There was a weak knock on Giles' door. Strange. Usually everyone just barges right in, finally a monster with manners. Giles eased himself up out of his chair and cautiously opened the door. What he saw outside surprised him.

The young woman looked to be no more than 20 if that. She had long dark hair that fell in ringlets about her shoulders, a few of them dangling in front of her eyes because of the way it was half pinned up. She looked tired and worn... and more than a little on the dirty side. Her white dress was torn in several places; it looked like she'd been wearing it for weeks. Her eyes were as dark as her hair and they looked up at Giles beseechingly.

"Can... Can I help you young lady?" He asked.

"Are you Mr. Giles?" she asked in a very soft little voice. Giles got the momentary impression that, should she choose she'd have a lovely singing voice.

"Indeed... who are you?"

"Aislinn... I was told you could help me... Daniel Osborn sent me..." she was mumbling and looking at her feet. He got the feeling that she wasn't exactly telling the truth, but she wasn't exactly lying either.

"Come in." he moved aside and she shuffled into the room, there was blood trailing behind her.

After a useless attempt to find out who she was and dress her wound, Giles sent her off to the shower and started making the phone calls. First was always Buffy, Buffy would ring Willow so after that was Xander and, For some reason on this occasion, he asked Xander to swing round and get Spike on the way.

"Can I let him combust in the day light?" Asked Xander's excited voice.

"No. Just bring him." Now why did he do that? Did he think this girl was dangerous... maybe he did. Maybe she was.

Buffy arrived first as always.

"Hey Giles, where's the bad?" she asked, happy for the first time in several days.

"Hmmm? No, no bad... I have a visitor. She's in the shower at the moment. She claims Oz sent her here. She's looking for my help, which probably means she's actually after your help."

"Claims as in you don't believe her?" Asked Buffy. You know, despite appearances, Buffy really was quite astute.

"I'm not sure..." Giles was flipping through books. Something about the girl was niggling at his mind, something he probably should remember. He had a vague feeling she wasn't human, but he couldn't really say why.

Willow and Tara were the next to arrive and finally Spike barged through the door covered in a blanket and sizzling slightly, followed by a giggling Xander.

"You really are sadistic you know Xander..." Chided Willow as she went to check on Spike who had collapsed into a chair.

"Hey, I'm not sad! That was truly funny!" He retorted... he didn't really realize how dumb he sounded.

Spike had stopped moving and he looked like he was sniffing the air, Willow was a little concerned. When Spike jumped out of his chair and started walking around the room everyone took notice.

"Where is she? Where is she?!?!" He demanded, stalking to Giles and growling.

"What... oh the girl. She's in the shower. How did you...?" He was interrupted by Spike promptly falling over. Vampires faint? How odd.

"Spike... Spike? Are you O.K.?" Willow was doing the gentle slapping thing on his face.

"Kitten...?" Mumbled Spike as he started to come to. Once he was awake he looked around again. "KITTEN?" He hollered, seemingly almost in pain. Everyone looked on in interest.

From upstairs there was the sound of someone franticly wrestling with a door and pounding footsteps. Then she was there at the top of the stairs, still dripping wet and wrapped only in a big fluffy white towel. Spike was still on the floor and seemed unable to move. Aislinn seemed to be in a very similar position; she just stood at the top of the stairs looking at him.

"Will..." she breathed softly.

Before anyone really realized it, both had moved, they collided at the bottom of the steps; Aislinn was scooped up and spun around by the ecstatic vampire that was laughing and crying at the same time. The girl was clinging to his neck and sobbing into his shoulder.

"Umm hello? You do know he's dead right?" Asked Anya who'd wandered in after Xander. No one took any notice.

Spike slowed his spinning and finally sat on the bottom step with Aislinn in his lap. He held her to him gently and stroked her hair, his lips pressed against her forehead tenderly.

Giles seemed incredibly uncomfortable. This girl was defiantly more than she seemed and he didn't know what that meant. The only thing that annoyed the watcher more than not knowing what was going on, was knowing there was SOMETHING and not knowing what it is.

"I missed you so much baby..." mumbled Spike's soft British accent.

"I thought you'd be dead by now..." came the soft response in some strange accent that Giles thought might have been Welsh but the others didn't have a clue.

"I've always been dead pet" Spike smiled and Aislinn looked up, she smiled to.

Before anyone else knew what was happening, he kissed her. Not a little brotherly number either, no this was a real kiss. Her arms slipped up around his neck and she leaned against him, he held her tightly as if she might slip away. She seemed very small right then, wrapped in a white fluffy towel cuddling against Spike's hard chest; he was indeed much taller than she was. He was the only one who knew exactly how 'not small' she was in the grand scale of things. No one else had any idea, but he knew.

"Umm could someone explain this to me? I thought Spike was fixated on Buffy..." Xander... always had to say the wrong thing.

Spike had pulled out of the kiss and was gazing at Aislinn as if she were a piece of art.

"Fixated...." he mumbled softly, his eyes never leaving her face, "holds nothing to this..." his fingertips traced her cheek and down her jaw. Oh God how he'd missed her! "I thought I'd lost you..."

Aislinn gazed right back and a soft purr erupted from her throat that was enough to vibrate up Spike's arm from where his fingertips were still caressing her jaw.

Buffy watched all this with mixed emotions. Yay, Spike's in love with someone else, which means he's not in love with her. But... Spike's in love with someone else... one look at this someone else and she'd been forgotten... she wanted to be loved like that. The sight of her making someone forget everything else... she sighed.

Spike stood carefully and carried her over to the couch and sat again so she was in his lap. He leaned back and played gently with her hair.

"Umm could we please get to the business at hand... of why you came here? I take it you didn't come to find Spike." Giles moved around and sat in a chair opposite the couch.

"I... I had to find the witch... Daniel said you'd help me..." her eyes still hadn't left Spikes face, one of her arms was still around his neck, her free hand had reached up and was touching his ear. Spike shuddered, he had sensitive ears... she had a good memory.

"Witches at your service!" Smiled Willow.

"No... No I just need one... a Specific one... Daniel sent me to find her..." she still hadn't managed to look away from Spike's face.

"OZ?!?!" Willow was now standing and she moved around in front of Aislinn trying to pull her attention away from Spike for just a second. "OZ sent you?"

"Hmmm... I guess you could call him that... I'm supposed to look after his ex-girlfriend... he won't be coming back now. He's got a litter" she tore her eyes away from Spike but her fingertips were still touching his neck softly.

"He... he has kids...?" Willow was smiling brightly. He was happy, that's what mattered. Little tears came to her eyes and Tara was at her side in a moment. "He's got Kids Tara! He always wanted kids..."

"He named his youngest daughter after you..." she said to Willow softly "He said she has your intelligence."

Willow was crying and laughing at the same time. Tara's gentle hands stroked her back. Spike's arms were tightening around Aislinn's waist, he was well aware of how much she had always wanted children, he was afraid to ask if she had any.

Aislinn's head leant back and she nuzzled her face into Spike's neck, she did look a bit like a large cat. Spike's eyes closed and he sighed out an un-needed breath.

"I missed you so much Will... I thought... I thought he'd kill you... for letting me go..." she mumbled.

"Who says I told him pet..." Spike kissed her forehead and held her tighter. "He still doesn't know."

"I looked for you..." her eyes rose to gaze at his and he smiled softly at her.

"Daddy was royally pissed Kitten... We left Paris that night... but at least I knew you'd got away..."

She whimpered softly and snuggled into his chest as if trying to hide there from the memories. Her face disappeared into his neck and he massaged her shoulders gently, wincing at the feel of the scars there... scars he'd watched her receive.

"I'm so sorry baby... I'm sorry I didn't protect you better..."

"I love you Will..." she whimpered and started to cry again "I thought I'd never find you..."

He pulled her out of his neck for a moment and gazed at her tenderly... more tenderly than one would think a vampire capable. He leaned in and when his lips were a breath away from hers he stopped...

"I love you to Kitten... I always have..." the he kissed her.

Everyone else in the room felt incredibly uncomfortable. This kind of love was everyone's dream and, though some of them could claim it, they couldn't understand the idea of a love that could last a century...

"Can I keep her here 'till the sun goes down Watcher...? Then I'll take her home" Mumbled Spike.

Aislinn's eyes were wide as she looked up at him. He touched her nose gently and then ran his finger over her lips, she smiled tenderly.

"I... am going to take you home, run you a hot bath, and get you some of that scented stuff you always liked." He said, punctuating his little speech with kisses on her pale little nose.

Suddenly her eyes shot open and she shook her head violently.

"No... No he'll be there... I can't go back Will I can't! He'll kill me!" She was almost screaming by the time she was done and scrambling out of his lap.

"He's not there Love!" He held onto her shoulders and tried to keep her from wriggling away. He couldn't stand to be not touching her. "He's not there, he's gone! Dru too... it's just me."

Aislinn stopped and looked up at him, her eyes wide and her bottom lip trembling.

"He wont find you pet I swear it... I... it wouldn't matter if he did... I'd kill him before I let him hurt you... I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you before..." he was babbling and everyone knew it. Only Buffy realized what scared the girl so much was Angel...

She burrowed back into Spike's chest and nuzzled her face into his neck. His hand ticklishly caressed her side and she giggled softly, a welcome sound to Spike's ears. It had always been rare for her to laugh.

"Giles... you aren't going to let him take her back to the crypt are you?" Asked Buffy suddenly.

"Hmmm? Why wouldn't I? It seems that's where she'd like to be, I'd imagine they have a lot of catching up to do. Everything else can be sorted out later." He replied without lifting his eyes from his book.

"But he could hurt her!" Cried Buffy. Why was she making such a fuss about this?

"Now you LISTEN HERE" Bellowed Spike, shifting Aislinn off his lap and standing angrily. "How DARE to suggest that! You have NO bloody understanding of what's happened between her and me! If you EVER suggest I'd do anything to hurt her EVER again, chip or no chip I will FIND a way to make you hurt. Do you understand?"

Buffy was so shocked she nearly fell of her chair. For the first time in a very long while, she had no doubts that Spike meant it. He would find a way to get at her if she said anything about Aislinn. For her part, Aislinn had clambered off the couch and her small arms wrapped around Spike's waist trying to calm him with soft soothing words. All Buffy could do was watch as Spike wrapped an arm, shaking with rage, around Aislinn's shoulders. The girl seemed completely unafraid, even though at some point in the argument he'd slipped into game face and he couldn't seem to calm down enough to come out of it.

Aislinn's small hand reached up and gently touched his rumpled forehead. He shifted his head away and gazed down into the hurt in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Pet... I ... I hate you seeing me this way." He mumbled.

The words caused a painful stirring in Buffy. Hadn't Angel said almost the exact same thing to her once... that he didn't think she should have to see him like that? Like her, Aislinn had barely noticed, and if she did, it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.

"You know it doesn't bother me..." she said softly and pressed her hands back up against his face. Slowly as her touch calmed him, he shifted back to normal.

Giles had been watching this display with his usual calm exterior. He had watched Buffy well and truly cross the line and was not at all surprised when Spike lost his temper. He couldn't help but notice the way the small girl approached the Vampire completely without fear. She knew him from before the chip and still she was unafraid of him. He wondered how such a thing was possible.

The hour until sundown was spent in silence. Buffy sat on the arm of a chair watching TV, Spike and Aislinn were sitting on the couch watching each other and Giles sat in his big overstuffed chair reading a book. The second the sun was below the horizon Spike looped his arms under Aislinn's legs and picked her up. She'd changed back into her tattered white dress and looked like a princess being rescued by a bleach blond hero.

"C'mon love... we're going home." He shouldered the door open and grinned at her.

"Could... could we run? Like we used to?" she asked quietly.

Spike laughed at her softly and slowly lowered her to her feet. Buffy watched quietly as Spike shed his duster and flopped it over his shoulder so he'd be able to move freely. Aislinn stretched her arms above her head and cracked her neck loudly to either side, then smiled at Spike with eyes that no longer seemed timid or shy. They were powerful and wild, like an animal.

"Ready... set... RUN," shouted Spike.

Both of them took off across the courtyard in front of Giles' home, Spike jumping the small fountain and Aislinn bouncing off a wall to gain some momentum and knock Spike to the side a ways.

"Um, Buffy? Will you go after them and ask Spike to keep Aislinn out of sight for a little while, just until I work out what we're going to do with her." asked Giles.

"Sure thing, I'll catch 'em." Called Buffy over her shoulder, already half way out the door.

She had underestimated the two however. She was half convinced they had decided to go somewhere else because she just didn't catch up with them, but when she arrived at Spikes Crypt, there they were, collapsed on the floor inside and laughing like little children.

Buffy leaned heavily on the doorframe wondering how the hell they had done it.

"Giles... Giles wanted to... to know if you'd..." she gave up and stopped trying to talk. She groaned a little and tried to get her breath back.

Aislinn looked up at her, she wasn't puffed anymore, and it had taken her only a moment to calm down. She wriggled over to Spike and laid her head on his thigh.

"Will you keep her off the streets for a while? Giles is edgy." she finally managed.

"I don't presume to own her Slayer... She may be a kitten, but she's still wild." His eyes were full of admiration and love as he spoke of her, even though she was right there.

Buffy was a little taken a-back. This little girl? Wild? She didn't think she'd last a moment with the vamp population of sunny dale. She turned her attention to the girl and tried again.

"Will you please stay out of trouble and out of sight until we work out what to do with you?"

Aislinn looked at her like she was speaking a language she didn't understand. She looked at Spike questioningly and then started to giggle, her size made her look for the entire world like a mirthful child.

"What? What did I say?" asked an astonished Buffy.

Spike grinned at the Slayer and gently stroked Aislinn's hair with his free hand, the other propping him up on the floor.

"You don't seem to understand something Slayer... Kitten here is older than I am. She's about as old as Peaches in fact. I don't think the local vampires are much of a threat to her hehehe." Spike was truly amused, but instantly realized his mistake.

Aislinn had curled in on herself and had her arms wrapped around his thigh tightly. She shivered from head to foot and whimpered softly. He was aware of the memories that must be flooding her head. He knew... God he was dumb sometimes.

"Kitten... Honey look at me please?" he whispered.

Aislinn raised her tearstained face and looked at him. Buffy looked on in wide-eyed astonishment and Spike wiped her tears away and cupped her face in his hand.

"He wont come near you Pet... I promise... I'll never ever let him hurt you again, I swear it." He leaned down and kissed her for emphasis.

"He wouldn't hurt her! Angel is a good man!" Said Buffy firmly.

Spike glared at her over Kitten's head and the girl mewed loudly and looked over at Buffy with haunted and angry eyes. She'd deny what was done to her? Deny the marks on her body!

"He's a monster... Daddy... daddy the monster. With whips and chains and all sorts of uses for glass and stones... Don't ever doubt it..." she sounded almost like Dru then and Buffy saw the look of horror on Spikes face.

He heard it to... the rambling sound of someone who wasn't quite sane, and she saw how it wrenched at him to think that he'd lost another love to Angelus and his own brand of madness.

"Baby... baby come 'ere..." he pulled her up into his lap and held her tightly. "I think you should go now." he didn't look at Buffy but she knew he was talking to her.

Buffy backed away from the crypt and closed the door behind her. She'd never really been confronted with Angel's past before. He'd tormented Giles, but Giles had forgiven him... How long had he been doing horrible things to that girl? She'd never really admitted to herself exactly how evil Angelus could be. What kinds of things had his nasty little mind thought up to do to her in the time he'd 'owned' her?

Back in the crypt, Spike was rocking back and forward with the sobbing girl in his lap.

"It's going to be OK Pet... I promise... c'mon love, please don't cry" he spoke gently into her ear.

Aislinn raised her eyes to look at him and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her eyes were red rimmed and she whimpered softly. Spike found himself remembering all the other nights he'd found her this way, at those times however, her body had been torn and bleeding from his sire's personal kind of fun. She wasn't weak or helpless now however, she seemed stronger than she ever had before and she moved with much more confidence. In her mind however, this was borrowed time, she always knew that eventually, he would find her and punish her for her disobedience. She could probably take him now, if only she'd try.

"I'll protect you love, from now on I promise, I'll always protect you."

She smiled and rested her forehead against his shoulder, her little hands found their way to his neck and she kneaded it gently, just like she always used to.

"I know you will..." she mumbled softly.

Spikes arms tightened protectively around her and she nuzzled her face into his chest. After all this time her senses were filled with him again, she could smell him, breathe him in as if they'd never been apart. In all the time she'd been gone from him, no one else had ever been so close to her. It never mattered to her that he was dead, that he was a monster sometimes. He was never like that with her; he was always gentle, always loving.

Buffy sighed and reached for the phone, she dialed a number that she had memorized long ago and seldom ever used.

"Angel Investigations, Cordelia Chase speaking." came the chirpy answer on the other end of the line.

"Cordy, its me, I need to talk to Angel please."

"Oh, OK, hold on a sec, I think he's sparing with Gunn."

There was a long pause and some arguing that Buffy could hear through a palm covered phone, then it stopped.

"Hello?" Came the familiar deep voice. Buffy went weak at the knees.

"Hi... Umm, someone arrived today, and I thought... maybe you might wanna know about it." She managed.

"Oh? Who?" his interest was peaked, she loved having his complete attention... DOWN Buffy!

"A girl, Well, a woman I guess. She's calling herself Aislinn... Spike calls her Kitten though. She's back at the crypt with him and I'm a little worried about leaving her there. Giles said that's where she wants to be but I don't like it... he might hurt her. I thought maybe you could talk to them?"

There was a prolonged silence on the other end of the line and Buffy could hear him taking deep un-needed breaths.

"He wont hurt her..." he said softly, there was so much pain in his voice, "I'll be there as soon as I can... please make sure she's OK for me... don't try to take her from Spike, they'd kill you to keep from being separated again..."

"If... If you say so... Who is this girl Angel?" she asked quietly.

"Someone... someone Spike, or I, would die to protect..." was all he'd say.

After the pleasantries of how everyone was, Buffy hung up the phone and stared at the wall in front of her. Someone they would kill to protect? Why did he talk about her with reverence like that? SHE was meant to be the love of his existence... who was this girl? She felt so uncomfortable about all of this; maybe she was a demon who made Vampires love her?

When Buffy pushed open the door of Spikes crypt the next night, all was silent inside. She looked around and was about to leave when Spike sprang across his 'living room' and over the couch. Aislinn bounded after him with the grace of a cat and pinned him to the cold hard floor. Spike grunted and growled, then shoved her off and dived on top of her. It took all of his strength to hold her down, Buffy was about to come to the girl's aid when Spike leaned in and kissed her gently. She gave every indication of enjoying it and kissing back. He let go of her arms and she slipped them up around his back.

"You let me win pet..." purred Spike lovingly in her ear.

"Maybe..." she smiled impishly and looked incredibly cute and childlike, "Maybe I don't consider this losing..."

"Did you want something Slayer?" Asked Spike's sarcastic voice.

"I... I wanted to let you know... Angel is coming down... he wants to see her." she couldn't seem to get her words to flow properly. Spike really did love this girl.

Instantly Aislinn threw Spike off her and headed for the door, Buffy stopped her there, grabbing her around the waist. Aislinn kicked and slashed at her with long and un-unnaturally pointed fingernails. Then Spike was there, he took Aislinn from Buffy and held her tightly.

"Baby, Baby look at me. Come on... AISLINN!" at the sound of her name she slowed her struggling.

"Listen to me. I will never, ever let him hurt you. Ever. It is NOT going to be like it was, OK, I was too weak then. It's going to be just you and me, like we always wanted. OK. He probably just wants to see you... I won't let him lay a finger on you I swear it." He was looking into her eyes and speaking in hushed and loving tones.

Buffy watched and questioned the wisdom of calling Angel about it so soon... maybe this Aislinn girl really was completely messed up by whatever Angel...us, did to her. Spike looked at her over Aislinn's shoulder.

"Get out Slayer... and next time you talk to Peaches, tell him..." Spike stopped mid-sentence and looked down at the head of the girl whose face was burrowed into his chest. "Tell him to go easy... she'd going to be afraid of him until he proves himself. Her love was a given to start with, now he'll have to earn it. Now I think you should leave."

Spike didn't say anything further; he scooped the girl's legs up and carried her back towards his huge four-poster bed. Buffy backed out and closed the door. She'd been so sure she was doing the right thing, and it may just turn out the be exactly the wrong thing...

Angel knocked on the door at Giles' house and looked past him at Buffy when he opened the door. The pleasantries went by quickly, there was very little to say.

"She's not here..." he sounded so disappointed.

"She's at Spikes... she didn't take the news of you coming very well..." said Buffy softly "Spike said... he said that her love was a given before, but now you'll have to earn it. She's terrified of you..."

Angel's shoulders crumpled and he sank down into a chair. He looked completely defeated for the first time. What the hell was going on here?

"Angel... who is this girl?" asked Giles quietly.

"She's... she's my daughter."

"She's a vampire?!" Buffy and Giles exclaimed together.

Angel shook his head and didn't offer anything by way of explanation. He stood and headed back towards the door.

"I have to go see her... then I should probably go home." was all he said.

Across town, Angel paced in front of the door to Spike's crypt, unable to bring himself to walk inside. Several times her reached for the door and couldn't make himself knock. She'd hate him... or worse she'd fear him. She'd run and there would be nothing he could do to make her look him in the eye. How could she still be alive? How could it be that after all this time she'd come back into his life?

Angel nearly jumped out of his skin when Spike opened the door and carefully closed it behind him.

"Peaches..." said Spike softly.

"William... is she...?" his head was bowed.

"She's asleep... and terrified. I don't have to remind you what he did to her..."

Angel was incredibly grateful to Spike in that moment. His Chyld and himself had never really gotten along, mostly where Aislinn was concerned. It would have been so easy for Spike to lay it on thick... make him hurt for what he did to her, but he didn't. 'He' did to her... not Angel, Angelus... the monster. Someone else.

"Do you think... Would I be able to see her?" he asked softly.

"You know she'll smell you and wake up. Are you ready for that?"

Angel just nodded and Spike opened the door, he then called out to the bushes...

"If you're that interested Slayer you might as well come inside... you'll miss the show out here."

Buffy came out of the bushes looking rather ashamed of herself. Angel looked at her and sighed softly.

"I'm not sure I want you to see this..." he said softly. "I... Angelus... did terrible things to her... she isn't going to want to see me."

"I wanna see... I didn't know you had family..."

Spike shrugged and walked inside, holding the door open for Angel and Buffy, then closing and locking it behind them. He bolted it and stood in front of the door.

"Is that really necessary...?" asked Angel softly.

"She'll run..." was all Spike would say.

On the huge double bed, the relatively small form of Aislinn began to stir, and then it sat upright and screamed. Her eyes flashed wildly, when they settled on Angel she screamed again and backed up against the headboard. Angel held his hands up in a gesture of peace and surrender and slowly approached her. That's when she sprang, like a wild cat she knocked Angel over and headed for the door. Spike wrapped his arms around her and wouldn't let her go. For the first time in her life she turned her 'claws' and snarling teeth against him in a desperate attempt to get away, but he would not yield.

"I promised... I promised I wouldn't let him hurt you... don't you trust me pet?" he sounded pained... desperate. He couldn't lose her again... if she disappeared into the night, she wouldn't come back.

"He'll kill me! You know he will!" she screamed still struggling.

"Kitten please... please stop, he won't hurt you!"

Buffy was dumbstruck. Angel had sat on the edge of the bed, his shoulders sagging and tears rolling down his cheeks unashamedly. Spike was battling for all he was worth with a terrified... whatever she is, and she was tiring.

"Please... please let me go... I don't want to die..." at last she gave in, but she couldn't look over her shoulder at the face she was sure would be there.

In her mind she saw Angelus, in full game face, probably armed with whips or chains. Evil grin set firmly in place. He'd punish her for running and if that didn't kill her, he'd again turn to the task of breaking her. Aislinn started to sob into Spikes chest.

"I've got you baby... I'll always protect you I swear." He was stroking her hair gently trying to calm her.

"I should go... she... she doesn't want to see me... she can't see me." Angel stood and began skirting his way around the walls towards the door.

"Your her father... she needs to see you..." said Spike softly. He kissed her forehead gently and sighed. "Kitten... honey listen to me... he isn't Angelus anymore..."

Aislinn raised her eyes to Spike's slowly.

"He was cursed... by the Romany. He's got a soul now pet... he may not be Liam again, but he's not Angelus either." he spoke softly and gazed down at her wide dark eyes.

Angel had stopped the tears unchecked on his cheeks. Buffy didn't know what to do, this was all beyond her.

"Aislinn...?" said Angels deep voice softly.

He sounded so much like her father, the one she remembered from before he was turned. She turned her head and her huge brown eyes were perfectly mirrored in his. He didn't seem angry at all, he was crying. Her arms loosened around Spike's waist and a tiny part of the cold lump of fear inside her melted away.

Angel reached out a tentative hand towards her face slowly... He moved so carefully, so desperate not to have her pull away from him.

"Daddy..." came the unsteady response to his entreaty.

Angle's knees shook as his fingertips made contact with her cheeks, Buffy was sure he would fall when his hand slipped forward and he had her face cradled in the palm of his hand. Spike was smiling softly and Buffy felt like the outsider in this intense little family. In slow and careful stages, Aislinn's arms left Spikes waist and he relinquished her to Angel...

They stood before one another for what seemed like a long time. She was so much smaller than he was; her mother must have been a little woman. Now that they were together however, no one could deny their relationship, the same intense and deep eyes, the same jaw and kissable lips.

Aislinn raised her hand slowly and reached out... her fingertips touched Angel's face, and he was no longer able to help himself. He raised his hand quickly to hers so she couldn't escape and pressed her palm to his cheek, turning his face into it lovingly. That was the moment he truly broke.

Knees gave way as the weight of guilt and pain became suddenly too much for the father in this tragic family. He sank down and wrapped his arms pitifully around Aislinn's waist. Pleas for forgiveness and ramblings of a man wracked with guilt tumbled from his mouth, the words tripping over each other.

The girl looked so shocked. Her thin arms tentatively went around his neck, and soon she was crying to. Her pale face pressed down into his hair and his hidden in her stomach, the third of the trio looked on, a tender smile on his face.

Buffy was almost in tears, so much she couldn't understand, so many things that she didn't know how to react to. This was all above her, at least for now. She slipped around to Spike and he opened the door for her quietly and smiled at her as she slipped out, he followed her into the night.

"They need this... I'll give them a little time to themselves," he said simply.

"Why are you doing this? You hate Angel..." asked Buffy.

"That may be so pet... but I love her. I love her more than life, more than death. And for as long as I can remember, the love of her father is all she's really wanted for herself..." he paused a moment and said somewhat softer, "And Peaches is still my grandsire... he's still family, we all are, in a demented kind of way."

Buffy wanted to ask the forbidden question, more out of curiosity than anything, the need to know if she was so forgettable... but she couldn't bring herself to do it, couldn't bring herself to ask him...

"I still love you Buffy..." mumbled Spike softly and she looked at him sharply. "But Aislinn is my life. For the longest time I thought I'd lost her. I used to light a candle for her every year on her birthday. One day, I did some working out and it had been 100 years since I'd seen her. I thought there was no way she'd still be alive. That's when I lost her. Now she's here Buffy and..." he smiled, a true smile like none she'd ever seen on his face before. Had he been Angel he would have lost his soul with that smile, "And now someone turned the light back on for me."

Buffy couldn't help smiling with him. He really did love her, he really would die for her and until some hours ago... it was entirely possible he really had been in love with Buffy.

Angel appeared at the door of the crypt and stuck his head out looking around for Spike.

"Spike... will you come back in?" he smiled; a real one and Buffy felt a tinge of fear for his soul. She needn't have worried; the things he'd done to his daughter were now on his mind... they'd keep him soul having forever. "She wants to be with family..."

Spike grinned happily and made his way back into the crypt, pushing gently past Angel with none of their usual animosity. This girl had the power to bring them together like nothing else in the world. Buffy realized she had no power at all... that, what that girl had... that was real power.

Angel met Buffy's eyes and smiled at her, she was truly still in love with him.

"You don't have to invite me in... Thousand year old family thing..." she said softly.

"I'd love you to meet her Buffy... to get to know her. But... is it too much to ask for me to meet and get to know her first?" he asked.

Buffy smiled and blew him a kiss, then turned and wandered back into the night towards her home. Plenty of time for all the awkward stuff later. Explanations and stories could wait.

There was a family, in a crypt in Sunny Dale, an ex-evil daddy, with his abnormally old daughter, and the love of her existence, a dead man with bleached hair.