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"So…I'm guessing you want I should stand in the middle of this…circle you so graciously poured out here on the floor?" Spike stood, hands on his hips, head cocked to the side, smirk forming at his mouth, very Spike-like in every possible way.

Willow stopped what she was doing and just stared at him, mouth agape. Meg, Dawn, and Xander snickered in the background, as Giles rolled his eyes and shook his head, all the while mumbling something indistinct under his breath.

Finally, the red-haired witch spoke without any trace of annoyance in her voice. "Oh, no, no, no. You, dearest Spike, have to hop around the circle on one foot while patting the top of your head and rubbing your tummy." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Touché," Spike smiled back as he folded his arms across his chest.

She glanced up at Giles momentarily, nodding her head as the Watcher moved towards Spike to escort him to the circle. Dawn ran up to them, halting their progress as she threw her arms around the vampire. He in turn placed a hand on her arm while he ran the other over her brunette locks, soothing her as best as he could.

"Come home soon, safely, with my sister." she whispered.

"I will try my best, bit. Not going to make promises this time, but I will honestly try my best." Spike looked over to Giles.

"You sure this magic spell will work?" his gaze slowly shifted to the two witches. "I mean, the ‘me not dying in the hellmouth’ part."

Giles patted him reassuringly on the back. "Don't fret over the trivialities. You do what you need to do and let us do what we need to do. Willow should be able to keep a link with you and you should have no problems what-so-ever communicating telepathically with her."

"Got it. It's only my life that's trivial and hanging in the balance now." Spike quickly noticed the off look he received from the watcher and quickly changed the subject.

"Let's get the show on the road, then. Time's a-wasting here, ladies and gents." Spike stepped into the inner circle and held his unneeded breath tightly in his chest.

Willow proceeded and tossed something Spike was sure was some magical herbal compost in the air over his head, causing him to pull his chin down to his chest and scrunch his nose up from the odor it emitted. Suddenly his head shot up to glare at the witch.

"Red, something…something's happening here. I feel really weird…," Spike vanished into the air before Willow even had a chance to utter one word of the transport spell. All six of them stood and watched in amazement and confusion not knowing what had just transpired.

"Is he…did he…are you sure he went where he was supposed to go?" Anya seemed annoyed. Willow and Meg seemed confidant they knew what they were doing and what was going to occur when they did do the spell. Neither one answered Anya's question and both she and Dawn became agitated. Meg cleared her throat and nudged her girlfriend slightly in the ribs.

"Oh of course we know that he went into the hellmouth. Hopefully somewhere close to where Buffy is being kept." She smiled upon finishing her staccato but upbeat confirmation. The other girls didn't seem to be as confidant.

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He noticed the darkness first, then the heat. The air sizzled around him; he felt as if he was free falling but didn't fear too much about the landing. All his senses were overly sensitized. He strained his eyes, but they couldn't cut through the thick blackness. The smell was of death and fire, intense heat; the sounds were too many, not only the whizzing air but other odd and indiscernible noises. In an instant, all came to a stop and he could tell he was standing on solid ground.

'Bollocks, now what? How am I supposed to see my way 'round here without a torch or even my lighter would’ve been nice? Any kind of light would’ve been nice,' he thought.

As if someone had been listening in on his private conversation, the room he was standing in slowly began to grow brighter making it seem as if he was surrounded by spotlights. He stood there to let his eyes adjust to the higher level of light while his body acclimated to the new surroundings. He wasn't in a room at all, but what looked to be a long hallway with only a few inches space on either side of his shoulders.

Spike looked behind him quickly then turned his eyes back to the front. Either way led to darkness, he just wished he knew which was the right way to head off in. He shut his eyes tightly, focusing on her, trying to lay out a map in his mind, trying to sense his girl. It hit him like a ton of bricks and disappeared just as quickly. He knew it was her he felt, could smell, almost taste her. He turned and headed in the right direction, at least in his mind it was.

The hallway he walked through lit up with every few steps he took. Spike stopped and turned, looking at the way he just came. "Huh," he grunted as he mused over the situation. The lights were following him, keeping him surrounded at all times, reminding him of some type of sensory system programmed to come on when it detected any kind of motion. He shrugged and continued on his way. In some areas of the hallway, the ceiling would dip, causing Spike to have to lean down to keep from hitting his head. Even the walls would narrow at times, just enough to make him turn to shimmy his way along.

After what seemed like hours, the hall opened up into a fairly large room, its walls lined with doors; many doors to be precise.

"Bugger all," he growled. "I hate these lit’l games."

He walked over to the first door, slid his hand into the groove, and waited. It wasn't as if he was afraid, no, never that. Just not looking forward to what he may find once he did open the door.

Spike sighed, "Well, Monty, let see what's behind door number one, shall we?"

Nothing happened as he yanked on it once, twice even three times for good measure. Shuffling over to the second door, it remained shut as well. The third door didn't promise anything either. Spike growled, throwing his hands up in the air while turning to look at the room and the other doors, noticing the intricate designs of some ancient and dark artwork on the floor.

"I'm guessing I'm gonna need a key. Shoulda brought the bit," he chuckled slightly at his little joke.

He began to stride across the expanse of the room to the other side, slowing his gait when he reached the center which was slightly raised up from the rest of the floor. He stopped for some unknown reason on the small platform, transfixed by the odd design that seemed to float up towards him as he looked down upon it. Without any warning, the area gave way like a trapdoor and he plummeted down into nothingness.

"Oh, shiii…," he shouted in alarm as he was instantly swallowed up by the blackness, losing consciousness almost immediately.

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He came to slowly, hearing nothing except himself moaning. His head was throbbing and his first thought was he needed to lay off the liquor. Then he remembered; he hadn't had a drink in quite a while and then fear clutched his chest momentarily. It subsided almost instantly as he slowly opened his eyes and had to blink. Nothing really. He was sitting in the middle of a rather large, rather rotund room, no door, no windows yet there was light all around, not necessarily bright but a dim light that created a lack-luster effect on the walls encircling him.

No noises, no…he sniffed the air as he was wont to do…no conspicuous scents, no nothing. Only an eternal, freaking wall; even the ceiling was round. At first he imagined himself a gladiator readying for his fight with the beast. But hey, who knew, he might be considered the beast.

"Bloody ridiculous, is what it is," he grumbled as he stood only to be put back in his place by some unforeseen hand. "What the f…?"

"Salutations, William," the voice boomed, interrupting the vampire's swearing. "We've been expecting you."

"Oh, you have, have you? And who is we exactly?" Spike glanced around the room hurriedly, checking to see if he was still the only one in the room.

"We are the beginning. We are much older than time itself. We are the first. Why are you here?" the voice reverberated around him.

"Came to seek out a girl. I believe you have her here…somewhere." he grumbled.

"Ah, the chosen one. Do you honestly think you will find her?" the voice asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well…yeah! Vampire here, with all the extra sensories tied up in this good looking package." he smiled mischievously.

"Then you won't mind if I ask a few questions?"

Spike smirked. "M'not going anywhere, am I now. Ask away."

"Why do you want the slayer?"

"Her family, her friends, they need her. The world needs her, you might want to say, to balance the chaos," he replied matter-of-factly.

"I did not hear you mention yourself. Do you not need her as well? Are you not obsessed with this slayer? Just like the two you previously hunted down and murdered?" the voice teased.

Spike remained quiet for a bit. "I respected those slayers. It was their job, it was their fight. Yes, I sought them out. I loved the battle, the rush of fighting, never knowing if I would win or lose yet knowing I would win. It was all about the power…and the dance. The power flowing through them into me."

"So you drank from them?"

"No…well, yes. The first one, yeah. Needed to taste, to feel. The second was all about the dance."

"You sought out the third slayer?"

"No, I didn't actually look for her at first. Came to Sunnydale only because of Dru, my sire. She was very sick. Needed her sire's blood. Found the anointed one who was fighting the slayer. Then I made the effort to "seek" her as you say."

"You tried to kill her, yes?"

"Tried,"

"She tried to kill you, correct?"

"Yeah."

"And yet after these many years, both of you have repeatedly failed to kill one another. Why is that?" it seem to be goading him.

Spike groaned. "It's a long story."

"Enlighten me."

"Hey, aren't you all-knowing, shouldn't you know the whole story by now?" He was met with an irritating silence.

"Fine, very well. I think we never really wanted to kill each other in the first place. I think we’re both equally strong and we both enjoyed our dance together. That's it in a nutshell."

"Hmm, not a very long story. Aren't you in love with the slayer?"

Silence permeated the air. "I asked you a simple question," the voice boomed loudly causing the vampire to jump slightly.

"Yes."

A sickly chuckle. "So, you are saying you are actually in love with the slayer, killer of your kind, your mortal enemy, you, a demon?"

"Yes, me, a demon and…a man. I love her with all that I am."

"How can you love? I realize you have a pitiful excuse for a soul now, but before. I know you were in love with her even before you won your soul back. Even before you really even knew yourself."

Spike began to squirm in his seat. Even though he didn’t want to tell this voice anything, he felt compelled to, honest and forthright. "I don't rightly understand that wholly myself. Love is one thing I always strived for when I was a human. I believe I carried it over with what humanity stuck with me in the demon aspect. Without it, I’m an insecure underachiever, weak. When I was human, I was weak and insecure, but I was good. My morals and beliefs were strong. I would have never hurt anyone or anything."

"Uh-huh, I see. Would you do anything for this human, this slayer?"

"Yes, I would."

"Would you die for her?"

A pause. "Yes, a million times over."

"Amazing. I am truly baffled. You think this slayer, a human female, could love a thing like you?" it jabbed.

"I could only hope." Spike looked down at his feet. "The life of a slayer is complicated. It's very dark and filled with death yet they seem to radiate with goodness and light. A balance I will never understand which seems to make them unhappy and alone. All I want is for her to be happy."

"And you think you can make her happy, give her a life she so richly deserves?"

"I can try. Why do you think I went to get my soul back? I did it for her. She deserves not to hurt, not to hate, not to die. She deserves to be happy and to live."

"Do you think she could love you without a soul? Love you as a demon? And what if you didn’t love her? You think she would find it again or just kill you, rid herself of the headache and of the empty promises?"

Spike's eyes flashed yellow. "Why don't you ask her? I can't answer for her."

"If she wants a human mate, someone weaker than she, would you go back to your human form?

"If that would make her happy…yes, I would. In a heartbeat." Spike's voice trailed off.

"Do you think she will ever trust you again after what you did to her? Handing her over to the darkness?"

"You did that, not me. I had no will over what you pulled with me." Spike spat vehemently.

"Very well, I am finished with you."

"What do you me…"

"No more questions."

"Oh!"

"Get some rest, William. Soon, very soon, you will see your slayer. Take heed, you will have to fight for her life. One of you may have to give up your life for the other. I am anticipating the outcome of it all." it seemed evilly gleeful.

Spike sat, eyes staring blankly and mouth hanging open. Maybe the watcher and the witches were not correct in their assumptions after all. Death was always on their heels, in one way or another.

TBC





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