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Day 14

Spike reached out to pull his mate close, instinctively craving her warmth, only to find her spot empty with the sheets rapidly cooling in her absence. He raised his head to search the dimly lit room.

He felt a bit guilty that he hadn't rushed back to Sunnydale like he could have, but knowing Buffy was already upset made him drag his feet even more. The last thing he remembered before the day reset was driving down the darkened highway, his companion snoring loudly beside him.

"Buffy?"

Her name echoed around the chamber and he knew he was alone.

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

Riley watched as his girlfriend hurried out of the cemetery, making him wonder why exactly she had been at that particular spot so early in the morning. The AWOL commando made a split second decision to attempt to backtrack Buffy's path. Riley knew that the crypt that Hostile 17 had staked out for his own was in the vicinity. Xander Harris had let the information slip to Riley just that morning.

Riley entered the graveyard and moved around checking out the different crypts, most of which were locked. He was coming up on the biggest one at the back of the cemetery when he heard a strange noise. Riley leaped behind a nearby raised sarcophagus where he crouched down. He shivered slightly when he heard the heavy footsteps pass him by and head for the crypt he was about to investigate. When he peeked out from his hiding place, he was surprised to see Adam disappear into the crypt. Riley resolved to creep closer, in hopes of eavesdropping on whatever was going on inside. When Riley got close enough he could hear two voices inside. He was not surprised when the it turned out to be Hostile 17 plotting with Adam.

"So, you have the disks in question hidden in your cave?" Hostile 17 asked, his voice cool and casual.

"Yes, that is correct," Adam answered.

"Your guards are adequate?" Hostile 17 queried offhand.

"Yes, quite adequate. I have ten vamps and two Polgaras as my personal guard," Adam answered.

"That's good, then. You get me the disks, and I'll break up the Slayer's little cheerleading squad for you." The vampire announced.

"That is acceptable. I will leave you to make your move and I will check in with you later," Adam said, evenly.

Riley rushed to hide behind the sarcophagus, again. He listened as the creature that Maggie Walsh had constructed marched away. Once the coast was clear, he pulled the stake out of his pants pocket and made his way to the door of the crypt. He entered as silently as he could to stand there watching as the vampire he knew as Hostile 17 quickly drank down his blood.

"Hostile 17," Riley growled. "Alone at last. I see you're planning something stupid against Buffy." He raised his stake to show the vampire he was armed.

"Don't think so, Captain Cardboard," Spike drawled. "This is a Slayer-approved plan. Adam's got some disks and we want them." The vampire flung himself down in his chair. He flung one leg over the arm and proceeded to look the young human male up and down, his gaze filled with contempt.

"No, I really don't think so, Hostile," Riley drawled, moving closer. "This is more likely the Slayer-approved plan," he snarled as he brought the stake home. Riley stared down at the pile of dust, sure that Buffy would be pleased with his actions.

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

Giles had been surprised when Buffy had shown up at his apartment alone that morning, but she assured him that it was because Spike was going to try to get more information on the location of the disks from Adam. She sat quietly on the couch sipping her mocha latte while Giles rewrote his notes on the looping day they were experiencing. The Watcher wished that his notes would quit disappearing. This was getting old, fast.

Giles leapt up from his chair when Buffy let out an anguished cry and dropped her coffee to the floor where the Styrofoam cup burst, spilling the hot drink. The Watcher rushed over to the girl, who had fallen to her knees, and was rocking back and forth with tears streaming down her face. He noticed one of her hands tightly gripped the spot on her neck that he knew was the location of the dream claim.

Giles carefully picked Buffy up and placed her on the couch. He sat down beside the distraught girl, pulling her close to him. Giles knew this had something to do with Spike, but couldn't fathom what would make Buffy so upset. Unless.....

"Buffy, did something happen to Spike?"

"He's gone!" Buffy cried. "I can't feel him anymore! Oh God, Giles." She buried her face in his shoulder where she started to sob loudly.

Twenty minutes later, Giles was able to contact Willow and Tara to come sit with the still overwrought Slayer while Xander and Anya went to Spike's crypt to check on his whereabouts. The spilled coffee had been cleaned up and Giles was putting water on to boil. He planned on talking the girl into taking two sleeping pills so that she could sleep until the day reset itself. At least, he hoped it reset itself. Other people, namely Angel, had died and the day had no problem beginning again, but neither Spike nor Buffy had died before. The Watcher had no idea if the death of one of the people the spells centered on would somehow cause a major glitch in the magic.

A knock interrupted Giles' musings. He checked on the girls while he moved across the apartment to open the door. He lifted one eyebrow when he saw that the visitor was Riley Finn, Buffy's supposed boyfriend. Giles was disgusted with the boy's manners when he pushed past him to rush to the Slayer's side.

"Buffy, I was looking all over for you." Riley knelt beside the couch. "Is there something wrong?" He was quite worried when he saw Buffy's tearstained face.

"Spike..." Buffy whispered. A sob hitched in her throat as she gripped Willow's hand and pulled the red-headed witch between Riley and herself.

"That piece of filth has been taken care of," Riley assured the upset girl. "I found out he was working with Adam and I staked him before he could do any more damage." The commando was so proud of his feat that he didn't notice that Buffy had gone from distraught teenager to outraged Slayer in five seconds flat. He also failed to notice that that she wasn't the only one upset by the news.

"You did what?" Buffy growled. Her eyes flashed in a way that the two seasoned Scoobies in the room had never seen before. Buffy sat up, her beautiful face twisted into a grimace of distaste.

"That creature had the audacity to try to tell me that what he was doing was approved by you," Riley continued, still unaware that he had upset Buffy. "As if you would ever stoop to plan something like this with him."

"Well, guess you should have been here two years ago when we got together and planned to take down Angel," Buffy said condescendingly. "Or a few months after that when we fought off minions together. Hey, what about the scheme to keep him out the hands of your idiot boss, Maggie Walsh? You know; the one that created Adam in the first place?"

"What ... what are you talking about?" Riley stammered. He glanced around at Giles, Willow and Tara. He knew that Giles and Willow had been friends with Buffy for years, but he hadn't realized that they knew Spike quite a bit better than they let on.

"You really think I'd take some random vamp under my wing?" Buffy hissed while she rose to her feet. "I would've never asked Giles or Xander to invite Angelus in, or any of the other vampires I've dealt with over the years, except Spike. He's always been ... different." She finished with a dry chuckle.

"When did you decide that creature was different, Buffy? Before or after you slept with your other vampire?" Riley asked snidely.

"Definitely before," Buffy said softly as she smiled with remembrance. "It was when I held Drusilla at stake point in the vampire groupie club. He called off his minions and let the groupies go rather than have me dust her. That's when I knew he was not like other vamps."

"This is all wrong, Buffy. You told me you were supposed to stake vampires." Riley reached out to grab Buffy's arm. "But you let two of them live on and ....."

"Three actually, since part of the little deal two years ago included Drusilla," Buffy muttered softly to herself.

"Well, I'm glad I staked that damned vampire. Maybe now you'll come to your senses..." Riley's voice stopped when Buffy punched him in the face. He felt himself fly backwards, his flight stopped by the front door.

Buffy swiftly crossed the room to lift Riley to his feet by his shirt. She opened the door and threw him outside, making Xander and Anya, who were walking up to the apartment, jump out of the way of the oncoming body.

"I take it we found out what happened to Captain Peroxide?" Xander asked. He walked over to the unconscious commando. "We better take him back to the high school before Buffy get really mad."

Giles and Xander heaved the other male away from the apartment, for once glad about the Sunnydale denial factor while the three female Scoobies tried their best to calm Buffy down again. Once the adrenalin had left the Slayer's body she became a bit hysterical again. Willow and Tara got the Slayer to take the sleeping pills, much to everyone's relief.

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

Angel knocked on the door of Giles' apartment. He came to Sunnydale to apologize to Buffy for his behavior the night before, but his search had turned up no sign of the petite blond slayer. The brunette vampire had the oddest feelings all day. First there had been the great sense of loss that morning, something similar to when Darla had dusted, but the strangest feeling came over him when he hit Sunnydale city limits. Angel shivered slightly in memory. For some reason, he was scared of this town now and he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

The strangeness didn't fade when the door opened to reveal Xander standing on the other side. The odd look that crossed the boy's face didn't bode well and Giles ushering him to the other side of the courtyard to talk put a whole new spin on the oddness factor of the day.

The Watcher informed the broody vampire that Buffy's day had been very difficult and she was in no way up to seeing Angel. When pressed for a reason why, Giles finally said that she'd been getting closer to Spike over the past few weeks and that Riley had come in bragging that he'd staked the blond vampire, causing a bit of a breakdown in the young girl. It was clear by the Watcher's tone of voice that he blamed Angel in some way for some reason.

After getting a promise from Giles that Buffy would call him when she felt better, Angel left the courtyard deep in thought. Spike's dusting explained the feelings of loss from earlier in the day, but he couldn't understand why Buffy was so upset. Angel's pondering was interrupted when a not so sober Riley stumbled out of the darkness towards the building that the vampire had just left.

"I'll show her," Riley said, his words slightly slurred. "I do her this big favor and she punches me. It's not like he's a human." The boy paused to look into the courtyard, so he failed to notice his audience of one. "I gave up everything for her. My school, my career, my good standing. Gonna be court marshaled for her. Ungrateful little..."

"I suggest you don't continue that sentence," Angel growled from his spot in the darkness.

Riley whirled around to peer into the night. "Who's there? Show yourself."

Angel stepped out into the light, putting on his most menacing air, "Giles tells me you killed one of my family members. Now, granted, Spike always was a cocky little upstart, but he was still family."

Riley pulled a stake from his uniform pocket. The alcohol in his system fueled the boy to lose his caution and intensify his bravado. The success of dusting Spike that morning gave the commando the idea that Angel's soul worked much like the blond vampire's chip had. Riley lunged forward only to find himself bent over the hood of a nearby car with his body pinned beneath the larger and much stronger male vampire.

"Get off me, you pervert." Riley tried to snarl, really he did, but with the side of his face pressed firmly into the unyielding metal of the car, it came out as a squeak. "Let me up now and I won't tell Buffy you assaulted me."

"Somehow, I don't think Buffy cares too much about you today, boy," Angel growled. "But you see; Buffy and I aren't the ones you have to worry about. It's Drusilla, Spike's sire. You killed her dark prince and she'll go to the ends of the earth to hunt you down." He chuckled evilly as he slipped into game face. "And I think I'll help her with that."

Riley screamed when Angel's fangs slid into his neck. The overwhelming pain was soon replaced with a strange euphoria, but before Riley could identify it, the dark haired vampire removed his teeth from his neck to whisper in his ear.

"To my Kin, thus you be marked, may all of our line hunt you." Angel let his human facade melt back into place. He squashed the guilt of his soul down and concentrated on the glee of his demon to mark a human for revenge, marked for causing Buffy pain. He didn't know why he felt these feelings of hatred so strong on behalf of his pain in the ass grandchilde, but they coursed through him, and he was unable to block them. Angel could clearly feel Drusilla's pleasure through their bond, something that hadn't happened since before he was cursed with his soul.

Riley scrambled away from the vampire just as soon as he could, but before he could say anything further to Angel a strange lethargy came over him. He found himself trapped within his own body as it lurched away from the apartment complex on a path towards the college.

Angel blinked suddenly at the odd behavior and wondered if he should mention it to Giles. He quickly made the decision that the Watcher needed to know what he's seen, so he re-entered the courtyard to knock on the apartment door. After a hurried conversation with a preoccupied Giles, Angel strolled out of the gates right into a patched together man, that made the vampire think of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

"You are the vampire that was so presumptuous to mark my brother," Adam said. "What gives you the right?"

"He dusted one of my family members," Angel said coolly. He shoved his hand into his pants pockets as he looked the creature up and down.

"This is unacceptable. Riley is my brother. Therefore I must avenge him," Adam stated calmly while he approached the vampire. He extended his poisonous Polgara spikes and skewered Angel neatly on it. Then he quickly dusted Angel before the vampire could react.

Inside the apartment, a still worried Watcher waited for the day to reset itself.

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

Spike sat up in his bed gasping. The last thing he remembered was Riley staking him the morning before and that had been a totally unsettling feeling. As much as he hated his grandsire, he was glad the old fart didn't remember the dustings the next day. Spike was startled when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around him and hugged him fiercely.

"Don't you ever dust on me again, Spike!" Buffy sobbed. She buried her face in the vampire's chest.





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