"You're not human," Spike accused, poking Angel in the chest. "Smell funny."

"Thanks." Angel spoke with a drawl that amused Willow, but there was panic underneath. "Prophecy just said live to die, nothing about humanity. Shanshu. Fuck." Angel swearing amused Willow even more.

Illyria leaned in and sniffed at Angel's neck. "What does he smell like?" She asked, obviously annoyed that she couldn't tell the difference.

"Dunno. Still smells like a vampire, but I can't smell the demon. Plus there's that whole heartbeat thing."

"Oh." She tilted her head, peering at him. "You are weak. You must be fed."

"She's right. You've only got a few pints of blood in you; you're running on magic. Should I heat up some more?" Willow asked, already moving to the fridge.

"God no!" Angel jerked away from the half-full mug still sitting beside him.

"What part of 'not a vampire' didn't you get, Red?" Spike turned to Angel. "Got any human food in this dump?"

Angel nodded. "In the second fridge. Didn't know," he looked around the room, taking them all in, his eyes settling finally on the counter where Gunn was laid out, "who was going to make it."

Willow started to tear up again, so Spike jerked his head towards the fridge. She nodded and rose, brushing her hand over Angel's shoulder and whispering an apology as she went.

"Boy went out fighting, Angel. Red kept him on his feet 'slong as she could."

Angel blinked hard, fighting back tears that clung to his lashes. "How the hell did we survive that?" He was getting woozy, lack of blood overpowering the surge of magic that had come from Illyria's pick-me-up. He swayed back and Spike swooped around, pulling Angel back to rest against his chest, his legs parallel to his grand-Sire's.

"The good witch over there. Felt the mojo and came to visit; don't you remember?"

"I remember. But still. There were so many... so many." Angel sighed, twisting back to rest more comfortably against Spike's chest. Spike fumbled a comforting hand over Angel's shoulder, still discomfited by the steady thrum of a heartbeat, too slow for a human but definitely present.

"We're a helluva team." Spike sighed. "What are we gonna do now?"

"We? You're staying with us?" Angel cocked his head against Spike's collarbone and peered up at him.

Spike snarled down at him. "'Course. So's Red."

Angel smiled. "Good." Then Willow was there, pressing microwaved soup towards him. He ate - and ate - and ate. The next hour was filled with Angel's delighted grunts, though soon after he was groaning and holding his stomach.

"Stupid blighter; haven't used your stomach in centuries!" Spike bundled his duster - only slightly stiff with blood - under Angel's head. "Sleep it off; we'll figure out what's up next."

"Mmkay." Angel turned his back on them and curled up under one of the sheets Illyria had brought in, mumbling to himself as he fell asleep.

Spike skirted the wide puddle of dried blood to join Illyria and Willow, perched on a counter by the 'fridge.

"You are being remarkably calm." Fred was gone, just a bright shadow in Illyria's blue eyes.

"Today we recover. Tomorrow we die. Next month we heal." Willow shrugged, survivor of too many horrors. Spike only nodded. The brunt of the losses sustained hadn't even touched her, but she knew what the rest of them felt - better than they did, so soon after the fact.

"That is illogical."

"What isn't?"

Illyria only nodded. "What are we to do next?"

"Excellent question, pet. Red, any ideas?"

Willow chewed on her lower lip for a moment before answering. "Xander."

"What about the whelp?"

"He's been tracking down Slayers in Africa; Giles didn't want me coming after you, so he probably won't be thrilled if we show up on his doorstep." She craned her neck to look at Angel, curled up on the floor on the other side of the room.

"Understatement. Watcher's never liked me."

"You might be surprised. He was... impressed by your sacrifice in Sunnydale." She turned back to focus on Spike, who scowled.

"Difference between respect and affection, pet. Let's not go there quite yet."

"Exactly. And Buffy's in Scotland, training Slayers. I doubt she wants a vamp in the mix."

"What!?" Spike slid off the counter and automatically groped for a cigarette. "Thought she was livin' the high-life in Rome with the Bit?"

Willow snickered. "Andrew's idea."

"Huh?" He lit up and sucked a full half-inch to ash.

"We took out a town, Spike. Faith and Wood showed up on the streets of Cleveland with half-a-dozen mini-Slayers and a brand-new armory, Kennedy and I were mixing things up in Rio, Buffy kept getting arrested in London, and little girls all over the world started looking for us - the visions."

"Buffy got arrested!" Spike choked on smoke and started to laugh. Illyria cocked her head at him and let out a snicker of her own.

"She forgets that not everyone was raised on a hellmouth; some places, the cops actually pay attention."

"Watcher must've loved that." He settled, leaning back against the counter across from the two women. "So what's that have to do with Andrew?"

"We had to tone things down, so Buffy decided to let some of the mini-Slayers and their new watchers patrol London - they're a bit better at the whole low-profile thing - and start training a squad to take on anything really big. Andrew got us to magic up a handful of glamours and we sent a few Slayers out to live the highly visible high life so the UN and the demon population would have something to focus on. Dawn's staying in Rome with Andrew and one of the mini-Slayers, who is, in fact, dating the Immortal. Silly little thing, though. Dawn hates her."

Spike goggled.

"Thus, Xander." She fixed her eyes on Spike. "He's been having some trouble, we could go help him out. Give all of you a chance to process. And he'll have news from everyone else, and we can figure out what to do next."

"Sounds like a decent layover, then. So, pet, can you mojo us across the Atlantic?"

She looked at him for a long moment, then curled her lip. "Hardly. I tapped myself out today, and it's not comin' back anytime soon. We're going by boat." Spike groaned. "I'd say maybe two weeks from Boston to Angola, or four from LA. Think we can get across the country?"

"Sure. Trade in the pouf's car for a truck or van or something - can't believe I'm gonna drive a van - and trade off on the driving, shouldn't take more than a few days."

"Excellent. I've got some money, so I'm going to run out to an internet cafe and start pulling some strings, get us a spot on a cargo ship, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan. Peaches can pay you back; the lawyers were payin' him pretty to do their dirty work." Willow nodded solemnly. "Get back fast, and catch some sleep, eh? I'll go out at sunset and get us a vehicle."

"No more winnebagos?"

"Promise."


A/N: So I got some flak about the way I "summarily dismissed" Buffy's tenure in Rome with the Immortal. Just to get my own back, I thought I should mention that Andrew's plan of putting out decoy Buffys is detailed in BtVS S8, comic 8:1. So if you've got issues, take 'em up with Joss.