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Shanna
shannalynn9064@yahoo.com
Spike quickly grabbed at the rumpled sheet, and wrapped it around Willow's body, trying to shield her from Buffy's gaze. "Doesn't anyone knock around here?"
Willow felt frozen in place, and pinned by the disbelieving stare of her best friend. "Buffy, I, uh..."
"You *bastard*!" The words were ground out between clenched teeth. The Slayer stalked to the bed, her eyes shooting stakes at Spike. "What have you done to her?"
"Buffy, stop," Willow yelled. She struggled to rise to her feet, blushing the entire time. The sheet tangled around her body, and she fell the to floor in an ungraceful heap. She leapt up, struggling to hold onto the sheet, and placed herself between the angry Slayer and her vampire lovers. "He didn't do anything I, uh, didn't want him to. . .either of them."
The hate-filled glare, directed at Spike, was broken up by Willow stepping in front of it. The Slayer looked up at her best friend, and saw the fresh bite mark on her neck. "How? The chip. . .I don't understand how he could do this to you."
"I asked him to," the redhead whispered. She lowered her eyes, avoiding the hurt and confusion in Buffy's gaze. "I. . .I wanted him to."
"You *wanted* him to?" The Slayer stared at Willow in disbelief and disgust. "Wills, that's just. . .how could you want *Spike* to. . .and the three of you were. . .Oh, God! You and Spike. . .and *Angel*?" Buffy's voice rose, and she looked at her ex-boyfriend.
Angel stood with the bedspread wrapped around his waist. He placed a comforting hand on Willow's shoulder. "Buffy, give us a minute to change, and we can all sit down and discuss. . ."
"Discuss nothing, Peaches. Kick her out on her arse. She's not wanted or needed here. 'Sides, she interrupted a very pleasant shag." Spike stood proud and naked next to the bed. Buffy didn't miss the hand rubbing Willow's back in slow circles.
"Get your undead paws off of her, Spike," she ground out between her teeth.
"Hey! Hey!" Cordelia jumped between the feuding parties, with hands held up in a placating manner. "Let's all just chill, okay? Buffy, why don't we wait out in the living room. Spike, for God's sakes, can't you at least grab a pillow to cover up? Willow and the naked undead, get dressed. Then we can discuss this calmly." She turned to Buffy and waved a finger in her face. "I said it once already tonight, but it bears repeating. There will be no staking, got it?"
The Slayer glared and turned deadly eyes on Spike. "I'm not promising anything."
The forgotten figure on the floor stirred. "Oooohhhh, An, sweetie, I had the worst dream."
The group turned to look at Xander. He started to come around. He leaned up on an elbow, and found himself facing an unfamiliar wall. "An, when did we paint the room?"
"Xander. Get. Up!" Buffy growled at the confused boy.
He started at the unexpected voice, and turned around. "Buff, what's going. . .Oh, God! Oh, God! It wasn't a dream." He scrambled to his feet and covered his eyes, trying to block out the visual burned into his mind. "I'm blind. I did *not* just see Will and the walking undead making with the hot monkey sex, did I?"
Buffy ripped his hand away from his face. "Yes, you did."
Xander looked a little green around the gills as he peered at his best friend. "Are you evil? Did they turn you? Oh, God. Evil vamp Will. Touching in naughty places. I can't go there again. I just can't." He turned angry eyes on Angel. "And you! You were supposed to protect her. What the hell is this, huh?"
"Xander! Xander!" Willow yelled at him to stop his panicked ramble. "I'm not evil. I'm not a vampire, and stop blaming Angel. Please just go with Cordy and Buffy into the other room, so we can get dressed. Please, Xan," she ended on a pleading note. Her emerald eyes begged him to just do what she asked.
"Willow. . ." he whined.
"Please."
He caved under the weight of the resolve face. Head hanging, he let Cordy lead him from the room. Buffy stayed a moment longer, staring at the strange threesome standing before her. With a final glare at the vampires, she turned on her heels and stomped from the room.
Willow let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "That was horrible," she whispered. "More horrible than I could have ever imagined."
"I didn't think it went so badly, pet," Spike smiled at her. When she raised disbelieving eyebrows at him, he laughed. "I'm not a pile of dust, am I? I'd say it's been a bloody banner evenin'. Great party, great shag, and I haven't been staked. Bonus."
Angel grabbed for his pants while grumbling, "The night's still young."
~~~*~~~
Downstairs, Wesley was still on the phone, dictating his friend's translation.
"Uh-huh."
"You don't say?"
"Fascinating."
"And the cure, you have it?"
"Wonderful. Let's hear it, then."
"Yes, yes. We have access to that herb."
"Mmm-hmmm. Oh, splendid. Abhmir, I can't tell you how wonderful this is. You have made my evening, as well as that of a very lovely young lady. Thank you so much."
"What's that? Side effects, you say?"
"It will what?"
"Are you quite certain?"
"What else is there?"
"Oh, dear. Oh, my. Bloody hell."
~~~*~~~
Willow clutched at Angel and Spike's hands as they entered the living area. Buffy and Xander sat on the love seat, and Cordy sat in the chair opposite them. Her back was turned to the bedroom, but she could tell the others had joined them when she saw the tension run through the Slayer's body like a tightly strung rubber band. She sat up straighter, and Xander's scowl deepened.
"It's about time you joined us," she griped at her boss. "Another few minutes, and I would have been blocking the door, and guarding it with my crossbow."
Xander looked at her curiously. "You have your own crossbow?"
"Oh, like you don't," Cordy scoffed at her ex-boyfriend.
"Well, yeah, but I never figured you'd be the kind of girl to have your own weapons collection. Giles has this really cool cabinet for his. If you wanted, I could probably find out where he. . ."
"Excuse me for interrupting this terribly relevant conversation, but can we please talk about the fact that we just found my best friend in bed with Spike and my ex-boyfriend," Buffy said sarcastically. Her eyes softened as she saw the hurt in the redhead's eyes. "Oh, Will, I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you hurt. Spike is an evil, soulless. . ."
". . .monster who doesn't deserve to stand in the same air as Red, here. I've heard it all before, Slayer," Spike snarled at Buffy. "Doesn't mean that I'm going to hurt her. Peaches would rip off my head if I even thought about it. Don't want to anyway." He wrapped his arms around Willow and pulled her closer, nuzzling her shoulder. "Like her all warm and breathing."
Angel pulled Spike's arms away, and draped an arm around Willow's shoulder when he saw Buffy's hand inch toward her waistband. He was betting there was a stake secreted away there, with his grand-childe's name specially carved into it. He whispered only loudly enough for Spike and Willow to hear. "No taunting the Slayer, Childe. It's not a good idea right now."
"Soddin' Poof ruins all my fun," Spike grumbled.
"Spike, please," Willow pleaded. She looked up at him with worried eyes, and he conceded. He settled back against the couch, but left a hand possessively on her knee.
"Guys, please just listen to me," Willow begged softly. "Some things have happened, and changed. So much has happened that I don't even know where to start."
"How about you start with why you've had the sudden urge to shack up with the walking dead," Xander asked while glaring at both vampires.
"Hey! Alexander LaVelle Harris, I know that what you saw was a shock, but don't talk to me like that." A bit of the redhead's temper shone through as she leaned forward, and glared at her best friend. "I supported you in every single relationship you ever had or wanted to have, even when it ripped out my own heart to do it. I helped you practice asking out Buffy. I stood by, and smiled when you fell for 'I'm a mummy and I'll suck the life right out of you' Impata. I accepted you and Cordy, even after you felt the need to hide the entire relationship from me. Even now, when you're dating a one-thousand year old ex-demon, you never hear me say, 'Hey, Xan, what are you doing sleeping with the eviscerator of men?'. So get down off your high horse, mister, and treat me with a little respect here. I think I've earned it."
Willow sat back against the couch, with her arms crossed over her chest, and glared at a suddenly guilty looking Xander. She caught a slight movement to his right, and turned the glare on Buffy, who had opened her mouth, as if to speak.
"You don't have much room to talk, either, Buffy. You had a three year relationship with Angel. Don't lecture me on the dangers of sleeping with the undead. I've been there. I saw the results, and he killed my fish." She patted Angel's thigh reassuringly when she sensed him flinch at her words. Willow figured she would tell him later that she never really liked the fish. They had been a present from her parents to 'keep her company' while they were away. Dogs and cats were too messy, apparently. Oooops, rambling. Better get back on topic before Buffy and Xander have a chance to protest.
"That can't happen anymore, Buffy," the redhead said in a softer tone. "The Powers, well, they told us how to secure Angel's soul. No more Angelus to terrorize the world."
Out of the corner of her eye, Willow saw Spike ready to contradict her. She reached over and squeezed his hand tightly. Buffy and Xander didn't need to know that Angelus was closer to the surface these days, melded to the soul. There was enough freakage going on at the moment, without having to open that particular can of worms.
Buffy looked sadly at her ex-boyfriend, and smiled wistfully. "I'm happy for you, Angel. I really am. If only. . .if only they had slipped you this info a couple years ago." She lowered her lashes, and swallowed before looking back up at her ex-boyfriend. "I'm with Riley still. I know you two didn't hit it off, but he really is a great guy. I love him."
Spike rolled his eyes and mumbled something about 'Captain Cardboard' before Willow nudged him in the side with her elbow.
Angel smiled at his ex-girlfriend. "It's okay, Buffy. I think we've both moved on. I'm happy for you, and he'd better treat you well. As for what you saw earlier, well, something happened here during the time that Willow stayed with me. There's something that Spike and I. . ."
He was interrupted when an exceptionally flustered Wesley ran into the room, glasses askew on his face, and waving a notebook in the air. "I have news. I have news about the vilnavons, that you won't believe. Well, actually you might believe it, based on what's happened here lately." He turned to Cordy briefly. "That phone call I took was Abhmir. He finished translating the text." He almost looked smug, as if to say, 'see, I really did have to take that call, and I wasn't just avoiding talking to Buffy and Xander'.
Angel smiled. "That's wonderful news, Wes. Was there a cure listed in the book?"
"Yes, yes, there was. I have it all here. Most of the ingredients are quite common. I believe we have them all on hand at the moment. The spell is quite simple, so I should be able to perform it without a problem." His voice trailed off and he peered nervously between his coworkers and the Sunnydalers.
"Wes, just spit it out, for Pete's sake," Cordy ordered impatiently. He was practically dancing from foot to foot. "You've got something else on your mind. Spill it. Oh!" Her eyes looked worried suddenly. "There's not a side effect that's going to hurt Willow or anything, is there?"
"Not exactly," Wesley reluctantly stated.
"What do you mean, 'not exactly'?" Spike growled, and sat forward with eyes narrowed at the former watcher. "You're not doin' anythin' that's gonna hurt Red, here."
"No, no. Of course not. The side effect isn't from the spell. It's from the bite itself. It's all terribly interesting really." He leafed through the notebook to read and reread the words he'd written there. He shook his head, still amazed at what he'd learned.
"Wesley, watcher-type-guy," Xander prodded. "Care to share with the rest of the group?"
"What?" He looked up from the pages, and looked around the room at the group staring at him. "Oh, right. Well, as you already know, the saliva from the vilnavon increases a human's blood count. The spell will reverse the effects. All of the effects, it would seem."
"And what exactly are these other 'effects,'" Buffy asked. She leaned forward, eager to hear what Willow had been dealing with.
"Well," Wesley observed the individuals in the room nervously, "there's something else in the creature's saliva. It reacts with the human blood to create. . .uh. . ."
"Wesley, just say it already," Cordy cried impatiently.
"Vilnavons, in Abhmir's book, are referred to as, roughly translated, 'lust drinkers'. It appears that the saliva intermingling with the blood creates a vampiric cocktail that is irresistible, both for the vilnavons, and the human involved."
"For those of us not versed in watcherdom?" Xander prodded.
Wesley took a deep breath and faced Willow. He saw the doubts creeping into her eyes, and the blush that was rising in her cheeks, confirmed that she understood what he was saying. "Willow's blood has become an aphrodisiac, for both vilnavons as well as herself."
Cordy stood and stared at Wesley in disbelief. "So what? You're saying Willow's the walking, talking version of Spanish Fly for these demons?"
"Precisely," he replied. His eyes never strayed from those of the woman affected.
"Well, for vilnavons, okay, but what about for vampires? They're kind of related in a third cousin removed from my mother's side of the family thing, right?" Buffy asked. She felt uncomfortable for her friend. If Willow had been involved with God only knows what with these two, and the Slayer *really* didn't want to know, then was it all a result of her infected blood?
Willow's voice was quiet as she questioned Wesley. "It affects vampires the same way, doesn't it?"
"I'm afraid it does, Willow. I'm sorry," he answered sincerely.
Angel and Spike shared a panicked look, as they saw the redhead between them slowly drawing in upon herself, both mentally and physically. She edged away from them and stood up slowly, avoiding their gazes. "Well. . ." Her voice came out as a shuddering croak. Willow cleared her throat and wrapped her arms around herself, and tried again. "Well, that explains a lot of things, I guess."
Spike jumped to his feet and tried to grab her arm, wanting her to look at him. He felt hurt and alarmed when she stepped out of his reach, hugging herself tighter. "Red. . ." Angel joined his side, as they both stared at the trembling woman.
She raised overly bright eyes to Wesley, blinking quickly to stave off the tears gathering. "Let's go do the spell, then," she whispered.
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