One Good Lay | Breaking Free by Kereia

Breaking Free

Written by: Kereia

Summary: When Drusilla is taken hostage by a master vampire, the Slayer seems to be Spike's only chance to save her.In the meantime Buffy has to handle an army of vampires and their demonic leaders, who want to raise powerful demon,who might be invincible. Spoilers to Gingerbread (S3).
Disclaimer: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer & Angel: The Series trademark (TM) and copyright (©) Fox and its related entities. All rights reserved. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer & Angel: The Series and its characters, settings and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the WB Television Network. No copyright infringement is intended.
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PROLOGUE

Two years ago:

The large office at the back of the antique shop had been overflowing with activity the whole day.

The school had crumbled down during the Ascension, and Giles was forced to find himself another job since reconstruction would probably take close to another year. Deciding that Sunnydale already had enough book stores, he figured that an antique shop would not only give him the means to earn enough money to have a decent live, but also give him the opportunity to stay close to his true profession.

With the large amount of obscure and dated objects inhabiting the many shelves and glass cabinets, it was not very difficult to maintain a normal and mundane outside appearance. It also helped cover up the nocturnal activities involving vampires, demons and, on occasion, magical artifacts and powerful gems. On the contrary, over the last four months, the former Watcher had discovered the amazing advantages that the antique shop offered.

During the first two months of business Giles had been busy making important connections throughout the world of art. Thanks to Joyce and her art gallery, it hadn't been all that difficult to get to know the right people who soon came to pay him a visit, seeking verification of authenticity on various objects.

On some of those occasions, Giles found an almost peculiar amount of artifacts that were well known to him, and could be useful in his never ending quest against darkness. Therefore he simply bought those artifacts, after giving their former owners the impression that they were either a fraud or of little value.

Despite these little non ethical actions his expertise was valued among his customers, and soon enough he received shipments from all over the world.

Today was one of those days. A new shipment had arrived and half the Scooby Gang had been busy helping their friend and mentor to catalogue and store a large amount of items from Nigeria.

* * * * * * * * * *

After college classes were out, Buffy and Willow joined their friends, Buffy to get ready for patrol and maybe pummel the punching bag a little bit and Willow to live through another training session with Giles. She had taken up training shortly after graduation, deciding that it was about time she learned to defend herself when she accompanied the Slayer on patrol.

The two friends entered through the back door to find themselves amidst chaos. Opened and unopened crates were scattered throughout the room. Packing material littered the floor and every available surface. The large desk and computer were buried underneath a very long stretch of print out paper which upon closer inspection turned out to be the delivery note.

Xander and Oz were both sitting on the floor. Oz had a small wooden statue in his hands, while Xander searched the list for a matching description. Giles was nowhere in sight, but the loud rumbling that was followed by the sound of breaking glass indicated that he was somewhere at the front of the store.

Chuckling, the four young adults exchanged greetings, when a cursing Giles appeared in the doorway of the office, holding variously sized glass shards in his hands. Considering the current state of disorder that was displayed not only in the back office but also throughout the whole shop, Buffy and Willow decided to skip training and help their friends. Afterwards they made their way to one of Sunnydale's numerous cemeteries once it got dark.

Their patrol proved to be uneventful, as they continued to stroll through the darkened streets. Nonetheless they diligently did a second sweep of the town, hoping that at least a fledgling would pop up in order to render this night into not a total waste of time. When they exited the last cemetery, they still hadn't found anything out of the ordinary so they decided to head towards Giles' antique shop, knowing that he and their friends, would still be waiting there.

Buffy was the first to enter the office and froze causing Willow, who was right behind her, to bump against her back. Rubbing her nose, she asked what was wrong. When she didn't receive an answer, she curiously took a step to the side to look around the Slayer.

Giles was sitting in the office chair by the desk, sipping a cup of hot tea. Oz and Xander were leaning on the wall behind the desk and sitting on the desk respectively. There were two other people in the room, standing with their backs to them but were already in motion to confront them.

Willow gasped.

Even without looking at their faces she would have known who those two people were. She'd recognize them anywhere. One, because he was their friend. The other, because he'd tried to kill her and Buffy on more than one occasion.

Angel gave them a small not - very - happy smile. "Hi Buffy, Willow."

Buffy was about to say something, but it was Xander who beat her to it. "Hey, Buff. You won't believe what's going on here. I sure don't, but anyway, get this: Dear Deadboy over here came by to drop off his childe. Now, I'm sure you'd like to know why, because, believe it or not, you're not allowed to stake him. Whistler discarded him at Angel's in L.A., telling him that he lost a bet and is now supposed to help you. He now must be a good puppy or they're gonna..."

"Xander !" Giles exasperated tone cut the brunette off. "Maybe we should let Angel explain this one more time. Because, frankly, I am not sure I understand any of this either." The sarcasm in his voice clearly indicating that he did understand very well, he just didn't want to believe it.

Meanwhile, Buffy had walked towards Angel, as Willow had hurried over to her boyfriend. Comforted by Oz's embrace Willow watched as the Slayer eyed Spike for a second, who was standing next to them, then chose to ignore him, since he seemed to be even more drunk than the last time they'd met him. "Angel, what's going on?" she asked, reaching for his hand.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sighing, Angel resigned himself to telling the story all over again. How he and Cordelia had come home from a night of excessive demon hunting to find Whistler and an unconscious Spike at his doorstep. How Whistler had told him about the bet Spike had made with a demon like Whistler. How Spike had been completely drunk at that time and therefore lost the bet. How he was supposed to work with her now, if he didn't want to get his soul back. Most of all, how he absolutely hated to leave Spike here with her, but had no means of preventing it.

That had been two years ago.

PART ONE

Ducking below the swing of the double-edged blade, Buffy rolled to her feet in one fluid motion. Without turning around, she lashed out with her foot catching her attacker right in the middle of his chest. He tumbled backwards, barely avoiding falling over the low park bench situated behind him. Buffy jumped after him, grabbing his sword arm, twisting as hard as she could. With a painful outcry, the demon let the sword fall to the ground. He clutched his broken wrist and brought his knee up to ward off the tackling Slayer.

Spike drove the stake through one of the fledglings that had surrounded him. The fledgling exploded to dust just as a tall, lanky vampire grabbed him by the back of his duster. Spike whirled around, breaking the grip. Two well-placed punches sent his opponent stumbling and he quickly embedded the pointy wood in his chest.

Buffy grabbed the demon's leg and pulled, sending him falling to the ground. He landed on his butt, where the Slayer's boot clad foot made a forceful acquaintance with his face. Howling, he fell backwards but used the movement to flip his legs over his head and roll to his feet. A powerful roundhouse sent the last minion crashing against the wall of a mausoleum. The female vamp however barely acknowledged the blow and rebounded right back off the wall, sending a high kick to Spike's face. He let his head fall backwards with the blow and quickly jumped to the side, anticipating the vampire's next move.

Buffy grabbed the sword that lay next to her feet just as the demon came to a standing position. With practiced ease she swung the blade, turning with the movement to gain momentum. Grunting with effort, she aimed the sword at his neck, where it severed his head.

Spike grabbed the outstretched leg of the fledgling and threw her off balance. A straight right to her face made her fall to the ground, disoriented. With a quick movement, Spike brought the stake down and dusted the vampire as Buffy walked over to him.

She tapped him on his shoulder and he whirled around with the stake raised expecting another attack. When he realized who it was, he let his hand drop to his side, a wide smile illuminating his handsome face.

"Why, if it isn't my favorite Slayer." He took a quick look over her shoulder, noting the decapitated demon laying on the ground. "Nice job, luv."

Returning the smile, Buffy dismissed the comment with a shrug. "Wasn't all that hard."

Spike chuckled quietly, earning him a playful glare from the Slayer. "Of course not, pet."

She hated it when he called her that and he knew that she hated it, just as she knew that he knew that she hated it, which was exactly the reason he kept calling her that.

Swatting his shoulder with her fist, she started to walk towards the cemetery's exit, having promised Giles to stop by after patrol. They had been out here for a reason tonight, other than their usual nightly sweep of the town. Over the last two weeks the numbers of vampires calling Sunnydale their home had been steadily decreasing, almost as if they were fleeing the area.

Then, in the space of one night to the next, the Slayer and her companions became busy once again. The new vamps who invaded her town were always attacking in groups of three or four and usually a demon was accompanying them. The demons always looked the same, dressed in shabby leather and a crimson cape that spoke of former wealth and glory. Their weapons of choice were swords, but so far the Slayer and the rest of the Scooby gang hadn't had much trouble in dealing with them.

Giles had been researching furiously with Willow and Oz's help, but so far they hadn't been able to come up with anything useful. Tonight though, things had been different. Instead of confronting and fighting the demons and their vampiric escorts right away, Spike had made the suggestion to follow them.

Doing so, they had found an underground enclave that hosted at least two hundred vampires and about fifty of the sword swinging demons. They were gathered around a small alcove, where a pompous, richly engraved throne was located. A sparkling, golden amulet was draped over the back of the chair and it seemed that preparations were made to properly celebrate the arrival of a king or in the demonic case--a Master.

Buffy had been about to turn around right then and there, but Spike's hand on her shoulder had halted her. He disappeared for a couple of minutes, leaving an increasingly nervous Slayer hiding behind the entrance to the cave. When he had returned, the golden amulet was firmly fastened around his neck. They had almost made it out of the adjourning sewer tunnels, when they'd run across one of the demons, which had come out tonight to welcome a few new minions to his little family. Left with no choice but to fight them, they had stood side by side dividing the enemies among them.

* * * * * * * * * *

Stealthily, they slipped through the back door into the dark room. Moonlight was casting shadows along their way as they walked toward the staircase that led down to the basement, which had been divided into a library, a gym and a general research area. They descended the stairs to find Willow and Oz involved in a serious lip lock, lying on the mats underneath the punching bag. Chuckling, they passed the oblivious couple and entered the library, where Xander and Giles were busy turning pages of big, old, dusty books. Taking turns, Buffy and Spike explained what they had found out.

"That is quiet interesting, I must say. Although stealing the amulet, was rather reckless, Spike." Giles took of his glasses off to clean them and stood up to walk around the table. He took a small, leather-bound book off of a shelf on the south wall and walked back to the table. "Now, may I see this amulet, please ?"

"What amulet?" Spike asked innocently.

Buffy scowled and stepped in front of him pushing his duster aside. When she didn't find the gem, she grabbed the top of his red silk shirt and carelessly ripped it open, buttons flying everywhere.

"Now, now luv, you really have to learn to restrain yourself around me." Spike chuckled as she grabbed the chain and pulled the amulet out from under his black shirt.

"Can't help it. You bring out the worst in me." She retaliated just as sweetly.

Spike raised an eyebrow and put his hands up to his chest to cover his unbeating heart in mock outrage, causing the Slayer to grin despite her determination not to. She handed the amulet to Giles who had watched the little exchange with a mixture of amusement and amazement. It never failed to surprise him how much those two had changed during the last two years.

* * * * * * * * * *

The night Angel had left a drunk Spike, who was barely able to stand by himself with them, a full-fledged argument had broken loose. Buffy and Xander had wanted to stake the peroxide blonde vampire right away. Willow and Giles had spoken in favor of considering the possibilities that having Spike's help presented.

In the end it had been Oz who had kept them from jumping at each other's throats.

Spike had spent the next two days tied up in the basement, while the Scooby Gang had discussed their options. When they had finally bothered to check on him, he had been sober but also half way starved. Not surprisingly, a homicidal tendency had been his initial reaction towards Xander's accidental approach when Willow had bumped into him.

After prying his hands off the whimpering brunette, Buffy had been gracious enough to feed him some pig's blood and they had settled for conversation instead of mayhem, bloodshed and torture.

The deal was that Spike had to help the Slayer in her fight against vampires and demons. If he refused to do so, he would be cursed with a soul. Since he had no intention whatsoever of turning into his sire, he resigned himself to his fate. Though of course, not without a lot of cursing and grumbling.

* * * * * * * * * *

Buffy had been less than enthusiastic about working with him Not just because that meant that he would remain undead for now but also because it meant that she had to trust him enough to turn her back on him while she was fighting. The next few month had been hell, for all of them. Buffy and Spike had been incapable of being in the same room with each other without turning it into a nuclear war zone. Their patrols however had gone astonishingly well and together, they soon earned themselves a reputation that kept the vampire population of Sunnydale at an all time low.

It had been about seven months into their reluctant alliance when Xander, Oz, Willow and Giles had been captured during a nightly hunt. In order to save them, they'd had no other choice but to work together. No one knew what transpired between the Slayer and the bleached blond vampire but when they finally rescued their friends, their relationship changed.

They started to work together, keeping their yelling and fighting to an absolute minimum. Still, it had taken almost another year to let them settle into the comfortable friendship they now shared. They still fought and bickered, except now it was done with an underlying respect for each other. Insults were thrown playfully and dismissed with ease, neither one of them taking them too seriously.

* * * * * * * * * *

After her classes the next day, Buffy stopped by Spike's place. Giles had called and said that she should bring the vampire with her before they went on patrol. He'd found some information regarding the amulet. Grinning, she opened the door recalling the moment two month ago when Spike had given her the key to his house. He'd been so awkward and nervous about it, that she was actually able tell. He normally kept a suave and indifferent facade up but on occasions, such as this one, he'd let it slip; revealing a man that Buffy would have never believed possible to exist, what with him being a vampire and all.

Loud music was blaring from the expensive sound system situated on the east wall, complete with a TV and VCR. There was a surprising comfortable modern furnished living room. In front of the entertainment center was a low glass table surrounded by a cream-colored leather couch and recliner. Two glass cabinets stood to the right against the wall, their color matching the beige carpet. The remaining wall to the left was lined with well-stocked bookcases and the front door. The large room led directly into an open kitchen, which was, regarding the nature of the house inhabitant, seldom used.

Crossing the living room, Buffy stepped through the short arcade, separating the living room and another equally large room occupied mainly by a piano and more shelves. The floor length windows to the right were draped with heavy curtains, while the skylight taking up a quarter of the room, had been covered with layer upon layer of black paint. The remaining three quarters of the ceiling supported the second floor, which a broad staircase, situated against the length of the far wall, led.

Speakers had been installed all over the house to guarantee early deafness, thus it would be totally useless to call out Spike's name. Sighing, the Slayer ascended the white marble stairs, keeping far left against the wall because there was no balustrade. Checking the first bedroom-that had been turned into a sort-of-office, stocked with a computer system that would give Willow a heart attack, she moved on to the master bedroom, knocking loudly at the door in order to be heard.

Knocking twice more, she opened the door when she didn't receive an answer. The prominent item in the room was a king-sized bed, with dark blue satin sheets. A separate CD player stood on top of a small glass cabinet to the right. Two night stands were directly beside both sides of the bed and various drawings occupied the walls. Spike was nowhere in sight. Cursing, she closed the door and turned around to check the remaining rooms.

She didn't get far. Gasping, she tried to take shaky breaths, as she was confronted with the sight in front of her.

Spike. Wet. Naked.

All right, almost naked, for he had a towel wrapped around his waist. Buffy felt her skin begin to burn, as her face turned several shades of red. Her make-up doing little to compensate for her change in color.

"Are you looking for someone in particular, pet?" He smirked at her, apparently totally comfortable with his lack of clothing.

"Uh...I ....uh...yeah...." Buffy stammered, unconsciously taking a step backwards till her back was flat against the door.

His smile grew making her knees shaky before she could get a grip on herself.

"And what do you want from that someone, once you find him?" he asked, stepping towards her and reaching out with his right hand.

"I...uh...I...just...GILES! That's right,...uh...Giles wanted to...to..."

Spike leaned closer until their faces were only inches apart and Buffy lost what little ability she had left to speak. Then Spike turned the knob on the door and opened it.

With a squeak, Buffy tumbled backwards breaking the spell she was under. Spike quickly caught her in his arms, although it wasn't necessary, since Buffy had already regained her footing.

"Giles needs to talk to us. He found information about the vamps and demons. So you should hurry up, getting dressed, it's almost sundown." She said in a rush. Lightly but firmly, she pushed him away from her, trying to ignore the feel of his smooth skin underneath her fingertips.

"Be right out, luv." he said and let go of her. Buffy took a deep breath, regaining control over her raging emotions and ran a hand over her hair. She pressed the palm of her hands against her cheeks to check if they still felt hot. They did.

She had been desperately trying to avoid making eye contact with the bleached blond vampire but when she heard him cough politely, her gaze shot up to meet his.

"You gonna stay for the show?" he inquired starting to tug on the towel.

Once more incapable of speech or thought at this point, she left the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. She walked downstairs to wait in the living room and decided to turn off the music. Afterwards she sank against the wall, trying not to hyperventilate as she remembered his long, elegant fingers playing with the hem of a certain white towel fastened around his hips. That same towel catching the remaining drops of water that had trailed down his alabaster skin. It took her a couple of minutes to regain her composure.

Then, she started chiding herself. She had long ago given up on any pretense to herself. She was in love with Spike and had one MAJOR case of wanting -to - constantly - jump - his - bones syndrome. She tried hard to hide it from her friends and most especially from the peroxide blonde vampire himself. Sometimes though, her brain went on vacation leaving the rest of her emotional self behind to deal, usually ending in disaster.

This had not been the first time that a conversation or an exchanged glance held the underlying thrill of innuendo to it. They had teased each other from time to time, but while it seemed to be just that to him, teasing, it was torture to her. After Angel, she had sworn that she'd never fall for another vampire again but Spike had somehow managed to make her do it anyway. At first she'd gone into denial, then she'd started to fight it. Until finally she had resigned herself to just accepting that she loved him, as well as that she could never be with him since he still loved Drusilla.

He told her that after his short visit to Sunnydale, he had indeed gone back and tortured her into loving him again. Celebrating his victory, he had decided to get utterly and completely drunk. That's when he had met the demon, which had put him into his present predicament. Too drunk to care that losing would mean working with the Slayer, he had accepted the bet, confident that he would win. He didn't. Now he was forced to work by her side, until he could find a way out of this situation and go back to his dark goddess, making her love him once again.

Sighing, Buffy waited till Spike came bouncing down the stairs and joined her in the living room, before they went to Giles' antique shop.

PART TWO

"Sounds fun."

"Yeah. Right. Who'd want to miss that party?" Xander glared at Spike, who was lazily leaning against one of the library's book shelves.

"It would be of great advantage if-if we could keep the...uh...party from occurring in the first place." Giles brought the conversation back on track. "Once Callistomar rises, we will have no chance at all, if he can still rely on the strength of his army."

"All right, let me try to sum this up." Buffy interjected. "These sword swinging demons are the leaders of Callistomar's army. The army being the vampires, right? So Callistomar will rise...I mean, will be conjured with a spell to be their king and his presents will give the demons as well as the vampires additional power, up to a point where the will be pretty much invincible."

"That is correct, Buffy."

"Than we'll have to eliminate his army as soon as possible, meaning before Callistomar rises." Willow said.

"But how do we kill a whole army of vamps and demons? From what Buffy and Spike told us, here are already hundreds of them down in the cavern. And we'll have to do it fast, because they're probably gonna perform the spell soon." Xander frowned.

Giles nervously fumbled with his glasses, as he reread the last passage of the book in front of him. "Actually, I'm afraid, that the spell was already cast."

"What?"

"Come again?"

"Huh?"

"It seems that the spell involving the rise of Callistomar has to be cast during the last full moon of his reign, which was according to this book, uh...April."

"The full moon of this month was last week," Oz said.

"Indeed, however, apparently it takes some time for Callistomar to gather his power, so he won't actually rise till the new moon, which will be in ten days, exactly." Giles continued, rapidly flipping pages.

"O.K. that means we got ten days to kill his army." Buffy unconsciously started pacing, a habit she had picked up from Spike. "What we need is a plan."

Surprisingly it was Xander, who spoke up. "Can't we try to trap them inside the cave and burn the whole place down?"

Considering that idea, Spike cocked his head to one side. "Actually that could work. There was only one other way out, beside the one we came through. I bet the vampires stay inside the cave during the day, since you said the demons are the leaders and at that really a bunch of control freaks. It wouldn't surprise me if all or at least most of the demons, would be there, too."

Buffy went over to the table, grabbing a pen and a sheet of paper from the desk. She roughly drew an outline of the cave. "All right Xander, Giles and Oz will be at the south entrance, where Spike and I were hiding last night. Willow could you work some witchcraft to make Spike and me invisible for a couple of minutes?"

The redheaded witch cringed. "I could but that kind of spell requires a lot of strength and concentration. I better ask Amy if she can help me with it, just to be safe."

"Great, here's the deal. Spike and I will sneak in and put some explosive devices in a couple of strategically important places, while....what?"

Giles and Xander were merely grinning, while Spike and Willow were outright laughing at her.

"Sorry. It's just...explosive devises, strategically important...you've been spending too much time around Giles and that Mr. I-am-gonna-join-the-military-and-become-a-bomb-specialist Zachary Cain, before you broke up with him, that is." Xander scoffed.

Frowning, Buffy picked up where she'd left off. "Whatever. Giles taught me how to build this kind of stuff and as I recall, they've been useful more than once. Anyway, Giles, Xander and Oz will be armed with flame-throwers along with the usual stakes and crosses. Maybe a sword would be helpful, too. Willow will wait at in the sewer tunnels till Spike and I join her. Then we'll blow the cave and take out any remaining demons who manage to make it outside."

"Sounds like a plan, luv. Risky, but a plan. Besides I like risky."

* * * * * * * * * *

The rest of the night was spent putting the plan into detail. It was decided that they were going to try their attack in three days, since preparations would take that long.

Sunrise was only a few minutes away when Spike arrived at his house. He was about to open the front door, when a low noise made him hesitate.

"Show yourself, " he demanded.

A young handsome man appeared out of the shadows of the trees that stood to the right of the entrance. He cautiously stepped forward and addressed the blond vampire. "Are you Spike?"

"What if I am?" Spike quickly determined that the man was a vampire, too; a fledgling who posed no danger to him.

"I have a message for you, from my mistress."

"Is that so? And who might this mistress of yours be then, mate?"

"Mistress Drusilla."

Instantly Spike was all attention. He hadn't heard from Dru since he started working for the good side. Whistler had promised to inform her of his predicament, but he had never gotten a reply or any affirmation that he had actually told her.

"She needs your help."

"What happened?"

"She was taken hostage by a Master. His name is Daryll. He killed her doll," the fledgling explained nervously, jumping backwards as the master vampire in front of him vamped out.

Spike determinedly stepped forward and grabbed his beloved's childe by the lapels of his jacket. "Where is she?"

"She…she is held in a small church, south of San Antonio, Texas. Daryll is the Master of the city. He wants Drusilla as his queen, but she refused. Said something about Miss Edith not liking him. So he locked her up, starved her until she agreed to become his mate. He's the traditional kind, you know. Wants to have a whole traditional ceremony to make it official and all. So Daryll gave her me, for food. She turned me and sent me here to tell you to get her out of there, so she can get a new teacup for Miss Edith. She broke the last one, because she burned her lips on the hot tea."

Spike frantically tried to deal with this news. "When will the ceremony take place?" he finally asked.

"In seven days, on Thursday," the fledgling replied. Spike was pacing. That by itself was not very surprising, because he was usually pacing whenever he had nothing better to do. Plus he felt like he would crawl out of his own skin, for lack of action. The sunny hours of the day had always been aggravating to him but now he was more aggravated than usual.

He had sent the vampire off after he had gotten the exact address of Drusilla's whereabouts. He needed to find her. He needed to save his black goddess no matter the cost, but he was not foolish enough to believe he could take on a Master of a city and all of his minions all by himself. He would need help. However, the only help he could get was the Slayer's , and even that had a big "maybe" attached to it . For one thing, she would be busy with Callistomar's army. And secondly,, even though she had befriended him, she had never forgotten that Drusilla had killed Kendra, which would make it even harder to convince her to help him. Still, he had to try.

* * * * * * * * * *

The room was dark, the shades drawn tightly to keep the sunlight out. On the bed underneath the covers lay the Slayer, curled up, hugging her pillow, lost in a beautiful dream.

The phone started ringing.

"Buffy, pick up the phone," came Willow's muffled demand through the sheets.

Slowly drifting back into consciousness, Buffy snuggled deeper into her pillow. "You pick it up, you're already awake."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Yes you are, you're talking to me."

"And you're the Slayer. Now pick up the phone. I want to sleep."

Grumbling, Buffy snuck her hand out and picked up the receiver. "Whoever this is, you gotta have one major death wish!" she mumbled.

"Slayer, I need to talk to you."

"Spike, what is your problem? You have got to be at least as tired as I am, so why aren't you in bed?"

"Could you come over to my place?"

Frowning at the anxiety in his voice, she glanced at her watch, "What is it?"

"Could you just come over, damn it! We need to talk!"

"Can't this wait till sundown? I'm trying to get some beauty sleep here."

"Bloody hell, Slayer, get your ass out off the bed and get the fuck over here!"

Flabbergasted, Buffy stared at the receiver after the slamming sound clearly indicated that Spike had hung up on her.

"O.K. That was…strange."

Willow turned around to look at her. "Everything all right?" she asked, concerned.

"Obviously not." Buffy shrugged. "And I'm gonna find out why."

She quickly dressed and left the dorm room, heading down the street to Spike's house.

Buffy knocked loudly and continuously at the front door. She'd brought her keys with her but on the way to his house, her irritation over Spike's phone call had turned into anger at his attitude. If he had the nerve to chase her out of bed like this, he might as well open the door for her, and he also better have a damn good explanation for this.

* * * * * * * * * *

The door was opened to reveal a rather sheepish looking Spike, who obviously hadn't even bothered to take off his duster since arriving at home. Right after he had slammed the phone down, his anger had evaporated as fast as it had surfaced. Now, he felt bad for yelling at the Slayer. Not only because it wouldn't exactly make her more willing to help him but also because he valued their friendship to much to not realize that she didn't deserve such harsh treatment. He expected her to be mad at him and was determined to make up for it.

"I'm sorry," were out of his mouth before Buffy could even open her mouth to swear him.

"You better be, mister. Now, care to explain what this is all about?" she demanded, flopping down on his couch.

"Do you want anything to drink?" he asked, trying to play for time.

"No thanks, just the explanation please." she stated in a clipped tone, still somewhat angry with him. That anger, however, evaporated as soon as she took a good look at him. She had spent enough time around him to know that his defenses were completely down. He looked worried and angry, as well as insecure. Buffy immediately gave him her full attention. She started wondering what could have caused him to let himself be this vulnerable and came only to one conclusion: Drusilla.

"Spike, what happened?" she asked carefully.

Sighing, he flopped down next to her, only to jump back to his feet immediately, settling for pacing in front of the entertainment system. Then, he told her.

* * * * * * * * * *

"No way. Forget it." Buffy shook her head, brushing her hands over her disarrayed hair.

"Slayer, I need...."

"No Spike, I can't, even if I wanted to, which frankly I don't."

Defeated, Spike hung his shoulders. He had known that she would refuse to help him. He had been hoping that somehow he could convince her but it had been no use. During the past three hours they'd gone from calmly reasoning with each other to barely restrained argumentation till they were back at the point where they had been one and a half years ago: yelling at each other till they resorted to physical violence.

They had ended up with him pinning her to the broken remains of the glass tables, the shards painfully digging into her back, while a stake was pressed to his chest right above the heart. Suddenly realizing what had happened, he had let go of her stepping backwards. Silence had penetrated the room as both of them realized that within those three hours they had destroyed more than just a living room.

Then Buffy had spoken these last words and turned towards the door. Spike halted her with his voice.

"Slayer, I love her."

Her voice was trembling, not from the pain of her injuries, but from the emotions tearing through her heart at his words. "I know."

"I have to save her." he pleaded, wanting nothing more than to make her understand.

"I know." she refused to turn back around to face him. Instead, she fixed her gaze at the wall right above the door. "I cannot help you. Callistomar will rise in ten days. We have to kill his army before that, there is simply no time for me to leave now to save your girlfriend. I can't let my friends do this alone. You've seen how many vampires there are already. They need me…we need _you_....here."

"I don't…Buffy, I can't. I have to save her," he repeated.

"You don't have a choice in this!" she exclaimed finally turning around. Spike was shocked to see tears running down her cheeks and stepped forward to brush them away. As she shied away from him he felt as if a stake had been driven directly through his heart.

"That frigging demon has been checking on you every month to make sure you're still here doing your work. It will be back soon. If you're not here, you get your soul back!" she shouted.

"Except if you're with me. Then, it would think that we are fighting vampires someplace else."

"I already told you, I can't go with you," she choked out exasperated.

"Fine! I got the message!" he yelled back. "I'll go on my own then."

"But...."

"I don't fucking care!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Buffy ran down the street until she reached the dorms. Only then did she slow down. Silently she walked up the stairs as numbness settled over her. She opened the door a crack to find Willow sitting fully dressed on her tidy bed looking at her with worry in her eyes.

"Spike called," she said as soon as Buffy had closed the door behind her. "He said to tell you that he's sorry and that he will stay till we destroy the vampires. After that he'll leave."

"I know…Willow, I feel so awful." Sinking down to the floor, the Slayer covered her face with her hands crying silently. Willow was immediately by her side, wrapping her arms around her friend.

For the next twenty minutes Buffy proceeded to cry her heart out, huge sobs wracking through her body. When she had calmed down, Buffy realized that the whole situation had gotten out of hand and part of that had been her own fault. When Spike had told her about Drusilla, she had been torn between the desire to help him and her own jealousy.

Jealousy had won and instead of giving him a sound and logic reason on why she couldn't help him at this time--which she did, she had instead mocked him. His short temper, already precariously tipped towards the breaking point before she had arrived, had done the rest. Now she wished that she could take back the words she had thrown at him, but it was too late. Their decisions were made. Although it ripped her heart out to see him leave, she knew that nothing would keep him here.

PART THREE

"Everybody set?" Willow's voice sounded hollow through the walkie-talkie.

"Team one, ready." Xander answered.

"Team two, ready," Buffy said, crouching low beside the small entrance.

"All right, Amy and I will do the spell then."

Seconds later, Buffy and Spike felt a slight dizziness that was soon replaced by a feeling of numbness, before it vanished completely.

"You think that was it?" Spike asked doubtfully.

"If not, then we'll find out soon enough." Buffy replied.

During the last few days they had avoided each other. Buffy had patrolled either alone or with Willow, while Spike had done his duty but stayed out of her way whenever possible. He had however, appeared at the antique shop right before sunrise as promised. Conversation had been awkward but they managed to get along. Now they shouldered their backpacks and carefully crept into the cave.

As predicted, the vampires were all gathered together, most of them sleeping, playing cards or drinking. There were also a lot of demons present but neither Spike nor Buffy could say for sure if all of them were present. Since the demons could go out in the sunlight, they were not restricted to the cave.

They planted their little surprises quickly before disappearing again into the small tunnel that led to the sewers where Willow and Amy were waiting. Now the only thing they had to do was wait.

The synchronized timers went off exactly as planned and all hell broke loose. The only thing the two teams heard at first was screaming, as hundreds of vampires turned to dust within two seconds. Part of the cave collapsed, burying some of the demons, while a group standing near the larger exit ran for safety and right into the arms of Xander, Oz and Giles, who were determined to have an extensive Saturday morning barbecue.

Only two demons made it out the back entrance where Buffy, Spike and Willow were waiting, their swords raised and ready for battle. The first one ran into Buffy, who was thrown back into the filthy water. Spike pulled him off her and send him flying into the sewer wall as Willow took on the second demon.

She expertly parried the first couple of swings but, because of the demons superior strength, felt herself rapidly weakening. Buffy jumped back to her feet as two vampires came running out of the cave entrance. She quickly beheaded the first one before he even realized what was happening. The second one, however, managed to knock her sword away. Grabbing a stake hidden on her lower back, she sent a well aimed roundhouse to his jaw, which made him stumble backwards.

Smashing into the demon who was fighting with Willow, he gave the redhead enough of a diversion to stab the sword through his heart. Panting, she dropped her sword as Buffy staked the remaining vampire.

Spike dispatched his opponent just as quickly. Without Callistomar's additional power, they had never really posed a threat to the small group of Slayerettes. Their strength had been in their numbers. All by themselves, they were quickly dispatched. The next two hours however, proved to be more difficult than they had expected.

There were about two dozen demons, who had not been in the cave when it was blown up. Dumb as they were, they made their way back to it as they heard the sound of the explosion. Along with the remaining vampires and demons that made it out of the cave, they put the Slayer and her companions neck deep into work.

It was past noon, when they finished their inspection of the cave and crawled exhausted into Oz's van. Heavy drapes protected Spike from the sunlight. As they dropped Amy off at her house, Spike insisted he had to go as well, claiming that he had to pack. He had informed the Slayerettes that he was leaving, although he'd kept the reason to himself.

Giles had been about to argue the point, but Buffy had cut him off, making it clear that he could not be convinced to stay. Willow was worried about her friend. The last few days Buffy had been withdrawn and short-tempered, breaking into tears without reason. She was pretty sure that Spike was the reason for it but despite her insistent questions, Buffy had refused to tell her what exactly had happened that one morning.

After dropping Spike off, they drove back to the antique shop to discuss their further actions. During the whole meeting, Buffy barely spoke a word. Absent-minded as she was, she didn't realize that Giles was calling it quits after addressing her three times without getting an answer. Deciding it would be best to give all of them some rest, he made sure that they would meet again tomorrow morning.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was shortly after sundown when Spike stepped out into the night, a single large black sports bag in his hand. He'd been lying when he'd said he needed time to pack. The truth was, he could not stand to look at Buffy for one more second without doing something stupid. Like pulling her into his arms and begging her to forgive him for being a total jackass two days ago........or staying.

It proved curiously hard for him to actually leave Sunnydale. He had always been convinced that all he wanted was to get out of here and get Drusilla back. Now that he was actually leaving, he was surprised to find it hard to say good-bye. He suddenly knew that he would miss the people he had been working with for the past two years. Most of all he would miss the little hellion who had turned his world, more than once, upside down. The same hellion who'd become his…friend.

Sighing, he dug his car keys out of his duster pocket and put his bag in the trunk. He was about to open the driver's door when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning to the sidewalk, he felt his heart constrict.

Buffy was standing there, clad in black jeans, black shirt and almost drowning in the long leather coat that surrounded her like a protective blanket. He had bought the coat for her after he had heard a comment she made to Willow: that if she ever staked him, she would make him take off his duster, because she liked it so much. He remembered that he'd had no idea what size she was wore and had ended up with a coat that looked exactly like his own, except it was way too big for her. Still, she had kept it.

A sports bag identical to his own was dangling in her hands as she walked towards him. It was the expression on her face that shocked him to the core of his being. He had never seen her like this before. She looked unspeakably sad and....defeated.

Without a word, she went to the passenger side and opened the door, tossing her bag onto the back seat.

"Why are you here?" he asked quietly.

Buffy raised her head to look at him, but no sound came past her lips.

Spike opened his door but hesitated. "Buffy why?"

"Because no one else will," she said just as quietly, averting her gaze and settling in the car. "And because I don't want to see you die," she added in a whisper, barely audible to even Spike's enhanced hearing.

He stared at the air, where her head had been, unable to control the sudden feelings that rushed through him. He was completely thrown off guard by her appearance and it's implications. It not only meant that she'd forgiven him, but also that he meant something to her. She was willing to help him, despite the fact that it must be killing her to leave her friends alone at this time. She cared for him, even though he was a vampire and therefore her sworn enemy.

He took a deep but shaky breath as an unaccustomed calm and happiness settled over him. Together they would make it.

* * * * * * * * * *

They drove in silence through the night, only stopping when the DeSoto threatened to run out of gas. Leaving California behind, they made it through Arizona and into New Mexico before dawn. A couple of miles west of El Paso, Spike exited the highway and pulled up in front of a motel. As the car rolled to a stop, Buffy woke from her short nap.

"What are you doing?" she asked, sitting up and looking out the blackened window. She could barely see anything at all, but after shifting slightly in her seat, she managed to determine that the sun was just cresting the horizon.

"We're gonna stay here for the day, luv. We can sleep till sundown and drive on next night, " Spike explained.

Buffy's head shot around to glare at him.

"No we're not!"

"Buffy, a bed is far more comfortable than the car and we both need some ..."

All right listen, here's the deal. We drive to San Antonio - without stopping. We get your girlfriend out of there as fast as possible and hopefully, I'll be back in Sunnydale to stop Callistomar from killing my friends, got it?"

The blond vampire stared at her for a second, sucking on the insides of his cheek. Finally he nodded. "Got it."

"Good. If you're tired, I can drive for a while."

"You think I'd let you drive my car?" he asked in mock outrage, trying to lighten the mood.

"You did before. If it weren't for you, I'd never gotten my driver's license."

"All right, but try to be careful."

Buffy got out of the car and walked around it, giving Spike the opportunity to slide across the seat, so he wouldn't have to expose himself to the sun.

After they had taken up their travel again, conversation flowed more easily. They made good time and arrived in San Antonio shortly before dusk.

They drove a little further south until they reached a small town with an even smaller but comfortable motel. Buffy checked in using the credit card Spike had given her and returned to his car, the room key dangling from her hand. Since she had no intention of staying longer than absolutely necessary, she had only gotten one room, double occupancy.

Spike questioningly raised his eyebrows, when the put their bags in the room, but dropped the subject, without actually saying anything, when he took in the detached expression on her face and her body language. He realized that she meant business, and accompanied her in silence when she went back outside and slipped back into the car. He sat beside her, but hesitated to turn the ignition.

"What are you waiting for? You said you know were Drusilla is."

"I know where she is, Slayer. That's not the problem. I want to know what's wrong."

Buffy tried to glare at him, but after meeting his determined gaze, she quickly averted her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"I don't."

"Slayer... "

"Fine. Maybe I know what you mean, but I don't want to talk about it."

Spike got frustrated. "Why not? We used to talk about everything."

"That was before you pinned me to a broken glass table!"

"If I remember correctly, you were the one who broke the table, and put a stake to my heart!"

"Yeah, unfortunately, you didn't fall on it," she hissed.

Spike grew absolutely rigid, looking at her in shock and hurt. "You don't mean that." he said quietly, his voice trembling slightly.

Buffy heard the subtle change in tone and stiffened. Still she remained quiet. Spike almost broke the key as he turned the ignition. Without another word, he drove through the small town to the place, where neglected and abandoned houses and factories stood. Admits those houses was a large free area, and in its center stood the small church. It had been abandoned by the town's people long ago, and Daryll had found it greatly amusing to call a church his home.

During the day, when only he and a few of his minions occupied the underground chambers to sleep, it looked deserted. No one would think it to be a vampire's lair. But at night it turned into a place of busy activity, as preparations for the ceremony were made.

Spike parked the car a few blocks away, and they continued on foot. They could hear loud music flowing through the streets, before they even saw the church. Carefully the rounded the last corner, and stopped dead in their tracks. Hastily pulling Spike behind the wreck of an old van, Buffy pulled a pair of night-vision binoculars out of her duster pockets. She had taken them out of her bag at the motel, and was glad that she had come prepared.

Peeking around the van, she could determine more than three dozen vampires swarming around the church, completely absorbed in their task of painting the church black. She could make out more activity inside, but was unable to count the numbers of minions inside.

"Looks like we can't just barge in there and drag Drusilla out. I'll have to come back during the day and try to get a better look." she murmured under her breath.

"You can't be seriously thinking of going in there alone," Spike hissed incredulously.

Buffy put her binoculars back into her pocket and faced her partner. "I won't do anything, I'll just do recon. That ceremony is in two days, we'll have enough time to come up with a plan."

Spike took one last long look at the church, before he stood and pulled Buffy with him. "All right, let's get some sleep, then."

Continued...

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