Part Twenty
"He said he loves you?" Fred asked again not surprised so much by the feelings, as by the admission of them.
"Not in so many words." Cordiela said curling her legs under her on the couch. "But he didn't deny it either."
"So what are you going to do?" Fred said.
"Well we talked, and he doesn't think its fair to me because we can't ever." Cordiela said.
"The curse." Willow said having been pulled out of her own thoughts of the day's events by the conversation, "That's why he hasn't said anything?"
"Yep." Cordiela said, "He can't really be with me because happiness equals Angelus."
"Isn't there a way around that?" Fred asked, "Spike doesn't have the happiness clause right?"
Cordiela and Fred both turned to look at Willow, who immediately blushed at their looks.
"Well it's not like it's been tested but I don't think so." Willow said, "I mean, his soul wasn't a curse so why would it have."
"Uh oh." Cordiela said as Willow's voice trailed off as her eyes stared into space obviously lost in her own thoughts. "Willow's getting an idea."
"Is that bad?" Fred asked still amazed at how well the other two women seemed to know each other.
"Depends." Cordiela said, "Will?"
"Oh, uh, thinking." She muttered.
"About?" Cordiela asked.
"The soul restoration spell." Willow said still distracted by her own thoughts.
"What about it?" Fred asked.
"Miss Calander wanted to restore Angel's soul right?" Willow said looking at Cordiela again, "But she didn't want him to suffer. She liked Angel."
"Yeah, so?" Cordiela asked.
"You know what I don't want to say anymore tonight." Willow said getting up, "I need to make some calls in the morning. Look into some stuff and I'll get back to you when I know more 'kay."
"Guess so." Both Fred and Cordy said as they watched Willow head up the stairs.
Part Twenty-one
Willow flopped across her bed. So much had happened today, Buffy and Xander showing up, then kissing Spike, now Angel and Cordy. All of these things were pulling at her mind, so she did her best to concentrate on the one she might have an answer to.
She was sorry she had hurt Buffy and Xander again, but if they had respected her wishes it wouldn't have happened. She was still angry at Xander for assuming that Spike couldn't possibly be interested in her for her. She would call tomorrow and try to talk to Xander though, she didn't like him being so angry with her. But that wasn't something she could deal with tonight.
She had kissed Spike. She had ruined his chances with Buffy at the same time. She felt horrible about that. He loved Buffy and with a soul may have stood a chance of her loving him and she destroyed that because she was angry. Spike said he wasn't angry, that it didn't matter but still she felt like she had to make it up to him. So she would stay in her own room tonight and try to talk to him again tomorrow.
Angel's curse. Now that was something she might be able to fix. Angel loved Cordy, granted not something she expected before coming here but it wasn't a bad thing. The only reason he hadn't said anything before was the curse. He wanted her to have a relationship that wouldn't endanger the rest of the world. The more she thought about it the more she thought that she could be right. She needed to translate that spell, she wasn't sure she would be able to but she needed to try. She would need the spell, she hadn't brought it with her. She would need Giles to send it, but she needed him to do it without telling anyone. Knowing why she wanted it would just bring back Buffy and Xander. Which also meant she couldn't get Giles to help with the translating, couldn't ask Angel for help either, maybe Fred could help or.
"Willow?" She heard Spike say as he tapped on the door.
"Come in Spike." Willow answered sitting up and facing the door.
"Something wrong Pet?" Spike asked coming into the room and closing the door behind him.
"Wrong? No just thinking." She said smiling at him.
"Aren't you coming to bed?" He asked wondering silently if he had hurt her during their workout earlier.
"I. I was going to sleep in here."
"Why?" Spike asked, "Did I do something?"
"You? No." Willow said quickly, "I figured you wouldn't want me too. after this afternoon."
"I told you before I wasn't angry. Don't worry about Buffy." Spike said taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him.
"But you loved her."
"Loved." Spike said, "Not anymore."
"But." Willow began only to be cut off when Spike lowered his face and kissed her.
Spike groaned when Willow wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down as she lay back on the bed. Pulling his head away from her, and smiling.
"No more buts. Buffy's in the past okay." He said placing several small kisses against her lips. "And like I said earlier attack me any time Luv." Sliding his hands to her hips and pulling her against him.
"Spike I don't." Willow said pushing at his chest. When he sat up pulling her up at the same time she continued, "I'm not ready for. Tara just died and."
"No pressure Red." Spike said smiling at her, "I know you're going to need time and well hey, I live forever so I have plenty of time to wait."
"Thank you." Willow said kissing his cheek.
"Now ready for bed." Spike said pulling her with him. "And you can tell me what you were thinking of earlier."
"Yeah." She said following him.
Part Twenty-two
Wesley hung up the phone and sighed. Fred had called again. She thought he should come back to work. He had told her he wasn't ready to work with people who's trust in him was so fragile. That's what he had told Gunn, Angel, Cordiela, and Willow when they all asked the same question. That was true, sort of, he was still angry that they so easily believed that he had helped Holtz take Connor. But if he was being honest with himself he was more angry at himself. He had betrayed Angel. He hadn't meant to let Holtz take Connor, that was true, but he shouldn't have gone to Holtz at all. By doing that he had revealed their weakness to him, and made it easier to get the child. If he couldn't forgive himself for that how could expect Angel too. He still felt like he needed to do something to make up for what he had done. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Angel loves me, Cordiela thought as she got ready for bed. Okay so he hadn't actually said it, but he didn't deny it either. If Connor had been wrong, Angel would have said so. And true Angel wasn't willing to be in a relationship with her because he thinks it's unfair, but Willow seemed to have some thoughts about that as well. She didn't know what Willow was up to, but she knew it had something to do with helping her and Angel.
Willow, there's something else to think about, what the hell was going on with her and Spike. She knew Willow liked Spike, but was afraid Spike didn't feel the same, but Gunn said he did. Now Cordiela just needed a way to get them both to admit it to each other. But there were other problems with that, for starters the Buffy thing, Willow seemed to think she had pretty much took care of that this afternoon, but Buffy being angry wouldn't necessarily mean that Spike was ready to move on. And then, of course, was Willow ready to move on. It wasn't like Tara had left her, she had been murdered. Willow wouldn't want to jump into anything right now. This one, Cordiela thought, would definitely take some time. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Cordiela knew he loved her, Angel thought, not a bad thing really. She loved him too, well she hadn't said it, but it seemed implied. He couldn't do that to her though. That's why he left Buffy, both women deserved a chance for a happy life, and a real relationship. He couldn't give them that. But everyone had agreed to help research the curse see if there was some way around it, something that could anchor his soul.
Spike and Willow were in love, Angel thought still amazed at this idea. He never would have guessed that Spike could fall for Willow. But then the Spike he remembered seemed to be pretty much gone, replaced by a still obnoxious, but very different vampire. His main concern in this area was that Spike would try to push Willow too fast. She was still adjusting to Tara's death, and to dealing with her new found power. She needed to deal with how to control that before anything else, and he hoped Spike realized that too.
Part Twenty-three
Willow took a deep breath and dialed the phone. She had a few minutes alone. Spike, Angel and Connor were downstairs, Cordiela and Fred were out picking up lunch, and Gunn had gone after some demon that had been causing trouble in his old neighborhood. So she figured now was her chance to make this call. Everyone had been asking her since last night what was going on, what had she been thinking about. They all knew it involved Angel and Cordy, but she didn't want them to know anything more until she knew something for sure.
"Magic Shop." She heard Anya's voice say.
"Hi, Anya."
"Willow. Hi." Anya said, "Buffy and Xander are so angry. Did you really kiss Spike?"
Oh God, Willow thought, "Yeah. Uh, they kinda made me angry."
"So you aren't having sex with him." Anya said, "Is he why you went to L.A.?"
"Okay kinda personal but no to both questions." Willow said sighing, "Is Giles around?"
"No, he's out for the day. Some kind of personal business." Anya said.
Well, Willow thought, Anya was mad enough at Xander to help her without saying anything. "Anya I need you to do something for me, but you can't tell anyone. Not even Giles."
"What do you want? Will it make Xander and Buffy angry?" Anya replied, her relationship with the Slayer and her ex-fiancée wasn't very good and she was willing to do pretty much anything to irritate them.
"Yeah. It probably will." Willow said, "I need you to go to Buffy's and get a disk out of my room and send it to me."
"That's sounds easy. What disk do you need?" Anya asked, not sure how this would irritate the other two or why it was a secret.
"It's in my closet it. It says restoration spell on."
"Willow I can't give you a disk with a spell, not even to piss off."
"I'm not doing the spell Anya. I just need to know what it says." Willow explained.
"I don't understand."
"I know and I really can't explain right now. But I promise I'm not going to use magic. I did that spell a long time ago, before I really knew what I was doing. Now I need to know what it says to help a friend okay." Willow explained knowing she may have given Anya enough information to figure it out if she wanted to.
"You swear you won't use the spell?" Anya asked not completely comfortable with possibly helping Willow with magic.
"I promise Anya." Willow said, "If any magic needs to be done someone else will take care of it."
"Okay. I can get the disk tonight. Buffy, Xander and Dawn are going to the Bronze. Do you want me to mail it or bring it?"
"Mail is fine. You don't have time to drive all the way."
"I can teleport there, it'll just take minutes." Anya offered. "Does this have something to do with Angel?" She asked finally realizing when Willow would have used that spell.
"Yeah. But I really don't want anyone to know right now Okay." Willow said sighing, "Not until I find out what I need to know."
"Okay. Won't say anything." Anya said, "Customer just came in gotta go. See you tonight."
"Bye Anya."
"Who you talking to?" Angel asked walking into the office as Willow hung up the phone.
"Anya." Willow said, "Figured after yesterday I'd better call and talk to someone in Sunnydale."
"Everything okay?" Angel asked worried, knowing that she didn't need anymore to worry about right now.
"Fine." She said smiling, "Uh, Angel Anya might be stopping by tonight."
"Okay. Will she be staying?"
"Doubt it. She's just bringing me something I need." Willow said, "You do know she's a demon right?"
"Spike mentioned it." Angel said smiling, "Why?"
"Well, she isn't exactly adjusted to the human world. So she can be uh, blunt, at times."
"I work with Cordiela. I think I can handle blunt." Angel replied.
"She makes Cordy look subtle." Willow said laughing at the vampire's look of shock.
Part Twenty-four
Anya stood patiently for a moment waiting for one of the two men to notice her arrival. Realizing they were to deep in conversation to see her she finally spoke.
"Excuse me I need to talk to Willow." She stated walking toward the men. One she now realized was Angel.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Gunn asked turning to face the sound of the voice coming from the opposite direction of the door.
"Sunnydale." Anya said, "Is Willow here. I can't stay long."
"I meant where were you a minute ago. You didn't come through the door." Gunn explained.
"Sunnydale." Anya repeated. "You're Angel right?" She said facing the vampire.
"Yes. Anya?" Angel asked.
"Yeah. Is Willow here?" She asked becoming impatient.
"Is someone going to tell me where she came from?" Gunn asked becoming annoyed.
"I did tell you." Anya said equally as annoyed.
"Anya's a vengeance demon." Angel explained, "Anya this is Gunn."
"Nice to meet you." Anya said impatiently.
"Yeah you too. Vengeance demon from Sunnydale?" Gunn asked, then at Anya and Angel's nods, "Is anyone in Sunnydale human?"
"Hey I'm human." Cordiela said coming out of the office. "Anya right?"
"Yes. I need to see Willow do you know where she is?" Anya said turning her attention to Cordiela, hoping the seer would be more helpful than the men.
"Basement. With Spike." Cordiela said coming around the desk, "Follow me." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Hi Spike." Anya said cheerfully coming down the steps. Unlike Buffy and Xander she didn't care why Spike was in L.A. or what he was doing with Willow. Well she did care that it was making the other two angry, she did enjoy that part.
"Hi." Spike and Willow both greeted her. Spike took the sword Willow had been using from her hand and replaced it along with his own on the wall while Willow went to speak to Anya.
"Did you find it okay?" Willow said, having been worrying that Buffy and Dawn may have moved her things while she was away.
"Yeah." Anya said, "Angel doesn't seem to have lost his soul."
"I told you I don't need to use the spell just translate it." Willow said again. "You didn't tell anyone upstairs why you were here did you?"
"No. I think I may have frightened that Gunn person though." Anya said smiling.
"Spike, Dawn's on the phone." Cordiela yelled from the top of the steps. "She wants to talk to you."
"Dawn?" Spike said in surprise.
"Everyone wants to know why you came here." Anya said, "Dawn's the only one smart enough to figure out that they need to ask you."
"Go talk to her." Willow encouraged. "If you don't want her to tell anyone I'm sure she won't."
Willow and Anya waited until Spike was out of sight before speaking again.
"How long has he had a soul?" Anya asked.
"What?"
"Spike he has a soul now." Anya said, "Could sense it as soon as I came down here."
"Don't say anything to anyone." Willow said quietly.
"Won't." Anya said, "Will he tell Dawn?"
"Don't know." Willow said, "Maybe."
"So why did you want the disk?" Anya asked.
"Angel loves Cordiela." Willow said, "They can't be together because of the."
"That happiness clause thing." Anya finished, "That's why he left Buffy."
"Right." Willow said, "But when we redid the curse, I don't know if the clause was there or not. There hadn't been time to translate it before we used it. Don't say anything though. Spike's the only one that even knows what going on."
"'Kay." Anya said, "I really gotta go now. Before anyone realizes I left."
"Bye." Willow said hugging her quickly. "Thanks."
"No problem." Anya said returning the hug. "Good luck." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Hi Nibblet." Spike said taking the phone from Cordiela.
"Hi Spike."
"So obviously your Sis told you I was here." Spike said hoping the girl didn't really want to know why he was here.
"Yeah. She's really pissed." Dawn replied. "They were even more pissed when the realized they don't know why you went to L.A."
"Don't suppose it occurred to them it's none of their business." Spike said.
"Buffy thinks everything is here business." Dawn said, "Anyway they want to know why you're there with Willow."
"Do you?"
"Not really." Dawn said, "You left Buffy. She didn't want you. So what you do is none of her business. All I want to know is if you really love Willow or if this is a rebound thing. She doesn't need that right now. So if you're going to hurt her than leave now."
"I don't know if I love her Nibblet." Spike responded, "But I don't plan on hurting her either."
"'Kay." Dawn said, "You don't have to tell me why you're there but I'll be in L.A. in a couple days to visit my dad. Can I come see you. I miss you and Willow."
Spike turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder, seeing Willow he smiled. "Dawn wants to come visit in a couple days."
"Sure." Willow said, "It'll be fun. Oh, Cordy and I can take her shopping."
At the mention of her name and shopping Cordiela looked up from the computer. "Shopping?"
"Yeah. Dawn wants to visit." Willow said.
"Sure."
"Willow and Cordiela are planning a shopping trip for you as we speak Pet." Spike said into the phone. "Call when you get to town."
"Thanks." Dawn said, "Gotta go, Buffy's coming. Tell Will I said Hi."
"Bye." Spike said then when he heard the click on the other end replaced the receiver. "Anya leave?"
"Yeah." Willow said, "Now all I have to do is hope I'm right. and learn Romanian."
"Want help?" Spike said following her toward the steps.
"You speak Romanian?" Willow asked surprised.
"Nope." Spike said, "Actually just planned on annoying you while you worked."
Part Twenty-five
Willow stared at the words on the screen. None of it was making any sense to her, which probably had a lot to do with her lack of knowledge of the language. She could ask Fred for help, except she didn't know if Fred spoke it either, and she didn't want to let her in on this if she didn't need to. She didn't want Fred to be disappointed if her theory was wrong.
"Red, C'mon it's been hours." Spike whined from the bed. "How long are you going to look at that. You can't read it. It isn't suddenly going to appear in English because you're looking at it."
"Draw back to no magic." Willow muttered. "So you don't know Romanian, know anyone that does?"
"Angel." Spike said, "Probably the watcher. There really are better things we could be doing right now." Spike finished coming up behind her and rubbing her shoulders.
"I guess you're right." She said shutting down the computer and turning her chair toward him. As he lowered his head toward hers, she said, "Watcher that's it."
"You're going to call Giles." Spike said straightening. "Thought you didn't want them to know."
"I don't" Willow said, "Not Giles. Wesley."
"Can't do that tonight right?" Spike said pulling her out of the chair.
"No why?"
"Then let's go to bed." Spike said tugging her toward the bed. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"So why was Anya here?" Gunn asked. "And why is a demon friends with Willow?"
"Willow asked her to bring her something. She won't say what it was though." Fred said sitting next to him and handing him a soda. "Anya had been human for a few years then Xander left her at the alter and she got her powers back."
"Will is still friends with a Vengeance demon who was left by her best friend?" Gunn summarized.
"Yep." Fred said nodding.
"Why did she lose her powers to begin with?" Gunn asked.
"Me." Cordiela said coming in the room. "When Xander and I broke up I wanted vengeance. Wished for a Sunnydale without Buffy. Anya granted the wish. It wasn't a fun place to be then Giles broke her amulet and everything returned to normal. Well you know normal for Sunnydale." She finished sitting across from the couple. "So you guys don't know what she was here for either?"
"Nope." Both responded in unison.
"What ever Willow's thinking I hope she's right because I am so beyond tired of researching." Cordiela said.
"Didn't find anything?" Gunn asked knowing how much this would mean to both his friends.
"No." Cordiela said, "Far as I can tell Angel was the one and only time a vampire's soul was restored, well except for Spike now I guess, anyway there is no information on soul restoration."
"He said he loves you?" Fred asked again not surprised so much by the feelings, as by the admission of them.
"Not in so many words." Cordiela said curling her legs under her on the couch. "But he didn't deny it either."
"So what are you going to do?" Fred said.
"Well we talked, and he doesn't think its fair to me because we can't ever." Cordiela said.
"The curse." Willow said having been pulled out of her own thoughts of the day's events by the conversation, "That's why he hasn't said anything?"
"Yep." Cordiela said, "He can't really be with me because happiness equals Angelus."
"Isn't there a way around that?" Fred asked, "Spike doesn't have the happiness clause right?"
Cordiela and Fred both turned to look at Willow, who immediately blushed at their looks.
"Well it's not like it's been tested but I don't think so." Willow said, "I mean, his soul wasn't a curse so why would it have."
"Uh oh." Cordiela said as Willow's voice trailed off as her eyes stared into space obviously lost in her own thoughts. "Willow's getting an idea."
"Is that bad?" Fred asked still amazed at how well the other two women seemed to know each other.
"Depends." Cordiela said, "Will?"
"Oh, uh, thinking." She muttered.
"About?" Cordiela asked.
"The soul restoration spell." Willow said still distracted by her own thoughts.
"What about it?" Fred asked.
"Miss Calander wanted to restore Angel's soul right?" Willow said looking at Cordiela again, "But she didn't want him to suffer. She liked Angel."
"Yeah, so?" Cordiela asked.
"You know what I don't want to say anymore tonight." Willow said getting up, "I need to make some calls in the morning. Look into some stuff and I'll get back to you when I know more 'kay."
"Guess so." Both Fred and Cordy said as they watched Willow head up the stairs.
Part Twenty-one
Willow flopped across her bed. So much had happened today, Buffy and Xander showing up, then kissing Spike, now Angel and Cordy. All of these things were pulling at her mind, so she did her best to concentrate on the one she might have an answer to.
She was sorry she had hurt Buffy and Xander again, but if they had respected her wishes it wouldn't have happened. She was still angry at Xander for assuming that Spike couldn't possibly be interested in her for her. She would call tomorrow and try to talk to Xander though, she didn't like him being so angry with her. But that wasn't something she could deal with tonight.
She had kissed Spike. She had ruined his chances with Buffy at the same time. She felt horrible about that. He loved Buffy and with a soul may have stood a chance of her loving him and she destroyed that because she was angry. Spike said he wasn't angry, that it didn't matter but still she felt like she had to make it up to him. So she would stay in her own room tonight and try to talk to him again tomorrow.
Angel's curse. Now that was something she might be able to fix. Angel loved Cordy, granted not something she expected before coming here but it wasn't a bad thing. The only reason he hadn't said anything before was the curse. He wanted her to have a relationship that wouldn't endanger the rest of the world. The more she thought about it the more she thought that she could be right. She needed to translate that spell, she wasn't sure she would be able to but she needed to try. She would need the spell, she hadn't brought it with her. She would need Giles to send it, but she needed him to do it without telling anyone. Knowing why she wanted it would just bring back Buffy and Xander. Which also meant she couldn't get Giles to help with the translating, couldn't ask Angel for help either, maybe Fred could help or.
"Willow?" She heard Spike say as he tapped on the door.
"Come in Spike." Willow answered sitting up and facing the door.
"Something wrong Pet?" Spike asked coming into the room and closing the door behind him.
"Wrong? No just thinking." She said smiling at him.
"Aren't you coming to bed?" He asked wondering silently if he had hurt her during their workout earlier.
"I. I was going to sleep in here."
"Why?" Spike asked, "Did I do something?"
"You? No." Willow said quickly, "I figured you wouldn't want me too. after this afternoon."
"I told you before I wasn't angry. Don't worry about Buffy." Spike said taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him.
"But you loved her."
"Loved." Spike said, "Not anymore."
"But." Willow began only to be cut off when Spike lowered his face and kissed her.
Spike groaned when Willow wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down as she lay back on the bed. Pulling his head away from her, and smiling.
"No more buts. Buffy's in the past okay." He said placing several small kisses against her lips. "And like I said earlier attack me any time Luv." Sliding his hands to her hips and pulling her against him.
"Spike I don't." Willow said pushing at his chest. When he sat up pulling her up at the same time she continued, "I'm not ready for. Tara just died and."
"No pressure Red." Spike said smiling at her, "I know you're going to need time and well hey, I live forever so I have plenty of time to wait."
"Thank you." Willow said kissing his cheek.
"Now ready for bed." Spike said pulling her with him. "And you can tell me what you were thinking of earlier."
"Yeah." She said following him.
Part Twenty-two
Wesley hung up the phone and sighed. Fred had called again. She thought he should come back to work. He had told her he wasn't ready to work with people who's trust in him was so fragile. That's what he had told Gunn, Angel, Cordiela, and Willow when they all asked the same question. That was true, sort of, he was still angry that they so easily believed that he had helped Holtz take Connor. But if he was being honest with himself he was more angry at himself. He had betrayed Angel. He hadn't meant to let Holtz take Connor, that was true, but he shouldn't have gone to Holtz at all. By doing that he had revealed their weakness to him, and made it easier to get the child. If he couldn't forgive himself for that how could expect Angel too. He still felt like he needed to do something to make up for what he had done. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Angel loves me, Cordiela thought as she got ready for bed. Okay so he hadn't actually said it, but he didn't deny it either. If Connor had been wrong, Angel would have said so. And true Angel wasn't willing to be in a relationship with her because he thinks it's unfair, but Willow seemed to have some thoughts about that as well. She didn't know what Willow was up to, but she knew it had something to do with helping her and Angel.
Willow, there's something else to think about, what the hell was going on with her and Spike. She knew Willow liked Spike, but was afraid Spike didn't feel the same, but Gunn said he did. Now Cordiela just needed a way to get them both to admit it to each other. But there were other problems with that, for starters the Buffy thing, Willow seemed to think she had pretty much took care of that this afternoon, but Buffy being angry wouldn't necessarily mean that Spike was ready to move on. And then, of course, was Willow ready to move on. It wasn't like Tara had left her, she had been murdered. Willow wouldn't want to jump into anything right now. This one, Cordiela thought, would definitely take some time. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Cordiela knew he loved her, Angel thought, not a bad thing really. She loved him too, well she hadn't said it, but it seemed implied. He couldn't do that to her though. That's why he left Buffy, both women deserved a chance for a happy life, and a real relationship. He couldn't give them that. But everyone had agreed to help research the curse see if there was some way around it, something that could anchor his soul.
Spike and Willow were in love, Angel thought still amazed at this idea. He never would have guessed that Spike could fall for Willow. But then the Spike he remembered seemed to be pretty much gone, replaced by a still obnoxious, but very different vampire. His main concern in this area was that Spike would try to push Willow too fast. She was still adjusting to Tara's death, and to dealing with her new found power. She needed to deal with how to control that before anything else, and he hoped Spike realized that too.
Part Twenty-three
Willow took a deep breath and dialed the phone. She had a few minutes alone. Spike, Angel and Connor were downstairs, Cordiela and Fred were out picking up lunch, and Gunn had gone after some demon that had been causing trouble in his old neighborhood. So she figured now was her chance to make this call. Everyone had been asking her since last night what was going on, what had she been thinking about. They all knew it involved Angel and Cordy, but she didn't want them to know anything more until she knew something for sure.
"Magic Shop." She heard Anya's voice say.
"Hi, Anya."
"Willow. Hi." Anya said, "Buffy and Xander are so angry. Did you really kiss Spike?"
Oh God, Willow thought, "Yeah. Uh, they kinda made me angry."
"So you aren't having sex with him." Anya said, "Is he why you went to L.A.?"
"Okay kinda personal but no to both questions." Willow said sighing, "Is Giles around?"
"No, he's out for the day. Some kind of personal business." Anya said.
Well, Willow thought, Anya was mad enough at Xander to help her without saying anything. "Anya I need you to do something for me, but you can't tell anyone. Not even Giles."
"What do you want? Will it make Xander and Buffy angry?" Anya replied, her relationship with the Slayer and her ex-fiancée wasn't very good and she was willing to do pretty much anything to irritate them.
"Yeah. It probably will." Willow said, "I need you to go to Buffy's and get a disk out of my room and send it to me."
"That's sounds easy. What disk do you need?" Anya asked, not sure how this would irritate the other two or why it was a secret.
"It's in my closet it. It says restoration spell on."
"Willow I can't give you a disk with a spell, not even to piss off."
"I'm not doing the spell Anya. I just need to know what it says." Willow explained.
"I don't understand."
"I know and I really can't explain right now. But I promise I'm not going to use magic. I did that spell a long time ago, before I really knew what I was doing. Now I need to know what it says to help a friend okay." Willow explained knowing she may have given Anya enough information to figure it out if she wanted to.
"You swear you won't use the spell?" Anya asked not completely comfortable with possibly helping Willow with magic.
"I promise Anya." Willow said, "If any magic needs to be done someone else will take care of it."
"Okay. I can get the disk tonight. Buffy, Xander and Dawn are going to the Bronze. Do you want me to mail it or bring it?"
"Mail is fine. You don't have time to drive all the way."
"I can teleport there, it'll just take minutes." Anya offered. "Does this have something to do with Angel?" She asked finally realizing when Willow would have used that spell.
"Yeah. But I really don't want anyone to know right now Okay." Willow said sighing, "Not until I find out what I need to know."
"Okay. Won't say anything." Anya said, "Customer just came in gotta go. See you tonight."
"Bye Anya."
"Who you talking to?" Angel asked walking into the office as Willow hung up the phone.
"Anya." Willow said, "Figured after yesterday I'd better call and talk to someone in Sunnydale."
"Everything okay?" Angel asked worried, knowing that she didn't need anymore to worry about right now.
"Fine." She said smiling, "Uh, Angel Anya might be stopping by tonight."
"Okay. Will she be staying?"
"Doubt it. She's just bringing me something I need." Willow said, "You do know she's a demon right?"
"Spike mentioned it." Angel said smiling, "Why?"
"Well, she isn't exactly adjusted to the human world. So she can be uh, blunt, at times."
"I work with Cordiela. I think I can handle blunt." Angel replied.
"She makes Cordy look subtle." Willow said laughing at the vampire's look of shock.
Part Twenty-four
Anya stood patiently for a moment waiting for one of the two men to notice her arrival. Realizing they were to deep in conversation to see her she finally spoke.
"Excuse me I need to talk to Willow." She stated walking toward the men. One she now realized was Angel.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Gunn asked turning to face the sound of the voice coming from the opposite direction of the door.
"Sunnydale." Anya said, "Is Willow here. I can't stay long."
"I meant where were you a minute ago. You didn't come through the door." Gunn explained.
"Sunnydale." Anya repeated. "You're Angel right?" She said facing the vampire.
"Yes. Anya?" Angel asked.
"Yeah. Is Willow here?" She asked becoming impatient.
"Is someone going to tell me where she came from?" Gunn asked becoming annoyed.
"I did tell you." Anya said equally as annoyed.
"Anya's a vengeance demon." Angel explained, "Anya this is Gunn."
"Nice to meet you." Anya said impatiently.
"Yeah you too. Vengeance demon from Sunnydale?" Gunn asked, then at Anya and Angel's nods, "Is anyone in Sunnydale human?"
"Hey I'm human." Cordiela said coming out of the office. "Anya right?"
"Yes. I need to see Willow do you know where she is?" Anya said turning her attention to Cordiela, hoping the seer would be more helpful than the men.
"Basement. With Spike." Cordiela said coming around the desk, "Follow me." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Hi Spike." Anya said cheerfully coming down the steps. Unlike Buffy and Xander she didn't care why Spike was in L.A. or what he was doing with Willow. Well she did care that it was making the other two angry, she did enjoy that part.
"Hi." Spike and Willow both greeted her. Spike took the sword Willow had been using from her hand and replaced it along with his own on the wall while Willow went to speak to Anya.
"Did you find it okay?" Willow said, having been worrying that Buffy and Dawn may have moved her things while she was away.
"Yeah." Anya said, "Angel doesn't seem to have lost his soul."
"I told you I don't need to use the spell just translate it." Willow said again. "You didn't tell anyone upstairs why you were here did you?"
"No. I think I may have frightened that Gunn person though." Anya said smiling.
"Spike, Dawn's on the phone." Cordiela yelled from the top of the steps. "She wants to talk to you."
"Dawn?" Spike said in surprise.
"Everyone wants to know why you came here." Anya said, "Dawn's the only one smart enough to figure out that they need to ask you."
"Go talk to her." Willow encouraged. "If you don't want her to tell anyone I'm sure she won't."
Willow and Anya waited until Spike was out of sight before speaking again.
"How long has he had a soul?" Anya asked.
"What?"
"Spike he has a soul now." Anya said, "Could sense it as soon as I came down here."
"Don't say anything to anyone." Willow said quietly.
"Won't." Anya said, "Will he tell Dawn?"
"Don't know." Willow said, "Maybe."
"So why did you want the disk?" Anya asked.
"Angel loves Cordiela." Willow said, "They can't be together because of the."
"That happiness clause thing." Anya finished, "That's why he left Buffy."
"Right." Willow said, "But when we redid the curse, I don't know if the clause was there or not. There hadn't been time to translate it before we used it. Don't say anything though. Spike's the only one that even knows what going on."
"'Kay." Anya said, "I really gotta go now. Before anyone realizes I left."
"Bye." Willow said hugging her quickly. "Thanks."
"No problem." Anya said returning the hug. "Good luck." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Hi Nibblet." Spike said taking the phone from Cordiela.
"Hi Spike."
"So obviously your Sis told you I was here." Spike said hoping the girl didn't really want to know why he was here.
"Yeah. She's really pissed." Dawn replied. "They were even more pissed when the realized they don't know why you went to L.A."
"Don't suppose it occurred to them it's none of their business." Spike said.
"Buffy thinks everything is here business." Dawn said, "Anyway they want to know why you're there with Willow."
"Do you?"
"Not really." Dawn said, "You left Buffy. She didn't want you. So what you do is none of her business. All I want to know is if you really love Willow or if this is a rebound thing. She doesn't need that right now. So if you're going to hurt her than leave now."
"I don't know if I love her Nibblet." Spike responded, "But I don't plan on hurting her either."
"'Kay." Dawn said, "You don't have to tell me why you're there but I'll be in L.A. in a couple days to visit my dad. Can I come see you. I miss you and Willow."
Spike turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder, seeing Willow he smiled. "Dawn wants to come visit in a couple days."
"Sure." Willow said, "It'll be fun. Oh, Cordy and I can take her shopping."
At the mention of her name and shopping Cordiela looked up from the computer. "Shopping?"
"Yeah. Dawn wants to visit." Willow said.
"Sure."
"Willow and Cordiela are planning a shopping trip for you as we speak Pet." Spike said into the phone. "Call when you get to town."
"Thanks." Dawn said, "Gotta go, Buffy's coming. Tell Will I said Hi."
"Bye." Spike said then when he heard the click on the other end replaced the receiver. "Anya leave?"
"Yeah." Willow said, "Now all I have to do is hope I'm right. and learn Romanian."
"Want help?" Spike said following her toward the steps.
"You speak Romanian?" Willow asked surprised.
"Nope." Spike said, "Actually just planned on annoying you while you worked."
Part Twenty-five
Willow stared at the words on the screen. None of it was making any sense to her, which probably had a lot to do with her lack of knowledge of the language. She could ask Fred for help, except she didn't know if Fred spoke it either, and she didn't want to let her in on this if she didn't need to. She didn't want Fred to be disappointed if her theory was wrong.
"Red, C'mon it's been hours." Spike whined from the bed. "How long are you going to look at that. You can't read it. It isn't suddenly going to appear in English because you're looking at it."
"Draw back to no magic." Willow muttered. "So you don't know Romanian, know anyone that does?"
"Angel." Spike said, "Probably the watcher. There really are better things we could be doing right now." Spike finished coming up behind her and rubbing her shoulders.
"I guess you're right." She said shutting down the computer and turning her chair toward him. As he lowered his head toward hers, she said, "Watcher that's it."
"You're going to call Giles." Spike said straightening. "Thought you didn't want them to know."
"I don't" Willow said, "Not Giles. Wesley."
"Can't do that tonight right?" Spike said pulling her out of the chair.
"No why?"
"Then let's go to bed." Spike said tugging her toward the bed. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"So why was Anya here?" Gunn asked. "And why is a demon friends with Willow?"
"Willow asked her to bring her something. She won't say what it was though." Fred said sitting next to him and handing him a soda. "Anya had been human for a few years then Xander left her at the alter and she got her powers back."
"Will is still friends with a Vengeance demon who was left by her best friend?" Gunn summarized.
"Yep." Fred said nodding.
"Why did she lose her powers to begin with?" Gunn asked.
"Me." Cordiela said coming in the room. "When Xander and I broke up I wanted vengeance. Wished for a Sunnydale without Buffy. Anya granted the wish. It wasn't a fun place to be then Giles broke her amulet and everything returned to normal. Well you know normal for Sunnydale." She finished sitting across from the couple. "So you guys don't know what she was here for either?"
"Nope." Both responded in unison.
"What ever Willow's thinking I hope she's right because I am so beyond tired of researching." Cordiela said.
"Didn't find anything?" Gunn asked knowing how much this would mean to both his friends.
"No." Cordiela said, "Far as I can tell Angel was the one and only time a vampire's soul was restored, well except for Spike now I guess, anyway there is no information on soul restoration."