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Author's Chapter Notes:
So, Spike is wounded over what’s happened, at least a little! What is he gonna do, and what will happen next to our heroine as things get progressively worse?

If Principal Snyder’s first name is something else, sorry about the slip-up. For those that don’t know: “fag” is Brit-speak for a cigarette.
XXXXXXXXXX

As Buffy started walking back to the school, Willow, Oz and Jenny Calendar watched a field hockey game that night, cheering the Sunnydale Wizards as they scored yet again.

“Great game,” Oz commented in his usual never-wavering voice.

“Yeah, I never thought I could go for hockey, but our team is pretty good,” Willow said. “And, oh! Check out the name! Very Hellmouthy.”

“I don’t know, sounds more ‘Lord of the Rings’ to me,” Oz said. He took Willow’s hand in his and squeezed it. The titian haired girl smiled shyly back at the werewolf.

The team was starting to disperse as the game came to an end. The three rose, Jenny walking in front of the two teens.

“You guys want me to drive you home?” she asked Willow and Oz. The girl shook her head.

“I’ve got to get some books for a test tomorrow,” she told the computer teacher.

“I’ll come with,” Oz said, following Willow toward the library. Jenny took up the rear. She thought that, with everything going on, they might as well leave together and, if need be, escape in her car should anything nasty be outside.

XXXXXXXXXXX

In the library, Giles and Xander were getting restless as they waited anxiously for Buffy’s return. They faced each other, abandoning their research of Angelus’ latest exploits and not looking into the latest prophecies concerning him. The dark haired youth stood.

“Well, I’ve had enough research for ten lifetimes,” Xander reported. He started for the door, when Giles’ hand reached out and grabbed his arm. The brunette haired boy glared at Buffy’s Watcher.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” the older man asked.

“Buffy’s out there,” Xander stated. “I know she needs me!”

Giles snorted. “Oh, that’s a laugh,” he said. “She needs you like she needs gingivitis!” His eyes looked up at Xander and pinned the boy with a stare.

“She wanted us to wait here, and here is where we should wait!” the British man said.

“Oh, yeah?” Xander asked hotly, his voice starting to rise. “Well, who died and made you King of the World?” His next words were murmured with a hint of derision. “Although, Lord knows, you’re old enough to be!”

“Better to be a King on a throne with my Queen than a Squire from the pimple squad,” Giles bit back, his anger growing.

“Say it again, G-Man!” Xander threatened, his temper rising. **Cause I’m just itching for a fight!** He thought.

“Don’t call me G-Man, you sod!” Giles shouted. He shot up from his chair, ready to pummel Xander.

Xander’s hands clenched into fists. He rammed into Giles with all his might; the two fell on the table. Papers and books flew in every direction. Xander’s hand was over the Watcher’s face, but Giles rebounded, pushing Xander to the floor. Before the boy could recover, Giles was wrapping his arms around his neck.

“She’s too much woman for you, child!” Giles said, his past, rebellious self coming sharply to the surface.

“At least the love she has for me is real, old man!” Xander retorted.

Xander’s leg shot up, kicking the librarian near the balls. Giles went down, as the boy started to get back up, but the older man managed to grab his attacker’s leg and pull hard. Xander fell, his eyes shooting daggers into the Watcher.

Footsteps were heard coming into the library. Willow ran in first, followed by Oz and Jenny Calendar.

“My God! Giles!” Willow shouted. “What’s going on?”

“Bugger off!” the Watcher snapped uncharacteristically to all three stunned people. Oblivious to their reaction, he glared at Xander, grunting, “He’s mine!” Giles remained on the floor, getting his bearings so that he could eventually kick the boy’s arse some more.

Oz helped Xander up but also held him back with his hand from inflicting further damage. Miss Calendar offered her aid to Giles, but the Watcher waved her off. Before either the boy or the librarian could get another word in edgewise, Jenny’s voice piped up.

“Rupert?” she queried. “Why are you trying to fight Xander?”

“Because he can’t have her!” Giles thundered as though that explained everything. Jenny’s brows drew back in confusion. Who was "she"?

Oz’s dry humor came up. “If you guys were gonna kill each other, why didn’t you sell tickets?” he asked, trying to defuse the situation. Willow turned her eyes from her two friends and looked at her boyfriend.

“Oz, so not helping!” she said sotto voce.

Buffy burst into the library just then. Oz turned to regard her...and couldn’t stop staring. Her green eyes fell on the scene before her. Xander’s hair was askew and he was roughed up, but looked none the worse for wear. Giles slowly rose from the floor but still looked at Xander with irritation. The dark haired youth reached Buffy’s side first.

“Buffster!” Xander cried. “Glad to see you!” He started to give her a hug, but Buffy backed away.

“And, I’m glad to see you, but I think it’s better if I’m over there, if you don’t mind,” she told him, pointing to a corner of the room that was far away from Xander and Giles. Oz came over to the Slayer.

“Buffy...” Oz started saying, then he asked in a sexy voice that was directed solely at her, “are you wearing a new perfume, or something?” The Chosen One looked at the werewolf and groaned softly. Willow looked from Oz, to her best friend, to everyone and was grief stricken as she saw the lustful look in her boyfriend’s eyes.

“Buffy...what? How? WHY?” was all Willow could manage asking in an anguished voice.

The Slayer didn’t know how she could explain to her friend what was going on. Her senses told her just then that Willow’s breaking heart was the least of her worries. Angelus was on his way, and he was drawing closer. Even worse, Buffy could sense that Drusilla was tagging along.

“Hold that thought, Will,” Buffy said.

With a command to the others to stay inside, the Chosen One left the library. Before exiting the school, she went toward her locker to see if she could grab some weapons from her knapsack.

Jenny looked back at the three men, whose eyes seemed to be following the Slayer’s every movement. “All right, Rupert,” she said, “maybe you could tell me some of what’s going on.” She pulled up a chair opposite the Watcher and waited for any information she could receive.

XXXXXXXXXX

While Buffy got ready to face Angelus and Drusilla, Spike walked into Willie’s Bar and Grill on the East side of town, his duster slightly illuminated in the dim light. Rock music was playing out of an old juke box. Vampires and demons were either drinking or smoking or were hatching plans about doing in the Slayer at some of the tables.

“Whiskey!” William the Bloody bellowed, sitting at the center of the bar. “Straight!” Spike added, taking out his lighter and igniting his cigarette. He took a long puff as Willie brought him a glass of the amber liquor. Spike drained the glass so fast that the demon was taken aback.

“Woah, Spike!” he said sympathetically. “Dru, again?”

“Nope,” the bleached blond vampire said. He slammed the empty glass down on the counter, shouting, “another!” Willie hastily complied with Spike’s request.

“She must have been some girl!” the demon said, whistling. Spike smoked some more, letting some of the ashes fall into the glass.

“She was the Slayerrr....” a demon resembling the purple haired one Buffy had attacked recently growled. “He reeks of her scent.”

“You dated the SLAYER?!” Willie cried incredulously. The music in the bar stopped. Every eye was instantly on Spike. The former poet glared at the demon bartended. Willie sheepishly looked around, waiting to see what would happen.

“Wasn’t a date, or any o’ that rot,” Spike said loud enough for everyone to hear. “Just was tryin’ to taste her before killing her.”

The demon waved the beginning mob off. “Okay, show’s over! Drinks on the house, whaddaya say?” he asked. Everyone turned back to whatever they were doing, save for the table of purple demons. They observed Spike and Willie with interest.

Willie’s eyes widened as he asked as softly as he could in a loud place, “Did you...? Kill her, I mean?” Spike took another long drag on his fag.

“Here’s the thing...” Spike said. “I don’t jus’ wanna kill her, like the others. I wanna make her pay! Treated me like dirt, she did! Don’t want this to be quick, an’ whatnot.”

Willie glanced at the peroxide vamp. The bartender was wondering what could be going through Spike’s mind to make the revenant not follow tradition. He knew that Spike was usually an in-again, out-again kind of guy. He just killed someone and got on with his unlife; no fuss, no muss.

The way Spike wanted to make the Slayer suffer was more like his grandsire, Angelus. Willie would have paid a king’s ransom to find out why this girl was different from the other two Slayers the master vampire had killed.

**Of course,** the demon’s more rational side was telling him, **it’s not really my business.**

As he extinguished his cigarette, Spike wrote on a piece of paper. “Tell me,” he inquired, “where I c’n find a place that sells those?”

Willie looked at the paper, and then at the fair haired vampire. His eyes darted back and forth to make sure that the demons and other vampires weren’t regarding them both anymore. Spike tossed some money on the counter. The bartender nodded and took the money.

“You might try this address,” Willie told Spike in a low voice as he wrote on the back of the paper.

“Thanks, mate,” Spike said, signaling for another glass of whiskey. The vampire drank his fill, grabbed the paper, and then left the bar. Some of the purple demons—three large ones—exited the pub.

When he got outside, the vampire was aware of three figures tagging along behind him. Spike turned to see three large Ra’sha’hoo demons following him.

“We would have a word with you, vampyr,” the leader said. His blue violet skin was barely visible even to Spike’s superior vision on the dark streets of Sunnydale.

“We’ll be joining youuu,” another said menacingly. The blond vampire could make out his lavender hue clearly.

“Really?” Spike asked, looking nonchalant. “An’ why is that?”

“The Slayer destroyed our brotherrr, and after he dared to mark her as his mate,” the first demon who had spoken said.

**Good for her!** The revenant thought. **Leaves her jus’ for me!**

“She will be lashed by the tongue for her offence!” the third demon said. “But she will not die immediately! She will sufferrr.”

Something primitive inside Spike reacted to that. The demon in him came to life, demanding that the vampire kill all of the demons on Buffy’s behalf so that he could finish the job alone.

**She’s MINE to kill, not theirs!** It screamed, almost like a mantra in his mind.

Spike forced himself to control it. Although he loved a good fight, he really didn’t want to be burned by the acid of a Ra’sha’hoo, especially since these seemed to have a mating drive for Buffy. His knowledge of demons had taught him that the purple demons tended to be at their strongest when the mating drive began. William the Bloody would wait until he could seize the advantage and destroy them.

“Yeh, sure, all right,” Spike agreed. They made their way through town to the destination the vampire had in mind.

XXXXXXXXXX

Buffy tensed as she walked down the hallway to the exit. She had rounded a corner when she ran into some of the hockey team members coming out of the gym. The girl started to go in the opposite direction since she knew what would follow, but the boys followed her, some calling after her.

“Buffy!” one said. “How’s about coming over to my place to study?” His tone indicated that he wasn’t interested in studying. She walked faster without turning around. Some boys made cat calls and several whistled appreciatively.

She picked another direction that she hoped would help her to elude her devoted fans, but then Buffy ran right into Principal Snyder.

“Oops!” she exclaimed. **Great!** She thought , **wonder if that love spell is affecting him?** After a moment’s pause, she reasoned, **a world of no! He’s too mean to me to be my—**

“Summers,” Snyder said in his usual slimy voice as he cut into her thoughts. “Step into my office for a moment.” Buffy wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but maybe, her mind told her, it might not be a bad idea since the guys following her would probably avoid any kind of detention or something by coming to the Principal’s office.

She went inside, and after closing the door, Buffy said, “Uh, sir, I know how this looks...”. The Slayer hoped that the boys had gotten the message that she wasn’t interested and had gone home.

“You like things hot, don’t you, Summers?” Snyder asked. “You excel in getting in over your head.”

Buffy tried to come up with an explanation about the boys’ behavior, but her mind wouldn’t focus. She wanted to go outside and see about Angelus and Drusilla.

“Sometimes,” she said in what she hoped was a neutral answer.

Snyder’s expression was just as it always was: jeering, domineering, and somewhat intimidating, at least to those who were easily intimidated. He ran his fingers over a file that was about her on his desk. After a moment’s pause, Principal Snyder looked up at her.

“It seems that you are the cause of the male degenerates’ latest debacle. It was a wonder they even won the hockey game this evening,” he commented, continuing to stroke the file.

I wonder if this was such a great idea, Buffy thought. The tiny toy drum that was Angelus and the disconsonant chords that whispered “Drusilla” permeated her senses. She knew time was running out and that she needed to leave.

“You know, I just remembered that my Mom wanted me to come home in about fifteen minutes and I have to go...” the girl said sheepishly, standing up.

“Sit,” Snyder said, his expression changing to a person who is getting ready to pull the winning ace from his sleeve.

Buffy sat. “Principal Snyder,” she said, trying to come up with an excuse.

“Roy,” he told her as he tried to convey warmth in his voice. His hand was sliding over to where hers was.

**Ewww!!** The Chosen One thought. **It’s bad enough to have acid spitting demons and Giles coming onto me, but Snyder?! I so need to find Amy or Samantha Stevens, or SOMEBODY to take this spell away!**

“Uh, Roy...” Buffy said, then she saw the direction his hand was taking.

“Don’t even think about it,” she advised. Snyder grinned. Buffy thought she had never seen a more lecherous grin on a human before.

“Oh, you tease!” he joked, but then turned serious. “Let’s get down to business, Summers. I can make all of your past history go away; in fact, I want to make it go away.” He took some papers out of Buffy’s file and started reading.

“Now, let’s see: ‘started cafeteria fire at Encino Flats School’; ‘incorrigible’; ‘a trouble maker’. The list goes on, and on,” Snyder said, taking out some scissors from his drawer. Buffy’s eyes followed as he cut some of her transcripts in half.

“But let’s just say these incidents never happened, like the one tonight, hmm?” he asked.

Buffy tried again, wondering, “Principal Snyder...”.

He shook his head, saying, “Uh, uh, uh...Roy.”

“Roy...” Buffy repeated. Thankfully, both were interrupted by a loud noise coming from the lockers outside of the Principal’s office. Snyder rose from his chair, a goofy smile aimed in her direction.

“Don’t move,” he said, winking at her. After he left, Buffy exited his office. She saw the Principal and the Deputy Principal trying to restrain some boys who were fighting.

**Now’s my chance!** She thought when she escaped outside. **Angel’s gotta be here somewhere....**

“Buff!” Angelus’ voice cut through the night. The vampire strode through the darkness to where the girl stood, Drusilla following closely behind.

“Angel,” Buffy greeted coldly. Her eyes never left her ex boyfriend. Drusilla glared at the Chosen One, totally displeased.

The insane revenant pronounced, “Li’l Slayer’s got knights aplenty to shield her from the dragons! Magic’s all around her. She makes them dance, like my poor William!” Her vamp face in full view, Drusilla growled, her jealousy palpable when she mentioned Spike.

“You’ll need more than knights once we’re done!” Angel yelled. Itching for a fight, the Slayer crouched, her stance telling both vampires that she meant business.





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