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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks again to Ariel Dawn for doing a fab beta job and saving me from my repeating word syndrome

that I seem to have inherited from her! ;)
Chapter Three: New Evil
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“Very well. We’ll go to the training room,” Giles said after mulling over it for a moment.

“But Giles-,” Willow started to argue but was interrupted by Tara.

“If Nikole thinks that it’s better if less people know, I trust her,” Tara spoke up. Willow nodded her head as Tara squeezed her hand.

“If you’ll follow me,” Giles beckoned. Nikole followed him into the back room.

Buffy gave an exasperated sigh as she headed off to join the pair, calling after Spike as she did so. “Come on Spike.”

“What ya need me for?” he asked jumping down from the counter and walking towards the Slayer.

Buffy waited till he was closer to start talking. “I don’t know about her, and if you’re going to be patrolling, you need to know,” Buffy offered the simple explanation, not looking him in the eyes even though she felt Spike trying to catch hers. She felt rather than saw Spike nod. She turned on her heel and walked into the training room, feeling him follow after her.

She didn’t know what made her tell him to come back, it was just an instinct, one that had saved her more times than she could count, so she just followed it. She could feel the other’s eyes on her and she could just imagine what weird shape Xander’s face had contorted into when she had asked Spike to follow her. She gave a smirk and entered the training room, picking a spot on the wall to rest up against.

“So this new evil?” Giles pressed as the door closed behind Spike.

“Yes. The beast is coming to Sunnydale to look for her Key,” Nikole answered looking across at them.

“A key?” Giles asked with a frown.

“Yes. Long ago, there was a powerful magic essence, called the Key. An ancient order of monks were given the task of guarding it. Recently, the beast resumed her search for the Key. If she finds it and performs the correct ritual, she would be able to open the portals between this world and others, tearing apart the barriers that separate dimensions.”

“Creating hell on Earth,” Buffy said finishing for her and rolled her eyes at the predictability.

“Yes,” Nikole confirmed. “When the monks got word the beast was searching for the Key, they took the Key's essence, gave it form, and sent it to the Slayer to protect. They integrated it into your life so you would never know and protect it still.”

“So your saying that one of us is the Key?” Buffy said.

“No, none of you are the Key, I would be able to sense if you were. The Key has a unique essence to it; it separates it apart from others. Is there anyone not here that you are personally attached to?”

“Just Riley, Dawn, and Mom.”

“Speaking of, where is Captain Cardboard?” Spike asked.

Buffy gave him a warning glare before turning back to Nikole.

“I will have to meet them to determine the identity of the Key,” Nikole told her.

“So what happens when we find the ‘Key’?” Buffy asked.

“I will protect it with my life and try to find a way to diffuse the essence into myself so that the mortal is not in any danger.”

“Hold up, you’re going to take this Key essence or whatever and put it in yourself?” Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, most likely the Key is a human being, an innocent person who doesn’t even realize they are the Key. If I can find a spell that will allow me to separate the Key’s essence and put it in myself, I’ll do it. I will be able to protect it better and if I am captured, I will be able to fight and the mortal will live.”

“This all sounds good in theory, but how do you propose to find a spell?’ Giles asked, the voice of logic.

“With our combined resources, I’m sure we can find something,” Nikole replied with a small smile.

“I don’t know pet, magic can be a tricky thing. You and I both know that there’s always consequences,” Spike spoke up from his leaned position against the wall.

“As much as I hate to admit it, Spike does have a good point,” Giles said reluctantly.

“I realize that there are consequences,” Nikole said as she began to pace, “But this is the only solution I could think of. There’s no way that we can allow the beast to win.”

“What exactly is the beast?” Buffy asked.

“The Beast is older than anything. You won’t find her in any of your books. She is a hellgod, Glorificus, her minions call her Glory.”

“A hellgod you say? Quiet interesting,” Giles mused. With a glance he caught the stormy look coming from Buffy. The Watcher gave her sheepish smile for his over exuberance. “Well, I suppose I could call the Council and see if they have any information about this thing. You are quiet sure it’s a hellgod?”

“You all wouldn’t be talking about little ole me now would ya?” a voice said from the door to the alley. Standing there was a fashionably dressed, short, blonde girl, her deceptively innocent look belying who she really was.

“The Beast,” Nikole growled as she took a defensive stance.

“Oh such a crude name, please call me Glory,” she said as she took a step inside.

“I suggest you leave the way you came in,” Buffy said, stepping in front of Nikole and crossing her arms.

“Or what?” asked the intruder.

“Or I make you,” Buffy replied.

Spike felt a smirk float to his face as he took the Slayer in, all power and attitude.

“I’d like to see you try,” Glory shot back as she studied her nails.

Buffy charged forward. Just as she reached the goddess, Glory stuck out her arm and threw the Slayer at the wall; Buffy’s body indented into the wall before falling to the ground. Spike stared in shock at the way Buffy had been discarded before rage flooded his veins and he charged, landing a few punches before meeting the same fate as Buffy.

“You wanna try next witch?” Glory asked with a raised eyebrow.

Glory looked over at Giles who finally had managed to rouse Buffy.

Once she had cleared her head, Buffy jumped up, ready to fight again.

“Okay doll, here’s how it goes. I want my key, and I know you have it or know where it’s at. So since I’m feeling generous, I’ll give you a week then I’m going to pay you a nice little visit and I expect to get my key. Ciao!” Glory blew a kiss at the now standing Spike before heading out the door.

“You okay?” Giles asked, worry etched in the lines of his face.

“I’m fine,” Buffy replied, brushing him off. “So you weren’t kidding, were you?” she asked looking up at Nikole, who shook her head in negative.

“I wish I was,” Nikole answered with a sad smile.

“I’m going to go call the Council, see what I can find. Are you sure you’re alright?” Giles asked staring down at his Slayer.

“I’m fine Giles. Go, we’re going to need to find out everything we can,” Buffy answered, reassuring him with a smile.

Giles turned and left, leaving the trio alone. Buffy sat down on the couch with a grimace.

“What can I do?” Nikole asked.

“Ice pack would be nice,” she said and watched as Nikole left to retrieve one.

“You sure you’re okay pet?” Spike asked as his eyes ran over her, he didn’t smell any blood.

“I’m fine!” she snapped and then let out a deep sigh. “Sorry, it’s just, I’m frustrated. How’d you manage?” Buffy asked, not only surprising him, but also herself. Where’d the hell did that come from? Since when do I care about what happens to Spike?

Spike stared at her for a second before getting an answer out. “Fine, a blow to my ego but I’ll be fine,” he replied with a smirk and Buffy couldn’t help but smirk back. She felt a cloud of familiarity set over them and relaxed into the couch.

“How did she? I mean, she just batted me away like I was dust. Spike, that’s never happened to me before?!” She inwardly cringed, waiting for his snarky comment, which surprisingly never came. She saw his forehead crinkle in concentration.

How do I reassure her without sounding too much like a ponce? Spike took a deep breath before he opened his mouth.

“Slayer, you just went up against a hellgod. I’d consider it lucky to still even be alive. Next time we’ll be prepared for her and then we’ll take the bitch down,” he said in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

Oh my god. What am I doing? This is Spike. Evil, soulless Spike. Evil, soulless Spike who is reassuring me that I’m going to beat a hellgod and not rejoicing at the fact I just got my ass kicked. Okay, this is too wiggy, even for me. Buffy straightened up, before looking at Spike.

“What do you know? You’re just some vampire that she could probably squish with her pinky,” she said. She saw Spike’s face fall before a sneer appeared on his face.

Knew it was too good to be true, stupid bint.

“That’s right, I’m just a stupid vampire who actually managed to land a few punches unlike a Slayer I know that just got batted away like a fly,” he spat back.

Okay, this is good, this is normal. Back to trading barbs and no more comfort stuff, because reassuring and Spike don’t even belong in the same sentence.

Before Buffy could say anything back Spike was up, striding out the door into the front of the shop.

Oh god, could I have sounded anymore like of a brat? But this was Spike, who cares, right?

Buffy tried to convince herself of the words that floated in her head, but she still could feel the small ball of guilt that was forming in her stomach. So yeah, okay, Spike wasn’t exactly the nicest guy in the world sometimes but over the summer he had gotten better. Still a pain in the ass but tolerable. He was actually a lot of help and there’d had been the various times when he’d save them out of a tight situation. But what did it all mean? She was saved from pondering any further by Nikole coming back with an ice pack.

“Here you go,” Nikole said handing it over.

“Thanks,” Buffy muttered applying the pack to her shoulder that had taken the brunt of the impact with the wall.

“Mr. Giles said we should join him. He said there’s quite a selection of books to go through.”

“Ugh, I had a feeling he was going to say that.” Buffy got up, keeping the pack on her shoulder.

Following Nikole out into the front of the shop, Buffy paused as she glimpsed Riley come through the doors. He flashed her a toothy smile which she returned before walking over to her and putting a hand on her waist affectionately.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey.”

The whole scene was a demonstration of possession on the part of the large hulking man. Nikole glanced over at Spike and could feel the waves of disapproval and disgust coming off of him towards the other blonde man. She passed her eyes over the blonde man at Buffy's side, evaluating him. He was big and burly, maybe an okay fighter. She scanned over his aura and deducted him from the list: he wasn’t the Key. Her dejected sigh caught the man’s attention and he looked quizzically at Buffy.

“Oh sorry, I forgot. Um Riley this is Nikole. Nikole this is Riley,” Buffy said introducing them.

“Nice to meet you,” Riley said shaking her hand.

Nikole gave his hand a firm handshake and she could feel his eyes roaming over her body. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“You too,” she replied letting his hand go.

She could see Buffy’s questioning glance and she shook her head in negative. Riley gave a small frown but brushed it off.

“So what’s up?” he asked his eyes darting between the occupants of the room, resting finally on Buffy.

“There’s a hellgod in town and she thinks I have something she wants. So we’re making with the research, or at least they are,” she answered as she gestured to the Scoobies sitting at the table, each with a book in their lap.

“Too bad the Initiative wasn’t still around, we could have found out all the info in a couple hours,” he said, looking unhappily at the books.

“You do remember psycho teacher who made her own Frankenstein, right?” she asked, not feeling the need to refresh his memory.

“Yeah,” he said dejectedly. “So what are you doing?”

“Well, I was going patrol. Take Nikole out and show her the ropes since she’s going to be here for a while,” Buffy said looking over at Giles, who nodded his head in approval.

“You want me to come with?” Riley asked.

“Nah, it’s okay. We’ll just do a quick sweep,” she answered and then turning back to Nikole. “You got weapons?”

“Of course,” Nikole answered.

“Well, guess I’ll be shippin’ off then, did my duty,” Spike said hoping off the counter and heading towards the door, the girls following behind him. Once they were out the door, Nikole stopped Spike by grabbing his arm. He looked up questioningly.

“I just wanted to say thanks. I know that that could have totally gone wrong and you risked yourself and I just wanted to say thanks,” she said kissing him on the cheek.

Spike gave her a strange look before noticing that Buffy was watching them as discreet as possible. Nikole winked at him and he smirked back at her.

“No problem pet,” he said bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“So I’ll see you at your crypt later?” she asked loudly, hoping Spike would get it and play along. Spike smile grew wider as he saw Buffy give up on being secretive and flat out stare at them.

“Sure luv, I’ll see you then,” he replied, giving her a chaste kiss and disappearing down the street. He could feel Buffy’s eyes bore into his back and knew that he was going to like this bird after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tbc…





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