One

There was no aspirin.

Willow had looked. She had combed over the whole dorm room, looked under
everything, in drawers and cabinets... everywhere. The fact the room had
been half
trashed by Buffy... well the semi cavewoman Buffy. Anyhow, she doubted they
even had
any left. There were only two alternatives. One, she could go knock on a
dorm room and
see if anyone else had any. Unfortunately, it was three A.M. and she ran the
risk of
waking people up, and Willow was not in the mood to do that. Her other
choice was to go
to a drug store, but she didn’t want to do that either. To be honest, going
anywhere was
not a good idea. That would mean leaving Buffy alone and she couldn’t do
that while she
was still in the state she was.

Speaking of Buffy, Willow apparently had woken her up in her rummaging.

“Friend,” Buffy said, looking up through her still mussed hair.

Willow turned around. “Oh, Buffy, you’re awake.”

Buffy pulled herself off the bed and walked slowly to Willow. “Willow lay
down. Willow
hurt.”

“I’m fine. Willow is okay,” Willow said. She couldn’t help but to suppress a
giggle. This
was so bizarre, it was like talking to a child.

A child who could bend a rifle in half.

“Willow hurt head. Willow lay down, go to sleep.”

Buffy then took Willow by the hand and pulled her back to her bed. After she
was
confident Willow wouldn’t go anywhere, she decided to sit on the corner and
watch.

“Aren’t you going to sleep? Remember... Buffy tired?” Willow asked.

The blond shook her head. “Not tired.” She pointed at the TV. “People. Want
people.
Friend make people come back?”

Willow got back off the bed and walked to the TV turning it on. Buffy
immediately
hopped down and peered closer at the TV. “People!” she said happily.

That would keep her busy while she went back to sleep to make the headache
go away.
She also would rather be unconscious. All sorts of unhappy thoughts were
running
through her head. Mostly ones of Oz... and Veruca. While she was laying on
the floor
surrounded by cavemen in a burning building, Oz was off somewhere
with...her.

Willow had been in deep thought when she took notice of Buffy looking at her
again.
“What’s wrong, Buffy?” Willow asked.

“What’s wrong?” Funny. It sounded like she was just mirroring her own
speech, but
beneath it, she could hear genuine concern. The real Buffy was coming back
and could
see something was bothering her.

“Veruca.. Oz... It’s complicated. I don’t know. You probably still can’t
understand me,
but I’m scared. I think I might be losing him.. The way he’s looking at her,
it’s the way he
would look at me. Now, I just realized he hasn’t looked at me like that
since... since..”
Her eyes blurred. It took her a few moments to grasp that tears had sprung
up in her eyes.

Buffy’s expression changed to one of sympathy. She got up off the floor and
picked up
her stick.

“Veruca bad.”

“No,” Willow said, remembering how she had struck Parker. “No hitting.”

Buffy looked from Willow to the stick. “Veruca bad,” she argued.

“She is, but no hitting.” Willow paused. “Not yet at least.”

Buffy didn’t look happy, but she put her stick down. Willow couldn’t help
but to smile. It
was nice to have a friend who was willing to do such things, at least in
spirit.

“Okay,” Buffy said. then she walked over to the bed and sat down next to
Willow and
hugged her tight. “Friend no be sad. Buffy no like it.”

Willow smiled again, feeling more tears, but happy ones. “Willow no be sad.”

“Good.”

Buffy kept hugging her for a long time. Willow tried to move, but found the
lock a little
too tight.

“Buffy?”

She listened for a response, but only heard soft breathing. The Slayer had
fallen asleep.

*****

Traffic sucked.

More than usual, especially for this time of night. Spike growled and laid
his hand down
on the horn hard.

“Bloody hell,” he cursed.

What was the hold up? There was no reason the expressway should be this
clogged at five
in the morning. He was hoping he would be back in Sunnyhell by now. Then he
could go
some place a little more comfortable to wait until nightfall. Instead now he
was going to
be trapped inside the car.

He lit up another cigarette. That was the other reason he wanted to be back
by now. He
was down to his last pack. It would be very hard to get another batch in the
day. Oh sure,
he could do it, it would just be harder. That pissed him off. He wasn’t
feeling very patient
as of late. Oh sure, he could bide his time just as well as the next bloke,
but he had
experienced a number of big disappointments in the past few days. His
patience has worn
thin.

However, the thought of her calmed him. The image of her red hair blowing in
the night
air sent a delightful shiver through him.

Spike sat back in his seat, feeling a little mellowed by the picture. Her
hair was so soft, so
fine. He still remembered the texture when he tucked it behind her ear back
in the factory.
He would be feeling it again soon. One time wasn’t nearly enough.

He wondered what she was doing right now. Probably sleeping in her dorm room
with the
Slayer close by. She was probably tired from a day of college and an evening
at some
club. In all likelihood, she had spent the evening with the wolf.

A flash of anger shot through him and he felt his true face rise. He would
have to be dealt
with. Spike was not one who liked to share.

He drew in a sharp intake of air, even though he didn’t need it. He would
have to be
careful. the Slayer and the wolf would stand in his way. The direct approach
may not
work. He was going to have to play this cool and slow.

Unless of course, he got bored, as he often did.

He smiled and allowed his human face to return. He turned up the radio and
sat back,
singing along.

“Someone tell me why, I act like a fool when things don’t go my way... When
you’re
around me, I’m somebody else...”

He smiled again.

Soon, Red.

Two

“My head, ow.”

Willow’s eyes fluttered open at the sound beside her. There was Buffy, half
sitting up, rubbing her temples.

“Why do I learn everything the hard way? First Angel and premarital.. you
know, and then he goes all evil. First time I get drunk...”

Willow sat up, too. “Well, at least you learned something.”

“True, but does it have to suck so bad each time?” Buffy wondered aloud.

“It’s not fair,” Willow agreed.

Buffy got up, stretching her muscles. Then she looked over at the wall. “Oh
God, did I do that? I’m so sorry, Wills.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Buffy. You were under influence.. extra bad
influence.”

“Yeah, I sure was. So what was in the beer that did this?” Buffy asked,
gathering up some clothes for the day.

“Xander said that the guy he worked for had a curse put on the beer.
Apparently the guy was real bitter about smart college kids.”

Buffy pressed her lips together in a thin line. “Remind me to have a chat
with the bar tender later.”

“You’re not going to hit him with a stick, are ya Buff?” Willow asked,
grinning.

“No, but I may hit him with other... Stick? What do you mean st... oh my.
God, I hit him twice. I smacked Parker with a stick twice!” Buffy said,
feeling her face flush red.

Willow grinned some more. “Personally, I would have hit him three times.”

“And kicked a few times where it hurt,” Buffy added, feeling a fresh batch
of the giggles come on.

“And let’s not forget throwing spitballs at the back of his head, we can
still do that!” Willow said, perhaps a little too eagerly.

Buffy stepped into the bathroom, still talking while she changed. “I think
you have it in for him a little bit more than I did.”

“Well, it’s the best friend’s job. Sacred duty, yadda yadda yadda.”

“I appreciate it,” Buffy said, coming out while brushing her hair.

“Well good,” Willow said, putting her Pleased Face on. “That means I’m doing
my job. Do I get a gold star?”

“How about I share my Fritos with you at lunch?”

Willow hopped up, already dressed. “That’s good, too.”

“Come on. Even if my head is screaming, we still got to go to class. I think
the professor is out to get me.”

Willow pulled the door shut behind them. “Oh she’s out to get everyone.
Besides, if we don’t go, we won’t get to throw spitballs at Parker!”

“Willow, let it go.”

***

Three hours later found the Scooby gang and their Slayer sitting at the
lunch table. Willow was happily munching away on the Fritos promised by
Buffy. Every now and then, Xander reached across the table, pilfering one or
two.

Willow slapped his hand lightly. “My Fritos. I earned them.”

Oz sat back nodding. “She fought the battle. The Fritos are the spoils.”

“I suppose you want one?” Willow asked.

Oz nodded. “Yep.”

Willow happily picked one up and placed it on his tongue.

“Thank you.”

Xander just stared. “Must you torture me through snack food, Willow? What
did I do to deserve such punishment?”

“Xander, I thought chocolate was your drug of choice?” Buffy asked.

“It is, but... Fritos!”

“Here,” Buffy said, casually tossing a Ho-Ho his way. Xander caught it with
undisguised glee.

“Buffy, you are my god.”

“Blasphemer,” Oz said.

“So how are you feeling, Buff? Better today?” Xander asked, happily chewing
his chocolate.”

Buffy nodded. “I can form sentences and no longer have the urge for beer..
no matter how foamy. By the way, I plan to have a talk with your boss
later.”

Xander shook his head. “Not my boss anymore. Something about working for a
guy cursing food products didn’t sit well with me. Besides, my days of
townie boy are soon to be over.”

“How so?” Willow asked.

“I decided to apply here after all, and when I’m accepted for next semester,
I’m going to take out a loan. I miss you guys and taking odd jobs is a
pretty much a ticket for nowheresville.”

“Good for you, Xander,” Willow said, genuinely pleased.

“Yep, go you,” Buffy agreed.

Just then Parker walked by. He looked at Buffy once, rubbed the back of his
head once, then passed on.

“I think you put the fear of God into that boy,” Xander said.

“Good,” Willow said.

“I wonder if he knows he has spitballs on the back of his head. Know
anything about that Willow?” Buffy asked, looking her right in the eye.

Willow only shrugged and ate another Frito.

***

Spike was hungry.

He paced back and forth at the mouth of a tunnel, just a hair’s space away
from the light of day. He could almost taste the tang of blood on his
tongue.

There was still quite aways to go until nightfall seeing as how it was only
noon. He would have to wait.

Noon. Lunch time for humans. He imagined his Red was sitting at a table with
the despicable Slayer at the two strange boys. She was probably enjoying her
meal.

Vaguely, he wondered what she would taste like when the time came.

He would find out soon enough.

Until then, he would have to wait.

So he paced more.

***

“Are you sure this is the smartest thing to do, Buffy?” Willow asked,
following Buffy through the maze of people leading to the bar.

“Yes, Willow. And for the last time, I’m not doing this cause I’m mad...
Well, I am and that’s helping, I think, but it has to be done. What he did
hurt people, and he might be hurt more. I would be slacking off as the
Slayer if I didn’t do something.”

Willow nodded. She was right.

“Are those guys okay?” Willow asked.

“Yeah,” Buffy said, biting her lip. “Dazed for the most part. But one of
them got hit by a car and is pretty bad shape.” She paused. “You don’t have
to come with me. If he gets stubborn, well, things might get really ugly.”

“I don’t mind. I’m moral support.”

“And I feel the support, but wouldn’t you rather be with Oz right now, I
mean... you know.”

Willow felt her good mood falter. “He went to see Veruca’s band again. I
didn’t want to go, I don’t like her... and Oz knows it.”

“Maybe there’s something going on here we don’t know about,” Buffy offered.

“I hope to God not!” Willow said sharply.

“That’s not what I meant. Maybe its something else... a wolf thing. Maybe
he’s in...”

“If he was, it would be with me,” Willow said bitterly. “Well, it should
be.”

Buffy could tell her mission to make Willow feel better was failing
miserably. “Well, maybe later we could look up wolf things. Maybe I’m
right.”

“Or maybe Oz is just being a stupid jerk,” Willow said.

“Or that,” Buffy said, glumly. The two walked into the bar. “You might want
to wait here, Will. I am suddenly feeling not so.. logical. I’m thinking
head banging into the counter as an approach.”

“Gotcha,” Willow said. “I’ll wait here.

She watched as Buffy made a bee line for the counter. the smart thing to do
would be to wait until there was less people around or when he was alone,
but the Slyer was very unhappy. You don’t make the Slayer unhappy.

“Willow?”

Willow turned around to see Riley Finn looking at her.

“Oh, hi Riley. What’s up?”

The T.A. smiled. “I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute,
outside... about Buffy?”

“Sure.” Willow allowed him to lead her outside. It probably would be better
to get him outside. He would really wonder about Buffy’s sanity if he saw
her pummeling the bartender.

She leaned against the wall outside. “So,” she asked. “What’s up?”

“Buffy has been acting kind of funny. Is she alright?” Riley asked.

Willow thought quickly for a reply and came up with quite the honest one.
“She’s been under alot of pressure and had some people problems. She sorted
them out last night so now she’s cool.”

“That’s good. I was kind of concerned about her. She.. She strikes me as a
nice girl.”

Willow could already see where this was going, and she was very pleased with
it. “She is. She cares alot about other people.”

They were temporarily interrupted by the sound of breaking glass and the
sound of Jack’s begging.

“I heard she rescued people froma burning building last night. That was
pretty incredible.”

“Well, that’s her thing. She was voted Class Protector in high school. No
joke.”

“Wow,” Riley said. “So Willow, I was wondering if you could tell me...”

But Riley didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. A hand reached out
and threw him against the wall. He tried to recover, but before he could
even get back up on his feet, the figure came down on him again, this time
picking him up by the neck and flinging him into some nearby bushes.

All it happened so fast. Willow could barely see what was happening.

Then it all stopped and a familiar bleached blond head turned her way.

“Hello cutie,” Spike said.
****
Three

Willow backed up a few steps, but for each step in reverse, Spike matched.

“No hello for your old pal, Spike?”  he asked with that familiar smirk on
his face.

Slowly, Willow continued on her backwards journey until she hit a wall. Not
good, she thought. Solid objects made escape very difficult, even if she
didn have a chance. If Spike was amped about getting her into a corner, he
would, not matter how fast she ran.

“Um, hello,” she said nervously.

“There, that’s better. I don’t think that was too difficult, do you?” Spike
said, still walking forward. He paused. “You cut your hair.”

All Willow did was nod.

“It suits you, pet. Very becoming.”

Willow glanced down. Riley was in a heap besides a trash can. He was still
breathing which was a very good thing, but she did not like the amount of
blood seeping out from beneath his head.

Spike followed her gaze. With a small laugh, he gestured towards her fallen
comrade. “I wouldn’t worry about him. Just a nasty knock to the head. He’ll
be alright come morning... provided I’m still in a good mood.”

“Oh,” was all Willow managed to say. Silently, she cursed herself. Oh. Was
that the best she could do? She was face to face with a  vampire! Not just
any vampire either... One who had nearly killed a number of them on numerous
occasions and even kidnapped her. The whole “bottle in face” scenario still
was in the recesses of her mind.

“Why are you here?” she asked suddenly.

He grinned again.

“A very good question. And as luck would have it, I have a very good answer.
The reason I am here is simply you.”

“Me?” she squeaked.

He took another step forward. Now he was close enough to touch and then
some. If he breathed, she would have felt his exhalations on her face.

She did feel the sigh he gave.

“Is it that hard for you to believe, luv?” he asked.

Willow looked to the side for help. Where was Buffy? Was she still in the
bar “dealing” with that bartender?

She felt a cool hand touch her face and turn it in the opposite direction.

“I’m talking to you, ducks. Is it that hard to believe?” he asked again.

“What about Harmony?” Willow blurted. She cringed at the sharp laugh.

“Her? Please. I’ll be honest... I have no idea what in the HELL I was doing
with that thing. Maybe I was just jealous, seeing people having someone
else.... knowing Dru was off shagging a fungus demon somewhere... That and I
got very drunk one night near San Diego... It’s actually a very funny
story... But I digress. the point is that she was nothing.”

“I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out,” Willow offered, looking for an
escape. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m supposed to be meeting Oz...”

He placed a hand on either side of her, effectively trapping her.

“Willow.” He paused. Even her name sounded so smooth, almost like silk. “Be
honest now. Did you really want to go to that gig at the Bronze and see him
drool over the harlot on stage. That woman is a dog in heat.. and I mean
that literally...” He face fell, suddenly becoming sympathetic. One hand
cupped her face. “You can do better.”

Willow was afraid. Through alot of mental effort, she managed to raise her
hand high enough to pull his hand off her cheek.

“I don’t want to do better.”

He grinned. “You will. Did you know you have been in the corner of my mind
since I came back here last year?”

Not good, Willow thought. This was not a good thing. Where the hell was
Buffy?

In a quick breakdown of nerves, Willow moved forward.

She made it all of about three steps before two very strong hands took her
arms and pulled her back.

She kicked as she was lifted slightly off her feet. “Let... go!” she cried.

“I don’t think so, pet. You know, I actually put alot of thought into this,
but again, I got bored. Even with immortality, I’m not good at waiting.
We’re leaving now.”

“No kiss goodbye?” came a third voice. Spike turned his head only to have it
knocked to the side by a lead pipe. He let go of Willow who was flung
against the wall. He looked up to see the Slayer standing over him,
brandishing the blunt object.

“You just don’t know how to stay gone, do you Spike?” Buffy said, shaking
her head.

Spike let his game face slip on. “What can I say, I like the weather.”

“And getting your ass kicked, apparently.” Buffy brought the pipe down.

Quickly, Spike moved off to the side, narrowly missing getting his skull
smashed in. He rolled up to his feet, already in a battle stance. He stepped
forward, kicking the weapon out of the Slayer’s hand.

Of course, that wouldn’t stop Buffy. in a instant, her fist was meeting his
face. He returned it by grabbing onto her arm and smashing her into the
wall.

“Do you mind?” Spike said, growling and pushing her hard against the bricks.
“I was trying to have a conversation. I don’t like interruptions.”

Just then, Spike was interrupted by a trash can lid being brought down on
his head. Behind it stood Riley, still slightly bleeding from the head.
Buffy came up beside him with Willow slowly creeping with her.

Spike was still down on the ground. He shook his head once, shedding his
vampiric features. He looked up to Buffy. “This isn’t over, Slayer,” he
spat.

He sent a look to Willow with what could only be described as...

...longing.

Then as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished back into the night.

Buffy let out a choked sigh of relief. that had been awful fast... too fast.
Something was off.

No time to worry about that. She looked at Willow.

“Are you okay?” Buffy asked.

“I’m fine,” Willow said. “Riley...”

Buffy looked over to Riley who was still holding the lid in his hand, but
was close to dropping it. He rubbed the back of his head.

“Damn,” Riley breathed. “That hurt.” Then he looked at Buffy. “Are you okay?
I opened my eyes and you were getting thrown into a wall...”

Buffy smiled. “I’m okay. Willow’s okay, but you.. you, Mr. T.A. need to get
yourself to a doctor. You’ve had a nasty knock to  the head.”

Riley shook his head, still hurting. “What was wrong with that guy’s face?”

“Nothing,” Buffy said a little too quickly. She glared at Willow.

“What? He looked fine to me.. except for the being evil and hurting us part.
Yup, he was completely normal.,” Willow said very quickly.

“Come on,” Buffy said, putting herself underneath Riley’s arm. For a moment,
she was surprised by how right it felt. “We need to get you to a doctor
fast. You’re seeing things now.”

“You might be right,” Riley agreed. He bit back the words “cause I see an
angel.” It sounded so cheesy.

Willow didn’t miss the look he gave Buffy and she would be smacking the
Slayer on the head if she missed it.

The three slowly walked back into the safety of the stream of people.

Unfortunately, they had eyes on them.

Four

Willow calmly sat on the sofa inside Giles’ house. Well, she was sitting
calmly, but mentally she was anything but. Repeatedly, she folded her hands
on her lap while Buffy paced back and forth.

“What the hell is he doing back here?” Buffy asked aloud. “Isn’t he tired of
me smacking him around yet?”

“Apparently not,” Oz said, sitting next to Willow. He smiled once at his
girlfriend, trying to calm her down. It worked a little bit. She did smile,
but it was a nervous one.

“Let’s get back to the matter at hand,” Giles said, once again playing the
part of the grounded one. “What exactly happened?”

Again Willow refolded her hands. “He came out of nowhere. I was talking to
Riley when he showed up and tossed him against the wall. And then.. he
said.. said he was back for me.”

“For you?” Buffy said, raising a concerned eyebrow. “Why?”

“He said he couldn’t stop thinking about me,” Willow said, biting her lip.

Buffy folded her arms, a worried look painted on her tanned features. Okay,
what was Spike up to this time? Was there some other relic buried under
Sunnydale that he knew about and they didn’t. Did he want a spell.

Or worse, did he want pure and simple revenge? After all, what better way
then to start messing with her friends?

“Well,” Buffy said. “He better stop and fast. Otherwise he is going to be
carried out of Sunnydale in a dustpan.”

Willow felt a pressure on her hand. She turned to see Oz squeezing her hand.
The look on his face was one of comfort, but beneath she could see the wolf.
It knew its mate was being threatened and was not very pleased about it.

“So what’s the plan?” Oz asked. “There is a plan, right?”

“Plan,” Buffy said. it was all happening so fast. She really hadn’t had time
to think yet. “The plan is I’m going out now. I’m going to comb the town,
check out the usual haunts.. see if I can’t dig up anything. Maybe I’ll pop
into Willie’s. It’s a possibility that he might know something.”

“He might be tight lipped. This is Spike we are talking about,”  Giles
added.

“I’ll convince him,” Buffy said, determined.

“Can I go now?” Willow asked. She was tired now. All the action had left her
close to exhaustion.

“No, you’re staying here. You’re not safe at the dorm,” Buffy said.

“But,” Willow started.

“Remember Sunday? Apparently dorms are public places meaning he doesn’t need
an invitation.”

“Oh,” was all Willow managed.

“I’ll stay here,” Oz said.

Willow smiled at him. “Thanks.”

He smiled at her. “I wouldn’t leave you for anything in the world.
Especially not now.”

For the first time all that week, Willow felt a little bit better. In a
weird way, she felt grateful to Spike for showing up. At least it distracted
Oz from Veruca.

“The couch pulls out and the fridge is full if either of you are hungry,”
Giles said, turning to his books while Buffy vanished out the door.

***

Spike sat in the back seat of his car, his feet propped up against the front
seats. He had the radio on and was calmly puffing away on one of his
mentholated smokes.

He grinned.

He touched her and he talked to her. Yes, she had been terrified for the
most part, but he had seen her again. Actually, the fear had mesmerized him
for a brief period. Brief enough for him to get slapped around by the slayer
and the boy.

He felt the demon growl inside. No matter. He would come calling on those
two soon enough. He was thirsty for the blood of a slayer again and he would
get it. Right now though, he had priorities. One, find the witch. Two, deal
with her.

He smiled again, sinking lower in his seat.

He wondered what she was doing right now. He imagined she was not in her
dorm room, probably seeking refuge inside the home of the former watcher, or
even the Slayer’s home.

Smart girl if she was. It’s what he would do if he was in her place.

With his foot, he turned up the music.

*Oh I am what I am
I’ll do what I want
But I can’t hide

I won’t leave
I can’t hide
I can’t breathe
Until you’re resting here with me

I won’t leave
I can’t hide
I cannot be
Until you’re resting her with me*

He rested his head against the side of the window. This song was fitting, he
thought. It applied to them both. Soon he would rest.

With a redhead beside him.

***

Forest was getting pissed, but only slightly.

“Damn it,” he said.

All he wanted was a Coke. Just a simple, cold, Coke can, but the vending
machine once again had eaten his 75 cents and he was not in the mood to run
and get the key or try and find more change.

“Hey,” a voice said behind him. Forest turned to see Riley jogging up.

Forest turned around, a lopsided grin on his face. “Hey man. Would you
believe the machine ate my money again?” He quieted when he saw the look on
the other man’s face. “Something wrong?”

Riley stopped in front of him.

“We have problems.”

Five

***
with one light on in one room, i know you’re up when i get home
with one small step upon the stair, i know your look when i get there
if you were a king up there on your throne, would you be wise enough to let
me go
for this queen you think you own

wants to be a hunter again, wants to see the world alone again
to take a chance on life again, so let me go
***

Spike paced back and forth underneath the overpass, safe from the rays of
the sun. He wasn’t very far from the witch, just a few miles. That fact
alone was driving him to madness. He was so very close to her! If he
squinted, he could see the home of the Watcher, no scratch that, former
watcher. Well, he may no longer be employed by the stuffed shirts back in
England, but he still did the functions of his old job.

That included protecting the kin of the Slayer.

Oh, what he wouldn’t give to be able to go back in time and keep that ring!
No, wait, if he had the ability to go back in time, he would have taken
Willow when he had the chance.

He reached out his hand to the light. His fingertips were just mere
centimeters from flaming death.

Angrily, he yanked back his hand. It was infuriating how close he was.

Really, it didn’t matter all that much.  It was only a few hours before
sunset. Then he could move forward.

He smiled in anticipation. As much as he was anxious to get to her, he did
love a good chase.

Such was the life of a hunter.

***

Willow rested her head against the side of the window. The cool glass was
like heaven on her fevered forehead.

The sun had set some time ago. Buffy had gone out to patrol, hoping to find
Spike as quickly as possible. Xander and Anya had gone... doing something.
Willow could imagine just what.

She looked over at Oz, who was resting his head, lazily on her knee in half
slumber. He had stayed awake for nearly a day now. He refused to let down
his guard for a second. The last thing she had seen when she had closed her
eyes was his face. The first thing she had seen when she awoke were his
eyes. It was so sweet how concerned he was and how hard he worked to protect
her.

The question was, would it be enough. Willow hoped so.

Maybe it wasn’t even necessary. Maybe Buffy had staked him already.

She laughed bitterly. Not likely.

Oz shifted. He blinked a few times, then sat up.

“Good evening,” Willow said, smiling.

“Did I fall asleep?” Oz asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to,” he mumbled.

“Don’t be. You need to get some sleep,” Willow chided gently.

Oz shook his head. “I’m not tired.”

“Liar.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. When their lips parted, Oz had
that semi-dopey grin on his face.

“You know, this isn’t all that bad. At least this way we get to spend more
time together,” Willow said, once more finding the bright side to things.

“This is true,” Oz said. He then went back to laying down on her lap.

“When Giles gets back,” Willow said, tousling his hair. “You are going to
get some sleep.”

“But,” Oz protested.

“Resolved face.”

The argument stopped.

***

Giles had been driving around what felt like bloody hours... Wait, it had
been bloody hours. No sign of the vampire. He wasn’t at any of his usual
haunts, as Buffy had some vehemently insisted. As it turned out, she was
right. He should have known better. Why would Spike hide where they knew
exactly where he was?

Willie hadn’t been much help. Not even after a little bit of “Ripper” came
out. It became very clear after some... convincing that the man didn’t know
anything.

No one else knew anything. Spike certainly was covering his tracks well.

The Englishman stepped out of his car, cursing under his breath all the
while, too angry to hear his own thoughts.

Certainly too angry to hear the crunch of steps behind him.

***

Willow didn’t know Oz snored.

Well, now she knew. Strange, she had slept in the same room with him before,
and this was the first time she had heard it.

Maybe it was because it was so close to the full moon. Maybe Oz didn’t
snore, but the wolf did.

Willow shrugged. Didn’t matter. In all honesty, the sound was a little
comfort.

There was a knock at the door.

A sudden shiver went through her. Something wasn’t right.

“Oz,” she said, shaking him gently. “Wake up.”

It took him a few seconds, but in a moment, Oz was on his feet, shaking the
sleep out of his head. “What’s up?”

“Someone’s knocking on the door. It can’t be Giles. The door isn’t locked
and why would he knock on his own door?” Willow said, nervously.

“Buffy?”

Willow shook her head, no. “She would just walk in. Same for Xander.”

Oz set his lip at a grim line. He picked up one of Giles’ tall lamps and
walked to the door, gesturing for Willow to stay back. Of course, with her
Resolved Face, she would have none of it.

He placed his hand on the knob and looked back once at Willow. Then he swung
he door open, brandishing the lamp.

Willow gasped.

Spike, full game face on, stood at the threshold. He had Giles properly
subdued, holding his head so his neck was exposed.

He grinned.

“Hello, pet. I would say it’s about time to negotiate, wouldn’t you agree?
*****
Six

Willow froze and took a step back as Oz went from making a move to rush
forward, and then stopping himself. All the while, Giles struggled violently
to no avail. It looked so strange. Giles was a big man and was quite strong
when he had to be, but not now. Compared to Spike’s grip, he looked weak.
Vulnerable. Doomed.

“You know why I am here,” Spike said. “So let’s talk, shall we?”

“There’s nothing to discuss. Let him go,” Oz said.

Spike glared at him once. He resisted the pull of jealously he felt towards
the werewolf. After all, he had the witch, he didn’t. Her affections
belonged to the man in front of him. It was hard not to throw Giles away and
reach into the threshold to tear his throat out. Of course, if he did that,
he would have nothing to bargain with and most likely would end up with a
stake through his heart.

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” Spike said, half rolling his eyes. “I was
speaking to Willow.” He turned his gaze to her. “I’ll let him go if you step
outside.”

“I don’t believe you,” Willow said, finding her voice.

Spike allowed himself a grin. “Well, that is to be expected, but think about
it for a moment. How well could I handle three... Alright, I could handle
three, but not very well. Things could get complicated so I would like to
leave as quickly as my legs can carry us.”

“She’s not stepping out for you to kill her,” Oz said angrily. He drew
dangerously close to the border of safety.

“Oh, yes she will, mate. Here’s a little bit more food for thought. It would
be much safer for the rest of you if she comes out now. Willow, if you don’t
come out, I will kill him. Snap his neck like that. True, you’ll be safe,
but for how long. I’ll just go find another friend to kill. Or maybe a
family member. Sheila perhaps... or Ira, I haven’t quite decided yet,” Spike
mused. “Yes, that sounds like it will work quite well. So come out now and
fewer people die.”

“No,” Giles gurgled.

“Not talking to you either,” Spike said, tightening his grip on Giles so a
small cry escaped the human’s mouth. He grinned and turned his gaze back to
Willow. She was cute when she was in shock. Her nicely shaped mouth open,
her face a little paler... brought out her eyes nicely. No, don’t think of
that. Have to keep the focus.

“So what will it be, pet. I kill him, or you step on out?”

“How about I just kick your ass some more?” Then there was a sudden blow to
the back of his head, startling him just enough to release Giles. The older
man stumbled into the house, rubbing his sore neck.

They all looked up to see a small fist fly into Spike’s face.

Buffy Summers had arrived.

***

“Tracking anything?” Riley said, rubbing his temples. He had developed
somewhat of a headache.

“Nothing,” Graham said. “Not even civilians.”

“Guess everyone decided to call it an early night. Either that, or they’re
all watching the release of Star Wars,” Forest said, looking around.

“I’m thinking about calling it a night. I don’t think we’re going to find
anything, just a feeling.”

Forest checked his weapon. “We don’t have to call it a complete night. I
hear K’s Choice is playing at the Bronze again.”

“You can go if you want, I’m going to hit paperwork. Maybe then when I
actually do get a free night, I can actually do something with it.”

Forest laughed. “I doubt it. You’d probably use it to, I don’t know, study?”

“Something you might want to try.”

“Bite me, sir.”

“If I could interrupt,” Graham said. “I think we have something...”

***

Spike was thrown into the threshold, but bounced off the invisible barrier
down onto the ground. He moved quickly to the side, narrowly missing the
Slayer’s fist.

“Spike, give it up. We know how this is going to play out. You hit me, I hit
you...” She blocked a kick. “You get your ass kicked and leave with your
tail between your legs. Evil plot defeated. So why don’t you just leave and
come up with a new one so we can foil it again, already?”

“Sorry, luv. Not giving up this one.” He managed to grab a hank of her hair
and pulled her viciously down to the ground. Before she could move, he
placed a boot oh her throat hard. He smiled at the sound of her gasps.

He frowned though, when he felt a pair of hands, shove him off. Giles had
returned with a second wind. His fist came flying, but Spike caught it and
threw the man back indoors.

Unfortunately, Willow had been standing there, not knowing whether to go
deeper inside or stay and watch to look for a helpful window. She barely saw
Giles’ form fly towards her. She quickly stepped out of the way to avoid
being knocked over. The thing was, however, was that she stepped outside
while Buffy was still on the ground.

Spike took a few steps forward and grasped a handful of Willow’s hair. He
pulled her into his arms.

“No!” Willow cried, scratching at is arms in a vain attempt to break free.
Her struggle only made him smile.

He looked down to Buffy as she began to get up.

“Sorry, Slayer,” he said. Then he causally threw Willow over his shoulder
and bounded out into the shadows.

“Willow,” Oz said, running out. He stopped at the edge of the front porch,
looking out into nothingness, joined quickly by a shocked Buffy.

***

She was dizzy. Her head hand been hanging upside down for too long. By now
her face had to be bright red.

Willow had no idea where she was. Only that it was a wooded area. Twigs
scratched her face as Spike ran, still carrying her.

*Where is he taking me?* she wondered. She got her answer when she felt
herself slide forward off his shoulder and slammed against a tree.

Spike pushed her into it harder with his bodyweight. He smiled.

“Now, luv, this won’t hurt,” he said, bringing up his game face once more.
“Much.”

He leaned forward, sinking his teeth deep into a vein. He felt her body
tense in pain, unconsciously gripping his body. His eyes rolled slightly.
God, this was heaven. Spike pulled her closer as he drank.

His victory was interrupted by a sharp blow to the back. No longer did he
see Willow’s struggling form or her red hair.

Only blackness.
 

Seven
 

She could have been flying.

Buffy Summers had never run faster in her entire life. She wasn’t aware of
the ground beneath her or the trees around her. Even Oz, who was trying
desperately to mach her speed, but failing, did not cross into her mind.
There was only the chase... or at least she hoped it was one. She had no
idea if she was getting close or if there was anything at all. There was
only the hope that this had been the direction that Spike had run.

Eventually she did stop. Mostly it was to look around and get some bearings
on the situation. It was also partially to give Oz a chance to catch his
breath.

She turned her head to the left, looking off into the shadows. The woods had
become a maze. Too many turns and not enough clarity. She was positive she
had hit a dead end, but there was always room for doubt. What if she left
and had been close? It could kill Willow.

That is, if she wasn’t dead already.

Buffy felt fresh panic rise.

“She’s not here,” Oz said. His voice was unnervingly calm.

“Are you sure?” Buffy asked.

“I can smell her, but it’s not strong. It’s faint. She was here, but not...
not anymore.”

Buffy let it take a few moments to register. He could smell her.... Oh yeah,
the werewolf thing. She almost forgot how the last year he was able to track
her that way.

“Anything?” Buffy asked, knowing very well that the panic was now in her
voice.

Oz turned around, head up and alert.

“This way,” he said.

They resumed their pursuit.

***

“Oh bloody hell...”

Spike rolled off his back and onto his side. Damn, how it hurt. Applying any
kind of pressure to the small of his back made his head swim. Couldn’t have
that. He got the feeling he needed each and ever one of his senses intact.

He became aware of some very bright lights. He squinted against the
brilliance.

“What the hell...” He trailed off.

Apparently he had been knocked out and was taken into the X-Files. Any
moment now he expected Mulder and Scully to walk by... or more likely the
man who smoked all the time. He couldn’t recall if the man had a name or
not.

All around him he could see brethren and other such creepy crawlies. Down
the hall some he could see another bloke who owed him money. Well, now he
knew why he hadn’t been paid back.

Very few things surprised Spike. In all his unlife, Spike’s jaw had never
really dropped in shock. He had seen a number of oddities... been friends or
associated with them in some way most of the time. Hell, he had made it
through the sixties without a raised eyebrow, but today was different.

The humans walking by in the white coats were a surprise.

With the surprise came the anger. Anger at them and anger at himself for
allowing himself to be taken down by them. Well, this would have to be
remedied. Quickly, too. He somehow doubted he was down there for a photo
shoot.

Looking behind him, he noted his cell was empty. No redhead.

He felt a small shudder of fear.

What had they done with his Willow?

***

Professor Walsh stood with her arms folded before her. She was pleased that
another hostile had been brought in. A successful takedown always did fill
her with a sense of relief, but this time was different. A very unexpected
situation had occurred.

She looked at it through the glass lying in a bed.

They had always talked about what would happen if they happened upon a
hostile with a victim, trained for it even, but until now it had never
actually happened. To complicate things further, she was looking at the
unconscious form of one of her own students. One of her better ones at that.
Her presence was going to be missed.

She sighed.

Riley Finn came up behind her. The look on his face was not a happy one.

“This has never happened before,” Riley said, flatly.

“I know,” Walsh said. “You’ve been trained, but...”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, setting down some of his gear. “I know
her. She’s a friend.”

Walsh said nothing. She tried to keep her emotions at bay. She had a job to
do and so did Riley. They couldn’t let things like this get in the way.

“How is she?” Riley asked.

“Stable,” Walsh answered. “She lost alot of blood, but that goes without
saying. She hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”

Riley kept his face devoid of everything he felt. “Has she...”

“No. She’s still alive. Changes come post-mortem.” She paused. If these two
had a friendship, it would be best to keep him out of the rest. He was the
best of what she had and she couldn’t risk that changing. “You should go
now. I’ll expect the report in writing, but you should rest first. Clear
your head.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Riley said. He turned and departed, but not before looking
back a few times.

Walsh resumed looking at the girl and mentally debated. She had been found
in the throes of dying. If she had drunk any of the hostile’s blood remained
unknown. As of yet, they hadn’t been able to document the change. All
hostiles had been caught be surprise or running, not with someone. They had
never found a transformation in progress. Did they have one now?

There was only one way to find out.

***

Oz stopped in his tracks. He could smell her.

What bothered him though, was how faint it was. It didn’t smell...how could
he put this.. It didn’t smell like her. It smelt like something she had been
left behind.

With Buffy at his back, Oz walked about, ignoring the other smells of the
woods.

He crept close to a tree, feeling nausea rise in his stomach. He touched the
bark and then turned to Buffy.

“I smell blood,” he said simply.
****
Eight

***
I'll tell you something
I am a wolf but
I like to wear sheep's clothing
***

Oz just stood there staring at the tree.

He had no idea how long he had been standing there. He just stared. He
smelled Willow there. He smelled blood, hers. His stomach fell. God, if
anything happened to her...

The animal inside him rattled. It wanted to tear out and scour the
landscape. It wanted to hunt down Spike and rip him to pieces. With the way
he felt at that moment, he wouldn’t need a full moon. He just needed a time
and a place. Given the look on his face, no one would be able to tell what
was going on inside. His exterior was a calm one. Typical Oz.

Behind him, Buffy shifted her stance.

“Blood?”

He heard the panic in her voice. He felt it, too.

“Yeah,” was all Oz could manage.

“Anything else?”

He closed his eyes and inhaled. Then, there on the wind, he caught whiff of
something.

Oz moved. “This way. Whatever happened, she was taken this way.”

***
I am a bonfire
I am a vampire
I'm waiting for my moment
***

He paced.

What else was there to do? Well, there was plotting his escape, but other
than that, it was all there was.

Spike occasionally would stand and just glare at his captors. For the most
part, they ignored his looks. They would stand before him, jot down
something, and then walk away. Others though were visibly frightened and
quite glad for the glass that separated them. It gave Spike some measure of
comfort that they knew if given the chance, he would tear out their spleens
with a smile on his face. He would... it was just a matter of time.

Time. How much of that had gone by? It couldn’t be more than a few hours,
could it? He couldn’t be sure. He had no way of knowing how long he had been
out. For all he knew, it could be some time next week.

He wanted to put his hands up on the glass, but he couldn’t. The nasty shock
he received the last time taught him better. He wasn’t in the mood to smell
like charred meat again. God knew how long it would take to get that scent
out of his coat.

Again, he squinted. There was too much white in this place. He felt as if he
was going to go snow blind if he looked out much more.

Apparently some of his comrades shared the sentiment. He noticed a few
demons, ones that he knew that by nature despised any types of light looked
about ready to scratch their many eyes out.

He took note of a vampire he knew in a cell across from him. Julio, he
thought his name right. The creature was sitting on the floor, holding his
head as if he was in some sort of pain.. no, that wasn’t it. He looked about
ready to pass out.

And then he did.

Almost immediately after, the white coats came. They opened up his door and
slid him onto a gurney and rolled him away.

“What’s wrong with him?” Spike wondered aloud.

“They’ve drugged him,” a voice said from the next cell.

Even though Spike couldn’t see who was beside him, he knew immediately it
was a chaos demon. His lip curled. Disgusting creatures they were. What ever
Dru saw in one of them was beyond...

“That’s how they get us, you know. They drug our food, your blood. Then they
wait. Then they take you away.”

Spike pressed his lips together. Then he smiled.

He knew what to do.

***
You come on like a drug
I just can't get enough
I'm like an addict coming at you for a little more
And there's so much at stake
I can't afford to waste
I never needed anybody like this before
***

Walsh sat in her office, looking over the papers before her. On one side
there were the tests that Riley had graded earlier for her, all stacked in a
neat pile. Her students for the most part had done quite well. She was
surprised. Given the dull looks on their faces the last few classes, she
didn’t think anyone was paying attention. She was wrong.

One of them stood out in her eyes. Willow Rosenburg.

She sighed. This was going to be difficult, but there was a mission here.
She had to remember that.

She got up from her desk and moved down the hall. She paused at the mirror
and allowed the retinal scan and once the door opened she spook.
Authorization granted.

Calmly, she moved down the hall, her lab coat slipping on as she walked. A
tech handed her a clipboard. As she moved, she felt the eyes of a hostile
boring into her, but she just looked at the blond haired creature
impassively. Just another experiment. He was nothing to fear.

Onward she moved to the quarantine area. There were about seventeen
unconscious people in there. One was being moved out, having passed through
three days with no change. He would be moved to a local hospital. The proper
paperwork had already been filled out. They were careful not to make
mistakes here.

She approached Rosenburg’s room with the tech still at her side. He handed
her a syringe.

Walsh stood over the young girl for a few moments with no expression on her
face. With one hand, she brushed a lock of hair out of the girl’s face. With
the other, she injected the needle into the girl’s wrist.

Sometimes people died. No changing that.

***
I'll tell you something
I am a demon
Some say my biggest weakness
I have my reasons
Call it my defense
Be careful what you're wishing
***

He had been quite careful.

He tried not to move. It was hard, given how uncomfortable he felt. He had
taken the packet of blood and disguised his movements to empty the contents
into his clothing. He back was soaked in drugged blood. As much as the scent
made his senses reeled, he knew a taste was out of the question. Spike
couldn’t let himself be subjected to whatever the hell these people were
doing here.

He planned to find out what that was, but not now. First escape.

Escape. Find Willow... Revenge would come last. Hell, then he would have the
brilliant red haired siren with him. With her at his side, these people
stood no chance whatsoever.

He restrained the smile then faked a collapse.

Almost on cue, the gurney boys came a running. The door opened and they
reached to pick him up.

Spike didn’t even give them a chance to exhale.

His hand came up. One went down with a snapped neck. The other was impaled
with a leg from the gurney. Given the fact it had a wheel on it still did
not make a pretty picture. Well, if you were a vampire, it was a
masterpiece.

All around him came cries for help. He ignored them. He had a goal. Yes, he
would come for them later, but first came himself and Willow. They could
wait.

Once man still stood. Spike reached for him and twisted him around, holding
his neck at and angel that made for either a clean break or a good snack.
The man cried out.

“Where is she?” Spike growled, morphing into his game face.

“W-w-w-ho?” The man stammered.

“The bloody redhead. Where is she? If you want to live, mate, tell me.
Tricks mean I take out apart.” He yanked on the man’s neck for good measure.
“Once piece at a time.”

“She’s in.. She’s in the quarantine.”

“Thank you,” Spike said. Then he snapped the man’s neck. He was never famous
for his promises.

He tore off down the hall among the cries and blaring alarms.

*Coming Princess.*

***
You are a secret
I need possession
I like to keep you guessing
***

Oz kept running.

Then he stopped suddenly.

“I smell her,” he said.

Buffy looked around, very confused. “Oz, we’re on campus. I really doubt
Spike dragged her into a crowd of people to..” She stopped for both their
stakes. She knew damned well what Spike was doing to her, she just... She
couldn’t think of that now. She had to stay focused.

Her focus at the moment was on two things. One, find Willow and fast. The
other led to the first and that was to follow Oz. At the moment, he was her
only lead.

He stalked through the crowd of people, completely within his scent of
smell. It was his guide to Willow. Ohh, the scent was strong now. He could
smell her... She was just...

Then he stopped. He stared, confused. No, this couldn’t be right...

Buddy stopped at stared, first at Oz in confusion, then at the group of
people about twenty feet away.

“Riley?”
 

Nine

“Are you sure?” Buffy asked Oz.

Oz’s brow creased in frustration. He didn’t understand what was going on at
all. One moment he felt so sure, he was on the path. Then suddenly, just as
soon as he had it, it was gone. The trail had led him here, to this crowd of
people. It made absolutely no sense. The thing about it was that he could
still smell her, but there was absolutely no trace of her.

As the people moved about him, he closed his eyes and just inhaled.

Oh yes, the scent of Willow was about. Almost in concentrate form, but it
wasn’t her. She wasn’t anywhere around here. Come to think of it, now that
he was taking the time to concentrate, she had never been here in the
physical sense. It was almost as if a part of her had been left behind.

“Blood,” Oz said.

“What?” Buffy asked, confused. She had been looking around for some sign,
for anything that would lead her back to her best friend, Spike, and Mr.
Pointy.

“I could smell her blood. She wasn’t here. She didn’t even pass through
here, but her.. her blood did. She might have bled on something and now it’s
here.”

Buffy folded her arms and looked down on the ground.

“We have to figure out what that is. It could be the only thing we have to
lead us to her.” She narrowed her eyes.

For some reason, it was bothering her alot that the trail ended with Riley.

***

Spike moved down the halls as fast as his feet would carry him.

Willow. He had to find Willow.

In the past ten minutes it had become nothing short of his mantra. He had to
find Willow and get the two of them out of there. They had to leave and
hide. Oh no, he wasn’t hiding out of fear. He would hide because he needed
to protect Willow after he changed her. She would be vulnerable at first and
he could not risk these bastards catching her, staking her or doing God
knows what else.

He needed the time to figure out who these people were so he could find the
best way to gut them.

Gripping the gun he had lifted from the man who’s internal organs he had
exposed to oxygen, he moved. No longer was he surrounded by demons, but by
walls. Ones splattered with blood now after a few fatigue clad men with
weapons had come down after him. Bloody bastards... He would have liked to
lift their skulls off their necks, but he didn’t have the time.

He flew through yet another door. There. Now he was getting somewhere. He
smelled humans all around him.

Another guard came at him. Spike’s arms came up and flung his attacker into
a wall, leaving a very ugly smear on the wall.

He snarled, his game face springing back into place. He inhaled deeply. His
kind was around her as well, but the early stages. These place reeked on
death, life, and something cold. He didn’t like it here. Oh sure, the death
part was just ducky, but the rest... no.

He peeked into different rooms. No... no... no....

There!

His princess lay back on a very hard looking bed, her hair laid out flat
against the pillow. She  didn’t look at all peaceful, she looked pained in
her sleep.

There was a woman hunched over her. He smelt chemicals... they were hurting
her...

A low growl escaped his lips.

***

“Buffy.”

Buffy walked up to Riley, twisting her hands together in her hands. Oz just
walked behind her, his hands in his pockets.

“Hey Riley.”

Riley smiled. “I was looking for you early, but Sonya said you bailed
and...”

Buffy looked away nervously, then back to him. “Have you seen Willow at all
today? She was supposed to meet me somewhere, but she never showed. That’s
not like her.”

Riley looked at the ground.

“No, I haven’t seen her. Something up?”

Buffy smiled. “No, nothing. I am just a little worried is all.”

“Want me to help you look for her?”

“Yeah. I already checked the dorm. I’m going to hit the Grotto,” Buffy said.

Riley nodded. “I’ll try the Bronze.” The T.A. took  off as fast as
lightening. Buffy and Oz went off in a separate direction just as fast, but
they stopped behind a wall.

“He was lying,” Oz said.

“How so,” Buffy said, following Riley with her eyes.

“Because,” Oz said. “I smelled her on him.”

***

Spike roared as he burst into the room, snapping the neck of the tech who
was standing besides the woman with the needle. The woman screamed and fled
into an adjoining room.

He didn’t bother to follow her. Instead, he took two steps in and scooped up
Willow, then broke out into a run.

He was perfectly aware of the commandos following him. He felt the burn of a
bullet in his back, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He had a mission.

Quickly, he moved up a flight of stairs and through a doorway as another
tech was opening it. The shocked woman just looked on as the vampire burst
past carrying a young woman. He also paled because he had unwittingly let
the creature out.

The surroundings had changed drastically. This was the school building
now... Bloody hell, what were they TEACHING here?

The footsteps behind him drew closer.

Spike let Willow slip to the side just a bit so he could pick up a chair. He
promptly flung it through the window of the third story.

Then, with Willow back in his arms again, he followed the glittering shards
back out into the night air.
****
Ten

***
You wanna make me sick
You wanna lick my wounds
Don’t you baby?
You want the badge of honor when you save my hide
But you’re the one in the way
Of the day of doom, baby
***

He jumped over a fence.

It wasn’t a particularly high fence. He’d jumped higher ones, but when Spike
landed on the ground, he felt a dull ache in his legs. He wasn’t sure if it
was from the weight of Willow in his arms or whatever unknown injuries he
acquired from the commandos. Maybe it was both. No matter. He was on the run
now and there was a good distance between him and them. In fact, he couldn’t
smell humans anywhere near him.

He had made it. Wonderful.

He slid Willow off his arms and kneeled on the ground with her.

Her eyes were still closed. There was a definite look of pain on her face.
Instantly, Spike felt his blood boil. How dare they do this to his princess.
The moment they were both at full power he would come back and then...

In anticipation, he smiled at the blood soaked nights that lay before them.
Already he could hear the screams.

He brushed the hair from her face. Gently, he shook her, trying to wake her.

Slowly, Willow’s eyes opened.

Spike grinned. Good, she was at least semi aware. A human asleep couldn’t
very well be turned.

His game face rose into place.

***
If you need my shame to reclaim your pride
And when I think of it, my fingers turn to fists
I never did anything to you, man
But no matter what I try
You’ll beat me with your bitter lies
So call me crazy, hold me down
Make me cry; get off now baby-
It won’t be long till you’ll be
Lying limp in your own hand
***

Buffy and Oz had been following Riley for what had to be at least an hour.
Buffy couldn’t be entirely sure. From the moment Willow had disappeared,
time had lost all meaning. Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like
seconds. Time dragged and then suddenly sped up. The universe wouldn’t be
right again until she knew her best friend was okay.

“I think he was telling the truth,” Oz said. “He is looking for her.”

It looked to be true. He had gone to the Bronze and asked around. He also
had combed some popular places and not so popular places. Riley was making
an effort, but something about it felt off to her, even if the looks were
right. Very early on after she had been Chosen, Buffy had learned to listen
to her instincts. Very few times had she been led astray. Right now, she
felt that something was wrong

“I don’t know, Oz,” Buffy said. “After you said you could smell her on
him... I don’t know. I just have this funny feeling. I think we should
keep...”

She stopped speaking when someone came up behind Riley. A dark complexed man
with a white sweater on. He looked familiar. Once when she had been looking
to ask Riley about her paper she had found him talking to this guy...
Forest? She was pretty sure that was his name.

For some reason, Forest’s body language looked nervous. She couldn’t hear
what they were saying, but she got the distinct impression that is was
something not of the good. Now given the new expression on Riley’s face, it
was confirmed.

The two took off.

“Do we follow?” Oz asked.

“We follow,” Buffy said, setting her lips to a grim line.

The bad feeling was deepening.
 

***
You feed the beast I have within me
You wave the red flag, baby you make it run run run
Standing on the sidelines, waving and grinning
You fondle my trigger, then you blame my gun
And when I think of it, my fingers turn to fists
I never did anything to you, man
***

Spike pulled off Willow, holding his mouth.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Her blood... It didn’t taste
right. IT reeked of something foul. After only a small mouthful, something
within it made his head swim in a most awful manner. Bloody hell...

He suddenly remembered how he had found Willow. Some woman had been standing
over Willow with a needle in her hand.

They had done something to her. He couldn’t... He couldn’t bite her. That
meant he couldn’t change her!

“SON OF A BITCH!” Spike roared, slamming his fists into the ground.

Sodding bitch... What had she done to his duchess? What had she done? She
put something in her. What?

Willow moved in his arms. At first he thought she was just waking up more,
but then he looked closer.

She was convulsing in his arms.

Desperate, he tried to hold her still, but it wasn’t working. She still
shook and shivered violently in his arms.

“No,” he moaned.

No, this wasn’t happening. This was NOT happening. No Princess. Don’t die.
Don’t die now, you can’t. I’m supposed to be the one who kills you, not
them. Come on baby, stop it. Please stop it baby... No no no....

She slowed in his arms. The episode had passed, but he could see another one
beneath her eyelids forming.

Again, he swept her up. He had to do something about this. If he couldn’t
bite her without getting ill and potentially dying a second death, he would
have to fix this. Then try again.

And to do that, he was going to have to do something absolutely insane.

He shook his head as he ran with her. The demons within him would never
approve.

***
But no matter what I try
You’ll beat me with your bitter lies.
***

They were hard ones to follow... at first. Then Forest and Riley moved into
the campus.

“Where do you suppose they are going?” Oz asked.

“It looks like home. This is Riley’s house,” Buffy said, moving effortlessly
through the throng of people. Oz on the other hand, had to fight a little
bit more to keep up.

“I wonder why?”

Buffy shrugged as they ducked into some bushes besides the house. “Personal
emergency?”

She heard a slight growl in Oz’s voice. “More important than Willow?”

She smiled, but only a little Willow was pretty much the sun, the moon, and
the stars of Oz’s universe. There were few things that held a higher place
to him than her. Such was the way of love, she mused. She felt the same way
of Angel, even if he was no longer with her. Then there was Riley. If he was
indeed something in her universe... She guessed he was a star. She’d figure
it out as time went by.

First though, came Willow.

They followed in the shadows, peeking through the windows, trying to gauge
their course.

The two men paused in front of a mirror. In the dim light, Buffy could make
out a green line pass over their eyes. Given the look Oz was giving off, he
saw it, too.

A door slid open.

Buffy’s instinct sang to her. She knew what she had to do.

“Oz, go get Giles. Tell him what happened,” Buffy said quickly. Then she
opened the window and jumped in at a speed only a vampire would be able to
see clearly.

The door began to slid shut, but Buffy broke off a table leg and wedged it
in to stop the doors from closing. Then using the strength bestowed on her
to fight the forces of evil, she pried the doors open and jumped...

...landing atop an elevator.

Buffy crouched down as the lift lowered down into blackness. She narrowed
her eyes.

Just what the hell was going on here?

***
So call me crazy, hold me down
Make me cry; get off now, baby-
It won’t be long till you’ll be
Lying limp in your own hand
 

Eleven

***
I let the beast in too soon, I don't know how to live
Without my hand on his throat; I fight him always & still
O darling, it's so sweet, you think you know how crazy
-How crazy I am
You say you don't spook so easy, you won't go, but I know
And pray that you will
***

It descended down in to darkness.

<Into hell.> Buffy though melodramatically.

She had no idea what to expect, and that bothered her a great deal. She was
used to knowing the score. For a moment she felt a brief longing for earlier
days, back when it just vampires. Go take a talk, dance with Mr. Pointy, and
go home to brush the dust out of her clothing.

As time passed, it became variations of demons, slayers gone bad, and mayors
ascending into demons. So much more complicated.

However, at the same time, it was something she knew how to fight. Those
things were clear, black and white, good and evil. Now she was beginning to
have doubts. Whatever was going on here, Riley was involved. That brought
everything into a shade of gray she so did not need at the moment.

She wished she could call Willow. Talking to her best friend had a way of
making everything feel that much easier to deal with.

Just what was all this about? It had a creepy X-Files meets Batman feel to
it. Cover-ups mixed with a secret lair of a sorts. Plus, of course, the fact
that some big secret was laying down here. The only thing missing was some
guy constantly smoking a cigarette.

<Why is Riley here? What is he doing? Why did Oz smell Willow's blood on
him?>

Buffy felt almost sick. She had been starting to like this fellow and now
big mistrust issues were being raised. Was he somehow involved in Willow's
abduction? For his sake, she hoped not. According the unofficial credo if
best friends, she would then have to expose his inner organs to daylight.
She didn't want to do that.

God, what was he keeping from here? What hell was under this building? Was
Riley keeping some sort of secret identity from her?

A bitter laugh escaped her lips. Apparently they might have more in common
that she had originally suspected.

The elevator halted. She felt the weight shift beneath her. Riley and Forest
had to be getting off.

<Great. Now what do I do?> Buffy thought. Before she jumped through the
window and down the shaft, she really should have put a little more thought
into this.

Especially since the elevator was now moving upwards.

<Oh ... damn....>

***
-Fast as you can, baby run-free yourself of me
Fast as you can
***

It was an awfully quiet shift. That was surprising considering in this town
it felt like someone was always bleeding.

Dr. Franklin just finished up his third coffee and was done with his fifth
magazine that moment. Perhaps it was unprofessionally, but at this point he
didn't care. He was bored. So bored, in fact, he had made a card pyramid of
emergency cards.

"Now that's impressive," the security guard, Garibaldi said, holding two
cups of coffee.

"Thank you," Franklin said. "Took me about three hours."

Garibaldi raised an eyebrow. "That slow?"

"Yep," Franklin said, taking the coffee. He surveyed the emergency room. The
two men were the only souls in there. "Not a bleeder in the house." He
shooed Garibaldi away from the pyramid. "Careful. This is a piece of art
here."

"Sorry."

"Should be. Man, I need something real to do. If someone doesn't come..."

With that, the doors swung open. A blond haired man wearing a black duster
ran in carrying a bundle in his arms... No wait, it was a woman!

"Shit," Franklin said. He hadn't meant it!

The man laid the woman down on a gurney gently, blowing over the card
pyramid in the process.

<Double shit.> Franklin thought. He pushed it out of his mind and focused on
the red haired girl laying before him.

"Help her," the blond man said.

Franklin immediately went to work. Man, she had lost A LOT of blood ...
something else was wrong too...

Garibaldi looked down at her than lifted up his head.

"Hey pal, you mind telling me what..."

The blond haired man was gone.

"...happened?"

***
I may be soft in your palm, but soon I'll grow
Hungry for a fight, and I will not let you win
My pretty mouth will frame the phrases that will
Disprove your faith in man
So if you catch me trying to find my way into your
Heart from under your skin

-Fast as you can, baby scratch me out, free yourself
Fast as you can
Fast as you can, baby scratch me out, free yourself
Fast as you can
***

<Answers. Need them now.>

He was going to get them. Oh yes, he was going to get them, by any means
necessary.

It was his hope that the process would involve draining the life out of one
of those secret agent wannabes who had taken them Spike was hungry and
angry, not a very good combination. Great for him, but for whoever got in
his way this night... He pitied the fool.

He paused outside of the college campus. He had a feeling they were out on
the prowl for him, and why wouldn't they be? He had eluded them and now he
knew about them. A stake was probably already sharpened in his honor.

He felt his vampire visage come to surface. It was bad enough that he had
been taken in, but they had hurt Willow. That was something he was not going
to take lightly. Someone had to pay.

And he had a pretty good idea who that would be.

***
Sometimes my mind don't shake and shift
But most of the time, it does
And I get to the place where I'm begging for a lift
Or I'll drown in the wonders and the was
And I'll be your girl, if you say it's a gift
Cuz I'm tired of whys, choking on whys
***

The elevator was moving upwards a little too fast for Buffy's taste.

She reached out and touched the walls and they slid down beneath her touch.

This was not how she imagined her death, crushed in an elevator shaft. It
lacked a certain poetry.

"Damn it, no," Buffy said.

She tried to keep her cool. Panicking would only make things worse. She
didn't have the time for it. She had to act, and now.

She looked up and saw something that looked like an air vent.

"Oh please be an air vent."

She stood up, taking a stance. This was so going to hurt.

Her fist reached the right range. Using all of her strength (and it was
quite considerable) she punched the metal. Her knuckles stung. The metal
bent, but did not fall through...and the elevator was moving upwards still.

She crouched down and tried again. This time it gave.

Buffy dove through the vent into the ducts, feeling her feet rise as the
elevator moved to the above. She jerked her feet down with her, narrowly
avoiding having them severed.

She allowed herself a moment to breathe.

Then she moved through the tiny passages, on the hunt for Riley or the
reason why he was there.

The bad feeling returned.

***
I let the beast in and then;
I even tried forgiving him, but it's too soon
So I'll fight again, again, again, again
And for a little while more, I'll soar the
Uneven wind, complain and blame
The sterile land
But if you're getting any bright ideas, quiet dear
I'm blooming within
***

Another sleepless night.

She would have thought she would have been used to them by now, but the
truth of it, Professor Walsh wasn't. She had been born and raised a day
person. She preferred to sleep at night, but work prevented that.

She set down some papers in her office. Pretty soon it would be time for her
day job. If she was lucky enough, she would get to put her head down for a
quick nap before she had to go educate.

It was her hope if she got that much, that Riley would wake her with news
that the hostile had been recaptured and Willow reacquired. She could not
risk one of them knowing about what they did. The potential consequences and
repercussions were nothing to laugh about it.

Sighing, she knew it probably wouldn't happen. It was almost dawn. The
sending out of the troops would probably accomplish nothing. The creature
was no doubt in hiding with his quarry. Another loss of life and two
experiments out the window.

They couldn't win every single battle.

Hopefully the next would be less bloody. Fifteen men dead and injured. Good
agents and soldiers.

"The families will have to be notified," Walsh murmured. that was the part
she hated. The lies... She wanted to know the families were told their sons
had died for a noble cause, but they couldn't say why.

Her head hurt. To hell with the papers. The students could wait another day.

First came sleep.

She was about to lay her head down when she heard her door slam shut.

Walsh jerked her head up.

"'Ello, luv.
****
Twelve
 

***
I never claimed to be your savior
I said I had a dirty mouth
Stop analyzing my behavior
If you're too dumb to work it out

I've got to keep myself together
You know I hate to disappoint
A masochistic lamb to slaughter
Maybe you miss the point?
***

Walsh snapped up and out of her chair. She was supposed to be prepared for
the attack of a hostile. She had been trained just as well as any of the
agents she worked with. She worked out, she practiced...but all those times
it had been with weapons. It had been with others nearby. Every single
possible scenario had been imagined and put into practice.

But never had it been thought that one would appear in her office.
Especially one that had escaped.

It smiled at her.

Walsh moved to the side quickly. It followed, blocking the way from that
maneuver.

“What do you want?” Walsh asked, desperate to keep the fear out of her
voice.

Now it grinned, its eyes narrowed.

It stepped on up and simply socked her once in the face. She stumbled back
on the
ground, landing not quite so gracefully on her bottom. She looked up as it
slowly moved forward, hands casually on its hips.

“I’d like to know a couple of things, but,” Spike drawled. “I can wait on
those. There's
just one thing on me mind right now.”

Walsh got up and made another move for the door. Spike grabbed her by the
shoulders and threw her into a bookcase. She cried out as she and the
bookcase toppled over backwards on the ground. Quickly, she tried to get up,
but it was a little late. Given the pain, she moved very slowly. At least it
felt like it was slow. The fear in the mix seemed to make everything move in
slow motion.

Spike was on her in a heart beat. He pinned the day-job-professor down with
his body weight and held her arm. He smiled at her.

Then he twisted it back. Walsh screamed, but his hand over her mouth
prevented anyone from hearing it.

“Now, luv, we're going to have a little talk. You're going to tell me just
what the hell you put into Little Red and how I can fix it,” Spike said,
very matter of factly. He took his hand off her mouth.

Walsh struggled beneath him. God damn it, where was Riley? Wasn't he
supposed to be back by now? She hoped so, oh God she hoped so. She prayed he
hadn't decided to go for a nap before class. With a free hand, she reached
out.

Her offensive was met by a sharp backhanded slap to the face.

“None of that now. Tell me what you did to her.”

“No.” The Initiative had to be protected at all costs. She couldn't allow
fear to cause her to do anything stupid. Nothing would save her life that
she would have to say anyhow. Without even asking, she knew once her
usefulness had been served he would kill her. She would not help him.

“Not the answer I wanted to hear, ducks.” With that, his true face surfaced.
Walsh gasped. “Scared now? Good. You're supposed to be. Now, I will kill
you. No chance of me letting you go. After all, you would have killed me,
yes? Experimented on me first, right?” His voice was calm, but under the
surface, he boiled. If she could hear what he was thinking, the thoughts
alone would give her heart failure. “That's wasn't very nice.
Play around with things you don't understand is only going to hurt you.”

He twisted her arm again for good measure. Her body arched in pain. Now
this, was fun. He brought his face close up to hers. “Now, like I was
saying, I am going to kill you. But...if you're nice and tell me what I want
to hear, I’ll make it quick. If you don't,” he said meaningfully.

Spike reached over for what she had been previously diving for. A simple
pair of sharp
scissors.

Still pinning the woman down, he held it over her midsection. “I’ll kill you
very slowly.
You'll scream, but no one will hear you.”

He smirked. “Let me show you an example.”

***
I'm feeling small
I'm climbing the walls
I don't let it show

Now that you know what you know
I bet you wish you could let it go
You'll never come sucking your thumb
Better off dumb
***

It quickly became obvious that while the building was being constructed, no
one was
polite enough to consider the needs of those sneaking around in air ducts.

Buffy cursed as she banged her elbow on the side for the fifth time in ten
minutes. It was bound to be very sore later.

There had to be an exit around there somewhere. It felt as if she was going
in circles.
Maybe she was. She had no point of reference, no way of even knowing where
she was. She had long since given up hope of trailing Riley and Forrest once
she had gotten off the elevator in such a hurry. There was no way to tell
where they had gone. Her only consolation was that she had found something
new.

The question was: What did it have to do with Willow? Did it have anything
to do with
her at all? Her gut told her it did. The moment Oz had told her that he
could smell
Willow's blood on him led her to believe that. She damn well intended to
find out.

Once she got out of this maze.

She continued to crawl forward. As her hand hit the metal below, she heard a
different kind of thump. It sounded hollow meaning there was nothing below
her. She had to be above something now.

With a strong, but cramped kick downward, she forced the metal sheet out of
its holding. It fell downward with a loud clatter.

She peeked downward and had to squint her eyes. It was so bright down there,
so white.

After a few moments, her eyes adjusted to the light. They widened.

“What the hell,” Buffy breathed. Below her were a number of demons being
held in cells. Many of them were vampires. the rest were an odd assortment
of demons, some of which Buffy had seen before and others that were new to
her eyes.

All this on campus... Jeez. It filled her with an immediate sense of dread.
There was
definite reason behind this. It theory, it was a good idea to study these
things for
weaknesses, but she had serious doubts that it was that. She had the feeling
it had all grown into something quite dangerous. Dangerous for her and
dangerous for everyone else. Once she found Willow, this was going to have
to be seriously looked into a dealt with.

<And I had thought dealing with Mayor had been a chore.>

This appeared to be a nice exit. Well, there were probably better ones, but
she didn't have the luxury of time to find one. She had to find Willow.

She lowered herself into the gap and dropped. Almost immediately, an alarm
of some kind was blaring.

“Oops,” was all the Slayer could find to say.

She began to run down the corridor with surprised demons banging on the
glass and being shocked back. This brought Buffy to a halt in astonishment.
These people certainly knew how to contain what they caught. Speaking of
containment, a guy in a white coat came up behind Buffy, trying to hold her
down. They did not have a kind policy towards intruders. As it turned out,
she didn't have a kind policy towards attackers. Buffy took the guys arm and
flipped him over her shoulder.

He wasn't alone. Another came at her from the front and was met with a
roundhouse kick to the face.

That was the last of them, but she had the feeling there were more.

“Slayer,” came a voice. She turned around to see a vampire looking at her
from inside one of the cells. She knew him. He had been one of Sunday's
lackeys that had escaped her raid to reclaim her stuff on her third day of
class. Apparently, he didn't get too far.

“Vampire,” she said back.

“I thought... I thought these were your guys,” he said.

“No,” Buffy said, fending off another who slammed her into the wall. “Never
saw them
before.” She simply right-hooked this one, sending him to the floor. There
was now a
nice pile of white coats at her feet now.

“They won’t let you out. This place has got some nice guards.”

“So I see.” Damn it, these guys just kept coming. She had the suspicion
armed ones were coming in a moment. She so did not want to be there when
that happened.

“I.. I know where the exit is. Spring me and you're out. If you're not,
they’ll catch you
and I bet they would love to know what a Slayer is made of,” he argued.

Damn, he did have a point. Well, if he attacked her, she did have Mr. Pointy
handy. She reached into the coat of one of her disabled attackers, fumbling
for some kind of key. She found a white card and went to the door, quickly
opening it for the vampire.

He stepped out, happy to be free. He looked back for a second, musing on
which way he remembered. He pointed to the left.

“This way.”

Buffy had little choice but to follow.

***

“Hello. This is Buffy and Willow. We're not here right now so leave a
message and we’ll get back to you.”

Beep.

“Hello, Ms. Summers? My name is Dr. Franklin at Sunnydale Hospital. A Willow
Rosenburg was brought in here at 4 A.M. with serious injuries. We have
attempted to call family, but there was no response. If you get this
message, please respond. Our number is 546-8839. Again, my name is Dr.
Franklin.”
***

Buffy continued to run, following the vampire.

It went through her head a dozen times of how screwed up this was. Here she
was, the Slayer, the one girl in all the world chosen to fight the forces of
evil, was dependent on a vampire for escape. She could only imagine what
Giles would think of it. Well, once he got passed that, he would focus on
this.

An underground compound dedicated to the study of the dark forces. This was
definitely not of the good.

What the hell did Riley have to do with these people?

Of course she was not of the evil ones, but they didn't know that. She had
broken into their facilities. They wanted to deal with her as an enemy. She
would have been happy to let them try, but she was outnumbered. Therefore,
getting out of there was the way to go.

“Are we getting close?” Buffy asked.

“I think so,” the vampire answered.

“You think so? Let’s go with you know so please!”

“I’m sorry,” he said, trying to keep the fear of capture and of her out of
his voice. “At this point, I’m not quite so sure.”

“Well, get sure.”

Before he could respond, another door opened. Five guys wearing black came
out. They were the armed guys Buffy had been afraid of. Great. Oh, look at
that, they had stakes.

One of them lunged for her, his stake ready. IT scratched her skin, drawing
a small
amount of blood.

“Hey, that's my job,” Buffy said, grabbing him by the neck and pulling her
knee up to
meet his face.

She dove through the door, going by instinct. Behind her, she heard a cry
out. She knew the vampire had been staked. Well, it saved her a job later.

Right now, she had places to go.

***
Maybe I could write a letter
To help me with my self-esteem
You should get to know me better
No one's ever what they seem
***

Giles knocked on Buffy's dorm room door with Oz behind him.

“I don't think she came back here,” Oz said. “She probably wanted to deal
with whatever was in that house.”

“I don't doubt that, but it is possible she’s back,” Giles responded.

“She would have called,” Oz argued.

“Possibly. Or she might have fallen asleep. She’s been awake 24 hours. If
she did, it probably wasn't on purpose. You might want to consider it.”

“Not until I have Willow back.”

Giles resisted the urge to say that it might not be for a while...or even
ever, but it would crush the boy. Besides, they needed to keep up optimism.

Oz pushed in front of him and opened the unlocked door.

“Buffy?”

No one was there. Nothing was on and nothing moved.

All except for a red light blinking on the answering machine.

***
I'm feeling small
Climbing the walls
I don't let it show
***

Buffy knocked out another tech as she ran up a flight of stairs. At last, a
real door. Thank you!

She opened it with the white card key she still carried. The door slammed
and hissed shut behind her

What she saw there surprised her even more.

Somehow she had ended up back on campus. Oddly enough, into the school
building itself. Oh, this was bad, this was very bad.

Well, at least she blended in now. Students milled about ahead of her. She
began walking, cursing vehemently under her breath all the while. She had
failed. She failed Willow. If only she hadn't gone down that elevator shaft
and picked a different direction. She could have found Willow.

“Oh God, Wills,” she sniffed. Tears were forming as reality crept to
surface. Willow was probably dead now.

Spike was going to pay.

Big time.

Her mental rant and self flogging was interrupted from a small cry coming
from an office. Buffy walked over and touched the door. It swung open
beneath her touch.

“Oh my God.”

The place was a mess. Books thrown about, a chair smashed, and a bookcase
toppled over.

However, it was the blood that got her full attention. It soaked the ground,
puddling in
some places...especially by the desk on which the body of Professor Maggie
Walsh laid. She was cut something severe across the stomach and arms...and
especially her neck. She was still alive, given the soft, pained moans
coming from her.

Buffy ran over to her and held her head up.

“Professor?” Buffy asked.

Her eyes opened. “Buffy?”

“Yeah,” Buffy laughed bitterly. “The girl who sleeps a lot?”

“Get...get out of here...leave...”

“I can’t. You’re hurt. I’ll call 911.”

“Go.. Might still be...”

“Sshh. Save your strength.”

“He might still be here...”

Buffy froze, sensing her words. “Who? Who might still be here?”

“Blond hair... va... English...”

She almost dropped Walsh at that. Spike. Spike had done this. Wait. Why had
he done this? God, was she connected to all this too?

“Where did he go?”

“Don’t... know...”

She decided on a new tactic. "Where is Willow?"

Now that caught the semi delirous Walsh by surprise. "He...took.. her..."

"Let her go," Another voice came.

Buffy looked up to see Riley with a trained rifle aimed directly at her.
***
Thirteen

***
The window burns to light the way back home
A light that warms no matter where they go
They're off to find the hero of the day
But what if they should fall by someone's wicked way
***

"Riley."

Riley's face was stony, close to ashen. He had barely gotten back when he
had
heard of the break in. He had been shocked enough as it was to see it had
been Buffy. But now, to see her standing over the professor's body...

"Back away from her," Riley said, his voice hard, his sights never straying
from Buffy.

"Riley's she's hurt. She'll die if we..." Buffy argued.

"I said, back away."

Professor Walsh tried to get up, but the immense pain forced her back down.
"Riley," she gurgled.

"It's alright, Professor. I got it under control," Riley said.

"Oh are you ever off," Buffy blurted. They had to see how wrong they were.
One day they were going to lose control of the situation underneath their
feet and alll hell was going to break loose. How many more people would die
then? Didn't they see that or were they already that far disillusioned?

"Quiet," Riley barked. Oh God, why did it have to be her? Why? Why her? Damn
it, just when he found someone he was actually really and truly falling...
No, can't think about that. He had to focus on the matter at hand. The
professor was in danger and he did not know for certain if Buffy was
involved or not. Chances are, she was. Hadn't she been the one who comprimed
their security? A feat in of itself to be sure.

"Put your hands on the back of your head and lay down on the floor."

"Your making a mistake," Buffy said, slowly obeying him.

"I think you got that backwards."

Walsh again tried to protest. She wanted to scream that it was not Buffy who
did this, that it had been Hostile 17. This girl was trying to help! She had
nothing to do with this! She was helping...but it was hard. Breathing was so
hard. She couldn't keep her eyes open...

As Buffy moved down, Riley cautiously made his way over to her to restrain
her. He still didn't want to hurt her. It might have been an accident, she
might have stumbled on them by accident. She had been looking for Willow had
had briefly been in their custody. God, he would never forgive himself if
she was dead now. Never. No, can't think of that. Have to focus now.

Buffy had her eyes down. To the casual observer, it looked like she was
complying. Oh, how far from it that was. As he moved closer to her, she was
preparing to make her move. She did not have time for this. For all she knew
Willow was dead or dying. She would never live with herself if something had
happened to her. Her eyes narrowed as she thought of Spike and a dozen nasy
thoughts ran trhough her head now. No, no, can't think of that. She had to
focus on the now. She had to get out of there. She hoped she wouldn't have
to hurt him. She was finally beginning to feel somethng for this boy over
here.

Riley stepped closer.

Buffy lashed out with her foot.

***
Still the window burns
Time so slowly turns
And someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames
Do you feel your name?
Did you hear your babies crying?
Mama they try and break me
Still they try and break me
***

"She's not in here," Oz said.

Giles rubbed his forehead, frustrated. "Yes, that is painfully obvious now."

Oz paced back and forth a bit. He didn't like this. He had this awful
feeling in his gut which was growing. She should have been found, they both
should have been found. the fear for Willow just deepened more, but now
there was one growing for Buffy. Where had she even gone? Was there
something in that building which had gotten to her?

"Do you think she is still in that building that you spoke of earlier?"
Giles asked.

Oz looked up, destracted from his dark musings. "Oh...it's possible. I mean,
it was weird. It looked like a retinal scan, the kind you see in spy movies.
Then she jumped down an elevator shaft."

"And you say you smelled Willow's blood on this boy's clothing," Giles
questioned. He noticablely gulped at the word blood.

Oz growled under his breath. "For the third time, yes. It was strong."

Giles leaned against the wall, thinking. This had a number of implications,
some good and some bad. "It's possible he might have found her."

"If he did, and I think he did, why didn't he tell us? He acted as if her
being missing was a complete surprise," Oz argued.

"Good point. He might have found an article of clothing?"

"No, it just doesn't feel right. Something doesn't fit. I got this feeling
it's all related to that building."

"I get the same feeling myself," Giles argeed.

The two men looked at each other in silence.

"Okay, let's think about what we know. I smelled her on him, meaning either
he's working with Spike... or he found her and for some reason doesn't want
us to know."

"That does make sense. Perhaps the lad brought her to medical attention or
for study, possibly both?"

Oz grimaced. He didn't particularly like this idea of his girlfreind being
the subject of a scientific inquery.

He managed a bitter laugh. "Yeah, it's not like Spike woud take her to
Sunnydale Presbyterian!"

He leaned against the nightstand, accidentally hitting one of the buttons on
the answering machine.
 

"Hello, Ms. Summers? My name is Dr. Franklin at Sunnydale Presbyterian
Hospital. A Willow Rosenburg was brought in here at 4 A.M. with serious
injuries..."

***
Excuse me while I tell them how to feel
These things we turn to me that still seem real
Now deservingly this easy chair
But the rocking starts the wheels of this play
***
Franklin checked the fluid in the IV bag attached to his patient. She had
improved some. she wasn't out of the woods yet, but she had made it through
the night okay. That was a very good sign and he decided to stay optimistic.

He was slightly startled by the appearance of Garibaldi behind him.

"Oh hey, I thought you would be going home now," Franklin said, scribbling
something down on his chart.

His friend shrugged. "I don't think I'd be able to sleep in good conscience
without knowing how our young friend was doing."

Franklin took a seat outside of her room. "She's better now, not much, but
improving."

"Always a good thing. Think she'll make it?"

"Very certain." He sighed deeply. "It was a close one though. She suffered a
hell of alot of blood loss."

Garbaldi shook his head. Way too many cases like that in this town for his
liking. "Poor thing. She looked like she was attacked by an animal."

"Looks like it, but I don't think so."

"No?"

"You might be brough into this a little bit more. I found a puncture wound
on her arm. Someone injected something into her system, something to stop
her heart and some other compound I haven't analyzed yet."

"Wait a second. This was a murder attempt?"

"Possibly. It might have been set up to make it look like she had been bit
by an animal and then this."

Garbaldi let it all sink in.

"I think I'll stick around awhile longer."

Franklin nodded. "Might be a good idea."
 

***
Don't want your hate
But the fist I make
For you still no fear
No not on me
So please excuse me while I tell them how I feel
***
 

Riley was knock backwards, not exactly landing in the most noble of
positions. Damn it, how had she moved so fast!

Buffy jumped up and made a break for the door when she was pulled down to
the ground. She turned her head to see Riley with both hands wrapped firmly
around her ankle.

"Let go," Buffy said.

"Not on your life," Riley said.

"Fine, have it your way." Buffy used her free leg to kick him full on in the
face. Riley let go, gripping a bleeding nose.

She leapt to her feet, but found herself pausing. Walsh was still on the
table, moaning painfully. Tentatively, Buffy placed a hand on Maggie's.

"We need to get you help."

"No..." Walsh breathed. "You have.. to.. go... Find..."

Buffy leaned in closer. "Find who?"

"Willow... he... had... go.. find.. stop..."

Buffy nodded once. She didn't want to leave, but she had to. Riley was here.
He would help her. She, on the other hand, had a friend to save.

Inwardly, she sighed. This was the part of being the Chosen that truly
sucked. As much as she tried, she couldn't save everyone. there were just
too many people and too many nasties.

Unfortunately, there was only one of her.

Regretfully, Buffy took off. She had a search and rescue to undergo.

And a vampire to stake.

Riley got upp onto his feet, still clutching his nose. Damn it, she got
away. This just conformed what he feared. She was involved in all this. Damn
it, damn it, damn it!

He heard a moan. He instantly ran to the professor's side.

"Maggie?"

Maggie Walsh opened her mouth to speak. She had to tell him! she had to tell
him Buffy hadn't done this. She was trying to save her friend's life was
all. The vampire had said her name, said what she did. The girl was on their
side! They had to find her, work with her. She could help them and vice
versa. She had to say it.

But all she did was exhale one, final breath.

***
But now the dreams end
And now the dreams end
They everlast the night
So build a wall
Behind it crawl
And hide until it's light
So can you hear your babies crying now?
***

He stroked her hair and smiled.

"It's going to be okay, baby," Spike whispered. "She won't hurt you any
more."

He heard what the doctor said. He couldn't help but to sigh in relief. He
didn't know what he would do if he lost her. If she would have slipped
through his finger like that... God, he would take a walk at noon.

He thought to the woman at the university with a smile. Really and truly, he
had enjoyed that. It had been such a long time since he dug into a human
like that. The fear had such an intoxicating aroma.

There would be little trouble from her now, but he suspected there would be
plenty from those beneath her and above her.

No matter, he could handle it. He had an extra something up his sleeve now
that they would not see coming. In antipation, he grinned.

Lightly, he caressed Willow's face.  She would be alright, he could feel it
in his bones. Soon, he would try again, after he knew for certain it was
safe to do so. Really, there was no rush. Yes, no rush at all. He just had
to remember what patience was.

He frowned slightly. He wasn't too happy about that. Patience was never his
strongest point. Kind of iroinc, he supposed, considering he had eternity.

He smiled again. Yes, eternity. Eternity with her. He relished the thought.
What a pair the two of them would make.

Underneath his touch, he felt Willow move slightly. Good, she was coming to.
Slowly, he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

It was then a shadow fell over them.

Angrily, Spike turned his head.

"Spike," Oz growled.
*****
Fourteen

****
Sucker love is heaven sent.
You pucker up, our passion's spent.
My hearts a tart, your body's rent.
My body's broken, yours is spent.
Carve your name into my arm.
Instead of stressed, I lie here charmed.
Cuz there's nothing else to do,
Every me and every you.
***

Spike looked up at his contender for a brief moment, hate dripping from his
eyes. Slowly and deliberately to spite the boy, he turned back to Willow. He
looked down at her, a soft smile playing at his lips, and he brushed a stray
lock of hair from her face. He really wished she hadn't decided to cut it.
It did look very lovely, but he did miss it long. He'd have to convince her
to grow it out.

He stood up, brushing his duster as he did so. He smiled at the wolf.

"Hello, mate," Spike said.

Oz narrowed his eyes. He had to use every single bit of self control he had
to keep from tearing the vampire apart. What he wouldn't give for a full
moon right then and there. He could use the extra strength to tear a limb
off.

Then again, this was about Willow. He wouldn't need the wolf for this one.

"Get away from her," Oz said.

Spike smirked. "No."

Oz advanced slowly. "Get away from her, or I will make you."

This caused a bit of laughter to emit from Spike. Oh God, that was funny.
Was this why she kept the little puppy around? For amusement?

His expression was one of mock terror. He placed his hand on his own face.
"Oh no," he said in a falsetto voice. "The little wolf is going to hurt me!
Whatever will I do!"
The mirth quickly disappeared. "Really, just how are going to make me? I'll
leave when I bloody well choose to."

Oz seethed. "I said get away from her," he breathed. "And STAY away from
her."

Spike slowly stepped forward until he was face to face with him.

"The thing about this is, there is not a bloody thing you can do to stop me.
Sure, we just might have a nice go at it right here, you might live through
it, you might not. I'll leave the room eventually, wait until they've fixed
whatever those blokes did to my girl over here, but I'm not going to stay
gone. I might come back tomorrow, I might not. I might wait a few months, a
year, but I plan to come back. I'm going to pin her down and drain her down
to last drop and then give it all right back. The beauty of it is, with
everything you've got, the wolf inside, the watcher, the slayer at your
side... There is not a thing you can do about it."

Instantly, Oz's fist met with Spike's cheek.

The vampire let his head roll back with the punch. The, very slowly, he
turned his head back, a wide smirk on his face.

"Alright then. Here we go."

***
Sucker love, a box I choose.
No other box I choose to use.
Another love I would abuse,
No circumstances could excuse.
In the shape of things to come.
Too much poison come undone.
Cuz there's nothing else to do,
Every me and every you.
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
***

Giles had been driving only a few minutes. He figured it would be easier and
less inconspicous if he searched out Buffy in his car. After the incident
with the bad beer, he felt less inclined to walk amognst the students. He
didn't stick out that much, easily being mistaken for a professor, but he
felt odd just the same.

She wasn't anywhere in the dorm. He wondered for a moment if he should have
stayed in her room, but he had doubts she would return. With Willow being
missing, she probabbly was still out looking, even though the sun was now
up. At least this would narrow down the places where Spike might be holed
up, but not by much. There were a number of places where a vampire would
hide from the sun. Too many to count, but that wouldn't stop Buffy.

This was one of the reasons she had to be the best of the slayers. In
addition to some fine allies, she had a fierce dedication that didn't slip
for a moment. Briefly, he pitied Spike. Briefly.

He caught site of a blond figure racing across the campus.

He rolled down his window. "Buffy!"

She changed her course sharply. She stopped in front of his car and quickly
swung around to the side and opened the door, hopping in.

"Drive," Buffy ordered sharply.

For a moment, Giles was quite alarmed. Something had clearly happened.

First he would start with good news. "Buffy, Willow's been found," Giles
said as he drove away from the campus with Buffy looking behind her the
whole while.

She turned her head. "She has?" Buffy brightened a moment, but her smile
faded. "Is she..."

Giles sobered. "She is alive. Willow was apparently brought to a hospital
early in the morning. I don't know anything beyond that. Oz went to her and
I came to find you."

She relaxed against the seat.

"Oh thank God."

Giles looked to her. "Oz mentioned that you disappeared down an elevator
shaft. I take it you.. found something?"

Her face darkened. "You could say that. Once again, there is more going on
that what's on the surface."

"Care to explain?"

"Gladly. Let's just motor over to Willow. Thank God she's alive."

Giles nodded his agreement. "That's for certain. She's with Oz now. I don't
see how there could be any danger there."
 

***
Sucker love is known to swing.
Prone to cling and waste these things.
Pucker up for heavens sake.
There's never been so much at stake.
I serve my head up on a plate.
It's only comfort, calling late.
Every me and every you.
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
***

Spiek picked Oz up by the collar abd threw the boy down to the ground.
Before Oz could react, he grabbed onto his left arm and sharply twisted it
back.

Oz yelped out in pain, eliciting a short laugh from Spike. It was enough of
an antagonist to make him suddenly jerk his arm down to pull the vampire
down. He quickly rolled on top of Spike and brought a series of vicious
punches to his face.

It didn't last of course. Spike had in seconds, taken both of Oz's wrists,
and seperated them. He brought his head forward in a hard butt.

Oz fell back. Spike stood up, releasing Oz with an obvious look of disgust.

"You know, I honestly don't see what she sees in you," Spike said.

Sahking his head from the blow, Oz pulled himself up. Unfortunately, he was
wavering and his adversary could see it.

Oz stepped forward, aiming a punch at Spike's smirking face. One that Spike
easily sidestepped. He took hold of Oz's arm and used his own motions to
propel him into the wall.

"I mean, if she was looking for protection, she should have stayed with the
Slayer and not gone to anyone else. Rember when I took her the other night?
A hell of a lot of good you did her. I swept her away before you had even a
moment to blink your eyes."

Furious, Oz rolled off the wall. He picked up a table tray and hit it across
Spike's face. Before it could leave contact with his skin, he grabbed ahold
of the object and wrenched it away from Oz. He used the makeshift weapon to
bash him over the head with. He tossed it aside and pushed Oz over Willow's
bed and down onto the ground.

Gloating, Spike stood over him.

"She barely fought back, you know. I had her smashed up against a tree. Yes,
she did squirm," Spiek said. He paused to grin, looking reminiscent for a
moment. "I did love that part. That tiny little body of hers touching mine,
trying to break free, but just making all sorts of delicious contact with
mine... I think she liked it that way."

Oz got up to make another pass. However this time, Spike had been
antciptating it. He seized his shoulders and pined him up against the wall.
Oz tried to break free, but found it impossible. That didn't mean he wasn't
going to try.

Spike smiled. "She's a sweet girl. She deserves better."

"Right. Like you're perfect," Oz growled.

"I am mate. I can keep her safe. I can show her what the world really is,
and I intend to. No one is going to use her the way you and the rest do.
I'll let her play it her way. Do what she wants... kill who she wants.
Bloody shame it won't be you."

With that, he let his demon visage come up.

And behind them, Willow opened her eyes.

***
Like the naked leads the blind.
I know I'm selfish, I'm unkind.
Sucker love I always find,
Someone to bruise and leave behind.
***

"An entire compound? All beneath the university? That's incredible!" Giles
said while driving towards the hospital.

Buffy nodded. "It's even more incredible to see. They had some serious stuff
going on. I mean, it was a complete operation...all under our noses. Who
knows how long this was going on."

"And the woman?"

"I don't know." She frowned. "She was in pretty bad shape when I found her.
I
honestly don't think she made it, even if there had been a full medical
staff
next door. To make things worse, Riley stopped me before I could do anything
to help or find out anything more." She paused. "Giles, I think it was Spike
who attacked her."

"Spike? How, he was with Willow...wasn't he?"

"Oz said he smelled Willow's blood on Riley. Maybe he brought them both or
one to that place... But it didn't work out."

"If it was Spike, he was probably very unhappy with his captors. In Prague,
he nothing short of wiped out the mob that harmed Drusilla. He doesn't taken
well to his...paramours being threatened. Or if it was Willow, he might have
gone into to rescue her."

"Wait, she was taken to a hospital."

"Meaning these people might have done something to her?"

"It's not to hard to imagine."

"But if Willow's there..."

At the same time, they both said. "Spike."

Giles laid down on the gas hard. Too hell with the speed limit.

Suddenly, a car blocked his way. Just barely, Giles was able to swerve to
the
side. He tried to back up, but another vehicle blocked that path.

They had just been ambushed.

"Bloody hell," Giles spat.

***
All alone in space and time.
There's nothing here but what here's here's mine.
Something borrowed, something blue.
Every me and every you.
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
***

Spike had been mere centimeters from a mouthful of Oz when a sudden burning
spread across his chest.

He released him to bat and the holy water he had been doused with from the
front. Oz had come prepared.

With his chest still smoking, Spike stepped back up to the gasping Oz.

"Any new surprises?" Spike asked.

Oz only made another rush at him. Spike accosted him in the coat and threw
him down onto the ground. The vampire picked up a metal folding chair and
raised it over his head. Oz raised his hands to block it.

<Tough luck, mate.>

He brought the chair down.

Suddenly, red hair filled his vision as a small form blocked Oz's body with
her own.

Spike hesitated.

"Willow."
*****
Fifteen
 

***
And it feels right this time
On this crash course we're in the big time
Pay no mind to the distant thunder
Beauty fills his head with wonder, boy
***

Buffy and Giles glanced at each other, worriedly. They were surrounded.
Giles had only a vague idea what was going on, all based on Buffy's
scattered account on the events as they’d driven. He had no chance to get
the details and she hadn't the time to give them.

She, on the other hand, had a very good idea who had them cornered and a
vague conception of what these people were capable of. They were smart, that
much being obvious. Kind of an odd thought considering what they were doing
was deeply stupid on all levels. Unfortunately, their stupidity was in large
numbers and they had much better weaponry than she had...which was nothing
at that moment. All she had was Giles and a pair of fists. It all diminished
in the face of what she was going to be up against.

"I'll assume this would be about the woman in the office?" Giles said.

"I guess this means she didn't make it," Buffy replied, devoid of emotion.
It had to be. If she had made it, she would have said something about her
trying to help, that she hadn't been the one responsible, that it had been
Spike.

Then again, she supposed it didn’t matter. Whether she lived or not, they no
doubt wanted to get the girl who broke into their lab and thrashed a number
of their people. She knew their secret and did not want it to get out.

"Ideas?" Buffy asked.

"None what-so-ever," Giles said.

"They probably are very prepared for a fight," Buffy mused, feeling her
muscles tense. Well, if that's what they wanted, she would give it to them.

Almost on cue, several men came out of the trucks, all heavily armed,
advancing on Giles's car.

"Damn, Giles said.

"Whatever happens,"" Buffy said. "One of us has to make it to Willow. Even
if it is day, he could be there right now. I can't risk losing her again."

"Agreed."

The first of the commandos stood about five feet away from her side of the
car. She easily recognized him as Riley. This was not going to be pretty.

"Out of the car, hands above your head," Riley shouted.

Buffy glowered. She was coming out the car, but he wasn't going to like it
one bit.

She had a mission here.
 

***
Says it feels right this time
Turn around, found new high lights
Good day to be alive sir
Good day to be alive, he said
***

Willow clung to Oz's form, blocking him from Spike as best she could.

She couldn't remember things very well. Her memories of the previous events
were fuzzy at best. She could very clearly remember Spike carrying her off
into the night and smashing her into a tree. She remembered him biting her.
After that, things got cloudy.

There had been men clad in what looked like military garb, but she had
passed out from the loss  of blood. At some point she remembered waking to
see a woman  doctor over her, but then conscious had faded.

Just now, she had opened her eyes to see Spike pummeling her boyfriend,
about to smash his head in with a chair. She had fought off pain and
dizziness to protect him, her IV bag dragged to her side.

Spike stood over the two, chair still raised over his head. He was hesitant.
He couldn't hurt her, he didn't want to.

"Willow," Spike said.

Oz was temporarily stunned into silence, still expected his head to be one
with the linoleum. Slowly, he came back into focus, feeling Willow on top of
him. The physical contact with his beloved filled him inside with a
comfortable warmth. Quickly as it had come, it faded, replaced with an
increased sense of worry and fear. Spike was still hovering over them.

"Willow," he said softly. "You have to go. Get away."

"No," Willow whispered, holding him closer. No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't.
If she did, Spike would hurt him. He would kill him. She couldn't allow it
if she could. She had to protect him if she could.

"Willow," Spike said, looking down. "Get off of him."

"No," Willow said.

"I don't want to hurt you, baby," he soothed.

"Then go away," she replied, choking back fear-filled sobs.

The vampire let the chair drop off to the side. With one hand, he grabbed
Willow by the flimsy collar of her hospital gown and flung her into the
wall.

"Doesn't mean I won't," Spike said softly, a hint of apology in his voice.

He took the other leg of the chair in his head and brought it down quickly
on Oz before he had time to react.

But he was knocked to the side.

***
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just a freight train coming your way
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just the freight train coming your way
***

Buffy stepped out of the car, her face masked in subservience. At least she
hoped it was. They had to buy her act, they just had to. Then again, these
guys were clever. They were probably prepared for her to resist.

And resist she would.

Riley had his gun off to the side, but about five other guys, Forest
included, had weapons trained on her. they had them on Giles, too, but she
was the focus. that would have to change.

"Down on the ground," Riley said.

"You're the boss," Buffy said softly.

She brought herself down on the ground , facing down, but watching the
shadows.

Riley slowly moved down to restrain her with one other man who she didn't
know. His fingers touched her wrist.

That was the exact moment everything went straight to hell.

Giles had been waiting. The exact moment Riley reached for Buffy, he gunned
the engine and slammed into the car in front of him, sending the stationary
vehicle rolling into the one in back of that one. Glass shattered where the
headlights collided. One man stumbled out of the car, bleeding.

Riley looked up. His mistake, quite the costly one.

Buffy grabbed onto his ankle and yanked him down. She rolled over to her
feet and broke out into a run.

She heard shots behind her as she burst into the woods. Wow, these guys were
lousy shots...

"Ow!" Buffy cried. She had been hit in the ankle. She ignored the pain. She
didn't have time to react to it. She had to move fast, into a populated area
where they wouldn't be able to pursue her so directly. She had to get to
Willow....

...before anything happened.

***
Don't it feel right like this
All the pieces fall to his wish
Suck up for that quick reward boy
Suck up for that quick reward they said
***

"God DAMN IT," Riley shouted, still in pursuit.

Forest was right behind him.

"We lost, her man. We got to go back.. regroup... It'll be easier to track
her," Forest suggested.

Riley shook his head. "We'll lose her. Can't do that."

"Face it, we lost her!"

"She killed Walsh, we are not going to lose her!"

"Okay let's think... She's been hit. That's got to slow her down. She's
bleeding."

Riley was hit with a thought. "If she's hurt, she's going to have to have it
checked out, right?"

"The hospital," they said in unison.

***
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
is just a freight train coming your way
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just the freight train coming your way
It's coming your way
It's coming your way
Here comes
***

Garibaldi knocked the blond haired guy into the wall. He'd be damned if
anyone was going to start a fight on his watch. Well, technically his watch
had ended hours ago, but he was here. No trouble while he was still
breathing.

"Okay, you two calm down," Garibaldi said, shaking his hands at his side,
getting ready for any resistance. "Whatever it is..."

Spike turned around to him, vamp face on.

"Holy SHIT!" Garibaldi said, drawing his side arm.

He didn't have the chance. Spike grabbed him by the shoulders and bit deeply
into his throat. Now Kenny Garibaldi was a big man, he was used to guys much
smaller than him trying to take a piece, but never like this! He could feel
the blood being sucked straight out of his veins.

"Get off him!" Willow cried.

She grabbed onto Spike's shoulder's trying to pry him off.

"Willow, no!" Oz cried out. He stepped forward to pull her away.

But before he could get anything accomplished, Spike flung the security
guard out of the room, into the hall. He took a handful of Willow's hair and
pulled her into his arms.

With blood stained lips, he kissed her temple.

"Missed you, baby," Spike whispered into his ear. He sighed inwardly when he
felt her cringe to his touch. He clenched her neck hard when Oz came closer.

"Not so fast, mate," Spike said. "Wouldn't want me to bruise the girl, now."
He cocked his head to the side, a wide smiled on his demon-distorted
features. "We have to be off, but we'll be back."

It was then he felt a sting in his shoulder. He looked to the side to see an
arrow protruding from the leather. He looked up with a snarl.

Buffy stood in the doorway, a small crossbow in hand.

"What's your hurry?"she asked, sweetly.

***
Yeah, Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just a freight train coming your way, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
****
Sixteen

**
Down in the depths of my fiery home
The summons bell will chime
Tempting you and all the earth
To join our sinful kind
There is a job to be done and I'm the one
You people make me do it
Now it is time for your fate and I won't hesitate
To pull you down into this pit
***

Spike rolled in eyes in a visible mix of disgust and annoyance. He had
worked awful hard to make it through the night alive… err… dead. Well, he
knew what he meant. He had worked up and followed through with a plan to
take Willow. It would have worked out just fine if it hadn’t been for those
damned soldier boys. It was all right, he could deal with that and had, even
though it had been quite the inconvenience. Come to think of it, he had been
awful lenient considering what he was capable of. Memories of Prague were
still burned in his mind. It had been a very large mob that had nearly
killed Drusilla and he had not let one of them walk away. Funny how no one
in that area ever spoke of the massacre. They probably were afraid to speak
of it would be to bring him back.

The point was, he had put up with a bloody lot this past night. He escaped
that only to find he couldn’t turn his princess due to a nice poison running
through her system. Again, he had kept his cool and took control of the
situation. Instead of losing his head, he did the smart thing and took her
to someone who knew what he was doing. Well, in the long run, maybe it
hadn’t been that smart. She did have ID on her that he forgot about so of
course they notified people. So because of that minor oversight, he had to
deal with dog-boy. That security guard had picked the wrong time to mess
with him. All that aggravation, plus dealing with the bitch professor, had
left him with quite the appetite.

Now, just when he finally had Willow back with him, who should show up, guns
ablazing like that bloody Annie Oakley? Buffy Summers, the Slayer, the
bleeding Chosen One, had picked this exact moment to ride to the rescue.
Bloody hell!

“Buffy,” Willow gasped. He was holding onto her throat awful tight. He
didn’t meant to, it was more for effect that anything else. Well, that
wasn’t entirely true either. He did like the feel of a human body thrashing
and struggling to break free. It was the demon inside of him. Come to think
of it, when he had been human, he liked that feeling even then. Inwardly, he
shrugged at it.

Buffy never took her eyes off of Spike, her crossbow aimed square at his
head.

“Not the heart, luv,” he smirked.

“No,” Buffy drawled. “But I’d imagine it would hurt a lot.”

<Fair enough, > he thought. “Not enough to make me let go, Slayer.”

Buffy cocked her head to the side with her, ‘gimme a break’ look. “Spike,
think about this. You’re not leaving with her. You’re cornered in a room
with one exit and you are outnumbered.”

“I do have Willow,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but you’re not going to kill her,” Oz added.

“And how would you know that?” Spike said with half a glance to Oz. He had
to keep his focus on Buffy, she being the only real threat in the room.

“You brought her to the hospital,” Buffy said.

“I did not,” Spike lied.

“I know about the commandos,” Buffy said. “They found Willow, didn’t they?”

Spike narrowed his eyes. Just what was the little chit trying to get at
there. For awhile he had thought that they might be in cahoots… Wait, they
still might be.

“What did they do to her, Spike?” Buffy asked. “What did you do to her?” He
could hear the edge of rage just beneath the surface.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I do know, I am leaving now.”

“Fine, you can leave, Buffy said, stepping closer, but with her bow still
aimed squarely at him. “But she’s staying here.”

Spike wrenched Willow’s neck slightly, cutting her air supply to elicit a
gasp from her. <I mean business here. > “Sorry, no compromises. She comes
with me.”

“See, that’s where we run into a problem cause, she isn’t going anywhere
with you. Now while I’m still breathing.”

“That can be fixed,” Spike growled.

He moved in a slow, very tight circle. Buffy tried to make him face to face,
but she knew where this was going. He was trying to keep her attention
focused on his face and what he was saying, not what he was doing. He wanted
an opening. She had no plans to give him one, but she had to be realistic.
Any move he made she would have to counter, but keep escape blocked. She
couldn’t keep it up forever.

Willow had to be realistic as well. She knew she had to stay alert. She,
unlike the two enemies, had no window of opportunity she could see. The only
things in her field of vision was a very angry Buffy and a worried Oz. Out
of the corner of her eyes, she could see the security guard slumped against
the wall just outside of the room. His neck was bleeding. She squinted her
eyes, hoping to see some kind of movement, but it was too far away to tell.
She had this awful feeling that the man was dead and she would be soon to
follow.

Only she wouldn’t be staying dead for long.

“Spike,” Willow said, trying to distract him.

He didn’t remove his eyes from Buffy for a second. With his thumb, he
stroked the side of her neck without moving his hands away from anything.
“Quiet, baby. Daddy has to get us out of here.”

Oz couldn’t take it any more. He made a rush for Spike, making an attempt to
knock him over. Unfortunately, Spike had been anticipating that move. He
clung to Willow with one arm, but flipped Oz over on his back with the
other. Viciously with his heel, he trounced down upon the boy’s collarbone,
smiling at the loud crack.
 

***
So come on
Jump in the Fire
So come on
Jump in the Fire
***
 

In that same moment, a number of things happened at once.

While Spike was happily breaking the bones of his competition, Buffy seized
the opening she had been waiting for. At that exact instant, she made a run
for him, crashing into him and knocking him onto the ground and freeing
Willow.

The red head, fighting off waves of dizziness and aching muscles, picked
herself off the ground. She had made it all of about three steps when
Spike’s ice-cold hand reached around her ankle, despite a volley of punches
from Buffy across his face, and pulled her back down to the ground. He was
starting to drag her backwards, when a rather brutal right hook from Buffy
forced his hand to loosen. Willow then sprung up to her feet and over to Oz.

“Are you alright?” Willow asked.

Oz groaned. His eyes were rolling to the back of his head. She guessed it
was from pain, but it could be more. It was possible he was bleeding
internally. She had to get help.

She ran out of the room in her bare feet, nearly tripping over the security
guard, Garibaldi. She heard him moan slightly as she passed. Good, that
meant he was still alive.

Unfortunately, that floor of the hospital was empty for that time of day.
Most people were on the lower floors in preparation for surgery and the rest
were still sleeping. There had to be someone around there who could…

A tall, dark skinned man stepped into her view. He looked up, quite
surprised to see her.

“I’m surprised to see you moving at all,” Franklin said. “To be honest, Ms.
Rosenberg, I think you should turn yourself right around and…”

“Doctor, there’s a problem,” Willow said. “My friends came to... to... to
check on me and this guy, he broke in and I think he stabbed a security
guard,” Willow said through a series of gasps.

Franklin looked down at her with a serious look on his face. He reached over
the nurse’s desk to pick up the phone. “I’m going to call security. Until
they get here you just stay with… Hello? We need secur…”

Before he could finish the ‘ity’ part of the word, two men, armed and clad
in military fatigues ran down the hall.

Franklin set down the phone with an amazed look on his face. “Wow. That was
fast.”

***
With hell in my eyes and with death in my veins
The end is closing in
Feeding on the minds of man
and from their souls within
My disciples all shout to search you out
And they always shall obey
Follow me now my child not the meek or the mild
But do just as I say
***
 
 

“You sure this is the right way,?” Forest said, nearly out of breath as he
followed Riley past a bewildered doctor and patient.  He tried to suck it
in. There was only two of them and one of her. If it turned out she was not
of the friendly nature and Riley was right, that she was a violent enemy, he
couldn’t afford to be anything other that 100%.

“I saw her go up this flight of stairs,” Riley said.

“Yeah, but how do you know she got off on this floor? Wouldn’t she have gone
to the emergency room?” He was having his doubts. There was something about
this whole situation that made him feel very uncomfortable. Something just
wasn’t fitting right and it truly did bother him that he couldn’t see what
that was.

"Maybe," Riley said. "But I just got a feeling here."

"Remember the last time you had a feeling and a hostile took out a piece of
Forest over here?"

"It was dark."

"It's ALWAYS dark with them. We need to go with logic here, not gut
instincts."

A blond woman was thrown through a doorway and onto the floor in front of
them.

Buffy.

Forest looked to Riley. "I stand corrected." He reached down to pick Buffy
up off the floor, but instead found himself being thrown into a wall.

Riley brought his fist up for a punch, but pulled back when he saw something
he didn't expect. Hostile 17 strolled out of the hospital room. He went for
his gun, but the vampire grabbed his hand before he could move and yanked it
towards him... HARD. His shoulder was dislocated now. He tried to ignore the
sudden pain so he could defend himself, but he didn't have the chance. Spike
pulled his head down and his knee up fast, breaking Riley's nose and
throwing him off to the side.

He had one last thought before blackness took over.

<She's with him...>

***
Jump by your will or be taken by force
I'll get you either way
Trying to keep the hellfire lit
I am stalking you as prey
Living your life as me I am you see
So reach down grab my hand walk with me through the land
Come home where you belong
***

"I don't think that was security," Willow said.

"You might be right," Franklin said. "I'm going to call again."

Before he had the chance to reach for the phone again, Buffy came running.

"Willow, we have to leave... now," Buffy said firmly.

"But what about Oz?" Willow asked. He was still in that room and Spike was
running about.

"The commando guys are here. They're gunning for me and Spike is still here.
None of them are interested in Oz... Now we need to leave. Get out into the
sun where he can't get to you."

Franklin took that moment to speak up. "Now wait a second here. She's still
hurt. No one is going anywhere."

"Wrong about that one, mate," Spike said, briskly walking towards them.

Buffy stood to block them from him. Spike's fist shot out to her face.
Unfortunately, Buffy was not quick enough to block it. She went flying over
the station and onto the ground.

Spike smiled at Willow.

"Come along now, pet. You know there isn't anything left to help you."

Willow looked around frantically. There had to be a pencil or something
around here. Yes! There was one! She picked it up and held it up.

Spike's eyes lit up in bemusement. "Luv, you know I'm  not going to hurt
you."

"No, just kill me, right?"

"That's the plan." He stepped closer and took the pencil out of her hand,
gently. "It's not really going to be that bad. You won't be afraid of
anything anymore. All those people who ever mistreated you... They'll get
theirs. You'll stay just as you are until the sun explodes."

"I don't want to be a vampire."

"I'm not asking you want you want right now. After, I will."

He took her by the shoulders and exposed her neck with a free hand. Then he
clamped his teeth down on her neck.

Again, she felt the blood being pulled out of her veins. He couldn't do this
to her now, could he? There were too many people and Buffy was right nearby!
She struggled violently in his arms, but ever so slowly, she began to
weaken.

"No," she whispered.

"I'd have to agree," a British voice said.

Spike withdrew and turned around to a face full of holy water. He jumped
back, flinging Willow into the waiting area, conveniently bathed in
sunlight. With his face blistered and smoking, he turned to see Giles, armed
with a stake, a bruise, and a very unpleasant disposition. The former
Watcher had him by surprise and continued to use it. He gave Spike a sharp
shove into the sunlight, causing more screams and smoke.

Spike quickly regained control of his senses and leapt out of the path of
the rays. He snarled, ready for more, but Giles had acted quickly. He stood
near the window, holding Willow up in safety.

He smirked. As if a little pain would stop him.

However, a pissed off Slayer might. Buffy had come back in full force. She
rushed Spike full on, knocking him to the floor. He flung her off, and
sprang to his feet, ready for a fight.

Then, more of the soldier wannabes came up the stairs.

Giles looked alarmed. "Buffy, leave."

Buffy hesitated a moment, then made herself scarce. They were safe now.
Spike couldn't do anything now. Too many people with big guns.

Spike also faltered. He stood at the border between the sun and the shadows.
He wanted to reach over and pull her with him, but she was just out of his
reach with a Watcher. The other man was holding up a cross. Willow was
barely conscious.

"Oh... bloody HELL!" Spike said, furious.

Quickly, he took off before the commandos could do anything.

Franklin had been standing by, taking the whole scene in. Garibaldi came
stumbling over to him, clutching his neck. Willow, in her daze, smiled. He
hadn't died.

"I'm thinking about transferring over to Chicago," the guard said. "Want to
come."

Franklin just nodded. This place had just gotten a little too strange, even
for him.
*****
Seventeen

***
You say you heard every word, but I watched you turn away
Your eyes grew colder than winter
"Love is so intrusive" I thought I heard you say
And laugh so unconvincingly
***

“Giles you can stop now,” Willow said, brushing him away. For the better
part since her arrival back to the sheltered safety of his home, he and Oz
had been rather fussy over her. Not that she didn’t enjoy a little
attention, especially Oz’s, but she did  want a few moments alone to
breathe.

“Now Willow, you’ve lost a lot of blood,” Giles protested.

“You don’t think I know that? I was there,” Willow protested, with a hint of
mirth in her voice. She slightly amazed herself at how calm she was given
what the situation was the night before. She had almost been killed three
times in a single evening. She wondered if her mind was protecting her from
the severity of what the possible consequences might have been or if she had
seen so much in the past few years that she had finally became desensitized
against the machinations of the Hellmouth.  Perhaps it was a little bit of
both.

In the cases of Giles and Oz… and Xander once he got there, it was a
completely different story. While she had been unconscious or flitting
somewhere in between, it was all burned very clearly in their minds. They
had nearly lost someone tonight. Giles had almost lost one of his comrades.
Oz, his girlfriend, and Xander had just been told is best friend was nearly
killed.

What Buffy felt, she didn’t know. Somehow she got the sensation Buffy was
doing something similar to how she was blocking, but for a completely
different reason. After she was semi-forced to rest, Giles had told her of
Buffy’s discovery and the following events, including the potential demise
of the psychology professor who apparently was a lot more than what she
said.

She sighed. Really, she should have known life would still be like this. In
Sunnydale, very little was what it appeared to be on face value. Why should
college be any different. Once again she found herself wondering if she
would indeed survive to finish school. It seemed unlikely, but hey, she made
it through the mayor’s ascension, hadn’t she?

Xander came through the door, trailed by Anya, both of them carrying brown
bags. She smiled, not so much from joy to see them, but from a nice break
from all the fussing going on.

“Xander… Anya… hi!” Willow said brightly. She tried to get off the sofa and
out of the blanket, but Oz wouldn’t let her. She smirked at him and he
looked about ready to laugh. Time had strengthened his resistance to the
Resolved Face. Clearly, that was something she was going to have to work on.

“Hey Wills,” Xander said. “How ya feeling, bud?” Xander said, sitting down
on the couch next to Willow. Anya took a place in a chair seated beside him
and opened up one of the bags.

“I’m feeling better. Not do a handstand on the coffee table better, but a
vast improvement,” Willow said.

“Yeah, you can tell she is feeling better when the big words start getting
used,” Xander explained to Anya. A small cushion flew at his head.

“Hey,” Xander said looking at Willow.

Willow just grinned. Then she turned her attention to the bags. “Hey, what
did you bring?”

“Chocolate. After extensive research I’ve found it makes a human woman very
content,” Anya said with  a very serious, yet triumphant tone in her voice.
“It also makes Xander giddy.”

“It does not,” Xander protested.

“Does to,” Anya said.

“I would have to agree,” Giles said. Beside him, Willow and Oz both nodded.

Xander just waved them off and dug into the bag. “Ah ha! Hostess cupcakes!”
“See? It does make you giddy. I heard that giggle,” Anya said.

Xander just grinned sheepishly and handed one over to Willow. “So,”  he said
in between bites, “Where’d the Buffmeister go?”

Giles’ face sobered up some. “After our latest encounter with Spike in the
hospital, she has taken on somewhat of an undercover mission.”

“But not the fun kind,” Willow said. “When he says undercover, he doesn’t
mean secret agent. He means under the cover of dark, as in hiding. The
commando guys think that Buffy killed someone.”

“Here we go again with Buffy taking the blame for the vampires violent
shenanigans, “ Xander said. “But wait, it’s not the police after her, is
it?”

“No, not to my knowledge,” Giles said. “And I don’t imagine they would be
brought into this, at least in the pursuit of Buffy. These people are
dealing with things they do not want to law documenting in reports, meaning
they want to keep it on the inside. They would look for her themselves.”

“Vigilantes,” Willow said.

“Yes, of a sorts,” Giles agreed. “But this time it’s a bit more dangerous…
We don’t know who these people are… they could be anyone.”

“And Spike’s out there, too,” Oz added, his face dark.

“Yes, that, too. She now has a battle to face on two fronts.”

***
Famous last words, "I'm not ready yet"
"I won't be gone a minute."
***

"I can't believe it was her, Forest," Riley said, pulling a boot on. Well,
he was trying to pull a boot on. He found he didn't quite seem to have the
same energy he used to. It seemed to take the last bit of his reserve to
even breathe.

Forest looked down. For the first time in his life, he didn't have an
answer. He didn't know how to make his commander feel better, stronger.
Well, he knew one way, he just didn't know how to prove it.

"It might not have been her," he tried to say.

Riley shook his head. "We don't know that it's not."

"Well, we can look into it. Hell, we have to investigate the damn thing on
our own anyhow."

Riley just looked down on the floor. He didn't know what to say or think.
There was just this dull ache inside of his chest. It was bad enough to have
Walsh die so brutally on their own grounds... but to see her standing over
the body...

"Things aren't always what they seem... That's practically our credo,"
Forest continued. "Think about it. She might have been coming in early to
ask about that test she took last week. Walsh did take her time with the
papers."

Somehow, Riley managed to smile. "Which is why I would get dumped with
them."