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She had intended to give the Slayer a trip to the woodshed and then leave. But after seeing the images that ran through William's head, while she was nursing him, Drusilla had changed her mind. Now she wasn't going to be satisfied until she saw the Slayer's blood flowing. Nothing else would do.

She really had wanted to listen to Miss Edith, and make William well again, and leave him to fly. After all, a boy can't stay with his mother forever, no matter how much a mother loved her babies, they all must grow up, and leave the nest.

But then, those sticky sweet images started flashing in William's eyes, and Miss Edith got sad. There were so many things she couldn't have. She knew that. But William made it a little better; he was gentle, as he could be. But in all those pictures that hurried in William's brain, not one of them was of his dark princess. Drusilla had been with him for a hundred years or more, and in the blink of an eye, that sprite had made him forget her. The rage boiled up inside Drusilla. She would pay for wiping her from William's mind. Drusilla would make William remember her again.

That nasty little Slayer had just given her the upper hand. William knew better than to trust a desperate lioness, the little girl, however, had no such insight.
**********************

Illyria rushed in after Buffy, ready to defend her pet, from further harm.

"Easy there, Blue," Spike rushed to say, watching the murderous glow Illyria aimed at Buffy, "there's no fire, here. She wants to keep me as safe and sound as you do. Stand down, Highness."

"Are you certain," she asked, clearly wary of complying with the request.

"Yes," he nodded, " Leave us, for some time, all right? Take the Bit with you, when you go, would you," Spike looked at Dawn, and smiled shyly, "No, offense, Bit. See what Red can do about the wardrobe, would you?"

"None taken," she nodded, as she pushed Illyria, reluctantly, out the door.
****************************

Angel sank in his chair, his hand loosely gripping the mug of otter's blood. He shook his head again, trying to figure out when Drusilla had gone completely off the deep end. When he'd brought her to Spike, she seemed to understand that this wasn't about her, it was about Spike's health. Then, after the first feeding, she'd gone from angel of mercy, to screaming banshee of vengeance in a snap.

Angel still couldn't make sense of her murky quagmire of a mind. The only being, on earth, who understood her, was Spike. He wondered just where things had gotten so bad.

A comforting voice came from the doorway, "Yeah, things really seem to be circling the drain, don't they?"

He blinked, "Cordy, what are you doing here?"

She smiled a warm smile, "Come on, I had to keep my guy from imploding, didn't I? Angel, that vision was just supposed to be broad stokes," she was excited, "You weren't supposed to make it come true! It was just a warning, not an established fact," she shook her head, "Geesh, Angel, don't you have any imagination?"

"You know the answer to that question," Angel said, flatly.

She winced, "Yeah, I do. You're pretty much a paint-by-the-numbers kind of vamp," she brightened a little, "Still, this can still work out. You can still pull victory out of Wolfram and Hart's jaws. It doesn't have to be all gloom and doom, here, does it?"

He was too tired, "Cordy, have you been watching, wherever you are? Where's the silver lining here," he asked, "I lost Buffy," he ticked the points off, on his fingers, "I lost my son, twice, I lost you. I lost Fred, and Wesley, Darla and Gunn. And, let's not forget Nina," he shielded his eyes with his hand, "And now, God help me, I shouldn't even care, but I do, now I may lose Spike. I even lost my chance at the Shanshu," his voice betrayed the emotion stirring in him, "So, Cordy, please tell me, how can I make this better?"

She shrugged, "Search me," she smiled, "I used to be a cheerleader, so looking for the good part of a bad situation is sort of a habit," she looked at Angel's scowling face, "Doesn't mean there isn't one," she nodded, "We just have to put our heads together, like we always did, and find one."
***********************

"Good," Spike sighed, "that heartbeat of yours has gone from a rapid snare drum to a nice, steady base drum. Now, could you please let me hold you? You're shaking like a leaf, Slayer, I can see the gooseflesh from here."

Buffy shuffled over to the bedside, silently praying that he wasn't a dream, that the nightmare that started almost four months ago, with a rainy night, and a clandestine meeting, had finally ended, and that the soft baritone voice and those bright blue eyes were real. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a little voice told her to believe, but the image of Angel covered in ash, was hard to shake, "Now," she said, with a tone of disbelief, "it's my turn to ask you, are you a dream?"

He shook his head, "Nope, this part's real. Whatever it was that caused the stress on that little ticker of yours, though, was not. That, I'm almost certain of."

"Almost?" she asked, sitting, softly, on the bed.

"Well," Spike looked down, almost bashful, Buffy could have sworn he was actually blushing, "I've had a few dreams that would have set my heart racing, if it'd been beating, that is."

Buffy's face was grim, "Any of those dreams of yours feature Angel, in a starring role, covered in your ash?"

"Ah," he nodded, "Can't say I've had that pleasure. Wouldn't give the ponce the satisfaction, as my present condition will attest," he reached to stroke her cheek with his palm, "Slayer dream, you think?"

"Don't know," she confessed, "It scared me, though."

"Scared is good," Spike agreed, "Scared keeps you alive. Especially when it comes time to pay the piper," he said, his eyes level with hers, showing her that he knew what she had been trying to hide.

Buffy tried to evade his laser-like gaze, but he, gently, drew her eyes back to him with a push of his thumb, "Look at me," he said, his voice teetering on a whisper, "I know that Drusilla didn't just, all of the sudden, feel the milk of human kindness start flowing, in the soul I know she hasn't got, and decide to give the 'White Hats' a freebie," Buffy could see his strong gaze brighten a little as he looked at her, "It's you for me, isn't it? That's the 'deal' you made with Dru?"

Buffy nodded, afraid to meet his eyes, "Yeah," she choked, "that was the deal."

Buffy felt Spike start to shake, she didn't know whether it was from anger or fear, or something else, "Oh, Buffy," he growled, through clenched teeth, "If I didn't love you so much, I would let you go, like a lamb to the slaughter," his eyes were a swirl of both amber and blue, Buffy had never seen them like that before, "As it is though, I do love you. I love you too much to just kiss you and send you off to your death..."

Buffy was a little wounded, "Hey, Slayer here, you know!" she interrupted.

"Yes," Spike hissed, "But, you aren't the only one, now, are you? That has to have consequences. Magic always does. You may be just weak enough for Dru to slip in and have that, 'One good day' I shot my mouth off about. And," his eyes gleamed at her, "I'm not letting that happen. If a cage match was part of the bargain, then I'm helping you get ready. No one, not even Angelus, knows Dru better than I do," he nodded firmly, his mind set, "You and I, Slayer, are going to train," he smiled, "It'll be just like old times."

"But Spike," she said, not wanting to douse the fire in his eyes, "I hate to break it to you, but, you can't even stand up. You actually think we're going to go a few rounds with me at full-tilt, and you at...less?"

"What," he winked, "You never heard of a second wind? Well, I just got mine. All we have to do now is wait for Bit to come back with a change of clothes," he shook his head, looking down at the pastel animals on the gown he was wearing, and pinched the cloth out, so that Buffy could see it, then looked up at her with a sad, pleading, face, "Does Harris really hate me this much," he asked, then with a sigh, added, "I just cannot be the 'Big Bad' with a costume emblazoned with psychedelic bunnies!"

Buffy couldn't help it, the look on his face and the tone of his voice, reminded her of a sulking toddler. Buffy knew, that if he could, he would be stomping his foot right now. She tried to stop the tickle from rising in her, but by the time she knew it was there, it was already too late, she started laughing, and she couldn't stop.

"Oh, you'll die all right," Spike was saying, "Of sodding laughter! See, you're giggling already!"

"Sorry Spike," Buffy said, as she clamp her hand over her mouth to try and stop the laughter from escaping, "It's just that, I missed you so much," her eyes shone, "It's so good to have you back."

"That's right. I am back. And, I'm not letting Dru take you for me, so you can forget that, you hear?"

Buffy's mood suddenly dampened, "But, if she knows you're well enough to train, then, won't Drusilla want her payment? It is what I promised."

"Could be a few weeks before we cross that bridge, Pet," he kissed her lips, with a feather soft touch, that made her tremble against his hands, "But, at least now, you've got someone in the trenches with you," he looked in her eyes, and he thought he saw the beginnings of the glowing light he'd seen in his dream, in them, "I love you. You're not alone, in this fight. I've got your back, Slayer."

"That's good to know," she said.





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