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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you ever so much to IBE, Sotia, Zoe, and Dusty for the great time this afternoon! You guys rock! Again, another Angel chapter - but eventually you'll see why (just not here). And the next chapter of this will deal with the Gentlemen in the Lab and some MAJOR Spuffyness! *Many thanks to EdgeHead73 for the awesome banner!*
“What the hell was that for?” Angel groused as he spit out the last of the water that had lodged itself into his lungs.

“PMS?” Cordy offered as she pounded on Angel’s back.

Angel just sent her a ‘look.’ “It doesn’t make sense. She should be glad to see me. I know I’m glad to see her.”

Cordy rolled her eyes. “Look, while you reminisce about your puppy love, the sun is creeping over the horizon. I, for one, want at least some shut-eye before I do this shrieking thing. Doyle promised me a new Coach handbag if I behaved nicely. And trust me, we’ve been here all of five minutes and already it’s a chore.”

Angel stood up and shook his head. “It’s a sad day when you have to be paid to help someone out,” he coughed.

“Uh, hello? What do you think we do in L.A.? Get with the program. Now, I’m gonna sweet-talk Buffy into letting us in, PMS or not…cause really not wanting to carry you back to L.A. in an urn,” Cordy griped as she raised her hand to knock on the door once more. That is, until Angel stopped her.

“I smell…no…it can’t be! He wouldn’t dare!” Angel growled as he barreled open the front door to Giles’ flat and stood in shock, looking at the people invading the Watcher’s apartment.

Xander’s head popped up from one end of the couch and Anya from the other end. Willow and an unfamiliar girl sat curled up on the other sofa, staring at the entrance he’d just made. Buffy stood in front of them all, arms crossed, a horribly ugly look on her face – directed straight at Angel. And behind them, Spike. How he’d gotten invited into the flat he would never know. But the threat was clear…Spike needed to be removed.

Angel made to skirt around Buffy and reach Spike, but her hand shot out to grab his bicep. Even though she had no voice, Buffy made it very clear what was on her mind. ‘No,’ she mouthed.

Angel’s eyebrows dipped in a frown. “Buffy, you do remember the last confrontation we had with Spike, don’t you? What, did Dru finally come to whatever senses were left to her?” Angel taunted his last sentence towards Spike.

Buffy didn’t have to look at Spike to know that he flinched from the stinging comment. Her eyes narrowed on Angel, and once again he felt the blow before he saw it coming. This time, however, she only backhanded him, and he went sailing across the room.

“Jesus Buffy! We’re here to save your asses, minus of course Xander Harris, and all you can do is play patty-cake with Angel. Get over yourself!” Cordy shouted and hefted Angel to a wobbly, but standing position.

Xander happened to catch her eye and he began rubbing his forehead…with only his middle finger. If anyone had their voices back, one would have heard several snickers…including Spike’s.

At this point, Spike was heartily thinking of a quick retreat, to avoid becoming a punching bag for either Angel or Buffy. His head hurt this morning after that little exercise in thrall, and he’d seen enough to know that he was a fool of the utmost kind to ever think Buffy might look on him favorably. He reasoned to himself that Buffy had only hit Angel out of anger due to the choices he took from her, not in defense of Spike’s feelings or supposed lack there of.

He deliberately tried to shut down his mind, so his thoughts about how he wanted to take Angel back outside and leave him there, wouldn’t cross over to Buffy and cause her more pain. Apparently from the look on her face, he wasn’t succeeding too well.

‘Spike, don’t do anything stupid,’ Buffy pleaded while her back was to him. She was focusing all her energies on dealing with Cordy and Angel at the moment, and she didn’t want to have to pull Spike out of any entanglements he might get himself into.

“Where’s Giles? I don’t think for one second he would allow this cretin in his home,” Angel glared at Spike, who was still in the shadows of the room.

Highly irritated, Buffy grabbed Xander’s sign from around his neck and started writing. “Chained up in the bathroom,” the board said.

Both Cordy and Angel’s eyes widened. “Ok, who are you and what have you done with Buffy?” Angel said with menace as he advanced on her.

Without thought, Spike stepped in front of Buffy in a protective stance, slipping into game face…and he happened to be standing in a shaft of now bright sunlight. It stopped Angel in his tracks.

“Buffy? What the hell is going on here?!” Angel spat out as Spike just waggled his eyebrows and grinned at him.

Feeling a little cocky herself, Buffy rested her right arm on Spike’s shoulder, and waggled her eyebrows too. She gently tugged on Spike’s left arm, until he released it from where he had his arms crossed, and raised his hand to show Angel the ring that adorned it.

Angel didn’t need to step closer to know that the ring on Spike’s ring finger was the Gem of Amara. He growled low in his throat, and glowered at Spike in a threatening manner. “Release her this instant!”

Both blondes frowned in confusion. ‘Do you know what he’s on about, pet?’ Spike sent the thought to her.

‘Haven’t a clue, honestly,’ Buffy responded in kind. ‘I didn’t realize you were holding me against my will,’ she giggled to him.

Angel watched his Slayer and his menace of a granchilde have, what seemed like, a conversation…only it was one that he couldn’t hear. His suspicions were confirmed when both blondes broke out in huge smiles, nothing audible having prompted such an action.

Knowing he was right, Angel slowly approached the powerful couple, coaxing Buffy to come to him…and out of Spike’s clutches. “He has you in a thrall, Buffy. You don’t know what you’re doing or saying. If you take my hand, the thrall will be broken.”

Buffy snorted and tightened her grip on Spike, who was all but growling. ‘M’not using thrall on you Slayer…I promise. Only that one time, when you knew about it – warned you about it, I swear!’ Spike thought vehemently, pleading for her to believe him.

Buffy tugged on Spike’s arm again until he looked at her. She just smiled softly and nodded her head. ‘I know,’ she mouthed the words.

If Peaches hadn’t been in the room, Spike would have burst into tears. Finally, someone actually took him at his word…at least this once, when it mattered. His lower lip wobbling, Spike smiled and patted her hand. ‘Thanks for that, Slayer.’

“Can I just get on with the scream-fest so I can get back to L.A.?” Cordy interrupted irritably.

Xander snapped his fingers and grabbed Anya’s dry erase board. “PRINCESS!” he wrote in big capital letters and pointed at Cordy.

Everyone then looked at a very put-off Cordy. “What of it? I like my comforts, not like you ever did, you thrift store trawler,” she said as she crossed her arms defensively.

“Don’t we have bigger issues to deal with than to call each other names?” Angel protested. “Like how to break Spike’s thrall over Buffy?”

An insistent tapping brought Angel’s attention back to Xander. “Buffy’s not under thrall. Spike has been helping us fight this thing,” he had written on Anya’s board.

“You’re kidding, right? Spike a white-hat? I don’t think so. Someone’s paying him or he’s trying to get in good with you and undermine your group,” Angel scoffed. Spike never did anything if he didn’t benefit from it in some way.

Spike moved to attack Angel, but Buffy held him back. ‘Don’t. He’s baiting you. Don’t prove him right. We all know what you’ve done for us lately.’

“Why are you holding him back, Buffy? Afraid you can’t keep the dog on a leash?” Angel taunted.

And with that statement, Buffy let go of Spike. In no time flat, Spike was on top of Angel, pummeling his face into a bloody mess. ‘I’m nobody’s bloody lap dog!’ Spike roared in his mind, Buffy the only one hearing it.

Cordy finally tried to break up the fight, seeing as Buffy was enjoying it a little too much. She got a fat lip for her troubles, as Spike accidentally took a swipe at her face, thinking it was Angel. As soon as he hit her though, he was out for the count, clutching his head and rolling on the floor with silent screams.

Angel scrambled to a standing position, staring in astonishment, as Willow and Tara rushed over to help Spike. “What the fuck was that, Buffy?!” Angel shouted and then spit some blood from his split lip on the floor.

But Buffy wasn’t listening to Angel. She was helping Willow with an unconscious Spike, trying to at least wake him up. She was also contemplating what had just happened.

Spike’s chip hadn’t gone off while he was attacking Angel – but it did when he hit Cordelia. Human, Cordy was human…though that was stretching it a bit, she thought. And Angel was not. ‘Huh. Guess the Commandos forgot about that little loophole,’ Buffy mused as she pried open Spike’s upper eyelid with her thumb.

Knowing Angel would just insult and criticize Spike even more to provoke him into another attack, Buffy made a decision she hoped wouldn’t come back to bite her on the ass. Holding Spike’s head in her lap, she dug around in her back jeans pocket and fished out a set of keys. She grabbed Willow’s hand and placed them into her palm, closing it tight.

Willow looked down at the set of keys Buffy had given her, recognizing them as her old house keys. She looked at Buffy for confirmation of what she wanted her to do. Buffy nodded and looked at a prone Spike, her eyes pleading. Willow smiled gently and patted Buffy’s hand in affirmation. She and Willow would get Spike to Buffy’s house, safely away from Angel.

This would also allow Buffy to have a very strong heart to heart talk with Angel, after their voices were returned, of course. She watched as Willow and Tara hefted Spike’s arms around each of their shoulders, dragging him out the front door and into the sunlight.

“Where are they taking him?” Angel asked as he helped Cordy up from the floor. He brushed his thumb over her busted lip, feeling a tingle run straight to his groin. Not so good, he thought.

After a long period of silence, in which he forgot they couldn’t speak, Angel turned to look at a haggard Buffy. She just shook her head in the negative. She then took Anya’s board again and wrote, “We need to find the Gentlemen and get our voices back.”

“That’s why we’re here. Except we were attacked before we could even say anything!” he snarled.

“Fine. Say something then,” she wrote, underlining the last sentence.

“What the hell is going on, Buffy? I come here, expecting Giles to open the door and I get knocked on my ass! Instead, your Watcher is chained up in the bathroom for who knows what, and the Scoobies are paling around with Spike! I don’t get it,” Angel huffed in irritation.

Not bothering with any explanation, Buffy grabbed Angel by the cuff and pulled him along to the bathroom, shoving him inside. Giles was now awake from the commotion, but his eyes were yellow and he was pulling at his restraints, the shackles biting into his wrists. If he had a voice, growls would have echoed off the bathroom walls.

Angel moved to unlock the manacles, but was stopped by Buffy’s hand on his chest and a strong shake of her head in the negative. “He’s not himself,” she wrote on the board.

“Well I wouldn’t be either, if I was chained up like that,” Angel accused Buffy.

“You don’t understand…that is NOT Giles,” Buffy wrote on the board as she severely underlined the word NOT.

Angel inhaled deeply, frowning. “It’s Giles all right, but there is a stench about him that’s somewhat familiar…and dark, like magick.”

Of course! How could she be so stupid! Willow’s spell…the truth would be revealed with time. Buffy glanced down at Giles, who grinned maliciously and licked his lips suggestively. The only time she’d ever seen Giles near this bad was when… ‘Oh my god,’ she mouthed to Angel as she pulled him out of the bathroom.

Everything was falling into place. After Willow’s little truth will out spell, Giles had seemed a little funny. She noticed his growing aggravation with not getting enough information from Spike, and then Willow told her about how he had hurt her yesterday. Then, the outright attack on Willow last night that prompted the harsh treatment. Giles was reverting to his true self – The Ripper.

“He dabbled in really dark magicks as a young man, Buffy. That sort of thing stays with you, it doesn’t go away. I should know,” Angel admitted once they were out of hearing distance of the bathroom.

“Look, am I going to do this screamy-screechy-yelly thing today? Cause if not, I’m tired to the bone and would love some sleep…really,” Cordy yawned widely and sat on the chair near Giles’ desk.

“There’s a bed upstairs,” Buffy wrote and showed her. “Don’t know where the Gentlemen are right now, so it may be this evening before we find anything out.”

Without saying a word, Cordy carried herself upstairs to Giles’ bedroom and plopped down on the messy bed. She didn’t care who had slept here before; it was soft and comfy, and therefore sleep worthy. She was fast asleep within minutes.

“I should probably catch some sleep too,” Angel murmured as he walked to the bottom of the stairs, following the path Cordy had taken.

“I want to talk after I get my voice back,” Buffy wrote on the board.

Angel silently nodded and disappeared upstairs.

******************************************************************************************

Spike woke up as the two girls were dragging his legs over the Summers threshold. Momentarily confused, Spike struggled but soon stopped, once he figured out who was carrying him. Glinda and Red were good people, knowing these two wouldn’t purposely hurt him.

They gently laid him down on Buffy’s mom’s couch and sat across from him. “Buffy’s mom is out of town right now,” Willow wrote on her board. She happened to grab it as they were heading out the door.

‘Where’s Buffy?’ Spike mouthed, as he had no board and he was too tired to write anyways.

Tara and Willow exchange a look with each other. “Still with Angel. She wanted us to bring you here…away,” Willow wrote and looked at him with sad eyes.

Spike turned away at the pity in her eyes and bit his lip to keep it from quivering. He knew that all kinds of thoughts were going to come flying at his brain from Buffy…and he had a horrible inkling that they would all be about Peaches. And if he heard all that, he wouldn’t be able to hide his damning thoughts about the ponce. Buffy didn’t need that, and Spike didn’t want it. He turned his gaze back to Willow and tapped on the board, indicating he wanted to use it.

“Break the spell, Red,” Spike wrote, but hesitated to show her. If the spell broke, he couldn’t communicate with Buffy anymore. After long moments though, he showed his message to Willow.

Willow took the board from Spike. “But everyone is getting along! And Buffy isn’t being mean!” she wrote with a panicked look on her face.

Spike grimaced as he sat up. He patted Willow’s knee and smiled sadly. ‘It isn’t real,’ he mouthed.

“You won’t try to bite me, when I break it…will you?” Willow wrote with raised eyebrows.

Spike smiled widely and made grrr faces towards her. She laughed but then sobered. Normally she would just speak the words and the spell could be undone. But real witches just needed to concentrate, focusing on the intent of the spell.

Tara tugged on her arm and smiled. She pointed to herself, indicating she could help Willow boost her power. She agreed and wrote the words on the board that she would be concentrating on, and then they linked hands.

Both girls closed their eyes and breathed deeply. Restituo quis vicis infractus. The girls had pleaded for the Goddess Hecate to repair that which time had broken.

It was all very anti-climactic from Spike’s point of view. He felt no different than he had a moment ago. He tried out the telepathy to see if it really worked. ‘Buffy?’ No answer. He tried again, except he yelled to her mind. ‘BUFFY!’ Again, no answer.

Spike nodded mutely to the witches and got up to wonder into the kitchen, hoping to make himself a cup of hot chocolate. Anything to keep his mind off of had just happened. He shouldn’t have a gaping hole in the middle of his chest; he shouldn’t just want to lie down and give up – that wasn’t his style. Yet, he still felt these feelings and he wondered if he’d done the right thing.

Miles across town, Buffy was going crazy with worry, as she tried and tried to talk to Spike, but got no answer. Knowing she would continue this way until she knew Spike was completely safe, she barged out the door and headed to her mom’s house.

All the while leaving Anya and Xander with a very stunned Giles, who was struggling in the bathtub, banging his cuffs against the rim to get anyone’s attention.





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