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Angel instinctively knew when Xand's body weight shifted on top of him. He used that advantage, bucking his hips up. Xand, who was leaning towards Angel, tumbled over the older vampire, landing on his back. Angel bucked his hips again, flipping over, landing to straddle Xand. "I'm still the strongest one here," he hissed, game face sliding on. He leaned down and buried his fangs in Xand's neck.

Xand closed his eyes and howled in a mixture of pleasure, pain, submission, and defiance. Spike shuddered, knowing the sound well. He'd made it many times throughout the time he and his Sire ran together.

Angel sat up, licking his blood red lips. "Now," he said, standing up. "Who is the Big Bad around here?"

Spike's eyebrow rose. "That would be me, Peaches."

Angel rolled his eyes. "Ok, then, since Spike is the self proclaimed Big Bad, that would make me. . ."

"Big Bad's daddy?" Xander asked softly.

Willow chuckled. "Xander, stop it. I think the vampires are trying to assert their dominance. We shouldn't get involved with this."

"Hell, pet, as long as that whelp there doesn't hurt you, I don't care who is in control," Spike said.

"I didn't realize you cared, Spike," Willow said, sitting on her bed. She sighed.

"More than you know, pet," he said softly.

Xand stood up slowly, glancing at Angel. "I'm still the Master's favorite."

"Guess what, Xand," Angel sneered. "The Master is dead here. It doesn't matter if you were his favorite or not. You are in *my* Sunnydale now."

"Actually, Deadboy," Xander started, "you don't live here anymore. You have LA. So technically, it's not your Sunnydale."

Angel moved to Xander in the blink of an eye. He wrapped his hand around Xander's throat, squeezing slightly. His eyes flashed yellow. "Don't fuck with me, Harris. This is my Sunnydale."

Xander grabbed Angel's wrist, fear shooting through his body. "A. . .Angel? You are freaking me out here, you are reminding me of Angelus. . ."

"Good to know you recognize who you are dealing with. And here the Scooby Gang thought you were an idiot," Angel smirked.

Xander swallowed heavily. "Angelus? Do. . .do you still have the soul?"

Angel threw his head back and laughed silkily. "Of course I do, Harris. My soul isn't going anywhere. I just have to let the demon out more, so he doesn't hurt Willow."

Willow looked at Angel, then Xander, then back to Angel. She popped him on the arm. "Let Xander go," she hissed.

Angel looked down at the mortal, cocking an eyebrow. "And why would I do that, Little One?"

Willow shuddered softly at the seductiveness of his voice. < Damn, won't these vampires leave me alone? > "Because," she stuttered, "you are going to hurt him, and that will hurt me."

Angel thought about that for a moment, finally deciding to throw Xander down on the bed. "Fine, Willow. Take care of your little friend. I'll deal with him later."

Willow turned to Xander. "Are you ok?" she asked softly, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Yea," he replied, just as quiet. "Just a little freaked, that's all."

Willow chewed her bottom lip, looking up at Angel. "Yea, I know." The vampire had his back to the humans, talking in hushed tones with Spike.

Xand sat down next to Willow. He looked down, picking at the bedspread. "So, I didn't even get a chance to Sire you or fuck you or anything." He sounded dejected. It was difficult for Willow, looking at the vampire who was sad, to realize that this was a demon. He was acting just like Xander when he was upset about something.

"Well, I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not," Willow replied.

"They are going to send me home," Xand said, nodding to Spike and Angel.

"And this is bad because. . .? You'll get to go home to your Willow. Why does that bother you so much?"

Xand frowned, looking away. "She loves me. I know that she does. I love her. She's my mate. But she. . ." He turned to Willow. "I didn't exactly tell you the truth when I got here. It wasn't *just* Spike who sent me here." He looked down.

Willow's eyes widened and she glanced at Spike. She knew that she had grown to have a crush on the vampire, who was to say that her vampire counterpart didn't? "She did it, didn't she?"

Xand snarled angrily, game face sliding in place. "The bitch sent me here! She didn't want her Sire anymore, she wanted Spike. The two of them were always together. She tried to tell me that she'd give me time when Spike was away, but. . .that angered me. I hit her, she hit me. There was a great deal of fighting. I think we trashed the house. But it wasn't a good fighting, you know, the kind that leads to great sex. No, this was me trying to get my mate back. And she finally broke a chair and held the leg to my chest, telling me that it was over. She wanted Spike and not me. He was more of a vampire than I was, or some bullshit like that." He threw an angry gaze at Spike. "And she knew I wouldn't settle for that, that I was planning on killing him. So they sent me here." He turned to Willow. "And I was going to have you. I would have, had Puppy not been here."

Willow glanced at Xander, then turned back to the demon. "Xand, maybe we just don't belong together. I mean. . .we tried here, trust me, we did. It didn't work."

"Well, Wills, not to defend the situation, but we both kinda *were* in love with other people," Xander added.

"Shut up, Xander, you aren't helping," Willow hissed.

"It doesn't matter," Xand said. "They are going to send me back."

"No, we aren't," Angel said, turning to the three on the bed.

All three of them looked up in shock. "What?" Xander asked. "You. . .you can't let him stay here! There can't be two of me! It's not right!"

"He won't be *here*, Harris," Angel said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's going to go back to LA with me. . ."

"Cordelia is going to *love* that one," Xander snorted. "Her ex-boyfriend's face with a demon inside of him. Yea, I see that one going over well."

"You seriously dated Cordelia Chase?" Xand asked, leaning over to look at his counterpart. "Why? I mean, have you ever *seen* Willow?"

"Hey," Xander snapped. "Shut up. I loved her."

Willow looked down, chewing on the inside of her lip. She had a flash of finding Cordelia and Xander in the stacks, and the incredible amount of pain that followed. 'You'd rather be with someone you hate than with me,' echoed in her mind.

Spike watched the emotions flitter across the witch's face. He reached out, taking her hand. He pulled her up and smiled down at her, running his fingers down her face. "You are so much better off without the moron," he said softly.

Willow looked up at him, her heart pounding in her chest. "Why are you doing this? Why are you being nice to me?"

< Because I want you, > he thought. "Because," he said, "you have your little witch now, remember?"

Willow's eyes widened. "Oh goddess! Tara! I completely forgot about Tara!" She turned, looking towards the phone. "I need to call her. . ."

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