The two vampires glared at each other, a stubornness gleaming in both
their eyes. After Willow had chewed them both out she went back to the
other three teens. Now the four were in various stages of sleep.
Xander’s whole body was slumped forward, his head supported by the
table. He was snoring softly. Cordy was leaning against him, calm and
relaxed but not yet sleeping. Buffy was staring out the window, watching
as the world passed her by. By anyone’s estimate she’d be sleeping in a
few minutes. Willow was leaning back, her head supported by the back of
Joyce’s seat. She too was sleeping soundly.

Angel watched them for a moment before turning back to Spike. As he
spoke a bit of the headstrong look in his eyes faded away. “Look.... I
know there are some things we need to work out. I don’t particularly
want to, but I think we owe them that. Both of us do.”

Spike considered his sire’s words carefully. Though he hated himself for
even thinking it, Angel was right. He owed it to the entire gang for
taking him in and treating him as if he was almost one of their own. And
besides, he didn’t fancy having the red-head angry with him.

“Alright,” he agreed reluctantly, “but not because I’m so eager to patch
things up with you. Only because they deserve it. Because Red and the
rest of them deserve it.”

“Good. So..” Angel said.

Spike nodded. “So.”

************
When Giles began to droop off behind the wheel, he knew it was time to
find a camping spot where they could spend the rest of the night and the
fast-approaching day. “Joyce?” She stirred slightly from a light sleep
and looked at him with bleary eyes. “Sorry to wake you, but I need you
to check the map for possible camp sites. I’m pretty tired and dawn will
be here soon.” He turned around to see that the four teens sitting at
the table were all dosing. Spike and Angel were having what looked to be
a pretty deep discussion, their voices hushed and serious. Both looked
pretty pissed. Giles just hoped that their anger didn’t turn to physical
violence. However, they were finally talking, and he knew that was a
start. One could only hope that the wounds weren’t so deep that they
were beyond repair. One could only hope.

He turned his attention back to the road and Joyce, giving the vampires
their privacy. “The others are too. It’s time to call it a night.”

Joyce nodded and picked up the guidebook they had bought specially for
this trip. “Let’s see..... it’s says here that there’s a nice spot down
the road about ten miles. Can you make that?”

Giles nodded. “That’s great. Just tell me where to turn....”

********* (at the campsite)
Giles pulled into the campsite and quickly found a level place to park
the RV. “There. We’ll pay them before we leave tonight.” Joyce nodded
and unbuckled her seatbelt, stretching her muscles, sore for sitting so
long.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun quickly. A hand went
straight up to her mouth, silencing the scream that the owner knew to
expect. The relief was evident in her eyes when she saw the peroxide
blond hottie. “Spike!” She whispered. “You scared me!”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. Just wanted to let you know that
Angel and I are going to go out for awhile. We’ll make some rounds of
the campsite, alright? We’ll be back in a little bit.”

She nodded. “Go. And..... be careful.”

He nodded and gave her a quick smile. “We will be.”

They both left through the back door quickly and silently. Joyce, still
a little shaken, stood up and hobbled over to the table, patting each of
the kids on the shoulder. “Come on guys, time to wake up. We’re at the
campsite. As soon as we get the beds made we can all to bed. C’mmon.”
She was met with a round of moans and groans but the good-natured kids
all began to shuffle and awaken.

Willow was the first to notice the absence of the vampires. She shot up,
worried that her encouragement to ‘work things out’ had ended with the
two of them dusting each other. “Where are Angel and Spike????”

“They went out. They’re doing some quick rounds of the campsite,”
replied Giles.

Willow nodded, shoulders slumping in relief. “You guys, I think I’m
going to go outside for a few minutes. I need some fresh air.”

Buffy immediately protested. “Wills, who knows what’s out there? You
could be hurt!”

“I’ll be fine. And look, I’ll even take a stake and holy water with me,
ok?”

Giles cut in. “Willow, maybe it’s not the best idea to go out there....”

“Giles, I’ll be *fine*. I promise to be careful and stay right by the
camper, okay? This way if anything happens, I’ll scream my lungs out and
you can come and rescue me. Plus, Angel and Spike are out there. I’m
sure that there won’t be any problems.”

Slowly, noting that the girl wouldn’t give up on her idea any time soon,
Giles nodded. “Alright. But do take that cross and holy water and
please, be careful!”

She nodded, quickly grabbing the weapons and leaving the camper.

***************

Willow stepped out into the muggy Californian night air, taking a deep
breath and letting the slight breeze cool her body. She twirled the
stake around in her hands, humming a tune softly. The grass cracked
under her feet as she walked through some brush to a small clearing,
lying down and looking up at the stars twinkling in the sky. She could
spot the Big Dipper and Little Dipper without any problems, but
otherwise she was pretty much clueless. Sometimes she wished she knew
more about the twinkling balls of silver that sat suspended in the night
sky. She sighed wistfully, enjoying the peace that the night brought
before sounds broke the stillness. She sat up, startled, her ears finely
tuned to pick out any out-of-place sounds. She’d known Buffy for long
enough to be able to quickly recognize the sounds of a fight. She jumped
to her feet, praying for Spike and Angel’s safety.

Following the sounds of the fight, she climbed through several bushes
and dodged around numerous trees. From her vantage point she could see
Angel and Spike fighting. To both her fury and fear, they were fighting
not a vampire or demon but each other. She watched, horrified, as Angel
was hit with a blow to the chest. He went flying backwards but used his
momentum to roll, landing back on his feet. Willow didn’t have to see
his face to know he was vamped out. In the blink of an eye Angel lashed
back out at his childe, sending him flying into a tree. Before Spike
could recuperate, Angel had a stake at his chest.

From behind the tree, Willow shrieked. She was not ready to lose the
newest member of the Scooby gang and her new companion, especially not
to another person she considered to be a good friend.

Angel, startled by the outburst, turned to the trees to find the source
of the interruption. The momentary distraction gave Spike enough time
and space to recover, flipping his sire over and aiming the stake at his
chest in a heartbeat.

Willow ran from her hiding spot. “NO! DON’T!!!!!!!!!!”

Spike looked up at the redhead running at them. Even from the distance
he could see the terror in her eyes. Inwardly grinning, he dropped the
stake and jumped to his feet. He offered Angel his hand who pointedly
ignored it and hefted himself to his feet. By that time Willow had
reached them. Her face was red and she was panting from a mixture of the
exertion and the fear.

“What the HELL is going on here?!!??” She asked, then gasped as she
doubled over in pain. Both the vampires were at her side in a second,
worried. “Are you alright, Willow?”

She nodded. “..fi..ne.. just.... need.... mi..nute...”

They both stood patiently at her side for a few minutes before her heart
slowed and her breathing was reduced to a somewhat erratic pace. “Which
one of you wants to explain to me why you were about to kill each
other?”

Spike, unable to control himself, immediately burst into laughter.
“Luv... we weren’t trying to kill each other!”

She turned to him, eyes flaming and jaw clenched. “It sure as hell
looked like it!”

Angel cut in, not wanting to upset or anger Willow further. And he knew
if he let Spike prattle on, that is exactly what would’ve happened.
“Willow, we were fighting, that’s true. However, I certainly did not
intend to kill Spike, nor did he me.”

“I don’t get it, then. You sure looked like you were out for blood!” She
said confusedly.

“Let’s put it this way. Spike and I talked a lot on the ride up here,
after you yelled at us.” He grinned at the slight blush that spread over
her features. “I guess you can say we worked things out, or at least
that we are well on our way. This was kind of... well, a way of
expressing the anger we’ve had bottled up for so long. There was a lot
of things we couldn’t forgive with words and this was our way of getting
past them. So you see you really don’t need to worry. In fact I think
you’ll find that my childe and I will be getting along quite a bit
better from now on.”

“Oh, yes,” came Spike’s arrogant voice. “Especially now that I beat his
arse.”

Angel’s eyes flashed yellow as he turned to Spike. “Or *not*” he ground
out under his breath. Ignoring the blond for the moment, he turned back
to the girl in front of him.

“Oh,” was all she could think to say. “I... I kinda need a while to
think about that, but I guess I get what you’re saying. And I do recall
telling you to do whatever you needed to do. So this means that you guys
are friends again?”

“Not quite friends, pet. But you could say we’ve got a new-found respect
for each other. And I can almost guarantee we’ll be easier to live
with.”

Willow let out a deep breath. “Oh, good. Just don’t EVER scare me like
that again!”
*************
Buffy was seriously contemplating going out after Willow when the door
opened and Willow stepped in, followed by Angel and Spike. She looked
somewhat shaken and Buffy immediately ran to her best friend’s side.
“Wills, are you okay? You look upset! Did you get attacked?! What
happened?”

Willow giggled. “Buffy, I’m alright. I didn’t get attacked. I just.....
tripped.” She wasn’t sure whether or not Angel and Spike wanted the rest
of the gang to know about their little fight. “I’m okay, really!!”

Buffy sighed. “Oh, good. ‘Cuz I’d never be able to forgive myself if
something had happened to you.”

Willow smiled gently and gave her friend a hug, “I’m alright, I swear.”

When they pulled away, Willow looked around the RV in wide-eyed wonder.
“Well. Umm, wow. This place sure looks different!”

It did, too. All the beds were made and the camper was one giant web of
sheets. They hung over the curtains of the windows, extra reinforcement
from the deadly sun. They also hung as walls, separating the different
parts of the camper for privacy. One hung between the couch and the
table. One hung between the table and the front seat. One hung on the
overhang between the table and above the front seat.

“Yup, we just finished getting everything ready. All you three have to
do is get changed and brushed up and then hop into bed. Oh and by the
way, shhh, ‘cuz my mom and Giles are already sleeping. Xander and Cordy
are in the front seat. Xander’s tongue got caught in Cordy’s throat and
she isn’t able to get it out.” Buffy offered a wicked grin as Willow
snickered. “I’m going to bed now. ‘Night!”

The four quickly bid each other goodnight and Willow turned back to her
temporary sleeping-buddies, a blush coming to her face just thinking
about the arrangements Xander had so foolishly made. “Uhh. I’ll go
change in the bathroom and you two change in here, alright?”

They both nodded and she grabbed her flannel sleepwear from a cabinet,
attempting to hide her bright red face with a curtain of her hair. She
moved away from the two as quickly as possible, slipping into the
bathroom stealthily. She silently banged her head against the door.
<Ohh, nooooooooo! What’ve I gotten myself into?!>

************

When Willow finished changing and brushing her teeth she quietly opened
the bathroom door and crept back to her bed. She pushed the sheet aside
and entered the make-shift room, flashing Angel and Spike a quick smile
before turning to stuff her clothes into the closet. That accomplished,
she kicked off her sneakers and bent down to pull off her socks. The two
men, both already laying down in the bed, were provided with a very nice
view of her backside. Angel, noticing Spike staring at her with
not-so-concealed desire, quickly and efficiently gave him a sharp smack
to the head. Spike turned to his sire and growled, but Angel had
accomplished what he set out to do. By the time Spike turned back to
Willow she was walking to the bed.

Although they had ‘made up’, per say, neither Angel nor Spike fancied
the idea of sleeping next to each other. They had decided, without even
running it by Willow, that she would sleep in the middle. To her credit
she did not comment.

Because Angel was sleeping by the wall and Spike on the edge of the bed,
Willow had to crawl over him to get into bed. He bit back a yelp as she
kneed him in the crotch. His face turned a tomato shade of red and
Angel, knowing exactly what happened, couldn’t hold back his laughter.
Willow looked at him confusedly, but smiled just because his laughter
was so contagious. It was then that she noticed the quality of Spike’s
face. “Ohmygod, are you alright?”

He nodded, biting his lip and rocking back and forth. “Fine.. pet.” He
managed to grind out. “Just... fine.”

The volume of Angel’s laughter increased and Willow sighed. “Alright, I
obviously missed something. I’m going to bed.” She settled herself under
the covers, pulling them up to her chin. She yawned sleepily. It was a
cute yawn that brought a smile to Angel’s face.

“Night Spike.” She said.

“Night, Red.” Then, getting in the mood, quickly added, “Night Daddy.”

“Goodnight, Spike.”

“G’night, Angel,” Willow murmured sleepily.

“Goodnight, Willow. Sleep tight.”

“DON’T LET THE VAMPIRES BITE!” came the simultaneous call from Buffy,
Cordy, and Xander.

Willow blushed a deep crimson and quickly slid her head down under the
covers.

--------------------------