Willow coughed as she suddenly appeared in a dark, damp alley. "What is it with spells and alleys?" she muttered, then paused. "Wait...alley?" She looked about, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the faint light cast by fires blazing in streetlamps. "Um...what? Tara? Xander? Buffy? Giles? Spike? Dawn? Anya? Wesley? Cordelia? A-Angel? Even Glory or Ben'd be better than this...okay, no, they wouldn't be better than this. But at least I know them."

Then the sound of sobbing hit Willow's ears and she followed the sound, she saw two women and a man standing together and another man came bumped into them, he was crying and ripping up a piece of paper. "Bloody...watch where you're going," he replied before continuing on his way. Willow bit her lip, he looked...familiar.

"Or you could just take the first drooling idiot that comes along," one of the women said, looking after the man. Willow stared in shock at the blonde woman.

"D-Darla?" she whimpered. Then she saw the other two: Drusilla and Angelus. Her eyes followed where the man had run off, he wasn't safe with Darla, Drusilla and Angelus running around, she carefully walked after him.

She finally saw him under the light of a lamp and Drusilla walked up. She couldn't quite see his face from her vantage point but still he was so familiar. "And here I wonder what possible catastrophe came crashing down from Heaven and brought this dashing stranger..." a voice murmured and Willow's eyes slammed to Drusilla as the vampiress reached out to wipe the tears from his eyes, "...to tears."

"Too bad you won't find out, Drusilla," Willow said, her voice concealing her fear as she reached into her jacket to pull out a stake.

"Bad li'l ruby," Drusilla pouted. "'E's mine!"

"I don't think so," Willow replied, sinking the stake into Drusilla's heart. She knelt by the man, her hand brushing back his curly blonde hair, he seemed startled by her touch and jumped away. Her eyes met his and she let out a gasp, backing away. "Spike! Look, I'm really sorry I killed Drusilla but I thought she was going to kill you...which was silly 'cause you're dead - did that just make sense? Please, don't kill me."

"Why on Earth would I possibly want to kill such a lovely creature?" he asked, mystified by the redhead. "What an awful name, Spike. I do assure you, madam, my name is William."

"William?" Willow asked. "Oh, hi, I'm Willow."

"Willow, such a beautiful name," he murmured.

"My parents picked it out. I couldn't have because of the whole not being able to speak," Willow replied. "I'll stop rambling now. A-are you okay?"

"I'm quite well," William stated. "Where did that woman go?"

"She went the other way to her suitor guy," Willow answered. William stared at her curiously.

"Your...attire is quite unusual," he said.

"Um, yeah, it's American. Californian...long, long, long way away from here."

He gulped slightly. "Do you, uh, have somewhere to stay?" he asked, his face turning beet red.

"No, I just got here," she said. "Didn't really have time to get a room or a house."

"Would you prefer to stay with Mother and I?" William asked.

"Sure," Willow murmured, smiling shyly.

William led her to his house in a friendly silence, once they arrived, a woman walked up to William and hugged him. "William, luv, how was the soiree?" she asked.

"It was grand," William said. "Mother, this is Willow. Willow, this is Mother."

"Uh, hi," Willow greeted.

"Did you propose to Cecily?" the woman asked, ignoring the redhead.

"I didn't quite have the chance," William murmured, blushing.

Willow bit her bottom lip, she hadn't known Spike had been engaged. "M--maybe I should go?" Willow supplied.

"Who are you?" William's mother asked.

"I'm Willow," the redhead stated.

"Yes, she saved me from a vicious attack," William replied.

She smiled at Willow. "You saved my darling?" she asked and Willow nodded slightly. "I'm Elizabeth. You're clothes are quite...interesting. You can borrow some of mine, I believe that when I was around your age, I was the same size. How old are you?"

"I'm twenty," the redhead said.

"You have a suitor?" Elizabeth inquired.

"N--not really," Willow stuttered, not sure if the eighteen-hundreds was ready for a lesbian witch. Elizabeth grinned.

"Well...you're an old maid, your parents must really want you to marry?" Elizabeth replied. Willow shared a look with William and he blushed.

"No," Willow answered.

"My boy is quite handsome...you'd be a lovely couple. Growing old together, having children...you should get married."

Willow giggled, she had never really pictured Spike as the "growing old together and having children" type. "No pressure, huh?"

"Not at all." Elizabeth's eyes shone with pleasure and Willow gave her a shy grin. "I like her, William."

"I thought you would, Mother," William sputtered.

"Could I go to bed, I've had a really tough few days," Willow asked. Elizabeth nodded and led Willow up to her room, Elizabeth's eyes went through her armoire and grabbed a silk long-sleeved nightgown and handed it to the witch. "It's beautiful."

"Your room's at the end of the hall," Elizabeth replied and shooed the redhead out of her room.

Willow padded down the hall and into said room. She changed into the nightgown and blushed at the sight of herself in the mirror, the gown hugged her curves and accentuated her small but pert breasts, tiny waist and the soft curve of her hips. The moonlight from the window shone through the gown, showing her feminine silhouette. "Oh, yikes," she murmured.

She walked across the room and stared out the window, wondering what had happened since she'd been gone. She shook her head of the depressing thoughts and lay down on the bed, pulling up the covers and tried vainly to sleep. I miss Tara, she thought then she snaked her hand under the covers. A voice interrupted her action. "Horny lit'l thing, aren't you?" a familiar accented voice said.

Blood flooded her face. "William!" she yelped.

"Not William, luv, you should bloody well know that," the man said and Willow stared at the figure, skintight faded black jeans, black t-shirt, red button-up shirt and the ever-so-familiar duster.

"Spike!" Willow squeaked. "But how?"

"Not how, why?" Spike muttered. "What did you do to me?"

"Do? I didn't do anything."

"One minute, I'm at Buffy's with Dawn, next I'm here...what did you do to me, Red?"

"N--nothing." He gave her a look. "I didn't do anything!"

"You did something! What was happening when you got here?"

"Uh-oh..."

"What's with the 'uh-oh', pet?" Spike asked.

"Drusilla and you...Drusilla...um, I dusted her," Willow whispered.

"You dusted Dru?! No wonder I'm fucked up! You kept Dru from siring me!"

"Sorry."

"No, sorry about it! I have to get sired before Darla and Angelus move on or I'm dead!"

"You are dead."

"We're talkin' dust here, Red," Spike muttered, sinking onto the bed.

"Oops."

"Are you decent?" William asked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah," Willow replied.

"Are you quite all right, Willow?" William asked. "I heard..." he trailed off as he saw Willow's nightgown-clad form. She stared at his Adam's apple as he gulped hard, "...a scream."

"I'm a soddin' wanker! A poof!" Spike moaned, laying back on the bed.

"No, William, I'm fine." William nodded. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, yes, very well," he said, shifting uncomfortably and Willow's eyes trailed down to the bulge in his breeches.

Spike sat up and smirked at Willow's appraisal of his human self, whom apparently couldn't see him. "They don't call me the 'big bad' just because," he whispered in her ear.

"Go away, Spike," she hissed, swatting at him.

"How do you think I got the name...'Spike?'" he purred.

"I'm a lesbian...I have a girlfriend," she muttered as her mind chanted I'm not getting turned on, not getting turned on...Tara is my girlfriend!

William stared in shock as the redhead talked into thin air. "Are you certain you are all right?" he asked.

"Never better, William. Thank you for checking on me," she whispered. William nodded slightly and closed the door as he left.

"You jerk!" Willow turned on the vampire.

"What can I say, baby, I've always been bad," he stated.

"Bad!? You call him bad?" Willow asked.

"A vampire's personality is dependent on their darkest inner desires, luv," Spike answered. "He was a bad-ass deep within."

"Well, Vampy-Me was a skanky, leather-clad dominatrix," Willow shot back and Spike arched his scarred brow.

"I think I'd like her," he said, a finger trailing over her jugular. "Sounds like my type. Nothing like taming the beast, nice set of chains."

"Ugh, you're disgusting," she replied, shoving his hand away.

"You're no fun," Spike whined.