Chapter 1

How could a night go so wrong so quickly? How could everything turn upside down within in a matter of minutes? Considering she lived on the hellmouth Willow figured that she shouldn't really be surprised; she already had first- hand experience of how bad things could get and how quickly they could get even worse.

She sniffed, and twined her fingers together in her lap. All she had wanted to do was the right thing, cast a de-lusting spell on herself and Xander so that they could squash these new feelings between them, new for Xander anyway, she had lusted after him for a good few years now. But he was with Cordy and she was with Oz and the last thing either she and Xander wanted to do was hurt Cordy and Oz, they were all friends after all.

Hence the de-lusting spell.

Experience should have taught them both to keep their guard up, Sunnydale High School was not the safest of places to be at night, it wasn't the safest of places to be during the day either. But really, how could she or Xander have foreseen the arrival of Spike in the science lab!

The object of her fear and panic was across the room from her right now, ranting and raving and waving his arm about. From what he had told her so far Willow understood that Drusilla, the absolute love of his life, had dumped him.

To say she was surprised was an understatement. Willow hadn't really given the romantic relationships of vampires much thought but from what she had seen of Spike over the last year, Willow honestly had never expected to see him looking so broken and defeated.

"You're a witch, right? So you'll do a spell for me. You can do that, can't you?" Spike demanded glaring at her.

"Um…" Willow cleared her throat. "I can try…."

"Try?"

Spike looked livid and Willow was now aware that she had said the wrong thing. Spike didn't want to hear how she was just learning, how her magic hadn't developed all that much yet. No, he wanted to hear her say how she could perform any spell he liked.

"You'll do more than that, witch. You'll do a love spell for me, make it so that Dru can't unlive without me. You'll make her sorry, you'll make her beg and crawl!"

She jumped when he hit the end of the bottle he was holding against the wall. It smashed loudly, shards of coloured glass falling to the floor, splintering apart even more when his large black boots stood on them, crunching the glass into the dirt and dust.

Spike stalked over to her his arm going around her neck and his hand fisting tightly in the hair at the back of her head. He yanked her to her feet dragging her close to him, forcing her head back as he raised the jagged end of the broken bottle to her face.

The sharp edges of the glass were cold when they brushed her cheek, dark droplets hung on the serrated glass and the smell of whisky was foul and cloying in her nose.

Willow cried out, her blood roaring in her ears and her mind going completely blank with blind panic as she faced what she thought was the end of her life.

"You'll do the spell or I'll shove this through your face!"

"I'll do the spell," Willow gasped out. "I'll do any spell you want."

He released her then, turning away from her to pace again and throwing her back towards the bed she had been sitting on, the bed where Xander lay unconscious and unresponsive. She wanted to check on him but she daren't, Willow daren't turn her back on Spike for a moment and the last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to Xander's weak and vulnerable state; Spike might just decide that Xander was no use to him like this and snap his neck or drain him.

Spike threw the remains of the bottle at the wall with a loud yell startling her. He turned to face her, blue eyes blazing with anger. "A bloody chaos demon!"

Willow blinked, the way he was looking at her told her that he was waiting for a response. When a drunken angry vampire was yelling at you and pacing around a damp, dark basement like a prowling animal Willow figured that listening to him would be the smartest thing to do. Letting her guard down once tonight had gotten her into this basement in the first place.

"Do you know what they look like?" He was still moving around, unable to stay still for a moment with all the pent up rage and energy boiling in his veins.

Willow swallowed nervously and shook her head her hair falling from behind her ear to obscure her face. She wanted to sink down into a little ball and hide from him, anything to make him stop shouting and go away.

"Ugly things, all slime and antlers." Spike sat down beside her on the bed. It had at one point probably been a nice bed but with the fire everything was blackened.

Should she tell him she was sorry? Express some sympathy? Willow wasn't sure what he expected her to say and do. Since knocking Xander out in the science lab and bringing them both back to the warehouse he had once stayed in with Drusilla and Angelus, all Spike had done was shout and swear about Drusilla cheating on him and leaving him. It was only now that he had given an explanation for the kidnapping. He showed no sign of leaving any time soon either.

The last thing she wanted to do was a spell for Spike. What if it went wrong? He'd be sure to come back to Sunnydale to rip her throat out, after torturing her half to death first of course.

Willow was well aware of Spike's reputation, she knew of his past evil misdeeds, of the bloody trail of death, torture and destruction that had followed him across Europe for a century and he terrified her to her very soul.

Anything could happen to her in his company.

"I gave her everythin'," Spike moaned pitifully. "Beautiful jewellery, beautiful dresses with beautiful girls in them."

A wave of nausea washed over Willow at this last gift although she was pretty sure that it wasn't the worst present Spike would offer to a vampire like Drusilla.

"I did everythin' for her and then suddenly I'm not demon enough for her. It was that truce with the slayer that did it," he told her mournfully. "She said I was weak she did. Said that…. That we could still be friends. How can she be so cruel? Didn't even care enough to rip out my heart or cut off my head."

Willow stiffened when he leant his head on her shoulder. It was weird not feeling his breath against her skin. She inhaled slowly, willing herself to stay calm. Buffy and Angel would be out looking for them, Spike couldn't take on both Angel and Buffy in his drunken state. Buffy would find her and Xander, Buffy would rescue them she just had to keep him talking or better yet, get him out of the basement, it would give her a chance to examine her surroundings and maybe find a way out.

"I'm so unhappy," he wailed.

Spike was a soulless demon, he had no scruples, no morals, he was the embodiment of a living nightmare; and yet Willow couldn't help but feel a spark of compassion for him.

Reaching out a shaking hand she patted his jean clad leg awkwardly. She hoped the gesture would convey sympathy and understanding. It wasn't as if she didn't understand because she did, only too well. Willow knew first- hand what it felt like to love someone who didn't love you back. She and unrequited love were old friends.

Willow stilled when she felt his hand on the side of her head, his fingers sliding slowly through her red hair before brushing it back from her face. Spike settled his head on her shoulder, his face turning into her neck.

Willow froze, hardly daring to breathe certain he was going to bite her, sink his fangs into her neck and drain the life from her.

"-Mmm,, that smell … .," Spike murmured into her neck inhaling deeply. "I haven't had a woman in weeks."

A sudden bolt of adrenaline shot through her and Willow was on her feet spinning to face him her eyes wide and terrified, her heart hammering so hard against her rib cage she thought it might just escape. "I'll do the spell for you, Spike but there'll be no bottle in face and no having of any kind with me!"

His head tilted slightly his eyes almost challenging. "Won't there now?"

"N…no!" Willow said firmly. "And I'm going to need stuff for the spell. A book for a start and… and ingredients…. Ingredients… and…"

Spike was on his feet now moving towards her slowly; stalking her, Willow realised as she stammered and backed away from him.

What to do? What to do? She had to do something! She could float a pretty mean pencil but there wasn't a pencil in sight. She couldn't immediately find a weapon of any kind either, and even if she did find one she was hardly going to be able to fight Spike. He was faster and stronger than she was and had decades of fighting experience. He had killed two slayers in his time! If they couldn't defeat him what chance did she, a little high school apprentice witch stand?

Oh if only she knew some spells, something really useful that would render him immobile and give her the chance to take Xander and escape.

But all she was capable of doing was backing away from him and skirting around him as best she could.

Spike watched her with barely concealed amused interest. He could almost see her mind working as she tried to figure out just how she could attempt to fight him. Her fear filled the small space around him and Spike basked in it. She smelt so good, fear and panic and strawberries and he wanted a taste.

His fingers flexed at his side, she was a tasty little morsel this one. He wanted to get his hands on her, wanted to feel her squirming against him as he held her in his arms. He wanted to feel that pale milky skin beneath his lips, wanted to feel it split apart under the pressure of his fangs and taste her blood.

His tongue came out to swipe along his bottom lip in anticipation. She would be delicious Spike was sure of it. Who knew, maybe when he got going she'd like it and then there would be having, all kinds of wonderful having.

She moved to the right, her hand gripping the side of a table and sliding behind it, putting it between him and her; like it was going to do any good. But Spike was willing to indulge her, anticipation was half the fun after all.

"You wanna dance, love, we'll dance."

A look of confusion crossed her face and Spike chuckled quietly in response. "You'll like my kinda dancin' pet, get you all hot and bothered it will."

Willow wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about and didn't have the inclination to work it out right now either. She had to keep her wits about her and find something to say to stop him prowling after her the way he was. Her calm was shot to pieces, the fine hairs on her arms and the back of her neck standing up to attention, and her nerves were stretched tighter than a tambourine.

It was catching sight of Xander out of the corner of her mind that had a calming effect on Willow's racing mind. He was her best friend and he needed her help. Xander had experienced a hard blow to the head, he was bleeding and he had to go to hospital. She had to be calm, focused, in control for Xander's sake.

Then it occurred to her, she did know a spell and a very useful one at that.

XxX

"Are you sure?" Cordelia Chase peered out of the passenger seat window of Oz's van. She wrinkled her nose at the sight that met her eyes, broken down and boarded up buildings, burnt out cars and over flowing trash cans. "This is the bad side of town."

"I know where we are," Oz replied patiently. "And I'm telling you, I can smell Willow."

Cordelia made another face. "That's so creepy."

"I completely agree," Oz said. He knew how Cordelia Chase operated, she said the first thing that came into her head and hardly ever checked before it came out of her mouth. Cordelia's first response was generally her honest response and Oz actually liked that about her, she was quite refreshing in an annoying kind of way.

"Do you smell Xander to?"

"Yeah, he's here," Oz said pulling the van to a stop beside a partially burnt warehouse.

"What would they be doing here?" Cordelia looked up at the building warily.

"I don't know." Oz switched off the engine and climbed out of the car. "But I think it's safe to say that they didn't come here of their own free will."

Cordelia made another face. "Who would?" She got out of the van too and rounded the bonnet to stand beside Oz. He was quite small in stature and with her heels on Cordelia topped him by a good head. Absently smoothing out her hair Cordelia took a step forward. "We should start looking for a way in."

"Lets do it."

That was another thing Oz liked about Cordelia, she had guts. Even when she was afraid she still went ahead and did things anyway. She was much more than a pretty face it was just that most people didn't get to see the other side to her; the strong and brave side.

Oz led the way around the building searching for a door or a window. Rounding the corner he found a large metal door but it was chained and bolted from the outside. Just why that was Oz couldn't say, he couldn't see what would be in this building that required such protection. He bit the inside of his mouth a moment and hoped it wasn't something illegal like stolen goods or drugs. He didn't really fancy facing off with a gang of criminals, Willow for all he knew was on borrowed time which meant he didn't have any to waste.

"Over here, Oz." Cordelia waved him over to the furthest corner of the building. "There's a fire escape maybe we can get in that way."

The door at the top was open and Oz stepped through slowly. It was dim but not dark in the little corridor so Oz could see his way pretty well. Cordelia followed close behind him as he inched further into the building, Willow's scent grew stronger as did Xander's, but there was another, one he couldn't identify but instantly disliked and distrusted. Oz was still getting to grips with the werewolf aspect of his life, there were new things to discover about himself all the time, some good, some bad, and one of the new things he was discovering was a sixth sense about people. It was definitely the wolf in him, wolves and dogs were part of the same family and everyone said that dogs could sense things about people and Oz had that in him too. There was something about this particular scent that made his hackles rise and the thought of Willow with the person it belonged to turned him both cold with dread and hot with anger.

"Can you smell them?" Cordelia hissed.

Oz merely nodded and led the way down the hallway, there was a door at the far end but nothing else in sight. He was halfway towards the door when he heard it, Willow's voice raised in panic and fright speaking Latin words that tripped over each other she was in such a rush to get them out.

Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong Oz could feel it in his bones and he broke out into a run hurtling the rest of the way to the door and almost falling through it.

XxX

Spike was surprised when the little witch started speaking in Latin, he could only surmise that she was casting a spell and assumed it to be the love spell. He hadn't realised that she was so accomplished at magic that she could do that without any aid whatsoever. He toyed with the idea of taking her with him when he left Sunnydale having his very own witch by his side would do wonders for his already well-established reputation. He really would be a formidable force with his very own witch.

His very own witch. The biggest of all the big bad's with his very own witch. Spike really liked that idea.

The door above him suddenly crashed into the wall and Spike looked up in surprise. Two humans stood at the top of the stairs, bloody hell but he was off his game, he must have drunk too much not to even hear them coming in.

"You try to interfere and I'll kill the boy!" Spike warned moving closer to the unconscious Xander.

Cordelia frowned down at Willow. "Does that spell sound familiar to you?"

"Sort of," Oz admitted beginning to descend the stairs, just what he planned on doing he wasn't too sure but he couldn't leave Willow and Xander down there with Spike of all the demons in Sunnydale. Oz rather hoped that Spike might consider himself outnumbered and flee the scene, but he didn't really consider it a viable option.

Oz was halfway down the rickety stair case when Willow's voice rose as she completed the spell. A white light, so bright that Oz had to shield his eyes, shone from her until she looked as though she were glowing.

Agony, she was in absolute agony! Willow screamed and doubled over, sinking to her knees. Pain radiated from the centre of her body lancing through her to the roots of her hair and the tips of her toes. Tears ran down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around herself as the pain intensified and she felt as though she were being ripped apart.

Spike felt it enter his body; magic. It hurt more than fire and holy water put together burning a trail through his entire body and forcing him to his knees. He was panting, harsh breaths that he didn't need and his whole body was shaking with the intensity of a white hot pain like none he had felt before.

Somewhere off to the side she heard Spike yelling, cursing loudly and violently. From where she lay on her side curled into the foetal position Willow could see him on his hands and knees his face all ridges and fangs and yellow eyes as he howled in pain his body glowing with a white light.

She didn't know what or how, but Willow did know that the spell had somehow gone very, terribly, horribly wrong.