was
one of those adults who you could have fun with and do whatever. But her
father never seemed to like her. Of course he never like Angel either. She
watched as Giles hugged and said hello to Willow.

"I hate these bloody reunions." Spike mumbled to her.

Briana looked up at him and smiled. She was nervous. She hated meeting new
people. But she better get used to it. Because one school started she would
be a freshman and she would have to meet a lot of new people. Yay.

"Briana come here." Willow said and motioned for her daughter to come over.

Briana looked up at Spike expectantly waiting for him to follow. He gave her
a look that said 'Are you crazy?' and shook his head. She frowned at him and
walked over slowly to her mother. She turned back to her father who was
standing there smirking. She glared back at him.

"You remember Buffy and Giles don't you?"

Briana nodded and did her best to smile. She hated the awkward positions.

Buffy smiled back at her.

Giles nodded his head at her. He never was able to talk to the girl.
"Willow,
I think we should talk,"

Willow nodded and motioned for Spike to follow. He let out a groan but
followed them to the office.

Buffy watched them walked into the office. When the door closed she turned
back to Briana. "Soooo?"

Briana bit her lip. "Is it true that my dad was a bad guy?"

Buffy was taken aback. It was a rather strait forward question. But
something
that had been obviously bothering her. She nodded.

"What did he do?" she asked curiously. The though of hi being bad scared her
but at the same time peaked her interest.

"Well..." Buffy laughed. "A number of things. He broke into school on parent
teacher night. He kidnapped Angel to make his nutso girlfriend better. Do
you
know about Dru? And Angel being his sire?" she asked worriedly. She hoped
she
hadn't revealed to much.

Briana nodded.

"Okay good." Buffy walked over to one of the tables and sat down. Briana
followed her and sat down next to her. "Of course it worked. But she was
still crazy. Then he brought this crazy demon called the judge to Sunnydale.
He was one big smurf. Do you know what smurfs are?" Buffy question
curiously.

Briana shook her head.

"Oh well they're blue. Then Xander helped rid us of him. But me and Spike
made
this deal to get rid of Angel after he lost his soul." Buffy frowned sadly.
Another moment in her life she would like to forget.

"My Mom told me about you and Angel. Did you love him?" she asked curiously.

Buffy nodded slowly. "After that Spike left. Only to return and kidnap
Willow
and Xander."

Briana's face brightened. This is what she wanted to hear more about. "Tell
me
about that."

Buffy smiled. "Well, I wasn't there. But what I do know," she turned to the
door to see if they where coming and turned back again and said in a
whisper.
" Xander and Willow had been having there on secret little affair then. And
when Oz and Cordy found them they caught them kissing."

Briana eyes opened wide and her mouth gaped open. "My Mom and Xander
kissed?"
she asked disgustedly. The thought was revolting.

Buffy nodded and smiled. It would seem rather odd to her. But at the time it
was a little more serious. One day she would have to tell her about evil
Willow.

"Yea yea yea." Spike mumbled as he walked out of the office. "Come on pet
let's go." he said to Briana.

Briana jumped up and ran after her father waving behind her to Buffy.

"So what's the deal?" Buffy asked as she got up and walked to Willow.

"Nothing really. Spike isn't happy with the whole thing. Neither am I. But
I've excepted it." Willow said quietly. He wasn't excepting it well at all.

"He didn't look very happy when he came out." Buffy pointed out.

"He was arguing the whole time. Buffy I'm worried for him. I always thought
that he was upset at the fact that he was a vampire and his daughter was a
slayer. But he's just afraid for her." Willow said solemnly. She sighed and
pushed her problems away till later. "But I better go. There probably
waiting
for me." She smiled sadly.

Buffy hugged her tightly for a few moments giving her her silent support.
Willow left without saying a word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dammit Willow I know she is the bloody slayer," Spike said angrily.

"Then why can't you except it?" she said loudly and reminded herself that
Briana was just a few rooms over.

"I'm curious why you can except it so easily?" he asked hatefully. That was
another thing that bothered him. How could she except this all so easily
back
at the library she was actually on Giles' side.

"I'm not excepting it easily," she said grounding her teeth together. How
dare he think that this was easy for her. "But I am excepting it. I have
been
excepting it for thirteen years," It hurt her more then he could imagine
that
he would actually think he didn't care. "Do you think you are the only one
that cares? You think I don't know what could happen. Unlike you I fought
along side the slayer. I know what the slayer fights," she through angry
tears. He actually thought that she didn't care. "I also know that Briana is
strong. I know that she has me, you, Buffy, Angel, Giles, and everyone else
there to protect her." She wasn't understanding him any more. He used to not
care. Go along day by day making jokes about it. But now all of a sudden he
was telling her she didn't care! This wasn't the same Spike she knew.

He knew that she cared. He was just angry with her for not being as
miserable
as him. So he felt a need to make her feel it. Feel the pain that he felt
throughout this whole thing. He kept his feet planted in place refusing to
walk over and comfort her. He let a growl and spun around storming out of
the
house. Things weren't going right any more.

Willow watched quietly from the side as Briana went on with her training
with
Spike and Buffy. Briana took a liking to Buffy. But Buffy was the kind of
person anyone could like. she was like the older sister Briana never had.
Maybe Buffy should be Briana's Mom, she thought spitefully. But Willow
caught herself and knew it wasn't true. Briana loved Willow. She was just
spiteful right no because of Spike. Lately it seemed like he almost
preferred
being around Buffy! Which she knew was ridiculous. Willow and Spike where
always fighting now. It just seemed that Spike preferred fighting with
Buffy.

Willow winced as Briana landed hard on the ground. Spike laughed at her and
Briana simply looked up and smiled. It was true. She was her father's child.
Briana had so much respect and admiration for Spike it was unbelievable.

Willow checked her watch. "Hell," she mumbled, it was almost twelve. "Hey!"
she yelled. "It's almost midnight. I think we better head home."

Briana let out a relieved breath. "Good. I'm tired."

Buffy walked over to Willow leaving Spike and Briana. "What's up with you?"
she asked worriedly.

"Oh nothing. Just thoughts. A lot of thoughts. It happens you know," she
said
hurriedly. She was not in the mood to talk about her personnel life.

"Oh okay. Well, I am about to fall dead to the ground so I am going to head
home too," she said and grabbed her bag. "Giles I'm going!"

Willow heard a faint reply from the stacks which she assumed was Giles.
"Alright see ya tomorrow," she said to Buffy.

"Oh yea fun! I think I am getting to old for this," she laughed and walked
out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow walked in silent thought most of the way. Briana and Spike weren't
that
talkative either. She had talked to Briana a little after they left. But
Spike.....

Willow grabbed ahold of Briana and spun around pushing her behind her.

Willows sudden movements caused Spike to turn around to find himself face to
face with four vampires.

"She's kinda young," said one of the vampires squinting his yellow eyes at
her trying to get a better look.

"They grow dumb ass. How do you think you got to be so stupid?" the other
said annoyed. He turned back to the two humans and vampire. "I think I'll
cut
this short and tell you strait out. I'm here to kill her," he said and
pointed to Briana. "Can't have any immortal slayers running around. Orders
from the master."

Spike growled. "You must be bloody stupid if you think I am going to let you
get to her you bloody bastard," he snarled and stood in front of Willow.

Willow reached into her pocket which went unnoticed by the four vamps and
pulled out a stake. She walked slowly towards Spike and pushed the stake
into
his back letting him know it was there.

"You must be Spike. We heard about you. What happened to you man? You went
soft," he said unbelievingly. He didn't understand how a powerful vampire
like him
could be protecting a slayer.

"Why do you fools always call me soft!" he yelled and grabbed the stake from
behind him and charged for the vampires. "Willow get the hell out of here!"

Willow grabbed Briana and ran towards the library at top speed. She ignored
the sobs that trailed behind her. The screams of worry over her father's
life.

"Giles!!!" Willow screamed as she entered the library.

Giles came running out. "Willow what's wrong?" he asked hurriedly when he
noticed the two where out of breath and the uncontrollable sobs coming from
Briana.

"We where ambushed. Keep her here. I am going back to help Spike," she
picked
up a stake and cross and ran out of the library trying her best to push back
the tears that threatened to spill at the sound of her daughter's screams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Willow reached Spike there where two vampire remaining. Without a
second
though she rushed up to them and buried a stake into the back of an
unsuspecting vampire.

Spike looked up in surprise as the dust blew into his face but it didn't
last
long. He went back to his current fight and defeated the weakling. They were
all weak. What happened to the world? He turned back to Willow who was
standing there expectantly taking in deep quick breaths.

"Why are you here?" he asked angrily.

Willow looked dumbfounded. Why was she... "Because you where fighting four
vampire! I came back to help you!" she exclaimed.

"I can take care of myself. You should have stayed at the library with
Briana," he said and stepped through the dust that used to be vampires. He
stepped dangerously close to her still in game face.

Even though Willow knew Spike and who he could be for some reason him
standing over her still in game face snarling with each word made her feel
like his prey. "I brought Briana back to the library. I've survived all of
these years. And I'm still doing it."

"Yea with the help of me or that bloody slayer! I can't protect you AND
Briana!" he growled his yellow eyes glowing. "If you would have gotten
killed
what good would have that been to Briana!"

Willows eyes held amazement at the words he said. Her anger took over and
she
slapped him with all her might.

Spike quickly came over the surprise and grabbed Willows arm and slamming
her
into a tree.

Willow winced at the hard wood connecting with her back.

"I don't know who you think I am. You must have me confused with Angel," he
said and squeezed her wrists tighter.

The only hope Willow had right now is that he wouldn't kill her because of
Briana. And that hurt. "I don't know who you are!" she screamed.

"What is your bloody problem Willow! You don't want to protect Briana! You
could care less that she is the slayer and here you are running back out
here!" he snarled angrily in her face.

"I do want to protect her. I didn't stay here with you I brought her back to
the library. But I care about you and I came back," she cried. Then in a
moment she remembered her reasons for being angry. "I might ask you why you
care so little for my life! You didn't care that it was my list in danger
when I ran back here. You cared that it was Briana's mother's life in
danger!!!" she screamed.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" he spit out. He was growing
tired of this never ending conversation. It had been a long time but right
now he was craving for a really good kill. And it wasn't going to do him
good
if Willow stayed here.

"Don't act stupid Spike," she said angrily "When I came back here you
weren't
worrying about my life. You weren't thinking this is Willow the person I
care
about in danger. This is Willow, Briana's mother. And if she where to die
things wouldn't go all that great right?"

Spike didn't answer.

Willow mouth fell open. She was defeated. She had hoped she was wrong. She
narrowed her eyes at him and pushed him away. It didn't take much for him to
release his grip.

Spike watched as Willow walked off. In the direction away from the library.
"Where are you going?!?!" he yelled.

"The other way! After all I wouldn't want you to have to protect me and
Briana at the same time. So I figured why not extract the one that mattered
the least to you." Willow had always known Briana was always the one that
mattered the most to them. But this was different.

Spike growled angrily and lunged for her. He grabbed her arms and spun her
around.

Willow didn't take long to react. She slapped him hard with the hand that
had
the cross in it.

Spike let out a loud angry pain-filled growl.

Willow looked on in surprise at the cross imprinted on his skin. But she
didn't falter. "I hate you," she said lowly. She turned around and headed in
the direction she was going before.

Spike watched her as she walked off. But the only emotion he could feel
right
now was fear. Fear that he would lose her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike burst into the library. In just a few moments his life seemed to be
getting worse and worse.

Briana ran up to her father. "Where's Mom?" She asked worriedly.

Spike looked down into her waiting gaze. "She went home," he lied. He walked
past her and went strait to Giles. Giles looked at the vampires pain-filled
face. "Take her to Buffy's. Willow ran off. I don't know where she went," he
said and turned to leave.

"What happened?" Giles asked angrily. Willow wasn't foolish enough to run
off
like that.

Spike growled. "Just take her to Buffy's. I'm going after Willow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike kicked the door to there house open. He didn't have time to be opening
locks. He rushed in. "Willow!!!" he yelled into the empty apartment. He went
to there bedroom. it was still the same way they had left it. She hadn't
been
here. Half of him was expecting to find all of her things missing. Spike
yelled and kicked the nightstand over. "Damnit Willow!" he growled and ran
out of the house to continue his search for her. But a figure stopped him
before he could walk out of the doorway. And it wasn't human. Spike went
into
his pocket and pulled out a stake.

The vampire eyes widened in fear of the outraged vampire. "Willow!" he
yelled.

Spike stopped. "What about her?" he asked dangerously stalking towards the
vampire.

The vampire regained his control with the false sense of security he felt at
using the word. "We have her."

Spike let out an outraged growl and grabbed the vampire and slammed him into
the wall. "Where is she!?!?" he snarled. He was doing his best to control
his
temper.

"I'm not here to tell you that," the foolish vampire smirked. "I'm just here
to let you know we have her."

Spike lifted his hand and staked the vampire in the chest without a second
thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy jumped out the sound of the ringing and beat Giles to the phone.
"Hello?"

"They have her," said a half angry and half desperate voice.

"Willow?" Buffy asked hardly able to believe it.

"Who do you bloody think," he said angrily.

"Where are you?" she asked as she jumped up ready to leave.

"No." he ordered her. "You stay there with Briana. Where is she?"

"Asleep. Giles can stay with her."

"No, I said I'm going to find her," he said and hung up.

Buffy dropped the phone into the receiver and turned to Giles. "They have
her."

Willow opened her eyes slowly. The pounding in her head making her movement
minimal she looked around slowly.

"Well, look who is awake," a deadly voice laughed.

Willow squinted as she sat up. "What do you want?" she could guess that he
must be one of the want to be vampire masters that Buffy had talked about.

"Power. Like every other vampire. I could have gotten that power if I had
your daughter. But I guess I will have to settle for you," he said
disappointed and crossed the room and took a seat.

"So what are you expecting a trade? They won't do that," she said. She might
lose her life but she knew that they would never trade Briana for her. She
could depend on them not to do that.

"I'm not stupid. Of course they won't trade," he snarled. "But I figure hell
what would be better. Brining you back to them alive or dead? I think alive.
I might even go as for to leaving you on there doorstep out of the kindness
of my heart. Because the longer we keep you here the more time that fucken
vampire has to cause trouble,"

Willow smiled on the inside. But it would do him no good to find her. This
vampire had no reason to keep her around.

"Well, no use in waiting if I am going to get you on there doorstep before
dawn," he smiled and vamped out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy jumped and ran to the door at the sound of the knock. When she opened
the door the picture wasn't the one she was hoping to see. The one she saw
was a defeated Spike. His shoulders slumped and his head hung low.

"Come in," she said realizing he had never been to her house before.

Spike slowly walked in. He didn't look at either of them. But he did notice
that Briana was not in there which brought him relief.

"Spike where is she?" Buffy asked.

"I don't bloody know!" he yelled. "I couldn't find her," he said softly and
fell onto the sofa.

Buffy opened her mouth but shut it again. She had no hope. They wouldn't
keep
her around. They had no reason to. She let her back rest against the wall
and
slid down and cried silently.

Giles watched them both trying to keep his own mind off of the hopeless
situation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You will die," Willow said as the vampire came closer.

"Oh really?" he asked amused.

"You are going to have two angry vampire and an angry slayer on you if you
kill me," she said hoping to discourage him.

"To bad you won't be around to see it then huh?" he smiled a toothy grin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I failed her." Spike said angrily and squeezed the arm of the chair causing
it to break.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow let the silent tears fall as he pierced her skin. This wasn't how it
was supposed to be. She was supposed to live an eternity happily with Spike
and Briana. Not fall out of love with Spike and die.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He couldn't lose her now. Sure he had made some mistakes but he had been
confused. He wasn't even going to be able to apologize. He squeezed his eyes
shut trying to control his emotions. But he couldn't and a single tear slid
free.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even as Willow felt her life still slipping away she was still hoping. She
closed her eyes and went limp in his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had failed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The silence in the room didn't break. Sometimes a sob would come from Buffy
and a growl from Spike, but besides that it was silent until they hears a
loud
thump from outside the door then hurried footsteps.

Buffy's head flew up and Spike jumped up and ran to the door flinging it
open.
Not thinking about what could lay behind it. He saw nothing. But he felt
something heavy fall on top of his feet. He looked down to see Willow's pale
form laying at his feet.

Spike fell to the floor. He picked up Willow's slight form and cradled it to
him. His cries of loss finally breaking free.

Buffy ran over to Spike's side but as she got close he growled causing Buffy
to back up. "Spike...." she said softly trying once again to get close to
Willow, but again he growled loudly.

"Don't Buffy," Giles said and pulled her away. "He doesn't even realize
you're
there."

Buffy stared at the two forms on the floor. Her eyes burning into Willow's
still body. She jumped up and ran over to Spike and kicked him. "Move!" she
ignored the angry snarl that came from Spike on the other side of the room
where he landed. Her hands moved to Willow's wrists. "Oh god." Buffy drew
her
hand up and slapped Willow roughly across her face.

Spike anger boiled at seeing her slap Willow. He ran over and shoved her out
the way and was prepared to snap her neck until he heard the faint sound of
a
heart beat pick up. He turned back to Willow. Her eyes where opening slowly.
He fell to the ground and gathered her in his arms. "Willow?"

"Spike?" she asked weakly through the tears. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "It's
my fault," she whispered not able to talk any louder.

"Willow it isn't your fault," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have
said
what I said. I didn't mean it Willow."

"I don't hate you Spike."

Spike opened his mouth to speak but she covered it with her finger.

"You know what happens next," she said so low that it went unheard by the
rest.

Spike hadn't thought about that. He thought that she was going to pull
through. But he realized that her heart beat was getting slower and slower.
He
nodded and vamped out.

Buffy tried her best to listen to what they where saying but she couldn't
make anything out. And she didn't realize what was happening till Spike
vamped out and cut his wrist.

"Willow are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded. "You know what to do if it doesn't work."

He nodded sadly. She had asked him to stake her if the soul restoration
didn't work.

Willow let her eyes close. She had no reason to keep them open any longer.
But the last thing she heard was Spike saying "I love you."

Spike put his wrist up to her mouth and let his blood drip down her throat.
When he knew enough was given to her he removed his wrist from her cold
chilled lips. "We have to get her to the library. Slayer you stay with
Briana. Don't tell her yet," he turned away from Willow and looked at Giles.
"You come with me. We need to give her her soul back," he turned back to
Willow and listened as the last remains of her humanity faded away in a few
slow beats.

"When will she wake up?" Giles asked as he put all of the ingredients to the
restoration spell away. After all it wouldn't go over well if someone so
them.

"Probably not till tonight. She still isn't finished changing. And the demon
in her will not wake up until the sun goes down," he replied without any of
the added colorful words he usually used. Now wasn't the time.

"You're going to have to stay here for the rest of the day," Giles said to
the vampire who was watching, staring at Willow through the cage she was
locked in.

Spike turned around and for the first time noticing the blankets that had
been put up over the windows. Just what he wanted. To be stuck in this
library all day. "Fine," he said and turned back to Willow.

"What about Briana?" Giles questioned.

Spike lowered his head in thought. "Don't tell her yet. I don't want to tell
her anything until I know what is going on."

"We have to tell her something."

"Well, I don't know what to tell her. Just bloody make something up," he
said
irritatedly. "Now leave. I'll call you when she wakes up," he said and
turned back to Willow.

Giles thought best not to respond to the vampire and picked up his briefcase
and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike waited patiently for the minutes to tick by until he knew that the sun
was set. When he knew it was late enough he removed the blankets from the
windows and took his seat next to Willow's cage. If it didn't work they
would
try again. They would keep on trying until it did work. He didn't care how
long they had to keep her locked up in that damn cage. He refused to resort
to having to stake her.

He got up and opened to the cage. She would be waking soon and he wasn't
going to be on the outside of the cage. IF she did have her soul she would
need him. He locked the door behind him and stuck the key in his pocket. He
might have to make a quick exit if she didn't have her soul.

For the next few moments he waited and stared. She made no movement. After
all she was dead. After the most painful moments of his life he saw her eyes
start to flitter open.

The first thing Willow noticed as she awoke was the incredible need for
blood. The second thing she realized was that she was indeed a vampire. And
thank god she had a soul. The first thing her eyes beheld was the site Spike
who sat waiting patiently at her side. Willow brought her hand up the side
of
his face. All she wanted to do was touch him. To know that she was still
there and to know he was real.

Spike tensed at the touch of her hand. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to
be gently or if she was about to reach out and slap him.

"Spike?" Willow asked him questioningly. She didn't understand why he just
sat there. Then it occurred to her he wasn't sure if it was her or not.
"Spike I'm okay." She sat up and moved in front of him. She cradled is face
in her hands. "Spike please believe me," she begged.

He wasn't sure if it was her or not. But most fledglings couldn't control
there blood urges. If she was just a demon she would have vamped out and
went
crazy trying to get out of the cage. He wrapped his arms around her waste
and
stood up pulling her to him.

Willow wrapped her arms around his neck and cried. She had always been an
emotional person. She was happy and sad at the same time. Which was bound to
bring tears to her eyes. Happy that she was alive and would be with Briana.
And happy that Spike still loved her. But she was sad at the same time. Sad
that now she would have to live in protection from the sun, and watch her
friends grow old. But she knew a long time ago the price was worth it.

Spike held her tightly as she continued to cry into his shoulder. He didn't
know what to say. Yea, Angel had a soul, but he didn't like him so of course
he
made mean jokes. But this was Willow. And he certainly wasn't going to make
a
joke. "Come on baby," he said and tried to lead her out of the cage but she
was clinging to him. He sighed and picked her up cradling her like a baby.
He
knew he would have to get her home before he could make a phone call. She
needed to feed too. She was probably almost to the point of biting into his
neck. Unfortunately they would be walking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike walked hand in hand with Willow into there house. Half way there she
had calmed down and insisted on him setting her down. She followed him
quietly into the house. He walked her over to the couch and sat her down and
kneeled in front of her.

"Stay right here I'll be right back," he said softly.

She nodded and tried her best to relax. Everything seemed new to her.
Even though she had seen it all before it seemed like she was looking at it
all through someone else's eyes.
Spike
wasn't gone long enough for her to even start brooding. When he returned he
was carrying a bag of blood. The demon in her craved it, but her soul was
repelled by it.

Spike sat on the table in front of her and handed it to her. He watched as
she bit her lip and took it from him silently. She looked down at the bag of
blood then looked back into his eyes pleading with him not to make her drink
it.

"Willow you know as well as I do that there is no way around it."

"Do I gotta go grrrrr?" She asked worriedly.

Spike almost laughed. He couldn't understand Willow at all. She had a 13
year
old daughter. She was 33 and here she was acting as innocent as the day he
met her. He took the back from her and elongated his teeth ripping a small
whole in the bag. He handed the bag to her careful not to spill.

"Thanks," she nodded and took the bag.

Spike waited patiently as she brought the bag slowly up to her nose to
smell.
He knew she wouldn't be able to control herself even if the thought repelled
her. She didn't have that kind of control yet. Once she got a whiff of the
blood she vamped out and sunk her teeth into the back. He watched the whole
thing with fascination. It wasn't like it was something new to him. But
seeing Willow as a vampire was to amazing. He had often looked at her late
at
night, imagining what she would look like. And as bad as it may sound since
the day he made that proposal to her about changing her he had been waiting
for it ever since.

When she was through she threw it on the table and yanked the other bag out
of his hand and drained it quickly too. Even with a soul she couldn't resist
the demon. He listened like an amazed child as she drained the bag. Short
growls coming out every now and then. She started to slow down once it was
almost gone and once it was empty she threw it on the table. She raised her
eyes to his face in fear. He watched her slowly slide her tongue along her
top teethe. Her yellow eyes widened at the realization of what happened. She
slowly brought her hands up to her forehead.

As she touched the newly formed grooves she shuddered. She covered her face
with her hands and cried.

Spike went to reach out and grab her but she sunk to the floor and laid
there
sobbing. He pushed the table away and sat down pulling her into his lap like
a baby.

"Spike make it go away," she sobbed as he rocked her back and forth.

"Willow you have to make it go away," he whispered to her he could feel the
wrinkles on her face in his neck as she tried to get closer.

"I can't!" She growled. Then cried even harder at the anger she had just
unleashed on him.

"Willow all you have to do is calm down. A fledgling can't control itself.
Anger, hunger, lust will all cause a vampire to change," he explained to
her.
He could control it most of the time. After all he was old. She was just a
day old. She was a baby compared to him. "Come on," he said as he stood up
still cradling to her. He carried her to their bedroom, laid her down and
turned to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" She asked alarmed and sat up.

He walked back over to her and sat down next to her. "I need to go make a
phone call to the slayer. Briana is at her house."

Worry spread of Willows face. "Oh god Briana. Does she know?"

Spike shook his head. "No. I am going to have her stay there till tomorrow
night. You need time before you can face anyone."

"But Spike she needs to know," she said and tried pushing her fears aside.

"She will tomorrow night. It won't do us any good for you to break down in
front of her now will it pet?" He said as if he was talking to a child. For
some reason he felt like he was. He felt like he had to take care of her
now.
It was like she was weak, but the truth was she was stronger then she was
before.

She bit her lip then shook her head. She gasped as she felt a sting on her
lip.

Spike leaned forward and sucked gently on the bleeding lip. Her blood wasn't
the same any more. That almost upset him. It was pure and rich before. It
still had the same flavor but now it was tainted by the demon. He pulled
slightly away and brought his hand up to her face. He smoothed her hair out
of her eyes and kissed her gently on her forehead. He felt her demon face
fade away to be replaced by the smooth skin he had become accustomed to. He
pulled away to find her green eyes staring back at him.

"I'll be right back okay?" He asked as he stood up.

She nodded and curled up on the bed.

Spike left a crack in the door so he could hear her and he went and got the
phone.

"Hello?"

"It worked," he said simply.

"Oh god. Is she okay?" Buffy asked worriedly.

"She's dealing," he said and frowned towards the bedroom. "Put Briana on the
phone."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"No. I want you to keep her till tomorrow night. Willow needs time. I am
going to tell her tomorrow night when she comes home."

"Alright." she really wished she could talk to Willow but that would have to
wait. "Briana! Phone!"

"Dad!?!?" Briana asked excitedly. "Where are you?"

"I'm at home."

"Oh good. Can I get Buffy to bring me home then?"

"No not right now. Briana what did Giles tell you?" He questioned. He wanted
to know what creative lie the librarian had told her.

"Oh that ya'll had had an argument and needed sometime alone. Is everything
okay now?" She asked worried. She didn't want her parents to fight.

"Yea um everything's fine. But that's not all that happened. Some vampire
took her. I got her back though. But we need a little more time. Your Mom is
a little shaken up," he wasn't really lying. It was just half the truth.

"Why did they take her?" She asked surprised.

"I don't know," he lied.

"Well when can I come home?"

"Tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night???? But I haven't seen you and Mom since last night! Will
you
just let me come home!" She exclaimed.

"No." He said sternly. "I already told you why." He wasn't good at the
arguing part. He never knew how to control it. That was always Willow's job.

"Fine." Briana said annoyed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting off the phone with Briana, he went back to the bedroom only to
find it empty.

"Willow?" He called fearfully.

"I'm in here," a muffled voice called out from the bathroom.

Spike headed in the direction of the voice. When he found her she was
sitting
on the counter staring at her blank reflection. He sighed and walked over
and
stood behind her. "Don't we look cute," he joked.

"Spike do you remember what you look like?" She asked softly and leaned
against him.

"No not really." But it didn't bother him any more. He had had a few years
to
get over it.

Willow frowned. "To bad." she murmured.

"Why?" He asked curiously.

"Because you look pretty good," she said and smiled faintly at the vibrating
of his chest against her back as he laughed. Willow turned around placing
her
legs on either side of him and letting them hang over. "What did you tell
Briana?"

"That you got kidnapped and I got you back. But that's all."

Willow pursed her lips together and sighed as she laid her head against his
chest.

Spike brought one of his hands up to lay on her back and the other petting
her head. "Come on let's go," he whispered and slipped his hands under her
legs wrapping them around his waste.

Willow wrapped her hands around his neck as he lifted her up. He carried her
all the way to the bedroom. He placed her on the bed and then went over to
the dresser. When he turned back around he was holding her night shirt and
boxers.

"You need to sleep," he said and held out the clothes but she didn't take
them.

"I'm not tired. I only woke up a couple of hours ago," she said.

Spike frowned and placed her clothes on the bed. He kneeled down and
unbuttoned her shorts and slipped them off. He grabbed the hem of her shirt
and lifted it over her head leaving her clad in only a bra and panties. He
finally looked back up at her and returned the stare she had been giving him
the whole time. She did her trademark biting her lip when she was in deep
thought. He knew better then to question her. She would decide on her own.
He
reached over and went to grab her shirt only to be stopped her hands on his
face pulling him up to her level. She pressed her lips against his roughly.
He could feel the unfamiliar coldness of her lips. It bothered him. But not
enough to stop him from returning the kiss.

Spike detatched himself from Willow's body and rose off the bed. He grabbed
his boxers that had been discarded on the floor and slipped them on his nude
body. He walked over to Willow's side of the bed. He kneeled down and gazed
at her. Her face shown none of the pain she had experienced over the past
couple of days. It was calm. A little paler then usual, but that would be
something he would learn to except.

Spike placed a light kiss on her forehead, then headed toward the living
room. He threw himself down on the couch and let out a much un-needed sigh.
Oddly enough, they had slept the rest of the night away. He raised his hand
up to the side of his neck. Another reminder of the past night. It had
started out slow but by the end, it was rushed and needy. He had bit her out
of habit, but this time she returned the bite. That was one of the weirdest
experiences of his life, to say the least. Not that it wasn't enjoyable. But
as long as he had known her, she had been human. And now this.

After their love making, he had inquired about her kidnapping. Surprisingly,
she had not been reluctant to tell him. She seemed more then welcome to. But
he knew why. She didn't want to let them get away with it. But after finding
out what happened, he wasn't even sure if she would get a chance to take
revenge. Because he would probably beat her to it. It was obvious they had
planned to kill her. But her telling him about it angered him. That hadn't
been the plan. The plan was to wait for Briana to become a slayer, then turn
Willow. But instead it was painful for her. The vampire didn't care the least
bit about her comfort. When Spike was going to do it, he was going to be as
gentle as gentle as possible. But instead that bloody bastard....

"Spike?" asked a small, tired voice.

Spike sat up and turned to the doorway. She looked beautiful. Even when she
was half asleep and dressed in his boxers and shirt. He smiled at her. "Come
here, baby."

She smiled and walked over to him. She sat down next to him and cuddled in a
ball against his chest.

"How you feeling, pet?"

She looked up at him. She had something to say but she was debating on
whether to say it or not.

"Out with it, Willow."

She sighed. "I'm hungry," she said almost ashamed.

"All right" he nodded and stood up. He was hungry himself.

Willow watched him walk into the kitchen. Once he disappeared she jumped up
and ran over to the window. She stood on oneside of the dark curtain and
pulled it slowly to the side. There was no sun shining in. She didn't think
there would be. The sun was on the other side of the house at this time of
day. She stepped slowly into the window. She sighed in relief. She wasn't
sure if she could even be in the shade. But when they moved in, she had had
the windows tinted so heavily she probably could have been face to face with
the sun and wouldn't turn into dust. She looked outside sadly at the people
walking down the street. She was yanked away from the window roughly and
thrown to the ground but the force of the pull. "Spike!" she yelled.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?!?" he didn't even want to say out
loud the things that had entered his thoughts at seeing her standing by the
window.

"I was looking outside!" she stood up and glared at him angrily. "Now what
the hell is your problem?!?!"

"I don't have a problem. I wasn't the one standing in front of the window. I
have a little more sense then that."

Willow stomped towards the window in a huff. "Look!" she threw her arms out.
"I am still standing here!"

He didn't care were the sun was shining and how much the windows were tinted.
He still kept his distance from the blasted things. He jumped forward and
yanked her away. He grabbed the curtain and pulled it shut.

Willow was really getting tired of landing on the floor. She held herself up
on her arms and growled as she turned her head to face him. He stared down at
her like the predator that he always was. She didn't like that. She jumped up
morphing into game face and tackled him. She landed on top of him on the
floor.

Spike, having more control than she did, growled warningly and flipped them
over. He pinned her arms to the side of her body and held are there as she
growled uncontrollably. When she finally started to tire herself out, he
loosened his grip but still would not let her go. After a while he released
her arms and sat up straddling her hips. Her yellow eyes burned into his blue
ones, but she remained silent.

"Willo,w I wish you could see yourself right now. You are being ridiculous,"
he scolded her. He though she would have had better control then this.

"Well, I really doubt I could see myself right now. Right?" she spat out. She
struggled against him but after a few moments, let out a defeated breath and
went back to staring at him.

Spike once again let go of her arms. She didn't try to move. She just stared
at him still in game face. The demon inside of him was very upset. Upset that
this was his childe and she showed so little respect for him. His other side
was upset at seeing her loose control so easily.

Willow was becoming angry with him. She didn't understand why. All she knew
was that she wanted to get up and he was holding her captive. She didn't like
that. She let out an angry warning growl and jumped up throwing him off of
her.

Spike slammed against the wall roughly but he recovered quickly. He was
getting angry. Not because she was fighting him and threw him into the wall.
But because she was letting herself lose control. He had to get her back into
control. And if that mean scaring the hell out of her he was going to do it.
He wasn't used to Willow being strong. But she wasn't as strong as him. He
morphed into game face and grabbed her arms and slammed her into the wall.

"Stop it!" he yelled at her and slammed her into he wall again for emphasis.
He didn't like this. Willow had control. The demon didn't. Right now he was
going to teach the demon control.

Willow did her best not to wince at the combined pain of her back and the
pressure on her wrists.

"You are going to stop this now," he said sternly with a growl emphasizing
it. "Don't make me hurt you."

For some reason, that struck a nerve in Willow. She didn't know how it made
her feel. She wasn't sure if she was angry at the fact of him threatening her
or upset with herself for bringing him to this point. It was both. She was so
angry. Angry at all of them. Angry at him, angry at Buffy, at Giles, at Br-.
Shame washed over her. Her daughter. The only thing right now that seemed to
be bright in her life. The only thing that made her realize how wrong all
this was. Her demon face disappeared to be replaced by the kind human one.
Her legs gave out in defeat.

Spike unprepared for it wasn't able to catch her and she fell to the ground
sobbing. He didn't know if he should comfort her or not. She had let herself
lose control. He didn't think it was right to coddle her after she behaved so
terribly. He kneeled down and stared at her.

At seeing Spike's eyes, she covered her own. "Oh god, Briana," she sobbed.
What would happen if she saw her mother like this? She was so scared of
losing control again. What if it was on her own daughter next time? The
thought cause a pitiful wail to come for her and she cried uncontrolablly.

So thats what broke her, he realized. Briana did it. He should have thought
of that one before. He let out a defeated sigh. She was punishing herself
enough at the thought of their daughter. He sat down on the ground and pulled
her gently into his arms.

Willow wrapped her arms around his waist. To her, he seemed to be the only
thing between sanity and insanity right now.

Spike stood up and carried her small trembling body over to the couch. He sat
back down still holding her in his arms.

Willow felt terrible. She wasn't sure if this would ever go away. She looked
up at Spike and forced herself to meet his eyes. As terrible as she had
treated him a few minutes ago, he didn't look upset with her. She placed her
hands on his shoulder and pulled herself up unsurely.

"Spike, I'm so sorry," she said and shook her head. "I don't know what
happened. I didn't mean to." She kept shaking her head.

"Shhhhh," he said quietly and put his hands on the sides of her face.

"Spike, I can't do this," she said and laid her forehead against his.

"Yes, you can Willow."

"No, I can't. I can't control it right now. How am I to control myself in
fron of Briana? I would be scared to be left alone with her," she cried.

"We're going to have to make some changes, Willow. Which may mean you taking
a break from your everday life. And look on the bright side. You have good
ole Angel. I'm sure he wrote a book about the whole soul thing."

Willow smiled. "Well, you know what would make me feel better?" she asked
going on with the playfull mood he was trying to create.

"What would that be, pet?"

"You getting a soul," she said and smiled uncontrollably.

"Ohhhhhh, no," he said and pulled away and pushed her onto the couch. He
stood up and walked to the other side of it. "I don't care how much I love
you, I won't do it. And I better not wake up one night with one either. You
won't like me all brooding like would you?"

Willow smiled evily. She was glad that he wasn't dwelling on her outburst.
"No, but you could share my pain. You know they say it's great for couples to
have things in common."

"Yeah, but they also say oppisites attract," he said and backed up towards
the hall way.

"Spiiiiiike," she whined and stuck out her bottom lip and pouted.

"No," he said quickly and took off to the room.

She giggled and ran after him.

The End