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CHAPTER ONE: City of lights, city of sins

The inky sky above Sin City was sprinkled with stars that could not compete with the bright lights illuminating the streets. But who had time to look up at the sky anyway? Too much to look at, things to do, places to be, money to lose. Thousands upon thousands of tourists navigating the crowded sidewalks either to go from one casino to another hoping their luck would change, or simply taking in the extravagant and outrageous beauty of the multimillion dollar hotels. Of course, all of this was done while sipping on some alcoholic beverage from a tacky oversized plastic sippy cup for adult.

But while the locals were busy giving fake smiles and taking people's money, and the tourists were busy enjoying the show girls, the flashing lights and losing their money, a fight was raging in one of the very few corners the light couldn't reach.

The vampire dropped down just in time to avoid being decapitated, the sharp edge of the sword grazing his bleached blonde hair.

"Hey! Watch the hair, mate." He said before knocking the lizard-like demon off his feet with one swoop of his leg.

Three of the demons were already dead, their bodies littering the alley, but the last two were putting up a fight.

"Might as well give up now you wanker." Spike said through clenched teeth. He stood up from his crouching position and with a snap kick, he finally managed to knock the weapon out of the demon's clawed hand. "I fought a dragon not too long ago, all by myself--mostly--and came out of the fight in one piece. You don't stand a chance in hell."

A laugh could be heard coming from somewhere behind the vampire. A short, yet incredibly agile demon was fighting the remaining lizard. His facial features were humanlike, but his skin was yellow and he sported spiky blue hair that seemed to shimmer in the darkness of the alley. His eyes matched the shade of his hair.

"Stop bragging, Spike, we all know you got lucky. No one fights a dragon and lives to tell the tale, especially not someone as flammable as you, buddy."

"I bloody well did, you soddin' wanker!" Spike yelled out indignantly.

Another snicker came from his friend. "Whatever you say."

They were in a neighborhood neglected by tourists and inhabited mostly by seedy people. Whores, pimps, gangsters, and most of all, demons. They even had a casino for demons. The police in Vegas turned a blind eye, the way Sunnydale police had back in the old days of the Hellmouth. They already had enough to worry about without starting a war against the increasingly large demon population.

Spike took his frustration out on the demon he was fighting. He punched him hard enough to make him fly back and land on his ass. Then he picked up the abandoned sword and swiftly impaled the scaly demon. Spike pulled the now bloody weapon out of the body, turned around, and beheaded the one his friend was fighting.

"Hey! I was winning..." His friend Lazarus complained.

"It was taking too long. I need a drink."

"Wanna go to Caritas?"

"Yeah, sure. But I'm still pissed at Lorne. Last time, he had me pay for my drinks. Can you believe that? After everything we've been through together?"

"Spike, buddy, if Lorne let you drink on the house every time you go there, soon he’ll go bankrupt and there won‘t be ‘house‘ anymore."

"Yeah well, at the price he charges for a drink, I seriously doubt that."

The blonde vampire inspected with a critical eye the sword left behind by the now dead demon. The low quality heavy steel and lack of fancy decoration made him frown in disdain and discard it in the nearest dumpster.

"Cheap bastards couldn't even afford a real sword. I provide a free service to the population, you'd think I'd at least get a little something out of it. The dead wankers could at least have the decency to leave good weapons behind after they die. Am I asking for too much?"

"I know, how rude!" Lazarus mocked his friend.

"Oh sod off."

They walked around the casino and made their way to the front door. Caritas was inside the casino. You had to walk pass the poker tables to get there, which most of the time made it hard for Spike to actually reach the bar. But tonight, Lazarus really wanted to drink so as soon as he noticed Spike eyeing the poker tables with longing, he grabbed him by the sleeve of his duster and forced him to keep walking.

"Let go of me, you stupid git. You're gonna damage the coat."

"No gambling tonight. I'm broke and I need to talk to you about something."

"Can't you watch and talk while I gamble? I‘ll even give you my free drink."

"No. Let's go."

They walked into the new and improved Caritas, third business attempt for Lorne, and his pride and joy. After working at a demon bar for a few months after he arrived in Las Vegas, the flamboyant demon was happy to be his own boss again.

"Spike, cup cake! So nice to see you!.. Please don't empty my bar." He said, greeting the vampire warmly. "I'd hug you but that coat looks dirty."

"Better dirty than pink." Spike commented, slightly insulted.

"Hot pink does wonder for my complexion, honey bunch. " Lorne smoothed down imaginary wrinkles on his extremely flashy jacket. "A friend of yours is here, Spike. The one with the little ears... Oh he's a sweetheart this one. Clem, isn't that his name?"

"Yeah. Where is he?"

"Karaoke section upstairs. I put him in a booth. Just look for the table loaded with snacks."

"Thanks, mate."

As predicted, Clem was sitting alone at a table with an assortment of snack food in front of him. Chips, dips, wings, peanuts, nachos, potato skins... If it was on the appetizer menu, he had it on the table. The floppy eared demon saw his friends and waved at them with enthusiasm.

They took a seat on the bench in front of Clem.

"Isn't this place great? They have the best food. And Lorne is so nice; he gave me free beer with my food."

Lazarus laughed at that. "He usually offers a free appetizer to his good customers when they've been drinking a lot, but in your case, I guess it was a smarter business move to offer free beer."

Clem paused with a wing half way to his mouth and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yes, I guess I do eat a lot more than I drink. Wow, he's nice and smart. Good for him."

Spike looked at Lazarus. "Don't worry, it's normal. The bloke is always this happy."

"So I guess it's true what they say about opposites attracting each other. That would explain why you two are friends, Mister Gloom and Doom."

"He is rather moody, isn't he?" Clem commented. "Spike, we're in the best city in the world so have a wing and cheer up."

The vampire gave his old friend a half smile and reached for the spicy wings. "I'll have a wing, but don't expect me to turn into a member of the pep squad any time soon. It would ruin my reputation."

Spike ordered beers for both him and Laz, then sat back. "What did you want to talk about, mate? And it better not be about investing in that soddin' pyramid scam of yours again. Not interested. I like my money where it is... in my pocket or on a poker table waiting to get back in my pocket with some new friends."

"It's not a scam, it a genuine business opportunity. And no, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. It's about Sunnydale actually."

Sunnydale. Spike hadn't thought of Sunnydale for months. Although, can you really say you're not thinking of something if you're thinking of not thinking of something? He'd made a conscious effort to leave that behind. In fact, he had closed the door on that part of his past a few months ago, during a trip to Rome. Until then, he'd still had some hope that he didn't really have to move on. While in the plane with Angel on their way to Rome to see Buffy, Spike had secretly fantasized that he'd come face to face with the love of his unlife, she'd get all happy and emotional after thinking for months that he was dead, and would open her arms to him. Then he'd be back where he belonged, with her and the Sunnydale gang. But seeing for himself that Buffy had already forgotten about him and was enjoying life in the arms of that bloody poofter the Immortal, had been the slap in the face he needed in order to force himself to turn the page. So that‘s what he spent the last few months trying to do.

Eventually, he'd be able to think of everything that happened in Sunnydale with nothing but some nostalgia, but he hadn't reached that point yet. It was still too raw and painful. A big part of his unbeating heart had been buried in that crater and he needed time to heal.

Spike was doing good these days. He’d started his life in Las Vegas with a clean slate and a brand new reputation to build. Things weren’t perfect, but good enough not to complain. He was feared and respected again, his old mate Clem had shown up in town two weeks ago, about two weeks after he got there himself. Spike had been stuck in a small town outside of Vegas for a while, trapped in an asylum. But that was another long and complicated story he’d rather forget about. Now that he was here in Vegas, he had new friends and contacts in the demon community, and everybody knew who he was. He had the respect he had craved for so long and wasn’t stuck in his sire’s shadow anymore. If only he didn't have these nightmares of the Immortal mocking him almost every day, things would be just fine. And that's of course when he didn't dream of an entire city swallowing him up. Sunnydale.

"Spike?" Lazarus glanced briefly at Clem, obviously wondering if he should talk about Sunnydale in front of the other demon.

Lazarus had only met Clem recently. He never asked who he was and where he came from. All he knew is that the friendly demon with a penchant for processed food and kittens was important to Spike and seeing him had put a smile on the moody vampire's face. That's all he needed to know to welcome Clem to Vegas with open arms.

"Clem knows what happened in Sunnyhell. He was there for most of it. But you should know that it's not a topic that puts me in a happy shiny kinda mood, mate. And I don't see what you could say that would be news to me. We fought, I destroyed it, I died, and didn't even get a lousy T-Shirt for my trouble. All that's left now is a crater. So tell me, what could you possibly add to the story to make it even more interesting?"

The waitress, a sweet girl from Pylea, a cousin of Lorne who took the transdimensional trip only a month ago, brought them their beers with a charming smile. Like every other waitress in the bar, she had an obvious crush on Spike. Probably because Lorne had warned her against the bad boy vampire. Women have a tendency to fall for troubled men.

"There you go, Spike. Ice cold the way you like it. Let me know if you want anything else, I'll be around."

The vampire smirked and winked at the girl. "Thanks pet, appreciate it."

He watched the girl giggling as she walked away, then he returned to the conversation at hand.

"Well?" Spike prompted his friend who was busy taking a swig of his beer. Clem was focusing all his attention on him as well, curious as he was about anything related to Sunnydale. He‘d miss the big show down and hadn‘t been back there since.

"Have you been there lately?" Lazarus finally said cryptically.

Spike was starting to lose patience. "No, I haven't bloody been there since I died, lost my girl and the only family I've known. Not too fond of the memories if you get my drift. Will you get to the point already?"

"Sorry. It's just that I was talking to my cousin Romulus yesterday..."

Spike gave his friend an incredulous look. "Bleedin' hell, mate, who gave you these nancy names?"

"Shut up. These names have been in my family dating back to the Roman Empire. Nothing wrong with our names... Spike. And can we get back on topic, please? I was saying something important here."

"Sorry, go on. What about your cousin Romulus?" Spike asked with a smirk.

Clem chuckled and put a handful of BBQ peanuts in his mouth.

"Romulus said that he knows a guy who thought of a good way to make money. He wanted to go to the Hellmouth and dig a little. See if he could find stuff he could sell on eBay. Sunnydale memorabilia or something."

Spike's face darkened considerably. "You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you? If you like being alive, you'll stop talking right now."

"Yes, Lazarus," Clem chimed in "I don't think you should continue with your story. I doubt Spike will be interested to go back to Sunnydale, especially not to dig out whatever got buried there. It's a little creepy, even for a vampire, don't you think?"

Laz looked clueless for a second before his eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, no! That's not... I didn't mean..." He shook his head and then took another swallow of his beer. "That was just to explain why the guy went there, but it wasn't the point of my story. What I meant to say is that he never made it to the digging part. He got freaked out and turned back around."

That definitely got Spike's attention. "What do you mean he got freaked out? What's going on there? Did it reopen?"

"Military. Lots of little G.I. Joe guys milling around, tents everywhere, helicopters flying overhead. The military even started digging. And that guy, he gave my cousin a name..."

"What name?" Spike almost growled.

"Buffy Summers."

"What? How do they know her? Why the bleedin' hell were they talking about her?"

"I have no idea, Spike. But the way he was talking, it wasn't a good thing. Like they were blaming her for what happened. Sounded like they were doing some research on her or something. Apparently, my cousin’s friend didn't stick around long enough to find out more, but that's what he said."

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment, sipping his beer and looking off in the distance. Lazarus and Clem exchanged a worried glance. Finally, Spike spoke up.

"I guess that means I'm going back to the Hellmouth then." He commented, sounding anything but cheerful.

Going back to where everything had started and ended was the last thing he wanted to do. But if the US military was after Buffy, he didn't have a choice. He had to find out what was going on, and find a way to warn her. Maybe it was true that she had never loved him even though "I love you" had been her last words to him. But he did love her, and always would; whether she returned the feelings or not did not matter. And he always looked after the ones he loved.

"I'll go with you." Lazarus told Spike. "I'll watch your back."

"I'll go too." Clem added almost hesitantly. "I'm not the most courageous guy around, but I'm really curious to see what it looks like now. It used to be my home town. I was born and raised on the Hellmouth and I kinda miss it."

"Not much to see, mate. I was told by my poofter of a sire that it's nothing but a huge hole in the ground. He saw it a couple of days after it all happened. He went back with the watcher to make sure that everything was in order and there wasn't any activity of the Hellmouth kind going on. But if you two want to come, fine. Just don't get in the way."

He stood up. "Let's go."

"Uh, Spike?"

He turned around to look questioningly at Clem.

"Unless you wanna fry, I'd say we wait until tonight. It's 4am. The sun will rise before we get there."

Spike smirked. "You haven't seen my new ride yet, have you?"

Lazarus rolled his eyes. "Here we go again. The car. The goddamn stupid car, apple of his eye, love of his life... pain in my ass."

"Hey! Don't talk rubbish about MY car you wanker."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you won it at a poker game against your 'hair gel addict poofter sire', or 'Peaches', whatever, fair and square. We know."

"He doesn't." Spike turned to Clem, a glimmer of excitement in his eye. "It was bloody brilliant, mate. You should have been there. God, the look on his face..."

"Let’s tell him the story during the three hours drive to the crater, shall we?" Laz asked Spike hopefully, knowing that if he started telling the story now, they would still be there in the afternoon.

"All right. Let's go back to bloody Sunnyhell."
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CHAPTER TWO: Digging for the truth

The landscape around the speeding car was dead, yet beautiful in its shades of burnt orange and yellow. Living in Sunnydale, one would never have realized how isolated the town really was unless driving away from it. There was absolutely nothing around for miles except the occasional gas station, diner and truck stop. But when the customers had stopped dropping by on their way to L.A. for gas or a slice of coconut cream pie after the destruction of Sunnydale, these places had all been abandoned. Most of the owners had run even before that, when things started getting ugly on the Hellmouth. People might be oblivious most of the time when it comes to what’s going down in the supernatural world, but they still have enough common sense to run when all hell is about to break loose... literally in this case.

The gleaming black Viper took a sharp turn on the now unkempt interstate exit leading to Sunnydale. The normally somewhat busy road was now free of any traffic and in places covered with sand. The sports car lifted a cloud of dirt in its wake. Spotting a sign that said Sunnydale 20 miles, with a larger sign underneath saying “Closed Road, No access”, the driver turned the steering wheel and headed toward it. It was not the sign Spike would normally run over--his favorite one to flatten was the last sign before entering the city, the one that welcomed people to Sunnydale. The vampire always found it incredibly ironic that they would welcome people to the mouth of hell. But that sign had probably perished along with the town, so this was the next best thing.

“Spike?” Clem asked worriedly. “Spike, I don’t think you’re on the road anymore.”

Spike smirked without answering and stepped on the gas. Clem yelped and hid his face in his hands when he saw the large sign in the car’s path.

But Lazarus didn’t seem worried. He knew exactly what to say to stop what was going to happen.

“Isn’t this going to damage your car?” He asked innocently.

“Bloody fucking hell!” Spike stepped on the brakes and turned the wheels, the car spun and came to a screeching halt mere inches away from the sign.

Laz laughed and Clem peeked through his fingers to see if they were safe.

Spike swore under his breath. “Stupid modern cars. If I still had my Desoto, it wouldn’t have been a problem. That thing was built like a tank. Now I have to forgo tradition in order to keep my baby safe. Not bloody fair is what it is.”

The three friends looked around through the specially treated tinted windows. They were close, the three demons could all feel it. It didn’t matter whether the Hellmouth was closed for business or not, there would always be an energy here that couldn’t be mistaken. It would never be over. Someday in the near, or far future, something evil would set up shop here and things would start again. Or humans would build another town and the demons would start coming back gradually. They would always be attracted by the Hellmouth, demons and humans alike.

“We’re close. It’s going to be hard to approach the site without drawing attention to us. Especially if your cousin is right and the place is swarming with army boys. We’ll probably have to hide the car a couple miles before reaching Sunnydale and walk the rest of the way. Going unnoticed will be easier once the sun sets. I think another half hour and it should be dark enough.”

“Maybe someone should stay with the car in case you need rescuing.” Clem suggested while munching on chips in the back of the car.

Spike gave him a look in the rearview mirror. “Better be careful with the crumbs, mate, or I’ll have you pay to get the car cleaned.”

Clem looked sheepish. “Sorry.”

“You’re right.” Spike continued. “Someone should stay here.”

Clem raised his hand, the folds of extra skin jiggling with the movement. “I'll stay. I’m not much of a fighter, I’d be in your way more than anything else. I’ll stay in the car. I have my cell phone, you have yours, so if something happens, you call me and I’ll be there in a jiffy.”

“Sounds like a plan, buddy.” Lazarus agreed.

“All right. We all agree, so let’s go.” Spike said impatiently. He really wanted this over with already.

They drove the rest of the way in silence, Spike’s two passengers on the look out for a place to hide the car. It was now almost completely dark, but to avoid being spotted he didn’t turn his headlights on. He didn’t need any lights anyway, he could see in the dark just fine.

They drove off road for a while, which almost made Spike wish he’d picked the Hummer instead of the Viper when he won the poker game. But soon, they found a rock formation big enough to hide the car so no one would see it from the road.

They got out and Lazarus spread a large scale map of the surroundings on the hood. He indicated the spot where the former suburban town of Sunnydale, California, had been. He had drawn a big circle around it and filled it in with black marker to roughly show the dimensions of the crater. There was an ‘X’ near the south west edge of the site.

“According to Romulus’ friend, most of the military operation is located here. If I’m right, it’s pretty much in a straight line from where we are now. Maybe two or three miles east of here. He said that’s where they set up camp. They have helicopters, jeeps, tents and even a hangar.”

“And of course, if there‘s any relevant information at all about what they‘re doing here and what they want with Buffy, it‘s gonna be in the hangar, in a secure area, and well guarded. Bloody great...”

“Do you even have a plan?” Clem asked.

“Plan? I stopped making plans many years ago, mate. I always bullocks things up anyway, so there’s no point. It’s much more fun to get myself into a mess and figure a way out later. Takes more creativity.” The vampire smirked smugly.

Clem and Lazarus exchanged a look. Then Laz shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, don’t ask me, most of the time I just follow him and try to stay alive. Sometime I think he only keeps me around because my 4'8'' makes him look taller.”

Spike chose to ignore his friend's comment. “All right, enough chit chat, ladies. Let’s get on the road.”

And just as he had mentioned, Lazarus didn’t have a choice but to follow his vampire pal and hope to stay alive.

The two demons covered the distance in a record time. The problem was mostly approaching the site without getting caught. They managed to make it from rock to rock, using the cloak of darkness to their advantage, until they reached the first Jeep. From behind the vehicle, they took a moment to observe what was going on so they would know what they were getting themselves into. It didn’t seem as bad as what Lazarus’ cousin had said.

A group of five soldiers were sitting on chairs in the light coming from the hangar. They were playing cards and drinking coffee. If they were the ones supposed to reinforce security around the perimeter, they obviously didn’t expect anyone to come wandering this far into the desert to a town that was no more.

There was some light coming from the tents area, and probably more soldiers in there. Spike assumed the more important army personnel would be found inside the hangar.

One helicopter was flying at the moment, its spotlight shining down on the crater. Something was going on in there. By the sound of it, they were digging.

Despite the activity, it was obvious to Spike that this was a temporary base of operation; only there until they had all the information they could get, then they’d pack and leave. Which meant that security probably wasn’t as tight as it would be on a real military base; a place like the Initiative. If he had managed to escape the Initiative without help while starved and drugged, breaking into the hangar would be a piece of cake for him.

Spike looked around trying to find something that would inspire him with some kind of plan. He stood up to look inside the Jeep, then sat back down.

Lazarus looked at his friend and the spark he saw in the vampire's blue eyes worried him. "I'm not gonna like this, am I?"

"Some wankers left a couple duffle bags in the Jeep. With a little chance, there's something in there with can use. Uniforms, or weapons; if we're lucky, both."

"And you think a uniform is going to make me blend in?" Lazarus snorted derisively.

"The uniform will be for me. The weapon for you... and me. I love weapons."

The short yellow demon sighed deeply. "Fine. You know I trust you blindly... like the fool that I am. Do what you have to do, I'll follow."

Staying as low as he could, Spike managed to open the door. He pulled the first bag out, unzipped it and quickly looked inside. It was nothing but dry food, cans and coffee. He swore under his breath and pulled out the other bag. This one was much heavier. He opened it. Some soldier was very careless. Inside were two semi automatic guns, a knife, and clothes.

Spike frowned.

"What? What is it? You look worried. Isn't this a good thing?" Laz asked, curious about the cause of the sudden darkening in Spike's eyes.

"Too easy. It usually means that something's gonna go wrong along the way."

"I would have never thought of you as a superstitious kinda guy."

"I'm not. That's just something I observed over the last hundred years or so. It doesn't matter though. Gotta do this and there's no other choice."

Spike took off his shirt and t-shirt and thank God that he'd had the good sense to leave his faithful duster in the car. "Hey, turn around, nancy boy. Stop checking out my goodies."

Lazarus snorted. "Yeah right, like I'm interested in your pasty white skinny body. In your dreams."

Spike smirked and put on the khaki shirt. He quickly buttoned it up, then took off his jeans and pulled the cargo pants on. "There. All decent again. I'm not sure I'll blend in, but it's as good as it's gonna get. You can now call me..." Spike looked down at the name tag on his shirt. "Bleedin' hell. Sergeant J. Harris. Gotta love irony. Another sign this is all gonna blow up in our face. Hey, maybe I am superstitious after all. Who would have thought?"

"I don't get it."

"Forget it. Just someone from my past who wasn't too crazy about me. The whelp would laugh his ass off if he knew I am now Sergeant Harris."

He handed a gun to Lazarus and put the knife on his belt. "Let's go. Stay close behind me."

Staying low, they managed to make it to the side of the building by running from one Jeep to another, using the vehicles for cover. Getting from the last Jeep to the building had been the tricky part. Spike had waited a few minutes until he was sure the group of soldiers in front of the hangar was distracted. The second he heard one of the soldiers yelling "I win! Show me your money assholes!" followed by some more yelling and laughing. Spike ran, Lazarus close on his heels.

The two demons silently made their way to the back of the building while making sure to stay in the cover of the shadows, hoping to find a door there. Spike chanced a look around the corner. As he had predicted earlier, the security was minimal. Only two guys were guarding the back door.

He turned to Lazarus. "Be ready. And remember, no killing."

Laz gave him a mock salute. "Yes Sergeant Harris."

Spike picked up a rock and threw it at a car that was parked in the other direction, hoping the soldiers would turn their back to them. The noise got the soldiers attention. They both looked in the direction of the noise and Spike and his friend used that moment to sneak up on them from behind. Spike grabbed one of the soldier’s hair, his other hand going around to cover his mouth. He smashed the guy's head against the wall, then dropped the unconscious body to the ground. At the exact same moment, Lazarus had hit the other soldier behind the head with the handle of his gun. The man fell to the ground next to his companion with a thud.

Spike snatched the key card from around one of the soldier's neck.

"All right. If I'm not out of there in fifteen minutes, you call Clem and tell him to bring the car and you leave."

Laz laughed quietly. "Yeah right. Like that's going to happen. I have never left a friend in trouble before, I'm not gonna start today. I'll call Clem, tell him to bring the car, then come after you."

"Fine. But don't get yourself killed."

"Same to you. Now go. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

Spike swept the card and carefully opened the door. He quickly sneaked in and hoped to go unnoticed. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was nearby. He moved to the shadows on the side of the door to give himself a chance to look around and evaluate the situation.

The place seemed much larger seen from the inside. It was cluttered with digging equipment and boxes. Overhead, a catwalk ran around the hollow building. A soldier stood on it looking down. The man was leaning against the railing looking bored. If this was their security, Spike thought he didn't have much to worry about.

Things were quiet in the hangar and the vampire soon understood why. At the other end of the building, about six or seven soldiers were bringing in and tagging the objects they had dug out of the crater, and two men and a woman who looked like scientists were busy cataloging and taking notes while supervising everything. The activity taking place all in one area gave him a lot more freedom of movement than he had expected to have.

The only soldiers he'd seen so far, including the ones on the other side of the building, looked young and didn't seem to take the operation too seriously, which played in his favor. But these guys were the ones who were given orders and followed them without asking questions. Spike was not foolish enough to underestimate the gravity of the situation and its implications for Buffy. The danger came from the few high grade military men who had taken a particular interest in her and were probably hidden away in offices somewhere in the hangar and drawing incorrect conclusions about what had happened here. How they knew about Buffy was a mystery to Spike, and he couldn't wait to find out.

Careful to keep an eye on the man standing at the railing, Spike started to follow the wall to his left. He reached the first door without incident and tried the handle. He knew before opening the door that he wouldn't find anything of interest in the room; it wasn't locked. As expected, the room was filled with supplies. Same behind the next door, more boxes and junk. The third door was locked. This sent Spike's hopes up. The problem was that by breaking in, they would eventually find out that information had been compromised. But he didn't have a choice. He broke the handle and opened the door, only to be disappointed again. It was nothing but a meeting room, the only furniture being a long table and some chairs. He sighed in frustration and closed the door.

Having run out of doors to open, he realized he now had to go across. The safer way was to go back around so he didn't have to cross the hangar and risk being seen from above. Despite the uniform, Spike was painfully aware that he stood out like a sore thumb.

"Hey. You... "

Spike froze, his muscles tensing in anticipation. He would never kill a human, but he was aware there was a possibility he'd have to hurt a couple of them to keep 'em quiet if he got caught.

He didn't answer or face the man addressing him, only turned his head to the side to see him.

"Are you one of the guys who arrived today?" The soldier asked with no suspicion in his voice.

Spike relaxed slightly. "Yes I am. Why?" He tried his best to fake an American accent, doubting the US military recruits foreigners.

"Have you been oriented yet?"

"Yes sir." Spike said, keeping his answers as brief as he could.

"Then you are aware we need as much help as we can bringing all this junk in."

"I know. I'll be there in a minute I..."

"Fine. Just making sure you knew. I just caught some of the new guys wandering around outside not knowing what they were supposed to be doing. If we want to get the hell out of this hole soon, we have to work around the clock. I'd like to get out of here before I have gray hair... This place is giving me the creeps."

Spike smirked. "Same here."

The soldier patted Spike's shoulder in a friendly manner and walked away. Spike let out the breath he'd been holding and hurried to the other side. This time, he didn't waste time opening every door. He went straight for the one that had a keypad next to it. Logically, anything useful would be kept under key so it was his best bet. He just hoped forcing the door wasn't going to set off an alarm.

He waited and listened at the door for any movement coming from the inside. When he heard nothing, he grabbed the door handle. Spike took a deep unnecessary breath, then forced the handle until he heard the lock break. He waited for a moment and when nothing happened, walked in and closed the door behind him.

At first glance, the office had nothing in it but a desk, a chair, a lap top and a fax machine. But as he moved around the desk, he saw that a small two-drawer metal filing cabinet had been placed under the desk. It was locked.

Spike was reaching for the top drawer when the light was suddenly turned on.

"What the hell?" A female voice exclaimed.

The woman didn't have time to open her mouth again. The vampire was on her in a blur. With a hand on her mouth and his arm around her, Spike pulled the female officer all the way inside the office and shut the door. She tried to fight him off but didn't have a chance against the vampire.

Spike was standing in the middle of the office, holding on to the struggling woman, at a lost for what to do with her.

"Bugger! I knew this was all going too well. What am I supposed to do with you now?" He asked while looking around for something to restrain her with.

The woman was petite for a soldier, about twenty five years old, with strawberry blonde hair styled a la Mia Farrow. It was easier to imagine her sitting in a class room listening to a lecture than it was to imagine her digging holes in the desert. She stopped squirming so Spike glanced at her face. She looked more angry than scared, her blonde brows were drawn together in a way that reminded him of Buffy when she was pissed. He almost chuckled, but this wasn't the moment.

He forced her to walk behind the desk then pressed her against it with his body to hold her in place while freeing one of his hands. Holding on to someone, silencing them AND searching for something to tie them up with only two hands was not the ideal situation. This was making him waste a lot of time that he didn't have in the first place, and putting him more at risk of being discovered. If he wanted to get out of there alive and with the information he was after, he needed to hurry.

In the only drawer of the desk, he found pencils, paper for the printer and some masking tape. He took a sheet of paper and rolled it into a ball, then shoved it into the woman's mouth before she had time to scream. Then he unrolled some masking tape that he cut with his teeth and taped her mouth shut. Not the most efficient way to gag someone, but as long as it held long enough for him to find what he was looking for and get away, that's all that mattered to him.

The only thing he had at his disposal to tie her up being the laces of his boot, he had no choice but to let go of her completely. Deciding the best way to get her to behave was a little terror, he sat her down on the chair and then vamped out. The woman's eyes widened comically.

"Move and I'll rip your throat out. Understood?"

The soldier woman nodded.

He undid the laces of one of his boot and yanked it out of the holes. Then he roughly pulled her arms behind the chair and tied her up as tightly as he could manage without hurting her. He went back to crouch in front of her, still in game face.

"Just so you know, pet, I'm a master when it comes to kinky bonding games and I know knots that will get tighter as you pull on them. So if you don't want to completely cut off your circulation, I'd suggest you stay put."

She nodded her head in understanding.

The bones in his face shifted as he returned to his handsome human visage. He turned back to the filing cabinet and yanked the first drawer open without effort. As he was looking through files, he felt the need to reassure the woman.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. There's something in here I want and you just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong bloody time."

He reached the last file in the drawer and having not found anything related to Buffy in any way, he swore in frustration and slammed the drawer shut. The female soldier flinched in fear at his outburst.

Spike forced the bottom drawer opened. There it was, staring him in the face. One very thick file with a picture on the first page. Buffy. He stared at it for a moment, not sure if he should feel relieved or angry. A part of him hadn't really believed what Lazarus had said about the military being interested in her. He couldn't deny it anymore.

Spike took the file and put it inside his shirt. He turned to the woman.

"It was nice meeting you, pet. I'm sure you don't share the feeling, but I swear I'm a really nice bloke when you get to know me." He winked at the woman and walked to the door. "Don't worry, I'm sure someone will find you soon enough."

There were a few muffled curses, but Spike didn't hear them. He was already gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 3: Hero of the people, enemy of the State

Spike's face was a blank mask as he looked down into the crater. Memories of a battle flooded his mind and if he thought about it hard enough, he could remember how his last minute felt as if it was happening now. His soul burning like the sun in his chest, the power radiating through him and destroying all that was dark and evil around. And most of all, the peacefulness amongst the chaos. Being at peace with himself, with who he was, what he was doing, and his impending death.

“I said it, and I’ll repeat it until you come to your senses and agree to high tail it: this is by far your worst idea. Ever.” Lazarus whispered between gritted teeth. “You were supposed to get in there, find whatever information you could put your hands on, and get the hell out. You did all that so why are we still here looking down into a big hole?”

He sighed when he didn’t get an answer from the contemplative vampire.

After he’d walked out of the hangar and told Lazarus that it wouldn’t be too long before their presence was discovered and they needed to hurry, Spike had suddenly changed his mind and instead of walking in the direction of the car, had taken a detour toward the crater. He’d vaguely mumbled something about needing to see it, and Lazarus had been left with no choice but to nervously follow. They reached the edge of the crater that was the farthest away from the military activity, but Laz was still worried.

Spike knew it was crazy to stay there longer than they had to, but he needed the closure. Buffy closure would be good too, but that would take more time. A lot more time.

He had been at peace with leaving Buffy behind, letting her move on and be happy without him. But of course, wishing someone would move on when you're about to die, and accepting that she has moved on when you're alive, available and in love are two entirely different things. He still wanted her happy, but would rather have her happy with him than with some wanker named The Immortal. The bloke was a pretentious poofter a hundred years ago, he probably hadn't changed now. As far as self obsession goes, The Immortal could give Peaches a run for his money. Maybe that's why Buffy was attracted to him. Still, it was rather insulting that Buffy wouldn't want to be with him, or Angel, because she wanted a nice normal human guy, only to start dating another supernatural being a few months after Spike died. Talk about double bloody standards.

Lazarus elbowed him in the ribs to get his attention.

"I know what I said earlier about never leaving a friend behind, but I changed my mind. Either we both leave now, or I leave alone. S‘not like you can‘t take care of yourself anyway. This place gives me the creeps and I don‘t fancy being captured by the G.I. Joes."

Spike finally snapped out of his contemplative state. "I know. I don't fancy getting caught either. I've had a taste of the US military once and it convinced me that it's best to stay as far away as possible from these wankers. Let's go."

The gun being cocked sounded as loud as thunder to the two friends still crouching in front of the crater. Thinking fast, Spike discretely pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and speed dialed Clem's number, hoping his old friend would understand that something had gone wrong and come to pick them up. He quickly put the cell back in his pocket.

"Stand up slowly and turn around." A voice commanded from behind them. "No sudden movement."

A gun wouldn't kill Spike or Lazarus. It would hurt like a bitch, but wouldn't be enough to stop them. Yet, they both turned slowly with their hands up in surrender. Letting the other man believe they had no intention of fighting was usually a good tactic to surprise an opponent. But it's Spike who got a surprise when the soldier standing in front of him seemed to recognize him.

The soldier was a tall man in his late twenties, with sandy blonde hair, green eyes and a strong jaw. He was a good looking bloke--not that Spike would notice something like that-- but the expression on his face made him unattractive. The soldier looked briefly over his shoulder at another soldier coming in their direction.

"Is that him, Stevens?"

Spike realized the soldier coming their way was not just another soldier, it was the young woman he had tied up. She was smirking, but did not look amused. "Guess you're not as good as you thought with knots, asshole."

"Nice seeing you again, pet."

The man holding them at gunpoint suddenly narrowed his eyes at Spike. "I knew I recognized you. Hostile 17..."

"Bugger. An Initiative reunion. Look," Spike looked down at the badge on the man's uniform "G.I. Graham, I'd love to stay and talk about the good old times, but..."

Spike didn't finish his sentence, instead kicking the gun out of Graham's hand before punching him hard in the face. The sergeant fell to his knees, holding his nose which was bleeding profusely.

The vampire looked at the soldier with something that could pass for disappointment. "That was easy."

"Spike watch out!" Lazarus tried to warn his friend, but too late.

Spike took a solid kick to the back of the head that had him stumbling forward. He turned incredulous eyes on the female officer. "Hey! That bloody well hurt!"

"That was the point." She said before trying her luck again with a punch.

Unfortunately for her, this time Spike saw it coming and stopped it. But unfortunately for him, he did not see her knee traveling upward to make painful contact with the most precious part of his anatomy.

He let go of her fist and bent in half with his hands on his knees and took in a hissing breath. "Bloody... Bitch!" He looked up at her. "You're vicious. I like you. Too bad I can't stay."

"Oh you're not going anywhere." Graham said, now standing again and pointing the gun at Spike. Molly Stevens went to stand next to him.

Spike looked at Graham, amazed by the other man's stupidity. "Look mate, this is ridiculous. It's people like you who give blondes a bad name. You know that thing won't do anything to me."

"Maybe, but it'll slow you down and there's a couple hundred soldiers here that will come running. You won't leave..."

This time it was Lazarus kicking the gun out of Graham's hand. "Hey, you were right, buddy, that was easy."

Before the soldier had time to recover, they all heard a commotion coming from the camp. A car was driving full speed between tents. A few shots were fired. The two soldiers turned their heads to look at what was going on behind them. Taking their eyes off the demons was a mistake.

The two demons jumped on the occasion to sidestep them and run full speed in the direction of the car. A few soldiers were also running, hoping to intercept them, but the demons were too fast. The bullets were an entirely different story. One caught Lazarus in the thigh, and Spike was hit in the right shoulder and the chest. It didn't stop them though.

In a matter of seconds, they'd reached the car and jumped in. They barely had time to close the doors before Clem turned the car around and headed straight for a group of soldiers coming their way. The normally gentle demon clenched his teeth and stepped on the gas, secretly praying the soldiers would move out of the way before he hit them. Thankfully, his prayers were answered. Moments before the car reached them, the firing soldiers dove out of the way.

Clem's hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly it was surprising it didn't break. As the site got smaller in the rear view mirror, he finally chanced a look at Spike.

"Spike! There are holes in you! Are you OK?"

The paler than normal vampire took a moment to answer. Then he opened his mouth.

"There are HOLES in my CAR!!" He finally yelled when he found his voice again.

Clem winced and buried his head in his shoulders, as if he was gonna get hit. "Uh... Sorry?"

"Spike, man, relax..." Laz interfered from the back seat.

"Relax?! My baby has holes in it."

The yellow demon chuckled. "Fine. Don't relax. But please don't start crying." "And Spike, no offence... Don't get mad, but..." Clem tried arguing hesitantly.

"But what?" The furious vampire snapped.

"There might be holes in your car, but you're also bleeding all over the seats."

"Blast!"

Laz snickered, which soon turned into out of control laugh.

"What the bleedin' hell is wrong with the wanker?" Spike grumbled moodily.

"I don't know. Nervous breakdown, maybe?" Clem suggested. "I'm not too far from one myself."

Spike rolled his eyes at his old friend. "Please don't. We'll stop by a convenience store on the way home and get you some Cheetos. It'll perk you right up."

"Great!" Clem grinned happily. "Oh, and did you get what you wanted?"

Spike's eyes darkened. He reached inside his jacket to finger the thick file and nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

Clem glanced at the vampire, but decided it was best not to say anything. He didn't look happy at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why do you do it?"

Buffy stopped in her tracks and sighed for show before turning to face Spike with an annoyed look on her face. "Do what? Ignore you? Do I have to explain again?"

She'd been walking a few steps ahead of him, pretending she didn't want his company, but he knew she did. Why else would she start her patrol in his cemetery every night? But ever since they had started sleeping together, things had been tense.

"Not that, blondie. Why do you risk your life every night for the ungrateful bunch of wankers."

Buffy laughed. "I'm the Slayer, Spike. That's why."

"That's not a reason, pet. Having powers doesn't mean you have to use them. You could say bugger that and stay home."

She walked up to a head stone and sat on it, then shrugged. "They're innocents. They can't protect themselves, but I can protect them. How could I live with myself if people died when I know I could have prevented it." She shook her head. "You don't have a soul..."

Spike opened his mouth to protest, but Buffy put her hand up to stop him.

"I don't mean it as an insult. What I mean is that I can't expect you to understand."

"Bollocks."

"Excuse me?"

"Most people with souls would never do what you do, even if they had power. Because power or no power, you're risking your life. And it takes someone incredible to do that and not expect anything in return. How many times did you save the world without any of these wankers having a clue? How many times did I see you saving people and they never even stop running long enough to say thank you. You died for them, twice. You're bloody amazing, Buffy."

She looked down, a sad smile on her lips. "Just doing my job. It's no biggy."

"You're wrong. It's a huge biggy. And I hope some day, someone will notice and give you the credit you deserve."

She looked up to reply, but Spike was gone.

The vampire woke with a start. He looked around the mostly empty apartment before remembering where he was. He rubbed his eyes wearily, then reopened the file he'd been using as a pillow. He reread the first page with the same feeling of disbelief he'd had the first time reading it.

Terrorist.

They thought Buffy was a terrorist.

How could this be? After everything she did for the world, all the people she'd saved, how could this be happening? She'd lost everything for them and now as a thank you, they were hunting her down? Wanted. Dead or alive.

"Guess I was wrong, pet." Spike said to himself. "You were better off when nobody noticed after all."

Spike threw the file at the opposite wall angrily, then stood up. He paced back and forth for a while before finally deciding that this was all worth stepping on his pride. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello, Peaches. I need help."

There was a long theatrical sigh, followed by the predictable answer. "Got yourself in trouble again and expect me to clean up your mess, boy?"

Spike nearly growled.

"No, you wanker, the financial kind of help. There's something I need to fix."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 4: Welcome onboard Angelus Airlines

Pure darkness. Even in the darkest hour of the night, there is always light. Sometimes not enough for the human eye to notice, but it's there nonetheless. The total absence of light, that's pure darkness and it is the same to a supernatural being as it is to a human.

A loud hollow thud almost instantly followed by a few choice words were heard by no one.

A flash light was slapped a few times, and then the inside of the wooden crate was suddenly visible again to a very irate Spike. His usually beautiful face was scrunched up, eyes narrowed, and mouth twisted in an angry sneer. He rubbed his abused head with his free hand. Rough turbulences were shaking the plane every which way. He could imagine the passengers above his head in the main cabin listening to the soothing voice of a flight attendant instructing them to remain seated and fasten their seat belts securely. Lucky bastards.

Vengeful thoughts flooded his brain. "Get to Rome..." He mumbled through clenched teeth "warn the Slayer, get back to the States, and KILL the bleedin' Poofter. Oh yes, he'll pay for this."

Spike put the quickly dying flash light next to him and returned to his cards, the only distraction he'd had for the past seven hours besides fantasizing about different ways of hurting Angel. The fantasies were definitely more entertaining than his game of Solitaire.

Angel had sworn that he didn't have access to the W&H private jet anymore, but Spike refused to believe there wasn't another way. The wanker still had access to his bank accounts. He still had the cars. He had contacts. There's no way stuffing Spike in a crate and putting him in the cargo hold of a commercial plane was the only way to get him to Rome.

Angel’s answer, when he’d told him what he found out, had nearly enraged Spike. The older vampire had decided that Buffy was a big girl who could take care of herself, that she was safe in Europe, and the army wouldn’t get to her there. He thought Spike was over reacting and had no reason to panic. Spike knew Angel’s reaction was because his ego had not healed from the blow of being rejected by Buffy. It only proved to him that Angel’s love of Buffy had been the selfish kinda love. Not that he didn’t already know that. After much yelling and cursing, mostly on Spike’s part, the wanker had finally agreed to at least help him get to Rome even though he thought it was a ploy to get back into Buffy’s pants. He’d dug into his large bank account and arranged for ground personnel at the airport in Las Vegas, and in Rome--people who knew about demons--to overlook the content of a big crate. The one that currently held Spike. Angel had sworn it was the best he could do.

"Bloody stupid wanker is probably having a good laugh. I'll show him. Wait until I get back."

Having no one around except for a dog barking occasionally nearby, the vampire allowed himself to whine.

"What kind of a pathetic wanker puts himself through all this for a girl who doesn't give a bleedin' rat's ass about him? I'm no fool for love, I'm a bloody IDIOT is what I am."

But after hours of feeling sorry for himself and being very vocal about it, it seemed that even the dog had enough. A loud bark followed by a growl answered him.

"Oh shut it! Don't make me come out of here and drain you."

The dog whined.

"Threatening dogs now." He sighed. "Yes, Spike old man, you are pathetic, no doubt about it."

He put down his last card and lost the game. For the five hundred and fiftieth time. He kicked the cards with his heel.

"Bloody stupid game."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy woke with a start. She was sweating despite the cool humidity, and panting heavily. She pushed the covers off of her and sat on the edge of the bed, hating the cold stone floor beneath her feet. Spring in Scotland was damp and a fourteen century castle was not humidity proof. She'd lit a fire in the hearth before going to bed, hoping it would keep her warm and dry, but it was long dead now. She shivered and put on her bathrobe before going to the balcony to get some fresh air, hoping to clear her mind of the familiar nightmare.

For the past two weeks, she'd had the same dream over and over. The details were fuzzy, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. She was back in what she now referred to as the good old days of Sunnydale, walking through a cemetery with Spike by her side. She always enjoyed the first part of the dream, loving the familiarity of Spike‘s company. She missed him so much. Here in Scotland, she was constantly surrounded by people, but she'd never been more alone in her life. Dreaming of Spike made it easier. But then, the dream changed. Some military, probably the Initiative, was surrounding them. And in the dream, they wanted her. Then there were flashes of her being captured, Spike in a military uniform, the two of them running, Willow hovering a few inches above the floor, her eyes pitch black. But every time she saw the stakes being thrown magically in the direction of Spike's chest, she woke up.

If it wasn't for Spike being there, she would believe this could be a Slayer dream. But he was gone. So was the Initiative. And Willow for that matter.

Buffy was standing on her balcony, staring blankly at the sun rising over the Scottish country side. She'd loved it at first but soon realized it would never be home. She had always wanted to travel and the opportunities for sightseeing had been numerous over the past year. England, France, Germany, Italy, but she felt like she'd seen nothing at all. Being THE Slayer amongst hundreds of other Slayers--most of them untrained--came with heavy responsibilities and the burden was starting to weigh on her shoulders. Her every move was scrutinized by young and admiring eyes, and she felt she wasn‘t allowed any mistake. She had to be perfect and make the right decision all the time and this was the kind of pressure she could do without. Her life had turned into a weird remake of that Jim Carey movie in which his life was a number one rated TV show and everyone knew everything about him, and this castle where they’d set up head quarters had turned into a prison to her.

But most of all, she craved the loving arms of the one person who never judged her, always accepted her for who she was--flaws and all--wrapped around her. Not that it would ever happen again.

Someone cleared their throat behind her to get her attention. She didn’t turn around.

“Buffy?”

Xander’s voice. He’d probably knocked on her door, and getting no answer, decided it was OK to just walk in. Even her friends these days seemed to have come to the common understanding that it was alright to barge in on her at any time of the day or the night. No privacy for Buffy Summers. Yes, she had become very bitter.

“What?” She asked, still not taking her eyes off the landscape.

“The girls came back from their expedition.”

“And?”

“They were successful. To a certain extent.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, pretending to be interested.

“They managed to destroy the nest, but didn’t get much information.”

“That’s alright. At least, there’s about fifty less fledging vampires we won’t have to worry about. We’ll get the information elsewhere.”

“I guess.” Xander agreed hesitantly. He waited a long time for her to add something but she was silent. He finally asked: “Buff? Are you alright?”

“Peachy. It’s just...”

“Just what?” He asked curiously.

Buffy turned her back to the green hills batted in soft orange light. She smiled lightly. “Every time I stand here, it makes me feel like I’m some kind of princess prisoner of the wicked witch and waiting for my prince to come rescue me on his white horse. I know, it‘s lame.”

“Uh... Oookay.” Xander gave her a look that clearly said he thought she was going nuts.

“Never mind. Must be the castle thing.” She laughed. “Any word on Willow?”

He shook his head, his expression turning somber. “Nothing. But we’ll find her. I know she’s alive. She has to be.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The very loud and unpleasant thud of landing had happened a good ten minutes ago, followed by the regular bumps and sharp turns of taxiing. The plane had now stopped moving and Spike was waiting, not knowing what to expect. Angel hadn't exactly been forthcoming about the details of the deal. All he'd said was that everything had been taken care of.

He heard a few unidentified noises, then people moving around right outside his wooden prison. He could now see light filtering through the cracks. His already painful head took another blow when the crate was lifted and transported out of the plane, then put onto a cart and driven away.

Spike was getting impatient and thinking about busting out of there and making a run for it, when the ride finally came to an end.

“Alright, Slayer,” He thought to himself. “The cavalry is here. Not that you’ll ever admit needing to be rescued. Silly bint.”

A nail claw was wedged between the planks, and the top of the crate was lifted. Spike was sitting Indian style, glaring up at whoever was the man standing there. "You a friend of Peaches?" He asked, barely controlling a growl.

The dark haired man dressed in maintenance navy blue overalls looked puzzled. "If I like... peaches?" He asked with a thick Italian accent. "Not my favorite fruit, but they're fine."

Spike rolled his eyes and stood. "Never bloody mind."

They were in an empty hanger. Through the open door, Spike could tell the sun had just set. “My name is Mario. I’m here to help you get out of the airport safely.” The Italian man handed Spike the same blue overalls he was wearing himself. "Put this on, please. I will escort you out."

The vampire grumbled, but took the garment anyway. "Thought you Italian types had fashion sense, I was obviously wrong."

He put the overalls over his jeans and T-Shirt, then neatly rolled his precious jacket and put it safely into a bag. He looked down at his fake safety pass. Under a picture of him, it said Giovanni Angelo. Spike shook his head at Angel's immaturity. Under the name was written: FCO sicurezza, Personel di manutenzione. It didn't look like the real deal.

"And you think we're going to get through security with this piece of crap ID? You're off your rockers, mate."

"I'm not quite certain what "off your rockers" means, but security won't be a problem. A friend of mine is working the entrance for the staff. He is aware of the situation. No one will look too closely at your pass, but if you don‘t wear one, someone will notice."

Spike shrugged. "All right. Let's roll then."

The two men got on the cart. They drove out of the hanger and followed the path toward the airport. They parked near a side entrance and got off. Spike followed Mario, trying his best to look inconspicuous. They followed a few hallways until they reached an overweight middle aged man sitting at a desk in front of a door.

The two Italians greeted each other, then the fat one looked at Spike’s security pass. He nodded, then stood up to punch a code on the door and open it. He moved aside, letting Spike and his companion go through.

The two of them made their way through throngs of unruly passengers pushing their heavy luggage around and looking lost. After a few people bumped into him, Spike was tempted to change into game face to scare them off, but it wouldn’t do to draw attention to himself so he tried his best to control his temper.

“Someone is waiting for you outside.” Mario informed him. “They’ll take you wherever you need to go.”

They went through the automatic doors. A black stretch limo was parked there. The man stopped and turned to face Spike, his hand extended. “Good luck, friend.”

Spike shook it. “Thanks for helping, mate.”

The man smirked. “Don’t mention it. I was generously paid for my trouble.”

Spike chuckled. “I figured that much.”

He watched the Italian leave, then turned to the limo. The door opened. He walked to the car and looked inside.

“Spike! Caro mio! So nice to see you again, daaaarling. You're just as handsome as ever.” The exuberant stylish woman exclaimed warmly.

Bleeding hell, Spike thought when he saw the head honcho of the Roman branch of Wolfram&Hart sitting at the back of the limousine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 5: Doing it the American way

The black limo took off from the curb and maneuvered smoothly through the busy traffic in front of Fiumicino airport. Inside, the bosom heavy brunette embraced the vampire, air kissing him three times.

Ilona Costa Bianchi sat back, then handed Spike a flute of champagne. "Take, take!” She said loudly, putting emphasis on the ’ke’. We must drink to your return to Roma. It is so nice to have you here again."

Spike took the flute from her hand and drank some. He wasn't a big fan of champagne but this stuff tasted expensive. Only the best for the CEO of the Roman office of Wolfram&Hart he figured.

"Tell me, Spike, what brings you back to Roma? Is it a woman? Have you fallen in love with an Italian beauty? You MUST tell me." She asked excitedly, leaning forward and exposing her abundant cleavage.

He couldn‘t help but smile at her enthusiasm. "No pet. Same bird, different threat."

The expressive brunette frowned unhappily. "That Boffy of yours?" She said, mispronouncing Buffy‘s name. She sighed heavily. "Amore. How cruel it is. But tell me, what is this new threat you speak of? Is it the gypsies? Damn gypsies! They're filthy! They must be exterminated. I spit on them!"

Ilona pretended to spit.

Spike smirked. "What is it with you and gypsies, pet?"

"I spit on those filthy gypsies. We must speak of them NO MORE!" She made a slashing gesture with her hands, efficiently putting an end to this topic.

"All right. But you'll have to tell me the story some day.

Her perfectly tweezed dark brows furrowed in anger at the mere thought. Spike decided it was safer to keep talking before he could be treated to another round about the disgusting gypsies.

"Apparently, the Slayer is a target of the US army. They have it in their thick skulls that she's a terrorist and want to capture her or kill her. I wanted to warn her in person and see what I can do to help get her out of this mess."

Ilona brought a long slim cigarette to her full lips and lit it with her silver lighter. She inhaled deeply then let a puff of smoke out of her "o" shaped lips. "This is unfortunate for your Boffy. The Americans, of course. Always so violent. They must learn the Italian way."

Spike's eyes twinkled in amusement. "Grazie, prego, kiss, kiss, boom?"

She smiled brilliantly. "Exaaaactly. Spike, you are handsome AND smart."

"May I ask where you're taking me, pet?"

"Why, to Boffy's flat, of course." Ilona made it sound like it was the stupidest question. "Is there another place where you needed to be?"

"No. I'm just surprised you're here personally to drive me there. Didn't peg you for a tour guide, luv."

Ilona twirled her hand in the air. "Of course not. Angelus asked me to keep an eye on you, daaarling." She stated matter-of-factly.

Spike raised an eyebrow. "And he wanted you to tell me about it?"

The look she gave him was positively evil, but in the most charming way. "No, bello. Of course not."

The vampire knew he should be angry as hell, but the Italian woman was too amusing. "So you're telling me this because?"

"I do not like this Angelus.” She said with disdain. “Is he evil, is he good? He does not know what he wants. It is confusing. And I find his forehead most distracting. He is not nearly as handsome as you. I have a weakness for beautiful men. Of course I had to be agreeable to him when he was with Wolfram&Hart, but why he thought I would be nice to him now after everything that happened, I do not know."

Spike let out a bark of laughter. He finished his glass of champagne in one swallow then pulled out his cigarettes. "Mind if I join you, pet?"

"By all means, caro mio."

He lit his cigarette, then slowly let the smoke out of his parted lips, his eyes closed. "What exactly did the poofter ask you to do?"

"Make sure you did not stay around his Boffy for too long." She shook her head emphatically. "Jealousy, what an ugly thing."

Spike smirked. "That it is. So what are you going to do instead?"

Ilona let out a throaty laugh. "I'll help you, what else. You must, MUST get the girl."

"Really?" Spike asked skeptically. “What happened to your love of the bloody Immortal?”

She frowned. “Bastardo! I spit on him!”

Again, she pretended to spit.

“The double crossing filthy dog will burn in Hell. In HELL!” She put her fingertips together pointing upward and shook her hand in the air in typical Italian fashion.

“All right. There’s no more love for the Immortal. Got it.” Spike commented, chuckling with amusement.

The limousine slowly came to a stop. Spike looked through the tainted windows and recognized the street. Buffy’s street. Something tightened his chest, but he refused to admit to himself that it was fear.

“We are here, handsome.”

“Um, yeah.” He mumbled still staring out the window at the building where Buffy lived.

“Well? What are you waiting for, stud? Go rescue your Boffy, sweep her off her American feet and get her out of the Immortal’s claws... Bastardo that he is! He deserves no better.”

Spike didn’t bother correcting her. As much as he fantasized about it, he wasn’t there to sweep Buffy off her dainty feet. She was off limits now and he had to accept that. He had to follow the plan. Warn her, offer help if she wanted it, then go back to the States.

Ilona offered him her business card. “Call me, bello.”

Spike nodded. “Thanks, pet.”

He took the card and got out of the limo. He looked up at the building with its wrought iron balconies, potted plants with bright flowers, it was beautiful. Just what he wished for Buffy. He did wonder briefly how she could afford a place like that in central Rome, but figured it must be paid for with the Council’s money. The wankers had bottomless pockets, or so he’d heard. It always enraged him that they wouldn’t give their Slayer any money when she was struggling. Things must be different now that Quentin Travers wasn‘t head of the Council anymore. Spike wondered if Giles had taken over.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Spike took a deep breath, then walked up to the front door. He was about to buzz Buffy’s apartment when a cute little brunette showed up juggling too many grocery bags for her petite frame.

“Need help, luv?” He asked the girl, offering her his sexiest smirk.

The brunette blushed. “Grazie.”

Spike relieved her of some of her bags, waited for her to unlock the door, then held it open for her. He then followed the girl inside the building.

“Grazie.” She repeated, smiling and batting her eyelashes seductively. She started saying something in Italian that Spike didn’t get.

“Sorry, pet. Don’t speak the language.”

She pouted prettily, then shrugged. “Ciao.” Then she disappeared in the elevator.

Spike took the steps two at a time to the second floor where Buffy’s apartment was located. Once in front of her door, he hesitated just a moment then raised his hand and knocked.

There was shuffling noises and voices coming from the other side of the door. He waited patiently for something to happen.

Then, the door finally opened. Spike stared, dumbfounded, then growled threateningly, his face shifting into the one of his demon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

General Voll walked into the room with a decided pace. Soft chanting was the only thing breaking the silence. Under the fluorescent light of the conference room, a young woman was sitting alone at one end of the long table. In front of her, a map of the world was spread out. Her arm was extended in front of her and a long chain with a black crystal dangling from it swayed slowly over the map. The young woman’s eyes were closed in concentration and her lips moved to form words the general did not understand. Shoulder length red hair fell in front of her face.

Feeling a presence in the room, she opened eyes as black as the night to look at him.

Feeling uncomfortable under the intense dark gaze, the general cleared his throat. “Are you any closer to finding Miss Summers’ location?”

Her lips stretched into a sinister smile. “I will find her. But the more you interrupt, the longer it takes.”

“I’m sorry but it’s taking a long time and I’m under pressure here. If you were close friends with this woman, shouldn’t you have at least an idea of where she’s hiding?” He asked, the tone of his voice skeptical.

The eyes got even darker if possible, the pixie face contorted in a grimace. “I told you we parted ways here in California. She could be anywhere in the world. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll find her. She’s just under a cloaking spell. No biggie.”

The young witch closed her eyes again, effectively dismissing the military man.

When the chanting started again and General Voll realized he wouldn‘t get anything else from the young woman, he sighed and rubbed his painful temple. The Buffy Summers case was cause for a constant headache and the witch’s attitude didn’t help at all. He turned around and opened the door. Before leaving, he looked over his shoulder. “Please hurry, Miss Rosenberg.”

She ignored him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door opened and there she was. But who was she, that was another question. Blonde hair, check. Hazel eyes, check. Cute little nose, check. Luscious lips, check. Petite, check. All the physical attributes of Buffy Anne Summers. Only one problem...

This was not Buffy Anne Summers.

And Spike didn’t bother asking questions. His fist was flying toward the impostor’s face before the words “Who the bleeding hell are you?” had a chance to come out of his mouth.

His fist covered the distance in a flash and his knuckles made painful contact with the stranger’s cheek. Her head snapped sideways and the strength behind the right hook made her stumble backward.

Spike walked right in without a problem thanks to Andrew’s invite last time he was there with Angel. He punched her again, in the guts this time, then let out an enraged yell: “Where’s Buffy? Who the hell are you?!”

He heard someone running to the scene, probably alerted by the commotion, but he didn’t take his eyes off of the fake Buffy. “What have you done with her you stupid cow?” Spike barked before delivering a kick that sent the woman crashing across the room.

In a corner, Andrew was pressing his back against the wall, his face white, unmanly squeals coming out of his open mouth. But the man next to him didn’t seem all that impressed with the show.

“William, my friend. How have been?” The smile on the face of the man who called himself the Immortal was sickeningly suave. “Attacking a lady in her own home? How very uncivilized. I see you haven‘t changed.”

The very tall man smoothed down imaginary wrinkles on his expensive black suit with a well manicured hand covered in gold rings, then readjusted his red silk tie, the smile never leaving his face.

Yellow eyes blazing, Spike refocused his fury on his sworn enemy. Without a warning, he charged, tackling the much taller man like an American football player. Unfortunately for the Immortal, he was standing in front of a window.

The glass shattered and the Immortal went through.

Spike stood in front of the now broken window, the grin exposing his sharp fangs. “’that uncivilized enough for you, mate?” He said while brushing some glass shards from his clothes.

Fake Buffy chose this time to attack. “You asshole!” She screamed while charging him, the first words she’d said so far.

Spike lifted his foot at the last second and it was too late for her to avoid it. His Buffy would have seen that move coming from a mile away. She fell on her back, but rolled to the side just in time to dodge his booted foot. She sprang to her feet and showered punches at the vampire, but he managed to avoid most of them before head butting her savagely. The blond woman wearing Buffy’s face covered her bleeding nose with her hands.

Andrew chose this time to start screaming. “No! Spike stop! For the love of God, stop!”

Spike ignored him. He put his hands on both sides of the stunned woman’s head and looked about ready to break her neck when Andrew tried again.

“Don’t KILL her! We need her... BUFFY needs her!”

This got Spike’s attention. He snarled in Andrew’s direction.

“You got a lot of explaining to do, mate. Better get on it now!”

CHAPTER 6: Happy bunch

You could hear the proverbial crickets chirping. You could cut the tension with a knife. Every cliché in the book could be used to described the atmosphere in the spacious Italian flat and you still wouldn't get anywhere near the awkward truth. In one corner of the living room, the fuming vampire was slumped in a plush armchair, legs spread wide in true Spike fashion, and both hands gripping the armrests so tightly his knuckles were white with tension. In the other corner, the woman wearing Buffy's face was sitting tensely. She was glowering at him with murder in her eyes. One side of the face not belonging to her was starting to bruise. It was like watching a boxing match about to begin and Andrew was tempted to take bets.

Things had gotten ugly again when the Immortal reappeared at the door with not one scratch on his pompous ass, demanding to be let in. While Andrew was busy dealing with him and trying to get him to leave, Spike and decoy Buffy got in each others face again. A shoving match ensued, both of them regressing to twelve year-olds. Until Spike lost it and punched her in the face. Hard.

Andrew had neared another panic attack while trying to separate the two stubborn warriors, but with one harsh comment, the woman went to sit on the couch without uttering another word.

Spike didn't know what surprised him more, someone listening to the overgrown nerd, or a woman looking like Buffy actually obeying an order. If he'd had any doubts--which he didn't--now he would know for sure that this was not Buffy. His girl would never let anybody tell her what to do. No, not his girl, he amended. She wasn't his girl anymore, never had been. He stopped the train of thought in its tracks, deciding it was best to focus on the situation.

Andrew had shut the door in the Immortal's face and was now pacing the length of the living room.

Spike growled low in his throat. "Out with it before I lose the little patience I have and decide to rip your throat open and bathe in your blood."

Andrew stopped pacing and paled at Spike's words. "Geez, graphic much? Threatening me won't help, you know."

"Not a threat, you wanker. It's a description of what I WILL do if you don't talk soon and explain what this bloody mess is all about."

"OK, here's the deal. This Buffy, is a decoy."

Spike let out a bark of laughter. "You don't say!"

"Hey, if you just let me talk, maybe we'll get somewhere." Andrew pouted like a child.

As a thought occurred to him, Spike's face dropped and he sat forward. "Fucking hell... She's dead again, isn't she?"

This was deja vu. It only made sense. After all, she was wounded in the battle. If she didn't make it, it would be just like the Scoobies to come up with something to make the enemy think the original Slayer was still around. They had done it before. Images of the Buffybot invaded his mind. Although why they had to resort to that, he didn't have a clue. They had all those Slayers around the world now, and Faith, so why the charade? Andrew sat down with a dramatic sigh. "Buffy's just fine. Alive, kicking and slaying, just like the glorious warrior queen that she is. There's just two more of her now."

"What?" Spike gave the boy a disbelieving look. "Why the soddin' hell is that?"

Andrew gave himself a look of importance. "So many reasons, my friend, I don't know where to begin."

"How 'bout you start by not calling me your anything, and give me the facts?"

"Fine. The idea came to Willow when Buffy made a comment that she wished she could split herself so she could be everywhere at once. Right after Sunnydale, there was too much going on and things were getting complicated. No need to say that everyone was being delusional when they thought it was their chance to finally have normal lives. All the girls that suddenly received Slayer strength had no clue what was going on and they needed training and guidance. To make matter worst, since the balance had shifted so dramatically in favor of the good side, demons started gathering everywhere and tried to take out as many of the new, untrained Slayers at they could. And there's also the problem of Angel. Buffy didn't trust him anymore because he sided with Wolfram&Hart and she didn't want him to know where she was. She was aware that he had employees of the evil law firm following her. And last, but not least, there's this new big bad enemy who is after Buffy. We don‘t know who or what he is, but we know he‘s behind everything that‘s been happening."

Spike looked thoughtful. He drew the correct conclusion to Andrew's story. "So they came up with the idea of having more than one Buffy so they could fool everyone."

"Exactomundo." Andrew smiled brightly.

"How did they do it?"

"Easy enough. They picked two Slayers that looked as much like Buffy as possible, and with a little glamour from the very talented and powerful Willow, they were made to look exactly like Buffy. One is leading an underground operation in Germany, and one is here, pretending to live the normal life." He added air quote for effect.

Spike narrowed his eyes. "That still doesn't tell me where the real Buffy is, mate."

Andrew suddenly looked nervous. "I'm really not supposed to tell..."

"Remember you daft git... me, bathing in your blood. So if you know what's good for your health, you'll talk now."

"Scotland!" Andrew blurted out, looking terrified.

"Andrew!" The decoy all but yelled. "You're not supposed to tell."

"But it's Spiiike!" Andrew argued in a whiny voice as if the name alone made it OK to spill the big secret.

"Yes, and he hangs out with Angelus." She spat angrily.

"I bloody well do not! Or at least... not anymore." Spike looked offended.

"Promise you won't tell Angel." Andrew begged.

"'Of course not! Do I look like a bleedin' idiot to you? If Buffy doesn't want him to know, he won't find out through me." The fact Buffy didn't want the great wanker to know where she was suited him just fine.

“So, that’s the big story.” Andrew concluded almost too enthusiastically, obviously hoping this was the end of the conversation and Spike would just leave.

But the vampire had other ideas. He narrowed his eyes dangerously at the young man. “I was right here mate, in this apartment, and you had the nerve to tell me that Buffy was happily in love and I should move on. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you again?”

Andrew’s voice squeaked in an unmanly fashion. “Because you have a a... soul now? You still have your soul, right?”

“Would be worth the guilt, you little prat. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure there’d be that much guilt.” He smirked in a convincingly evil way.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Andrew yelled, his hands up in surrender. “I couldn’t say anything in front of Angel.”

Decoy Buffy seemed to find the exchange highly amusing. She had relaxed a little on the couch and was now watching with a smile on her face.

“And and, I wasn’t sure if you were evil too.” Andrew continued, stuttering in fear of the vampire in front of him. “You were with Angel and we had clear instructions not to trust him. And you were going to find out this Buffy was with the Immortal and I couldn’t tell you ‘don’t worry, the real Buffy is in Scotland and she’s still mourning you’ in front of him.”

Spike’s expression softened slightly at that.

“I swear Spike, I only had your best interests in mind. When we created this Buffy, I’m the one who came up with the idea of having her date the Immortal.”

The vampire’s face shifted into his demon visage, rage barely under control. “Not helping your case, mate. If you’d done your research, you’d know this wanker is my enemy.”

Looking suddenly terrified, Andrew rushed to clarify. “I know that! But you were dead. And the Immortal is also Angel’s enemy. I thought it would be funny. I thought when Angel would find out about Buffy dating this guy, he’d be pissed off and wherever you were--in hero’s heaven or whatever--you’d have a good laugh. If I had known it would backfire like that, I would have never had her date this idiot.”

Decoy Buffy rolled her eyes. “Can you stop talking about my boyfriend like that? He’s not an idiot.”

Both Spike and Andrew gave her a look.

She pouted. “Well... he’s not!”

Andrew returned his attention to Spike who had calmed down enough to return to his human face. “What do you want to do now?”

The vampire didn’t answer. He stood up and went to the phone. He pulled out a business card and dialed a number.

“’lo pet.”

On the other end of the line, the CEO of Wolfram&Hart could barely contain her enthusiasm. “Spike! Me amore... How did it go? Are you back with your Boffy? Or did you change your mind and decided you were in the mood for something a little bit more spicy... Italian maybe?”

Spike laughed. “No pet. Things turned out a little stranger than expected. Listen... How would you feel about helping a bloke get to Scotland?”

“Anything for you, darling. I’m a sucker for blonds with blue eyes.” She purred.

Spike knew it wasn’t a good idea to owe favors to the likes of Ilona Bianchi, but it’s not as if he had much of a choice. Hell would freeze over before he’d get back into a crate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the corner of a dark, dank room, a young woman was curled up on her side. Dark blonde hair fell in greasy strand in front of her face. She looked frail and lifeless, her clothes were dirty and her face was gaunt, showing the signs of very little sleep and food. Her hands and feet were bonded with heavy chains attached to the brick wall and she was surrounded by a soft glowing ball of energy.

Her sleep muddled brain registered footsteps coming down the wooden stairs and she managed to lift her head slightly off the floor and open one eye to look at the new comers. No surprise registered on her face when she saw the tall lanky man and his two minions. She barely spared a glance at the black young woman but her eyes narrowed in betrayal when they fell on the overly confident brunette. She dropped her head back to the cold cement floor. If only the binding spell could drop, she’d be happy to wipe the smirk off her ex lover’s face. Unfortunately, as her burned hands could testify, the binding spell was efficient.

“Aw, poor sweety! Look at you... Pretty pathetic for such a powerful witch, isn’t it? What good is magic if you can’t even use it to save yourself? Where‘s your new girlfriend anyway? You‘d think she would try to come to your rescue. Maybe Iris already moved on... You‘re not that memorable.” The brunette said mockingly.

“Kennedy, Rona... Leave us please.”

Kennedy flipped her hair over her shoulder and pouted. “But you need us here.”

“No. I do not. I think it is safe to say she is rather helpless.” The man smirked smugly.

Rona sighed and shrugged her shoulders with disinterest. Kennedy stomped her foot like an irate child, but turned around and followed Rona up the stairs.

“What the hell do you want?” Her voice was hoarse from lack of use and dehydration.

“Why, hello to you too, Willow. Hope everything is to your liking. It’s not the Hilton, but then again... you are not in a position to complain so there’s no need for a customer service survey.”

Willow carefully sat up. She felt awkward in this body. After Warren, she promised herself she would never kill again, but if she ever got her hands on Amy, she might break that promise. Or maybe she’d just turn her back into the rat that she really was. Yes, that would be satisfying. That girl was really her mother’s daughter, no doubt about it.

“Are you here to bore me to death?” She asked.

“As much fun as that would be, not quite. I’m here for answers.”

The laugh that escaped Willow’s lips had no humor to it. It ended in a coughing fit. “I see. Amy didn’t manage to find Buffy. She’s not me, she can’t control my powers.”

“Oh we’ll find her.” He stated with more confidence than he felt. “Miss Summers can’t hide forever. She’ll have to come up for air eventually.”

“So why are you here then if you’re so confident? Why don't you just kill me? You obviously don’t need me.”

The pout on his face was anything but manly. “I’d love to. But unfortunately, I’m not sure what would happen if I did. Amy is... useful. For now at least. But you will tell me how to break that protection spell of yours.”

She snorted. “Yeah right.”

He took a few steps forward and raised his hands. The energy crackled, then shot to where Willow was sitting. With a yell of pain, she was lifted off the floor. Her back arched and her head was thrown back in agony.

“Now, where were we?” He asked in a casual tone. “Oh yes, the spell.”

Tears ran down Willow’s cheek, but she didn’t say a word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brussells, 4am

The moon was bathing the Grand Place - Grote Markt - in eerie silver light. The three hundred year-old buildings surrounded the deserted place like silent giants. It was hard to believe that only a few hours ago, the place was buzzing with people. Tourists taking picture after picture of historical monuments, devouring sugary waffles, buying knick-knacks from vendors, or sitting at the outside tables of cafes to sip on Belgian beer and enjoy the animated night. But at this time, tourists and locals alike were safely tucked into bed, leaving the place empty and silent.

A short walk from there, a tall blond man sat on the fountain of the Mannekin Pis. The well cut luxurious hair, designer clothes and shoes and well manicured hands might have made him look like a wealthy gentleman if it wasn't for the look of danger on his face. Next to him, a stunning woman with shoulder length dark hair and eyes as limpid as the sky pouted full lips reddened by blood. Behind them, the body of a young girl had been tossed carelessly in the fountain. At their feet, another one lay abandoned. They were watching three other vampires fighting with four Slayers who were rapidly losing.

"Je m'ennuie." The woman said in a whiny voice. When he didn't react, she shoved him lightly. "Daniel, did you hear what I just said? I'm bored!"

He looked at his nails, then sighed. "I'm boring you, Juliette?"

"Yes. I mean, no. You're not boring me, these girls are. Elles sont trop facile."

"Of course they are easy, mon amour. That's the whole point. To kill them before they have a chance to learn to fight."

"And I'm still hungry." She crossed and uncrossed legs clad in skinny black jeans that made them look impossibly long. Every movement made her sequined silver tank top send sparkles of light.

He chuckled. "Bored and hungry, that's a deadly combination."

She kicked the body on the ground with her Christian Laboutin clad foot. "This one had almost nothing to give. Do these girls even eat? Merde alors!"

"Tell you what, why don't you tell me what you're in the mood for?"

A slow smile stretched her luscious lips. "Anything?"

"Anything, darling. Your wish is my command."

She thought about it for a while. "Italian maybe? No, too fattening. Maybe some Greek. I haven't seen Greece for a while. Or, what about Scottish? We haven't been in the UK since 1930 I think."

He rolled his eyes. "There's a reason for that, mon amour. Their fashion sense nearly gave me a rash."

"But think of all the plump girls. And they do have some amazing Scotch."

He gave it some thought, then slowly nodded. "Yes, I do love a good Scotch. All right."

She clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Merveilleux! And we can stop in Paris after. I have some shopping to do."

"Oui ma belle, everything you want."

Their spirits lifted, they watched as the four Slayers dropped to the cobble stoned ground, one after another, their glassy eyes staring up into the night sky.

Previously on Decoy: Spike, now living in Las Vegas, finds out through a friend that there is army activity on the site of what used to be Sunnydale. He decides to investigate and discovers that the US army believes Buffy Summers to be a terrorist. Having no choice, he makes his way to Rome to warn her, only to find out that the woman he had believed to be Buffy was only a decoy.

CHAPTER 7: Visitors

Buffy stood in a corner and watched as people walked in one after the other. The room they were using for meetings was located in the basement of the castle so it had no windows. The only furniture was a long table surrounded by chairs. A large map of the world covered one of the stone walls and there was a TV and VCR in a corner. Some of the original potentials--who, Buffy had to remind herself, were not potentials anymore but Slayers--a few witches, some watchers in training, Giles and Xander all took their place at the table while chatting animatedly. At the end of the table, a chair remained empty. On each side of it, Giles and Xander sat facing each other. This was Buffy's chair, but she seldom used it, preferring to stand during those meetings. When everyone settled down, she took her spot at the end of the table, her hands on the back of the chair, and waited patiently for them to stop talking before starting the meeting.

"We're all here? All right, let's start."

A woman with long black hair and intense violet eyes raised her hand to get Buffy's attention.

"What is it, Iris?"

Iris was a witch, and a high priestess. She was also Willow's lover. They had met briefly two summers ago during Willow's retreat in England, but Iris wasn't part of the Coven. She had always worked alone, until now. She joined the new Council a few months ago when it became clear that she could help. The timing was excellent. The affair between Willow and Kennedy had already fizzled and died, and it didn't take too long for things to heat up between the redhead and the dark haired beauty.

"Buffy, I did a locator spell on Willow."

Buffy looked surprised. "Really? I thought you were against the idea of using magic to find her because it was intrusive?"

Iris smiled softly despite the worry clearly written on her face. "I was. Still am. But with everything that's been happening, with this new enemy that we still haven't been able to identify or locate, I couldn't take the chance. If something happened to her..." She shook her head without finishing her sentence.

But she didn't need to. Everyone in the room knew Iris blamed herself for Willow's disappearance. They had a fight the night before Willow left for the States to bring back more Slayers. They disagreed on how to handle Kennedy after the new Slayer had switched sides out of jealousy. Iris thought Willow was too harsh when talking about her ex-lover and what they should do with her. Willow left angry and never returned.

"Iris," Buffy said, her voice full of understanding, "it's not your fault. If Willow did decide she needed some time alone, it wasn't because of you. She felt guilty for Kennedy's betrayal. It's stupid because it's not her fault, but you have nothing to do with this."

Everyone around the table seemed to approve, but Iris didn't look convinced.

"Anyway, that's beside the point." The witch said, effectively bringing the conversation back on topic. "Willow has more power in her little finger than I have in my entire body, but even the most powerful witch can be taken off guard when she's upset. So if there's a chance something did happen to her, I needed to know. That's why I changed my mind and did the spell."

"Did you find anything?" Giles asked.

"Yes and no." She answered cryptically.

"What do you mean?" This time, it was Xander's turn to show curiosity.

"All I know for sure is that she's in California. But it was almost as if there were two of her. The locator spell couldn't focus on only one spot. It kept moving and I couldn't pin-point her exact location."

"And do you think you could use another spell? Something that would be a bit more specific?" Buffy asked.

Iris shook her head. "I don't think so. I used my most powerful spell."

"All right. Something is definitely going on then. Willow was a high priority before, but now I'm bumping her right up there next to bachelor number one and bachelor number two."

At the "what the Hell are you talking about" look she got from some of the young Slayers, Buffy specified. "Ya know... The mysterious vamp who's working on siring half of Europe and is on a Slayer killing spree, and the even more mysterious man he works for? Hello! Have I been talking to myself at these meetings for the past two months?"

They had the decency to look ashamed.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You really should have learned to translate Buffy humor by now. Anyway, so to conclude the Willow thing, at this point, I really don't care if she gets upset that we used magic to find her. I understand the need to get away from all this--believe me, I do--but screw the need for solitude. If that's really all she wanted, then she can tell us once we find her... safe and sound. I'm going to send the Slayers we have in California to the approximate locations you found, Iris. If she'd there, they'll find her."

The witch looked relieved.

Buffy addressed other problems and transmitted information that had been given to her by informants all over Europe before bringing up the last topic of the day.

"Any development on my sister's ridiculous, yet huge problem?"

Dawn had been super sized into a giant by her stupid boyfriend and Buffy was secretly convinced she'd done it on purpose to annoy her. As if she didn't have enough to worry about already. She couldn't remember exactly, but the day it happened must have been a Tuesday. It was Dawn's favorite day to get in trouble. It didn't look like she was about to break tradition any time soon.

This time, Giles was the one to answer. "Yes. I talked to the Coven in England and they seem to have found a way to reverse what has been done to Dawn. But they need to find the man who caused her predicament first. It shouldn't be too long, Buffy."

She sighed in relief. "Good. Because she's getting increasingly whiny. And since her voice is so much louder now, it's doubly annoying. I can hear her all the way in my bedroom."

The look on everybody's face told her that so could they.

"I can hear you, ya know!" Dawn's booming voice could be heard through the stone walls.

"See what I mean?" Buffy rolled her eyes. "Now next point in the meeting--and I just added this one--moving the meeting room from the basement to the top floor... or possibly another castle so Dawn can't interrupt. All in favor?"

"HEY! I can STILL hear you!"

Everyone laughed, until the ground shook, probably from Dawn stomping her foot.

"DAWN!" Buffy yelled.

"Sorry!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A castle in Scotland. For a large group of people in hiding and running a rather large secret operation, it was the ideal location. For the ones driving to get there, definitely less ideal. Ancient castles, unfortunately, are often remote, and that was the case for this one. The road leading there was narrow and sinuous. Add to that a Citroen way past retirement age, and Andrew’s driving, and you had everything needed to cause a severe headache.

Contorted in a seat not fit for a small child, wrapped in a blanked that reeked of mold and other unidentified smells, and suffering from a mild concussion due to the numerous bumps in the road and the low ceiling, Spike started to miss his wooden crate. If it wasn’t for the sun shining high and bright, he would be walking the rest of the way. Unfortunately, he couldn’t walk and he couldn’t drive himself.

After an hour of this, the car slowed down as it approached a large stone structure perched right on top of a green hill. Spike stopped complaining and stared at it, suddenly realizing that this was it. Buffy was somewhere behind those thick walls and he was about to see her again. For some reason, he was more nervous than he had been while knocking on what he thought to be her door in Rome. It somehow felt more official now.

Andrew parked the car in front then turned to Spike. “I didn’t tell anybody you were coming but I’m starting to think that was a mistake. What if one of the Slayers decides to try to kill you?”

“I haven’t lived this long without knowing how to take care of myself.”

“Fine. But if Buffy is pissed, you better make sure no one blames me. It was your idea to come here.”

Spike smirked. “No worries mate, I’ll make sure to tell them it’s all your fault.” He opened the door and bolted in direction of the main entrance, the blanket safely wrapped around him. He chuckled when Andrew protested loudly.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the late afternoon sun set on the horizon, a white yacht the size to rival any commercial cruise ship slowly navigated its way into Edinburgh’s marina. The sparkling water splashed gently against the pristine white hull of the boat, making the scene deceptively peaceful, especially considering the intentions of the passengers onboard the ship.

In the main cabin, Juliette was sitting on a royal blue velvet couch, well protected from the sun by specially tinted windows. Wearing a yellow Versace mini dress and gold high heels, her long legs crossed elegantly, she was sipping on Champagne and looking at the man she loved.

Daniel Delongpres was standing at the window and keeping a watchful eye on the activities on the deck where a few humans employed by him were throwing cables on the pier.

Wavy blond hair grazed his collar, his broad shoulders filled out his Armani suit perfectly, and emphasized his small waist and firm ass; just looking at him could still send lustful thoughts racing through her head even after all these centuries spent together. He was her sire, her lover and her partner in crime.

He had turned her only a few months after becoming a vampire himself, in 1663. He was only a fledgling and hadn’t asked permission, which caused a rift with his own sire. At the time, Daniel was a disgraced Baron who had insulted King Louis XIV by openly flirting with the Queen, and Juliette was the King’s flavor of the day. She hadn’t been the King’s mistress long enough to even make it into history books, but long enough that turning her and taking her away was the perfect vengeance. The only thing Daniel hadn’t expected was to fall for her. They hadn’t left each other’s side since.

“Juliette, darling, are you ready to go?”

Her mind had been wandering so far away that she didn’t notice him there until he crouched down in front of her and spoke her name. She caressed his cheek and kissed him lightly before smiling at him.

“Oui mon amour. But before we go, I was wondering...”

“What is it, beautiful? You know you can have anything you want.”

“That big redhead sailor you hired, can I have him as a snack? He looks delicious.”

Daniel laughed heartily, throwing his head back.

“Hey! Mais tu ries de moi?!”

“No darling, I’m not laughing at you. You’re just so adorable, it warms my cold dead heart.” He turned his head to one of his men standing by the door. “Mark.”

“Yes sir?”

“Get Jason, would you? Tell him we need to talk to him.”

Mark left without a word.

Juliette clapped her hands happily, a big smile on her glossy lips.

“Alright, ma jolie, but as soon as you’re done, we need to go. My informants tell me there’s a lot of Slayer activity in Scotland. I can’t wait to get this party started.”

She flashed him her pearly whites. “I’ll be quick. Believe me, I can’t wait for the fun to begin either.”

“I love you.”

“Je t’aime aussi.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A loud commotion upstairs took Buffy's attention away from the digital screens on which Xander and she had been watching an operation in progress. She looked at her old friend questioningly, but he only shrugged, indicating that he was as clueless as she was.

"Do you think we're under attack?" She asked.

"Doesn't sound like it. Sounds more like party squeals than battle cries. A little like when Faith comes marching back into town like the prodigy child or something. You know how popular our little reformed psycho Slayer is with the girls. Mind boggling, really." He shook his head disapprovingly.

"Yeah well, Faith and Robin are a little busy in Cleveland, so I doubt it's her."

Things had been crazy on the Cleveland Hellmouth and Faith and her crew had their hands full trying to keep things under control.

"Why don't you go check it out, Buf? I'll keep my one eye on the Moscow operation."

Buffy made a face. "Would you stop with the eye jokes? It's sooo last year." She stuck her tongue out playfully and turned on her heels and made her way out.

“But, it’s all I have! The eye jokes and the pirate jokes. Don’t take that away from me, it‘s cruel.” Xander whined. Grinning, Buffy poked her head through the doorway. “You still have the Austin Power jokes... Number One.”

“Hey! Not funny!”

He could hear her chuckling as she made her way up the stairs. He rolled his eye and went back to work.

When Buffy walked into the main room of the castle, she stopped and looked around in confusion. The Sunnydale Slayers were gathered in a circle, looking excited and talking all at once, with the newer Slayers standing about looking as confused as Buffy felt. Giles, standing with his back to her, was talking to whoever the Slayers were surrounding. She finally cleared her throat.

“Hey guys... What’s going on here?”

When nobody seemed to hear her, she tried again. “HELLO? Will somebody tell me what’s happening or should I guess?”

An eerie silence fell over the room. She couldn’t tell why, but she got scared and her heart started beating faster. As if she knew something big was about to happen. But not in her wildest dream could she have imagined what took place next.

The crowd parted. Looking nervous and uncomfortable, Giles turned to look at her, then, after a moment of hesitation, he stepped aside.

It’s funny how you can be staring straight at a ghost, but for a few seconds, you won’t even notice it because your brain would rather focus on something that doesn’t terrify it as much.

She saw Andrew. She frowned and blinked a few times, not understanding what the big deal was about. The seconds ticked by slowly on the big clock.

Then she saw him. And the world stopped turning on its axis.

"You..."

Spike.

Her face was white, her hands shaking, and she looked anything but pleased.

“Buffy...”

“How dare you show up here.” She whispered through her teeth.

Before anybody could react, Buffy surprised everybody by launching herself at the vampire. He tried taking a step back, but couldn’t avoid her and she collided with his very hard, and very real chest, then landed ungracefully on her ass. Spike lost his balance under the attack too and fell back.

They all stared at the scene in shock, but strangely, no one looked more surprised than Buffy herself.

“Bloody buggering hell! What was that for?!” Spike yelled, a stunned look on his handsome face.

But Buffy was still staring in silence, her eyes tearing up. She gasped as if she couldn’t catch her breath and backed up along the floor, pushing herself quickly with her feet. Giles approached her and reached down to try to help her up, but she weakly slapped his hand away. She finally found her voice, barely.

“You... First.... You’re not. Oh my GOD. Real…”

And then she did the very unslayery thing and burst into tears.

CHAPTER 8: If only I knew how to lie

Fantasies. They are a nice easy way to escape, or make your reality better, fix things you don't like about your life, or events that go so horribly wrong that you want to imagine many different ways you could have avoided them or made them better. Everybody does it. You fantasize about your Oscar speech, meeting the man of your dreams in a coffee shop, your wedding day, or even your perfect job when you're stuck behind the counter of a fast food joint. The thing is, fantasies are not reality and often, when they somehow come true, you realize that you only thought about the good and forgot about the bad. Just like being face to face with the man you loved and lost, thinking you'd never see him again. In fantasy land, it's all hugs and puppies. You see yourself running in slow motion, throwing yourself into his loving arms, telling him you love him and you'll never be apart again just before kissing him passionately. But what about the shock? What about the awkwardness in the face of the impossible? And the questions? The million and one questions that all want to come out at the same time but none of them do because you're speechless? No. You don't fantasize about that part.

Buffy felt herself being pulled to her feet. This time she didn't stop Giles. She felt as boneless as a rag doll. All she could do was stare at the man in front of her. How many times did she dream about this moment? Spike being miraculously resurrected and coming back to her. She finally understood exactly what he felt that night when she came back from the grave and stood in front of him. And most of all, she understood his words: "Every night... I save you." Because that's what she did for the last year. Every night, she saved him. Many different ways.

Giles put his hands on Buffy's shoulders to steady her. He gave the gaping slayers a disapproving look. "Girls, I'm sure you all have something you could be doing right now, yes?"

They all scrambled like a pack of scared rats, Andrew the first one to go.

Spike stood up slowly, eyeing Buffy warily.

"Buffy, are you quite all right?" Giles asked his slayer with concern.

She slowly nodded, her eyes never leaving Spike.

"What the bleedin' hell just happened?" The vampire asked, still not understanding why she would try to run him over.

She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

"I think she thought you were the First." Giles clarified for her.

Spike's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh. Makes sense."

He took a cautious step forward. "Pet... Are you gonna say something?" He asked gently, trying to prompt a reaction. Anything would be better than the blank look on her face.

Giles tried too. "Would you like to sit? Maybe I could get you a drink? Or I could leave you two alone." Not getting an answer, he made the decision himself. "Yes, that would probably be best."

He squeezed her shoulder gently and left the two blondes alone.

Spike sighed. "Luv, I wasn't expecting to walk in, say 'Honey I'm home' and have you offering me a drink, the news paper and my slippers, but please, say something. Anything..."

"I cut my hair. I'm sorry."

As soon as she said it, she blushed and made an 'I can't believe I just said that' face.

Spike smiled. "Looks good, pet."

She nervously tugged on her shoulder length hair, looking uncomfortable. And then the awkward silence made place to the awkward babble.

"I don't know why I said that. I mean, it's completely random. And it's not. Because a week ago, my hair was long. And I was thinking, Spike loves my hair. And then it occurred to me that it doesn't matter because Spike isn't here anymore and he never will be again. So who the hell cares about my hair? Right? So I go to the salon and get it cut shorter. Because you're not here and I don't care. And now you're here. And my hair is short. And it reminds me of a week ago when you weren't here and I didn't think you'd ever be here again and looking at my long hair was a constant reminder that you were dead but now you're not and... I'm having a completely pointless conversation about hair with you when I was never supposed to ever talk to you again. Please stop me!"

He honestly didn't know if he should laugh, cry or take her in his arms.

In three steps, he was in front of her and pulling her against him. With her head against his chest, she let out a gut wrenching sob.

Spike closed his eyes and held her tightly. "Pet... Please don't cry now. I'm sorry I upset you. I shouldn't have just shown up like that. Should have given you some warning. I'm a bleedin' idiot is what I am."

He let her cry for a while, then gently pushed her away just far enough to be able to look at her. "Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air? We could talk."

Buffy nodded and let him lead her outside.

They walked together in silence for a while before Buffy spoke again. She was a lot calmer now that she had time to get used to the idea that Spike was there and she wasn't dreaming. If she was, she hoped not to wake up.

"I missed you." She said so softly that he probably wouldn't have heard her if he wasn't a vampire.

"I missed you too, Buffy."

She shook her head. "No. I mean, you have NO idea, just how much. You know what they say, you don't know what you have until you lose it."

Buffy stopped walking. He stopped too and turned to face her.

"That day, when I said I love you, I meant it, Spike. But I don't think I truly understood just how much until I woke up the next day and it hit me in the guts that you weren't there and never would be again. I didn't realize what an important part of my life you were until you weren't there. It was like I lost my partner. I lost the one person who understood me better than anybody else. Better than my friends even."

Spike looked down, hands in his pocket. "I had no idea you felt that way, Buffy. I'm sorry you hurt so much. To be honest with you... I half expected you to have moved on by now."

She snorted in a self depreciating way. “Yeah right. It took me this long to realize I was in love with you, how long do you think it would have taken me to get over you? I’m kinda slow, you should know that by now.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true. I waited until it was too late to tell you and then you didn’t believe me.”

Spike inhaled deeply then let out the breath slowly.

“What?” She asked defensively.

“I did believe you, Buffy.”

“Oh yeah? Then why the hell did you let me think that you didn’t? Do you have any idea how much I agonized over this?”

He heard the anger in her voice so he chose his words carefully. “I thought it was the best thing to do for both of us.”

Her face hardened. “Let me get this straight... Thinking the man I love died thinking I never really loved him was actually good for me? How?”

“You had that look in your eyes... I wasn’t sure you were going to get out of there. In that moment, Buffy, all I wanted was to snap you out of it so you would leave before the whole place came crashing down on both of us.”

Her eyes watered at the memory. She looked away, her arms wrapped protectively around herself.

“And,” he continued “I also wanted to convince myself that you didn’t. Because if I let myself believe it, I’m not sure I would have been able to go through with it knowing what I was leaving behind.”

Buffy nodded her understanding. “It still hurt. But it makes sense. I wish I’d had the courage to tell you the night before.”

“We’ve made a lot of bloody mistakes over the past few years pet. Not just you. You can’t beat yourself up like that.”

She smiled sadly. “I know. I think at this point, we can’t even play the ‘which one is worst’ game anymore because it’s a tie.”

There was a stone bench in front of a fountain not too far and she went to sit on it. Spike came to sit next to her.

The night was beautiful. The sound of the splashing water in the fountain, the castle bathed in moonlight, the stars, but none of this was as fascinating to Buffy as the sight of Spike’s hand resting lightly on hers. She turned her hand palm up and wrapped her fingers around his. Spike smiled.

Suddenly, Buffy looked up. “God! I didn’t even ask you how this happened! So many things I want to say, so many questions, and I didn’t even ask the most important one.”

“That’s all right, luv. It’s a lot to take in.”

“So, how is this possible? What happened to bring you back?”

“It’s a long complicated story. Not sure I’ll tell it right, but I’ll try. Remember that shiny little necklace I was wearing?”

“Hard to forget.”

“Turns out, it was magically tied to Wolfram and Hart.”

“The evil law firm?”

“Yes. That’s where the Poofter found it, and it wasn’t a coincidence that he did.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a little complicated, pet. This bloke, Lindsey, had a grudge against the great poofter. Something about a missing hand or whatever. He sent the medallion to Angel knowing it had to be worn by a champion who wasn’t human but had a soul. Angel fit the profile. The bloody thing was magically attached to Wolfram and Hart so once everything was over, Angel was supposed to be trapped in it and returned to Lindsey. He just didn’t know there was another souled vamp in the equation. So he changed his plans, got me back and tried to use me against Angel instead. Should have seen the poofter’s face when I appeared in his office. Priceless. So yeah, that’s the short version, but that’s basically why I’m back.

“So you‘re back thanks to this Lindsey guy, but it was all a misunderstanding?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“I should send him a thank you note.”

Spike laughed. “Sorry, the bloke is dead, pet.” “Too bad. So what happened after you appeared in the office?”

“I wasn’t corporeal at first. But then at some point, that wanker Lindsey did something and I became a real boy again.”

The wheels were turning fast in Buffy’s head and a feeling of dread was washing over her even before she asked her next question. Her instincts were telling her the happy feeling was just about to end.

“Spike?”

“What, pet?”

She opened her mouth to ask the question straight forward, then decided against it and took the more subtle approach, giving him a chance to save himself and lie. Or at least she hoped he would be smart enough to lie.

“Why did this happen almost a year later?” She finally asked.

The vampire looked confused for a moment. “What do you mean?”

Never mind subtlety. “Spike? When did you come back?”

Everything in his mind screamed at him to shut up, but he opened his mouth anyway and regretted it almost instantly. “About a week after the battle I think.” Bugger, he thought. But it was too late to take it back.

Buffy’s body went rigid. Pain and anger formed a knot in her stomach and slowly radiated, warming up her insides until it reached the boiling point and turned into quiet rage. Buffy Summers did not deal with hurt feelings very well and this was an extreme case. She blinked back tears of rage and stiffly stood up. When she spoke, her voice was eerily calm.

“A year? You’ve been back for a year?”

“Buffy...”

The look she gave him shut him up.

“You’ve listened to me pour my heart out to you like an idiot, telling you how I’ve missed you every day, and didn’t feel like mentioning that you cared so little about me that you were alive for one year and couldn’t bother PICKING UP THE PHONE!”

The calm had left her voice and been replaced by a high pitch scream.

“Buffy, if you just let me explain...”

“Was that funny, Spike? Did you have a good laugh? Look at poor pathetic Buffy. Is that it?”

A part of her knew that she was being unreasonable and she should at least give him the chance to explain himself. Maybe Angel told him she was dead, or maybe he‘d been on his way to find her and was kidnapped and held prisoner in a magical underground cave and it took him a year to escape. Or maybe he was just an asshole and spent the last year living the life in L.A. and taunting Angel, never once thinking about her. Insecure Buffy won the fight over rational Buffy.

“Were you biting your tongue not too laugh while listening to me earlier, wondering just how far I would go with the emotional crap?”

“NO! Of course not!” Spike stood up. He was not liking where this was going one bit.

Buffy laughed, the sound chilling Spike to the bones.

“Wow, you’d actually rather hang out with Angel than be with me? Slap in the face much? Why don’t you just go back then!”

She turned to leave and Spike tried to stop her but he soon regretted touching her arm.

Eyes blazing and tears running down her face, she turned around and pushed him away. “Don’t TOUCH me!”

“Pet, please calm down so we can talk about this. I can explain.”

“Nice revenge, Spike. Let Buffy stew in her own guilt over leaving you on the Hellmouth to die. Make her pay for what she did to you in the past. I get it. You did a good job, it worked.”

He tried to stop her from leaving again, but this time she turned around and took a swing at him, getting him right in the nose.

“Ow! Bloody Hell woman!”

“I said don’t touch me!”

She ran toward the castle, ignoring Spike’s yelling.

“Buffy! Get back here!.. BUFFY!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Molly Stevens was looking around a bare room with a bored expression on her face. The past three days had been nothing but hurry up and wait for her. She had been sent to L.A. with Graham for her debriefing about the incident at the Sunnydale site, but something had happened and it had been postponed. So she spent all this time waiting around in her hotel room for a phone call. It came this morning and she had rushed to the military base, but this was hours ago and she was still waiting.

Molly considered herself a woman of many qualities, but patience had never been one of them. She finished her third cup of horrid coffee, crushed the paper cup in her hand, and threw it in the trash can in the corner of the room.

“Score.” She said out loud, wanting to break the silence.

Even though she knew this was just a formality, the fact that the room looked like a police interrogation room made her feel like a criminal. She was on edge and the waiting didn’t help any.

She ran her fingers through her short strawberry blonde hair, then rested her elbows on the table, chin on her interlocked fingers. She sighed.

For the hundredth time she went over what had happened, wondering if she had done anything wrong, or if she could have handled the situation with the man in a more efficient way. But that’s the thing though, he wasn’t a man. She didn’t even know what the hell he was at the time. Graham had told her afterward that he was what he called a “hostile”, meaning a demon, or vampire. She would have laughed her ass off and wrote a report on Graham’s mental state if she hadn’t seen the man’s face change with her own eyes and seen him running with twenty bullets in his back.

It was mind boggling to her that the government knew about the existence of demons. And she wondered what a vampire had to do with a terrorist. She remembered the look on his face when he found the Buffy Summers’ file and it made her uneasy. Maybe she was missing something. Maybe general Voll wasn’t being completely honest about the target. Was there more to this Buffy Summers than a simple terrorist with an agenda? After all, she never understood why this woman would chose the suburban town of Sunnydale as a target. If she had the kind of weapon that would destroy an entire city, wouldn’t it have made more sense to pick a place that would have more impact? And what was her cause? Terrorists always had a cause, whether political or religious.

Molly’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of general Voll.

He walked in and went straight to the table, barely looking at her. She stood up and saluted him.

“No need for that, Sergeant Stevens. You may sit.”

“Thank you, general.”

He opened his briefcase and pulled out a voice recorder and some papers to write on.

She waited respectfully for him to speak first, back straight, green eyes bright and alert.

The general pressed the record button and placed the little voice recorder in the middle of the table before starting. “So if I understood well what I’ve been told, you were the one to catch the intruder first, Sergeant?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And why didn’t you stop him?”

“He overpowered me. He was incredibly strong, sir. There was nothing I could do.”

He looked up at that. “Did you notice anything strange about this man, Sergeant Stevens?”

Molly wasn’t sure what to answer. Did he know? Would he think she was insane or making some crazy shit up to get out of trouble? “Well... Uh, you see...”

He sighed exasperatedly. “Let me make myself clearer, Stevens. Was he a man?”

Well that answered the question. “No, sir. I don’t believe he was.”

He nodded. “I do believe we have an identity on this... thing. He has worked with Buffy Summers for many years.”

The rebellious part of her wanted to snap at the man and ask why the hell he was putting her on the spot if he already knew about the vampire, but she managed to swallow the sarcasm back.

“What I’m hoping to get are details that could lead us to him, and hopefully, to Buffy Summers. Anything he might have done, or said, even if it sounds insignificant to you, might be useful. So please be thorough.”

“He didn’t say much, sir, mostly some smart ass comments.”

A dark, thick eyebrow was raised in question.

“Nothing significant. What happened is that I walked into the room and in the blink of an eye, he was on me. He pulled me inside, gagged me, sat me on a chair and tied me up. I didn’t get the feeling he wanted to hurt me at all. He was looking for something.”

“The Buffy Summers file.”

“Yes. It looked very important to him. And...”

“And what, Stevens?”

“I don’t know. He just looked really shocked and almost distraught when he found it.”

“Irrelevant.”

“Is it?”

“Excuse me?” He looked surprised that she would get out of line like this.

“I’m sorry, sir, I mean no disrespect. The whole situation was just very strange. It raised a lot of questions about the mission. I realized some things didn’t make sense...”

“You’re not here to question the motives of the U.S. Army, Sergeant Stevens. All I want is facts. So stick to your retelling of what happened, please.” His tone of voice was icy cold.

“My apology. He left right after he found the file. He didn’t say anything. Then Lieutenant Graham found me and ran to catch him. I caught up with them at the crater.”

“What was he doing there?”

“I have no idea, sir. He was with another demon and they were looking at it. Graham recognized him as Hostile 17. He didn’t tell me why he called him that but I doubt that was the man's name. We then had a very short fight but they managed to escape. We shot at them but they just kept on running, then got into a car and sped off.”

"What kind of car was it?"

"Not sure. It was a black sports car, but I couldn't say for sure what brand or give you a license plate number. It was too dark and I was too far."

“That’s all?” He looked greatly annoyed.

“That’s all I can remember. He really didn’t say anything. Some banter, but nothing of importance. He was mainly being sarcastic and joking around, even after we caught him and his friend. He said nothing of his intentions, or why he was there in the first place.”

General Voll looked like he was going to snap, but at this point, Molly didn’t care anymore. The guy was a pompous ass. She didn’t like the way he shut her up when she wanted to ask questions about the mission. Now, all she wanted was to go back to her hotel room, have a shower, a beer and a meal... and maybe start doing some research of her own. There was something fishy and she wasn’t the type of woman to just follow orders blindly.

“Fine.” He reached for the voice recorder and turned it off. “But if you remember anything, you have to come straight to me, Sergeant. Understood?”

“Yes, General.”

“You’re free to go.”

“Thank you, sir.”

If she could have, she would have run out of the room. But she managed to keep her dignity and walked calmly out. Yes, something definitely reeked. And she was going to find out what. They had given her the week off and she didn‘t have to report to the Sunnydale site until next Monday, so she was going to put that time to good use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the initial shock had passed, Spike took a moment to evaluate his options. He could stay where he was and give Buffy time to calm down, which would be safer for his already tender nose and his yet untouched balls. Or he could run after her and risk a tremendous amount of screaming and pain, and try to get her to listen to him. Cowardice and instincts told him to stay where he was, so it was probably the wrong thing to do. He was a man after all, and when it came to women, his instincts were always screwing him over. She probably didn’t want to see him right now, but if he didn’t come after her, she would think he didn’t care. Women and their twisted sense of logic!

He started to run, and once inside, took the steps two at a time. He was thinking that he had no idea where he was going when he bumped into Giles.

“Dear lord! What have you done to her, you stupid git?” The watcher looked furious.

“Nothing.” Spike answered, but it rang false even to his own ears.

“Allow me to doubt that.”

“Fine. I told her I’ve been back for over a year and the bint got her knickers in a twist. Not that I blame her. But she wouldn’t even let me explain myself.”

Giles let out a breath and shook his head in disbelief. “I always knew you were a bleedin’ idiot, but you outdid yourself this time, Spike.”

“What was I supposed to do? Lie?”

“As much as it pains me to admit this, the girl has been miserable without you. I suspect she blames herself for your death. Which is ridiculous if you ask me because you did what you had to do. But finding out you have been back all this time and didn’t bother contacting her must have hurt her terribly.”

“You think I don’t know that, you wanker? I bollocked things up, all right? I know it, but it’s done. Now, if you could just tell me where Buffy is, I’ll be on my way and try to make things right.”

“If I may ask, why didn’t you tell her you were back?”

“It’s complicated, watcher. It had nothing to do with her... I had my own issues to deal with. And when I did go to her, I found out she was doing the ‘happily ever after’ thing with that buggering idiot the Immortal. So I decided to try and move on.”

“What changed your mind?”

“You and I will discuss this later, but for now, I need to find Buffy before she decides I deserve to die.”

“She’s in her bedroom. Top floor, last door on the right.”

“Thanks mate.”

Now, let’s just hope this doesn’t end with someone getting staked. Spike thought grimly before making his way to Buffy’s room with death on his mind.

CHAPTER 9: Issues much?

Willow Rosenberg sat cross legged in her magical prison, her eyes closed and her hands resting on her knees palms up. Her lips were moving but the ancient words were whispered so quietly that they were impossible to hear. Her body ached and she wanted nothing more than to lie down on the floor and cry until she had no more tears left. But she knew she had to be strong if she wanted to get out of this mess alive.

She hadn't seen her captors for over twenty-four hours now, but she was still in pain from the torture session Ethan Rayne put her through last time.

Ethan. They should have known the man would reappear eventually. After the Initiative had been dismantled, he'd vanished. Not once had they wondered what had happened to him. They all just assumed he had died after the demons had been set loose while they were fighting Adam. Apparently not so. All these years and he was still obsessing over getting his revenge on Buffy and her friends.

Couldn't he just get a life? Willow wondered with anger. No, anger was bad. She had to focus. But seriously...

She had just finished putting two young Slayers on a flight to Scotland, when she had decided to try to find Kennedy. Last she heard, her ex girlfriend was in L.A. causing some trouble. Things had ended badly between the two of them and it led to Kennedy turning her back not only on Willow, but on the new council and her sister Slayers as well. After she arrived in L.A., she'd gotten into a fight with another Slayer that resulted in the other girl ending up in a hospital. Consequently, Kennedy made the list of rogue Slayers. Willow had been hoping to fix things by talking to her before it was too late.

What Willow didn’t see coming though was that not only did Kennedy expect her, she also had a welcoming committee. Rona was by her side. Rona had split even before they left for Scotland, after a huge blow out with Buffy. No one had ever heard from her until Kennedy had found her. Also--and that was probably the most shocking surprise--a ghost from the past was with them: Amy Madison.

Realizing something was wrong, Willow had tried to break the tension by being her usual bubbly self, but didn’t get a reaction and the awkwardness only escalated until a fourth figure walked in to join them. When she saw Ethan Rayne, she knew she should react fast because they obviously had something planned and she was sure it wasn’t a surprise party with punch and cake, but she has the unfortunate habit of giving people the benefit of the doubt. Well, this definitely was the wrong time to be a good person.

Before she knew what was happening, Amy had said something, and suddenly, she was standing between Ethan and Kennedy, and looking at herself. Amy had switched bodies with her. She opened her mouth to speak but there was a flash of pain behind her eyes and everything went dark. When she woke up, she was in this basement, stripped of her powers and surrounded by a glowing energy sphere.

Unfortunately for her, Willow had left Scotland telling everybody that she was getting the Slayers, then she needed to be alone for a while. No one was coming for her. She still had hope that Iris would feel something was wrong, but it might take a while. She could only rely on herself. That’s why she was chanting. Even the strongest binding spell could be broken if you knew how to draw power from the elements. Anyway, it was worth a try. And bonus, it kept her mind off her pain.

Ethan came downstairs and unceremoniously threw a greasy bag at her. Sparks flew when the bag went through the energy barrier, but it reached Willow almost intact if only for a light burnt paper smell. Burger King. She made a face.

“Stop your useless chanting and have a bite, Miss Rosenberg.”

“Burger King again? Ew. Couldn’t you at least get In and Out if you insist on feeding me junk food?”

“I’m sorry, princess, it’s out of my way. Beside, you’re bloody well not in a position to make demands. Just be happy I bother feeding you at all.”

“Geez, thank you, Ethan. I’ll keep that in mind next time you decide to torture me.”

He grinned. “As you should, my dear. Now, enough chit chat. I’m on my way to meet with Amy. If I were you, I’d pray that she made progress. It will save you a world of pain. Oh, and don’t bother trying anything, my two watch dogs are upstairs.”

“Lucky me.” Willow said mockingly while opening the bag. “Now we can have a fun girls’ night in. Maybe there’ll be pillow fight or something.”

Ethan tsked. “You really do have a smart mouth, Willow. Maybe I ought to be tougher on you next time... just to keep you humble.”

She didn’t answer, too busy taking a bite out of her burger. She was starving.

He turned to leave. “Stay out of trouble, darling.”

Willow wolfed down her food, then quickly returned to her chanting. God she had to get out of this place!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike had spent the better part of three hours trying to get Buffy to open her bedroom door, but the stubborn bint wouldn’t hear it. What he had to say to her, he had to say face to face. He didn’t want to have to tell her everything that happened in the past year through a door. But she had used choice words to let him know she didn’t want to see him or talk to him. Then, he listened to her cry for the longest time without being able to do anything to make it better. He thought it was a bit of an extreme reaction, but who was he to judge? After all, once he’d been back home after his first visit to Rome, he’d spent an entire night crying like a baby. Not that he would ever tell anyone; he wasn’t exactly proud of this. But it had felt like the end of an era and he had mourned for a life and a love that would never exist again. He knew he had nowhere to go but forward, but he had needed that moment of self pity first before he could even attempt to move on. Not that he did a stellar job at moving on, mind you.

Now, it turned out this era might not have been over, but he’d of course managed to screw it up. For a few moments, he’d been hopeful. The things she said to him he never thought he would hear coming from her mouth. When Buffy told him she’d meant it when she said she loved him on the Hellmouth, he didn’t have the heart to tell her that no, he really hadn’t believed her. But maybe he should have. Maybe it would be easier for her to understand why he didn’t come back to her if she knew.

Why couldn’t they get it right? They kept hurting each other. Maybe he should just go.

Spike was sitting on the floor, his back to the door. He decided to try one last time. He knocked on the door.

“Buffy. Please let me in so we can talk. I don’t want things to end like this. Please.”

Silence answered him.

He closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. “Please, pet. You’ve had your turn to speak, now let me have mine.”

“Go away.”

Spike stood up. “All right, then. I won’t be bothering you again.” He spat out angrily. “But just know that it had nothing to do with you or how I feel about you. It was about me. Not everything is about you, Buffy.”

He waited a beat, then: “Goodbye, Buffy. I’m sorry things turned out this way.”

He was already gone when the door opened. Angry that he listened to her and left, Buffy slammed the door shut again with a violence that could have easily broken the door. Thankfully, it didn’t.

Spike was sullenly making his way downstairs when he was stopped by Andrew.

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “Not in the mood to deal with you right now.”

“Sorry. But somebody wants to see you.”

“Don’t bloody well want to see anybody, so sod off.”

“It’s Dawn.”

That almost put a smile on Spike‘s face. “Dawn is here?”

“Yes. She’s in the basement.”

“Spike, wait! There something you should know first...” Andrew tried to stop him, but Spike was already halfway to the basement.

He arrived in the dark and damp lower level of the castle then stopped and, not knowing where to go, he called out.

"Dawn?"

"I'm in here!"

Her voice was strangely loud, but he chalked it up to the basement's sonority.

He opened an heavy wooden door and walked in. Spike looked around, surprised by what he saw. There were stairs leading down to a large shadowy room. It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at.

"Bloody fucking hell!!? Dawn?"

"Hey, watch your mouth!" She laughed at the expression on the vampire's face.

Then, the reality of Spike being there hit her.

"Wow. You're alive. I can't believe it."

"And you're a... bleedin' giant!" He was staring at her with his mouth open in shock.

She smiled at him. "Oh. Is it that noticeable?"

"Just a little."

"God, Spike, I can't believe you're really here. I never thought I'd ever see you again." Her eyes got misty and one big tear drop rolled down her cheek and splashed onto the stone floor, forming a puddle.

"Hey now, none of that... pigeon." He chuckled. "Was gonna call you little bit, but I'll have to come up with new and more appropriate nicknames for you."

"Yeah. Can't use that one anymore."

"How did this happen?"

"Uh... long story. Forget it."

"I'm serious, Dawn. What the hell happened here?"

"Well, I guess my sister and I do have one thing in common after all. Both our first..." Dawn blushed bright red. She had to remind herself that she was an adult now, and if you can do the deed, you were definitely grown up enough to talk about it. "... sexual experience had catastrophic consequences."

Spike almost choked. "Your WHAT NOW?"

She rolled her eyes at the outraged look on the vampire's face. "Don't freak out. I'm seventeen years old. What did you think? I'd stay a virgin until I'm thirty?"

"Damn straight!"

"Sorry. You weren't around to scare off all my potential lovers and one of them managed to get under my skirt."

"Dawn!"

She giggled.

"And the wanker super sized you? Where is he, I'm gonna kill him."

"Spike..."

"No. Better yet: I'm gonna rip his entrails right out of his body."

"Spike!"

"Fine. Don't tell me. I'll ask around and I'll find him."

He turned to leave, but suddenly found himself being lifted off his feet, trapped into a giant hand. He might have laughed at how ridiculous the scene was if he wasn't so furious.

"Hey! Put me down."

"No can do."

"Dawn, I'm not kidding." He warned.

She huffed. "And what are you gonna do about it?"

He considered his option for a while, then looked pitifully at her. "I got nothing."

"That's what I thought. I'm not putting you down until you promise you won't kill Kenny."

Spike snorted. "Kenny? What kind of nancy name is that?"

"A perfectly normal name. Now stop worrying about that, Giles and the witches are on it. I'll be back to my normal self before you know it. Can we stop talking about that?"

"Fine." He said sulkily. "But I still get to kick his sorry ass for ever touching you."

"Spike..." She said in a warning tone.

"I won't kill him. Just scare the bleedin' hell out of the boy."

"Whatever."

She gently sat him down on her upturned hand so they could talk face to face.

"Spike, what happened?"

He shrugged and looked away, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

"You just got back and you and my sister already had a fight? What's the matter with you guys? Geez!"

"Oh. So you know about that?"

"Yeah. Andrew told me Buffy was super upset and locked herself in her room."

"You know us... Could never see eye to eye. Every time it looks like we might be getting along, I put my foot in my mouth and bollock things up. Can't help myself."

"As much as she's been a giant pain in my giant butt lately--pun intended--she's been miserable without you and I do want her to be happy. Mostly because when she's happy, she doesn't spend every minute of her existence yelling at me. So... Fix it! Whatever happened, I don't even want to know about it, just make it better."

"Easier said than done, Dawnie. I really screwed up this time and she won't talk to me. I even told her I was leaving and it didn't make her come out. You know I hate disappointing you, but I'm leaving."

"What? No! You can't leave, you just got here. Since when do you give up so easily?"

"I'm tired, Dawn." Spike sighed and dropped his shoulder in defeat. "I never thought I would give up either, but it's just too much. I've been on this rollercoaster ride for years and it's starting to make me nauseous. Why should I ask for forgiveness from someone who won't even listen to my side of the story?"

"She'll listen. You know her, she freaks out, gets all hotheaded and stubborn, then she calms down. Give her time to calm down."

"I have my pride too, Dawn. I spent a lot of time alone lately, doing some thinking, and as much as I love your sister and always will, I don't want to be the whipped puppy dog chasing after her anymore. Now she knows I'm alive and I'll make sure she knows where I live, this way if she does calm down and decides she's interested in my side of the story, she can be the one coming after me for a change."

Dawn looked defeated. "Does it really have to be that way?"

"I'm afraid so, pet."

She nodded her understanding. "Yeah. I guess it kind of sucks always being the one making the effort."

"That it does."

"All right then. But as soon as I'm regular size Dawn again, you better have a pull out couch ready for me because you can be sure I'll visit... often."

Spike smiled affectionately at her. "You better."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amy wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror and looked at her reflection with curiosity. She had been in someone else’s body once, when her mother had stolen her identity in high school, but there just wasn’t any getting used to it. Looking in the mirror and seeing someone else looking back at you was unsettling, even when you expected it. And she felt short. There was also the issue of showering a body that wasn’t yours. She knew how stupid that was, but she tried not too look too much while doing it.

She got most of the water out of her hair with the towel, then wrapped it tightly around her slim body. One thing on the positive list was that Willow was skinny and could eat anything she wanted. Amy was taking full advantage of that. She’d called room service before getting in the shower and ordered a big fat juicy burger and a slice of apple pie. It was nice to take a break from the salads.

She opened the bathroom door and opened her mouth to scream when she saw the man sitting on the bed. She caught herself in time when she realized it was Ethan. She glared at him and walked up to the dresser to get a T-Shirt then quickly slipped it over her head.

“You could have knocked, you know.”

“Now what would be the fun in that, Amy?”

She ignored him while she looked for a pair of pants. She put them on under the towel, then dropped the towel on the floor. She finally faced him.

“Why are you here? I already told you on the phone I didn’t find her yet.”

Ethan stood up slowly, and took a few steps toward her. Amy shivered at his proximity and forced herself not to step back. She hadn’t realized until now just how small the hotel room was.

“I am well aware of what you told me on the phone. But I got so disappointed that I figured a little visit might motivate you to try harder.”

He reached up to touch her cheek.

“You know how I hate to be disappointed, don’t you?” He whispered, his voice like honey and poison.

His eyes were so dark, she felt hypnotized. She tried telling herself that she didn’t need him anymore now that she had Willow’s body and powers. She didn’t even really care about Buffy’s whereabouts. But Amy Madison was a junkie and junkies don’t think logically. It wasn’t only about the power anymore--she had plenty of that--it was about dependency and need. The need to be controlled, to be dominated, made her despise herself, but she couldn’t help it. Unfortunately for her, Ethan knew that. He had known at first glance that night he met her at a gathering of magic users in the Valley a month ago. Which is why he had picked her. Men like him always go for the weakest and easily manipulated one.

Ethan grabbed Amy’s arms painfully and pulled her against him. He sneaked one arm around her waist to force her to stay still, then with his free hand, he ran a finger down her forehead, her nose, all the way to her lips. It was a gentle caress, but it chilled her. Blue energy crackled from his fingertip, making her lips tingle.

Ethan leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Don’t let me down, Amy.”

CHAPTER 10: Give me a reason to stay

Molly walked out of her motel room and shut the door. In her gray hoodie, faded jeans and sneakers, she was appropriately dressed for a demon hunt. Not that she knew where to start. She'd done some research on her laptop earlier and hadn't found much. At least not in the army files accessible to her. But if there was one thing Molly Stevens was good at, it was hacking. She hadn't joined the army for kicks--her parents had thought it would teach her some discipline. She had been a pretty wild teenager once upon a time and hacking computers was a hobby of hers back then. It came in handy when searching the army database for secret files and cover ups.

She hadn't found much, but two things had jumped out at her when hacking into Voll's personal files. First, she had found out the name of the vampire who attacked her. Spike. Or William the Bloody. And then, she'd come across something interesting. A few months ago, something huge went down in downtown L.A. Army intervention had been needed, but by the time they got there, all there was left to do was clean up the mess and cover up so the average citizen would never know that a demon war had raged on in their city. The details were vague, but a law firm was mentioned, as well as two names: Angel and Spike. Apparently, Voll knew a lot about the demon world, and had a personal interesting in this Spike guy, most likely because of his link to Buffy Summers. She wondered if this Angel chick had anything to do with Summers. She tried looking her up but came up with nothing. There was mention of a vampire named Angelus though. Maybe Angel wasn't a chick's name after all. Could Angelus and Angel be the same person? If she didn't find Spike, she would definitely try to find this Angel person. He or she definitely knew Spike.

Since the demon fight had happened downtown, that's where she was going now. She also had a couple of addresses she needed to check out, but she didn't hold her breath. On the net, it was really hard to differentiate the legitimate information from the bogus Satan worshipers websites when one was researching demons. She guessed that about 99% of what she found was total and complete bullshit.

Molly got into a cab and gave the driver the address of what used to be Wolfram and Hart.

The cabbie looked at her funny. "You sure you want to go there, miss?"

"Yes. Why?"

"That neighborhood kinda went downhill in the past couple of months. Some gang war or something. Not sure what happened exactly. A few buildings burned, people were killed... Now, the place is over run by really shady people."

Molly sat back and fastened her seatbelt. "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

The cabdriver shrugged. "Suit yourself. But I'm leaving you a few blocks away. There's no way I'm stopping on that street."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But why can't you stay? It's not fair, we just got here!"

Sitting on an armchair by a large stone fireplace, Spike rubbed his painful temples. Andrew's whining was seriously grating on his already fragile nerves.

"I mean, aren't you happy to be here? You've been reunited with your long lost love. Two brave heroes, soul mates, both died to save the world and against all odds, are resurrected so they can finally be together. It's a love story for the ages. You should be happy..."

"Oh I'm chuffed to bits." Spike said sarcastically. "That fight we had was just swell. Fits perfectly in your happily ever after scenario you wanker."

"I didn't say there wouldn't be obstacles to overcome. There always is before the happily ever after. You can't just give up."

"Really? Watch me."

Spike stood up and vamped out. "Gimme the car keys or I promise I'll make it hurt."

Andrew paled. He took the keys out of his pocket and gave them to Spike.

"Now where can I get blood in this hellhole?"

"Uh.. you can't. We don't keep blood in the castle. And don't look at me, I don't have any to spare."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't touch you if I was starving."

Andrew looked slightly insulted. "You did once."

The vampire made a face. "I was out of my bleedin' mind. Where can I get food then?"

"Human food? In the kitchen downstairs. Blood, probably at the butcher, but it would be closed at this time."

"Fine. I'll get myself a snack, talk to the Watcher, then I'll be on my merry way."

Andrew opened his mouth to add something, but Spike dismissed him by walking out of the room.

He went downstairs and easily found the kitchen. The castle was quiet at this time of the night so Spike didn't expect to see anybody. He was disappointed to be wrong. Xander was sitting at a counter, eating a sandwich that looked to be way too big for his mouth, but he made it work, squishing it before taking a huge bit. His mouth was full when he finally noticed Spike, saving the vampire from any sarcastic comments.

"Take your time chewing on that, Whelp, I'm not interested."

Spike went to the big industrial size fridge--the walk-in type--and opened it. He glanced over his shoulder at Xander almost worriedly.

Xander swallowed and gave Spike a look. "What do you think I'm gonna do? Lock you in there? Please, I'm not that immature."

"Can't blame a bloke for being on his guard."

He went in and quickly found some left over pizza that he decided had his name all over it. He walked out and closed the door behind him.

"By all means, make yourself at home." Xander said before finishing what was left of his sandwich.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that yours?" Spike asked before biting into the cold pizza.

Xander smirked. "Never thought I'd say that, but I kinda miss annoying you."

Spike hesitated before taking a seat at the counter. "Same here, Whelp, but don't get too used to it because I won't stay."

"Oh, really?" Xander pretended to be surprised even though Dawn had already told him about Spike leaving. "I seriously thought I was stuck with you for the rest of my miserable life."

"Well you thought wrong. And don't play dumb, you know Buffy and I had a blow out. News travel fast in a castle full of chits."

"That was me trying to mind my own business, Captain Peroxide. I've matured, can you believe it?"

Spike laughed at that. "Color me shocked."

Xander took a swallow of his beer, when he spoke again his tone of voice was more serious. "Seriously, man, you shouldn't go. Hang around for a couple of days and see what happens. What's the rush?"

"I'm needed back home. Believe it or not, I have friends there. The poor wankers are lost without me."

"It's killing me to say this, but you're needed here too."

Spike laughed. "Nice one. Looks like you've been doing fine without me. So unless you have another shiny necklace for me to wear, you'll have to come up with something else."

"Hey, if you think trying to convince you to stay is something I actually enjoy doing, think again buddy. As grateful as I am for what you did on the Hellmouth, you and I have never been friends so it won't change my life much whether you're here or not. But Buffy hasn't been the same without you and if having you here makes her happy, then I'm gonna at least try to get you to stay."

"I'm glad you think so, mate, but I did more harm than good. She was just fine without me here to bollock things up. The best thing I can do now is to leave and let her come to me when she's ready."

Xander was opening his mouth to reply when Giles walked in.

"Spike. Andrew told me I would find you here. He said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, Watcher. Needed to tell you the reason I came here so I can finally bugger off." Spike took a swig of Xander's beer, ignoring his loud objections. "I had a tip about army activity on the Hellmouth. I decided to check it out myself."

"Why would the army be there? Haven't they already established the town was buried after a freak earthquake?" Xander commented. "It was all over the news for weeks."

"Yeah well, what they tell the public and what is really going on is rarely one and the bloody same." "What did you find out, Spike?" Giles asked.

"More than I ever wanted to. It's about Buffy..."

"What about her?" The Watcher's forehead creased with worry lines at the mention of Buffy.

"They blame the whole bloody thing on her. I broke into their headquarters, or whatever they call it, and stole the file they had on her."

Both Giles and Xander gave Spike a shocked look.

"What did it say?" Xander prompted anxiously.

"They think she's a terrorist. The wankers are actively searching for her... dead or alive."

Xander looked appropriately floored by the news. Giles wearily sat down and took his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"I know she's here in Scotland now, and relatively safe," Spike continued "but I thought you should know what's going on. Traveling to the States would be suicide right now for her, and I'm damn sure the U.S. army has the kind of power to come get her here if they ever find her. With a label like terrorist in front of her name, there's nothing they can't do to her."

"This is upsetting in so many ways." Giles said quietly.

Spike thought the Watcher looked older in that moment. Or had he looked like that earlier and he'd been too preoccupied to notice? The last year must not have been easy on Rupert Giles.

"Not the word I would use." Xander added. He frowned, trying to come up with a better word, but his shoulders sagged in defeat. "I got nothing. I'm speechless... I think my brain just seized."

Spike nodded slowly. "Imagine my reaction. I'm gonna have to hire someone to re plaster the walls of my apartment when I get back home."

Giles cleaned his glasses furiously, and Xander and Spike looked at each other slightly concerned. The Watcher finally looked up, all business.

"Tell me what you know, Spike."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miles away from each other, two witches were sitting in the exact same position. Eyes closed, legs crossed, hands resting on their knees, palms facing up. They were meditating, but their intentions couldn't have been more different.

In a secret location, Amy was trying not to let her excitement break her concentration. She had decided to try a new tactic and it was working. She could feel it inside. She was so close. Soon, she would be able to tell where Buffy Summers was hiding.

In her prison, Willow had also decided to try a different route. She was now trying to find herself. Naturally, the spirit--or whatever it is that makes you who you are--is attracted to the body it belongs to. Now that she had some time to recuperate and felt slightly stronger, it occur to her that it would be the less strenuous thing to do. Maybe she would then be able to sabotage whatever Amy was doing to find Buffy.

Willow promised herself to thank Giles again for taking her to the Coven that summer after her powers had gotten out of control. They had taught her so much. One of those things was that no matter what, her powers could not be stripped. Bound, yes, but never taken away from her because they were part of her. Another thing they taught her was astral projection. The magical prison may hold her physical self, but not her astral self. So she kept focusing on Amy.

Amy wasn’t in the room anymore. One moment, she was surrounded by plain walls, sitting on the cold tile floor of a meeting room on an army base near L.A., then it all went away. She tried her best to keep her breathing slow and regular and her heart beat under control despite the excitement gripping her.

At first, everything was blinding white and shimmery, and she couldn’t make out where she was. She desperately needed to stay there long enough to see something, or hear something, that would tell her where she was. Because she had no doubt she had just found the elusive Slayer.

She was starting to see outlines but everything was still too bright for her to focus long enough on anything. She knew her body was still in California and it was ridiculous to blink, but she did anyway. Or at least, her mind thought it did. It was all very confusing to her so she tried not too think about it too much. Amy thought she saw what looked like French doors and stone walls. Nothing specific enough to tell her where she was. Of course Buffy wouldn’t be standing under a large sign saying “Welcome to...” That bitch had to make things difficult.

Amy turned slowly, still not seeing anything clearly. There was what looked like a bed. On it was a woman. A slow smile stretched the witch’s lips.

Until she heard it.

“GET OUT OF MY BODY!”

She screamed in pain as some unseen force pulled her away from the scene and slammed her violently back into her borrowed body. She collapsed, unconscious.

Back in Ethan’s basement, Willow fell forward as if she’d been punched in the guts, barely breaking her fall with shaky hands. She was panting like a marathon runner out of shape. Fine, she was still in Amy’s body, but at least she got to the evil backstabbing bitch.

“Maybe next time...” She whispered before curling into a ball and promptly falling asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike, Giles and Xander were standing awkwardly in front of the castle’s double door, not one of them knowing what to say. Three men brought together by the love of the same woman, but who were not friends by any means. The complexity of their relationship--or lack of--and the strangeness of the situation, made things even more uncomfortable.

Spike was torn. He wanted to run away from this place as fast as he could, but was also begging for a last minute reason to stay. He kept glancing at the staircase, hoping that Buffy would come to her senses and appear at the top to ask him to stay. He knew that leaving now would be even harder than it had been in Rome. This was pure torture to him because for a brief moment there, he had believed that they could make things work.

“So...” Xander tried breaking the silence but obviously didn’t know what to say.

Spike nodded. “So.”

“I guess that’s it.”

“Looks like, Whelp.”

Giles sighed at how ridiculous they were being. This was Spike. How long could he stay away from Buffy, really? If Giles had been just a little more immature, he would have made a bet. The vampire would drive off, sulk for a few hours, a few days... a week or two at the most, then come back begging for forgiveness, he was sure of it. Maybe he’d even find a reason not to leave at all. Nothing could surprise Rupert Giles anymore where William the Bloody was concerned.

“You’ll keep us informed, I assume?” Giles asked.

“Got your digits, Watcher. If I hear anything, I’ll call.”

Hands deep in his pockets, Spike took a step back ready to leave when a girl came running up the stairs from the basement looking almost panicked.

“Mr. Giles! Something is happening.”

The three men turned to face the girl almost eagerly, relieved by the distraction. She had just saved them from deciding between the hand shake, the awkward manly slap in the back or the hand wave.

“What is it, Trina?”

“A group of Slayers have just been attacked in Edinburgh’s city center. It’s not going well, sir.”

“What is the threat?”

“Vampires. A LOT of them.”

Xander took a step forward. “The girls have the upper hand?”

The girl shook her head, making her shoulder length black hair swing wildly around her face, and she blinked back the tears that were about to fall from her large blue eyes.

“Dear Lord, Trina, what is going on?” Giles asked almost impatiently.

“Aubrey is dead. And Jenna is in bad shape. They got ambushed, sir. Six more girls are still there fighting, but the chances they‘ll make it out of there alive are not good.”

Xander clenched his jaw at the news. Aubrey had been a quiet girl who mostly kept to herself, but she was sweet, caring and a dedicated student. She took her role as a Slayer very seriously and he’d always thought she would make a difference in the world. To find out she was gone, just like that, was a shock. But there would be time to mourn her later. Six other girls were out there getting their ass kicked and if they didn’t want to have to dig eight graves, they had to react fast.

“Let’s go.” He said tensely.

Giles agreed. “Please get as many girls as you can, Trina. I want them in the vans as soon as humanly possible.”

She hesitated a beat. “Do I get Buffy too?”

Giles pondered his answer for a second or two, then shook his head. She was too upset, she would be of no help while in that state. “No. We’ll manage without her.”

Xander turned to Spike. “You coming?”

The vampire shrugged. “Sure. Got nothing better to do anyway.”

Xander half smiled. “Look at you, acting all aloof. Who do you think you’re fooling? You’re dying for some action.”

Spike smirked. "You do know me, Whelp! I'm touched.”

Giles nearly groaned. “Should have made that bloody bet.” He mumbled under his breath.

Spike gave him a funny look “What was that, Watcher?”

“Nothing. Let’s just go.”

CHAPTER 11: Nothing like a good fight... or two

It was cold and damp. The rain was the kind you can only experience in this part of the world: a wet mist coming at you from every angle as if to make sure you won’t escape it no matter what you do. It had washed the gel right out of Spike's hair, now a mess of stubborn blond curls. He was not happy. The only thing keeping him from turning on his heels was the promise of a good fight. The weight of the sword felt good in his hand and he was ready for a brawl. Craved it, actually. He had issues to work out, so he figured he might as well do it at the expense of the bad guys.

The vampire was surrounded by a small army of girls. To the casual observer, they would have looked like rowdy teenagers on their way to a pub, not Slayers on their way to rescue their friends and avenge a girl who shouldn't have died so young.

Still. Spike felt like a babysitter. Not that he would have ever said it out loud--too many Slayers with weapons in their hands surrounded him. It wouldn't be wise.

Xander and Giles were there too, but their participation in the fight would be limited. They would guard the perimeter, Giles with a crossbow, Xander with what looked like a modified taser gun. The whelp had explained to Spike that it was used as a last resort only because it didn't kill vampires, only stunned them long enough to escape. It had a long range and didn't require a good aim because they went down no matter where they were hit. Perfect for the man with the eye patch. If a girl was surrounded by too many vampires to fight off, he'd use his little toy to help her get away. Spike hadn't really seen the point--too high tech for him--but if it made Harris feel useful and stopped him from whining, he wasn't about to argue.

They made it to a dark alley behind a pub when they finally heard the commotion. Right there, in a narrow street to the left, people were fighting. The vampire was the first to start running, and after a slight hesitation, the pack of girls followed.

A simple glance told Spike what he needed to know about the situation. How many enemies he had to fight, where they were situated, where the five girls were and which one was in most urgent need of a hand to fight off her attackers. Even a fighter as impulsive as Spike needed to know these things before diving head first into a brawl. His skills at observation had saved his ass more than once over the last hundred plus years... a last minute escape route or an improvised weapon could always save the day when you had your back against the wall.

Eyes yellow and fangs bared, Spike savagely threw himself at the first vampire he spotted. He had one of the girls pushed against the stone wall and was preparing to bite into the half conscious girl's neck. The arrogant prick was taking his time and enjoying the kill. Spike grabbed the back of his jacket with his free hand and spun sharply. The motion sent the would be Slayer killer flying across the alley to crash into the opposite wall, breaking a few bones in his body. Ignoring the fight raging around him, Spike marched calmly to the other side of the alley to finish the job. Barely taking the time to stop, he decapitated the vampire that was sprawled gracelessly on the wet cobblestones and moved on to his next victim.

He had counted around twenty to twenty-five vampires in total, and maybe fifteen Slayers-five of which were already tired or injured. That would be plenty enough if the girls were all like Buffy or Faith, but he probably would have to take on a lot more of the fight to compensate for the girls' lack of experience. He smirked. Nothing wrong with that.

The newly arrived Slayers were already helping the ones who had been fighting for more than half an hour and desperately needed the extra hand. Spike took a moment to make sure they were doing alright. Satisfied that he wasn't needed for the moment, he decided it was his time to have some fun. Standing there, legs in a wide stance, the heavy sword dangling carelessly from his left hand and the wind blowing in his long leather duster, he waited for trouble to find him. It didn't take too long. Seeing the three vampires finally noticing him and rushing him, he smirked but didn't move a hair.

The one coming on his right got to him first. Spike took a step forward to get out of his trajectory and, extending his right arm, stopped him in his tracks and used his momentum to jump up and swing around him, beheading the two other wankers coming at him with one clean arc of his sword. He landed back on his feet right in front of the vampire he'd just used as a pole. Quickly pulling a stake from the inside pocket of his coat, he unceremoniously dispatched the still stunned vampire and turned to face two new attackers.

Bluffing, Spike raised his sword to strike but fell into a crouching position then swung one leg out, knocking both his would be attackers off their feet and on their backs hard. One of them got up faster and managed to knock the sword out of Spike’s hand. Shrugging, Spike engaged him in a bare hands fight while always keeping an eye on the other one. When slow and wimpy got up, Spike quickly dispatched him with a solid mule kick to the chin. Slow and wimpy got discouraged and decided that attacking a Slayer was safer, leaving Spike to leisurely fight the other guy who seemed to have some kind of street fighting experience, making kicking his ass so much more entertaining for the bleached vampire.

In true Spike fashion, he let the other guy get a few good punches in--left, right, left, right--an almost manic smile on his face. Then he licked his bloody lip and gave his opponent a look that almost paralyzed the guy with fear before attacking with a succession of round house kicks, each one faster, then a flurry of punches. He would have continued, but he noticed one of the girls needed help. With a snap kick, he sent his own opponent flying onto his back a few feet away. He pulled the stake he had hidden in his sleeve and brought it down quickly, turning the vamp to dust.

"Comin' ... Luv." He had a moment of embarrassment when he realized he couldn't remember the girl's name. Actually, he couldn’t remember most of their names, except for the two or three he had a chance to talk to earlier. If one of them died tonight, he wouldn’t know who she was. It made him sad, but it also made him fight harder. He wasn’t gonna let any of these Slayers die. He’d have tomorrow to learn their names and get to know them, he’d make bloody damn sure of that.

The problem was that every time he thought that was it and they were close to winning, more vampires showed up. It was really starting to get on Spike’s last nerve.

“Trina!” He yelled over the noises of the fight. At least he remembered her name. Not that it would easy to forget; she was the one who told them about the dead Slayer earlier.

“What?” A girl‘s voice answered him.

“Start getting the injured girls to Giles and Xander. We’ll manage better without worrying about them. Giles brought one of the two vans near the entrance of the alley. They need to get to safety.”

Trina nodded stiffly, then rushed to help the three injured Slayers get away. Xander had already had the morbid task of picking up the body of the fallen Slayer. He’d put her in the extra car, and one of the less combat ready Slayers had taken Aubrey back to the castle where she would get a proper burial in the morning.

Now that the injured were out of the way, Spike could stop worrying and focus his attention on the fight. To his intense frustration, more vampires had shown up while he was distracted.

Giles was shooting as many as he could with his crossbow from his position at the end of the alley, but he was hitting more legs, arms and butts than hearts, which wasn’t so useful.

“Soddin’ hell! So that’s your plan then?” Spike asked no one in particular. “Keep sending more until I get bored out of my bloody mind and walk away?”

He landed a vicious kick in the face of one opponent and heard a satisfying crunch.

“Well, bring it on then!”

One of the girls--Virginia if he remembered well--tried to get his attention. “Uh... Spike...”

“Not now, luv, I’m kinda busy here.”

She tried again. “Spike!”

He staked another vamp and finally turned to see what she wanted. “What’s the matter, pet?”

She didn’t answer, shaking her blonde curls while staring at something, or rather someone. Apparently someone impressive enough to render her speechless and make her take a few cautious steps back.

Spike came to stand next to Virginia to see who spooked her and his jaw dropped, but he quickly hid his shock behind his usual arrogant smirk. So this was the unseen mystery nemesis.

“Well if it isn’t Daniel Delongpres, Baron of Wankerville.”

Spike’s greeting was answered by a bark of laughter. “William! My, what a surprise.”

“You know this guy?” Virginia whispered through clenched teeth, still unable to take her eyes off the beautiful and dangerous looking blond man standing in front of them.

“I have the immense displeasure, yes.” He answered loudly.

A dark haired beauty clad in a sequined purple Versace dress that clung to her curves came to stand next to the tall blond man, an almost pleasant smile on her perfectly glossy lips.

“And I see you brought your charming whore with you. Funny, I thought the backstabbing cow would have killed you in your sleep by now.”

Her dark eyes sparkling with mirth, she flashed Spike her pearly whites. “Now now, William, that’s not very nice. I see you’re still as rude as ever, what a shame.”

“Fuck off, Juliette.”

Spike pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one up to try to calm himself down. The rage made his fingers tremble slightly.

It was like time had stopped. The vampires and Slayers around them had interrupted their fights while still keeping a wary eye on one another. Nobody knew what was going on or what to do.

“Got an extra one, William? Je creve d’envie d’un cigarette.” Juliette asked pleasantly.

Spike gave her an incredulous look. “Want a martini with that? This isn’t a social call. Get your own cigarettes, bitch.”

She pouted and grabbed Daniel’s arm. “Are you going to let him talk to me like that, mon amour?”

“Shut up, Juliette. This isn’t the time.”

“What the bloody hell are you up to, Daniel? Woke up bored one morning and decided Baron wasn’t enough of a title for you, you needed to rule the demon world?”

Daniel smiled. “Something like that, yes. What can I say... I saw an opportunity and I took it.” His smile widened. “You can accomplish a lot when you believe in yourself.”

“Did you get that in a self help book, you wanker? World domination for dummies? You know, they also say that if you bite off more than you can chew, you can choke.”

Daniel laughed. “I see you haven’t lost your delightful sense of humor. Good for you. Since when do you align yourself with the enemy anyway? I always knew you were weak, but that’s pushing it.”

“None of your business, you pansy.”

The tall vampire looked incredibly amused. “And you call ME a pansy?”

“I might be a white hat now, but I’m still manlier than you. And what‘s with the Crazy 88 wannabes, mate?”

Daniel looked puzzled. “The what now?”

“Kill Bill... Tarantino? No? Never mind. You need to brush up on your pop culture. I‘m talking about the seemingly endless number of incredibly bloody pathetic fledglings working for you. Not that I‘m getting tired or anything, but it would be useful to know how many more you got coming.”

“Enough.” Daniel smirked. “But I tell you what... Because you’re family and I haven’t seen you for so long, I’ll show mercy and make you a deal. Take your sad looking Slayers and get them out of here before they start crying. We’ll finish this some other night.”

Every fiber in Spike’s body was screaming at him to attack. His muscles were tensed, ready to pounce on the enemy. But he knew this would be suicide. The girls were exhausted and knowing Daniel Delongpres, he probably had more minions waiting to join the show. To be honest, he was tired too and not in a shape to fight a vampire two hundred years his elder. At the top of his form, Spike knew he could kick Daniel’s pompous ass, but not tonight after fighting twenty something vampires--fledglings or not.

He glanced at Virginia. “Take everybody back to the vans.” Then, to Daniel: “This doesn’t mean it’s over, you wanker. Family or not, bollocks if I’m gonna let your sick twisted plan succeed.”

“Fair enough. You can try to stop me, but my money is on me.” He gave Spike his most charming grin. “And we both know I don’t take risks with my family fortune.”

Spike didn’t dignify this with an answer. He crushed his spent cigarette under his heavy combat boot and turned to leave. On the other side of the alley, Giles was helping a girl limp her way back to one of the vans.

Spike never saw Juliette throw his forgotten sword to Daniel who caught it swiftly. Giles tried to warn the vampire, but too late. Daniel plunged the sword in Spike’s lower back and lifted him off his feet. The weight of his body made the sword slice its way upward slowly until it reached his chest. The minions left gathered around them.

Daniel had vamped out. “You really thought I would let you go, you white trash piece of shit? Working with Slayers? Really, William? You bring shame to the Aurelius family!” He spat through his sharp teeth.

Spike was trying to hold himself up, his hands wrapped around the sword’s sharp blade but all he managed to do was cut his hands on it. Blood seeped through his parted lips and he groaned in pain.

“We have to help him.” Giles yelled in Xander’s direction.

“I’m on it.” He took aim. “Let’s see if the Bleached Wonder still thinks my little toy is bloody useless after it saves his life.”

He started firing his taser gun at the minions surrounding Spike and Daniel. One after another, they were falling on the ground in convulsions. It wouldn’t last though so they had to hurry. He got most of the minions while Giles shot arrows at the ones coming their way. In a matter of seconds, the path was clear. Xander aimed at his last target, Daniel. Unfortunately, Daniel was holding the sword that went through Spike. The shock electrocuted both vampires. But it was probably a blessing for Spike to be unconscious for a while.

Giles and Xander ran to Spike’s side and pulled the sword out of the vampire’s body. Picking him up, they made their way back to the van as fast as they could, not really wanting to find out how long it would take for Daniel and his followers to regain consciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been two long nights for Molly, and if she wasn’t such a persistent girl, she would forget about the whole thing. The neighborhood around the former office of Wolfram and Hart had been a total bust. Besides getting into a hair pulling match with a prostitute, kicking the woman’s pimp in the head and turning down about ten or so drug dealers, it had been the most boring night of her life. She had ended the night by touring one lame ass fake magic shop after another where all she got for her trouble was a chamomile scented candle, and had met a wannabe demon hunter who looked more like a mental patient than Van Helsing.

Apparently, the real demon world was not easy to infiltrate. Maybe she would have more luck tonight, but she had her doubts.

The last thing on her list didn’t give her much hope. She had been excited at first because the name of the business couldn’t be a coincidence. Angel Investigations. They were specialists in demon problems. But when she’d called, the number was disconnected. Her last hope was that maybe one of the neighbors would know something or still be friends with this Angel person. Someone might point her in the right direction. There was a chance Angel Investigations still existed, but had changed location and phone number and just hadn’t updated their website. Anyway, she had an address and that’s where she was going now.

She arrived in front of the Hyperion and stopped to take it all in. The old hotel looked ghostly in the full moon. Her hopes of finding friendly neighbors to give her information was squashed. The seemingly abandoned building stood alone at the corner of a quiet street and there were no businesses around. She walked up to the front door only to find it nailed shut with two by fours. She swore, then went to a window to try to see inside, but everything was dark and it looked like nobody lived there.

Molly started walking around the building. She had pretty much given up by then, but couldn’t leave just yet. She would thank herself for her stubborn ways later. Her mom had always said it was a flaw of hers, but in this case, it paid off. While walking the narrow and dark streets behind the Hyperion, she came across a man who looked like he was being attacked by... Well, she could put a name to these things. Three monsters, about seven feet tall and with a severe complexion problem, the horns on their heads completing the “I’m taking a little vacation from Hell” look, were surrounding him. But then, she realized he wasn’t a man either and by the look of it, didn’t need much help. The bumps on his face, the yellow eyes and sharp teeth, she’d seen it before... on Spike. Vampire. She wanted to jump up and down like a little girl, so excited she was at finding one of them. Maybe he could tell her about Spike, Angel, or that Buffy girl. But she knew it would be stupid of her to get too excited. Vampires didn’t exactly have a good reputation. Spike looked OK enough if you forgot about the tying her up to a chair part, but she probably shouldn’t assume that because he didn’t try to kill her, other vampire wouldn’t. Which is why she had a stake and holly water in her coat pocket.

In front of her, the vampire was fighting viciously. One of the three demons managed to kick the sword out of his hand and it landed not too far in front of Molly. She stared at it for a moment until he snapped her out of her contemplation.

“Could you throw it back to me, please? Decapitating one of these things without something sharp is something I‘d rather not have to do.” He said while holding one of the large demons in a choke hold and kicking another one in the face.

Molly picked up the sword. “Need help?”

The vampire shrugged. “No offense, but I don‘t think you know what you‘re getting yourself into.”

If there was one thing Molly hated above all, it was to be underestimated because of her size. Sure she was a small girl, but she was also a trained soldier and she had made very large men cry before.

One of the three demons was facing the vampire and had his back turned to her. He didn’t see her coming. Determination in her eyes, she swung the sharp weapon and it landed on the demon’s neck, severing his head... almost. Still attached to the body, the head fell to the side. It took everything she had not to vomit her dinner.

“Oh my God! That’s disgusting.”

The thing turned around.

“Finish him!” The vampire yelled at her, while still struggling with his own demons.

She took a shuddering breath, then brought the sword down again. The head made a sickening sound when it fell to the pavement, then the body followed and disintegrated into a pile of goo.

“What the HELL is that thing?!” Molly shrieked.

The vampire threw a flurry of punches in one of the two demons face. The other one had set his sight on Molly.

“A bad guy.”

She grimaced. “Duh. I guessed that much.”

Molly stepped back as the thing approached her, pretending to be the damsel in distress, then surprised him with a hard kick to the face. The demon barely stumbled back, but she didn’t let that discourage her. She used his surprise to launch her attack, trying not to give him time to recuperate. She knew if he got a punch in, it would probably knock her out so she concentrated on avoiding every one of his attempt.

The vampire had managed to kill the one he was working on and was coming to help her out when the demon finally got one in. He caught her stomach with his claw. It was a superficial wound, but she yelped, her heart racing. God, he could have gutted her.

From behind, the vampire managed to get the sword that was on the ground, and dispatch the hellish demon. The body fell to the ground then disintegrated like the other ones had done.

“Are you OK?” He asked her.

Molly looked down at her stomach, feeling stupid. She’d try so hard to look tough, and there she was, hurt like a helpless little girl. “Yeah, it’s nothing.”

After returning to his human face, the vampire extended his hand to her. “I’m Angel.”

Her head snapped up. “You’re Angel?”

The good looking dark haired man looked confused. “Uh, yes? That’s what I said.”

Molly shook her head almost not believing her luck. “You’re kidding!”

His hand still extended, he frowned. “Again, I’m Angel... or at least I was last time I checked.”

She smiled, feeling silly. “I’m so sorry.” She shook his hand. “I’m Molly. It’s just that I’ve been looking for you and I can’t believe I found you. What were the odds?”

Angel smiled. “The odds were pretty good considering I live right over there.” He pointed at the Hyperion.

“But I was just there and it looks like nobody’s lived there in years.”

He sighed. “I’m not the most popular man in town, Molly, so I keep a low profile. I make sure the place doesn’t look lived in. It keeps the bad guys at bay. Well... not always, as you can see.”

“Those were nasty. What were they?”

“Syriaak demons. Why were you looking for me?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Why don’t we go inside, it will be better to talk and I have a first aid kit. You look like you need it.” He grinned.

“Hey! I didn’t do so bad considering they were my first demons. At least I killed one of them.”

Angel laughed. “You did great. Next time, maybe you’ll even manage not to get yourself sliced up.”

Molly scrunched up her pretty face. “Wow. I didn’t know vampires had a sense of humor. This should be interesting.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy slowly made her way downstairs. She was wearing her good old flannel pajamas and was barefoot. She noticed how quiet the place was, but chalked it up to the late time of the night. They were probably all sleeping. She wondered briefly if Spike was sleeping somewhere in the castle, or if he’d followed up on his threat and had already left. What felt like a lifetime ago, she would have assumed he was too in love with her to do that, but she wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Probably a good thing because it made her realize just how conceited that made her sound and how much she’d taken his love for granted before. How callous of her to assume he would always be there. But for someone like her who was so afraid of being abandoned, it was also comforting. Now, that comforting feeling was gone and it made her insecure. She always thought that of all the men in her life who loved her, Spike was the only one she just knew would never leave. But he’d left her twice now--even though both times were out of his control--so all bets were off. Still, she wanted to believe he was still here in one of the castle’s room being mad at her and calling her all kinds of British names.

She sighed and walked into the empty kitchen. All the unreasonable crying she’d done had left her starving. She needed to eat because she was going to need her strength tomorrow. If Spike was still here, she would face him like an adult and have a little chat with him. And if he was gone... well the hell with it, she’d go after him. If only to hear what he had to say, even if she was terrified of what it was. She had to make her inner coward shut up because things couldn’t end this way between them.

She got left over birthday cake from the fridge and a fork from the silverware drawer, then sat at the counter. She didn’t get why they didn’t just use the same cake for a couple of birthdays. They had birthdays to celebrate almost every week and there was always so much left over. At least half of the girls were on what seemed to be a permanent diet and never touched the damn thing. Guess they still hadn’t figured out that Slayer didn’t really need to diet. Fast metabolism was kind part of the Slayer package. Oh the joy of living in a female world… Atkins, South Beach, low cal, fights over shoes, clothes, make up, even fights over Xander’s attention. And her old friend did enjoy it a great deal. Good for him. It was pretty entertaining to Buffy. If the Xander Harris she once knew had known that some day there would be a bunch of teenage girls blushing and giggling every time he smiled at them....

Buffy looked down and realized she had polished off half the cake while she was lost in her thoughts. She made a face, disgusted with herself, then pushed what was left of the cake away.

Suddenly it sounded like the castle had come to life above her. She could hear voices of people talking loudly all at once and wondered if everybody woke up at the same time, or if they were coming back from somewhere. Buffy stood up and went to investigate.

When she arrived in the large entryway, she was shocked by what she saw. All the girls were there. They were dirty, bloody and looked exhausted. The frantic atmosphere alarmed her. They had gone on a mission without her. Not that she could blame them. She wouldn’t have been of much help anyway. But still, Giles or Xander could have informed her before leaving.

“Guys, what’s going on?” She didn’t get an answer right away. “Guys!” She tried again.

“Long story.” Virginia said cryptically while pushing past her.

Then, Giles and Xander walked in, carrying an incredibly bloody and unconscious Spike. His shirt had been taken off and his torso was clumsily wrapped in bandages. His blood had seeped through the gauze, making it a sickening shade of dark red.

Buffy took a few deep breaths, trying to get a grip on what was happening. Spike was hurt. Badly. It’s funny how seeing the person you love covered in his own blood can put things into perspective. Suddenly, her hurt feelings seemed ridiculous and it didn’t matter as much that he’d taken so long to come back to her. All she could think of in that moment was that he could have died again, and the last thing she would have said to him was “leave.”

She rushed to his side.

“What happened to him?”, Buffy asked Giles and Xander almost accusingly. “I was mad at him, that doesn’t mean you have free pass to kill him.”

Xander looked offended. “Hey! We didn’t...”

“Or get him killed, whatever. Semantics.”

Giles gave her a disapproving look. “Actually, Xander saved Spike’s undead arse, so be grateful.”

“Fine. Sorry.” She mumbled, not taking her eyes off of Spike.

“Let’s bring him to the infirmary.” Xander suggested.

Buffy shook her head. “No. Bring him to my room.”

“But Buffy...”

“My room.”

“He needs to be patched up first, Buf.” Xander observed. “He was nearly cut in half!”

“Just... get him to my room and send Iris to stitch him up.”

“Two girls went to get blood for him, they should be back soon.” Giles informed her.

“Good. And as soon as Iris is gone, I don’t want anybody to come in.”

Buffy turned around and walked to the staircase, fully expecting them to follow her.

“Buffy, we need to talk about what happened tonight.” Giles said while following her.

“Tonight, I take care of Spike. Tomorrow, you can fill me in. Tomorrow... He‘ll be better.”

Yes, if she had her way, tomorrow he would be back to his good old infuriating self. She’d make damn sure of that.

CHAPTER 12: The best thing a girl could give

Buffy pushed everybody out of her room and shut the door, then let out a shaky breath. She leaned against the wooden door and shut her eyes for a moment. She had the beginning of a migraine forming right between her brows and wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week. When she opened her eyes again they instantly focused on Spike resting on her bed.

Iris had done the best she could, stitched him up and gave him something to make him sleep; his vampire constitution would do the rest. But for now, he looked like a corpse and the sight made her heart break. He needed to heal fast and his body needed blood in order to do that. Buffy walked with determination to her desk where her leather jacket hung from the back of a chair. She looked in the jacket and found her pocket knife, then went back to the bed where she sat, careful not to disturb Spike.

She put the knife on the pillow next to her and, as gently as she could, she picked him up and moved him so his head was resting in the crook of her shoulder. A little moan escaped his lips.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "It won't hurt much longer."

Buffy had heard stories about Slayer blood and how fast it could heal a vampire. She was going to test that theory. She knew how quickly it worked for poison, but she wasn‘t sure what it would do for such a serious injury.

The first aid kit was open on the bed. It wasn't meant for Spike, it was for her.

She grabbed the knife and without a moment of hesitation, cut her wrist open. He had died for her and the world once, she wasn't going to be squeamish about sharing some of her blood with him. If she could do it for Angel back in the days when he had been poisoned, the hell is she wasn't going to do the same for Spike now.

She watched the blood seep to the surface of the wound, then brought it to Spike's lips. The ruby red blood dripped on his parted lips. Most of it dripped from the corner of his mouth, but the little that ran down his throat was enough to awaken his instincts. Soon, he started swallowing, then his lips latched on to her wrist.

A warm, peaceful feeling filled her heart, which was a nice change from the turmoil of the past hours. Nothing had ever felt so right to her as sharing her life force with him. If someone had earned this gift, it was him.

With her other hand, Buffy caressed his hair, encouraging him to drink. "Come on, Spike, the more you drink, the faster we can get back to our arguing, and hot make up sex. Don't lie, I know you missed it."

"OK fine, maybe not the fighting. I promise no more fighting. I'll be good... All sugar, no spice. Well, maybe a little spice. How boring life would be without a little bit of bitchiness, right? You know you love it." A blush tinted her cheeks and she shook her head, feeling silly for talking to herself. “One way conversation, how lame. I never did like awkward silences.”

She was starting to feel a little woozy and wondered how long she could let him drink from her until she would risk passing out when the pulling stopped and Spike tried to turn his head away.

Buffy tried to bring her bleeding wrist back to his mouth, but he groaned in protest and turn his head further away.

"Buffy.." He mumbled, his voice hoarse.

Spike's eyes were open and he looked confused.

"I'm right here."

She awkwardly reached for the gauze and wrapped her wrist with it to stop the bleeding, then tore the end with her teeth.

"You gave me your blood."

"Yes."

"You shouldn't have."

She huffed. "Whatever."

"I could have killed you."

"I'm a big girl, Spike, I would have stopped you. And see, I didn't have to, you stopped all by yourself. I trust you."

Spike shut his eyes and winced in pain.

"Sleep for a little while. When you wake up, you should be better."

He nodded weakly. “But we’ll still have to talk about it later... When I feel better. Right now, I pretty much feel like... like I got cut in half.”

She didn’t smile. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t see the humor in what he said. “Not funny. You could have died.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be funny. Just trying to make it sound a little less dramatic , is all.”

“Sleep.” She whispered while running her fingers through his hair. “We‘ll talk tomorrow.”

Buffy reached to turn the bedside light off, and quickly fell asleep too. It was nearly morning and she was so tired. The evening, and the night that followed, had been emotionally exhausting. Not to mention the blood she just lost.

Her sleep was anything but restful--marred by strange dreams, something about Spike, the army and black magic. A knock on the door awakened her only a few hours later. She didn’t answer but it started again, more insistently.

“Buffy, I know you didn’t want to be disturbed, but we’re all waiting for you.” Giles’ voice came from the other side of the door.

“Go away!”

Spike stirred against her and groaned.

“Normally, I would allow you this moment of selfishness--God knows you deserve it after everything you sacrificed this year--but one of the girls died last night. You need to be there.”

Buffy quickly but carefully extracted herself from underneath Spike and went to open the door. “What?” Her face was pale and her voice was barely above a whisper.

Giles looked like he could barely stand on his feet. “I’m sorry to announce it to you that way, but I was afraid you wouldn’t have opened the door otherwise.”

“Who?” Buffy asked.

“Aubrey. Six of the girls got attacked during patrol last night and she didn’t make it. I called her father already, he’s on his way.”

Buffy nodded, tears streaming down her face. “I almost forgot she grew up not to far from here. God... She didn’t deserve this.”

“I don’t want to sound insensitive because believe me, I am completely heartbroken over this, but it’s the life of a Slayer, Buffy. It’s been your life since you were sixteen. Risking death every night, that’s what Slayers do. You were just never meant to see it since for another Slayer to be called, you should technically be dead yourself. But now that all potentials have become Slayers, it’s bound to happen. You died when you were sixteen, and again a few years later. You didn‘t deserve it either.”

“I know. I just wish I could protect them all. Train them so well that nothing would ever get the best of them.”

“It’s not possible, Buffy. Even the best fighter in the world can get distracted for a second. You can’t keep them all safe, it’s impossible. You’re putting too much pressure on yourself.”

She looked down. “I can’t help it, Giles.”

He put his hand on her shoulder. “I know. Go get dressed, we’re all waiting downstairs.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel opened the trap to the sewer system and jumped in. Molly stopped dead in her tracks, sudden distrust darkening her eyes. She crossed her arms and waited knowing he would come back when he'd realize she wasn't following. Her friends might tease her and call her Tinkerbell to piss her off because of her short pixie cut and her delicate features, but she was no dumb blonde. Some dude she just met--and who happened to suck blood--invites her home to fix her injury and have a cup of coffee, then tries to lure her into the sewer?! He was not THAT good looking.

The vampire's head reappeared through the manhole as predicted, his thick brows drawn together in confusion. "What's the matter? Aren't you coming?" He asked, clearly not seeing what the problem was.

Molly huffed and looked at him funny. "You gonna tell me you live in the sewers? Look buddy, I'm not that idiotic."

If she hadn't been so dead serious, she might have laughed at the look on Angel's face.

"What? Oh. I don't live down there. I set up shop in the basement of the Hyperion, but the building is condemned and I want it to stay that way so I use the sewer access. You thought... I wanted to kill you?" The vampire sounded almost incredulous.

Molly shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I just met you. And based on what I've seen in the movies, vampires aren't exactly nice. Except maybe in that lame ass porn movie I saw once.” She blushed. “Yeah... Never mind that."

Angel smirked. "Molly, if I was evil, I could kill you in the middle of a mall on a Saturday afternoon. I wouldn't need to get you to a dark and deserted place. But I have a soul. I won't hurt you."

She thought about it for a second then nodded. "Fine. But just so you know, I have holy water and a stake."

He tried not to smile. "Fair enough. Let's go."

Molly followed him down the manhole while keeping a safe distance between them just in case. A few minutes later, he opened the lock on a heavy metal door and opened it for her. She found herself in a large enough room that had obviously been decorated by a man. Lamps with dark shades, a black and blue velvet couch that had seen better days, an unmade bed in the far corner, and a tiny kitchen corner that looked like it had never been used.

Angel dropped his leather jacket on the back of an armchair. "Make yourself a home. I'll be right back."

He got his first aid kit out of a cupboard as well as a wet washcloth, and came to sit on front of her. "Let's see it."

Molly pulled her shirt up and over her head, showing no sign of embarrassment at being in her bra in front of a stranger.

Angel did his best to focus his attention on her wound and not on her lace covered breasts.

"Is it deep?" She asked worriedly.

"Doesn't look like."

"You know," Molly observed, "this is starting to look an awful lot like that porn movie I was talking about."

Angel wasn't the type of man who laughed easily, but this time it came out spontaneously.

She blushed a little. “Sorry, I just think humor makes some situations a little less awkward.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s good to laugh once in a while. I haven’t done it in a long time.”

She let him finish cleaning up the blood from her abdomen before wrapping her in white bandages, then she put her shirt back on.

“Good as new.” Angel said.

“Thank you.” She said sincerely.

He went to put everything away, then back to the kitchen to make coffee for her.

“So you said you’ve been looking for me?” Angel asked. “May I ask why?”

He brought her a cup of steaming coffee. Molly thanked him then took a sip. It took her everything she had not to grimace the second the bitter liquid touched her tongue. This stuff would make hospital coffee taste like Starbucks.

“Yes. Well, not specifically.” She answered after swallowing with much difficulty. She put the cup down to avoid the risk of taking another sip while distracted. “It’s a long story and maybe I should start from the beginning.”

Angel nodded, giving her all his attention.

“I’m in the army and a while ago I got reassigned to a new project in Sunnydale, California. Did you know the place was buried a little more than a year ago?”

He nodded carefully, hesitant to tell her what he actually knew before knowing the full story.

“Anyway, they said it was caused by a localized earthquake, but that was a cover up. They had us digging for months, trying to uncover evidence of what really happened. They kept us in the dark though. I’m high enough in rank to overhear things, but nothing gets explained to me. It‘s all about ‘follow orders, don‘t ask questions‘. ”

“What does it have to do with me?” Angel asked, but he had a sinking feeling that he already knew. He remembered the conversation with Spike over a week ago and easily put two and two together.

“About a week ago, maybe more, I met another vampire. I didn't know vampires and demons existed at the time by the way. He broke into the temporary base we have on the Sunnydale site to steal information on the person we think is responsible for destroying the town. Security is shit there. I was involved in the whole thing so I had a debriefing from my superior. A lot of things that were said in the debriefing made me start doubting the real purpose of the research we’re doing. I needed to know if I was really on the side of the good guys so I did my own research, and when I read about Buffy Summers and Spike, your name also came up.”

“And that’s why you were looking for me. To get information on Buffy.”

“Do you know her?”

He didn’t answer.

“Angel, I’m not here to try to find out where she is. I won’t even ask. I’m not stupid: if you’re friends with her, or Spike, you have every reason not to trust me knowing I work for the army and they’re after them. But I need to know if my gut feeling is true. If she is a terrorist like they say, then I’m not gonna lie to you... I’ll keep helping them find her. But if you tell me they’re wrong, I’ll do what’s right.”

“I know her.” He said cautiously.

She stared, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. “Ookay. That’s a start I guess. Could you be just a tad bit more helpful? Please?”

“I know her very well. Dated her, actually.”

“I thought she was with this Spike guy. He looked pretty devastated when he found out we had labeled her ‘terrorist’... Wait, why do I sense a love triangle?”

The vampire groaned and she laughed.

“Damn I’m good!” Molly smirked, pleased with herself.

“I don’t know what’s going on between them now, but me and her used to date back in my Sunnydale days. So I know her pretty well. Or at least I knew her then. I haven’t talked to her in a long time, but I assure you she is not a terrorist.”

“What is she then? Is she a vampire too?”

“Have you ever heard of the term ‘Slayer’?”

“The band?”

“Uh... no. A Slayer is a girl who is chosen by birthright to protect the world against demons. One dies and another one is chosen. They’ve existed almost as long as demons. Their purpose is to balance the odds between good and evil. That’s what Buffy is. Things have changed now, but I’ll get to this later.”

“OK. But what does this have to do with the disappearance of Sunnydale?”

“Buffy was sent to Sunnydale after she got called as a Slayer because Sunnydale is what we call a Hellmouth.”

“As in... The mouth of Hell? Literally?”

“Yes.” He answered without a hint of humor in his voice. “And a little more than a year ago, things... went to Hell.” He grinned, happy with his own joke. “I don’t know all that much because I was here in L.A. dealing with my own problems at the time, but from what I heard, potential Slayers were getting killed all around the world and a war was preparing. Some entity called The First Evil used a disturbance between good and evil to get stronger and tried to open the Hellmouth. That thing wanted to release an army of pure vampires on the world. We’re talking tens of thousands.”

“Pure vampires? What’s that? Aren’t you pure?”

“I’m not exactly sure what they were. Pretty much like a vampire without the human disguise. Stronger and much worse than us. Long story short, I found some kind of necklace that was supposed to save the day. Buffy’s friend did a spell that got all the potentials Slayers turned into Slayers, they all went into the Hellmouth, fought, Spike wore the necklace and toward the end of the battle, the thing destroyed everything. Buffy and the others barely escaped. Sunnydale basically collapsed on itself. But the town was deserted at the time. Things had been bad for a while and people had left.”

Molly was staring straight ahead and not saying a word, trying to take it all in. This story was about as far from any plausible explanations she might have come up with herself as could be.

Angel waited patiently for her to say something.

She finally opened her mouth. “Not what I was expecting.”

He smiled. “Guess not.”

“So basically--and tell me if I got this wrong--Buffy, Spike and all these girls, kinda, sorta, saved our asses. And when I say ‘our’, I mean the whole damn world. Or at least America... Do these things know how to take the plane or the boat?”

Angel laughed. “They might have figured it out eventually.”

“And us, dumb asses, are calling her a terrorist and turning her into a wanted woman.” She made a disgusted face. “I knew there was something wrong with this whole thing. It’s crazy though because you would have told me this story a week ago and it would have never occur to me to even think it might be true. And now, I’m just taking your word for it.”

“I supposed that once you discover that vampires do exist, it makes it a lot easier to believe a story about Slayers, demons, witches and end of the world.”

She nodded wistfully. “That it does.”

“How are they trying to find Buffy?” Angel asked.

“I’m not sure. But I broke into General Voll’s email account--that’s the guy in charge of the operation by the way--and found a cryptic email about a friend of Buffy helping them. She’s a witch I think. I can’t remember her name. Some Jewish last name and a name that had something to do with a tree." Molly frowned and shook her head. "Sorry, I can’t remember.”

The vampire sat up straighter. “What?”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Did it sound anything like Willow Rosenberg?”

Her face lit up. “That’s it! I knew it was a tree!”

Angel stood up abruptly and walked to a phone.

“What are you doing? What’s wrong? Are you calling Buffy?”

“I don’t think she would take my call.” He mumbled darkly. “We’re not exactly on speaking terms anymore. But I need to know what’s going on. Willow would never betray Buffy.”

“Who will you call?”

“There’s another Slayer I kept in touch with. She will know if something is up.”

“You’ll wake her up at this time of the night? It’s 3am.”

Angel smirked. “For Faith, that’s early.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike woke up, but kept his eyes shut. He could feel Buffy, not only around him, but inside of him as well. He finally remembered why and it made him open his eyes.

Buffy was sitting on the end of the bed, her back turned to him. Her shoulders were slumped and she was rubbing circles on her temples. He had always been able to tell by her body language when she felt she had the weight of the world on her shoulders and this was one of those moments.

Feeling watched, she turned her head to the side to look at him. Her eyes were red rimmed and her face was pale.

She stood up slowly and walked around the bed to his side. She sat carefully.

He didn’t say anything.

“Let me see.” She said quietly.

He watched her small hands carefully undoing the bandage around his abdomen only to reveal a long scar that ran in a straight line from his lower stomach to just below his sternum. It was dark pink and a stark contrast with his pale skin, but it was healing nicely thanks to her powerful blood.

“How does it feel?”

“Doesn’t feel quite right yet, but there’s not much pain. A day or two and I should be right as rain.”

She nodded.

“Are you OK, pet?”

She gave him a brave little smile. “Not really.”

Buffy rewrapped the bandage around him without another word. Spike knew better than to push her to share her feelings so he shut his mouth.

She stood up and kicked off her heels. She took her black pencil skirt off, then her blouse. Dressed in only her panties and bra she climbed on the bed and curled up next to him, then pulled the comforter over both of them.

With a little bit of effort but minimal pain and a discrete wince, Spike managed to turn himself on his side and wrap his arms around her. He inhaled the smell of her hair and memories came flooding back. The last time he had held her this way was the night before the battle of the Hellmouth. Their faces were so close that he wouldn't have to move to kiss her. But he didn't have to do it, she did.

Her lips were barely touching his, like a warm butterfly's wing, tentative and hesitant. A child tasting hot chocolate and afraid to burn herself. Tears had started falling from her closed eyes, wetting her dark lashes and running down the side of her face. She got hungry and started to kiss him more firmly. He parted his lips and let her explore his mouth and get reacquainted with him at her own rhythm.

Buffy slipped one of her arm around his neck to gently hold him to her, and clutched at his shoulder with her other hand.

Spike wanted to just enjoy the moment, take comfort in the lazy kiss and the fact that he was with her again. But emotions were running high after the events of the past couple of days and it was difficult for him not to want more. Story of his life with Buffy Summers: it was never enough. Despite the physical pain he was starting to feel again, he tried to get closer and he intensified the kiss. He was hoping she could feel just how much he still loved her and that their separation had had nothing to do with his feelings for her.

Soon, she felt his erection pressing snuggly against her thigh. Reluctantly and with a disappointed sigh, Buffy gently pushed against his shoulder to move away.

“Spike...”

“Um.”

“Not now. I’m sorry.” She whispered, then place another quick, gentle kiss on his lips. “You’re injured, you need to rest. We both do.”

He nodded, as much as it pained him to admit it. The surface wound might have healed already, but he wasn‘t so sure about his guts.

Buffy helped him to his back then reclaimed her position against his shoulder.

“Later.” She whispered against his ear. “If you’re better and after we talk.”

“Yeah. Later.” He answered sleepily. “Got tons to talk about don’t we, pet... We’ll be OK though, right?”

She kissed the side of his neck. “I know it.”

CHAPTER 13: Outside help

Inside a former pub and Inn on the outskirts of town, the activity was almost frantic. Outside, the night was dark as ink, but inside, the candles cast a warm glow on the old patina of the wood furniture and the terrifying faces of thirty or so vampires. Most of them were newly risen and didn’t have control over their demonic features yet. They were busy emptying the boxes that had been unloaded from the boat the night before, or aligning weapons on a side table.

Daniel was slumped in a large chair at the end of a long table, arms on the arm rests, looking gloomy and dangerous. His minions were all doing their best to avoid getting near him, or even looking in his direction. In his violent mood, he’d already staked two of them and nobody wanted to be the next one to turn to dust for no other reason than existing. Even Juliette was keeping her distance, trying to remain inconspicuous while painting her nails on the other side of the table.


The previous night had been nothing but fun and games, but now Daniel had an inkling that maybe, out of sheer luck, he’d stumbled into Slayer central and he was getting ready. He still wasn’t over his rage at finding one of his own working for the other side. He hated the Slayers, but it was nothing personal. Until now. William was personal. Daniel wasn’t too fond of his family to start with, but this was a shame he wasn’t about to forgive.

Daniel’s cell phone rang and he picked up immediately.

“Yeah.” He almost yelled into the receiver.

There was a laugh on the other end. “Someone is on edge today.”

“Spare me your comments, Rayne, I’m not in the mood.”

Ethan Rayne sighed dramatically. “All right then, have it your way. Why did you call me?”

“I have news.”

“Good ones I hope.”

“It all depends. I think I might have found the Slayer’s base of operations. ”

He heard Ethan inhale sharply on the other end of the line.

“We got into a fight with a few Slayers last night, and before long, ten more girls joined the fight. They must not have been too far because it only took about twenty minutes for them to show up.”

“If you’re right, this is fantastic news. It must mean that Miss Summers is close by.”

“Yeah well, the not so good news is that one of my family members is working with her.”

“Angel is in Scotland?”

Daniel sounded horrified at the idea. “God no! And thank the Heavens for that.”

“Who then?”

“William the Bloody. I think he goes by Spike now. He fought my minions last night.”

“And you didn’t kill him?”

“Not for lack of trying.” Daniel drummed his fingers restlessly on the thick wood table. “I had him, but they saved him before I could finish him. He’s severely injured though and it might take him out of the fight for quite a while. Even a vampire like Spike doesn’t recover too quickly from being almost cut in half.” He laughed, pleased with himself.

“Good, good. Now that we narrowed down the location, it might make it easier for Amy to pinpoint the exact location of Buffy Summers. She won’t hide from us much longer.”

“What do you want me to do until then?” Daniel hated taking orders from the human wizard, but he had to indulge him a little while longer.

“Stay put and wait to hear from me. Even when we do find her, you don’t do anything until I get there.”

The vampire huffed. “You can’t be serious? We’re here! We could find her much faster than you’re little witch could. If we stir up trouble, the Slayer is bound to eventually show up to stop us.”

“No, she won’t.” Ethan enunciated slowly, as if talking to a small child. “She’s smart and she has an army at her disposal. There’s a good chance she might be aware the U. S. Army is looking for her. If it’s the case, she will stay hidden no matter what. Or relocate everybody. I don’t want to take any chances. Besides, it is imperative that I be there when we attack.”

“Why?”

“Because Miss Summers and I have a score to settle. I will be the one to kill her and no one else. Understood?”

Daniel inhaled deeply to calm himself down. “Fine. We’ll stay put.”

He hung up before Ethan could add anything, then put the phone down on the table and shattered it with his fist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike woke up slowly. It took him a little while to remember where he was, but as soon as he did, he opened his eyes to look around. He was alone.

Shocking.

He carefully sat up, testing the pain in his torso. It was mostly gone. The only reminder of his injury was the scar he would probably have for a while, and a tightness that reminded him of muscle exertion.

Vampires didn't usually feel things the same way humans did, but there were exceptions. When the chip fired in his head, back when he was still on the leash, it had reminded him of the migraines he used to get when he was human and had read all night by candle light, only the pain from the chip was much worse. Now his sore muscles had brought back memories too. Memories of his father--not too long before the man had died--trying to toughen him up by making him chop wood until well after the sun had set. William would wake up in the morning and barely be able to move. Then his mother would spend all day fussing over him, defeating the purpose of his father's lesson. He had been a real mama's boy at that time, no doubt about it. Maybe the old man had had a point after all.

Spike bent down to get his pants from the floor and winced a little. “Spike my man, toughen up. ‘S not worse than when the silly bint dropped an organ on you." He smiled and shook his head, amused by the memory. "At least you’re not in a wheelchair this time around.” He mumbled to himself.

He put his pants on then only took a look at his t-shirt to know it wasn’t salvageable. He shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed to put his boots on.

It was dark outside, which might explain why Buffy was gone. Good intentions or not, he couldn’t expect the girl to stay in bed all day and all night. She probably didn’t want to disturb him. Spike congratulated himself on his attempt at a positive outlook. Normally, he would have been pissed and jumped to conclusions about her breaking her promise of talking and shutting him out again. Benefit of the doubt, he reminded himself.

He cracked the door open and looked out into the hallway to make sure the way was clear. He needed to find Buffy, but the last thing he needed at the moment was a gaggle of teenage girls fussing over him and asking him a million bloody questions.

He wandered the halls of the castle without much luck until he came across Xander.

“Look, it’s alive!” Xander exclaimed.

“’M fine, whelp, thanks for asking.”

“Sorry, man.” And he did look sheepish. “You might not believe me, but I’m glad you’re in one piece. A little shocked and confused that you recovered so fast though.”

“I had help.“ Spike answered cryptically. “And you may not have noticed but I’m hard to kill. Speaking of, everyone made it out of there OK last night? It was last night, right? I slept so long I lost track.”

“Yes and yes.”

“Good. Bleedin’ bastard, I should have known he would pull something like that.” Spike shook his head and there was some guilt in his blue eyes.

“Not your fault. If you hadn’t taken his offer to leave, a lot more girls might have died.”

“Probably. Where‘s Buffy? I‘m looking for her but this soddin‘ place is like the Buckingham palace.”

“Training room. First floor, west wing. Just turn right when you go downstairs and follow the hallway all the way to the end. Big wooden double doors.”

“Thanks, mate.”

“No problem. Hey... What was the deal with that guy yesterday? I didn’t hear much but it sounded like you were related. Well, in a creepy vampire way I guess.”

“Nothing to be proud of. He’s Darla’s offspring. He never really stayed with us though because turning him almost got her killed.”

“Not that I think Darla dying is a bad thing, but why do you say that?”

“The Master had taken her on a trip to Paris and she had a little too much fun at a ball. She ended up turning this wanker at the end of the night without asking for permission. She was young--or at least she was for an Aurelian--and the Master liked to keep a tight leash on all his ‘children’. He wouldn’t have known about it for a while though if Daniel hadn’t turned Juliette a few weeks later. That got him into trouble with Darla, who got into trouble with the Master. The only reason the Master didn’t kill her is because she was his favorite. He locked her into a dark room without food for months. The bastard was twisted. Daniel and Juliette buggered off into the sunset and only stopped by to cause trouble once in a while. I don’t know them well, just enough to know they’re bad news.”

Xander rolled his eyes. “And there I was thinking my family was screwed up.”

“If my family history makes you appreciate your drunk loser of a dad more, you’re welcome.”

Spike smirked and turned on his heels.

Now that he knew were to look, it didn’t take him long to find Buffy. He made a pit stop in the kitchen first and was pleasantly surprised to find fresh blood in the fridge. The pigs blood might not have been as efficient as Slayer blood, but it still made him feel stronger.

Spike pushed the door open and just as Xander had said, Buffy was there trying her best to destroy a punching bag. Time to talk.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well hello gorgeous! Do you have any idea how unpleasant it is to get to someone's place through the sewers?"

Angel's only reaction to Faith's grand entrance was a raised eyebrow and slightly amused half smile. He was sitting in his armchair with a book in his lap. "Hi Faith, how are you doing?"

"Five by five, hon. Can't say the same of those kick ass boots I just got though. They were expensive too."

A tall, slender woman with wavy auburn hair down to her waist and an outfit that revealed more than it hid, pushed Faith aside and walked in as if she owned the place. "Whatever, Faith. You got them on sale."

The brunette shrugged. "I was just trying to guilt him into buying me a new pair."

Faith dropped her duffel bag by the door and, without bothering to remove her mud covered boots, she made her way to the couch. She stopped moving when she finally noticed a woman slowly sitting up from where she was laying down under a blanket. The woman looked a her with sleep heavy eyes.

Faith's mouth dropped open in mocked shock. "Oh. My. God. I'm so sorry! Was I interrupting something fun? Wait. Guess fun is not the word if the poor girl's asleep and you're reading a book. If you forgot what to do with a woman, it would be my pleasure to refresh your memory."

Angel gave her a disapproving look. "Thank you, Faith, but I'll pass."

Faith sat on the unoccupied couch and put her feet on the coffee table. "Sorry to say but you're getting dull, Angel."

The other Slayer laughed. She was sitting at the kitchen table, straddling a chair, and helping herself to a cookie in the open package of Oreos. Faith turned to look at her.

"Alice, were you raised in a barn?"

"Look who's talking." The Slayer said before shoving the entire cookie in her full pouty mouth. Her mischievous honey colored almond shaped eyes, milky white skin and porcelain doll features hinted at some Asian blood. She looked young, around sixteen. Her left arm was covered in a sleeve of tattoos, mostly dragons, flowers and Japanese symbols.

Looking at Angel, Faith motioned with her head in her friend's direction. "This is Alice." She smirked smugly. "My bodyguard."

Angel nodded at Alice. "Bodyguard? Who did you piss off this time?"

Faith huffed. "Can you blame a girl for being careful?"

"Guess not."

Faith smirked. "Supposed to keep her out of trouble. Ironic isn't it?"

Angel nodded. "Very."

She bent down and stage whispered. "Apparently, keeping them busy is the way to go. She thinks I'm keeping her around cause I like the company."

"I heard that." Alice chimed in from where she was sitting at the end of the table.

Faith ignored her. "Alright, enough of this. Let's talk about something more interesting... like your sex life for example. Who's the chick. She's hot."

Molly had done a good job of making herself almost invisible so far. Or so she thought. So when Faith suddenly switched her attention to Molly, she had to stop herself from gasping. The beautiful and charismatic brunette was looking at her as if she was a juicy steak she was dying to sink her teeth into.

"Got a name?" Faith asked her directly, not waiting for Angel to make the introductions.

"I'm Molly Stevens."

"Molly is the soldier who came to me last night, Faith." Angel clarified. "She's the one who gave me the information about Willow."

"Nice to meet you, Soldier Girl."

Suddenly, Faith's entire demeanor changed. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, her face serious.

"Now," She said in a tone of voice that meant she wasn't playing around anymore, "I did not stay up all night, put myself through the painfully boring phone call to Scotland, and get my ass on a plane at an ungodly hour of the morning just to catch up with an old friend. So let's get down to business, shall we?"

Alice stood up and came to sit next to Faith on the couch.

Angel nodded. "Of course. Thanks for coming so quickly. Did you find out anything interesting?"

Faith's face darkened and she stared straight into Angel's eyes. Instinctively, he leaned forward too, giving her all his attention.

"I'm afraid I don't have good new, Angel."

"Really? What's going on?" He looked worried. Or as worried as he managed to. After all, he wasn't a very expressive man.

"According to my sources..." Faith started, her voice almost dramatic. "The entire left wing of the castle has been evacuated by the girls."

Angel looked puzzled. "What does it have to do with Willow?"

Faith shrugged. "Beats me. But you asked for news, so I'm giving you the juiciest news of the hour. Buffy and Spike, locked in the bedroom for three days fucking like rabbits on Viagra. Now THAT's fun news." She grinned like a mad woman at the horrified look on Angel's face.

Next to Faith, Alice was laughing her ass off.

"Oh come on! Cheer up, big boy, I'm just playin' with ya."

"Faith..." Angel growled.

"Fine, fine! If you can't take a joke..." She shook her head disapprovingly then pulled out a cigarette.

"How did you get on a plane anyway? You'd think fugitives would be on the no fly list." Angel asked.

"Oh, honey! You didn't know? Giles got the charges dropped. As far as the police know, it was all a big mistake." She beamed at the vampire.

Angel's face softened. "I'm happy for you, Faith. Just don't screw up this second chance."

"No way. I'm being a good--if slightly boring--girl."

“Uh, excuse me?” Molly interrupted. She was trying hard not to get intimidated by the two Slayers suddenly turning to stare at her. “No offence but, could we get back on topic? I’m really curious to find out what’s going on with this Willow girl. No offence.”

Faith shrugged. “None taken. Sorry, I tend to get sidetracked. So anyway, I called Giles in Scotland yesterday and turns out, Willow’s been missing. She went on a mission to recover two untrained Slayers from L.A., then never came back. He swears there was no fight between Willow and Buffy, they’re as chummy as ever and all was well in the world before she disappeared.”

“He had no explanation why Willow would help the Army find Buffy?” Angel asked.

“No. But one of their witches did a locator spell that went wonky. Something about two locations. He faxed me a map of L.A. on which he indicated the two possible places where she could be.”

Angel frowned. “How could Willow be in two different places at once?”

“Who knows. Magic, I guess. Knowing the girl, she probably tried to do something clever, like making a double of herself so she could grocery shop and get her dry cleaning at once, and she fucked up somehow. That or she has an evil twin. She might be one of the most powerful witches in the world, but she’s always had a way of screwing things up once in a while.”

“Do you have that map?” Molly asked.

“Sure. Here...” Faith pulled a folded sheet of paper from the inside pocket of her leather jacket and gave it to Molly.

Molly looked at it for a moment before saying: “I recognize one of the locations as being the military base right outside of L.A. If there’s really two Willows and one of them is helping the Army, it’s not surprising that she’d be there. I don’t know where the other place is though.”

“OK. We’ll go check it out as soon as the sun sets.” Angel said. “Did you tell Giles that the Army is after Buffy?”

“Yeah, but he already knew. Spike told him.”

Angel’s eyes darkened. “So Spike really is there, then?”

Faith rolled her eyes. “Don’t start.”

“What? I was just asking!”

“Why are you so surprised? You’re the one who helped him get there.”

“No, I helped him get to Rome. Where we thought Buffy was.”

She snorted. “And you thought he’d just give up and turn back when he’d noticed the Buffy in Rome wasn’t the real Buffy? Get real! It’s Spike we’re talking about. Friendly advice, big boy, stop obsessing over little Miss Perfect and get a life.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wake up and smell the hottie. You got a tasty piece of ass right here in your living room. And no, I’m not talking about me or Alice. Though we are quite tasty.”

If Angel could blush, he would have. But Molly could. And she did.

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