"Hey, guys. Stop lurking around the door and come in.."

The voice was not as strong as it should have been. Of course, looking at the woman it came from, one didn't really have to wonder why. Settled under a ton of tubes, needles, and wires, lay a tiny old woman. Hair the color of snow was plaited into a single braid that fell over her left shoulder. Covered in wrinkles, skin the color of paper, the woman looked all the world like a corpse.

Well, maybe to the rest of the world. Certainly not the two men standing in the door way to her hospital room. To them, her beauty rivaled that of Helen.

With a stealth born of several thousand nights hunting, the men moved to her bed, flanking it. As always, protective instincts unconsciously took over. They'd spent a lifetime guarding her. Even in death, they wouldn't give it up.

The dark-haired one took the right side, settling a lean hip gently on a clearing created by wires and tubes. The shorter, lighter-haired one shot his partner an annoyed glance, settling for her left side and holding her hand.

"So, how's it been?

"Oh, I can't really complain. Other than the mountain of tests they've done on me. I just don't get why they can't see I'm just old. Eventually everything gets cancer." A smile that had haunted these two for nearly sixty years emerged from parchment lips. There was a phase where they would have killed had it meant a glimpse of that radiant up-turning of the lips. They were still waiting to grow out of it.

"So, we heard from Meggie you were improving." Spike tried to change the subject. He knew, better than most, that reality had to be faced sooner or later. Usually, he chose sooner, but this was a special case.

Willow snickered. "You actually talked to Meggie? I'm surprised."

"Actually, *I* did." Angel shot Spike a glance. "Peroxide-boy over there got three words in to his question before Megs cut him off. He was about to start growling."

"Hah. You were just worried I'd take her out before you got your chance." They settled into a lively banter on just *who* Meggie liked least while Willow just sat back and smiled. It had been so long since they'd all been like this. Spike and Angel bickering, all the while their dearest friend, and greatest love sat and watched. There was no heat in the argument. The differences between the two had been settled years before. They'd had a reason to get along. Willow.

<God, how I'll miss this..>

The thought was universal. At least in that room.

"Guys?" The soft-spoken word immediately halted the dispute. It always had.

Turning their attention back to the woman in the bed, both men's minds switched to the seriousness of the situation. Willow had terminal cancer. She was going to die. They were going to lose her.

"Hey, beautiful. What're you thinking?" Moving his hand to her face, Angel absently began to trace the curve of her jaw. It was a long held-tradition between them.

"Oh. Just about you two. I have some stuff to say. The doctors, for all they're worth, said it would be pretty soon." Green eyes clouded in pain. She didn't want to leave any more than they wanted her to go.

"That's why we came." Spike's tone was fatalistic. From the conversation he'd had with Meggie earlier, he knew it wouldn't be long. They'd taken down most of the combative equipment. The only thing to do now, the doctors had said, was to make her as comfortable as possible. That had been why Meggie had caved. As much as it had pained her, she knew who her mother wanted to be with in her last moments. It wasn't her daughters.

It had been with a heavy heart she'd called her 'uncles.'

"What do you need to say that we don't know?"

"I loved you both. I always have. You didn't have to take care of me all these years. Yes, don't say it . I know it was you two. It couldn't have been easy. I know how you two love to fight. I'm surprised both of you are still ali- animate."

"Hey. We had a common goal." Spike brought his hand up to stroke her wrinkled forehead.

"Yeah. We had you." Angel performed the same ritual on her cheek. "We wouldn't change it either."

"Hell no." A sad smile tugged at the edges of Spike's mouth. "Not a minute, luv."

"My boys. I'm going to miss you."

Simultaneously, a black cloud settled over the handsome faces in front of her. They knew it was true. It was the only thing that held them back from promising it would be okay. Willow Anne Rosenburg had lived a long happy life. The many wrinkles and three lovely children down the hall were her proof.

With a strength born of sheer will, the petite woman pushed herself to a sitting position. These two always behaved better when she was on equal terms.

"You both have been so generous these past years." She rose a weak hand to still the inevitable denial. "You've protected my family and I from unspeakable horror. What's more, you did it for love. I don't know what the rules are for an afterlife. No one really does. All I do know is that you two deserved a happy one."

"You do more than we, Willow." Angel had moved to support her fragile shoulders. Hands that could bend solid steel, shook slightly as they rested on frail bones.

Spike rushed to second his sire. "He's right. Poetic and cliché as it may sound, you're the angel here."

"Always with the compliments? Some things never change..." Her chuckle was interrupted by a hacking cough. Both vampires jumped. The cough continued for almost a minute, but they knew nothing could be done. She was dying. When the hacking finally stopped, she fell back into Angel's embrace, exhausted.

"I need something from you both. It isn't right of me to ask, but I need to know.."

"We'll do it." Angel nodded his agreement to Spike's impulsive statement.

::smile:: "Impulsive to a fault.. You need to hear it before you agree."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does. I want you to look after my children."

Old pain flared in both of their eyes. The one thing they could never give her, she'd received from a man they'd never liked. Yes, they respected him. After all, he'd won the love of the woman in front of them. That was no small task.

"Our answer doesn't change."

Willow coughed again. This time, there was no power behind it. The cancer had taken its toll. What once had been a tiny woman packed with enough energy to charge several small suns, was now a frail husk.

"My boys. I know this hurts you."

They didn't even try to reassure her. She knew what she meant to them. That emotion would be cheapened to deny the pain connected with her loss.

"I'm sorry I can't be with you two.. You, Anna, Robin, and Meggie are my life. Remember that. I'll be back, guys. If I can find any way to come back, any way at all, I will be. I love you, Spike. I love you, Angel. Thank you."

Translucent lids drifted over her emerald green irises one last time. With a final breath, she set a benediction on the two men she loved most in her life.

"...see you around..."

And she was gone.

Back