Willow rolled over and into somebody. She snuggled down in the covers, glad that Tara had chosen to stay the night. Then she noticed something about her bed partner, something decidedly masculine. Willow opened her eyes and eeped.

"Spike!"

What the hell was she doing in bed with Spike? A little voice inside said "Go, Willow." She shook her head, this couldn't possibly be what it looked like. She lifted the covers and eeped again. It was very naked under there. Naked Willow and naked Spike under the covers on the same bed simply would not do. She scrambled off the bed, taking most of the covers with her.

"Was it something I said, love?" The vampire seemed rather amused with the distraught look on Willow's face.

"What - what am I doing here?" she stammered out. When he merely raised an eyebrow at her, she began to shake her head vehemently. "No, no, no, there's no way. What did you do?"

He smirked. "Me?" he asked incredulously. "Why, pet, I was just along for the -" he glanced her over "ride."

Willow turned beet red. This is so not happening. She began to pace. Well, with the covers tangled around her like a toga, it was more like shuffling back and forth. "I don't remember anything about last night."

"That's a shame, Red, since you had such a wonderful time."

Willow stopped pacing and gaped. Something hellmouthy had to be going on. There was no way in the world she and Spike could have... Face it, Wills. Naked you. Naked him. You were an honor student; you do the math. Willow groaned and brought a hand up to run over her face and neck. She flinched. "Hey! You bit me!"

Spike sat up and stretched. "Ah, yeah. A few times, actually."

Willow timidly pulled the blanket she had wrapped around her away from her body and checked to see what he was talking about. Of course... and... oh, my. She yanked the cover back tightly around her. She cleared her throat and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Let's just pretend those aren't there, 'kay? How did you bite me? What about the chip?"

"Don't know about that one, love. Could be cause you asked me to."

Willow's eyes turned into saucers of disbelief and she opened and closed her mouth silently before saying emphatically, "I need to speak with Giles." She began hunting for her clothes.

Spike started to laugh. She glared at him. He quit, but the glint of mischief didn't leave his eyes. "Right. Giles. You need to go see about that. I'm sure he'd like to help you out." He snickered again.

Despite her desire to find out what he found so funny, Willow got dressed as quickly and as far away from Spike as she could. Surely this wasn't what it looked like. There had to be an explanation. Giles would know what to do; maybe they wouldn't even have to bring Buffy into this. Willow made a face at the thought. What would her best friend have to say about this?

"Come on, Giles, you have to be here." Willow knocked a third time. Still no answer. Frustrated, she grabbed at the doorknob. She stumbled a bit when it turned and the door opened. If Giles wasn't at home, why was the door unlocked? Willow pushed the door open the whole way and panicked at the sight before her. Giles was tied to a chair by the sofa, his head slumped over.

"Giles!" she called out as she rushed over to him. The ex-watcher's head shot up as she kneeled in front of him and started fumbling with his bonds. He immediately tensed. "What happened? Are you alright?" No response.

"Giles?" Willow paused. "Why won't you answer me?"

Her former librarian regarded her apprehensively for a moment. As he took in her wide eyes and the concern he found there, he softened. He slowly mouthed the words "Magic. Can't speak."

"Oh. Oh!" Willow quickly finished untying him and hurried to his bookshelf to find a reversal spell.

When the silencing spell was broken, Willow laid a hand on the older man's arm. "Giles, tell me what happened." He didn't look at her. "Who tied you up and put a silencing spell on you?" He remained silent a moment longer before looking Willow in the eye with no small measure of disbelief. Then he answered.

"You."

The night before.

It was just after sunset when Willow arrived at Tara's dorm room. The place was lit only with candles, the phone was off the hook, and the door was locked. They had a pretty involved new spell to try. Willow did a final check over her list of ingredients. "Do you still have any motherwort? Wait, found some, nevermind." She wanted to make sure everything was perfect.

"Do you think we're ready for this?" Tara asked meekly. She felt uneasy about doing this particular spell, but she liked Willow and was willing to try anything for the redhead.

"Are you kidding? We're way ready for this."

The blonde witch smiled. "Okay."

The two of them cleared a space on the floor and sat down in the middle of it. They held hands, closed their eyes and waited a moment for their minds to clear. Tara began to recite her part of the spell. A purple mist formed around the girls, creating a circle around them. Willow chose to do her part of the spell in Latin, because, as she said to herself, what spell doesn't sound better in Latin? Energy built within the circle of Willow and Tara's hands.

It didn't take long for Tara to notice when the sound of Willow's voice changed. It seemed stronger, as if more authority were suddenly behind the words. Tara opened her eyes and let out a little gasp. All the energy the spell was creating was enveloping the redhead, bathing her in a strange purple glow. Suddenly, Tara felt a rush of power go through her arms, like a current of energy was surging through her to get to Willow. The blonde witch shook her head. "Wil-low, s-stop, something's wrong."

Willow's head snapped back and her eyes opened. "So mote it be," she gasped out. Both girls collapsed.

"Willow?" Tara's voice was but a whisper. She wanted to lift her head, but it seemed so heavy. She tried to reach Willow with her hand, but it moved so slowly. "Willow?"

The redhead sat up suddenly. She scanned the room quickly, as if she wasn't sure where she was. When she focused on Tara, she blinked. Then she smiled. "Tara?"

Something was wrong, Tara was sure of it. This wasn't just Willow anymore. And Tara was still too weak to move. Willow crawled over to her. When she leaned over the blonde witch, Tara saw it in her eyes. They were darker.

The redhead traced a finger down Tara's cheek. "Thank you, dear. I couldn't have done it without you." She waved her hand over Tara's face. "But you can't give me what I need."

Tara saw Willow disappear from view just as the heaviness took over. The last thing she remembered thinking was she should call Buffy.

Xander's basement.

"Stop hitting the door!" Anya huffed. She was waiting for Xander to come back with food when someone started pounding on the door. When they didn't give up and go away, she decided to open the door and see who was making the awful racket. She was kind of surprised to see Willow.

"You were the one making all that noise?"

Willow ignored Anya's tone. She put her hands on her hips. "Is the boy here?"

Anya sensed something off in the redhead. She met Willow's stance. "No. He's not. Leave."

"Where is he? When will he be back?"

Anya really didn't like the vibe Willow was putting off. "Don't know. What do you want with him?"

The redhead considered this. "Funny. Loyal. Brave."

Something inside Anya clicked. She crossed her arms over her chest. "You can't have him."

An eerie laugh rumbled in Willow's throat. She turned to go. Then, almost as an afterthought, she turned back to Anya and with one hit sent the ex-demon to the floor, out cold. "Like you could stop me."

Giles' apartment.

Giles looked up from his tea and a book on the occult as Willow entered his apartment. He could have sworn he'd locked the door.

"Willow, is everything alright?"

There was an edge to her voice when she answered. "Not yet. Working on it." She approached him.

Giles noticed Willow's behavior seemed a bit odd. He would have almost said she was currently stalking toward him. Her movements reminded him vaguely of her vampire counterpart. He was relieved that she hadn't needed an invitation to come in. That relief was soon to dissipate.

Willow came and stood directly beside the former watcher. She flipped his book closed and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Intelligent. Compassionate." She smiled. "And a little bit dangerous."

Giles didn't like the way she was acting. He certainly didn't like the warmth that spread through him at her touch. This was Willow. She was a former student. She was Buffy's best friend. He took her hand off his shoulder. "Uh, Willow, perhaps you should tell me why you came over."

"Why use words when I'm so much better with deeds?" And then her mouth was on his. She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and ran her hands over his chest. That warmth he had been feeling turned into a full-fledged heat. He pulled back from her and took several steps back.

"Wha? Eh. We can't - what are you doing?" Giles was completely flustered. Willow had just come on to him. He could hardly think.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll be doing you." She sauntered over to him. He held up a hand to keep her away. "Willow - "

She stretched a palm toward him. Giles fell soundlessly to the floor. She sighed. "Humans and their insistence on doing everything the hard way."

When Giles came to, he was tied to his desk chair. Willow slithered onto his lap. "Oh, good. I was hoping you'd be awake for the fun part." She leaned in and licked his neck. Giles started sweating, either from fear or something else altogether.

"Willow, you don't want to do this." His eyes locked with hers. Why hadn't he seen it before? Whatever was looking back at him through Willow's green eyes was most definitely not Willow. She grinned wickedly. "Oh, but I really need to." She arched into him. He shut his eyes. "Something is making you do this. Untie me and we'll figure this out..."

"Sshhh." She snapped her fingers at him, and Giles found he couldn't talk. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. She began to fumble with his belt. "Now, let's see if all this talk about how we can't do this is true." Giles panicked and struggled against his bonds. She giggled and snapped her teeth at him. "Feisty."

A low whistle interrupted her. Willow growled and looked to the doorway. A lanky blonde in a leather duster was leaning against the doorframe. The hair on the back of her neck tingled. Vampire.

"So, little teen witch is into bondage." The vampire came into the apartment. He took in the appearance of the watcher. "Didn't know you had it in you, Rupert." Giles glared at him. The vampire went to the kitchen and began rooting through the refridgerator for the blood he knew he'd left there.

Willow slid off of Giles. She kept her eyes on the kitchen.

"Spike," she said matter-of-factly.

She watched him like prey when he came back in the living room with a mug of blood. He seemed completely oblivious to the watcher and the witch. That is, until she came and stood less than a foot in front of him. Her eyes roved over him.

"Passion. Poetry. Desire." She licked her lips. "You'll do nicely."

Spike didn't know what the chit was talking about, but he'd recognize that look in her eye anywhere. He set down the empty mug and draped his arms around her waist, drawing her against him. "Just what did you have in mind?"

"With you?" She ran her hands up his arms and shivered. "Maybe a little of everything."

Spike decided this was his lucky day. The little witch had obviously been playing with her magic again. Her scent was all wrong. He'd put his money on possession. By what, he didn't really care. Whatever it was, it wanted him. Oh, this was going to give the Slayer fits. She'd probably end up staking him over it. She was probably going to end up staking him anyway.

"Well, pet, I'm up for whatever you have in mind." He let his hands slide down to the back of her thighs. He lifted and she jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist. "So, where do you want me?" she purred.

Giles slid his chair across the floor, outraged by the display before him. Willow looked over her shoulder. "Guess you're off the hook, after all, Rupes."

Spike reveled in the daggers in the older man's eyes. He slid his hands in Willow's back pockets and nibbled at the pulse point on her neck. She moaned. "Looks like the watcher doesn't want to watch, love. Maybe we should take this back to my place."

As Spike carried Willow out of the apartment, she sent one last mocking glance to the Giles. "Don't wait up!" she sing-songed. And Giles watched, helpless to stop to them.

"Me?" Willow's stomach dropped. "I did this to you?" Giles didn't get a chance to reply, because just then Buffy threw open the door and rushed inside.

"Giles! Have you seen - Willow! Where have you been?" The slayer rushed over to her friend. "I was worried when you never came home last night from Tara's, but when she came over this morning asking about you, I, I - where were you?"

Willow looked nervously from her friend to Giles. Emotion welled up inside her as it hit her that she was in way over her head. Tears formed in her eyes. "I don't remember last night, Buffy." Her words sounded strangled. "But Giles says I was here. And I think I tried to hurt him." She brought her hand over her mouth, not trusting herself to speak.

Buffy went to Willow and put an arm around her. The slayer looked to Giles. "What happened?"

After an involuntary glance at his desk chair, Giles answered "She came by here last night. She wasn't herself. I'd rather not go into any more detail until we know what's happening."

"I have to call Tara." Willow brushed the tears off her cheek. "We were doing a spell. That's the last thing I remember. She can bring the spell over. It has to be something with that." Willow couldn't look at Giles. She knew he must be angry. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Giles didn'y say anything. He kind of nodded and then went upstairs.

Buffy rubbed Willow's back. "We'll figure this out; he'll forgive you," she said comfortingly.

"That's not all I'm worried about. I woke up in Spike's crypt this morning."

"You what?"

Willow glanced up, sheepishly. "Naked. And - " She drew her hair away from her neck.

Buffy jumped back. "I am so gonna stake his ass." From the looks of it, she planned on it right then. Willow grabbed her arm.

"No, Buffy, wait. We don't know what's going on, yet. We might need him for clues or something."

"But, Will, he bit you! And if you woke up naked, I bet that's not all he did!"

The redhead blushed. "Believe me, I've thought about that. But Buffy, how did he bite me? And why didn't he kill me?"

"Alright. Questions first. Staking second."

Half an hour later.

Giles was working on translating the spell Tara had brought over. The two witches sat quietly on the couch, holding hands. Buffy had decided to go fetch Spike for questioning. A tense silence hung in the apartment; it made it all the more jarring when Xander threw the door open. "Is Willow here?"

Willow looked over her shoulder. "Xander? What's wrong?"

"That's what I want to know. Why'd you punch Anya?"

The redhead looked aghast. Tara squeezed her hand. "What do you mean?"

"Is Anya alright?" Giles asked.

Xander paced about. "She'll be fine. When I got back with our dinner last night, she was knocked out on the basement floor. When she came to, she wouldn't tell me who hit her." Xander stopped in front of Willow. "This morning, the whole side of her face is purple. I finally get her to tell me what happened and she says it was you. Now, I gotta say, I had a hard time believing it, but I have to ask. Did you?"

Fresh tears welled up in Willow's eyes. "Maybe," she whimpered.

Xander took an even breath. "Maybe?"

Giles attempted to explain the situation. "Willow and Tara performed a spell last night. From the text, it appears it was supposed to be a basic Wiccan prayer. We think something was inadvertantly invoked during the process. As a result, Willow has no recollection of last night's events."

This news hit Xander in a way he didn't expect. He sat down. "So you did it." Willow could hear the disappointment in his voice. "I'm so sorry."

It was a pretty somber moment until Tara started waving her hands excitedly. "Oh, oh, oh. You say Willow came to your place?" Xander nodded. "And you weren't there and she hit Anya?" Xander nodded again. Tara sprang off the couch and rushed over to Giles' desk. "I think I know what happened!" Giles and Xander had never seen the blonde move or talk so fast. "The spell. We called on Dreska. We must have granted her access to actually use Willow."

Giles got in on the excitement. "Yes, of course. You must have worded the spell in a way that allowed Dreska to come and take over Willow's body. Tara, how did you think of that?"

Tara immediately cast her eyes downward. "I, uh, it was b-because she h-hit Anya." The other three waited for her to continue. "W-willow doesn't like Anya all that much. But Xander's her best friend. I could tell last night that she wasn't acting like Willow, but if she wasn't partly Willow, then how would she end up at Xander's and why would she hit Anya?"

Xander raised his hand. "So was this a one-time deal or can Miss Dreska just hop in Will's body whenever she feels like it?"

Willow got an uneasy feel. Could that happen? She stood up. "Dreska. Right. We research her, then?" She gave Xander her best I-was-possessed-by-Dreska-no-hard-feelings? smile. He accepted it.

"Full research mode it is."

Spike's crypt.

Buffy made sure she let in as much sun as possible when she entered Spike's crypt. As she had hoped, he had to scramble to the far wall, smoke rising from somewhere on his person.

"You really like trying my patience, don't ya, Spike?"

He growled as he batted at his smoking arms. "What is it this time, Slayer?"

"Wil-low." Buffy heavily enunciated the syllables. "Petite little redhead? Into wicca?"

Spike slid up the wall into a standing position. "Pale skin? Talks a lot?"

Buffy put her hands on her hips. "You took advantage of her."

"You jealous?"

"Oh, that is it!" She ran at him. Spike prepared himself to meet the end of her stake and then realized she didn't have one. She had a heavy blanket instead. She threw it over him and started dragging him to the door.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?"

"To Giles. You're gonna help us find out what's wrong with Willow."

"Red'll be there, will she?"

Buffy punched him through the blanket. "Shut up, Spike."

It had been a rough afternoon for the gang. Hours of research and they knew little more about Dreska than they did hours before. Anya had begrudgingly come over to help. Willow had tried to apologize; Anya wouldn't speak to her. It was almost sunset now and Xander had taken Anya home. Willow was crashed on the couch since she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

Buffy came out of the kitchen to see Spike tucking a blanket around the redhead. "Don't do that!" Buffy shoved him away. He looked confused. "Don't touch her like you know her." Willow stirred. Tara gave both the slayer and the vampire a menacing "sshhh!"

"Stay away from her," Buffy hissed at Spike. Willow sat up and rubbed at her eyes groggily. "What'd I miss?"

"We know a little more about how Dreska possessed you," Tara began. "It's a limited bond. It's only nocturnal, and while she's in your body, you're not exactly human. She draws on you, but you're still technically there. Dreska's pretty powerful, but not particularly violent." Willow took all this in.

"So how do we put up a sign that says 'no room for rent'?" Tara looked down. Buffy spoke up. "We don't know yet. But we will. I promise. Giles is on the phone with Wesley right now." Willow stood and began to move around.

"Oh, no. Wesley? You guys had to call reinforcements? That's so not a good sign - "

"Relax, Red, they'll get you all fixed up eventually."

An invouluntary heat ran through Willow when she heard Spike's voice. She hadn't noticed him there. Her heart rate sped up and the wounds on her neck, not to mention the ones hidden by her clothes, started to tingle. She thought maybe she should tell the others, but it seemed kind of weird. She did manage a muffled "Hey, Spike."

"What? Don't I get a hello kiss?" Spike received two glares and a blush. Giles wandered down the stairs, still on the phone.

"Yes, I see... mmm-hmm, yes... I shouldn't think that would be necessary, but thank you for offering... yes, I'll let you know... thank you, Wesley... goodbye."

"What did he say?" Buffy had never sounded so anxious to hear anything Wesley had ever had to say.

"He has a book on lesser female deities, actually. And it seems Angel has run into something similar before. They say we have to find out what Dreska wants before the open invitation to use Willow's body can be closed, which is what I had assumed."

"How do we find out what it wants?" Willow asked.

Tara interrupted. "I think a better question is what do we do when it takes over Willow tonight?" She gestured to the window. The fading light indicated that the sun was almost set.

"We don't exactly have a bookcage to lock me in like we did with Oz..." Willow sounded a little nervous. Waiting to be possessed by a spirit can be trying on the nerves.

"Are we even sure it will use Willow again? I mean, how will we know?" Buffy's back was to Willow.

"Oh," Tara said. "I think we'll know." She looked past Buffy. The slayer turned around. "Yikes."

Nobody had even seen her move, but there she was, atop Spike's lap, caught in a kiss that would have suffocated the human-only Willow. She drew back.

"Hello, lover," Spike said.

"Hey, yourself," Willow replied breathlessly.

"A-hem!"

Willow turned to the source of the sound. "I'm busy, uh, Buffy. Go away." She turned all her attention back to Spike, whose laughing eyes taunted Buffy while he pulled her best friend closer to him.

"I am not leaving. That's my best friend's body you're using to lap dance on that vampire, and I want to know why."

The redhead groaned and pulled away from Spike. She kept her eyes on him while she spoke to Buffy. "Because he was an excellent choice." Willow seemed to be paying no attention to Giles and Tara, who were slowly approaching with rope. Spike could see them and that's why he wasn't saying anything. He wanted to warn the redhead but the look Buffy was giving him was deadly.

When Giles and Tara made it to Buffy, all three began to advance toward Willow and Spike. They made it almost there. Buffy had the rope up in her hands and said "Sorry, Will, but I gotta -"

That's when she hit the barrier. It knocked her back into Tara and Giles, and the three of them went sprawling on the floor.

"What the -"

"Magic," Tara whispered.

"This is going to be tricky."

In the chair, Spike and Willow kept going at it, unperturbed. Willow yanked off her shirt and everyone got a glimpse of her blue cotton bra. Tara's lower lip started to tremble. Buffy got back on her feet. "Giles, we have to do something."

"I'm open for suggestions."

Buffy watched Spike and Willow for a moment and threw up her hands, outraged. "Stop that! Spike! Make her stop!"

"Sorry, Slayer," Spike paused as Willow pulled his shirt over his head, "She's still mostly human. And she's really strong. Nothing I can do -" Willow cut him off with her mouth.

"Spike, I swear to God if you don't do something, I'm going to -"

Spike got the idea. He stilled Willow's hands on his jeans. "Love, are you sure that magical barrier you've set up is gonna hold while we..."

She nodded vigorously and licked his chest. "Mmm... very sure. This one's magic is strong. They won't be able to penetrate it." She leaned up and gave him a lascivious grin. He'd have to use a different tactic. "Of course, pet, it's just, well, truthfully, if you and I do what I think we're about to do with those three having front row seats, I'll be greeting the sunrise as a big pile of dust." Willow considered this. "Alright."

Tara and Giles recognized the heavy feeling from the night before. It was slower to work on Buffy. She dropped to her knees. "Willow? Willow!"

When it became obvious that those on the floor couldn't move, Spike gathered Willow in his arms and stood up. "Well, done, Red. Now, where would you like to continue..."

"Watcher's bed." They went upstairs.

"Well, that could have gone better," Giles managed to mutter before slipping into a supernatural slumber.