Part Twenty-six
Willow smiled as she opened her eyes and looked at the vampire next to her. He was being so kind about everything, which still seemed kind of odd to her, she wasn't use to an understanding Spike. But he was willing to give her the time she needed to get over Tara. She supposed he needed time too, time to get over Buffy. Her smile grew when she felt his hand moving down her back, knowing he wasn't sleeping any longer, and figuring she wouldn't stop him if she thought he was sleeping.
"I know you're awake." She said raising her head to kiss him. "Now c'mon lots to do today." She finished pulling him out of the bed.
"You have lots to do today." Spike grumbled, "I on the other hand having nothing to do until dark but annoy the poof and the cheerleader."
"You could try doing something constructive with your time." Willow said, "You know instead of annoying people."
"Was trying to." Spike said grabbing her and pulling her back toward the bed. "Then you got up."
"Spike." Willow said pulling away, "I need to call Wesley."
"Fine." Spike said standing up, "Don't blame me when you get back and the cheerleader's in a bad mood."
'Why don't you spend the time thinking of things to do with Dawn this weekend." Willow suggested.
"Thought you were taking her shopping?"
"We'll be back by dark." Willow said heading out of the room, "Gonna go shower." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"You don't know if the clause was there when you performed the spell?" Wesley asked again unable to believe that Giles hadn't translated the spell before letting the girl do it.
"There hadn't been time. Acathla remember?" Willow said, "Anyway I want to know now. Can you help me?"
"Yes of course." Wesley answered, "You want to come here?"
"Yeah. Um tonight okay?" Willow asked, "Not sure leaving Spike here alone with Cordy all day is a good idea. He's made it his personal business to see how far she can be pushed before deciding the soul doesn't matter and staking him."
"That's fine." Wesley said and quickly gave her directions to his apartment.
"See you then." Willow said hanging up the phone and heading back out to the lobby.
"You are not going with us Spike." Cordiela said without looking up from the magazine she was reading.
"Am too. Red said I could." He said smirking at the woman across from him.
"I said you could what?" Willow asked.
"Go shopping with us Saturday." Cordiela said, "And I am not spending the whole day in the mall with him." She finished throwing the magazine on the table.
"Either am I." Willow said, "He's just trying to piss you off."
"Am not." Spike said smiling, "You said think of things to do with Dawn. I thought of something, shopping with the three of you."
"You don't even like the mall." Willow said, "And you can't go during the day anyway."
"He could take the tunnels." Angel said coming down the steps not really sure what they were discussing but was reasonably sure Spike could get there in the tunnels. Then at Cordiela's angry look, "Or maybe not."
"See even the Poof thinks you should let me go." Spike said enjoying his game, knowing that he had no desire at all to spend the afternoon carrying bags around the mall for the three women.
"I didn't say that." Angel countered. "I just said you could take the sewers but if they don't want."
"We don't." Cordiela said, "And I can't believe you helped him come up with a way to annoy me."
"Cordy I'm sure he not trying to." Angel began then saw the smirk on the younger vampire's face, "Okay who am I kidding he wants to annoy you."
"I'm hurt." Spike said frowning his hand over his heart. "You believe I would do that."
"Yes." All three of the others said in unison.
"Want to see a movie tonight?" Cordiela asked looking at Willow, "Gunn and Angel are going to be out on a case and Fred is working with Connor on building some kind of contraption."
"Love too, but I have plans already, I'll be gone most of the evening." Willow apologized, "Maybe tomorrow."
"Ooh, looks like it's me and you tonight cheerleader." Spike said grinning at her.
"No. Will you are not leaving me here alone all night with him. I swear I'll."
"He's part of the plans." Willow said.
"Oh, those kind of." Cordiela said smiling.
"No not." Willow said, "It's not a date. I just figured it would be bad for Spike's health if I left the two of you alone."
"My." Spike stuttered, "I'm a vampire."
"Who is coming seriously close to being staked." Willow said, "So you come with me."
"Fine." Spike muttered, "Remember though I'm not responsible for my actions if I get bored."
"What ever." Willow said. !~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Spike wandered around Wesley's apartment while the other two poured over the sheets of paper in front of them. He'd heard parts of their conversation, it wasn't going to be easy to translate. It was Romanian but a rather archaic version of it. The watcher said with enough time he could indeed translate it though.
He hated being ignored, especially when it was in favor of his Grand-sire. That's what Dru had done, she said she loved him but he was always second to her Daddy. Buffy too, well Buffy never claimed to love him, but he never compared to Angel in her eyes. Now Willow was ignoring him because of Angel. He picked up a statue sitting on a table in the corner of the room, looking at it for a moment then returning it to it's spot. The noise causing Willow to look up from her book.
"Spike.."
"I didn't do anything." Spike said, "But are you two almost done. I want to go out."
"Willow I can keep working on this and call you if I find anything." Wesley suggested, the hyper vampire making him very nervous. "I have some books in storage that may help and I couldn't get those until tomorrow anyway. You two go out enjoy yourselves."
"If you're sure." Willow said hesitantly, not wanting to dump the work off on Wesley.
"It's fine. I'll call you tomorrow if I haven't found anything we can make arrangements to meet again."
"You heard him Red." Spike said, "Grabbing his duster and her jacket let's go."
"Call as soon as you find anything Wesley," Willow said as Spike pulled her toward the door, "If not call tomorrow and I'll come by and help some more."
"Bye." Wesley said, as Spike pulled the girl out the door.
Looking back down at the papers in front of him, he wanted Willow's theory to be right. If she was it would mean so much to both Angel and Cordiela. He hadn't hesitated to help the girl with this project because he knew he needed to find a way to make amends for what he had done to Angel, and this seemed like the perfect way to do that. To help Willow give Angel the happiness he so richly deserved. He would work on this as long as it took. He would try the other books he had mentioned to her tomorrow morning, if those were of no help he would approach Willow again about contacting Giles. He may have materials they didn't.
Part Twenty-seven
"Dawn are you sure your friends won't mind?" Hank Summers asked again as he stopped the car in front of the hotel. "It isn't a problem for me to drive you back to Sunnydale and catch a plane from there."
"I'm sure it's fine Dad." Dawn said getting out of the car and looking up at the huge building in front of her. " A couple extra days won't matter."
"Well I want to come in with you to be sure." He said getting out of the car and grabbing Dawn's luggage from the trunk, "I don't want to impose on them."
"Whatever." Dawn said grabbing a duffel bag from the back seat and heading toward the door, followed closely by her father. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Damn it Spike you got blood all over the." Cordelia yelled coming into the lobby, stopping short when she saw they had company, "Dawn, your uh, early and have company."
"Yeah, Cordelia this is my."
"Sure, must be my fault I'm not the only one here that." Spike said coming down the stairs. "Dawn?" He said in surprise.
"Hi," Dawn said, "Cordelia, Spike, this is my father. Dad this is Cordelia and Spike, friend's of Buffy's." She finished.
"Don't exaggerate." Spike and Cordelia said in unison.
"Hello." Hank said smiling at the pair across from him.
"Can you guys tell my Dad it's okay for me to stay here until Sunday." Dawn said deciding it was best to ignore the blood comments, since her dad hadn't seemed to have noticed them.
"Of course you can." Cordelia said immediately, "We'd love to have you."
"Are you sure. As I told her I can take her back to."
"We have plenty of room here. And I know Willow would love to spend a little extra time with her." Spike assured the man.
"Well, if you're sure." Hank said reassured that it wouldn't be a problem. "I'll contact Buffy and tell her to make arrangements to get Dawn on Sunday so she's back before school starts Monday."
"Oh, don't worry about that." Cordelia said not interested in another Buffy, Xander confrontation, "We'll get her back home, it's not a problem."
"Okay then have a good time Dawn." Hank said hugging his daughter before leaving. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Wesley reread the words he had written on the legal pad, once again comparing them to the papers Willow had given him last night with the spell on it. There were still a few phrases he couldn't translate at all, and a couple he wasn't confident about, he needed someone with more knowledge of the language. Unfortunately the only people he could think of with that knowledge was Angel, who was out of the question, Giles, who Willow didn't want contacted, and of course the Watcher's Council, but there was little chance they would talk to him, and even less chance they would want to help a vampire. Setting the papers aside just as the phone rang he reached for the receiver.
"Hello."
"Hi, Wesley."
"Willow." Wesley said surprised. "I was going to call you."
"You found something!" Willow said excitedly.
"Well no." Wesley said sadly, "I have translated most of the spell and I don't see anything about the clause, but there are a few things I haven't been able to translate."
"Is there some other book you need. I can find it if that's."
"I don't think another book will help Willow." Wesley interrupted. "I need someone with knowledge of the language I don't possess. That means."
"Angel or Giles." Willow finished for him with a sigh. "I don't want Angel to know about this so he's not an option. But I guess if you really need his help I can call Giles."
"I can call him if you'd."
"No I'll do it." Willow said, "I can't hide from everyone forever. I'll call the Magic Shop now. Buffy and Xander should both be at work."
"I'll wait to hear from you." Wesley said.
"I'll call as soon as I can." Willow responded, "Bye."
"Good bye." Wesley said hanging up the phone. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Oh my God!" Dawn said as the door closed behind her father. "I thought we were dead when you two came in arguing about blood."
"Not like we were expecting company." Spike said then turning her face Cordelia, "Which reminds me, why assume it's my blood. Not like I'm the only one here that drinks it."
"You are the sloppy one though." Cordelia said facing the vampire. "Never had to clean up after Angel before."
"What are you two fighting about." Willow said coming out of the office, her sentence trailing off as spotted Dawn.
"Dawnie." Willow said quickly moving to hug the teenager. "Your early."
"Dad had to go out of town." Dawn explained, "They're fighting about Spike making a mess." She said motioning to the pair arguing in front of them.
"Spike." Willow said interrupting the argument. "Go clean up the mess. Please."
"But."
"If you do, I promise to make it up to you later." She whispered in his ear as she hugged him.
"Not gonna forget that promise Pet." Spike said pulling away from her and walking toward the kitchen.
"Dawn I need to talk to you about something." Willow said facing the teenager, "Upstairs." Pulling Dawn toward the stairs and away from Cordiela.
"I swear I'm gonna kill her if she doesn't tell me what the hell is going on soon." Cordelia muttered as she headed toward the office to catch up on the paperwork.
Part Twenty-eight
Willow pulled Dawn into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. "I need your help." She said sitting on the bed next to where Dawn had sat down.
"'kay with what?"
"Couple things, I need to talk to Giles. He's not angry with me for the Spike thing right?" Willow responded nervously. "I mean I know Buffy and Xander were but Giles he's not."
"He's not mad. Surprised but he's okay." Dawn interrupted, "What do you want me to do though?"
"Call him for me. I really don't want to risk Buffy or Xander answering right now." Willow answered. "I don't have the energy to fight with them today."
"No problem. What do you need to talk to him about, I can have him call you back." Dawn said wondering why Willow wanted to talk to him after avoiding everyone for so long.
"Can you keep a secret?" Willow asked standing up she began pacing the room, when Dawn nodded she continued, "Angel and Cordelia love each other."
"Ookay." Dawn said slowly, "How does this involve Giles?"
"The curse." Willow responded, "Angel's been avoiding even admitting his feelings because of the happiness clause."
"You want Giles to remove the clause?" Dawn asked, "Wouldn't he have done that a long time ago if he knew how?"
"Probably." Willow said, "Actually I think there may not be a clause anymore. I have the spell I used here, but I can't translate it. Wesley's been working on it but he needs help."
"So you're saying that all this time Angel wasn't in any danger of losing his soul, he's been miserable for nothing?" Dawn said, "Oh, but Buffy will be so pissed."
"That's the bonus part of the whole thing." Spike said coming in the room. "Though I still don't think the Poof will know how to act if he doesn't brood."
"Spike." Willow warned. "Which brings me to the other favor Dawn."
"If I have to go to Wesley's to help him and Giles can you keep Spike occupied."
"Why?" Both Spike and Dawn said.
"Because I can't take him with me during the day, and when left alone he does nothing but annoy Angel and Cordy." Willow said glancing at the vampire behind her.
"'kay. Want me to call Giles now?" Dawn asked.
"Why don't we get you settled in a room first." Willow said.
"I put your bags in the next room Nibblet." Spike said.
"Then I'll go unpack and then call Giles." Dawn said leaving the room.
"Now." Spike said as the door closed behind Dawn. "About that promise." He finished pulling Willow to him. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"What's up?" Gunn asked walking into the lobby. "Where is everyone?"
"Fred went out to pick up lunch. Angel's in the basement, and Willow, Spike and Dawn are upstairs talking about something they won't tell me about." Cordelia said.
"You sound annoyed."
"Oh, I'm way passed annoyed Gunn." Cordelia said, "Willow's been up to something for days. Spike knows what it is and he won't talk either. All I know is it has to do with Angel and me."
"What has to do with me?" Angel asked coming up from basement.
"Whatever Willow's been doing for the last few days. The reason Anya was here, the reason her and Spike went out last night."
"I thought it was a date?" Angel asked.
"No." Cordelia said becoming annoyed at how little Angel seemed to notice. "Spike didn't even now about it until Willow told me. So it wasn't a date."
"Want me to ask her?" Angel said trying to pacify Cordelia.
"What the hell good will that do." She asked, as Gunn decided to quietly slip out of the room and wait outside for Fred, "Think she's just going to tell you. Whatever it is she doesn't want us to know yet."
Angel stood watching her pace for several minutes trying to decide if it would be better to ignore her comment or actually try to respond. Deciding it would be best to not fuel her anger anymore he tried changing the subject.
"Um Cordelia I was wondering, Fred said a carnival was opening tonight down the street and her and Gunn were going, I thought maybe you would like."
Cordelia turned toward the vampire, smiling at his nervousness, "I'd love too Angel, Gunn and Fred are going?" At his nod she suggested, "Dawn came to visit early, and Connor has probably never been to one, why don't we see if everyone would like to go?" She asked deciding Angel would be more relaxed if it seemed less like a date, and more like a family outing.
She smiled to herself at that thought. They had never dated, yet somehow were already arranging family outings. Their lives definitely were different than other peoples.
"Sounds great. I'll go find Connor and ask him." Angel said heading up the stairs. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Magic Box." Xander said picking up the phone behind the counter.
"Hi Xan. Giles there?" Dawn asked.
"Dawn Hi." He said setting down the donut he had just grabbed, "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing." She said, "Giles just asked me to look for a book and I forgot the title he wanted."
"Just a sec then." Xander said then put his hand over the receiver, "Giles." He shouted toward the back of the store. "Phone."
"I'll get it back here." Giles responded before picking up the phone on the wall. "Hello."
"Hi." Dawn said then waited for Xander to hang up the phone. "Giles, Willow needs to talk to you."
"Willow?" Giles questioned. "Is something wrong? I thought you weren't going there till the weekend."
"Yeah, well change in plans." Dawn responded, "Anyway I'm at Angel's now. Please don't tell anyone, you know how they are right now. But Willow needs some help from you. She didn't want to call because of Xander and Buffy so can you call her back when you're alone."
"What does she need?" Giles asked concerned about the girl, she was still adjusting to her non magical life. "Is something wrong?"
"No, everything's fine." Dawn explained, "But she can tell you what she wants herself okay."
"Dawn." Giles began.
"I've gotta go." Dawn said at the knock on her door. "Bye." She finished before hanging up. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Willow!" Cordelia yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Giles is on the phone."
"Got it." Willow yelled back, reaching for the phone. "Hello."
"Willow." Giles said at the sound of her voice, "Dawn asked me to call you. There isn't a problem is there?"
"Oh, no." Willow reassured him, "I mean there is, but not like you mean. I just wanted to know if you could maybe come up to L.A. this weekend. I, we, need your, uh, help."
"Did Spike."
"No." She said glancing back at the vampire sleeping on the bed next to her. "Spike is fine. It's kind of your language skills we need. Are you alone?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I don't want Buffy or Xander to know about this yet. I didn't want to tell anyone else, but it seems I have no choice." Willow said quickly, "You know the spell to restore Angel's soul, did you ever translate it?"
"No. Why Angel hasn't.." Giles said, panic coming through in his voice.
"Would I be this calm if he had?" Willow retorted, "I was wondering if the happiness clause was there. I mean it probably wasn't part of the original spell, it was something the gypsy's added right? So then which version was it Miss. Calander found?"
"I never thought about that." Giles said realizing Willow did have a point, they had all assumed the clause was still there. "I can get away this weekend."
"Great. Actually that'll solve another problem. Getting Dawn home Sunday." Willow said smiling when she felt Spike roll over and reach for her, pulling her closer to him.
"I'll be there Saturday afternoon, and I'll take Dawn back with me on Sunday then." Giles offered, "If it's okay with Angel."
"I'm sure it'll be no problem." Willow assured him, "But don't tell Angel why you're here okay. I don't want him or Cordelia to know anything until we're sure."
"All right. Buffy's here." Giles said, "I'll see you Saturday."
Twenty-nine
Connor and Dawn walked through the masses of people lining up to go through the haunted house. After a lot of pleading and begging they had convinced Angel and Spike that they could make it through a carnival alone. It wasn't like sixteen year olds didn't go out by themselves all the time, and they had the advantage of Connor having the speed and strength of a vampire.
"Now why aren't we going in this one?" Connor asked. They had been on almost every ride they passed so he couldn't understand why she was skipping this one.
"It's a haunted house." Dawn explained, "But trust me, there is nothing in that building that's as scary as the real demons and stuff you've already seen."
"Spike is very protective of you." Connor said changing the subject, as they moved into the line for the tilt-a-whirl. "Odd isn't it for a vampire. I mean Angel's different because I'm his child but."
"Spike promised my sister to protect me before she died." Dawn said, "He takes it very seriously."
"Your sister's dead?"
"Not anymore." Dawn said smiling, "You don't know any of this?"
"Guess not." Connor said, "I left as an infant and showed up again like this."
"Nice to talk to someone who's life is as messed up as mine." Dawn said laughing. "All right I'll explain my messed up life if you tell me about yours."
"Deal." Connor said and handed the tickets to the man standing at the gate. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"You ever gonna tell me what's going on?" Cordelia asked Willow as three women stood back and watched the men trying to pop balloons with little darts.
"Going on?" Willow asked trying to look innocent.
"Yes." Cordelia said, "Going on. You've been keeping something from me ever since that night I told you about Angel."
"I'm not keeping anything from you." Willow said looking away from her friend.
"I have to agree with Cordy." Fred said, "You've been acting weird."
"I'll tell all of you when it's time okay." Willow said then looking at Cordelia, "You have to trust me right now."
"Can't stand not knowing everything huh, Cheerleader?" Spike asked walking over to the women holding a large stuffed pink bear.
"Spike." Cordelia said turning her attention to the vampire.
"Spike is that for me?" Willow said stepping between the two before a fight started.
"Like it?" Spike asked. "Angel's still over there trying to win something."
"Amazing isn't it?" Gunn said walking up next to Fred, and handing her a giant dog, "If he saw a vamp he could throw a stake and hit from the other side of the other side of the street, but a dart at a balloon from five feet is too much."
"It is kind of sad isn't it?" Willow said shaking her head, "If I could still use magic I'd help him."
Cordelia watched as Angel reached into his pocket for more money. He's going to go broke at this game, she thought, "Angel, why don't we try a different game?" She suggested, there had to be something here he was good at.
"One more try." Angel said, "I think I've got it now."
"Let's go." Cordelia said pulling him away. "You can try something else." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Why did we bring him again?" Cordelia asked tugging on the bottom of her shirt trying to wring the water out of it.
"It was an accident." Fred and Willow both said, trying to not to laugh at their friend who was thoroughly soaked from the last game they had played.
"It was not. I can't believe you brought him."
"You did say everyone." Willow said biting back the smile.
"Hey guys." Dawn said when she spotted the rest of the group coming toward the parked car. "God where are we going to put all those stuffed animals?" She asked spotting Gunn and Spike each carrying an armful of large stuffed toys, and Angel carry several smaller toys.
"What happened to you?" Connor asked spotting Cordelia trying to shake some of the water from her hair.
"He tried to drown me." She stated angrily staring at the blonde vampire.
"If I wanted to drowned you, you wouldn't be here telling them about it." Spike said throwing stuffed animals in the trunk that Angel had opened.
"You saw him right Angel?" Cordelia asked, "He did it on purpose right?"
"Cordy, I don't." Angel began knowing there was no way to be honest and not piss off his seer.
"That's right Cheerleader." Spike finally said turning back to her, "I knew that man would hit the water hard enough to splash massive amounts of water over the side of the tank to the exact spot you were standing."
"I knew it." Cordelia said ignoring the obvious sarcasm.
"Cordelia, If he knew the water would do that he was risking hitting Fred and Willow who were only like a foot away from you." Angel pointed out. "And it was only water."
"No Angel, I've been reading some of Red's old books." Spike said, "Practicing magic just to get the chance to splash the cheerleader at a carnival."
"Spike you are not helping." Willow and Dawn both said.
"I think maybe we should walk home." Willow suggested pulling Spike away from the car, "Meet you guys there."
"Want to walk with them?" Dawn asked Connor.
"Sure." He said and the two of them followed after Willow and Spike. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Do you have to do that?" Willow said as they walked down the street.
"Do what?" Spike asked innocently, "I didn't get her wet on purpose."
"Piss her off." Willow, Dawn, and Connor all said at the same time.
"I don't." Spike started.
"I've only been here a day and I know you aggravate her on purpose." Dawn said hitting his shoulder.
"Spike, I love you, but I really don't want to have to avoid every friend I have because of you. Buffy, Xander, and Giles don't like you. And you're quickly wearing out your welcome here. So please, for me, try to be nice to Cordelia."
"Everyone doesn't hate me. Nibblet likes me. So does Fred." Spike said.
"Anya likes him too." Dawn offered.
"So does Gunn." Connor added.
"Did you say you love me?" Spike said when her statement fully sank in.
"Uh, Yes." Willow said blushing.
"I think we should go." Dawn said smiling and pulling Connor away from the couple.
"I shouldn't have." Willow said, "I know you don't. and it's."
"Red," Spike said pulling her against him, "I love you too."
"Really." She said smiling and looking up at him.
"Yeah." He said before lowering his head to kiss her.
Part Thirty
Giles walked through the door of the hotel, looking around for a sign of it's inhabitants, finally spotting a girl in the office behind the desk. He set his bags down and moved closer to the desk hoping she would notice him, just as she looked up and smiled.
"Hi," she said coming out of the office. "Your Giles right? I'm Fred."
"Yes. And nice to meet you." Giles said extending his hand to the girl. "Is uh, Willow or Spike around?"
"They're at the mall with Cordelia." She said smiling at his grimace. "I know probably not a good idea but Dawn really wanted Spike to go with them."
"Yes, Well I can't imagine what Willow was thinking." Giles said, "I really can't picture Spike behaving well in a mall."
"Well, I can show you to the room Angel arranged for you." Fred said quickly, "That is unless you want to tell me why Willow asked you to come here."
"Sorry." Giles replied smiling at the girls attempt to get information, "I promised Willow I wouldn't say anything."
"It was worth a try." She said shrugging and moving toward the stairs. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Red, isn't the watcher arriving today?" Spike asked trailing behind the three women, and carrying several bags that Dawn had acquired in various stores. This had been by far the longest day of his life. He never should have let Dawn talk him in to coming, but it was another chance to spend time with Willow, plus the bonus of pissing off Cordelia.
"Why?" Willow said as they headed into another accessory store. "Miss him?" She finished turning to face the vampire.
"Not bloody likely." Spike murmured. "Just thought it would be polite if you were there when your company arrives."
"Translation." Cordelia said, fed up with the vampire's whining, "I'm bored and want to go home."
"Or maybe, I'm tired of being a pack horse." Spike suggested holding up his hands filled with bags.
"He's right Will." Dawn said not wanting to here another argument, "Giles should be here by now. Let's just go."
"'Kay." Willow said following Spike out of the store.
"Gonna tell me why he's here yet?" Cordelia asked catching up with the Red head.
"Spike?" Willow said feigning innocence. "Dawn wanted him to come."
"Giles." Cordelia said, "Why is he here today instead of tomorrow?"
"Can't tell you yet." Willow said, "Hopefully I can tell you by tomorrow." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Giles quickly hung up the phone when he heard the door open. He had called Wesley to get as much information as he could before they went over there tonight. From what the other watcher had told him it sounded like Willow's theory was right. The spell Jenny found didn't seem to include the clause. He just needed to get a look at a few phrases that Wesley wasn't sure of. This wasn't something they wanted to risk making a mistake on.
"Giles." Dawn said opening the office door. "You alone here?"
"Fred went out with Gunn to get lunch." Giles said as Willow and Spike followed the teenager into the office.
"Hi." Willow said quietly then moving to hug the watcher.
"Hello." Giles said returning the hug, glad to see that Willow was looking and sounding better than before she left. "I talked to Wesley."
"Good news I hope?" Willow said smiling.
"Yes. The guarantee of no repeat performances by Angelus would be nice." Spike muttered.
"I think so yes." Giles said, ignoring the vampire's comment "I do need to go to Wesley's though to look at the spell to be sure."
"Dawn can you watch Spike?" Willow asked glancing at the vampire, she didn't want to take him to Wesley's again, he clearly made the ex-watcher nervous.
"I'm not a child." Spike pouted. "I don't need a baby-sitter."
"Great then you wanna take me to a movie?" Dawn asked smiling at the vampire.
"Action Movie?"
"What ever." Dawn agreed, knowing she just needed to keep the vampire busy. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Willow sat on the couch flipping through the channels on Wesley's television, while the two watcher's studied the spell, and muttering to each other and themselves, and occasionally consulting various books. She hoped this all worked out for Angel, he deserved to be happy, so did Cordelia. True, a few years ago she wouldn't have believed there would be a day she would think Cordelia deserved happiness.
"Willow." Giles said pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah." Willow said turning to face them, "Find something?"
"Actually yes." Giles said, "It looks like you were right. There is no sign of the clause in this spell."
"Oh, That's great!" She said jumping up and hugging the two men. "Angel's going to be so happy. Oh, and Wesley, you have to come with us to tell them."
"I don't think." Wesley began nervously.
"You have to." Willow said quickly. "I couldn't have done this without you and you haven't seen them in so long, and they miss you, and I know you miss them and."
"I'll go." Wesley said, "But Giles and I would like to talk to talk to you about Spike."
"What about him?" Willow asked becoming instantly defensive. "I'm not going to stop seeing."
"Willow, you know that Spike is." Giles began worried about how the vampire might affect the still vulnerable girl.
"He's not dangerous anymore." Willow said, "Hell, he's less dangerous than Angel."
"Willow the chip." Wesley said, having discussed this at great length with Giles earlier in the day.
"Doesn't really even matter anymore." Willow said, angry that they were questioning her judgment like this, "He has. Giles Spike has a soul." She said falling back onto the couch. "Damn it, that shouldn't even matter."
"Spike has a." Giles said taking off his glasses rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Willow are you sure?"
"Yes." Willow said, "When he left Sunnydale he went looking for a way to have the chip removed and ended up getting a soul."
"Why didn't he. Why didn't you." Wesley stuttered not sure exactly what to say at this news.
"Because it doesn't change anything." Willow said, "He hasn't done anything really bad in a few years. Why should a soul make so much of a difference?"
"Willow you know that it does." Giles said sitting next to the girl. "Do Buffy and Xander know?"
"No. And you can't tell them. I shouldn't have told you." Willow said quickly, "Who knows and who doesn't is Spike's decision not ours."
"Fine." Giles agreed, "But if he's going to return to Sunnydale."
"Neither of us plan on returning anytime soon." Willow said, "I'm sorry Giles. But we both know that Xander and Buffy won't accept him even if they know about the soul."
"Willow are you sure?" Giles asked knowing that she was right, and that if she stayed here with Angel she would be safe.
"Yes." Willow said, "Giles I love him. And things are better here, everyone here doesn't look at me with fear that one day I may go crazy again and try to kill them. Okay Cordy may one day stake Spike but we're working on that." She said smiling.
"If this is what you want. Just please don't shut us all out Willow. Buffy and Xander love you, they will deal with this eventually." Giles said hugging her then pulling back to look at her, "Shall we go tell Angel the news?"
"Lets go." She said smiling and standing up.
Part thirty-one
Dawn and Fred were sitting on the couch, with Gunn and Connor on the floor in front of them watching a movie when the door opened and Willow walked through holding her lap top in one hand and a large stack of papers in the other. Giles followed closely behind her.
"Willow, Giles." Dawn said grabbing the remote control and stopping the movie when she saw the smile on Willow's face. "Back already?"
"Yeah. Angel and Cordy around?" Willow said glancing around the room.
"Oh, and you brought Wesley with you." Fred said jumping up as she spotted the other man coming through the door.
"Hello." Wesley said still uneasy about being here. He knew that he had made peace with these people and they had told him many times that he was welcome back but he wasn't sure he was comfortable with it just yet.
"Angel and Cordy went to get snacks." Gunn replied to Willow's question. "Hey." He said glancing at Wesley.
"Spike's upstairs pouting over us renting a 'Chick-flick'." Dawn said anticipating Willow's next question. "Sure you really love someone who pouts that much."
"Spike." Willow yelled. "Come down here please." She finished ignoring the teenager's comment.
"Back so soon?" Cordelia asked coming through the door carrying a large bag. "'Cause I don't think we have enough snacks for."
"Wesley!" She said dropping the bag and running to hug her friend. "This mean your back."
"Well. Possibly." Wesley said returning the hug, "But first we have something to discuss with you and Angel."
"What?" Angel asked setting several more bags by the door and pushing it closed behind him.
Once everyone was in the room and seated Willow began to explain to everyone her theory about the spell she had used to restore Angel's soul. "Anyway I never actually translated the spell, wouldn't have known how even if there had been time, but when Cordy said that you had been afraid to, uh, have a relationship, with her because of the happiness thing I started thinking. The original spell could have been modified to include the clause, I mean after Spike was given his soul back without the clause so."
"You have a soul?" Dawn asked slapping the vampire next to her in the chest. "Thanks for sharing."
"Sorry Nibblet." Spike said rubbing the spot where she had hit him.
"Okay, uh, back to Angel please." Cordelia said impatient with change in the conversation.
"Okay. So I thought maybe what Ms. Calander and found may have been the original spell, not the modified one. That's why Anya was here, I need the spell to translate it." Willow said, "Unfortunately still don't know ancient Romanian so that's where Wesley came in."
"Right and I was able to translate most of the spell but I couldn't be sure about some phrases and considering the consequences of being wrong." Wesley said hesitantly, "Which is why Mr. Giles is here. We needed his assistance to finish the translation."
"Okay whatever." Cordelia said bored with all the explanation and just wanting the outcome. "Was Willow right or not?"
"Yes." Willow, Giles, and Wesley all responded at once.
"You're serious right?" Cordelia said standing up and pacing the room in shock, "This isn't some kind of really sick joke."
"Right 'cause they would risk him taking it seriously and bringing back Angelus." Spike said to Cordelia, then raising an eyebrow at the vampire across from him who had yet to speak. "See told you he wouldn't know what to do now that he doesn't have to brood all the time."
"Be nice." Willow and Dawn both said.
"Angel, um, this is good right?" Willow asked hesitantly not sure what to make of the vampire's silence.
"Yes. Good." Angel said snapping out of his shock, "It's great." He stood and went to hug Cordelia. "My soul is permanent?" He asked once more, "You're sure?"
"Yep." Willow said, "And I realize you two really want out of here right now but before you go. Angel I would like to stay here if that's okay."
"You're not returning to Sunnydale?" Cordelia asked surprised. She was glad to have her friend stay but had always assumed one day she would go back home.
"I love Spike." Willow said smiling and taking the vampire's hand. "He's not really welcome there. So if it's okay with you, maybe we could both stay here. I mean I love fighting evil and we can do that here too."
"Spike has to stay too?" Cordelia asked in disappointment.
"Yep." Willow said then looking at the vampire and smiling, "You do want too right?"
"I want to be where ever you are." Spike answered.
"You are both welcome to stay here." Angel assured Willow, "For as long as you like."
"Now if you'll excuse us." Cordelia said grabbing the vampire's hand and pulling him toward the door, "We really need to uh, be alone."
The End.
Willow smiled as she opened her eyes and looked at the vampire next to her. He was being so kind about everything, which still seemed kind of odd to her, she wasn't use to an understanding Spike. But he was willing to give her the time she needed to get over Tara. She supposed he needed time too, time to get over Buffy. Her smile grew when she felt his hand moving down her back, knowing he wasn't sleeping any longer, and figuring she wouldn't stop him if she thought he was sleeping.
"I know you're awake." She said raising her head to kiss him. "Now c'mon lots to do today." She finished pulling him out of the bed.
"You have lots to do today." Spike grumbled, "I on the other hand having nothing to do until dark but annoy the poof and the cheerleader."
"You could try doing something constructive with your time." Willow said, "You know instead of annoying people."
"Was trying to." Spike said grabbing her and pulling her back toward the bed. "Then you got up."
"Spike." Willow said pulling away, "I need to call Wesley."
"Fine." Spike said standing up, "Don't blame me when you get back and the cheerleader's in a bad mood."
'Why don't you spend the time thinking of things to do with Dawn this weekend." Willow suggested.
"Thought you were taking her shopping?"
"We'll be back by dark." Willow said heading out of the room, "Gonna go shower." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"You don't know if the clause was there when you performed the spell?" Wesley asked again unable to believe that Giles hadn't translated the spell before letting the girl do it.
"There hadn't been time. Acathla remember?" Willow said, "Anyway I want to know now. Can you help me?"
"Yes of course." Wesley answered, "You want to come here?"
"Yeah. Um tonight okay?" Willow asked, "Not sure leaving Spike here alone with Cordy all day is a good idea. He's made it his personal business to see how far she can be pushed before deciding the soul doesn't matter and staking him."
"That's fine." Wesley said and quickly gave her directions to his apartment.
"See you then." Willow said hanging up the phone and heading back out to the lobby.
"You are not going with us Spike." Cordiela said without looking up from the magazine she was reading.
"Am too. Red said I could." He said smirking at the woman across from him.
"I said you could what?" Willow asked.
"Go shopping with us Saturday." Cordiela said, "And I am not spending the whole day in the mall with him." She finished throwing the magazine on the table.
"Either am I." Willow said, "He's just trying to piss you off."
"Am not." Spike said smiling, "You said think of things to do with Dawn. I thought of something, shopping with the three of you."
"You don't even like the mall." Willow said, "And you can't go during the day anyway."
"He could take the tunnels." Angel said coming down the steps not really sure what they were discussing but was reasonably sure Spike could get there in the tunnels. Then at Cordiela's angry look, "Or maybe not."
"See even the Poof thinks you should let me go." Spike said enjoying his game, knowing that he had no desire at all to spend the afternoon carrying bags around the mall for the three women.
"I didn't say that." Angel countered. "I just said you could take the sewers but if they don't want."
"We don't." Cordiela said, "And I can't believe you helped him come up with a way to annoy me."
"Cordy I'm sure he not trying to." Angel began then saw the smirk on the younger vampire's face, "Okay who am I kidding he wants to annoy you."
"I'm hurt." Spike said frowning his hand over his heart. "You believe I would do that."
"Yes." All three of the others said in unison.
"Want to see a movie tonight?" Cordiela asked looking at Willow, "Gunn and Angel are going to be out on a case and Fred is working with Connor on building some kind of contraption."
"Love too, but I have plans already, I'll be gone most of the evening." Willow apologized, "Maybe tomorrow."
"Ooh, looks like it's me and you tonight cheerleader." Spike said grinning at her.
"No. Will you are not leaving me here alone all night with him. I swear I'll."
"He's part of the plans." Willow said.
"Oh, those kind of." Cordiela said smiling.
"No not." Willow said, "It's not a date. I just figured it would be bad for Spike's health if I left the two of you alone."
"My." Spike stuttered, "I'm a vampire."
"Who is coming seriously close to being staked." Willow said, "So you come with me."
"Fine." Spike muttered, "Remember though I'm not responsible for my actions if I get bored."
"What ever." Willow said. !~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Spike wandered around Wesley's apartment while the other two poured over the sheets of paper in front of them. He'd heard parts of their conversation, it wasn't going to be easy to translate. It was Romanian but a rather archaic version of it. The watcher said with enough time he could indeed translate it though.
He hated being ignored, especially when it was in favor of his Grand-sire. That's what Dru had done, she said she loved him but he was always second to her Daddy. Buffy too, well Buffy never claimed to love him, but he never compared to Angel in her eyes. Now Willow was ignoring him because of Angel. He picked up a statue sitting on a table in the corner of the room, looking at it for a moment then returning it to it's spot. The noise causing Willow to look up from her book.
"Spike.."
"I didn't do anything." Spike said, "But are you two almost done. I want to go out."
"Willow I can keep working on this and call you if I find anything." Wesley suggested, the hyper vampire making him very nervous. "I have some books in storage that may help and I couldn't get those until tomorrow anyway. You two go out enjoy yourselves."
"If you're sure." Willow said hesitantly, not wanting to dump the work off on Wesley.
"It's fine. I'll call you tomorrow if I haven't found anything we can make arrangements to meet again."
"You heard him Red." Spike said, "Grabbing his duster and her jacket let's go."
"Call as soon as you find anything Wesley," Willow said as Spike pulled her toward the door, "If not call tomorrow and I'll come by and help some more."
"Bye." Wesley said, as Spike pulled the girl out the door.
Looking back down at the papers in front of him, he wanted Willow's theory to be right. If she was it would mean so much to both Angel and Cordiela. He hadn't hesitated to help the girl with this project because he knew he needed to find a way to make amends for what he had done to Angel, and this seemed like the perfect way to do that. To help Willow give Angel the happiness he so richly deserved. He would work on this as long as it took. He would try the other books he had mentioned to her tomorrow morning, if those were of no help he would approach Willow again about contacting Giles. He may have materials they didn't.
Part Twenty-seven
"Dawn are you sure your friends won't mind?" Hank Summers asked again as he stopped the car in front of the hotel. "It isn't a problem for me to drive you back to Sunnydale and catch a plane from there."
"I'm sure it's fine Dad." Dawn said getting out of the car and looking up at the huge building in front of her. " A couple extra days won't matter."
"Well I want to come in with you to be sure." He said getting out of the car and grabbing Dawn's luggage from the trunk, "I don't want to impose on them."
"Whatever." Dawn said grabbing a duffel bag from the back seat and heading toward the door, followed closely by her father. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Damn it Spike you got blood all over the." Cordelia yelled coming into the lobby, stopping short when she saw they had company, "Dawn, your uh, early and have company."
"Yeah, Cordelia this is my."
"Sure, must be my fault I'm not the only one here that." Spike said coming down the stairs. "Dawn?" He said in surprise.
"Hi," Dawn said, "Cordelia, Spike, this is my father. Dad this is Cordelia and Spike, friend's of Buffy's." She finished.
"Don't exaggerate." Spike and Cordelia said in unison.
"Hello." Hank said smiling at the pair across from him.
"Can you guys tell my Dad it's okay for me to stay here until Sunday." Dawn said deciding it was best to ignore the blood comments, since her dad hadn't seemed to have noticed them.
"Of course you can." Cordelia said immediately, "We'd love to have you."
"Are you sure. As I told her I can take her back to."
"We have plenty of room here. And I know Willow would love to spend a little extra time with her." Spike assured the man.
"Well, if you're sure." Hank said reassured that it wouldn't be a problem. "I'll contact Buffy and tell her to make arrangements to get Dawn on Sunday so she's back before school starts Monday."
"Oh, don't worry about that." Cordelia said not interested in another Buffy, Xander confrontation, "We'll get her back home, it's not a problem."
"Okay then have a good time Dawn." Hank said hugging his daughter before leaving. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Wesley reread the words he had written on the legal pad, once again comparing them to the papers Willow had given him last night with the spell on it. There were still a few phrases he couldn't translate at all, and a couple he wasn't confident about, he needed someone with more knowledge of the language. Unfortunately the only people he could think of with that knowledge was Angel, who was out of the question, Giles, who Willow didn't want contacted, and of course the Watcher's Council, but there was little chance they would talk to him, and even less chance they would want to help a vampire. Setting the papers aside just as the phone rang he reached for the receiver.
"Hello."
"Hi, Wesley."
"Willow." Wesley said surprised. "I was going to call you."
"You found something!" Willow said excitedly.
"Well no." Wesley said sadly, "I have translated most of the spell and I don't see anything about the clause, but there are a few things I haven't been able to translate."
"Is there some other book you need. I can find it if that's."
"I don't think another book will help Willow." Wesley interrupted. "I need someone with knowledge of the language I don't possess. That means."
"Angel or Giles." Willow finished for him with a sigh. "I don't want Angel to know about this so he's not an option. But I guess if you really need his help I can call Giles."
"I can call him if you'd."
"No I'll do it." Willow said, "I can't hide from everyone forever. I'll call the Magic Shop now. Buffy and Xander should both be at work."
"I'll wait to hear from you." Wesley said.
"I'll call as soon as I can." Willow responded, "Bye."
"Good bye." Wesley said hanging up the phone. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Oh my God!" Dawn said as the door closed behind her father. "I thought we were dead when you two came in arguing about blood."
"Not like we were expecting company." Spike said then turning her face Cordelia, "Which reminds me, why assume it's my blood. Not like I'm the only one here that drinks it."
"You are the sloppy one though." Cordelia said facing the vampire. "Never had to clean up after Angel before."
"What are you two fighting about." Willow said coming out of the office, her sentence trailing off as spotted Dawn.
"Dawnie." Willow said quickly moving to hug the teenager. "Your early."
"Dad had to go out of town." Dawn explained, "They're fighting about Spike making a mess." She said motioning to the pair arguing in front of them.
"Spike." Willow said interrupting the argument. "Go clean up the mess. Please."
"But."
"If you do, I promise to make it up to you later." She whispered in his ear as she hugged him.
"Not gonna forget that promise Pet." Spike said pulling away from her and walking toward the kitchen.
"Dawn I need to talk to you about something." Willow said facing the teenager, "Upstairs." Pulling Dawn toward the stairs and away from Cordiela.
"I swear I'm gonna kill her if she doesn't tell me what the hell is going on soon." Cordelia muttered as she headed toward the office to catch up on the paperwork.
Part Twenty-eight
Willow pulled Dawn into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. "I need your help." She said sitting on the bed next to where Dawn had sat down.
"'kay with what?"
"Couple things, I need to talk to Giles. He's not angry with me for the Spike thing right?" Willow responded nervously. "I mean I know Buffy and Xander were but Giles he's not."
"He's not mad. Surprised but he's okay." Dawn interrupted, "What do you want me to do though?"
"Call him for me. I really don't want to risk Buffy or Xander answering right now." Willow answered. "I don't have the energy to fight with them today."
"No problem. What do you need to talk to him about, I can have him call you back." Dawn said wondering why Willow wanted to talk to him after avoiding everyone for so long.
"Can you keep a secret?" Willow asked standing up she began pacing the room, when Dawn nodded she continued, "Angel and Cordelia love each other."
"Ookay." Dawn said slowly, "How does this involve Giles?"
"The curse." Willow responded, "Angel's been avoiding even admitting his feelings because of the happiness clause."
"You want Giles to remove the clause?" Dawn asked, "Wouldn't he have done that a long time ago if he knew how?"
"Probably." Willow said, "Actually I think there may not be a clause anymore. I have the spell I used here, but I can't translate it. Wesley's been working on it but he needs help."
"So you're saying that all this time Angel wasn't in any danger of losing his soul, he's been miserable for nothing?" Dawn said, "Oh, but Buffy will be so pissed."
"That's the bonus part of the whole thing." Spike said coming in the room. "Though I still don't think the Poof will know how to act if he doesn't brood."
"Spike." Willow warned. "Which brings me to the other favor Dawn."
"If I have to go to Wesley's to help him and Giles can you keep Spike occupied."
"Why?" Both Spike and Dawn said.
"Because I can't take him with me during the day, and when left alone he does nothing but annoy Angel and Cordy." Willow said glancing at the vampire behind her.
"'kay. Want me to call Giles now?" Dawn asked.
"Why don't we get you settled in a room first." Willow said.
"I put your bags in the next room Nibblet." Spike said.
"Then I'll go unpack and then call Giles." Dawn said leaving the room.
"Now." Spike said as the door closed behind Dawn. "About that promise." He finished pulling Willow to him. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"What's up?" Gunn asked walking into the lobby. "Where is everyone?"
"Fred went out to pick up lunch. Angel's in the basement, and Willow, Spike and Dawn are upstairs talking about something they won't tell me about." Cordelia said.
"You sound annoyed."
"Oh, I'm way passed annoyed Gunn." Cordelia said, "Willow's been up to something for days. Spike knows what it is and he won't talk either. All I know is it has to do with Angel and me."
"What has to do with me?" Angel asked coming up from basement.
"Whatever Willow's been doing for the last few days. The reason Anya was here, the reason her and Spike went out last night."
"I thought it was a date?" Angel asked.
"No." Cordelia said becoming annoyed at how little Angel seemed to notice. "Spike didn't even now about it until Willow told me. So it wasn't a date."
"Want me to ask her?" Angel said trying to pacify Cordelia.
"What the hell good will that do." She asked, as Gunn decided to quietly slip out of the room and wait outside for Fred, "Think she's just going to tell you. Whatever it is she doesn't want us to know yet."
Angel stood watching her pace for several minutes trying to decide if it would be better to ignore her comment or actually try to respond. Deciding it would be best to not fuel her anger anymore he tried changing the subject.
"Um Cordelia I was wondering, Fred said a carnival was opening tonight down the street and her and Gunn were going, I thought maybe you would like."
Cordelia turned toward the vampire, smiling at his nervousness, "I'd love too Angel, Gunn and Fred are going?" At his nod she suggested, "Dawn came to visit early, and Connor has probably never been to one, why don't we see if everyone would like to go?" She asked deciding Angel would be more relaxed if it seemed less like a date, and more like a family outing.
She smiled to herself at that thought. They had never dated, yet somehow were already arranging family outings. Their lives definitely were different than other peoples.
"Sounds great. I'll go find Connor and ask him." Angel said heading up the stairs. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Magic Box." Xander said picking up the phone behind the counter.
"Hi Xan. Giles there?" Dawn asked.
"Dawn Hi." He said setting down the donut he had just grabbed, "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing." She said, "Giles just asked me to look for a book and I forgot the title he wanted."
"Just a sec then." Xander said then put his hand over the receiver, "Giles." He shouted toward the back of the store. "Phone."
"I'll get it back here." Giles responded before picking up the phone on the wall. "Hello."
"Hi." Dawn said then waited for Xander to hang up the phone. "Giles, Willow needs to talk to you."
"Willow?" Giles questioned. "Is something wrong? I thought you weren't going there till the weekend."
"Yeah, well change in plans." Dawn responded, "Anyway I'm at Angel's now. Please don't tell anyone, you know how they are right now. But Willow needs some help from you. She didn't want to call because of Xander and Buffy so can you call her back when you're alone."
"What does she need?" Giles asked concerned about the girl, she was still adjusting to her non magical life. "Is something wrong?"
"No, everything's fine." Dawn explained, "But she can tell you what she wants herself okay."
"Dawn." Giles began.
"I've gotta go." Dawn said at the knock on her door. "Bye." She finished before hanging up. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Willow!" Cordelia yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Giles is on the phone."
"Got it." Willow yelled back, reaching for the phone. "Hello."
"Willow." Giles said at the sound of her voice, "Dawn asked me to call you. There isn't a problem is there?"
"Oh, no." Willow reassured him, "I mean there is, but not like you mean. I just wanted to know if you could maybe come up to L.A. this weekend. I, we, need your, uh, help."
"Did Spike."
"No." She said glancing back at the vampire sleeping on the bed next to her. "Spike is fine. It's kind of your language skills we need. Are you alone?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I don't want Buffy or Xander to know about this yet. I didn't want to tell anyone else, but it seems I have no choice." Willow said quickly, "You know the spell to restore Angel's soul, did you ever translate it?"
"No. Why Angel hasn't.." Giles said, panic coming through in his voice.
"Would I be this calm if he had?" Willow retorted, "I was wondering if the happiness clause was there. I mean it probably wasn't part of the original spell, it was something the gypsy's added right? So then which version was it Miss. Calander found?"
"I never thought about that." Giles said realizing Willow did have a point, they had all assumed the clause was still there. "I can get away this weekend."
"Great. Actually that'll solve another problem. Getting Dawn home Sunday." Willow said smiling when she felt Spike roll over and reach for her, pulling her closer to him.
"I'll be there Saturday afternoon, and I'll take Dawn back with me on Sunday then." Giles offered, "If it's okay with Angel."
"I'm sure it'll be no problem." Willow assured him, "But don't tell Angel why you're here okay. I don't want him or Cordelia to know anything until we're sure."
"All right. Buffy's here." Giles said, "I'll see you Saturday."
Twenty-nine
Connor and Dawn walked through the masses of people lining up to go through the haunted house. After a lot of pleading and begging they had convinced Angel and Spike that they could make it through a carnival alone. It wasn't like sixteen year olds didn't go out by themselves all the time, and they had the advantage of Connor having the speed and strength of a vampire.
"Now why aren't we going in this one?" Connor asked. They had been on almost every ride they passed so he couldn't understand why she was skipping this one.
"It's a haunted house." Dawn explained, "But trust me, there is nothing in that building that's as scary as the real demons and stuff you've already seen."
"Spike is very protective of you." Connor said changing the subject, as they moved into the line for the tilt-a-whirl. "Odd isn't it for a vampire. I mean Angel's different because I'm his child but."
"Spike promised my sister to protect me before she died." Dawn said, "He takes it very seriously."
"Your sister's dead?"
"Not anymore." Dawn said smiling, "You don't know any of this?"
"Guess not." Connor said, "I left as an infant and showed up again like this."
"Nice to talk to someone who's life is as messed up as mine." Dawn said laughing. "All right I'll explain my messed up life if you tell me about yours."
"Deal." Connor said and handed the tickets to the man standing at the gate. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"You ever gonna tell me what's going on?" Cordelia asked Willow as three women stood back and watched the men trying to pop balloons with little darts.
"Going on?" Willow asked trying to look innocent.
"Yes." Cordelia said, "Going on. You've been keeping something from me ever since that night I told you about Angel."
"I'm not keeping anything from you." Willow said looking away from her friend.
"I have to agree with Cordy." Fred said, "You've been acting weird."
"I'll tell all of you when it's time okay." Willow said then looking at Cordelia, "You have to trust me right now."
"Can't stand not knowing everything huh, Cheerleader?" Spike asked walking over to the women holding a large stuffed pink bear.
"Spike." Cordelia said turning her attention to the vampire.
"Spike is that for me?" Willow said stepping between the two before a fight started.
"Like it?" Spike asked. "Angel's still over there trying to win something."
"Amazing isn't it?" Gunn said walking up next to Fred, and handing her a giant dog, "If he saw a vamp he could throw a stake and hit from the other side of the other side of the street, but a dart at a balloon from five feet is too much."
"It is kind of sad isn't it?" Willow said shaking her head, "If I could still use magic I'd help him."
Cordelia watched as Angel reached into his pocket for more money. He's going to go broke at this game, she thought, "Angel, why don't we try a different game?" She suggested, there had to be something here he was good at.
"One more try." Angel said, "I think I've got it now."
"Let's go." Cordelia said pulling him away. "You can try something else." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Why did we bring him again?" Cordelia asked tugging on the bottom of her shirt trying to wring the water out of it.
"It was an accident." Fred and Willow both said, trying to not to laugh at their friend who was thoroughly soaked from the last game they had played.
"It was not. I can't believe you brought him."
"You did say everyone." Willow said biting back the smile.
"Hey guys." Dawn said when she spotted the rest of the group coming toward the parked car. "God where are we going to put all those stuffed animals?" She asked spotting Gunn and Spike each carrying an armful of large stuffed toys, and Angel carry several smaller toys.
"What happened to you?" Connor asked spotting Cordelia trying to shake some of the water from her hair.
"He tried to drown me." She stated angrily staring at the blonde vampire.
"If I wanted to drowned you, you wouldn't be here telling them about it." Spike said throwing stuffed animals in the trunk that Angel had opened.
"You saw him right Angel?" Cordelia asked, "He did it on purpose right?"
"Cordy, I don't." Angel began knowing there was no way to be honest and not piss off his seer.
"That's right Cheerleader." Spike finally said turning back to her, "I knew that man would hit the water hard enough to splash massive amounts of water over the side of the tank to the exact spot you were standing."
"I knew it." Cordelia said ignoring the obvious sarcasm.
"Cordelia, If he knew the water would do that he was risking hitting Fred and Willow who were only like a foot away from you." Angel pointed out. "And it was only water."
"No Angel, I've been reading some of Red's old books." Spike said, "Practicing magic just to get the chance to splash the cheerleader at a carnival."
"Spike you are not helping." Willow and Dawn both said.
"I think maybe we should walk home." Willow suggested pulling Spike away from the car, "Meet you guys there."
"Want to walk with them?" Dawn asked Connor.
"Sure." He said and the two of them followed after Willow and Spike. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Do you have to do that?" Willow said as they walked down the street.
"Do what?" Spike asked innocently, "I didn't get her wet on purpose."
"Piss her off." Willow, Dawn, and Connor all said at the same time.
"I don't." Spike started.
"I've only been here a day and I know you aggravate her on purpose." Dawn said hitting his shoulder.
"Spike, I love you, but I really don't want to have to avoid every friend I have because of you. Buffy, Xander, and Giles don't like you. And you're quickly wearing out your welcome here. So please, for me, try to be nice to Cordelia."
"Everyone doesn't hate me. Nibblet likes me. So does Fred." Spike said.
"Anya likes him too." Dawn offered.
"So does Gunn." Connor added.
"Did you say you love me?" Spike said when her statement fully sank in.
"Uh, Yes." Willow said blushing.
"I think we should go." Dawn said smiling and pulling Connor away from the couple.
"I shouldn't have." Willow said, "I know you don't. and it's."
"Red," Spike said pulling her against him, "I love you too."
"Really." She said smiling and looking up at him.
"Yeah." He said before lowering his head to kiss her.
Part Thirty
Giles walked through the door of the hotel, looking around for a sign of it's inhabitants, finally spotting a girl in the office behind the desk. He set his bags down and moved closer to the desk hoping she would notice him, just as she looked up and smiled.
"Hi," she said coming out of the office. "Your Giles right? I'm Fred."
"Yes. And nice to meet you." Giles said extending his hand to the girl. "Is uh, Willow or Spike around?"
"They're at the mall with Cordelia." She said smiling at his grimace. "I know probably not a good idea but Dawn really wanted Spike to go with them."
"Yes, Well I can't imagine what Willow was thinking." Giles said, "I really can't picture Spike behaving well in a mall."
"Well, I can show you to the room Angel arranged for you." Fred said quickly, "That is unless you want to tell me why Willow asked you to come here."
"Sorry." Giles replied smiling at the girls attempt to get information, "I promised Willow I wouldn't say anything."
"It was worth a try." She said shrugging and moving toward the stairs. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
"Red, isn't the watcher arriving today?" Spike asked trailing behind the three women, and carrying several bags that Dawn had acquired in various stores. This had been by far the longest day of his life. He never should have let Dawn talk him in to coming, but it was another chance to spend time with Willow, plus the bonus of pissing off Cordelia.
"Why?" Willow said as they headed into another accessory store. "Miss him?" She finished turning to face the vampire.
"Not bloody likely." Spike murmured. "Just thought it would be polite if you were there when your company arrives."
"Translation." Cordelia said, fed up with the vampire's whining, "I'm bored and want to go home."
"Or maybe, I'm tired of being a pack horse." Spike suggested holding up his hands filled with bags.
"He's right Will." Dawn said not wanting to here another argument, "Giles should be here by now. Let's just go."
"'Kay." Willow said following Spike out of the store.
"Gonna tell me why he's here yet?" Cordelia asked catching up with the Red head.
"Spike?" Willow said feigning innocence. "Dawn wanted him to come."
"Giles." Cordelia said, "Why is he here today instead of tomorrow?"
"Can't tell you yet." Willow said, "Hopefully I can tell you by tomorrow." ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Giles quickly hung up the phone when he heard the door open. He had called Wesley to get as much information as he could before they went over there tonight. From what the other watcher had told him it sounded like Willow's theory was right. The spell Jenny found didn't seem to include the clause. He just needed to get a look at a few phrases that Wesley wasn't sure of. This wasn't something they wanted to risk making a mistake on.
"Giles." Dawn said opening the office door. "You alone here?"
"Fred went out with Gunn to get lunch." Giles said as Willow and Spike followed the teenager into the office.
"Hi." Willow said quietly then moving to hug the watcher.
"Hello." Giles said returning the hug, glad to see that Willow was looking and sounding better than before she left. "I talked to Wesley."
"Good news I hope?" Willow said smiling.
"Yes. The guarantee of no repeat performances by Angelus would be nice." Spike muttered.
"I think so yes." Giles said, ignoring the vampire's comment "I do need to go to Wesley's though to look at the spell to be sure."
"Dawn can you watch Spike?" Willow asked glancing at the vampire, she didn't want to take him to Wesley's again, he clearly made the ex-watcher nervous.
"I'm not a child." Spike pouted. "I don't need a baby-sitter."
"Great then you wanna take me to a movie?" Dawn asked smiling at the vampire.
"Action Movie?"
"What ever." Dawn agreed, knowing she just needed to keep the vampire busy. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Willow sat on the couch flipping through the channels on Wesley's television, while the two watcher's studied the spell, and muttering to each other and themselves, and occasionally consulting various books. She hoped this all worked out for Angel, he deserved to be happy, so did Cordelia. True, a few years ago she wouldn't have believed there would be a day she would think Cordelia deserved happiness.
"Willow." Giles said pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah." Willow said turning to face them, "Find something?"
"Actually yes." Giles said, "It looks like you were right. There is no sign of the clause in this spell."
"Oh, That's great!" She said jumping up and hugging the two men. "Angel's going to be so happy. Oh, and Wesley, you have to come with us to tell them."
"I don't think." Wesley began nervously.
"You have to." Willow said quickly. "I couldn't have done this without you and you haven't seen them in so long, and they miss you, and I know you miss them and."
"I'll go." Wesley said, "But Giles and I would like to talk to talk to you about Spike."
"What about him?" Willow asked becoming instantly defensive. "I'm not going to stop seeing."
"Willow, you know that Spike is." Giles began worried about how the vampire might affect the still vulnerable girl.
"He's not dangerous anymore." Willow said, "Hell, he's less dangerous than Angel."
"Willow the chip." Wesley said, having discussed this at great length with Giles earlier in the day.
"Doesn't really even matter anymore." Willow said, angry that they were questioning her judgment like this, "He has. Giles Spike has a soul." She said falling back onto the couch. "Damn it, that shouldn't even matter."
"Spike has a." Giles said taking off his glasses rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Willow are you sure?"
"Yes." Willow said, "When he left Sunnydale he went looking for a way to have the chip removed and ended up getting a soul."
"Why didn't he. Why didn't you." Wesley stuttered not sure exactly what to say at this news.
"Because it doesn't change anything." Willow said, "He hasn't done anything really bad in a few years. Why should a soul make so much of a difference?"
"Willow you know that it does." Giles said sitting next to the girl. "Do Buffy and Xander know?"
"No. And you can't tell them. I shouldn't have told you." Willow said quickly, "Who knows and who doesn't is Spike's decision not ours."
"Fine." Giles agreed, "But if he's going to return to Sunnydale."
"Neither of us plan on returning anytime soon." Willow said, "I'm sorry Giles. But we both know that Xander and Buffy won't accept him even if they know about the soul."
"Willow are you sure?" Giles asked knowing that she was right, and that if she stayed here with Angel she would be safe.
"Yes." Willow said, "Giles I love him. And things are better here, everyone here doesn't look at me with fear that one day I may go crazy again and try to kill them. Okay Cordy may one day stake Spike but we're working on that." She said smiling.
"If this is what you want. Just please don't shut us all out Willow. Buffy and Xander love you, they will deal with this eventually." Giles said hugging her then pulling back to look at her, "Shall we go tell Angel the news?"
"Lets go." She said smiling and standing up.
Part thirty-one
Dawn and Fred were sitting on the couch, with Gunn and Connor on the floor in front of them watching a movie when the door opened and Willow walked through holding her lap top in one hand and a large stack of papers in the other. Giles followed closely behind her.
"Willow, Giles." Dawn said grabbing the remote control and stopping the movie when she saw the smile on Willow's face. "Back already?"
"Yeah. Angel and Cordy around?" Willow said glancing around the room.
"Oh, and you brought Wesley with you." Fred said jumping up as she spotted the other man coming through the door.
"Hello." Wesley said still uneasy about being here. He knew that he had made peace with these people and they had told him many times that he was welcome back but he wasn't sure he was comfortable with it just yet.
"Angel and Cordy went to get snacks." Gunn replied to Willow's question. "Hey." He said glancing at Wesley.
"Spike's upstairs pouting over us renting a 'Chick-flick'." Dawn said anticipating Willow's next question. "Sure you really love someone who pouts that much."
"Spike." Willow yelled. "Come down here please." She finished ignoring the teenager's comment.
"Back so soon?" Cordelia asked coming through the door carrying a large bag. "'Cause I don't think we have enough snacks for."
"Wesley!" She said dropping the bag and running to hug her friend. "This mean your back."
"Well. Possibly." Wesley said returning the hug, "But first we have something to discuss with you and Angel."
"What?" Angel asked setting several more bags by the door and pushing it closed behind him.
Once everyone was in the room and seated Willow began to explain to everyone her theory about the spell she had used to restore Angel's soul. "Anyway I never actually translated the spell, wouldn't have known how even if there had been time, but when Cordy said that you had been afraid to, uh, have a relationship, with her because of the happiness thing I started thinking. The original spell could have been modified to include the clause, I mean after Spike was given his soul back without the clause so."
"You have a soul?" Dawn asked slapping the vampire next to her in the chest. "Thanks for sharing."
"Sorry Nibblet." Spike said rubbing the spot where she had hit him.
"Okay, uh, back to Angel please." Cordelia said impatient with change in the conversation.
"Okay. So I thought maybe what Ms. Calander and found may have been the original spell, not the modified one. That's why Anya was here, I need the spell to translate it." Willow said, "Unfortunately still don't know ancient Romanian so that's where Wesley came in."
"Right and I was able to translate most of the spell but I couldn't be sure about some phrases and considering the consequences of being wrong." Wesley said hesitantly, "Which is why Mr. Giles is here. We needed his assistance to finish the translation."
"Okay whatever." Cordelia said bored with all the explanation and just wanting the outcome. "Was Willow right or not?"
"Yes." Willow, Giles, and Wesley all responded at once.
"You're serious right?" Cordelia said standing up and pacing the room in shock, "This isn't some kind of really sick joke."
"Right 'cause they would risk him taking it seriously and bringing back Angelus." Spike said to Cordelia, then raising an eyebrow at the vampire across from him who had yet to speak. "See told you he wouldn't know what to do now that he doesn't have to brood all the time."
"Be nice." Willow and Dawn both said.
"Angel, um, this is good right?" Willow asked hesitantly not sure what to make of the vampire's silence.
"Yes. Good." Angel said snapping out of his shock, "It's great." He stood and went to hug Cordelia. "My soul is permanent?" He asked once more, "You're sure?"
"Yep." Willow said, "And I realize you two really want out of here right now but before you go. Angel I would like to stay here if that's okay."
"You're not returning to Sunnydale?" Cordelia asked surprised. She was glad to have her friend stay but had always assumed one day she would go back home.
"I love Spike." Willow said smiling and taking the vampire's hand. "He's not really welcome there. So if it's okay with you, maybe we could both stay here. I mean I love fighting evil and we can do that here too."
"Spike has to stay too?" Cordelia asked in disappointment.
"Yep." Willow said then looking at the vampire and smiling, "You do want too right?"
"I want to be where ever you are." Spike answered.
"You are both welcome to stay here." Angel assured Willow, "For as long as you like."
"Now if you'll excuse us." Cordelia said grabbing the vampire's hand and pulling him toward the door, "We really need to uh, be alone."
The End.