Spike frowned at Willow's report, his hand going to the small of Buffy's back protectively. "I don't like the sound of that at all. Did you get any sense of what she was planning?"
Willow shook her head. "No. She had her 'I know a secret' face, which means she's not going to spill, but she's definitely up something. And since she's sitting up there, calmly looking at shoes, I'm thinking she's got something specific already in motion. Otherwise, she'd still be all twitchy like she was last night."
"Okay then. Buffy, I want you out of here. Now."
Buffy whipped around to look at Spike. "I'm not leaving you."
"Kitten, the sun's up, and I don't know this place well enough yet to gauge the nearest sewer entrance. I didn't spend a lot of time bothering the Slayer in the day. I'll be fine until nightfall. But I want you far away from Nancy and in a safe place right now. Red, is there someplace you can take her?"
Willow frowned, thinking for a moment before she smiled and exclaimed, "Oz!"
"The great and powerful wizard?" Buffy asked, nose wrinkled.
"No, Oz is my boyfriend. Nancy doesn't pay a lot of attention to my personal life, so she doesn't know where he lives. Plus, his parents are currently out of town, so less questions," Willow explained.
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Spike asked.
Willow nodded. "Yes. Oz is a really great guy, and he doesn't like Nancy very much. He doesn't think she's been a particularly good friend to me, and he's sensitive about that." Willow smiled slightly. "It's cute."
Buffy smiled back for a moment. She hadn't expected Willow to have a boyfriend, but apparently she not only did have one, but she was rather smitten as well. But her smile quickly faded as her attention came back to the situation at hand. "I don't like leaving you, Spike. Can't you just like, run out to the car with your coat over your head or something?"
Spike shook his head. "It'll call too much attention to us leaving. I don't want Nancy to know you're gone, at least not right away. I want you to sneak upstairs real quiet like, go out the back door, and then get yourself to Red's friend's house as quickly as you can. I'll find you, right after sunset. Just when it gets dark, relax and open yourself up to the claim, and I'll know where you are, kitten."
"I don't like this," Buffy said softly. "It scares me to be separated from you now."
"I know, baby. But you're not safe here, not with the Slayer all out of sorts." Spike pulled her into a kiss, trying his best to reassure her with his touch even when he was uncertain himself. "I'll be with you again, as soon as I can," he promised her as he pulled away.
"I'll hold you to that," Buffy said, her hand reaching out to squeeze his.
"I know you will." Reluctantly, Spike let go of Buffy. "Now off, both of you. Don't stop until you've gotten to safety."
Buffy nodded and started to walk off with Willow, only to run back to Spike's arms and kiss him one more time before she was able to leave.
"Willow, don't panic and don't turn around, but there's a black van that's been following us for the last couple of blocks."
At Buffy's announcement, Willow did force herself not to turn around and stare at the van in question, but the not panicking part was proving to be a little difficult. "What do we do, Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Just stay as calm as you can and keep walking," Buffy replied. "We need to find a public place where we can hide out for a while."
"Okay, walking. I can do walking," Willow said, even as fear curled inside of her stomach. Something about this frightened her even more than when she was face to face with a vampire. Teenaged girls being followed by a van while walking to a friend's house was the sort of thing you heard on the news. It was a situation your parents told you not to get in, the sort you learned to fear in school.
Beside her, Buffy looked much calmer than her redheaded companion, but inside Buffy was rising to near panic levels herself. She wished Spike was there with her and cursed the afternoon sun for keeping them apart. She'd feel safer with him.
They had almost made it to the end of the street when suddenly, the van sped up, then came to a screeching halt in front of the girls. The side door slid open and three men jumped out, one barking orders to the others. Buffy fell into a defensive stance, but they were ready for her, a fourth man appearing unexpectedly, armed with a cattle prod. He took advantage of Buffy's surprise, and even as she landed a swift kick to one of the men, the fourth one hit her with the prod, her body twitching violently before she fell to the ground.
Willow screamed and ran into the fray, her fear for her friend suddenly overriding her fear for herself. She was no match for the men, however, and the first one struck her hard across the face, sending her tumbling down to the pavement. Willow's head hit the hard surface of the road, and her world went black.
Spike knew the instant something happened to Buffy. Shared pain tore through him, and he double over from both the physical ache and the knowledge his mate had been harmed. Quickly, however, he shook it off, knowing that if Buffy was in trouble, something had to be done.
And he knew just the person to get his answers from.
Fully enraged and demon visage present, Spike stormed up to the Slayer's door and ripped it off its hinges with a roar. Nancy gasped, her body trembling as Spike went to her and snatched her up, pinning her up against the wall with a thrust hard enough to bruise even her.
"What did you do?" Spike growled.
Nancy shook. In all her time fighting vampires, she'd never seen one act quite like this, not even Spike. She realized in an instant that if Spike wanted his third Slayer, he had her.
"I didn't do anything!" Nancy insisted, desperate to save herself. She knew she had no chance against him in a fight now, not when he was all fangs and blind fury.
"Don't lie to me, bitch," Spike growled, slamming Nancy back against the wall as he did. "You did something to my mate."
"Spike, I've been right up here in my room all day! I couldn't have done anything to Buffy!"
Spike roared, ready to hit her again, when he felt something sharp against his back.
"Drop her, Spike, or I will fire this crossbow," Giles said, his tone even.
Reluctantly, Spike let go of Nancy, and the Slayer slid to the floor. "Put the crossbow down, Watcher," Spike said. "If you know anything about claims at all, you know killing me will only hurt Buffy, too."
"Which is why we all need to calm down here," Giles said. He lowered his weapon enough to let Spike step away from Nancy, though he kept it in his hands.
"Giles, I didn't do anything," Nancy said, looking up at her Watcher from the floor. "I don't know what he's talking about."
"Something's happened to Buffy," Spike said, his eyes flashing with anger as he spoke. "I felt it, though the claim. She's been hurt." The full weight of the situation hit him as the initial surge of uncontrollable rage began to fade. He'd sent Buffy out, thinking she'd be safe, and all he'd done was led her right into danger. His legs trembled beneath him, and he braced his hand against the wall to keep upright.
"Where is she? Did she leave the house?" Giles asked.
"Yeah. She went somewhere with Red." Spike didn't want to give too many more details, not with Nancy still there. He watched as she rose to her feet again, and he fought the urge to rip out her throat.
"Willow? Why was she with Willow?" Nancy asked. "She said she wasn't going to be around Buffy anymore."
Spike glared at the Slayer. "There's more important issues here than whether or not the girl's still your number one best friend," he snapped. "Someone hurt Buffy, and I know you had a part in it."
"I've been in my room all day!" Nancy protested. "I didn't even know Buffy and Willow were gone—how could I have had something to do with what happened to Buffy?"
"You had plenty of time to work something up last night," Spike said, his cold gaze unwavering from Nancy's face. Nancy slinked backwards.
"Spike, I don't think there's any reason to leap to the conclusion that Nancy was somehow responsible for whatever's happened to Buffy. Perhaps had it been you, but my Slayer is not in the habit of harming humans," Giles said, his hand still on his weapon.
At that, Spike turned to the Watcher. "You sure about that, mate? She certainly was quick to deem Joyce as evil. You think if she didn't think the same thing about Buffy she wouldn't try to take her out?"
"I already said I was wrong about Joyce and Buffy!" Nancy protested. "Giles, you can't listen to the vampire over me!"
Giles glanced between the two, and Spike thought he might have seen a flicker of uncertainty on the man's face, though it was gone quickly. "Even if that were the case, and Nancy did believe Buffy needed to be taken down, she would not be part of some conspiracy as you're suggesting, Spike. It's simply ludicrous."
Frustration boiled inside of Spike. The Watcher was deluding himself, not wanting to see what was right in front of his face. Spike could practically smell the lie every time Nancy opened her mouth, and her accelerated heartbeat with every thing she said only confirmed that for him further. And clearly the idea of Nancy conspiring against Buffy wasn't as "ludicrous" as Giles claimed if Willow had no trouble believing it.
"She's got a hand in this, Watcher," Spike said evenly. "I'd bet my lack of life on it. Now I've got to find Buffy."
Spike started towards the stairs, but stopped short when Giles grabbed his arm. "It's the middle of the day. You won't do Buffy a bit of good as a pile of dust."
"I can stay underground until the sun's gone," Spike replied.
"And do what, stick your nose out of sewer grates?" Giles asked.
"No, but I could get a lock on her through the claim as soon as she becomes more cognizant," Spike said. "I think she's unconscious right now, her mind's real fuzzy, but when it clears up, I'll be able to find her."
"Then you can look for her," Giles told him. "Right now, you might just end up going in the opposite direction if you're wandering around underground."
"I'm not bloody waiting around here doing nothing!"
"I'll look for her," Nancy said quickly, wanting out of the house and away from Spike more than anything else. She had no doubt in her mind that the vampire still wanted her very much dead.
"Like hell you will!" Spike yelled. "You're the one who caused this in the first place. Don't think for a second that I don't know that."
"I will search with her. We'll look for any signs of Buffy or Willow," Giles said. "Spike, do you know where they were headed?"
Spike glanced warily at Nancy for a moment, but then figured that since Buffy had already been attacked, there was no point in keeping what would've been their destination a secret any longer. "They were on their way to Red's boyfriend's house."
"Ah, yes, Oz," Giles said with a nod. "I know where the boy lives. I drove Willow over there once after she had been helping me in the library."
"Good," Spike said, glad to know Giles knew where to begin to look. Maybe Buffy would turn out to be all right. Maybe whatever had hurt her and knocked her unconscious had then left her alone.
Spike didn't really believe that for a second, despite how nice it sounded in his head.
"I'll let you know the moment we find something," Giles promised the vampire.
"And I'm heading out to look on my own the second the sun goes down," Spike replied.
Giles nodded. He hadn't expected anything else. "Come along, Nancy," he said tersely to his Slayer as he led her out of the house.
As soon as they were gone, Spike slumped to the ground, helplessness washing over him.
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