•••

"Anything interesting?" Dawn inquired from her perch on a ladder.

"Just opening now," Buffy murmured, scrolling through the message. "It's from George," She told Dawn. That was their code for vision e-mails. Dawn jumped off the ladder and trotted over to join Buffy at the computer. She snorted as Buffy continued to use the ancient mouse and stuck her hand through the display, pulling the e-mail up until the body could be read.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to actually learn how to use this stuff," Dawn muttered, pointing at the computer. "If I'd known you weren't going to, I would've kept the dinosaur."

"Be quiet," Buffy said, focused on reading the message. "Holy fuck."

"What?" Dawn asked, reading over Buffy's shoulder. "Oh... holy oh wow."

Buffy stared at the display. They were coming back. All of them.

Ten years.

Of dust.

Dawn and Buffy turned at the same time, looking in horror at the single can of Pledge on the bookshelf across the room. "Get Willow," Buffy hissed. "We've got three days."

"I told you we should've been dusting in there," Dawn growled as she made for the stairs. "What should we make?"

"Make?" Buffy asked incredulously. "Make?"

"For their welcome home party!" Dawn said excitedly. "Even if it's going to be a secret, we have to have a party!"

Buffy grimaced. Yeah, Lorne would have her head if they didn't have a party. Her husband was ever the morale sergeant of the hotel. "Willow!" Buffy yelled, pounding on the redhead's bedroom door. "Get out here!"

A bleary-eyed Willow peeked out the door. "You told me I could sleep in," She moaned. The witch, along with a couple of Lorne's buddies, had been out all night on a case.

"They're coming back," Buffy said in a low voice.

Willow threw open the door. "When? Where? What?"

"In three days, here, and dust," Dawn replied, walking into her girlfriend's room. "As in, they'll be here in three days, at the hotel, and we need to clean up their old rooms."

"But we haven't been in there in years," Willow muttered. "They're..."

"Exactly," Buffy muttered. "And Giles... he'll have to be distracted."

Willow waved that off. "Faith's parole board hearing, remember?"

Dawn snorted. "She doesn't stand a chance." Until the particular board member that the Slayer had insulted left the board, Faith was stuck in prison. Not ethical, not right, but the way things went. She never should've called the lady a fat, gimpy sow. The brunette girl handed Willow a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. "Get changed, Red-haired Mary. We've got scutwork to do."

•••

As soon as the van pulled to a stop, Xander shot out, running for the cabin they'd rented. He was inside, door closed, before anyone else had gotten out of their cars. "What got into him?" Fred asked Oz. "Is he sick?"

"Considering how he eats and drinks on the road, it is a distinct possibility," Wesley murmured. Fran reached for the faun, who swung him up to sit on his shoulders.

"He heard there were bunk beds," Cordelia said as she joined them, holding Siobhan. "Wanted to call dibs."

Gunn and Oz retrieved blankets for vampires and escorted them into the cabin, where Xander had actually paused to close all the curtains before jumping on one of the top bunks. Cordelia waltzed in, carrying Siobhan and Mischa. She deposited the girl in Xander's arms before letting Mischa down to run over to Wil. Julian soon joined the vampires, jumping on the mattress and trying to climb on the spring matrix of the bunk bed above them.

Once all the cubs were ensconced in the room, under the watchful eyes of Xander, Wil and Angel, the others retrieved food and clothing for the night. "Did you get the message off to Buffy?" Xander asked Angel as Thalia and Fran tried to remove his belt. Siobhan wasn't helping, either. She had a hold of his shoes and was tying the laces together. "Siobhan, honey, don't do that."

"Okay," She said brightly, cuddling up to the Raphe. Fran and Thalia quickly abandoned Xander's belt to get a hug too.

"Yeah, the message got off ok," Angel replied. "They know when we're supposed to arrive."

Julian stuck his head under a curtain, peering out over the lake behind their cabin. "Can we go out? After dark?"

"Yes," Angel replied. "But you can go out now, if your mom and dad want to." All of the cubs, but particularly Julian and Mischa, were acutely aware of scheduling things around the vampires' sun sensitivity. Wil and Angel, in turn tried to make sure the cubs got every opportunity to get out during the day and do things in the sun. Still, Julian and Mischa preferred nighttime.

"If Mom and Dad want to do what?" Gunn asked as he carried in one last cooler.

"The lake," Mischa said, smiling hopefully. "It's pretty. Shiny."

Gunn frowned. "There's a dock," Oz said quietly. "They could stay on it."

"Besides, this is their big adventure," Xander added, climbing down. He carefully hefted each cub off the top bunk, setting them on their feet. "That's why we're stopping here and not at some roadside hotel."

Gunn nodded reluctantly and watched as all five children swarmed him, Oz and Xander. They caught Fred and Cordelia on the way out the door, pulling the two women along the path to the lake.

Wil sighed as the last cub disappeared through the door, Gunn closing it behind him. "I hate this," He muttered, banging his head against the wall.

"What?" Angel inquired, turning to face the blonde. "What's so bad?"

Wil snorted. "Let's see... we're going back to Los Angeles, where we haven't been for a decade, to see people we haven't laid eyes on for that same decade, to face enemies we only think are weak enough to defeat. Oh, and let's not forget the five youngest members of Angel Investigations that are joining us."

"Have you been talking to Cordelia again?" Angel inquired lightly. "You're certainly sounding like her."

"I'm worried," Wil defended. "That isn't the same as not wanting to do this. I'm just worried."

Angel got up to pace the floor. He tried to busy himself putting everyone's overnight bag on the appropriate bunk. "We have to, Wil. Running only works for so long. The visions didn't stop for these past years. No, they've tied Buffy to LA. Honestly, I don't know how she's survived this long. It isn't right to make her keep working like that."

Wil jumped off the bed and strode up to Angel, eyes narrowed. "It's not about Buffy, is it, Angel?" He hissed, angry. "This isn't about Wolfram & Hart, or whether or not Dawn and Willow like working there, if they're even still at the hotel."

Angel backed up a step, but Wil followed him. "It's about your bloody redemption," Wil surmised. "Ten years of toddling around this blasted country has you worried that you're not doing enough."

The dark vampire's eyes slid closed. "No, Wil. I want..."

Wil cocked his head to one side. "What, Angel? What is it you want? Wolfram & Hart's collective head on a platter? Buffy, all cooing and grateful for your glorious return?"

Angel turned away. "None of it," He admitted. "Home." All he wanted was home.

"Home?" Wil echoed, hurt. Angel had told him once that he was Angel's home. Wherever he was, that was home.

Since he wasn't looking at Wil, Angel didn't see the damage he'd done. "The way we live... it's more than us now, Wil. The cubs, they think it's normal to have a couple of vampires watching over them. They don't care that there are mugs of blood on the dinner table, that one of their 'uncles' has horns and cloven hooves for feet. What kind of life is that?"

"So you want to what, farm them out to human parents?" Wil spat, furious. "Cart them off to some pocket of in-denial morons who'll instill them with all the necessary traits for survival--a blind eye, a lust for money and a keen sense of conformity?"

"No!" Angel growled, frustrated. "I want them to have friends their age, go to school... have a home. One that won't change in a couple of years, because we have to keep running."

Wil's anger drained away. Sometimes Angel mangled even the best-intentioned explanations. The blonde knew, though, that they'd all do anything for the cubs. It was more than just them now; Angel might have been Wil's home, but the cubs... they needed more than that.

Angel started as familiar arms wrapped around him. "They'll have that," Wil promised Angel. "Friends and enemies in the sandbox, homework, field trips and embarrassing moments when we follow them around on their dates."

The dark vampire chuckled, imagining sneaking through a packed teen club, spying on adolescent versions of Julian and Mischa. Then again, thinking about the cubs that big made him pause. They grew so quickly. "Yeah, they'll have that, right?" Wil shook his head and led Angel back to their bed. Sex didn't solve everything, but it was good for comfort and driving away sad thoughts, even if it was just temporary. Angel let Wil unbutton his shirt, but then pulled away. "They'll be back soon," Angel warned.

Wil rolled his eyes. "Not for at least two hours," He promised, reaching for Angel again. "Cordelia knows better than to let us have this place to ourselves for less than an hour." He made short work of the rest of Angel's clothes, and then removed his own. By the time he reached his slacks, Angel was helping him.

Angel reached for his beloved, tilting Wil's head back for a kiss. Cool lips slid, met and parted. Angel begged entrance; Wil relented. Their tongues mated, taunting and arguing against the roof of Wil's mouth as Angel fused their bodies together. He basked in the teasing almost-thereness of Wil's warmth, always present but just beyond reach. He knew it was the blonde's soul, a candle flame kept safely behind glass, lighting his way but never burning him. Angel wondered idly if Wil could feel the same in him. He doubted it; his soul was so much sootier than the blonde's ever could be; no one could find beauty in it as he did in Wil's. The blonde was... Angel was no poet and had not the words to describe how he felt about Wil, but the blonde vampire was the first thing he saw upon waking and the last thing he saw before sleeping, always there to keep Angel together.

Wil took advantage of Angel's single-minded focus on their kiss to maneuver the dark vampire back onto the bed, spreading his Sire out underneath him. Angel went willingly, letting Wil lead. He needed this, to have his steady lover ground him in lust, love and everything else that tied them together. The plasticky odor of baby oil filled the cabin as Wil prepared him, never breaking their kiss. Slender, slippery hands teased and pulled, eliciting groans and growls from the increasingly aroused brunette.

The blonde tossed aside the bottle of oil and let his hands rest on Angel's knees. He reluctantly pulled away from the dark vampire's mouth, waiting patiently until Angel met his gaze. "Wil," Angel whispered, need turning his eyes gold. "Plea--"

Wil brushed a finger over Angel's mouth, silencing him. He leaned forward, guiding himself slowly inside Angel, pushing past guardian muscle. "Sire," Wil sighed, pressing their foreheads together. Angel's arms came up to hold Wil to him, fingers tracing down that pale back. Wil was filling him, stretching him and taking away the horrible emptiness inside. Every time Wil took him, Angel wondered why he didn't just let his childe do this exclusively. Looking up at Wil's face, though, he knew why. As beautiful as Wil was like this, ribbons of ecstasy twisting his face, he was even more perfect when he cried out for Angel to come into him.

"Sire," Wil moaned, thrusting deeper into Angel, angling his movements to make the dark vampire cry out and twist to either escape or get more. He needed this as much as Angel, needed one more time together without the spectre of Buffy and Wolfram & Hart hanging over them. Out here, in the middle of nowhere America, he could at least pretend that they were just together, no Powers That Be, no visions, no redemption. Angel's body called to him, all please me and I shall please you more, I choose to submit and thereby dominate. Lover, it is you and I and our love together; make room for all of us, if you will. Wil couldn't resist the cries pouring from Angel's mouth, ordering him to join the dark vampire.

Angel heard himself begging, pleading with Wil to release him, stop torturing him with his cock. The blonde seemed to obey, though, plunging in harder, reaching between them to wrap trembling fingers around Angel's erection. That did it for the older vampire and he tightened around Wil, spilling his climax between them. Wil shuddered and bucked deep inside Angel, orgasm running through him like fire. He collapsed, arm still pinned between them. Angel held Wil close, not wanting to end their closeness any more than his lover did.

"Wil," Angel said several minutes later. "You know how much I adore you like this, smelling of me and you together. But they *will* be back soon."

Wil grumbled but nodded his understanding. The blonde slid down Angel's body, taking the dark vampire's spilled essence into his mouth. Angel gasped and squirmed under that expert tongue. "They'll knock before coming in," Wil promised as he gave Angel's reawakening cock an exploratory lick.

Angel sure hoped so.