Buffy walked into the room followed by Riley and Mark. "Well? Are you going to tell me what's going on here?"

Willow sighed wearily and stood up. "Buffy, what are you doing here?"

"Me? Wills, what are *you* doing here? Where's Spike?" She turned to Angel, "And what are you doing here?"

"Nosey much?" Cordelia snorted.

"Perhaps it would be best if everyone took a seat." Giles tried to lessen the building tension.

Mark stepped forward and approached Willow. "Willow, who are these people? Is this your boyfriend?" He asked motioning towards Angel.

Willow couldn't help but laugh at the presumption. "Angel? No. He's just a friend." She turned to Angel. "Angel, this is Mark," She pointed towards Riley who was still standing behind Buffy. "And that's Riley. They are members of The Initiative."

Angel growled and was about to stand up when he felt Cordelia's hand on his arm, calming him down. He couldn't believe that Buffy had brought those soldiers into Spike's house.

Willow looked around the room and groaned. She smiled slightly at Angel. "Maybe you should go and check on him?" She asked softly, motioning towards the stairs.

Angel nodded, and stood up, "Delia?" He asked. Cordelia stood and followed him up the stairs leaving Willow alone with Giles and the new arrivals.

"Um, perhaps I'll go make some tea." Giles quickly walked into the kitchen.

"Well?" Buffy asked again, impatient.

"Well what, Buffy? Willow asked. She was tired. She felt like she hadn't slept in days and she wasn't ready to deal with an angry Slayer.

"Well, I want to know what you're doing at Spike's house. I want to know what Angel is doing here, and I want to know why you lied." Buffy told her.

"Spike's sick." Willow explained. When Buffy looked at her blankly, she elaborated. "That's why Angel's here."

"I don't understand." Riley was confused.

Willow took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. "Spike is sick, so I stayed here last night. When he didn't wake up this morning I called Angel." She looked at Buffy apologetically. "I asked Giles' to tell you I spent the night at his house because I didn't know how you'd react if you knew I spent the night with Spike. Well, not 'with' Spike, but here, in his house." She blushed at the way her words came out sounding.

"Why do you care?" Mark's words were harsh.

"Excuse me?" Willow asked, feeling her anger rise. She really didn't like him.

"I said, Why do you care? He's a vampire. An animal who should be put out of his misery." Mark told her snidely.

Willow stood up and walked to the front door and opened it. "Out. Now." When no one moved, she looked up at Mark. "Leave. You're not welcome here." Her voice was trembling with anger.

Riley was the first to move. He walked outside quietly, not wanted to upset Willow further. Mark followed him, leaving Buffy to stand in front of the door dumbstruck.

"Wills, I didn't mean to upset you. I just… I don't understand why you worry about him. He's a killer. If it wasn't for that implant…"

Willow cut her off, "If it wasn't for that implant, he wouldn't be sick." Willow snapped. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Buffy, you shouldn't have brought them here. I don't expect you to understand, but I do expect you to respect my decisions."

"I do, Will. But it's Spike" Buffy didn't know what to say. She didn't understand why Willow was so concerned.

"Buffy, I think you had better leave." Giles told her as he came back into the living room.

Buffy nodded sadly and turned and walked out the door.

As Angel stood at the top of the stairs and listened to Buffy's demand for answers, he was struck with the realization that things had changed. Buffy didn't seem to be affected by his presence in Sunnydale, and the only emotion he was feeling towards his former love was irritation at her apparent lack of concern for Willow's distress. He still cared for her deeply, he probably always would, but it wasn't the same gut wrenching pain as before.

Angel felt a hand on his shoulder and looked around to find Cordelia looking at him with concern in her brown eyes.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Perfect." He told her. "You want to tell me what you saw in your vision?" Angel asked as he left the hallway and walked into Spike's bedroom.

Cordelia sat down in one of the two chairs set near the bed, where Spike lay unconscious.

"Well, As per the norm, it didn't make much sense," Cordelia started as Angel took a seat in the chair next to her, shifting his eyes between his childe and the brunette who was speaking to him.

Cordelia placed a hand on Angel's arm as she continued, "But, this won't be easy. For any of us." She told him softly.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

Cordelia sighed and stood up, and began walking around the room slowly, trying to decide how to best explain the feeling she had gotten from the vision. "It was unlike an vision I've gotten before. It was powerful." She stopped and turned to her boss, and friend. "I could feel it. The emotions were almost incapacitating."

Angel stood up. "Are you alright?" Her voice had wavered and he was growing concerned.

Cordelia smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm fine. But, Angel, this isn't like the usual creepy evil. These people, their human." She paused, unsure of how he would take what she was going to say next. "And Buffy, is helping them."

Angel looked down for a minute and then let eyes wander to his ill childe. "I know."

"She won't help us." Cordelia spoke softly. "We're on our own."

Willow sighed heavily as she flopped on to the couch. She wanted to cry. She knew that she shouldn't have lied to Buffy nor asked Giles to lie to Buffy, but she had thought that Buffy wouldn't understand, and she had been right. The way Buffy had reacted to finding out about Spike proved that.

"Willow? Are you all right?' Giles voice broke through Willow's muddled thoughts.

Willow looked up and smiled as Giles handed her a cup of tea.

"Thanks. I'm sorry to get you mixed up in this, Giles." Willow apologized.

Giles sat down next to her and clasped her hand. "Willow, you know you can always count on me." He told her. "I don't agree with what the Initiative has done and I want to help you get to the bottom of this."

"Thank you, Giles. That means a lot. I know you don't like Spike." Willow was relieved to still have Giles help. She needed all the help she could get. They still didn't know exactly what was causing Spike's illness, but she knew that they would have to find the answers on their own. Buffy wouldn't help them, and she didn't think The Initiative would tell them what they wanted to know willingly. However, she was fast approaching where violence was a definite option.

Willow stood up. "I'm gonna go see how he's doing. Then we can sit down and maybe figure something out." She smiled slightly as she headed towards the stairs.

As Giles watched her leave, he hoped that things weren't as grim as they suddenly appeared. He knew that Buffy wouldn't understand Willow's need to help Spike, but he had hoped that she might surprise him. But now it didn't look like that was going to happen. It looked whatever was going to happen next might drastically alter the relationships in his little group. He hoped their friendships were strong enough to endure the test they would undoubtably be put through.