Your Presence is Required: Part 1
by TC McGonigle
Your Presence is Required
by T. C. McGonigle
Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and the WB, I'm only borrowing them for my own twisted purposes. This story takes place after my fanfic "Make Me".
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Part One
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It was warm and wet. A beautifully addictive flow of life sensuously slipping down his throat. Spike carefully withdrew his fangs from the young woman's neck and looked down at her peaceful face, forever formed into a death mask. She looked like Willow.
Willow watched the couples out on the dance floor of the Bronze and swayed slightly to the music. Xander and Cordelia were out there, still garnering quite a few stares and speculative looks. And even Buffy had found a guy to help her forget about Angel, at least for the duration of one dance. A year ago Willow would have felt left out, sitting on the sidelines while her friends danced the night away, but all of that was different now. Willow had Oz. She looked up at her boyfriend, the lead guitarist of Dingos Ate My Baby. Oz smiled back down at her. Willow liked being on the sidelines.
"Hey, Will, whatcha doing?" Buffy plunked herself down on the seat beside her friend.
"Liking my life." Willow smiled. It was nice to see Buffy smiling and having fun. "Where's Josh?"
"Collected by his girlfriend. I told her that I was only borrowing him, but she was not amused." Buffy sipped her cola. Her eyes scanned the dark recesses of the Bronze, instinctively looking for vampires. Sometimes she caught herself looking for one vampire in particular. She hadn't seen Angel since Miss Quick had made her want to kill him. She couldn't stop loving him, maybe hating him would be just as hard to get rid of.
"Hey." Oz slid into the other seat beside Willow and nodded at Buffy.
"That was good. You hit the E-flat," Willow gushed proudly.
"You heard that?" Oz raised his eyebrows slightly. On Oz, that indicated surprise.
"I listened. I'm proud." Willow leaned over and kissed him.
"Please, enough with the mush. This is a public establishment." Xander sat down across from them. Cordelia looked longingly over at the table that housed Harmony and the rest of the cheerleaders, but when Xander reached up and tugged her down to sit beside him, she didn't resist.
Spike watched the little band of merry friends. He had arrived at the Bronze just in time to see Willow kiss the wolfpup. Now his view of her was obscured by the aspiring hero-boy and his girlfriend. He couldn't get too close, the Slayer was on red alert and would pick him out the second he moved from the shadows.
"Spike." Angelus materialized beside him. "Looking for something good to drink?"
"The question is redundant. I'm a vampire."
"Forget about it, Spike, old man." Angelus followed Spike's gaze toward the oblivious group. "Buffy has been watching Willow like a hawk since you two went through your chummy phase."
"Where's Dru?" Spike turned his back to the gang. Now that Spike had his soul restored, Angelus was even harder to abide.
"I left her at the mansion. She's too conspicuous for this crowd."
"She's not going to like that. Dru likes a party." Spike sneered at his rival. Angelus was much too interested in Willow.
"We don't always get what we like." Angelus moved his attentive stare from Willow to Buffy. "We don't always get what we love either. Tell me, Spike, do you still love our dear Drusilla?" Angelus' manner turned from dark melancholy to fiendish curiosity in a flick of the fang.
"I will always love Drusilla, unlike you." Spike was tired of the games. Angelus played them incessantly. Like a small child, he had wanted Drusilla because Spike loved her and now, sensing a change in Spike's affections, he wanted to take that too. Spike would never let him have Willow. Drusilla had been corrupted long before she had made Spike's acquaintance, he would never let that happen to someone else he cared about. "Unhappy that your Slayer tried to stake your heart? Too bad. We always try to dust the ones we love."
"Buffy was under the influence of that manipulating bitch! She never would have had the guts to do it otherwise." Angelus grabbed Spike by the neck.
"I wouldn't put any money on that." Buffy appeared beside the quarreling vampires. "Why don't we take this love fest outside?"
"I don't know about that." Angelus released Spike. "I have a taste for innocent bystanders."
"Sorry, you're on the Slayer diet plan. Innocent bystanders have too many calories." Buffy sucker punched Angelus and shoved him out of the nearby fire exit and into the alley.
Spike was about to follow, not to join in on the mayhem, but to watch Angelus get his ass kicked, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. The surprisingly strong grip pulled him back further into the shadows of a hallway. He turned and looked down at Willow.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. Her nostrils flared slightly and her eyes spit fire. Spike was enchanted.
"Enjoying the nightlife with my good friend, Angelus. And what are you doing, Ducks? Where's the wolfboy?"
"Oz is back on stage. You didn't answer my question. Are Drusilla and Angel up to something again? Can't they get a hobby!"
"The Slayer is Angelus' hobby and now, unfortunately, you are Dru's."
"Really?" Willow faltered a bit. Her anger abated and a flash of fear cooled the fire in her eyes. Spike didn't care for it.
"Don't fret, Ducks, I'll keep Dru occupied. She won't bother you." Spike allowed himself a quick caress of her hair. He couldn't stop himself from following it through by gliding his thumb along her jawline. Something heavy slammed into the outside wall beside them. Spike sighed and stepped back. "It sounds like Angelus and the Slayer have finished their tete au tete. Farewell, Willow." Spike vanished into the crowd just as Buffy re-entered the Bronze through the fire exit.
"Willow, where's Spike?"
"Spike? Is he here?" Willow gave Buffy what she hoped was a blank look. She hated lying to her friends, but there was no way they would understand. Even with his soul restored, Spike persisted in being a blood sucking vampire, only he was nice. Nice to her, anyway, not the people he killed.
"Apparently no any more." Buffy gave the crowd of teenagers the once over. She turned her sharp eye back onto her friend. "Are you sure you didn't see him, Will?"
"I was just coming back from the bathroom when you walked in. Did you have another fight with Angel?" Willow wasn't proud of herself for using Angel to divert Buffy's attention.
"Yes." Buffy started back toward their table. She was disappointed and angry. I was a low blow for Willow to bring up Angel. There was only one reason why her best friend would turn on her. Spike. Ever since the Miss Quick episode, Willow had been acting strangely. It was going to stop. Now.
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