It had been 3 weeks and Angel hadn't been able to bring himself to go back to LA Cordy and Wesley were calling him almost every day, asking him when he'd be returning, he never had anything concrete to tell them. His days were divided into time spent with Buffy and time spent with Aislinn. Her and Spike spent most nights together, out on the town or having moonlit picnics in deserted parks. Angel really didn't want to know what else they were getting up to, most fathers don't.

Buffy had been so great about the whole thing and even though he could tell she didn't really care for Aislinn, she did make an effort to be nice. The more time Angel spent with her, the more he realized he would never know her completely, not like Spike did. His daughter was indescribably kind and gentle; she had so much love inside her and didn't feel shy about giving it away.

On one particular cold afternoon, Spike and brought her home crying and cradling the dead body of a kitten in her arms. They had found a man drowning them in a river, Aislinn and beaten him half to death. All the others had survived and they had given them to Giles to take to a pet shop. This one however had been too small and weak. Aislinn had cried over its body for hours, and then Spike had helped her bury it in a corner of the cemetery. He'd lost so much time with her...

Aislinn never slept by herself. She said she was tired of being alone all the time and she wanted to be surrounded by family. It was almost like she took it in turns; she would slip out of her own little bed and crawl in with either Angel or Spike. Usually Spike though, as Angel was out with Buffy most nights.

"Angel... what's going to happen to her? I mean, when you go back to L.A?" asked Buffy one night. Angel had been trying not to think about it.

"I don't know..." he said quietly, his hand tightening on hers, "I'll ask her to come with me but... I don't think she will."

"Why?" Buffy was surprised; it seemed to her that Aislinn adored him.

"She loves Spike. Her life has always been with him. I suppose I could make her come with me but... I watched Spike die on the inside last time he lost her. He loves her more than anything."

"That's when he got really violent wasn't it...?" asked Buffy softly.

There was little to no record of Spike for the first several years he was a vampire. Then he just burst onto the world scene and started killing.

Angel nodded.

"She was his light. I... Angelus was half convinced he'd made a mistake in letting Dru turn him. Seemed to him that somehow he'd kept his soul. When she left, he just lost it."

"He let her go though," said Buffy without thinking.

Angel looked at her sharply.

"What?"

"When she first got here... She said she thought Angelus would have killed Spike for letting her go... he unlocked the gate and locked it again once she was outside."

**Some hundred or so years previous**

Her screams were echoing through the building again and William buried his head under his pillow to try to block them out. Tears streamed unchecked down his face as images of what his sire was doing to the poor girl filled his mind. Dru thought he was weak, she'd snorted and left the room, probably to go help 'daddy' break their little kitten.

He sighed as the screams stopped. With what little was left of his soul he prayed to God that they were finished with her. Bored of her screams of pain. He couldn't go to her until they finished.

Dru burst into the room giggling and flopped down onto the bed next to him, he was disgusted by her presence.

"What is it Dru?" he grated through clenched teach.

"Daddy made her go to sleep!" she exclaimed like a happy child.

Horror crept into Williams's eyes. No... He couldn't have killed her... could he?

"He... he killed her?"

"No" pouted Dru obviously disappointed, "her 'ead is swimmin' with stars. Daddy's putting her to bed."

William relaxed back against the bed, she was still a live. He'd be able to go to her the moment the sun came up and everyone else went to sleep.

He endured the touch of Dru until she was worn out and fell asleep, curled up in the corner of the bed. He honestly didn't know why she bothered, she called his name when she came... or she screamed 'daddy'. William was truly disgusted at her, but what could he do? He humored her until the sun rose and he could escape to Kitten's cell to be with her.

He knocked gently on the iron door of the cell. There was no answer so he knocked again. He refused to barge in as if he owned the place, as if he owned her. He would not be like his grandsire, he would respect her. Love her.

Finally there was a soft mewling from inside and he took that as invitation. Upon pushing the door open he had to suppress the urge to vomit or run crying from her. She lay in a crumpled head on the floor, bleeding from almost everywhere.

He sank down to the floor next to her and sighed, opening the box that had the bandages and disinfectant in it. She whimpered a little as he started to gently peel her torn and bloody clothing from her abused body, he sighed again. He never wanted to her be afraid of him, he hated that she could fear him like this.

"Its OK baby... we'll get you cleaned up..." he said softly.

"Will..." she mumbled.

"Yeah pet?"

"Thank you..."

His smile was tender and gentle, as were his hands as he went about cleaning her body. He nearly fell over backwards however when he realized what his grandsire had thought up for tonight.

He skin was oddly contorted and lumpy, he'd thought she was just bruised and in pain but it was more than that. The bastard had inserted things under her skin! He couldn't tell what it was but he knew he'd have to get them out; whatever it was could kill her.

"Oh baby... honey, I'm so sorry..." he couldn't bring himself to look at her face.

"You didn't do it Will," she said simply. "Please... just get them out..."

Swallowing unnecessarily, William carefully lifted the first fold of skin and was horrified at what he pulled from under it. A sliver of razor sharp glass. Every time she moved, every breath, they must be cutting her to bits inside. It took him over an hour to get them all out and then an hour on top of that to clean and patch her to his satisfaction.

Once it was done, she curled around and rested her head on his thigh, closing her eyes. Just like every other day. He sat with her as long as he could, stroking her hair gently and speaking to her in hushed tones even though he knew she was asleep. A million times a day he apologized for not being able to protect her, while she slept and couldn't hear him.

When the sun began to sink he would carefully crawl away from her and sigh softly. This morning she opened her eyes to watch him leave.

"Sleep while you can pet... He's taking Dru and Darla to London tomorrow night... they'll be gone all week." he smiled as bravely as he could at her.

"...And what will you do to me while they are gone?" she asked. How did she manage to be coy and teasing while her body was like a broken prison?

"Pamper you of course." he replied.

She closed her eyes again, a soft smile on her lips as she heard the door close. One more night of hell, she could do that. Just one more night of hell and then she'd have a week heaven.

** Now**

"You let her go didn't you..." it wasn't a question, it was almost an accusation.

"I found her whimpering at the gate... so I stole the key and let her go," he said almost proudly.

"You love her don't you?"

"Always have."

Angel took a deep, unneeded breathe and let it out slowly. He hated what he was about to say.

"You'll look after her then?"

"What?" Spike looked taken aback "Your not going to take her with you to L.A?"

"She wouldn't be happy there, she'll never be a city girl. She'd be a bigger help to the Slayer than to me, and... to many people could want to hurt her to get at me. It wouldn't be safe."

"What if..." he stopped and swallowed "what if she doesn't want to stay?"

"Then you'll have to give her some incentive."

"She'll think your abandoning her..." he was looking at the ground.

"She'll learn better. She belongs here... with you."

Aislinn growled and pounced on the practice dummy in the training room. Giles watched carefully as the girl proceeded to 'play' with the dummy as if it were a living thing. She teased it for a few moments and then kicked it off its support beam. She reminded him so much of Buffy sometimes.

"How did I do?" she asked softly. She always spoke softly.

"Very well, better than expected." he replied.

Buffy wandered in, her hair pulled back tightly and wearing tight training cloths with no shoes. She looked at her mutilated practice dummy and sighed. Giles had goaded her into doing something similar a few months ago. He just couldn't get that she was FINE, she could slay without his weird Zen garbage.

"What did he do to you?" she asked Aislinn lightheartedly.

"Giles told me to... sorry Buffy."

"S'OK, I kill him all the time."

Giles smiled his little English smile at the two, they were obviously becoming friends, despite their differences and if he could just talk Buffy into accepting her as a partner, their forces would be doubled.

"I was training her. Well, it was more of a test to see her abilities. I believe she would be a grate asset to you on patrols..." He was trying for tact...

"Sounds like fun, we can have girl talks. I haven't had a real partner since Faith." Buffy was smiling.

Aislinn blushed a little and smiled shyly at Buffy. Things between them had been improving by leaps and bounds lately. After their initial meeting, things hadn't gone so well. Aislinn could tell Buffy didn't like Spike, never would, and she didn't understand what Aislinn saw in him. But Buffy found more and more that Aislinn reminded her very much of Willow and she could see why OZ had liked her so much. Somehow, Aislinn had lived all that time and she still managed to be innocent and pure and kind.

"I need to be back kinda early, Will has been going on about a surprise he's been planning. That and I need to talk to daddy before we leave." Said Aislinn smiling.

Buffy made a little groaning sound but agreed.

"What do you see in that guy anyway? He's icky, he is of icky ness."

"Will... he's always looked after me... he's my life." she smiled softly, as if what she'd said wasn't the most profound thing anyone had ever heard, as if it was as simple as stating your hair colour.

"That's... I'm sorry that's just wrong... he's evil."

"Do you think daddy is evil to?"

"Of course not! Angel has a soul!"

"So does William, silly." with that she turned and wandered off.

"What??? What do you mean?" called Buffy.

"He has one, can't you smell it on him?" she asked as she disappeared out the door. The sun was setting and she'd already promised Giles she'd be back to patrol. She made a point of being there when Spike woke up. He always seemed so happy to see her.

Spike groaned softly as his sleep addled brain slowly began processing what was around him. He let a cheeky grin spread across his face then he lunged up, wrapped his arms around Aislinn and hauled her into the bed and under the blankets.

"Mmm... Morning baby." he mumbled.

Aislinn giggled and snuggled back against his chest happily.

"Morning William... Mr. Giles wants me to patrol with Buffy tonight but it should only take an hour. I'm going to swing by and let daddy know."

Spike tightened his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face into her neck gently.

"You're not forgetting our date are you pet?" he asked softly.

"Course not! I'll only be an hour and then I'm all yours, all night! Promise!"

Spike's arms didn't loosen their hold on her at all as he spooned up against her back, his face buried in her hair.

"Mmm. don't go," he mumbled sleepily.

"You know I have too," she smiled and rolled over nuzzling his face and neck gently.

"I love you Kitten."

"I love you to William."

It didn't take Aislinn long to reach Angel's at a full run. Her bare feet hardly touched the ground and the air pushed her curly dark hair out behind her. she knocked breathlessly on Angel's door and gazed up at him as he opened it.

"Hey little one," he smiled softly.

"Buffy wants me to patrol with her tonight, I thought I should let you know. I'll only be an hour then Will is taking me out somewhere."

"Oh." he frowned a little in concern "you're sure you can handle patrolling.?"

"Daddy. I'll be fine! Will wasn't worried about me!"

"I don't believe that for a moment, if he didn't say anything it's probably because he's planning on following you."

Aislinn thought about that for a moment and realized he was probably right. She kinda liked the idea.

"You might be right. I had better go; Buffy might leave without me. Bye Daddy!"

With that she went up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek before bounding back into the night from which she had come. Angle couldn't help smiling. The girl was one huge ball of energy, she never seemed to stop. It was like she thought that if she could just attack everything with enough vibrancy then nothing could stop her. At least where he and his grandchyld were concerned. she was probably right.

"Hey Buffy!" Called Aislinn as she dropped out of a tree in the park the blonde slayer was walking through.

"Ahh! Aislinn don't do that! I nearly staked you!"

Aislinn giggled and cart wheeled over to the blonde "No you didn't."

"A little over confidant aren't we?"

Aislinn just shrugged and they began walking towards the cemetery in silence. Nether really knew what to say to the other. Things were weird.

A small group of newly risen vampires ended their need for conversation by running full pelt at the two girls. No finesse what so ever. Buffy launched herself at two of the five and knocked the first flying easily so she could concentrate on the other. Aislinn looked at the three that were left and jumped on one, her arms wrapping around its neck and snapping it cleanly. Her legs lashed out at the other two before she'd even dropped the body.

Buffy made short work of the second vampire and relieved Aislinn of one of hers. Five piles of vampire dust soon surrounded the girls and both were grinning happily. Aislinn's eyes almost glowed and she blew at the dust thrown up from the last dusted vamp. She giggled as it floated away.

"Wow. I've never seen a dead vampire before. I didn't know they really did that. Turned to dust I mean." She smiled softly.

"Oh yeah, and it never comes out of your clothes!"

The two girls turned and began making their way out of the cemetery when they heard a distinctly Spike-like grunt and the sounds of fighting. Aislinn growled and ran off in the direction of the sound, followed by Buffy.

Spike was surrounded by perhaps seven vampires, he was eyeing them with his usual cocky expression but it was clear he'd already taken a beating.

"Will!!!"

Spike looked over his shoulder at Aislinn and swore under his breath. He barged through the circle of vamps, grabbed Buffy and hauled her to the side. Buffy was kicking and protesting loudly but Spike held on. Buffy had lost sight of Aislinn and by the time she looked back, there was a huge animal ripping the vampires to pieces.

"Lemme go! Where is Aislinn?" she screamed at him.

"Keep still Slayer! And stay out of her way." He said firmly but softly in her ear.

The animal, a wild cat of some sort, was done with the vampires and turned on the Vamp and the Slayer. Spike smiled and let go of Buffy moving towards it slowly. Buffy pulled out a stake and started advancing as well.

"Hurt her and I will kill you Slayer." he mumbled and he dropped to his knees.

The big cat sniffed at him a little then butted its head against his chest playfully.

"What is it?" asked Buffy.

Spikes fingers ran through the thick black fur and the cat purred at him. It's golden eyes darted around brightly and its tongue lolled out.

"This, my dear Slayer, is Kitten."

Spike stood and the cat readily followed him as he moved away into the night. It looked over its shoulder once to gaze at Buffy and it almost seemed to smile at her.

"Don't tell anyone Slayer. Aislinn hates for people to know." He called out before they both disappeared.

There was an insistent pounding at Angel's door. He groaned a little and made his way though the living room.

"Who is it?" he called out.

"Buffy, Lemme in!"

Angel unlocked the door and held it open while the angry Slayer stormed into his home.

"Why didn't you tell me? Is she a werewolf? What exactly is she? Is she dangerous?" She was babbling. but Angel got the general idea.

"We don't know what she is exactly. I never really worked out what her mother was either. I take it she changed today? What happened?"

"Spike happened! He was being attacked by a group of vamps and she went nuts!"

Angel nodded slowly and sat down on his old brown couch. He patted it lightly, indicating that Buffy should sit down; this was going to take some explaining.

"She's always changed to protect Spike. Anyone she loves really. That's why Angelus wanted to change her so badly. He thought that if she could be made to want to protect him, she'd be the perfect bodyguard. But she can't be turned and Angelus had no concept of how to make someone love him. Always pissed him off that she'd protect Spike and not him." He explained.

"So. she's only dangerous when she changes?"

"No no, not at all. She's still completely herself. She's just in another body. She knows everyone that she knew when she was a girl and she thinks exactly the same way. She's a little more violent and a lot stronger, plus she has the cats' instincts on top of that."

Buffy sighed. Why was everything so complicated?

Aislinn stirred and opened her eyes sleepily. The first thing she saw were troubled ice blue eyes that gazed lovingly at her. She smiled softly and reached out to touch his face, he leaned his cheek into the palm of her hand and waited for her to remember the last few hours. When she did her eyes went wide and the bit down on her lip, hard enough to drawn blood.

Spike whimpered somewhat at the sight of her blood, he hadn't had a taste of her in over one hundred years but he ignored it and wrapped his arms around her pulling her against him.

"They loved the Wolf you know Pet. little Red was his mate for a while. They can handle it." He said quietly, knowing her instant fears.

When Aislinn thought about it, she knew he was right. They would have found out sooner or later. There was no real way to hide it from them. When he was sure she was calm, Spike pulled his head back and gazed down at her face, there was a bead of blood welling out of her bottom lip. He groaned softly and squeezed his eyes shut, he had no right to ask it of her.

Aislinn knew instantly what he saw and smiled slightly, the movement of her lips forcing the wound open a little more. The scent of her blood was seriously testing his resolve, he hadn't had human blood in so long, and hers was always the best. God he loved her.

With a small but strong hand, Aislinn grasped the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Spike groaned into the kiss and quickly pulled back, her blood on his lips. He resisted the urge to lick it away.

"Don't pet." he said softly.

"But why not? I'm not afraid of what you are."

"I don't drink human blood anymore"

Aislinn frowned and shrunk back a little fiddling with the edge of the blanket trying to find the words. She was never really good with words.

"But. I. I used to like it when. when you'd. made me feel like you needed me, like I needed. NEED you." she stammered out.

Spike reached out his hand and wiped the blood from her lip, then slid his finger into his mouth to taste her. Just like he remembered, nothing would ever be sweeter than that. He licked his lips of the remaining blood and pulled her against him gently.

"I do need you Kitten. but not for blood. I need you because I love you," he smiled his cocky little smile, "but I've always loved the way you taste."

He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers, his tongue snaking out and lapping gently at the blood on her lip before gently pushing into her mouth. There was no taste like this, no rush that even came close. Her kiss would always be enough for him. He was half convinced that if she'd just kiss him like this every day, he'd never need blood again.

Behind his closed eyes he remembered the first time he'd tasted her blood. how she had looked and smelled.



*Roughly one hundred years ago*

William smiled as he closed the heavy wooden door behind Angelus and his demented little family. They were doing a run into London and would be staying the week there. He was left behind to care for the mansion. part of his 'punishment' for talking back to Angelus in one of his moods. He didn't feel like he was being punished but he made a point of bitching and whining about it.

He hurried to the other end of the house and knocked chastely on Aislinn's heavy steel door.

"William?" she called hesitantly.

He flung the door open and grinned happily at her.

"The one and only!" he cried "Peaches has taken the whores to London and we have run of the house for the week!"

He was trying hard to be as lighthearted as he could. He wanted everything to be perfect, the whole week she would not frown once he promised himself. She would laugh and smile and be happy, he'd make sure of it.

Aislinn looked up at him from her bed of rags on the floor and started to cry, the startled vampire just looked at her.

"Kitten. Did I do something wrong?" he asked softly.

She was off the floor in a moment and with speed and strength to rival his she was suddenly wrapped around him. Her arms around his neck, so tight he was lucky he didn't need to breath and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. He held her gently but tightly and moved so her back was up against a wall to balance her better.

Before he knew what was happening her lips were on his, her broken and beaten body pressing tight against him. This wasn't what he'd planned, this wasn't the way he wanted it to be. But now that her lips were on his and her scent was wrapped around him, he didn't have the will to pull away, so he moaned into her mouth instead. His hands moved gently up her sides and through her tangled mass of black curls.

"Kitten. Kitten stop. baby stop." he whimpered at her.

Aislinn pulled back and looked t him with huge pleading dark eyes. Her head throbbed and everything hurt but she needed this. Needed to be loved more than anything else. She was so tired of being in pain, and she knew William would never hurt her.

"Will. please."

William squeezed his eyes closed for a moment and then moved away from the wall, carrying her carefully up the stairs to his room. He set her gently on the edge of the bed and knelt in front of her, gazing at her form longingly. He wasn't at all sure he could do this. what if he hurt her? What if he lost control? It would be so easy to lose control with her.

Aislinn's eyes were large and she smiled bravely at him, one hand reaching out to push a lock of his long brown hair behind his ear.

"I trust you Will." she murmured.

Before he knew what he was doing he was on her, his mouth covering hers, his tongue begging for hers to respond to him. And respond she did, little mews and whimpers came from her throat and her arms wrapped easily around his neck. He carefully pushed her back onto the bed and she wriggled back wards so he could lay flat.

Growling softly he covered her with his body, his weight mostly on his hands as his mouth wandered from her lips to her ear and then on down her neck. When his mouth hit her pulse point he stopped and shook with the desire to bite her. To claim her as his own. But he had no right to it.

Aislinn purred at him softly and bit her lip.

"William. its OK. I trust you. If you need to."

William groaned and kissed her neck lightly.

"I love you. your to weak. I can't."

"Will. Angelus bites me all the time. please." she looked up at him with her huge eyes and pulled her hair back out of the way.

Was this what she wanted all along? For his mark to cover Angelus'? He growled again and lowered his lips to her neck. he licked it once and felt his body respond to the taste of her.

She whimpered softly and tilted her neck back, her hands gently kneading his shoulders. William groaned softly and sunk his fangs into her neck as gently as he could. She gasped and clutched his shoulders tightly, arching up slightly at the incredible feeling. She'd never felt so needed, wanted. loved.

He made himself stop, he couldn't change her. he didn't want to change her one bit.



Buffy hummed to herself as she and Angel wandered through the cemetary hand in hand. The night was relatively quiet with only two fledglings rising to disturb them. After their little talk, Buffy had decided she wanted to visit Aislinn to make sure she was all right. Angel has assured her that Spike would take care of her but as usual Buffy hadn't listened.

Without pausing to knock, Buffy shoved the door of the crypt open and barged in, Angel in tow. What she saw sent her scrambling for the stake in her bag.

"Get off her!" She hollered as she dived at Spike.

On the bed, Spike was half on top of Aislinn who had her throat exposed to him. he was in full game face and stroking her hair as she gently touched his ridges making him purr.

Angel has his arms around her waist and was hauling her back before she reached them however, but it was to late. Seeing Buffy lunging at Spike with a stake had Aislinn on her knees on the bed, having shoved Spike behind her, she was growling and her eyes were changing from their usual chocolate brown to an almost vampiric yellow. Angel hissed a warning in her ear and she stilled watching Aislinn as Spike tried to calm her.

His arms went around her waist and he pulled her back against his chest firmly.

"Kitten. listen to me baby. shhh. its going to be OK. Come back to me." he almost pleaded with her.

Buffy watched in fascination as Aislinn's eyes returned to normal, she closed them, leaning back against Spike apparently completely exhausted.

"Its OK love. I got you." He said against her ear.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Its all right love, no harm done."

She sighed and cuddled back against his chest, he turned her carefully and held her against him looking at Angel and Buffy. He didn't seem to realize he was still in full game face, or maybe he did and didn't care. His yellow eyes fixed on Angel's and he growled softly.

"You wanted something Peaches?"

"You know I hate that name Spike. We wanted to check on Linn."

"Well she was fine 'till Slutty barged in here wielding her stake."

"It just looked bad that's all. surely you can understand that."

"I understand that Slayer here has gone and sent Kitten into her second change for the night and it'll be all she can do to walk tomorrow. get her out of here Peaches."

Angel sighed, he wasn't going to push the point, Spike was right and there was no way she'd put up with them arguing over her tonight.

"You were going to bite her!" Said Buffy angrily.

"I can't bite anything Slayer! Not unless they wanted me to! And I wasn't going to do it anyway!" he growled at her, trying not to raise his voice and upset Aislinn who lay against his chest trying to calm herself.

"Ok yeah, why would anyone ASK you to bite them?" Said Buffy sarcastically.

"Buffy. you don't understand, Aislinn lived with us for years. she understands how intimate biting is for vampires. and she wouldn't offer if she didn't like it. It can be enjoyable. for both parties." Said Angel softly.

Spike had laid Aislinn back on the bed and was tugging the blankets up around her gently. He kissed her forehead and slid off the bed and wandered over to his mini fridge in his boxers. He pulled out a blood bag and ripped into it.

"Why are you two still here?" he asked angrily.

"I. she wanted. Angel I don't get it. Biting bad!" Buffy almost whined in that way she does when she doesn't understand something, or she's confused.

"Well. it can feel. good. if its done right, and the other person is willing." He seemed really uncomfortable.

"What?" asked Spike with his cocky grin, "Peaches here never had a nibble? Dunno what your missing Slayer." He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Buffy couldn't decide whether to be disgusted or hurt. Spike and Angel seemed to think that it was a good thing, and Aislinn didn't seem to disagree. Angel had never even suggested it; did he not want to share that with her? But it was bad! She had spent the last several years trying to avoid being bitten!

"Shut up Spike. I don't drink from people anymore, you know that." Growled Angel softly.

"It's not drinking Peaches. it's sharing, being one, living together. Remember? Its perfection," he smiled over at the now sleeping form of Aislinn, "Specially when you love her."

Angel followed his eyes to his daughters sleeping form and tried to blink away the vision of Spike sinking his fangs into her throat and her begging for more. Then his eyes were drawn back to Buffy, she was obviously upset and he really didn't know what to say to her. Was he supposed to tell her of the times he'd dreamed of sinking his fangs into her, touching her and holding her close to him as he did so? Was he supposed to explain that he was afraid, not only of losing his soul but her as well. that she'd be disgusted with him for even thinking such a thing?

Spike looked at the two and snorted, wandering back to his bed and slipping in next to Aislinn, he still had his game face on and when she rolled over to gaze at him, she reached out a hand to trace his ridges. Spike frowned and pulled his head away forcing his true face down and his human mask into place.

"Sorry love. forgot about it." He mumbled as he gently pulled her against him.

"You know I don't mind, you look cute that way. bring it back," she said softly.

Spike purred at her and his ridges broke from his forehead again, and again her hands were on them, tracing their lines back to his hair and behind his ears. He purred louder and leaned his face into her touch completely forgetting about their audience. Angel coughed a little and Aislinn's head shot up.

"Daddy!" she cried and kissed Spikes head before crawling to the edge of the bed and holding her arms out to him. Angel hugged her gently and then backed away as she crawled back under the blankets to Spike. Angel could see that Spike was angry; he didn't want to lose the love of his unlife, not again, not to Angel. But the look on Aislinn's face as she snuggled in next to him was unmistakable. He wasn't losing her to anyone.

"We're going to go Linn, I'll see you tomorrow night OK?" He said softly.

"OK Daddy," she mumbled sleepily.

Her eyes were closed before the Vampire and the Slayer had exited the crypt. Spike wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back against his chest. His chin rested on her shoulder so his lips were near her ear.

"I love you Kitten," he whispered.

"Love you too Will."

Shea