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The Clock Winds Down

Buffy glanced at her friends. Willow and Xander had tagged along. Xander walked obsessively close to Willow and had a stake gripped tightly in both hands. Spike seemed totally oblivious. Walking to the left of them, out of stake range, and slightly to the front. It was majorly weird walking even two people away from him. She should be fighting him, not helping him. Her entire universe had gone all wonky. And the weirdest part to it all was, when she glanced at him casually, he was just another guy...who liked black...a lot.

"Are we getting close yet? These shoes are so not for walking a marathon." Spike spared her a glance, raking his glance up and down her before facing front again. Even the way he walked annoyed her. He strutted, like he owned the world and everyone should just get out of his way. It should be illegal to roll your hips that way. They were on a public street for crying out loud, not Chip and Dale's. Not that she would ever go to a place like Chip and Dale's.

"I told you Slayer, it moves. I'll feel it when I'm close" She snorted and rubbed the stake in her pocket for comfort. Spike heard something, vamped and turned his head sharply. Must have been a false alarm because his human mask slid back on and he kept walking. Buffy shivered uncontrollably. Giles dire warnings ringing in her head. Everybody knew that Spike was Dru's Childe. If she managed to open the hell mouth, her blood mixed with Spike's would be able to close it. Buffy didn't want to die, and she had no doubts that given the chance Spike would drain her dry. She loved Willow and Xander but the simple truth was they could never take Spike in a fight. If Dru got the hell mouth open, this night would be her last.

Maybe she should send her friends home. If she were dead Spike wouldn't hesitate to kill them both. Probably laugh the whole time. Willow looked at her from the corner of her eye and Buffy gave her a tight smile. Willow was smart enough to put two and two together; she had heard the prophecy after all. But she was quick witted enough to keep her mouth shut in front of Xander and Spike. If it came to that then she would tell them, otherwise...they never need know. God if Spike knew, he would encourage Dru to open the hell mouth just so he could open her veins. It had been Giles concern that Spike knew about the prophecy and that this was all an elaborate plan, but Spike had never mentioned it. God, Where was she? They had been wondering around downtown for at least an hour, time was running out.

Spike stopped suddenly, spun and kicked the wall to the nearest building. "Temper Much?" Said Xander, which was remarkably restrained..., for him. Before Buffy had let him come she had made him promise not to provoke the evil undead. She couldn't spend all her time protecting him. Who knew what Spike would do if they pissed him off, Truce or no Truce. She had no doubt she could take him, but important mission. End of the world blah, blah. Anyway they didn't have time to argue. They had spent enough time at Giles arguing over whether or not it was OK to stake Drusilla. Spike refused to help unless they promised that she wouldn't be harmed, and bite her tongue...turns out they needed his help.

Apparently only demons and humans with invites could find this "Rack" because of heavy cloaking spells. Made sense. So here they were at four o'clock in the morning, wondering the streets of Sunnydale, and Spike had finally snapped. Buffy couldn't help the large yawn that came from nowhere and Spike spun and Growled at her. "No Growling!" Buffy snapped. If Xander had to behave than so did Spike. Or he would be meeting with the business end of a stake. Except she couldn't kill him because she might just need him to bite her. Damn it! It was a Friday night. She should have spent the night partying and be passed out drunk on a couch somewhere. That is what other college students did on Friday nights. "I thought you said you could find this place." Buffy felt a little growly herself.

"I soddin' told you. The bloody place moves. They musta known I'd be back. Gotta think, where would they go to hide? Probably holed up in a bleedin' Church!" He spun back to the building and punched the brick wall. Bet that hurt. Fresh bits of broken brick crumbled to the sidewalk. Buffy thought that it might be the Lipton building.

"We, we could go back to Giles and try another location spell." Willow said in a very small voice, trying a timid smile. Spike was obviously over the whole being nice to witches thing because he growled at her and punched the wall again. But he didn't try to rip her head off so she supposed he might be trying to control himself.

"Jesus Christ, I fucking told you a location spell won't work, what with the cloaking spells and all that rot." So much for restraint. "God Damn Twit, her and that ponce. I'll rip his soddin' head off; magic ain't gonna save his poncey ass when I get my hands on 'im." Buffy took a deep breath and let it out. Spike raised his eyebrows at her and curled his tongue under his teeth. She took another deep breath. No bickering, no bickering, no bickering. She repeated the mantra in her head.

"Spike" She said in a perfectly calm voice. You didn't see her flying off the handle. She was the very image of calm. "We don't have time for this. If you don't want to try another location spell, just where do you think we should look!" She wasn't yelling, she was only raising her voice to make sure that she was heard because she didn't want to repeat herself. He smirked at her and rocked back on his heels. The whole fucking world could lose their souls because there was no way she was going to let this arrogant, infuriating, bastard bite her. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas. Probably because all that bleach has finally soaked into your brain and you don't have two thoughts to rub together!" She was above insults, but sometimes facts just had to be stated.

"Right then, Slayer. And I'm sure you were born with that color. Let's head to the high school. I don't know how long this effin Pillock takes to shift his hovel around, maybe they are already there, wouldn't want to be late, miss the festivities, rushin' never a good thing with spells." Her speech must have penetrated that thick head of his because he was being all friendly again, as friendly as Spike could be anyhow. She had known that calm reason was the way to go. She glanced at his mangled hand. All bloody. Idiot man, uh Vampire. Xander looked like he was about to swallow his tongue if he didn't say something soon and Willow was staring at the sidewalk as though it held all her secrets.

They turned and started heading for the school. Xander fell into step with her. "Tell me again, Why we haven't killed bleach-boy yet." Xander shot him the look. The I hate you beyond all reason look. The one she had thought was just for Angel. "We don't need him Buffy; we can take the Mad Hatter. True I'm just the White Rabbit but at least I'll get us there in time."

"Oooh!" Broke in Willow excitedly. "And Buffy can be the evil Queen, and off with her head!" Spike growled and met her eyes. She very carefully did not roll her own eyes. That would hurt her friend's feelings even though the whole reference was silly. Willow and Xander grinned at each other as if they weren't in the middle of saving the world, again. Sometimes she felt like an outsider amongst her closest friends. All alone surrounded by the people she loved most. Spike looked away again and she sighed, Xander's question didn't really need to be answered, he knew why they couldn't kill Spike, yet. But she understood all about filling up awkward silences with empty words.

"Well as fun as his dusty death would be, we have yet to find the local fruit loop." Buffy chirped. She could pretend the world wasn't ending with the best of them. They had to find her, she didn't want to die. She was only 19. Not even old enough to drink. Yet old for a slayer. At least she hadn't argued with her mom this morning, though she had said something nasty about Dawn hogging the bathroom. But just as she always did, starting with the master and every other disaster following him, she walked towards her death. But that didn't mean she didn't fear it. "Besides I don't want to get Vampire dust on my new shoes."

"Would you quit flappin' your jaws about the bloody shoes already? This is why I avoid humans. I don't know how Peaches ever tolerated the lot of you. Oh yeah! Because the Poncey Bugger needed someone to talk to about shoes." Spike stopped suddenly and eyed a Cavalier parked in front of the Espresso with interest. Oh no, he wouldn't steal a car with them here. Even he wasn't that stupid. "Look-see what I found, Slayer. A ride to the hell mouth."

She stopped, crossed her arms, and tried to imitate Willow's resolve face. "Spike, you are not stealing a car." He ignored her and tried the door, of course it opened. It never failed to amaze her how blind the people of Sunnydale were to the evil in their town. "Get away from that car Spike, We are walking." He got in and bent down and started messing with something under the dash. "Spike, let's go!" The car roared to life. It wasn't that loud but in the stillness of the night it sounded like guns blazing, and metal music, and other loud things...okay that made no sense. But she was not going to be part of Grand theft auto. He closed the door and drove the ten feet over to them and rolled the passenger window down.

"Hop in kiddies." Xander opened the back door and he and Willow both slid in. Traitors. They were supposed to be on her side. Her blood boiled. She was going to kill him. But right now she had a hell mouth to protect, sacred duty, yada, yada, yada. Furious she turned around and stomped towards the school. He rolled the car along side her, keeping even with her. Damn it, her right heel was beginning to blister. She would not have chosen to break in her new boots today if she had known she would be hiking all over town. This was not fair.

"Come on Pet," He crooned. The undead should not have sexy bedroom voices that made her shiver. Not that she knew all that much about bedroom voices with her limited bedroom experience. But his soft slur was decadent...just the way she imagined a bedroom voice should sound. The undead should croak and their voices should crack because they were demon's not people. And she would be smart to remember that. "I know your feet are tired and hurtin'. And I'll return the car soon as I'm done with it. No sense walkin' when you can slide in here next to me. Besides luv, we're saving the world for them, least they can do is let us borrow their car, hmmm." He titled his head in the way that she liked and the shadows danced over him making his eyes seem like dark pools of midnight, when she knew that they were really blue ice and damn it her feet did hurt. It was at least another twenty minutes to the high school, and they were running out of time. She was so exhausted that his sick twisted logic was beginning to make sense.

She stopped and stared at the car in trepidation. She looked up and down the street, big surprise, not a police officer in sight. She bit her lip and Spike reached across the seat and opened the door for her, looking up at her with his puppy dog eyes. "Come on now Ducks. Got to keep up your strength if you’re gonna stake me later." She stomped her foot in frustration but got in the car and slammed the door shut. Immediately he took off, hell bent for leather, no regard what so ever to trivial things like stop signs and white lines. Thank God it was 4:30 in the morning. In minutes he was parked right out front of the high school doors.

"Why bother with mundane things like parking lots, when the lawn is so much more convenient?" Quipped Xander from the backseat. Spike was already out of the car, but he did shoot Xander a look. Vampire hearing you know. She glanced at the ignition. Spike had left the car running, there was no key and Buffy had no idea how to turn it off. The mass of wires that he had pulled out of the dash could have belonged to an alien spaceship for all she knew. She got out of the car on shaky legs, followed by her friends. Spike was already walking.

"Come on you soddin' gits, I can feel the vibe of the place." He stopped abruptly and frowned. "Vamp barrier. Can't go any further kiddies." He took out a wicked looking needle and handed it to her. "For Dru," he explained "Knock her right on her ass. She's not that heavy. They will be in the back room."

Buffy's eyebrows competed with each other to see which could reach her hairline first. "Back room of what exactly? We are in the middle of the freaking front lawn." His hand was pressed up against nothing and she reached her hand out. It passed his, and disappeared. She pulled her hand back quickly, relieved to see it again and cradled it to her breast.

"S'invisible Summers. Cloaking spells ring a bell in that pretty little noggin' of yours?" Buffy glared at him, took a deep breath, and walked through the invisible barrier. Her friends followed without hesitation. Loyal to the end.

"Your next stop, the twilight zone." Xander said, Buffy nodded absently. The waiting room, she guessed, had dingy walls and bad light from a bare bulb in the ceiling. Hospital chairs lined the walls and two of them were filled with people. A dirty lanky looking guy with greasy hair in jeans and a ripped t-shirt. The other a neat looking older woman with glasses and a huge purse. But what really caught Buffy's attention was the grey skinned midget in the third chair. With his big ears, and big eyes, and three rows of small pointy teeth. Xander was humming some weird music and it echoed through the room in an eerie kind of way. There was only one door; it must be the back room Spike mentioned. And as crazy as it sounded, she found herself wishing he was here by her side. She really needed to kill him soon.

Buffy took another deep breath and walked resolutely towards the door. They had to stop Drusilla before Spike got his wildest fantasy and drained her dry right on the hell mouth. The big guy, with the major BO stepped in her way. "Wait your turn Blondie."

"Are you trying to be intimidating?" She asked with complete innocence. Then she stomped hard on his instep and brought her knee up hard where it hurts. She pushed him back in to his chair and smiled sweetly. "You might want to work on that." And was through the door before anyone else could protest. Spike had called her Blondie; she decided she didn't like it.

There was a guy lounging in the corner on some gaudy chaise lounge. His hair was long and untidy and his eyes were completely black. The only other person in the room was some demon floating on the ceiling. As creepy as that was, her spidy sense was quiet. No vampires were in here. She addressed herself to the wiggy guy in the corner. "You must be the dealer. Well I'm not impressed. Where is the Vampire?"

He smiled at her; it was not a pleasant expression. The man should look into some skin care products. "Drusilla has long gone, little girl. I have no use for you. But if the Strawberry tart wants a turn I can make her body sing for days." His voice was low and gravelly. That was how Spike's voice should sound. Pure evil. Maybe she should record it so he could practice. Buffy was beginning to feel the last dregs of panic setting in. She was pretty sure that the Vampy Ho was not here. They were running out of time and she was scared.

"Damn it!" She cursed out loud and spun around to leave. But Willow didn't follow. The creepy fellow was staring at her, she was staring back and a chill went up Buffy's spine. This guy was not going to get his claws into Willow. She met Xander's eyes; they each gripped an arm and hauled Willow out of the room. The minute the door closed, she shook her head and looked dazed.

"Wha' happened. Did we get her?"

"She's not here Wills, we have to hurry, we're out of time!" The three of them ran through the barrier. Spike was waiting, shifting from foot to foot like a nervous teenager. Maybe they could still stop her, maybe she hadn't started the spell yet. But it was time to cut Willow and Xander loose. "Guys, Spike and I are going to try to stop her. But I need you to go get Giles. He'll know what to do."

Xander of course began to protest and surprisingly so did Willow. "Enough, I don't have time for this. I need Giles! This is important." Buffy was in full slayer mode, and by now they knew not to question her at times like these. Buffy met their eyes and both of them nodded. She spun and sprinted for the high school, Spike by her side. When they reached the doors she turned. Xander and Willow were getting in the car. She watched as they backed off the lawn. Buffy forced herself to meet Spike's eyes and opened the door to the high school. They rushed through the empty hallways; thank God it was Saturday morning. She felt an odd sense of detachment. It was like when she was walking to meet the master, and she knew she was going to die. Her feeling's and thoughts seemed to almost belong to someone else...like they couldn't touch her. Her nauseating fear seamed to float just out of reach.

They sprinted down the steps to the basement, cut through the boiler room, and burst into the barren storage room beneath the library. But they were too late. Drusilla hovered 6 feet above them, head thrown back, arms flung wide, surrounded by a heavy swirl of dark light. She had started without them.







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