Title: All You Need is Blood
Author: Elisabeth
Email: dragonydreams@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.dragonydreams.com
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Willow/Spike
Summary: Spike figures out what he needs to get out of his wheelchair.
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al.
Distribution: winter_spillow, my site, the usual lists, anyone with previous permission. Anyone else - just ask.
Feedback: Yes please! It makes me happy and keeps me writing.
Author's Note: Thanks to Gabrielle, Kat and Lisa Kelley for their wonderful beta skills.

See Awards this story has won.

 

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All You Need is Blood

Spike kept a sharp eye out and a strained expression on his face as he wheeled his way through the streets of Sunnydale. Not for the first time, he wished that Angelus had chosen a home for them that was more convenient to their food source. The mansion, while quite comfortable, was a fair distance from the better vampire feeding grounds.

That's one thing he missed about the factory. It was in the perfect location; three blocks over from the teeny-bopper hangout, The Bronze. Clubs were marvelous feeding grounds - open only after dark, kids without parents, young adults drunk and horny from dancing amongst a throng of people. It had been easy pickings. Unlike near the mansion, located clear across town.

Granted, it wouldn't be too bad for a vampire at full strength; but for those who weren't, like Spike, it was a nuisance. No, Spike wasn't able to cut through back alleys and leap fences to take shortcuts in his wheelchair. He was forced to follow the sidewalks in their never-ending grids.

It was bad enough that he was forced to find his own food supply. His sire only thought to bring him puppies to snack on, not thinking to bring him a happy meal with legs to satisfy his constant hunger. He was barely replenishing the energy he used on the hunt with a single kill. He'd never get out of the blasted wheelchair at this rate.

Finally drawing close to his goal, the park, Spike pulled himself out of his melancholy thoughts in order to search for tonight's meal. The park was one of his favorite places to hunt these days. The naïve people of the town were always sympathetic towards a handsome young man trapped in a wheelchair. Especially when it looked like said wheelchair was caught on a root.

Finally, he saw his perfect meal walking slowly across the park with his enhanced night vision. The girl looked to be in high school - red hair divided into two braids, hideous shirt under baggy overalls, carrying a book bag that looked way too heavy for her small frame. Like most Sunnyhell residents, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

Spike thought she looked familiar, but assumed it was from seeing her walking home before. As the girl neared, Spike moved himself closer so that he wouldn't have to raise his voice when she passed him. He could hear his stomach growl as she drew closer and he willed her to pick up the pace. It was all he could do to suppress the demon from showing itself too soon.

When she was nearly upon him, Spike called out, "Excuse me, Miss."

Willow looked up, startled when someone addressed her. At least she thought it was her that was being addressed. She was in public after all; it could have been anyone who was being spoken to.

"Who me?" she asked, seeing a man in a wheelchair looking at her intently. At a second glance, Willow realized this was no man. This was a vampire, and not just any vampire. It was Spike, William the Bloody. She couldn't keep her sudden realization to herself, gasping, "Spike! You're not dust. Why aren't you dust?"

"Do I know you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he took a closer look at the girl.

Willow furiously shook her head, willing her feet to start running away. Unfortunately, they wouldn't listen to her, and remained glued to the ground, her body suddenly rigid with fear. "No, you don't know me. I mean why would you know me? You've only tried to kill me several times since you got to town."

Apparently Willow's body had a mind of its own tonight. She knew she babbled when she got nervous, but now wasn't the time for nervous babbling. She needed to get away from Spike. She needed to tell Buffy he wasn't dust.

Spike wheeled himself closer to the petrified girl, forgetting about his being stuck ruse. He inhaled the scent of her fear and it was intoxicating. Here was a girl who obviously knew what he was without him being in gameface and she was trembling with fear.

"I've tried killing lots of people. Usually succeeded," he smirked. "So how is it you're still alive if you know who I am?"

"Because Buffy always chased you off," Willow said, then slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing she'd just admitted to being friends with the slayer to the vampire who obviously didn't remember this yet.

Spike couldn't help chuckling. "So you know the slayer? Isn't that just my luck? And what is a friend of the slayer's doing walking around after dark, all alone, not paying attention to her surroundings?"

"I, uh, I…" Willow didn't know what to say. What was she gonna tell him? That she couldn't stand watching Xander and Cordelia being touchy-feely all night and begged off research? He was right; she should have been paying more attention to where she was going.

Just as her feet decided to wake up and take a step back, Spike's arm shot out and pulled her down on his lap. It was only then that Willow realized that the scariest vampire she'd ever met was in a wheelchair.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" Spike smirked.

Willow struggled to get up, but Spike kept his arm firmly around her. For someone in a wheelchair, he certainly had a lot of upper body strength. Which she figured kinda made sense if he had to use his arms to move his chair.

As Willow squirmed on his lap, a wonderful idea occurred to Spike. He hadn't had this much fun taunting a human for a long time and wanted to be able to play with her again. He also didn't want the slayer to find out about his non-dusty status, as it appeared that she now believed him to be permanently dead.

"If you don't want to talk, I can't make ya," Spike said. Willow stopped struggling for a moment, thinking he was going to let her go. Instead, Spike morphed and sank his fangs into her neck, relishing the increase in heart rate as she cried out in pain and shock.

He drank until she passed out, slumping against his chest. Not wanting to kill her, yet, Spike reluctantly pulled back and licked the wound closed, savoring every drop of her succulent blood. He'd been surprised by the undercurrent of magick in her blood, something he was sure she wasn't aware that she possessed, since she hadn't tried to use magick against him.

After arranging her more comfortably on his lap, Spike turned back towards the mansion. He needed to find where his shackles had been hidden during the move. And if they hadn't made it, then he'd need one of the minions to go get him some new ones. He had an all-you-can-eat buffet to set up.

From the taste he'd just had, Spike knew this girl would be able to cure him completely, sire's blood be damned. All he needed was this girl. As he entered the mansion, it occurred to him that he didn't even know her name yet.

~~~~*~~~~

Spike hoped to make it safely back to his room with the girl without incident. He knew his grand-sire would come to investigate when he heard the heartbeat in the mansion, but there were still a few hours of night left, and Angelus often didn't come back before dawn. If Spike was lucky, he would go straight to bed.

Spike groaned when he heard the mocking voice behind him, realizing that luck was not on his side tonight.

"What do we have here?" Angelus bellowed from the end of the hallway.

"Bugger," Spike muttered, cursing his bad luck. Looking down at the passed-out girl on his lap, he amended that thought. His luck wasn't all bad tonight.

Slowly turning the chair around, Spike met Angelus' amused expression with one of complete seriousness.

"'S none of your business," he defiantly told the older vampire, sounding much like a petulant child.

"I think you bringing leftovers home is very much my business," Angelus countered. "Especially when you didn't offer to share first."

Spike growled, his arm protectively wrapping itself around Willow, whose face was buried against his chest.

"Mine," the blond vampire snarled.

Angelus truly hadn't been interested in the girl, until he was denied access to her. She looked awfully plain from where he stood. Her clothes were hideous, she was almost too thin. Something about her scent seemed familiar though, he realized, the longer he stared at her.

"Watch your tone, boy," Angelus snarled back, taking a step closer to Spike. Reaching out, he turned the girl's face towards him, ignoring the continuous growl coming from the chair-bound vampire.

In the blink of an eye, Angelus' fist connected with Spike's cheek. "You idiot!" he roared.

"What?" Spike asked, having no clue what had sparked Angelus' anger.

"You took the slayer's best friend for a pet, that's what!"

Spike's face remained passive, while his demon cringed in fear of its elder being in a rage.

"I know, she said she knew the slayer before I took her," Spike admitted. The best friend part was news to him though.

"And still you took her? Idiot! Are you trying to bring the slayer to our door?" Angelus paced the narrow hallway as he tried to keep his hands off his stupid grand-childe.

"That's why I took her," Spike replied. "Slayer thinks I'm dust. Least that's what the girl said. Couldn't have her runnin' off to the slayer to say that I'm still among the unliving, now could I?"

"At least then I'd be rid of you," Angelus spat.

"Don't be so mean, Daddy," Drusilla said, coming from around the corner. She walked up to the dark vampire and wrapped her body around his. Resting her head on Angelus' shoulder, she looked at Spike and the girl he still held protectively on his lap.

"You needn't concern yourself with this, Dru, luv," Spike said, his voice softer than it had been for the last several minutes. "This is between him and me."

"You brought innocence and light into our home," Dru countered. "It concerns us all."

Angelus smirked at Spike, running his hand through Drusilla's hair. Spike glared at the smug expression, but held his tongue. Dru looked like she had more to say, and he knew better than to interrupt her when she had something on her mind.

Before Angelus could make a smart remark, she continued. "Fire and sunshine are our destroyers, but they can also purify. The little tree will burn out the bad parts of my boy, make my William whole."

Spike looked perplexed. After a century with his dark goddess he could usually decipher her ramblings easily. But what was all this nonsense about a tree?

"What are you talking about, luv? What tree?" he asked.

He didn't expect the bark of laughter that bellowed forth from Angelus.

"Don't you even make your introductions before you take a person hostage? I swear, the kids today have no manners."

"What are you on about now?" Spike grumbled, not liking being laughed at.

"The girl, the slayer's best friend, her name is Willow. Like the tree."

Spike looked back down at the sleeping girl, his features softening just a little. 'Willow,' he thought. 'It fits.'

Angelus laughed again at the tender expression. "Come on, Princess, let's leave the cripple to his entertainment. Although personally, I find girls to be much more fun when awake."

"Wait, Dru," Spike called out as a thought occurred to him. "Could I have one of your shifts? Something that would fit the girl, Willow?"

Drusilla smiled, nodding her head. She kissed Angelus on the cheek as she disentangled herself from him. "Just a moment," she said as she glided off to her room.

"One of Dru's nightgown's won't do anything to help with that girl's homely figure," Angelus pointed out.

"It'll be better than what she's wearing now. What high school girl would choose to dress herself like this?" he asked, his disgust evident in his voice.

"If you plan on keeping a pet, I expect you to provide for her. She'll need to be fed, bathed, clothed, yada, yada, yada."

"I know," Spike snapped. "I'll take good care of her, you'll see. She's gonna make me whole again. Need to keep her strength up if I'm gonna get mine back."

"You can have Celeste," Angelus grudgingly offered. "She's one of yours anyway. Just don't run her ragged fetching things for your pet."

"Thank you, Angelus," Spike said, surprised that he was being given a minion to tend to his girl.

"And chain her up," Angelus added. "Don't want her running loose in the mansion, tempting the minions. She'd just be getting herself killed… sooner rather than later." Unable to resist, Angelus asked, "You do have chains, don't you?"

"I'm a vampire, aren't I?" Spike retorted.

"You know, I sometimes wonder about that," Angelus chuckled.

"Got chains," Spike huffed. "Just need to find them. Don't know where they were put when we moved."

"Bottom drawer on the left," Drusilla suggested, handing Spike one of her nightgowns. "I put them away for safekeeping."

"Thanks, pet," Spike said, capturing her hand and kissing her knuckles. "That was very considerate of you."

Angelus rolled his eyes at Spike's display. "Yeah, real sweet."

"Sod off," Spike said. "If you'll excuse me, I've a girl to chain up."

"Think you can manage to chain up one little unconscious girl?" Angelus taunted.

"Better'n you could," Spike countered. He turned his chair and headed straight for his room, closing the door behind him, the wood not quite thick enough to block out Angelus' laughter.

"Ponce," Spike grumbled as he wheeled himself over to the bed.

Speaking more to himself than to Willow, he said, "Now what do I do with you? First off, let's get you changed, yeah? Yeah."

Spike maneuvered himself so that his knees were against the side of the bed. Then he moved Willow so that she was straddling his lap. Keeping one hand behind her, in order to keep her upright, Spike undid the shoulder straps on the overalls. He let the material pool at her waist as he rested her back against the bed.

With both of his hands free, he was able to remove her shirt. Next to go was her plain, white cotton bra. He couldn't hide the grin, and had no reason to, at her simple, virginal undergarment.

Bunching up the nightgown, Spike eased it over Willow's head, then pulled her arms through the "sleeves". There were no sleeves to speak of, just material bunched up over the shoulders. He pulled her upright again so that the material fell down to cover her upper body.

With a tenderness that would have disgusted Angelus, Spike lifted Willow onto the bed and proceeded to remove the rest of her clothing. He had just finished tossing the discarded clothes in a corner when there was a quiet knock on the door.

"What?" he bellowed.

The door opened a crack and a young female minion entered the room. "Master Angelus sent me to you," she said.

"Ah, Celeste," Spike acknowledged. Motioning towards the bed, he said, "This is Willow. I'm going to be keeping her for a while. You are to help with that care. Do you remember what human girls like to eat?" The minion nodded. "Good. I want you to go out and find some food for her. She will be hungry and thirsty when she wakes. I took a lot of blood before bringing her here. Tomorrow we can discuss what else she'll need. Now go."

"Yes, Master Spike," Celeste demurely said, hurrying to do his bidding. There wasn't much night left and she didn't think he'd want her to turn to dust while running his errands.

Alone again with Willow, Spike moved to his bureau. In the back of the bottom drawer was his favorite set of chains, just as Dru had promised.

Moving to the unoccupied side of the bed, Spike tossed the chains next to Willow before pulling himself onto the bed. Looping the long chain around the bedpost, Spike encased each of Willow's small wrists in the metal shackles. When he was satisfied that they were secure, he undressed and made himself comfortable next to the girl, Willow, he corrected himself, and slipped into an easy sleep.

Part Two

Willow knew that she was dreaming, but that didn't stop the dream from happening.

She was wandering through the park alone at night. She knew that she should have gotten Buffy to walk her home, but the slayer had been too busy sulking over the loss of Angel's soul.

Not paying attention to where she was going, Willow was startled by the yapping of a dog. She looked down to see a Doberman puppy looking up at her with the saddest expression on his face.

"Aw, what's the matter?" she cooed at him, squatting down to look at it more closely. "You lost too?"

The puppy whimpered again. Willow reached out to see if it had a collar and dog tags, but as her hand neared its head, the puppy snapped at her.

"Now that wasn't very nice," she informed the animal. "I'm just trying to help."

Willow reached for the collar again, this time succeeding in her goal. The lone tag on the collar proclaimed the puppy's name to be William.

"William, is that your name?" Willow asked the puppy, who barked, panting happily.

"Well, William, it looks like you have a name, but I can't make out the address on here. It looks like it has been scratched out. I guess I should take you to the pound."

William began to snarl and bare his teeth at that suggestion, backing away from Willow. As he stepped back, his snarl turned into a whimper.

Willow caught the whimper and, walking around the puppy, she noticed that one of his legs was injured.

"Oh, no! You're hurt. I guess that I should take you to a vet instead. Can I pick you up?" she asked the puppy. She didn't know how, but Willow knew that he understood everything she was saying to him.

William licked Willow's hand as she reached for him. She took this as a 'yes' and lifted the wounded puppy into her arms. William eagerly licked her face and neck as Willow began to walk back towards the main part of town in search of a vet.

She was so intent on getting William help, that she didn't notice until it was too late that he had stopped licking at her neck and now had his very sharp teeth buried in her flesh, slowly draining her blood.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Willow woke with a start, pain radiating throughout her body. Most notably, her neck was throbbing. As sleep receded from her brain, Willow soon realized that this was because there was a vampire attached to her neck.

Screaming, Willow tried to pull away, only to discover that her arms were bound above her head by heavy metal chains. She tried kicking out at her attacker, but her legs were twisted up in a nightgown that she didn't recognize.

"Bloody hell," Spike shouted, instantly silencing the frightened redhead. "That screaming's enough to wake the dead." Which in fact it had. Spike hadn't even realized the sweet nectar he'd been tasting was real until Willow began to scream and struggle beneath him. He must have been feeding in his sleep.

"What's going on?" Willow frantically asked. "What am I doing here? Am I a vampire?"

"Would you keep it down," Spike demanded. "Unless you want to bring Dru and Angelus in here to quiet you." Willow shook her head, silently assuring him that she most definitely did not want that.

"Good. Now what you were doing was waking me up from one of the best day's sleep that I've had in a very long time. You are here because I brought you here. Dru says you're gonna make me whole again. Didn't know that when I took you, but I'm right glad that I did. I just thought I'd keep you around until I tired of your blood. You've the sweetest, richest, most succulent blood I've tasted in a century." A glazed look came over Spike's eyes, which frightened Willow. "All that innocence… virgin's blood is always sweet," Spike leered at Willow's blush. "But it's more 'n that. You've got power, though you may not know it yet. I can taste it, it's there. Gonna make me well again, it is."

"I-I can't make you well. For one thing, you're a vampire. I don't know anything about healing vampires. Besides, I'm just little Willow Rosenberg. If you needed me to hack into some voodoo doctor's files, I could do that, but I'm no healer. Buffy's the one with power. I'm just little old me. Yucky, undesirable me. Trust me, you don't want me."

Spike was awed by the conviction in Willow's voice. He could tell she believed every word she said. Well, he knew she was wrong. She was powerful in a way that the slayer never could be.

"Don't tell me what I want or don't want," Spike insisted, a hard edge to his voice. He was tired of everyone telling him what he wanted, who to eat, when to go and when to stay. He was in charge here.

Considering that Spike was still in gameface, with her blood on his lips, Willow wasn't inclined to further disagree with him right now. "Fine, whatever. Just don't go blaming me when you find out I'm right."

"You know, I don't think you appreciate your position here," Spike commented, letting his human mask slide into place. He leaned forward and swiped his tongue over the rough wounds his sleep-feeding had caused. He laved the area, cleaning away the trickling blood as well as causing the wounds to clot. This also served to remind Willow that her life was in his fangs.

"My position is a little uncomfortable," she muttered, then wished her hands were free so that she could slap one over her mouth. Spike heard her, though, and glared up at her. "It's just… my wrists hurt, and I think my hands are asleep. Human girl here, with the whole circulation thing. And I'm cold. Aren't you cold? I mean, you're almost naked!"

"Not almost," Spike leered, causing Willow's eyes to go wide, then slam shut.

"Um, Spike, why are you naked?" she timidly asked, her cheeks bright red with embarrassment at being in bed with a naked man, er, male.

"Was sleeping. Always sleep in the buff," he casually said.

"Speaking of sleepwear… what am I wearing?" she hesitantly asked.

"One of Dru's old nightgowns. Don't worry, it's clean."

"And how did I get into it?" she asked, already guessing the answer.

"I put you in it," Spike said, growing tired of her incessant questions. "Now look, it's the middle of the day. You interrupted my sleep. Either go back to sleep or be quiet so that I can."

"Will you undo my arms?" Willow asked. "It's just, this is pretty uncomfortable now that I'm not all unconscious."

"Yeah, right, so that you can go runnin' off to your little friends and tell them I'm still around? Not bloody likely."

"So that's why you kidnapped me," Willow said, tears forming in her eyes. "You don't want me. You just don't want me to tell Buffy you're not dust."

"Aw, hell," Spike cursed. "Look, just go to sleep. Doesn't matter why I took ya. You're here. Deal with it. You'll be here for a while."

Willow sniffled, trying to keep the tears at bay. She really did. But the harder she tried, the more she wanted to cry.

Her anguish washed over Spike, making him almost giddy. All that pain, caused by him. Was enough to make a vamp hard… if he were fully functioning. Soon he would be though. Willow was going to make everything work the way it was supposed to.

Looking around, Spike saw that Celeste must have come in after he'd gone to sleep and left some water and grapes next to the bed. Scooting closer to Willow, he reached across her body to pick up the items. He held the glass to her lips as she tried to drink.

The water calmed her a bit and she soon asked for more, not realizing until she started drinking how thirsty she was. Once the glass was empty, Spike returned it to the table. He held up the grapes, but she shook her head, her grief overriding her hunger. Spike shrugged and tossed them back on the table.

"You ready to go to sleep yet?" he asked.

Willow silently nodded, suddenly feeling weary.

"Good." Spike pushed himself back a bit, allowing Willow to make herself as comfortable as possible, which happened to be facing away from him, before pressing his body to hers.

Willow yelped in surprise when Spike spooned behind her. He wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close to his still body.

"Just go to sleep," he mumbled. "Won't try nothin'."

"Right, 'cause you're so trustworthy," Willow snorted.

"No, 'cause I can't," he mumbled as he fell asleep.

Willow lay awake for a while after that admission. Spike couldn't try anything? Why not? She blushed as she realized that whatever put him in that wheelchair must have affected everything below the waist. She was surprised to discover that she felt sorry for him.

She didn't know what to make of her situation. First of all, she was being held captive, chained to the bed of one of the most notorious vampires in history, in the house of two others. No one knew where she was. She idly wondered if her friends had realized she was missing yet. Somehow she doubted it.

She wondered if Spike was being truthful about needing her. No one ever needed her. Not really. They needed her to do stuff for them… homework, hacking, research. They needed her skills, not her. But wasn't this the same? Spike wanted her blood, wanted her to heal him.

For some reason, that thought disturbed her more than the thought of being held captive. If he was holding her hostage so that Buffy wouldn't find out about him, she could understand that. But he said it was her, her blood that he needed. In a weird way, she preferred to look on her situation as being a blood bank. At least this way it meant she was wanted… needed.

Her dream came back to her as she mulled over these things. She nearly sat up at the realization that Spike, aka William the Bloody, was William the puppy. Was her dream a way of trying to prepare her for her new life? Did her subconscious know that she had been taken prisoner in order to help heal an injured vampire? Was it fate's way of telling her that this was her destiny?

This last thought made her shiver. How could she be destined to be a vampire's pet? His own personal blood supply. And who knew what else would be expected of her, living in a vampire's lair. Would Drusilla and Angelus try to eat her too? Was she going to be fed? Was she going to be let out of these chains?

All of these questions circled around in her head as she drifted into an exhausted sleep.

Part Three

Willow was awakened by something tickling her cheek. No, arm. Or was it her chin? She wanted to swat it away, but as she became more alert, she remembered that her arms were bound above her head. Still, her body tried to move her hand to move away whatever was tickling her. To her surprise, she was able to move her hand to brush against her chin.

Willow's eyes popped open, hoping that being kidnapped by Spike had all been some horrible nightmare. But instead of her familiar belongings surrounding her, Willow was staring into two big, amused, brown eyes.

Drusilla giggled and clapped her hands before picking up the lock of Willow's hair she'd been playing with earlier and teasing her forehead with it again. "There we are now," she cooed. "I was starting to think you were going to sleep the night away. No fun in that now. The night's the time when secrets are revealed and pleasure is to be had."

"W-what are you doing in here? Where's Spike?" Willow glanced nervously around to confirm that her kidnapper was in fact nowhere to be seen. Oddly, she realized that she'd much rather be in his company than alone with this insane vampire.

"My Spike had some business to attend to," Dru seriously said, flopping down on her stomach next to Willow on the bed. "I didn't want you to be lonely when you woke."

As Dru talked, Willow tested her arms' seeming freedom. She soon realized, much to her disappointment, that she was still bound, just with a longer chain that allowed her more movement. She tested the lock, sighing when she discovered that she wouldn't be able to free herself. Not that she thought she would.

"That was very nice of you," she sadly replied, being polite, if insincere.

"Yes, I know," the vampire agreed. "So what shall we do to pass the time?" She looked over at Willow before rising up onto her knees and bouncing excitedly on the bed. "Oh, I know. We'll have a tea party. It's been ever so long since we've had tea in this house. Miss Edith no longer has a taste for it. Would you like that?"

Willow didn't know who Miss Edith was, but she knew she didn't want to know why she no longer liked tea.

"I am kinda hungry," Willow admitted. "Tea would be lovely."

Still bouncing, Dru said, "I knew it. I'll just be a moment."

She rolled off the bed and skipped out of the room. Too soon for Willow's liking, she returned, followed by Celeste with a tray laden with food, and remarkably, tea.

"What's all this?" the redhead couldn't help asking.

"What does it look like?" Drusilla replied. "Now make yourself comfortable. A guest should always be made to feel welcome in one's home. I've always prided myself on being a good hostess."

Celeste set the tray down on the bed between the two women. Willow could feel herself salivating at the assortment of muffins, croissants, fruit and tea. "All this is for me?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well it's certainly not for me," Drusilla pointed out. "Now eat up. Can't have you losing your strength. Need to stay healthy if you're going to make my boy better."

Willow grabbed a croissant and tore into it, taking half of it into her mouth before chewing. She swallowed harshly and lifted a steaming cup of tea to her lips. She sighed in pleasure as the hot liquid slid down her throat.

After she finished the croissant, and was picking at the fruit, Willow worked up the nerve to ask, "Why does everyone keep saying I'm going to make Spike better?"

"Because you are," Drusilla, who had been thoroughly enjoying watching Willow ravenously eat, said.

"But how? Why me?" Willow pressed.

"The stars told me it would be you. Even before the nasty slayer broke my Spike, they whispered of a red haired girl who would be important to our family. And here you are. And you don't even have to lift a finger to return my prince to his former state of glory."

"But then how…?"

"I am a princess," Drusilla confided in a whisper. "My Angel and my Spike worship me as their dark goddess. You shall be my prince's princess. I promise not to be jealous. William's such a passionate creature - full of love and jealousy and pain. But you're going to take his pain away."

Drusilla sat back, daintily raising her teacup to her lips and taking a sip of the liquid inside, which Willow doubted was tea.

The girl didn't know what to think. She was to be Spike's princess? Did that mean he was going to make her a vampire? She didn't want to be a vampire.

"But what am I meant to do? How am I to heal him?" Willow whined, still not understanding what Drusilla was saying.

"By being a princess. You'll be waited on hand and foot. Stay well fed and well groomed, always showing proper manners." Drusilla leaned in close to Willow, finger-walking up her chest to where Spike had bitten her. "Here… or anywhere else he should choose to take a nibble… is how you will heal him."

"My blood?"

Drusilla nodded, leaning in conspiratorially. "It's magick."

Willow's eyes widened in fear. Drusilla was crazier than she thought. "N-no it isn't," she insisted. "Nope, no magick. Just plain, old, regular blood. Nothing special about it."

"Ah, but it is," Drusilla sagely imparted. "You may not know it yet, but stardust flows through your veins. The stars told me so themselves. The untouched red tree will be a great power one day. You'll see. Light and dark and bright as the sun, nearly as deadly too."

"But… but I don't want to be dark and deadly," Willow cried.

"No, not yet," Drusilla smiled. "But you will."

"When I'm a vampire?" Willow hesitantly asked.

Drusilla cocked her head to the side, as if listening to a voice that was far away. "Perhaps. That part is unclear. The stars must have some secrets after all." Noticing that Willow stopped eating, she scolded the redhead, "Now eat up."

"I'm not hungry," Willow protested.

"Naughty, naughty, you mustn't lie," Drusilla tsked, wagging a finger at Willow. "Your tummy belies your words."

Sure enough, Willow's stomach was growling still. Glaring down at the offending part of her body, Willow reached for a muffin and began to pick at it.

"Ah, now that's a sight to see," came the welcome/feared voice of Willow's captor. She nervously looked up to see Spike sitting in the doorway, looking at the two women on the bed, amusement clearly written on his face.

"Spike, it's not nice to crash a party uninvited," Drusilla said, rising and moving to sit on Spike's lap.

"It's hardly crashing a party when it's taking place in my bedroom," Spike pointed out. "Were you and Willow having fun? Playing nicely?"

"Oh, yes," Drusilla eagerly agreed, bouncing slightly. "We were having a tea party, with real tea. It's ever so much fun having another princess to play with."

"And you, Willow, were you enjoying the party?" Spike asked, turning to face Willow.

"Well, she brought me food and tea, so I guess so," she uncertainly answered. "Oh, and thanks for the mobility." She raised one arm to show its ability to move.

"You're comfortable then?" he asked.

"As comfortable as a girl can be who's chained to a bed by a vampire," Willow said before she could stop herself, then slapped a hand over her mouth to stop her verbal hemorrhaging.

Spike simply laughed and wheeled himself closer to the bed.

Drusilla stood, knowing her boy needed some time alone with his pet. She retrieved her tea cup and politely excused herself, promising that they would do this again soon.

Willow was relieved that she had left the tray with the food and teapot behind. She nervously took a drink to soothe her suddenly parched mouth as Spike pulled himself up onto the bed next to her. He made himself comfortable before casually reaching over and popping a couple of grapes in his mouth.

"What?" he asked, watching Willow's jaw comically drop open.

"You ate!"

"So? You were eating," he pointed out.

"But you're a vampire. Vampires eat people, not food," she blurted out.

"Is that an invitation?" he smirked, eyes sliding to the mark on Willow's neck from the previous night.

"NO!" she protested. "Just curiosity."

"Don't see what the big deal is. I like real food sometimes."

"Huh."

"Stop gawking and eat something. Look at you, all skin and bones."

"I'm skinny. Last time I checked that was a good thing," Willow bristled.

"So it is," Spike agreed, raking his eyes over her form again, drawing a blush to Willow's cheeks. "You know, now that you mention it, I am feeling a mite peckish."

"Mention it? I didn't mention it. You did the mentioning," Willow blustered, frantically looking around the room.

"Right, that I did. Good thing too." Spike scooted closer to Willow and pulled her down slightly so that she was reclining against the pillows. "Now just relax."

"Relax? You've gotta be joking," she mumbled. How was she supposed to relax when she was lying on a bed with a vampire who was about to bite her? Who had told her he was planning on biting her. Relaxing was not an option. But she didn't think resisting was a very good alternative either. It would probably get her hurt much more. She closed her eyes, resigned to the inevitable.

She didn't have to wait long.

Spike enjoyed watching the play of emotions on her face for a moment before seeing her resignation take hold. 'That's my girl,' he thought proudly. 'Not protesting. Soon, she'll be begging to feel my fangs buried in her.'

Slipping into his true face, Spike bent his head to Willow's neck, swiping his tongue over the barely healed bite mark. He smirked at the shiver that shook Willow's slight frame, and did it again, before sinking his fangs into her flesh.

Hot, spicy, powerful – it all hit him at once. Spike didn't think that he would ever tire of tasting this girl. Her blood was like a drug – both the medicinal kind and the high-inducing kind. To heal this way was to become high.

He didn't even notice that he had pulled Willow's body flush against his. That he was now lying partially on top of her. That his arms were wrapped around her body: one around her back, one holding her head steady. He wasn't even aware that her arms had encircled him and she was panting in his ear.

Willow's eyes were staring, unseeing, at the ceiling. This was nothing like the feeding from before. That had been rough and painful. At first, this had been uncomfortable too, and there had been a little bit of pain, but not like before.

Suddenly, she didn't care that she was lying on a bed beneath a man. She didn't care that the wonderful feeling she was experiencing was being caused by a vampire's fangs sliding in and out of her flesh. She only knew that this felt right, and oh so sinfully good. She whimpered slightly, an expression of this unfamiliar feeling trying to make itself known. Only it seemed to make Spike stop.

Spike heard Willow's whimper and reluctantly withdrew his fangs. He carefully licked at the wounds, soothing the broken flesh, lapping up any spare trace of her delectable blood. He finally noticed their position when he tried to pull away, only to find Willow's arms wrapped securely around him.

"You okay, pet?" he softly asked, human mask back in place, as he brushed a strand of hair off of her face.

"Yeah," Willow dreamily replied, forcing her eyes to meet his. She relaxed even more upon seeing his sated expression, somehow pleased that she had put it there.

Before that look of contentment could fall from her face, and before he could stop himself, Spike closed the short distance between them and pressed his lips against hers.

Part Four

Willow froze. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as a sense of panic rose. Spike was kissing her!

Willow could not believe that her first ever kiss was coming from a vampire who was holding her prisoner, chained to his bed.

She didn't know what to do, how to react. Should she pull away? Should she kiss him back? If so, how would she do that?

Going with the more natural instinct, Willow jerked her head back, hitting it on the headboard. She winced slightly at the minor pain, then again at the look on Spike's face.

Spike had never kissed such an unresponsive person. It was like kissing one of Drusilla's porcelain dolls – frozen, hard, unrelenting. Not at all what he'd expected from kissing a human girl.

What was her problem anyway? He was a handsome fellow, or so Drusilla and his numerous victims had told him. She should be thrilled to have him kissing her. Not frigid and sending out delicious waves of panic. Didn't she remember he wasn't about to force himself on her? He was physically incapable of it.

He glared at her momentarily when she pulled away, then smirked as she bumped her head. Served her right.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Willow retorted, rubbing the back of her head. Realizing she probably shouldn't snap at the obviously upset vampire, Willow added in a much more nervous tone, "Why'd you kiss me?"

Spike shrugged. "Seemed like the thing to do. Didn't mean nothin'."

Tears rose unbidden in Willow's eyes. "Oh," she quietly said.

Spike rolled his eyes, wondering what was going through her mind. So now she wanted him to want to kiss her?

"What're you cryin' about?" he grumbled.

"Nothing." Willow would not admit just how naïve she was, not to Spike.

"If it were nothing, you wouldn't be cryin' about it," he pointed out. "Might as well tell me. Not like we got much else to do if you don't want to snog."

Willow shook her head. "No, you'll laugh."

Spike was growing bored with this game. He sat with his back against the headboard to dig in his pockets for his cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it before answering her on a puff of smoke. "Probably."

Willow sighed, realizing it would be better to get this out in the open now so that he could laugh it up, then hopefully leave her alone.

"All right, fine. You wanna know why I'm crying?" she belligerently asked.

Spike quirked an eyebrow as if to say 'I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know.'

"That was my first kiss," Willow quietly admitted.

"No bloody wonder," Spike mumbled, having known that it couldn't have been his fault the kiss was so bad.

"Huh?" Willow inelegantly countered.

"That was 'bout the worse kiss I ever had the displeasure of experiencing," Spike said. At Willow's muffled sob, he added, "Wasn't entirely your fault. Well, yes it was, but just 'cause you weren't ready for it."

"It's not just that," Willow said, not feeling at all better about the situation. "My first kiss was from a vampire who didn't even really want to kiss me."

"Wouldn't have done it if I hadn't wanted to," Spike admitted, suddenly wanting to take away her pain.

He could see his human self in this despondent girl. Poor William, with his poet's heart, had longed for the sweet caress of lips against his own his entire life. He didn't get that experience until after he was dead. He just knew that this slip of a girl had her ideal fantasy kiss all picked out. Had probably gotten herself off to it many a night in her virginal bed.

"Yeah?" she shyly asked. While she knew that she shouldn't, she kinda wanted him to want her like that, even if just a little.

"Yeah," Spike acknowledged just as softly.

Reaching over, his thumb traced her nearly dry tear tracks. This time when he leaned over, Willow leaned in to meet him. Her eyelids fluttered closed as Spike's lips once again touched hers. She didn't try to resist him this time; instead, she pressed ever so gently against his lips. Spike's hand slid down to rest against her jaw, helping him to guide the kiss.

A voice from the doorway caused them to finally break apart.

"Aww, isn't that sweet," came the sarcastic observation from Angelus.

Spike's low growl and Willow's panting breaths evidenced their displeasure at being interrupted.

"Get out you git," Spike warned.

"Or what, you'll roll over my toes?" Angelus laughed. "Ah, Willy, my boy, what have I told you about playing with your food?"

"Only in bed?" Spike retorted. "And look, we're on my bed, so sod off."

Angelus flopped on the bed, lying on his side. And addressed the redhead. "Willow, I hope you're enjoying our hospitality here at Chez Aurelius. Finding everything you need? Making use of all of the… services… offered?"

"Oh, yes," Willow replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "This has been a dream come true. I've always wanted to be chained to a bed in someone else's lingerie, while being used as a miracle cure for a vampire."

"I always knew I was a dream come true," Spike smirked.

"Can it, No Dick," Angelus barked. "I'm chatting with the lovely Willow."

"Who said she wanted to chat with you? We were having a right nice conversation before you went and interrupted us."

"Yes," Angelus leered, "I saw that. Perhaps Willow and I could engage in a similar conversation in the near future." Angelus ran his hand up Willow's leg to emphasize his point.

Willow pulled her leg back, out of the dark vampire's reach, tucking it under her.

Spike snorted in a barely concealed effort to hide his laughter. "Seems the lady isn't amenable to that idea. This one's got taste, she does."

"Then what was she doing kissing you?"

Willow didn't know whether to interrupt the verbal sparring or try to make herself invisible. While on the one hand, she really didn't want them fighting over her, the shy geek in her was flattered. But she also didn't want to encourage Angelus. She may have let Spike kiss her… Who was she kidding? She may have enjoyed kissing Spike, but that didn't mean that she was about to willingly become some kind of vampire family whore.

"Showing her good taste, pillock."

"Speaking of taste… mind if I have one? Gotta see for myself if she's as powerful as Dru keeps insisting." Angelus licked his lips, eyeing the fresh mark on Willow's throat.

"Yes!" Willow exclaimed, finally speaking. "I mind."

Spike laughed. "Well, I guess you have your answer."

"I wasn't speaking to her. Since when do we ask the meal if it wants to be eaten? I wasn't even really asking you." Angelus started to slither up the bed, but Spike shifted until he was sitting in front of Willow.

"I'm not much in a sharing mood myself. This one's mine. Mine to feed from, mine to care for. You'd best be rememberin' that."

Angelus got right up in Spike's face. "I don't think you're in any position to be tellin' me what I can and can't eat."

Spike shoved Angelus with enough force to send the older vampire tumbling off the bed.

Willow hid her face in Spike's back when Angelus stood, snarling, game face to the fore. "Please don't let him bite me," Willow whispered, repeatedly. Spike smirked, knowing that Angelus could hear her quiet pleas just as clearly as he could.

"I think the girl's been fed from enough today," Spike coldly stated.

Angelus grabbed Spike by the shirt, pulling him away from Willow, ignoring the girl's yelp of surprise. Holding the paralyzed vampire close to his face, Angelus met Spike's angry glare. He carefully sniffed the air, leaning over Spike's shoulder in the process.

"The girl probably tastes funny anyway, after having your fangs in her neck," Angelus smirked, dropping Spike back on the bed. He reached towards Willow, not intending to touch her, but she didn't need to know that. Willow scrambled off the side of the bed, backing up as far as the chains would allow.

Angelus laughed, quickly rounding the bed to capture the terrified girl. "If I'm not to bite ya, I'll just have to taste you another way," he cryptically said. He allowed himself a moment to revel in the fear pouring off of the girl. He could see why Spike didn't want to share - such powerful emotions. He swooped down to press a hard kiss to her lips, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Just as quickly he was gone. At the door, he turned back to the room's occupants. "It's dark out. I think I'll take Dru… dancing."

Pain momentarily flashed across Spike's face at the mention of Dru and dancing. Oh how she loved to dance…

"S'alright. He's gone now," he calmly said, brushing the hair back from her face as Willow returned her shaking body to the bed.

Releasing a breath, Willow said, "I know. Thanks for not letting him bite me." Unconsciously, she wiped her mouth, trying to rid herself of the memory of what he'd done instead.

Spike knew that if Angelus had really wanted to bite Willow, he would have. Just as he'd gone and kissed his girl to just to rile Spike up. He'd succeeded, too. "Don't mention it."

"Spike?" Willow quietly asked.

"What is it, pet?" He turned his full attention to her, pushing thoughts of grabby grand-sires to the back of his mind.

"Could you… Never mind."

"Could I what?" Spike hated the nervousness Angelus had caused to resurface in Willow.

"Could you… I didn't like that kiss from Angelus. Could you remind me of what a kiss is supposed to be like?" Willow blushed as she spoke, feeling incredibly brazen for asking such a thing.

Spike hid his sigh of relief behind a leer. "It would be my pleasure. C'mere."

Willow scooted closer to Spike and eagerly met his lips in a kiss every bit as pleasurable as the one that had been interrupted.

Part Five

The next several days were rather boring, for the most part. Spike wouldn't let Willow out of his room, so her activities were limited to what Spike wanted to do. During the day, he slept. Celeste would come in occasionally to bring Willow food and drinks. Drusilla came for another tea party late one afternoon, before her 'Daddy' rose, much to Spike's annoyance.

On the third day, Willow finally worked up the nerve to ask Spike if she could have a book. As a voracious student, Willow had missed her books and computer most of all during her captivity, after her freedom. With a secret smile, the former poet agreed to take her to the mansion's library.

He undid one of the wrist cuffs and chained Willow to an armrest on his wheelchair. Willow was so excited to leave Spike's room that she didn't even care that all she wore was Drusilla's nightgown.

Willow squealed in delight upon seeing shelf upon shelf of books in the library.

"Why didn't you bring me here before?" she excitedly exclaimed upon entering.

"Didn't know you'd want to," Spike answered, mentally kicking himself for not asking.

He'd vaguely known that Willow was the smart one of her group, but it simply hadn't occurred to him that she'd want to read anything in the library. Most of the books were left over from the previous owners, whom Angelus had killed. Spike had spent a lot of time in here, never having grown out of his love for words. It was something for him to do while Dru and Angelus went off and left him alone.

Willow started to skip towards one set of shelves, coming up short when her chain pulled taut. Spike snickered and wheeled closer, allowing her to get up close to examine the books.

"Anything in particular you're looking for, pet?" he asked.

"Nope. Just looking," Willow answered, perusing the classics before her, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

Spike thought she was adorable. He watched her lean in close to read the titles, occasionally picking one up and leafing through it before carefully returning it to its place. Allowing her to peruse each wall of books, Spike diligently kept pace with Willow as she explored.

Finally, Willow squealed and clutched a book to her chest.

"Find something there, pet?" Spike asked, amusement in his voice.

Willow held out the book for him to see, while saying, "You have The Princess Bride! I've always wanted to read the book the movie was based on. It's one of my all time favorites."

"What's that about then?" Spike asked, leading the distracted girl back towards his bedroom.

"True love," Willow said with a sigh.

"It's a bleedin' romance novel?"

"No! It's about love conquering all. There's love, and adventure, and pirates, and swordfights, and death."

"Death? Now that sounds better. Is it all tragic? Like Romeo and Juliet? That Shakespeare knew his death and betrayal."

"Um, not exactly."

"Back on the bed," Spike instructed as they entered the room and closed the door. He unfastened the chain from his wheelchair and reaffixed it to Willow's wrist once she was settled. "Well then, why don't you read it to me?"

"You want me to read to you from the book? What are you, five?"

Spike pulled himself up on the bed next to Willow, leaning against the headboard. "Well, we can't both read the bloody thing at the same time. If you're reading it anyway, just do it out loud."

Willow smiled at that, thinking of the grandfather reading the book to the sick kid in the movie. "Okay, now get comfy."

Spike pulled out his cigarettes and lit one before nodding to Willow to begin.

"The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The 'Good Parts' Version) by William Goldman," Willow began. "'This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it….'"

Spike closed his eyes and listened to the sound of Willow's voice. He could feel her love for the story as her voice grew stronger, the longer she read. He was coming to realize that she had an inner strength when she was passionate about something. He liked that she showed that to him.

He heard her heartbeat pick up when she read of Buttercup and Westley's love - a virgin's longing for what fiction was telling her was the perfect love. Spike moved closer to Willow, brushing her long hair away from her neck.

Willow paused in her reading, looking up at Spike to see what he was doing.

"Don't stop," he implored, lowering his mouth to her neck.

Willow let out a breathy sigh, her eyes fluttering closed momentarily at the sensation of Spike's tongue sweeping across his mark. "Okay."

Spike smiled against Willow's skin, taking pride in her reaction to him. He took his time exploring Willow's flesh, enjoying the taste and scent of it.

Willow moaned softly from Spike's ministrations. It was difficult concentrating on the book in front of her when there was a cool tongue tracing patterns along the side of her neck. She reached back and pulled all of her hair over the shoulder Spike wasn't leaning against, her head tilted slightly to give him more access.

"Keep reading," Spike instructed. Unable to resist the call of the blood rushing beneath the thin layer of skin any longer, Spike morphed and sank his fangs in the well-used mark.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Willow mumbled as the book dropped to the bed, with her finger marking the page. Her free hand wound its way into Spike's hair.

Willow was ashamed to admit that over the past several days she'd begun to enjoy when Spike fed from her. He was careful with her, his bites clean and precise, so as not to tear the flesh any more than necessary. He almost always licked and sucked the area first, making the flesh more pliable.

There was something very intimate about it, she'd come to realize. This wasn't some quick 'bite, drain, leave for dead' feeding. No, Spike was taking care of her, making sure she had everything she wanted, never taking too much blood at a time, making sure the fresh bite was clean before he pulled away. The fact that he had his mouth on her flesh and his hands on her body only enhanced her view that this was an intimate act.

Spike didn't even notice that Willow wasn't reading anymore. He was enjoying the taste of her powerful blood filling his senses too much. Her fingers were rubbing his scalp, holding his head close to her, encouraging his actions. He couldn't be happier that she took such delight in his feedings. He'd hoped she'd come to enjoy it, but he hadn't been sure that she'd allow herself to do so.

Reluctantly, Spike withdrew his fangs, returning to his human features. He carefully licked the wound clean, relishing the feeling of Willow's body against his. He could feel her small breasts pressing into his chest as she drew in deep breaths of air.

Then the most amazing thing happened… Spike felt his cock twitch.

He pulled back sharply, hardly believing what he'd felt. It'd been so long… He looked down at his groin expectantly, daring it to move again.

"Spike?" Willow softly questioned. She didn't know what was wrong. Things were good; he'd fed and was still holding her. She'd hoped he'd kiss her; he often did that when he finished feeding. Instead, he'd pulled away and was looking at his lap. "Di-did you want me to keep reading?"

Spike shushed her. Nothing was happening. Maybe it was one of those phantom movements he'd heard about, like when someone could feel their hand after it had been cut off.

"C'mere," he said, pulling Willow onto his lap. Maybe it was her…

"Wha--?" Willow asked in surprise, only to be cut off by Spike's mouth covering hers.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as he devoured her mouth. She didn't know what had gotten into him, aside from her blood, to make him act like this, but she wasn't about to complain. After several minutes of very enthusiastic kissing, she had to push Spike back in order to breathe.

Spike giggled. "Did you feel that?"

"The kissing?" Willow's oxygen-deprived brain asked. "How could I not?"

"No, not that," Spike beamed. He grabbed her hand and placed it over his erection. "This."

Willow's eyes went wide as she realized what she was feeling. She tried to snatch her hand away, but Spike was still holding it in place, staring at it in awe.

"B-but I thought that you couldn't…"

"I couldn't," Spike agreed. "Dru was right. There's magick in your blood. You did this - your blood, your kisses, just you."

Spike pulled her back in for another passionate kiss, showing her just how grateful he was. His hand still on top of hers, he began to have Willow rub him through his pants. Once she reluctantly accepted the rhythm, he let go of her hand and simply enjoyed what he was feeling.

He released her mouth, allowing Willow to breathe, and leaned back against the headboard.

"God, I'd nearly forgotten how good a hard-on felt. One of those things that you don't realize how much you'll miss until you can't get it up anymore."

"Really?" Willow asked, fascinated by this new piece of information. Her eyes moved to watch what her hand was doing, suddenly curious about the flesh beneath her fingers.

"Ever felt one before?" Spike asked, knowing the answer from her nervous actions so far. Willow shook her head no. "Want to?"

Without even realizing it, Willow had nodded her head. Spike grinned wolfishly, moving to open his pants. Willow watched in blind fascination as the material was parted and the hard flesh virtually popped into view.

Spike let out a sigh of relief as his cock was freed. His hand immediately closed around the until-recently unresponsive flesh. It was like welcoming back an old friend.

When he returned his eyes to Willow, she was hypnotically watching him slowly stroke himself. He had to admire her curiosity. Silently, so as not to shock her, Spike took one of Willow's hands in his free one, and encouraged her to feel him out, so to speak.

Willow had seen Spike's penis before. He insisted on sleeping naked, and had no shyness in him that she'd been able to discern, and therefore had no problems in staying that way until he was ready to get dressed. It was different now, though. Bigger. The flesh was soft, despite its hardness. Her fingertips explored him from base to tip, running over the hole, hearing Spike's hiss of pleasure as she played with the head. She imagined that she could feel her blood running through the veins beneath her hand.

Spike wished that more than his cock had awoken. He desperately wanted to thrust up into her hand, get more pressure, but his stubborn hips remained where they were.

"More. Harder," he encouraged her.

Willow tightened her grip, her tongue poking out between her lips as she concentrated. She knew what Spike wanted to happen. While she might not have been in this position before, Willow had read about it often enough. The moment puberty had hit, her parents had bought her every book on sex and sexuality for teenagers they could find - their version of "The Talk". She also had her medical texts from when she and Xander had played Doctor.

Spike couldn't stand his inability to participate any longer. He pulled Willow to him, making sure her hand didn't leave his cock, and thrust his tongue into her mouth. He needed to be able to thrust something. He wrapped his hands around Willow's, guiding her to the pace that he knew would bring him off.

It didn't take much longer for Spike to feel his balls draw up, another welcome sensation, before covering their hands with his release.

Willow watched as liquid suddenly came shooting out of the flesh in her hand. Her grip tightened momentarily until she realized what was happening. Then her eyes flicked up to Spike's face. He wore a look of pure bliss. When he was spent, Spike finally released Willow's hand, and she looked for a place to wipe it off. Not seeing anything, she finally just used the bottom of her nightgown, hoping to get a new one later.

"So, um, how was that?" Willow hesitantly asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

"That was bloody marvelous," Spike said, reluctantly tucking himself back into his pants. "Been too long since I've done that."

"Is it really that good?" Willow asked.

"Nothin' like it. Well, almost," Spike leered, drawing the blush from Willow he knew he would. "Wanna find out?"

"Um, no thank you," Willow said, shifting away from him as subtly as possible.

Spike chucked at her innocence. "All right. I'll just have to repay the favor later. I'm kinda knackered now anyway. Why don't you read some more of that book to me while I rest my eyes. Was just getting interesting."

Willow smiled as she reached for the book. It took her a moment to find where she'd left off. She made herself comfortable and began to read again, thoughts of just how he meant to repay her flitting through her mind.
Part Six

While Spike slept, Willow's thoughts would wander. From what she could tell, she had been here for roughly three weeks. She wouldn't let herself to adapt her sleep schedule to his – a way of allowing herself to believe that one day she would be free again.

Freedom. It was something that she had taken for granted before. She used to curse the supposed freedom her parents "allowed" her. She'd just considered it neglect. Their lax rules and frequent trips were supposedly to help her grow up, show that they trusted her. She would have preferred their presence to their trust. All she'd felt was lonely and alone, craving the companionship family was supposed to afford.

She was hardly ever alone now. If Spike wasn't here, in body if not consciousness, then Drusilla was, or worse, Angelus. Sometimes Celeste would "keep her company" while the older vampires were out. One would think that she would hate the constant companionship that she now suffered. While it was often uncomfortable having vicious, soulless creatures as her companions, it was also kind of nice to be the focus of someone's attention.

Willow had discovered that Spike, for all of his snarky comments and bad manners, was actually very intelligent. He was remarkably well read, for a vampire. Willow felt somewhat ashamed at her surprise to learn this. After all, what else was there to do for entertainment for most of Spike's existence? Willow found herself reading books she would not normally have chosen in order to have a lively discussion with Spike afterwards. Whether they agreed or disagreed, Willow never failed to enjoy the dialogue. His mind stimulated hers in a way that her friends' never could.

While she loved Buffy and Xander, they weren't always the best of friends, despite that being what they all called each other. Xander, being the quintessential teenage boy, could be distracted by any female that wasn't her. Buffy was her first real girl friend. Willow was so happy to have a female friend, that she tended to overlook the fact that Buffy never seemed as interested in her life as she was in Willow being interested in hers.

Sometimes, during the long, curtain-darkened days, Willow would wonder what her friends were doing. Were they looking for her? Did they think she was dead? Had they given up on her? Would they figure out where she was and come bursting through the door, stakes and crosses held high as they rescued her? Did she truly want to be rescued?

That last question was the one that always gave her the most trouble. If you had asked her that during her first week, you would have received a vehement YES. Now…

Now, Willow wasn't so sure.

It wasn't that she liked being chained to the bed constantly, even if it was only by one wrist on a long chain. Well, it wasn't always so constant any more. Since Spike's body had begun to wake up, he had started leaving her free to roam around the room – after he locked the door. He'd grumbled something about being tired of having to take her into the loo every time she had to go. The en-suite bathroom was one of the perks to Spike's room. Willow would have really hated being paraded past the minions she could hear out in the hallways every time she had to pee.

He'd also started letting her wear some warmer clothes. Not her comfy jeans and fuzzy sweaters, but dresses with sleeves. Always and only dresses. Nice ones too. She felt silly wearing them; like a six year old playing in her mother's closet. Not that she'd ever been allowed to do that, though. Drusilla seemed to take a particular pleasure in dressing her up, as if she was a live doll to play with. Which was probably how the insane vampire saw her.

Willow was jarred out of her thoughts by a kick to her leg. After her automatic response of "Ow", despite it not hurting, she realized what had happened.

She eagerly shook Spike's shoulder, hoping that he wouldn't get too upset with her for waking him. It was nearly sundown anyway, so it was less likely that he'd sink his fangs into her until she passed out. That had only happened once, and Willow hadn't tried to wake him again since.

"Spike, wake up," Willow whispered, shaking him again.

"Leave me 'lone," he mumbled, trying to burrow his head under the pillow.

Not giving up, Willow continued shaking him. "Spike, you kicked me."

"Sorry."

"No! You. Kicked. Me." Willow enunciated every word. "Like, with your legs – kicked me."

Spike's sleep-addled brain finally started catching up. "I kicked you?" he asked, looking into her excited green eyes.

"Uh huh." Willow nodded. "I was just sitting still, thinking, and suddenly you kicked me. Can you do it again?"

"You want me to kick you?" he asked, thoroughly confused.

"Of course not. Just maybe try moving your legs."

Spike rolled onto his back and pulled himself up to sit against the headboard. His face took on a look of extreme concentration as he stared at his legs. After several long, tension filled moments, the sheet covering Spike's legs twitched.

"Did you see that?" he excitedly asked, turning to look at Willow.

"Yep. Let me try something." Willow scooted down to the foot of the bed and eased one of Spike's legs out from under the covers.

"Your skin… it's like fire," he hissed, not complaining in the least.

"You can feel that? That I'm touching you?"

"Not the weight of your hand, but I feel your heat."

Willow ran the back of one of her fingernails up the bottom of Spike's foot. "Did you feel that?"

"Tingles. Like pins and needles."

"Like when your foot falls asleep?" Willow asked, excitement in her voice.

"Yeah, like that. But sharper."

"Well, I'm no doctor, but I'd say you're getting better."

Spike suddenly tossed the sheet off of himself, causing Willow to avert her eyes.

"Oh, quit blushing. You've been seein' me starkers for weeks. Not like it's anything new." He chuckled as Willow's blush deepened. He loved teasing her like this.

Spike lifted each of his legs until they were over the side of his bed. Willow automatically went to steady his wheelchair, but Spike stopped her.

"Not getting in the sodding chair," he told her, edging himself closer to the edge of the bed, until his feet touched the floor.

Light dawned in Willow's eyes. Unconsciously, she held her breath, hoping that he didn't fall. He wouldn't like a witness to that.

"Floor's cold," he observed aloud. Willow rolled her eyes and nodded. She'd been telling him that for weeks.

"Here goes nothing," Spike whispered, pushing himself off the bed carefully.

Willow had to stop herself from reaching towards him, just in case he started to fall. Amazingly, he didn't. He was standing on his own two feet.

"Hey, look at me," he exclaimed, then wobbled and sat down. Trying to cover, he said, "I think that's enough for right now."

"How do you feel?" Willow asked, fussing over him.

"Feel bloody marvelous," he grinned, unfazed by the limited amount of time he spent on his feet.

"Do your legs hurt at all?" Willow asked.

"Just a mite. 'm sure it's just from not usin' them."

"I should have been exercising them for you. Isn't that what you're supposed to do when someone can't use their legs – or are confined to bedrest? I should have remembered from when Xander and I played Doctor. The legs need physical therapy so that the muscles don't atrophy. I'm sorry, I should have remembered."

Willow was nearly hysterical by the end of her babble. Spike gawked at her concern. He was keeping her here against her will. He wouldn't have expected her to remember something like that, let alone want to be the one to help him.

He pulled Willow up the bed until she was cradled against his side, sniffling against his bare chest. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her back, soothing her.

"Shh, don't you go gettin' all upset 'bout that. Wasn't like you were here by your own leave."

"But I should have remembered," Willow said, her words muffled by his flesh.

"I'm more interested in hearin' 'bout you playin' Doctor." Willow could hear the smirk in his voice and was smiling through her tears when she met his eyes.

"It's not what you think," she stated, blushing. "I had all of these medical textbooks I'd picked up at garage sales. Xander would pretend to be sick and I'd go through the books and figure out what to diagnose him with."

Spike laughed – long and hard. "So the innocent act really wasn't an act. You're bloody precious, pet."

"I think Xander just didn't want to play the regular kind of Doctor with me," Willow admitted. "I took what I could get."

"Boy's a moron. I've said it before, but he truly is. All boys are curious and randy as all get out. Bet he thought all you wanted to do was the boring medical stuff."

Willow shook her head in denial. There was no way Xander could have ever wanted to satisfy his curiosity with her.

Spike leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Want me to play Doctor with you?" he huskily asked, trailing a hand up her body. "Give you a real thorough exam."

Willow's heartbeat quickened at his words and touch. A shiver ran down her spine as she imagined the kind of exam Spike would give her. He'd been with Drusilla for over a hundred years; certainly he would know all the right places to… check.

Willow's "Yes, please," was released on a shuddered breath, teasing Spike's senses.

His hands dropped down to the hem of Willow's dress and began to ease it up her body. "A proper examination can't be done wearing so many clothes," he informed her as the dress cleared her head.

"Of course," Willow agreed.

"Now lay back," Spike instructed. He could feel his cock beginning to stir at Willow's obedience, and the game had just begun.

"Yes, Spike," Willow complied, realizing she wasn't going to find a comfortable position while being watched as closely as Spike was watching her.

"Doctor," Spike corrected.

Willow giggled, "Yes, Dr. Spike."

He grinned. "That's better. Now, where to begin?" he mused aloud. His eyes raked over Willow's fidgeting body. His eyes settled on his bite mark and he smirked. "Well, it appears that there is an abrasion to the flesh of your neck. I must begin with a more careful study of that area."

Spike turned Willow's head away from him, exposing her long neck to his hungry eyes. Turns out it wasn't just his eyes that were hungry. He morphed and swiftly sank his fangs into the barely healed wound. After several satisfying draughts, he pulled back, putting his game face away.

"Yep, just as I thought," he surmised, sounding quite serious. "Vampire bite."

Willow giggled. Her giggle turned into a moan as Spike leaned back down to lick the fresh bite clean.

"That noise… I believe it is caused by mirth. I wonder what else can cause that noise, and if it's contagious." The utter seriousness of his tone caused Willow to giggle even more. She began to laugh fully when Spike's fingers began to tickle her sides, causing her entire body to thrash and twist in an attempt to get away.

Through her laughter, Willow panted out, "Spike, stop! Spike!"

"Ah, ah, ah; what did I tell you to call me?" He was trying very hard not to join in her laughter.

"Doctor!" Willow squealed. "Dr. Spike, cut it out."

"Very well," he sighed. "Diagnosis confirmed. Tickling exacerbated giggles, turning them into laughter."

"Well, now, I could have told you that," Willow said, wiping away a tear caused by all of her gut-wrenching laughter. "Now my cheeks hurt."

"We're just going to have to remedy that," Spike said. He leaned down to kiss each cheek.

"There, you're cured," he announced.

"Yep, all better," Willow confirmed, a big silly smile on her face. "Thank you, Doctor."

"I believe that a breast examination is called for next," Spike declared, taking one of her breasts in hand. "What's it I'm supposed to be lookin' for again?" he asked the patient as he squeezed and caressed her flesh.

"Lumps," Willow practically purred. "But my arms should be raised."

"Then get on with the arm raisin'," Spike advised.

Willow lifted both of her arms above her head, resting them on the pillow above her. Her unchained wrist looked naked, in Spike's opinion, so he leaned forward to wrap the chain around both of her wrists, binding them together.

"W-what are you doing?" Willow asked, nervous all of the sudden.

"Makin' sure you don't lower your arms during your examination. I plan on being thorough," he answered.

Sliding back down Willow's body, he began to "examine" her other breast, while taking the first one into his mouth. Willow moaned at the sensation, arching her back to get closer to Spike. His blunt teeth and tongue teased her nipple until it puckered in his mouth. When he moved to engulf her other breast, he left the first one completely alone - allowing the air to cool his saliva, causing the nipple to pucker even more until it was nearly painful.

Finally he sat back, admiring his work. "There you go, found two lumps. I hate to be the one to tell ya this, but you've got… nipples."

"But Doctor, I've always had nipples," Willow pointed out.

"Ever feel them like you do now?" he smugly asked.

"Um, no," Willow admitted. She could tell they were very hard, like the erasers on her number two pencils at home.

Spike nodded in satisfaction. "Thought so. Let's move on then. Ever had a pelvic exam?"

"Of course. My mom made me start getting them when I first got my period."

"That'll be next week, right?" he asked with that same professional-sounding detachment.

Willow paused to think. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

Spike ran his fingers down her chest, over her belly and under her panties. Grasping the edges of the material, he eased them down her long legs. "You've been here for three weeks. Four to a cycle, right?"

"Usually. I'm on the pill to keep me regular, so yeah, 28 days," Willow confirmed. Her eyes went wide as she realized that she was going to get her period while chained to a vampire's bed. "Um, Sp-- Dr. Spike, what happens when I get my period?"

"Would think you know that by now. What with you having experienced it before."

"You know that's not what I mean. Is it going to be a problem? Me bleeding from down there, for several days?"

Spike grinned at her wording. "No problem for me. Means you get a break from having my fangs in your neck for a few days."

Willow's legs, which had been starting to part for Spike's insistent hand, slammed closed. She gawked at him. "You don't mean to… eat… from down there?"

"Why not?" he shrugged. "Blood's blood, and it's just going to waste otherwise," he pointed out.

"But, that's just gross!" she exclaimed.

"Not the way I'll be doin' it," he leered.

"I don't see how…"

"Ever had your pussy eaten?" he interrupted. Willow shook her head, unable to speak with her jaw hanging open. "Thought not. It's pretty much the same thing, only I'll be swallowin' your blood 'stead of your cream."

"But I've never done that before," Willow protested.

"Won't be able to say that for long." Spike smirked and pulled Willow's legs apart, rolling himself between them. Without warning he ran his tongue along her slit, causing Willow to gasp in surprise.

His thumbs parted her lips and he inhaled the musky scent of her. He could see and smell how wet she was from all of his teasing so far. This time he ran his tongue between her folds, moaning at the taste of her. He flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue, drawing a startled moan from the girl spread out before him.

Willow had had no idea this could feel so good. She had touched herself before, but it hadn't felt anything like what Spike was doing. She'd known he had a wicked tongue, but she now had a whole new appreciation for it. Especially when it curled and slid inside her as far as it could go.

Willow's hands found the chain above her bound hands, needing some kind of purchase against what she was feeling. She'd much rather be threading her fingers through Spike's hair, but she'd have to settle for the hard metal to thread her fingers through.

Spike alternated between tongue-fucking his lovely patient, and mercilessly teasing her clit. Once her body was used to his tongue, he began to replace it with this fingers as he switched his attention back to her clitoris. Soon, Willow was rolling her hips in time with his fingers' strokes into her body, unheard words and sounds tumbling from her lips as her pleasure grew.

Spike's senses were overloading. He could hardly believe her body was responding to his touch so eagerly, so wantonly. He'd expected her to resist, try to push him off, protect every aspect of her virginity a little while longer. Instead, she keened and panted his name, thrust up to meet his tongue and touch.

He got so caught up in tasting her that he didn't notice his face change while he had her clit between his lips. The edge of a fang brushed against the sensitive nub, causing Willow's body to convulse in orgasm. He quickly shook his features back to human and plunged his tongue into Willow's spasming channel. The sound and feel of her orgasm triggered his own and he came against the sheets.

Willow had been unprepared for the sudden intense pain Spike's fang had caused. She was even more surprised when it rocketed her body into a more intense orgasm than she had ever given herself. Her scream of Spike's name probably woke the entire mansion, if they weren't already awake.

When her eyes finally sought out Spike's, he was licking his lips clean of her juices.

"Bloody marvelous," he informed her. "Like that now, did you?"

"I never imagined that could feel so good," she admitted. She started to reach for him as he lay alongside of her again. "Um, Spike, do you think you could let my arms down now?"

"We done with the exam?" he countered, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, I think we're done," Willow agreed sleepily.

Spike unwound the chains, granting Willow the use of her arms again, which she immediate used to pull him to her lips. Her kiss wasn't urgent, given her relaxed and sated body, but it aptly conveyed her thanks and desire.

When she pulled back, resting against her pillows, eyes struggling to stay open, Spike thought he'd never seen her look so beautiful.

"Wanna take a nap?" he quietly asked her, knowing she was half asleep already.

"Yeah, I could sleep," she mumbled, reaching for him to join her.

Spike turned and rolled Willow until he could spoon in behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Wouldn't mind a little more shut-eye myself."

Part Seven

Once Willow's menses began, Spike locked her in the room at all times, even when she was chained to the bed. Not surprisingly, Willow didn't object; not after the first minion let himself in to help himself to the buffet. Spike promptly dusted the minion, but all kinds of ruckus was stirred up.

Angelus burst into the room, game face on, demanding to know what was going on in his home, yelling at Spike for killing his minion with undue cause.

"The git went after Willow," the blond fumed.

"Then you should learn to lock your door," Angelus sneered.

"You should enforce the hands-off rule," Spike rejoined.

"There's no such rule." Spike looked taken aback. Angelus smirked. "I told you to keep her chained up if you didn't want the others to taste her. I never said they'd be told not to try her."

"But… but she's mine. Only mine," Spike spluttered.

"Did you warn her about what happens to warm-blooded girls that are kept for more than a month?" Angelus spoke to Spike, but he was watching Willow. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, golden eyes locking on hers when they opened again.

Willow remained frozen on the bed. She'd been scared when the minion lunged at her earlier, but that was nothing compared to the fear she felt as she saw the hunger on Angelus' face now. For the first time in her young life, Willow wished with all her heart that she would be ignored and left alone. She knew that she did not want this kind of attention, not from Angelus, or his minions.

Angelus began to stalk towards the bed. Spike caught his arm, growling, "You stay away from her."

"Make me." Angelus shoved Spike, propelling the wheelchair across the room. He turned back to Willow, who was inching towards the far side of the bed.

"Ah, ah, ah," Angelus warned. "If you knew what was good for you, you'd stop moving."

Willow thought, 'What's good for me is to get as far from you as possible.' Outwardly, she just froze.

"You don't want to do what I think you're thinking of doing," she said, putting up a brave front.

Angelus laughed at her bravado. "Oh, I think that I do."

"No, really, you don't," Willow countered, sneaking a look in Spike's direction. "Because that would just be icky."

"What's the matter," Angelus taunted as he continued to crawl towards her across the bed. "Never had your pussy eaten before? Spike's a bigger wuss than I gave him credit for."

"Daddy, no!" Drusilla's shout from the doorway halted Angelus' hand as he reached towards the hem of Willow's dress. At the same time, Spike's hand yanked Angelus' other arm, sending him off the bed and across the room.

Angelus shook his head and looked up to see Spike standing protectively in front of Willow.

Slowly, he got to his feet. "Well, what do we have here? Looks like our boy Willy has been keeping secrets."

"She's done it," Dru lilted. "My fierce warrior is back."

Willow moved forward until she could kneel behind Spike, pressing her body against his back.

Spike curled an arm back behind Willow, pulling her body closer, silently thanking her for the physical support. It had only been four days since Spike had first tried to stand, and while his strength returned more every day, he'd only really walked more than two steps for the first time that day.

"So, the invalid has found his feet," Angelus sneered. "Guess there's no need to be keeping the girl all to yourself then. Be a good boy now and share with your family."

"Sod off," Spike growled. "Willow's mine and I'm not sharing."

"Best to do as he says, dearie," Dru tried to soothe her childe.

"What?" He spun to look at his dark goddess. "But you said. You said she was meant for me."

"I did," Dru agreed. "And she's done her job well. No reason not to give us a taste now. Taste until our bellies are full and the well has run dry."

"No!" Spike cried out, surprisingly horrified by the idea of Willow dying. "You can't kill her. I'm not done with her yet."

"Stop being so damn selfish." Angelus reached around Spike and pulled Willow away from him.

"Spike," she called out, fear rolling off her in waves. "Spike, stop him."

"Struggle more," Angelus teased her as Willow tried to twist out of his iron grip. "It only makes the blood sweeter for the effort."

"Please, don't do this," Willow pleaded, tears springing to her eyes.

"What are you so afraid of? It's not like Spike hasn't had his fangs buried in you for the past month."

"Sp-Spike needs me. He needs my blood," Willow sputtered.

"And now I need it," Angelus said, lowering his face to Willow's neck.

Just as one sharp fang was about to pierce Willow's flesh, Angelus once again found himself on his back.

"Get out," Spike shouted, standing in front of a trembling Willow. "This is my room and my girl. You're not welcome in either."

"You know, I'm getting really tired of your insolence. Maybe it's time to remind you just who is in charge around here."

"My girl, my blood, my room," Spike reiterated. "You go find your own blood bank. This one's a one-solicitor source."

"She's not worth it," Drusilla said, trying to defuse the situation, placing a hand on Angelus' arm. She wanted a taste of the girl as badly as her sire did, but not at the expense of her boy's heart. She had known that he would fall for this girl, and he deserved to be happy. "Let him have her for a little while longer. When he's back to his full strength, he'll do what's right."

Spike managed to refrain from commenting on the slur against his girl. If it would get them out of his room, he'd let his sire get away with it.

Angelus glared at Spike and Willow silently for several long minutes. Finally, he pulled Drusilla to him and ravaged her mouth. "Come, Dru. I've got some tensions that need to be worked off." With that, he dragged the female vampire from the room and to his own.

As soon as they cleared the door, Spike moved to close and lock it, propping a chair under the doorknob for insurance.

When he turned back to Willow, she was curled in a heap on the floor, silently crying. He moved back to her and lifted her onto the bed. Willow clung to him, crying against his chest. Spike made soothing noises, running his hand through her hair, after unlocking the chain from her wrist.

"Shh, it's over. They're gone. They're not going to hurt you, I promise."

"How can you?" Willow sniffled. "How do you know that next time he comes in here he won't do something so that you can't send him away?"

"I'm not going to let anything or anyone hurt you. You mean too much to me to let that happen."

"How long are you going to keep me here?" Willow nervously asked. "I don't know if I can take another day like today. They left me alone before because you needed me, but now that you can walk…"

"I still need you," Spike interrupted. "Always need you."

Spike stopped Willow's next protest by pressing his lips to hers. His kiss was urgent, needy, hungry. He tried to convince Willow with actions that he would always need her, and not just for her blood. She made his unlife more interesting, just by being there. He didn't want to let her go, ever.

When he pulled back to let her breathe, Spike blurted out, "Come away with me."

"W-what?" Willow breathlessly asked.

"Come away with me. Let's leave this mansion, this town, this state. They can't bother us if we're not here."

"B-but what about Drusilla? Isn't she your dark goddess? You've never not been with her." Willow pointed out.

"Sure I have," Spike argued. "Just don't like to talk about it is all. Every so often she gets it into her head that she wants to be her own vampire. Or she takes up with some demon for a while, just because she knows it'll hurt me. Says it will make me a stronger demon. Whatever. You've seen how she hangs on her sire whenever she's near him. It's always been like that. I'm just enough of the love-sick puppy to keep taking her back when she tires of the others."

"So I'm going to be some kind of revenge?" Willow bristled.

"No! You're going to be my light. You're going to be my reason for not ever going back to her. She'll come find me when Angelus gets tired of playing 'Daddy', and if you're with me, I'll be strong enough to send her back."

"But what about school, my friends?" Willow asked, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"What about them? You haven't been to school for the last month, or seen your little friends."

"Can I say goodbye?" Willow asked.

"Is that a yes?" Spike asked, hope lighting his face.

"I--I want to finish high school," Willow insisted. "I'm too smart to be some loser high school drop out."

"If you come with me, you can do almost anything you want. Just be with me, stay by my side."

"I'll need to get some things from my parents' house before we go. I'll need my laptop, some books, and my own clothes. These dresses are nice and all, but they're not me."

"I think we can arrange that," Spike agreed. "So, you'll come?"

"Yes, Spike. I'll go with you. I don't think I could go back to being a normal girl after this anyway. At least not here."

Spike kissed Willow soundly. He was happier than he could remember being in a lifetime. He had everything that he needed right here, in his arms, and she'd be by his side always.

Spike fed heavily from Willow that night. He'd expended a lot of energy in trying to keep Angelus away from Willow. He made sure to bring her to orgasm as he lapped up her free-flowing blood, then greedily drank her release. He also insisted that Willow eat well to keep up her own strength.

The next night, Spike waited for Angelus and Drusilla to leave for the hunt. He and Willow had been quietly packing his meager belongings since they woke. It wasn't much, so it fit into a couple of bags that they were able to hang from Spike's handlebars or stuff into the pockets of his beloved leather duster.

Half an hour after his elders left, Willow, seemingly chained to Spike's wheelchair, pushed him out of his room.

The minion that was standing guard outside Spike's door moved to block the hallway between Spike's room and the front door.

"Just where do you think you're going?" the minion questioned, puffing out his chest.

"Thought my pet could use some fresh air and exercise. Don't want her getting fat from lying about all day, now do I? Besides, what do you think that you're going to do to stop me?" Spike asked, his eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"I… I'll tell Master Angelus," he stuttered.

"You run along and do that," Spike agreed. "Oh, wait, he's not here, is he? Won't be gone long. So no one needs to be the wiser, eh mate?"

"I'll get in trouble if he finds out I just let her go wandering around. Especially after what happened with Sid," the minion nervously said.

"If you'd like, I could dust you right now. Then you wouldn't have to worry about what Angelus would do to you," Spike offered.

The minion's eyes grew large, suddenly fearing his imminent death. "No, you go on ahead. Just be back before he is, okay?"

"You got it," Spike smirked and motioned for Willow to push him forward.

Willow and Spike made it out of the mansion without further incident. Spike directed her to go around the side of the mansion, to the garage in the back. Once they were certain the garage was blocking any view of them from the mansion, Spike got out of the chair and grabbed the bags, releasing Willow from her bonds for the last time.

As hoped, the DeSoto was sitting dormant in the dusty garage. He'd insisted that Drusilla bring the car when they moved from the factory to their current residence. Angelus refused to drive his car, luckily, saying that it was unbecoming to drive around in a car with blacked out windows.

Willow held her breath as Spike turned the key in the ignition until the old car roared to life. She blew the air out as Spike smirked at her and gunned the engine. He tore out of the open garage doors, tires squealing as they left the mansion behind them.

As they drove past the "Now Leaving Sunnydale" sign, Willow finally felt herself relax.

"We did it," she whispered in disbelief. "We got away from them!"

"Told you I'd get us out, didn't I?" Spike said, his voice leaving no room for doubt. "I couldn't stand bein' there any more'n you could. Thank you for coming with me."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't want to stay there without you!" Willow squealed. "Oh, you mean, coming with you now, like away." Spike nodded, grinning at her initial misunderstanding. "I meant what I said before, Spike. I don't think I could go back to being innocent little Willow. I'm different now, and I don't think my friends would be able to accept me as I am; who you made me to be."

"Does that bother you?" Spike hesitantly asked.

"No. I can't imagine not being who I am, not knowing you like I do. I can't imagine not needing you in my life," she admitted, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

Spike pulled off to the side of the road and threw the car into park.

"You won't regret it," Spike promised.

Willow eagerly went into his arms as he pulled her to him, meeting his lips in a kiss filled with hope for the future. It was a reaffirmation that they were in this together. That all they would need would be each other.

The End

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