One

***
Take a little walk to the edge of town
Go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms,
like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires,
in the humming wires
Hey man, you know
you're never coming back
***

Forrest felt himself being pushed down and the prick of teeth on his throat
in the darkened room.

< A hostile? Here? Now? >

Using all of his body weight and a healthy dose of adrenaline, he rose off
the ground, forcing his attacker back. the unmistakable snarl of a vampire
could be heard in the dark room. Instinctively, Forrest went for his gun,
only to find it wasn't there. Why would he have one? It was early morning in
the university office. The place wasn't exactly crawling with the uglies of
the night.

Well, it was now.

The vampire rushed him, sending both of the over onto the professor's desk.

< Oh no you don’t. One person dying right here is enough, thank you. >

He picked up a paperweight and blindly lashed out. It made contact with what
he guessed was its forehead. There was a low thud and silence.

< Did I get it? >

He hoped so. Damn it, how had it gotten inside? This part of the school was
extremely secure, given how close it was to the entrance of the underground.
His first thought was that maybe another hostile had made it out, but he
dismissed it immediately. They would have gotten word.

Cautiously, he got off the desk and looked around in the dark. He could feel
warmth on his throat. Great, he was bleeding, probably from the bite. He was
so not in the mood for quarantine...

A hand grabbed his ankle and he was promptly pulled down onto the ground...
 

***
Past the square, past the bridge,
past the mills, past the stacks
On a gathering storm comes
a tall handsome man
In a dusty black coat with
a red right hand
***

Willow was feeling a little bit better. She still felt dizzy, only not quite
as much. She just had to remember not to move too fast. Once she had already
forgotten that when she was going to make a call and her entire world swam.
She refused to let Giles or Oz see it. They treated her like fine china
enough as it was. Xander, of course knew better. He remembered what she was
like when people made too much of a fuss. The rest seemed to have forgotten.

She set the phone back down in the cradle. Still no response. She really
wasn't expecting Buffy to be at the dorm, but it was better than not trying.>

"Anything?" Xander asked.

"No, not a word," Willow said, sighing and leaning against the counter.

Xander shuffled his feet, looking down. He didn't like this any better than
she did. This waiting, the inability to do anything was killing them both
inside.

"You should eat something, Wills," Xander said.

"I'm not hungry," Willow said, sounding more tired than she was.

"It will help. You won't feel quite as dizzy." She started to protest, but
Xander held up a hand . "You should. You won't look ready to topple over as
much and they will leave you alone and I promise I'll leave you alone."

"Liar."

"Hey, I wouldn't be your friend if I didn't worry."

"I'm touched."

"You should be."

An awkward silence came over them as each delved into their own thoughts,
both thinking the same thing.

Buffy was still out there. Alone.

"Think Giles will find her?" Xander asked.

"I hope so. Either that or she gets over here and fast. The sooner she’s
over here, the better."

Xander nodded, handing her a sandwich from the fridge. Considering it was
something of Giles, he wasn’t too sure on how good it would taste. It
smelled like some form of salami, a meat he knew Willow wasn’t too keen on,
but she had to get something in her system.

He frowned and looked at the floor. Willow almost died last night and where
had he been? That one could be answered real fast. He had allowed himself
and Anya to get caught up in themselves. It was his fault. He had wanted to
get away from the fear and he had when he should have helped to protect her.
Giles would argue the point, saying that nothing could be done, but he
couldn’t prove that. He could have done... something.

"She’ll be okay, Xander," Willow said, misreading his features.

"Yeah," Xander said, still looking down. He walked off into the next room to
sit next to the snoring Oz.
 

***
He'll wrap you in his arms,
tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all the dreams
it took you a lifetime to destroy
***

Riley was still sitting on his bed, looking at the floor.

"Buffy... how could you," he said aloud, feeling the weight on his own
dejection in the sound.

He wanted to believe Forrest. He wanted to think that she had nothing to do
with what happened to Walsh, but he just couldn't do it. He tried and
failed.

Failed... He failed Walsh. He should have been there. It was part of his job
to protect her and keep the compound safe from this sort of thing. If he
hadn't gone out to clear his head, he never would have left the underground.
If he had been there, maybe he could have stopped the hostile from making
off with Willow, too. thank goodness she had been found and taken to a
hospital. He didn't think he would have been able to handle two gruesome
deaths in a 24 hour period.
 

He pounded his fist against the bedpost. This shouldn't have happened! The
hostile shouldn't have escaped and Buffy should not have been able to
get in.

Wait... Had they been working together? Buffy hadn't gone to the emergency
room to have her wounds treated. She had gone straight to Willow's room. She
had known right where she would be and he had found her in there with
Hostile 17.

"Oh damn," Riley said, pulling his coat and on racing out the door.
 

***
He'll reach deep into the hole,
heal your shrinking soul
Hey buddy, you know you're
never ever coming back
He's a god, he's a man,
he's a ghost, he's a guru
They're whispering his name
through this disappearing land
But hidden in his coat
is a red right hand
***

Giles cursed as he drove. He blinked his eyes a few times, amazed at his own
vulgarity. This was a new arrangement of words, even unusual from his days
as "Ripper". It had to be from the complete lack of sleep and the continuing
stress. It was wreaking havoc on his good nature.

Where was she?

It wasn't exactly a big town, there weren't all that many places she could
hide.

Unless of course something had happened. He didn't want to think that. He
wanted to believe that she was recouping somewhere that the commandos
wouldn't be able to find her. Buffy was a clever girl. She wouldn't allow
herself to be caught.

At least, that's what he hoped.

If he didn't find her soon, he was going to double back and let someone else
take over. He desperately needed some sleep if he was going to be able to
form coherent thoughts. He also wanted to be back to help on the protection
front. He had his doubts the Spike would redo the same ploy, but he couldn't
be sure in this case, he wasn't going to take his chance.

He frowned at the hood. Damned soldier boys. The car was in bad shape as it
was.

***
You ain't got no money?
He'll get you some
You ain't got no car? He'll get you one
You ain't got no self-respect,
you feel like an insect
Well don't you worry buddy,
cause here he comes
Through the ghettos and the barrio
and the bowery and the slum
A shadow is cast wherever he stands
Stacks of green paper in his
red right hand
***

Buffy leaned her head against the cool stone beneath the overpass. Wow, that
felt good.

She looked down at her leg. Things were looking up. The wound wasn't
bleeding anymore. A definite plus right there, but she was still worried.
Her skin felt hot and her head was light. She worried the wound might be
infected. After alot of painful prodding, she came to the conclusion there
was no bullet in the flesh. That brought her very little comfort. She
couldn't tell if she had been shot with a regular gun or some kind of tranq
because she felt sick to her stomach.

She crawled over to the stream and splashed her face. She looked up as the
rumble of a car passed overhead Angrily, she told herself to calm down.
Jumping at each sound was not going to help her. Not ever peep was the
commandos.

She kicked a stone from her position on the ground. The commandos... Riley
had been one of them. To make matters worse, not only were they now after
her, but were somehow involved in Willow's injuries. If she found out
exactly who had been involved with that... Well, best not get into something
that bloody when her head felt the way it did.

How could he be... She trusted him... She even was beginning...

.. to feel something for him.

She lowered her head. Why couldn't things ever work out to be happy and
sunny for her? Did it always have to be vampires, death, and destruction?
Couldn't she ever have one, nice normal relationship?

Apparently not. However, she did have someone blame for this. None of this
would happen if Spike hadn't decided to make his grand reappearance. Well,
the next time she saw him, she was going to kill him.

She sighed. At least Willow was safe now. Still, she would feel better if
she was with her friend right now. First though, she was going to have to
have this looked at.

Wincing, she got to her feet. She knew just where she was going to go.

***
You'll see him in your nightmares,
you'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but
he ain't what he seems
***

Willow made a face as she ate. Just how long had Giles left this in his
fridge... and why had Xander given her something this vile to eat? It was
out of concern, she answered to herself. He wanted her to feel better.

She wanted to feel better, but it was more than the healing properties of a
week old sandwich.

Spike had taken her. She shivered uncontrollably. Thank God no one saw her
do that. She wouldn't be left alone again for days. Wait, now that she
thought of that, she didn't want to be alone. The last few times she had
been alone had resulted in blood loss. She was not in the mood for a repeat.

It was bad enough she saw his face whenever she closed her eyes. That
hunger, that desire, all focused on her shook her right down to the core. In
a bizarre way, it was touching to be wanted, but not like that She didn't
want to die and most of all, she did not want to die and come back to kill
everyone she loved.

She stepped over to the doorway. Oz was still sleeping and Xander looked to
be close to it. A soft smile touched her lips. Oz had been there when she
couldn't fight back, even with the risk of going up against such a strong
vampire. He endured bruised ribs for her. She wished he hadn't, but he had
been there.

She heard to door open and looked around, expected to see Giles... or Buffy.
Instead it was Anya with a brown bag.

"Giles said that the junk food wasn't good for you, that I should get food
with a lot of iron in it."

Willow nodded, still smiling. Anya leaned over to peek. Soon, she was
smiling, too.

"They are cute when they are sleeping, aren't they?" She paused. "Oz
snores?"
 

***
You'll see him in your head,
on the TV screen
And hey buddy, I'm warning
you to turn it off
He's a ghost, he's a god,
he's a man, he's a guru
***

Forrest groaned as his head hit the floor. Quickly, he rolled to the side
while kicking the hostile in the face.

Again, he left to his feet and again it attacked him, this time forcing him
up against the wall. He struggled against it, but it was no easy task. This
was quite the strong vampire.

With one hand, it turned his face to the side, tilting his neck to just the
right angel where it could...

Forrest shoved it off him and punched blindly into the air, going by sound
and dim shapes alone. It had contact and he heard a groan. Yes!

He took the offensive, going by the moan of pain, and brought his leg up to
a roundhouse kick. He heard a thud farther away, then a scrambling sound as
it got up to its feet.

He had no plans to give it a second go. He jumped for the shades and pulled
them back up, bathing the room in sunlight.

There was a scream and alot of smoke. Before he could even make a move, the
door swung open and it ran.

Sighing loudly, Forrest leaned against the window. He looked up at the
ceiling, smiling, happy to have survived. He couldn't wait to tell Graham
how he had whooped its ass in the dark unarmed... leaving out a few detail.
Like the part where it had taken him by surprise and pummeled him for most
of the story.

He felt his neck and cursed. The hostile certainly had a good set of fangs.
He really hoped they wouldn't stick him in quarantine over this. The last
thing he wanted was to be in the same compound watched in a less intrusive
way than the demons were.

Suddenly, he laughed.

"Son of a bitch screams like a woman," he laughed.
 

***
You're one microscopic cog
in his catastrophic plan
***

Spike stomped through the tunnels, making it no secret of how foul a mood he
was in.

She had slipped right through his fingers. He had her! He had her, but the
bloody slayer had shown up at each occasion. And when he had managed to
elude her, those soldier boys had shown up. He couldn't decide which he
wanted to kill more.

He was not a stupid man. This was not a job he could handle alone, the
latest battle proved that much.

He grinned through the throbbing pain in his limbs. It looked about time to
bring in the big guns.

He walked through the sludge and still water with a swagger to his step...

..while elsewhere in the state, an Irishman clutched his head in blinding
pain.

***
Designed and directed by
his red right hand
***
Two
 

***
i am the son
and the heir
of a shyness
that is criminally vulgar
i am the son and heir
of nothing in particular

***
 

Willie calmly dried off a glass. It was pretty much all he had to do lately.
This particular glass he had washed and dried off about six times in the
past hour. That, and look at a near empty cash register.

Business had been quite slow the last few months, painfully slow. Normally
there was always something for him somewhere, but lately, all was quiet of
the western front. Many of his usual "acquaintances" had taken a sudden
leave of absence and the ones who lived out of town developed a sudden
phobia of travel. What disturbed him the most was that no one was even
coming into his bar! Now that was bizarre! People not wanting to at least
drown their sorrows proved once and for all that something was up.

What truly disturbed him was the complete absence of the entity that called
himself Whistler. Never once had he seen that guy try to hide, even after
every never opening of the Hellmouth. This could not be good.

Well, at least he was making something today, even if it was just something
small.

His bar was currently was occupied by one person. Well, it could be a
person. His clientele was of a rather colorful variety of demons, vampires
for the most part. He was positive this one was a vampire given the way it
was avoiding the window with sunlight streaming through. It also barely
touched its drink. Of course that didn't mean much to him, so long as it
paid, which it did. It was just so strange... It stared at the liquid
inside as if it were completely alien. The way he figured it, this one was
new to the undead game or was just having a rotten day. Possibly both,
judging by the way it held its head down, blond hair blocking its facial
features from view.

Willie shrugged. It made no difference to him.

The door opened, filling the dark bar with light. The vampire in the rear
backed away. He looked up, shielding his eyes for a moment.

"Slayer?" he asked, looking to the silhouette.

***
you shut your mouth
how can you say
i go about things the wrong way
i am human and i need to be loved
just like everybody else does

***

Riley felt like he was being watched.

It was a silly thought, really. Here it was, the middle of the day and he
was giving into paranoia. Well, maybe he had a small right to be. Hadn't the
professor just died under his watch and his girl was the number one suspect?

His girl?

Where had that come from?

He shook his head. He couldn't start thinking like that, not now. Not when
there was an investigation he had to undergo. Not when he had to figure out
whether or not she killed her.

Maybe Forrest was right. Maybe she had nothing to do with it. Perhaps she
had just been looking out for Willow. The question was, how did she know she
was there, or rather had been there?

Had she been with the vampire? Or had she been trying to track her friend
down? After all, she had been near frantic when she had come to him that
night asking if she had seen her.

There were too many questions and not enough answers. He had to get to the
bottom of this.

He crouched behind the house he had been walking too and discreetly peered
inside.

***
i am the son
and the heir
of a shyness
that is criminally vulgar
i am the son and heir
of nothing in particular

***

Spike sat festering in the dark.

How he hated the sunlight! He wished that he could force the bloody sun out
of the sky and be out there.

Not that it would make a difference. The little witch was guarded like Fort
Knox at this point. A direct attack was not going to work. He was going to
have to play this the hard way.

He grinned. It would take a little longer, but the end results would truly
be something to behold. When the fruition came... Gods, he wished he had the
power to freeze the moment and keep it in his pocket for future reference.

He just hoped he would blow it by getting impatient. The last time that
happened, he ended up in the bloody commandos holding cell and nearly lost
his princess. Well, the bitch who nearly killed her was paying the price and
the rest would soon follow. Especially the Slayer.

He scratched the table with his nails. Just thinking of those events made
him want to run out and tear them to ribbons, the sun be damned. Of course,
that would be foolish and Spike was no fool.

No, he was going to play this cool. If all went according to plan, all his
enemies would go down in ashes. He just wished he would be there to see it
all go down. Well, he would for some parts, but a few he would miss. With
his luck as of late, they would probably end up being the good ones.

It didn't matter. Willow would die and come back by his hands. the rest
would simply die. He would get what he wanted.

He did most everytime.

***
you shut your mouth
how can you say
i go about things the wrong way
i am human and i need to be loved
just like everybody else does
***

Buffy limped over to the counter.

"Willie."

The bartender backed off. "Hey, I don't want any trouble now..."

"I'm not here for trouble. What I'm here for is to get this fixed," Buffy
said.

Willie peered at her suspiciously. Why didn't she just go to a doctor? Wait,
was she in trouble. Oh yes, if he played this right...

"Sure, I can help you, but..."

"Throw in the rest of that but, and I wipe the floor with yours, injury or
no injury."

Willie nodded. He was a con man, yes, but he did know better. And hey, it
could still work out for him. Maybe she could figure out why it was so quiet
around here. No sound made him nervous.

"Alright, but..." He stopped when she glared. Hmm, maybe next time.

He got around the side to help her into the back where he could make a call
or two. He was no doctor and he did not want to hurt her more. That would
just piss her off.

Quickly, he looked to the back.

His only patron was gone.

***
when you say it's gonna happen now
when exactly do you mean?
see i've already waited too long
and all my hope is gone
***

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"I've been here before, I know where I'm going."

"I sure hope so. We don't have much more gas left."

"We're fine."

"I think we're lost. Wasn't there a drugstore back there?"

"We're not lost."

"Yes we are."

"Doyle?"

"Yeah, man?"

"Shut up."
 

Three

***
Hanging by threads of palest silver
I could have stayed that way forever
Bad blood and ghosts wrapped tight around me
Nothing could ever seem to touch me
***

Willow's legs had started to cramp. She was tired of waiting. It was well
into night and still not a word from Buffy. What was even more frightening
was the lack of anything from Giles. He would have at least called.

She tried not to dwell on what ifs. There were too many possibilities her
over active imagination could create. She didn't want to go there. But then,
if she didn't think about something other than how she was being guarded,
her every motion being clocked by Xander or Oz, she would go mad. Hence, her
dilemma.

"Maybe Buffy has her pager?" Willow asked, pausing in her pacing.

Xander shook his head. "Already tried about five times while you were
sleeping."

"I went to the dorm earlier. No messages on her machine either," Oz chipped
in.

Well, that was far from encouraging. "Guys, we can't just sit here. She
could be out there somewhere, hurt..."

"I know, Wills, but what can we do? We don't even know where to start
looking. Even if we did know where she was, you're in no shape..." Oz
started to say.

Willow cut him off. "Shape? I'm in great shape. Not dancing shape, but
Willow shape."

"And a good shape it is," Oz said with a wry grin. "But you were half
drained of blood and had who knows what else pumping in your system. You
should take it easy."

"I can't take it easy. Not without knowing where is she. Come on, I would
have died last night if she hadn't shown up when she did. You would have
to," she said, looking right at Oz.

The wolf bit his lip. She was right, even if his manly man consciousness
didn't want to confess to it.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

For a moment, both Willow and Oz paled considerably, recalling the last time
that had happened. This time, Oz took a crossbow to the door and Willow
carried with her a supersoaker filled with holy water. He undid the bolt and
swung it open to see...

... a very angry Giles, soaked in rainwater.

"Bloody hell, I can't very well open the door to my own home when you have
that thing on. Anyhow, a vampire can't come in unless you invite it," Giles
seethed. He stepped in, shaking the water out of his hair.

Oz looked down dejected. "Nothing, huh?"

Giles softened. "Not a word."

"Damn."
 

***
I lose what I love most
Did you know I was lost until you found me?
***

Spike leaned his head against the pane of glass. The Slayer's lackey's were
too busy fussing over the former Watcher to take notice of his peering from
the shadows inside.

At that moment, he truly regretted not forcing an invite out of him when he
had the chance. If he had, he would have been able to walk right in, take
Willow, and walk out.

He pulled his head back to wipe the rain off his face. Then he returned to
his watch.

Ah, there. Look at her. Look at those eyes, a moment ago wild with
frustration. He gave credit to the boys, taking care of her the way they
were, but shared in her feelings. She didn't like being fussed over, even if
she did deserve it, but he had hurt her and didn't quite know what the
commandos had done to her. She should be laying down now. Careful, love...
Don't over exert yourself. Yes, you are worried about your friend, even if
it is that bitch slayer, but that's not excuse... Good girl, sit back
down....

He shook off the euphoria she brought down on him. No sense is getting swept
up, he was there on business. He had to listen carefully....

***
A stroke of luck or a gift from God?
The hand of fate or devil's claws?
From below or saints above?
You came to me
***

"Damn, Slayer... You sure can a bullet!" Willie said, his voice filled with
amazement as he watched.

Buffy winced as the guy... If you wanted to called the horned thing that,
finished patching up her leg. He nodded his concern and passed out the door
without half a glance at Willie.

"Yeah, yeah,"Buffy said, hopping down, careful not to land on her injured
leg. "What's his problem?"

"I beat him two times at poker last week."

Buffy raised her eyebrows.

"Alright, I cheated him at poker two times last week. Happy now?"

"I'm all sunshine and roses," Buffy quipped. "Where's your phone?"

Willie nodded over his shoulder.

"Thanks," Buffy said as she picked up the receiver. She paused. "I mean
it."

He shrugged. "Don't mention it. And I mean that. I can think up about five
people off hand who'd kick my ass knowing that I helped you out."

Buffy smirked. "Don't worry, I won't. Say," she said off hand. "Is Spike
among them?"

Willie paused. "He hates my guts to begin with, but no. I haven't seen him
in here since he and Dru were the gruesome twosome."

Buffy nodded and dialed.

***
Here comes the cold again
I feel it closing in
It's falling down and
All around me falling
***

Riley paused to wipe the rain out of his eyes. He had been crouched behind
the bushes of the Giles' residence for over an hour now with the listening
equipment. He also had Forrest looking to the building and then back at him
with a sour expression on his face.

"This is going no where," Forrest said, half glaring at him. "The only thing
we got is me soaked and not happy."

"We could still get something," Riley argued. "She's connected to this.
Remember, the hostile was awful interested in Willow."

"Can you blame him? I know you've been fixated on blondie, but did you
really look at her? Nice skin, great smile, brilliant mind...damn, and she
has to have a boyfriend, doesn't she?"

Riley managed a smile. "Sorry, she does. She's in tight with the guitar
player."

Forrest just shook his head. "Figures."

"The other thing is, this is Buffy's friend. Sooner or later she has to come
back here."

"You still think she had a hand in this, don't you?"

"It's possible."

"Maybe. But maybe not. I still think she was just looking for Willow. Buffy
is a tricky one. Maybe she heard something and tracked her down to home
base."

Riley just blankly looked ahead. He didn't know what to make of this. It was
all so confusing. He just knew there were factors at play here that he
didn't know about yet. So, he changed the subject.

"A hostile actually jumped you?"

"Yeah, when I went back to the scene of the crime. Put up a pretty good
fight, too. Truth be told, I almost didn't make it," Forrest said.

"Any familiar faces?"

"Too dark to tell."

"Well, we'll look into that one when we get back." He resumed listening.

***
You say that you'll be there to catch me
Or will you only try to trap me
These are the rules I make
Our chains were meant to break
You'll never change me
***

"Hello?"

"Giles?"

"Buffy! Buffy, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Giles. Well, as fine as a person could be with a gunshot wound to
the leg, but I'm dealing and healing."

"Buffy?"

"Willow!"

"Willow! Oh thank God, you're okay. I didn't get a chance to see..."

"I'm okay Buffy. You have to come back and save me from Xander and Oz. These
two are trying to suffocate me here... Ow! Great, now I'm getting Ho Hos
thrown at me. Xander! I's okay! It didn't get smooshed! Buffy, are you
okay?"

"I'm fine, Willow. I need to know if anyone has, you know, tried anything
tonight?"

"No. It's quiet over here. I think the weather might be playing a part."

"Maybe. But be careful. don't get all comfortable. Give me Giles. Love you,
Wills."

"Buffy?"

"Giles, I need you to pick me up. I'm at Willie's."

"Willie's?"

"Not my first choice, but the only one I had given the circumstances."

"I see. I'll be right there."

***

Spike smirked once, confident in the knowledge he just overheard. He
vanished from sight, just as Willow turned her head.

"Willow?" Oz asked.

"I thought I saw something. I guess it was nothing." She picked up her coat.

Instantly, everyone began to protest.

"Resolved face."

The protesting stopped.

***

"Willie's? Where's that?" Forrest asked.

"Local demon watering hole. Let's move."

***
Don't ask me why
Don't even try
***

About fifteen minutes later, Willie the bartender found himself pinned up
against the wall.

"What girl? Lots of girls come in here," Willie argued.

"Right," Forrest said. "Tell us, did a blond walk in here? Kind of short,
wound to the leg?"

"No one like that."

Riley pushed him harder against the wall.

"Come on, I can't be expected to keep tabs on everyone who's been in here!"

Riley got read to lean on him some more, but Forrest pulled him back.
Roughing the guy up wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"She probably went back. Come on." He pulled Riley off the grateful Willie.

***

Five minutes later found Willie thrown over the counter.

"I SWEAR! I don't know anything!"

Spike hopped on top of the counter and peered down at the bloodied
bartender. "Come now, mate. I have it on good authority that she was in
here. Is she still here?"

"I told you, I don't know..."

Spike stepped down and delivered a quick kick to his ribs. The force knocked
Willie into the cabinet, breaking the wood.

"Alright! She was here but some guy picked her up. English."

"Bloody hell!"

Spike stormed off. He really had been hoping to catch the little chit here
off guard.

***

Another twenty minutes later found Willie jumping when the door swung open
again. This time with Angel and some other man he didn't recognize.

Taking his had off his bloody nose and looking through one eye that wasn't
swelled over, the panicked man held up his hands.

"Yes, Buffy was here! She went with Giles...and that is ALL I KNOW!!!"

Angel paused, his eyebrows raised.

"Thanks." He shrugged and departed.
 

***
Here comes the cold again
I feel it closing in
It's falling down and
All around me falling
***

Graham finished packing his gear for his sweep out. Where Forrest and Riley
disappeared to was anyone's guess. All he knew was because they were both
absent, it was now his watch. Finally, a chance for him to shine. the only
downer to this was that he was doing it in the rain. That meant a good
number of the uglies would not be out, meaning it would just be him and a
bunch of irrated army guys.

Well, beggars can't be choosers. He would just have to make the most of it.

He opened up the door.

Then he gasped.

"You! How did you..."

That was as far as he got.
 

Four

***
Ah, She's an eight ball,
She's a'rollin faster than a white wall,
She's got an avalanche packed into a snowball,
She's a losin all the links,
She's like a stonewall,
She's loaded up,
***

Graham was thrown back into the room, with a force the surprised even his
own attacker. It looked down at him as he slid down from the wall, small
bits of plaster raining down on him, and then back to its own hands. It
raised a brow at them. Well, as much as a vampire can. If it remembered
right, it didn't look like they had them, at least not the hairs of it. It
did feel the muscles move.

It took a step forward into the room, shutting the door behind it. It didn't
want to run the risk of its prey escaping. He would say something to
someone. It laughed to itself. He would be a fool if he didn't.

He got up and took a swipe at it. Apparently he was a fool then if he
thought something like that would bring it down. With ease, it caught his
wrist.

The moment froze it time. Well, it did for the vampire. Everything was
moving quite fast for Graham, but for it, everything seemed to be in almost
slow motion. This was all so new, so fresh, so very beautiful. It would hear
the blood pounding through his veins. Oh, how afraid he was. It knew what a
brave man he was, it knew that very well. When it still breathed and had a
prettier face when it was mad, it had such respect for that bravery. Now
though...

Now was quite different. It scoffed at his bravado. It could literally smell
how false it was. It could smell the fear coursing through every capillary.
It knew just how afraid he was, because of what it was... and who it had
once been. All the better then. Early it had a good sample of just how good
fear tasted.

It snapped Graham's wrist back. The crack of the bone had a music all its
own as did the accompanying scream. It wanted to hear it again, but it was
no fool.

Quickly, it pulled Graham up against it, covering his mouth. He wasn't going
to scream again, not now. Its prey was focusing on escape, but it had no
plans of letting him do that. It paused, straining its ears to listen.

No, no one heard him. Everyone had gone like good little shoulders to go
hunt other like it and its other dark brethren. That would have to stop,
naturally, but there were some things that had to be done first. It sighed.
Partially in response to the wonderful sensation of warm flesh struggling in
its cold arms and also from just how much work was ahead. All that could
wait.

First, there was dinner.
 

***
She's the underdog,
Gonna take a mighty swipe
At the high horse,
While'a sippin on her tricks
In a pitfall,
Makin eyes at the girls like bullfrogs,
I'm telling you, sir,
***

Willow felt annoyed again. For the tenth time in about five minutes, Buffy
had asked if she was all right. It wasn't that she was personally annoyed
with her best friend, it was just that she had been asked that so many times
all day that it had finally begun to wear very thin.

"I'm fine, Buffy," Willow said flatly.

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. I'm sure. Did everyone hear that? I'm fine. Oz, Xander, Giles, did you
hear that?" Willow said looking around the room.

"I hope they did," Anya threw in. "I'm tired of them asking it. You told
them already twenty times."

For the first time, Willow felt grateful to the former demon for her
bluntness. She smiled her thanks.

Giles walked back into the room with a glass of water and handed it to
Buffy. "I do wish you had called, Buffy. We spent a good part of the day
wondering if you were alive of captured or God knows what else."

Buffy sighed, the weariness finally creeping into her bones. "I was hiding.
I didn't know where the commandos were or even who they were. Except for
one. Well two actually. Riley and Forrest. I'm so sorry, I didn't know what
to think..."

"Willie, huh? Interesting choice," Xander said.

"He owed me."

"For what?" Oz asked.

"Not kicking his ass."

Willow smiled at that, but it faded. "So these guys think you killed Walsh?"

"Why else were they so dead set on following me? Believe me, I'd love to set
the record straight, but that would bring up a lot of questions I don't
really feel like answering. I don't think they would believe me anyhow. The
whole slayer thing is kind of hard to swallow to non witnesses. Plus, the
whole scene did look bad. I broke into their secret lair and all, then the
professor is dying right under me..."

"Maybe we can find out who killed her?" Willow offered.

"Spike did. I'm sure of it," Buffy said. "She did say British blond, or was
trying to describe him like that. He is the most logical choice."

"I'd believe it," Willow replied. "Oz said he was like a crazy man trying to
get to me and she might have been involved in trying to kill me."

"What?" Buffy said. This was new information.

"The doctor said there was something in my blood stream, a chemical to make
my heart stop."

Buffy felt her blood boil. "Why did they want to..." Slowly, it was all
coming together in her mind, and given the looks of the faces of the others,
it was coming to them, too.

"They wanted to see if I was going to be turned... if I had any of his blood
in me... Which I did not, but they wanted to see on the off chance that I
did."

"They study demons," Buffy said. "They had a whole lab full of them." Her
fist was balled so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

"For what? To what purpose?" Giles wondered.

"It can't be a good one," Willow said.

They sat in silent realization that Spike had become one of two very serious
problems they were now facing.
 

***
She's comin up from,
comin up from, comin up,
comin up from behind,

Yeah,
She's comin up from,
comin up from, comin up,
comin up from behind,
***
 

It walked calmly out the door of the compound. No one had made any moves to
stop it. Why would they? They knew who it was, but they didn’t know quite
what it was yet. News had spread that far yet to the sparse amount of the
people that were around it. For a moment, it felt pure disgust mixed with a
touch of annoyance.

It had taught them better.

Well, then it would just serve them all right when it tore their throats
open.

It had reached the exit. Sadly, it looked back. Oh, make no mistake, it did
hate every last one of them. It thought how it wanted to badly to kill right
then and there. It wasn't stupid, it knew it would be subdued almost
instantly it revealed what it was. It just missed what was in the back.

Poor baby, it would have to make due without it.

For now.
 

***
You had her hanging
Like a sneaker on a live wire, dangling,
While your golden-lined pockets were jangling
With the hollow jackpot of your wretched games,
***
 

Doyle had been through a number of very weird experiences as of late. To be
honest, it sometimes felt like his entire life was an odd experience, but
this was something to the extreme. He knew the Powers That Be had plans for
him, but he had no idea that it was eventually mean head splitting visions
and men that could break themselves into little bits. He imagined one day he
could write his autobiography and make a killing in the horror section as a
result.

"This is it?" Doyle asked as Angel brought the car to a halt in front of
Giles' residence.

"This is it," Angel said. He made no movement to exit the vehicle.

"You know," Doyle said wryly. "I think it might help to get out of the car
to go inside and talk to them."

"I can't do it."

"Sure you can. It's easy. You just reach over there and wrap the fingers
around that silver thing there. It's called a handle. You press down and
then push..."

"Very funny. You know what I mean."

Doyle nodded. He knew this was rough for his friend. Nothing like visiting
an old girlfriend with involved colorful histories and near apocalypses to
stir up emotion.

"I know it's rough. I can't imagine what this feels like, but it has to be
done. If I could come up here on my own and do this, I would. Somehow I
doubt 'Hey, I know Angel, I have visions, and guess what you're in great
danger,' would be very convincing. Look at me, do I look like the believable
type?"

"No."

"You didn't have to answer so fast."

Angel smiled. "You're right... on both account. Let's go."

They both got out of the car.

"Maybe we should both calm down a bit. Really, how bad could things be?"
 

***
She caught your sick lie,
It's creepin in the shadow of your white smile,
Lurking underneath the cover of your bedroom eyes,
Well, you're greasin' up the lance for your small-fry,
***

"He was lying."

"That could be true, but then he might have known something and you scared
him," Forrest said.

"Scared him?"

"Well," Forrest said, some of the old mischief creeping back into his eyes.
"Stalking into a bar in military gear and socking the bartender is not the
way to make friends. Polite people usually say hello."

Riley actually grinned and laughed, shaking his head. He was still smiling
when he reached forward to knock on Graham's door. When he had gotten back,
he had been told that Grahams hadn't been on the patrol and he was lead man
that night. That was weird since he had been looking forward to being the
guy in charge. He hoped he hadn't come down with that damned flu that was
spinning around the campus.

The door moved forward under his touch to reveal Graham on the floor.

"Graham?"

He rushed forward, checking for a pulse, but found nothing. All he could see
was the man's arm bent at an unnatural angle and two puncture wounds on his
neck.

"God DAMN it," Riley shouted. Not again. Not another one! No!

Forrest was a bit calmer, but he shared Riley's justified rage. He expressed
it in shock.

"But how... the compound, it was locked... There's no way one could have
gotten out or in without someone seeing..."

Their eyes met in quick realization.
 

***
You wanna talk it up, do you?
Well you're floatin like a royal balloon -- oh,
Your ego's swollen to the size of the moon, well,
I think you found somebody to cut you down to size.
Well well,
***

It hopped through the manhole down into the sewer. It wrinkled its nose at
the smell. It was so much stronger now, the scent. Strange how it didn’t
disgust it. It didn’t feel sick to smell the waste and decay. Even that
aroma was fascinating, but not in the same way. This was more of a
curiosity.

It walked through the sewer, careful not to step in anything that would get
it wet. The idea of smelling like a sewer on its next emergence was not an
appealing one.

It wiped the corner of its mouth. Vaguely, it wondered if anyone had seen
the pool of blood at the corner of its mouth. That didn’t matter all that
much. Once they found the body, its cover would be blown. It just felt a
little sad that it wouldn’t get to see the immediate resulting fray. The
cries of anguish, the tears, the anger... It wanted to see that so badly.

No, can’t go back to sneak a peek. It was far to bright out and even if it
hid, it would be found.

It walked on until it reached where it was meaning to go.

There he was. The vampire was casually leaning against the wall, puffing
away at a Marlboro red, fondling a barrette in its free hand. No doubt it
belonged to the red haired girl.

"About bloody time you got back. I know it feels good to knock off loved
ones, but that kind of risk was kind of stupid, don’t you think?" Spike
asked.

Walsh smiled. "But well worth the risk."

***
Yeah,
She's comin up from behind,
She's comin up from behind,

Yeah,
She's comin up from behind,
She's comin up from behind....
***
 

Five

**
I don't need an education
I learnt all I need from you
They got me on some medication
My point of balance was askew
It keeps my temperature from rising
My blood is pumping through my veins
**

Riley and Forrest just looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions.

"How?" Riley asked. "How is it possible?"

When Forrest had first seen Walsh lay dying in her own office before Riley
had whisked him away to chase after suspect and hostile, he had felt the
entire time like he had been sucker-punched right in the gut. Such things
had always been a possibility, but since it never happened until just then,
it never crossed his mind. He fought through the mental anguish then because
he knew if he didn’t keep a clear head, he would lose it and with Riley out
of focus, he just couldn’t afford that now.

But when he saw Graham sprawled out on the floor, broken and cold, he felt
the last of his reserve ebb out of his body. He held onto the doorframe and
slowly sank to the floor, just looking at Graham.

"Forrest," Riley said, snapping his friend back into the present. He turned
his head in his direction, but found he wasn’t looking at him at all. He
still held Graham’s body is him arms. "I don’t understand… How could she be…
why?"

"I don’t get it either. I mean, yesterday we were all… Wait," Forrest felt
things coming together in his head.

Riley looked up.

Forrest held onto one of his finger, counting off the points he was about to
make. "Let’s go over the sequence of events. Hostile 17 makes a break for
it. He’s a very cranky vampire cause we screwed with him and his prey. If
I’m not mistaken, wasn’t that girl… What was her name?"

"Willow."

"Yes. Walsh was in the same room with Willow when he came in and bagged
Willow?"

Riley narrowed his eyes, catching on to what Forrest was saying. "He put a
face to his rage, a target."

"Alright, he got Willow back with him… Question. Why didn’t he kill her?"

Riley swallowed. Forrest really was not going to like what he was going to
say, but it had to be done to establish how things had turned ugly. "Walsh
injected her with some metabolism slowing chemicals."

"What? What the hell for?"

"Look, she didn’t tell me until after she was taken, but Walsh wanted to see
what a change looked like."

Forrest stared at the floor. He truly wished the professor was still alive
so he could throw a few well-placed words in her face, tell her what she did
was wrong. Sure, experimenting on something that was dead to begin with was
one thing, but a living human being was something completely different. It
made him take a long hard look at why he was there. He wondered if Riley
was, too. Didn’t matter. They now had a much bigger problem. Blame and tears
would have to come later.

"We’re talking about this later, friend," Forrest said, his voice laced with
unmistakable anger. "Okay, so if memory serves me right, that sort of
combination makes a person not so tasty anymore."

"I would say he would have just dropped her and moved on, but for some
reason, he’s awful focused on Willow."

"Can’t say I blame him. She is pretty cute. Cute enough that he wanted to
make sure she would be okay so he could take another piece later."

"So he drags her to Sunnydale Presbyterian."

"Time, time, when did this happen?"

"I last spoke to Walsh at 5:50 A.M. I was heading off to bed before classes
started."

"Buffy breaks in at 6."

Riley shook his head. "He don’t have a confirmation on that. She got out
into the open at 6. For all we know, she could have been tailing us in the
vents all night. She’s smooth, probably could avoid the detection."

"But this does count her out as a suspect. She couldn’t have killed her if
Walsh is a…"

Riley lowered his head. He felt terrible now. First Walsh died and he blamed
Buffy. Now Graham had died because he had been so stubborn and ready to pass
the blame onto the first easy target. If he had thought things through,
maybe he would have been able to prevent this.

"Riley, don’t do that," Forrest said.

"Do what?"

"Blame yourself."

"I should have been here."

Forrest cocked his head to the side. "Say you had been here, what would you
have done? Tranqed her? Staked her?"

Riley said nothing.

"I’ll tell you what you would have done, you would have been in as much
shock as you are right now and she would have take complete advantage of it.
Then again, maybe you would have been able to do something, but she still
would have had the advantage of surprise. In all likelihood, I could have
been walking in here alone and finding two bodies." He stopped a moment, to
shake off the anger and the doubts. They did not have time for this. "Hey,
let’s stop it right now. No more ‘what ifs’, no ‘if onlys.’ We need to focus
here."

"You’re right. Okay, hospital records indicate Willow was brought in 2 hours
before Walsh was attacked. That gives our boy plenty of time to get back
here. He comes in, smacks the professor around and…" He swallowed. He didn’t
like saying this. Oh God, how he did not like to say this. "He turns her.
She’s still alive when Buffy gets there. She tries to find out what
happened, but then I show up and everything goes straight to hell."

Forrest walked away a second, then back around holding his head in sudden
revelation. "Damn it, we never had the body picked up, did we?"

"No. Assembled half a team and said we had a break-in and an attack." He
paused. "Damn, I didn’t say anything about Walsh. She died right after Buffy
took off. I had been so mad…"

"Loss does that." Now it was Forrest’s turn to quiet for a moment. "Damn. It
was her that attacked me when I came back. She probably just woke up."

"Most hostiles aren’t in a very logical state of mind when they first wake
up. Mostly, they just want to eat."

"She did eat." Forrest pointed to the wound on his neck. "Not too much, just
a nick. No way in hell this is enough for a quarantine."

"I’ll take you’re word for it. Okay, she calms down, wanders out probably
very confused in the sewers. It still remembers being Walsh so it knows what
to avoid and where possibly to go. Then it starts getting more focused.
Maybe it goes to meet it’s maker, then comes back here."

"Of course no one stops her cause they don’t know. They don’t know what she
is now."

They looked at each other, fear in their eyes.

Riley felt his resolve come back. "Shit. Forrest spread the word. We need to
take care of her right away. She’s still known to a very large amount of
people of just a professor. Here next probable target is a student. Get
teams ready to sweep every single corner or this town, starting with the
ewers now. Come night fall, every single place you can possibly come up
with. We got to find her, Forrest, before anyone else dies."

"Yes sir."

"This is our watch now."

Forrest nodded and turned to leave, but then stopped. "Wait, where are you
going."

"I need to find Buffy and Willow. I owe them both an apology. I also need to
get both of them under protection. It’s only a matter of time before Hostile
17 makes another move on her and now that he has a new friend, one that
knows every detail about us, there’s no telling just how bad things could
get if we don’t button this thing down now."

**
Somebody get me out of here
I'm tearing at myself
Nobody gives a damn about me
Or anybody else
I wear myself out in the morning
You're asleep when I get home
Please don't call me self-defending
You know it cuts me to the bone
Though it's really not surprising
I hold a force I can't contain
**

"Xander, get off," Buffy said.

"Hey," Xander protested. "There is plenty of room on his couch for three
people and I don’t want to sit on the floor."

"Sorry man," Oz said, surpressing a grin. "This is the ‘I’ve been shot’
table. You must have a scar or bandaged wound for admittance."

Xander just glared a moment, forcing a number of giggles out from Willow.
Anya got up from her spot in Giles’ easy chair. "Here, Xander," she said.
"You can sit here."

Xander raised his brow a second. "Hey, thanks." He sat down. "But where are
you going to sit?"

His question was answered when the former demon comfortable plopped down on
his lap.

"Oh," was all he managed to say. This time Willow couldn’t help but to laugh
out loud.

Giles cleared his throat. "Yes, the seating arrangements of my living room
are all very interesting, but can we please get back on track here? We need
to figure out some sort of battle plan for investigating these soldiers and
clearing Buffy’s name. The latter takes precedence because I don’t think a
patrol would work very well if she was getting shot at every time."

"It certainly would make things more interesting," Willow said. Buffy just
looked at her and muttered something under her breath.

"I’m not sure what we can do, Giles," Willow said. "They’ve got a whole lot
of equipment, and people. Hey… they have to be getting funding from
somewhere… I don’t think that stuff pays for itself."

"Good thinking," Buffy said. "Think you can handle it."

"Hey, I eat danger for breakfast."

"Yes she still runs away from Eggos," Xander said offhand.

"Oh yeah, the way they pop out of the toaster like that… scary!" Willow
giggled.

Willow looked about ready to say something more when the doorbell rang. Once
again, everyone looked at each other, eyes wide.

"I’ll get it," Buffy said. She strode up to the door. She was the only one
who wasn’t scred to death it was Spike there. In fact, she was half hoping
for a vampire. She really needed to maim something badly. She felt for her
stake in her sleeve as she swung open the door.

As it turns out, it was a vampire, just not the one she expected.

"Angel," she said.

Angel at first just stood there, looking like he wanted to both run away and
walk in at the same time. Buffy just stood in place. The Slayer and the
vampire might just have stood in place like stone statues forever if the
ruddy faced companion of Angel cleared his throat before speaking up.

"Hello. You must be Buffy," Doyle said.

Buffy blinked a few times, coming back into focus. "Um, hello?"

He nodded. "My name’s Doyle and I believe you know Mr. Brooder over here.
Might we come in… There seems to be a problem."

Buffy backed away from the door, still looking at Angel in mild shock and
over to Doyle with some mixed feelings. She shut the door behind them. "What
problem is that? We have a few going on right now."

Doyle let out a shaky sigh.

"The problem is that if we’re not careful, someone here is going to die."

**
And still you call me codependent
Somehow you lay the blame on me
And still you call me codependent
Somehow you lay the blame on me
**

Spike leaned against a tree about fifty feet away from the house, watching.
He couldn't help but to be somewhat facinated by the way they acted. One
moment there was nothing but seriousness on each face he saw. The next there
was laughter... especially from his princess. How he loved to see her
laugh... No, no sense getting distracted now. There would be time enough for
that later. He continued to watch.

For him though, this was no excerise in human drama before him. It was like
watching the lobsters in the tank at a restaurant. Each one was inevitably
doomed. Each one to be boiled alive and feasted on, it was all just a matter
or time.

He almost laughed.

"The great poof!" he exclaimed.

Oh, this was almost too funny to watch, if such a thing was possible. Just
look at the chit and the poof trying to avoid each other. She looked glad
enough to see him, but also bitterly anxious. Almost like she didn't want
him there, but knew that he had to be there. Hmm, that brings up a question.
How did he know? Spike didn't think she called him and he had serious doubts
this was all one big coincidence. Hey, there is his little friend, but where
was the other girl? If she was there is would be one big unhappy reunion...
and more to eat.

He flicked the ash off his cigarette.

Pretty soon, things were going to get interesting.

**
Somebody get me out of here
I'm tearing at myself
I've got to make a point these days
To extricate myself
**

Silence once again filled the room.

"So how accurate are these visions of yours?" Giles asked.

"Very. Well, not entirely. I'm no prophet. I see glimpses of pictures.
Places, things, smells, feelings... Sometimes it's an event as it happens,
which in this case it's not true, I'm glad to see."

Angel looked off to the side. "Or maybe it's something that will happen."

Doyle rolled his eyes. "You people have known him longer than me. Is he
ALWAYS like this?"

A unanimous "yes" echoed off the walls and Angel glared all around for a
moment.

Doyle went back to what he was saying. "Other times, it's a sequence of
events that will happen, but it;s not always written in stone. Things can be
prevented, which is what me and Tall and Brooding do over in L.A."

Willow was still pale and looking at the floor. "And you saw Spike."

Doyle sniffed. "Yeah, I saw Blondie, I think. I did see blond hair. In this
vision, I saw a doorway... Naturally, it was dark, but suddenly it got very
bright, almost to the point of blindness. There was a growl, the sound of a
scrape, and a flash of red hair. I heard a scream... and then, there was
death. Someone's death... I don't know who's."

Willow felt Oz squeeze her hand.

Nothing is going to happen.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Angel looked around. "Why did everyone just jump?" He shrugged and opened
it, unafraid.

A woman stood and the door, her neck bandanged, walking with a slight limp.

Buffy's eyes widened. "Professor Walsh?"

Walsh moved closer to the door way, her expressioned pained as if every
movement burned. "Buffy, are you alright? I've had everyone looking for you,
after what happened. I was afrad that thing had gotten to you." She looked
over to Willow. "Is she alright?"

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "No thanks to you."

Walsh looked down. "I think we both have a lot to answer for. Can I come
in?"

**
Somehow you lay the blame on me
Somehow you lay the blame on me
**
 

Six
 

Riley cursed as he picked himself off the grass, and hastily dusted himself
off before coming back to his senses. He resumed his run, looking back at
the fence with a shake of his head and a very sheepish grin that faded as
his mission jumped back to the front of his mind.

Still, it was funny. In a show of machismo, he had attempted a climb-leap
over a fence into a playground…it was a shortcut after all, but he misjudged
the size of the wire mesh and his own strength. In the end he ended up
dangling upside down by the threads in the cuff of his left pant leg… until
gravity and his body weight got into a serious argument. He could only
imagine what sort of remark Forrest would have to throw at him had he been
there.

Now he had a new reason to curse. Again, he was letting his gut take charge
and not his head. What he should have done was take a team with him, just to
be safe. Hell, if he had thought to go check on Buffy and Willow, Maggie was
probably doing the same with very different intentions. Wasn’t that why he
had broke out into a run, leaving back up behind him?

He had let Maggie down. His tired brain was forcing him to accept that so he
could move on. Perhaps that was true, but he had no intention of letting
anyone else down from now on. He was going to find Buffy and Willow and be
straight with them. Hell, it wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter
anymore. Ignorance could literally kill them.

If they weren’t dead already.

He shook his head again, trying to loosen the negativity out. Yes, being
open about this was really the best choice. It would be much better to guard
them and maybe then he might find out something from them. Maybe this wasn’t
the first time the hostile had shown an interest in Willow. Maybe this was
just part of a series of attacks. He hoped they would talk to him… He was
being to feel a premonition that once Buffy found out he had been keeping
all this from her that he was going to get his ass kicked.

He cleared his head, taking in deep breaths as he ran. He couldn’t lose his
cool, not now. People could be dying, he didn’t have the luxury of running
off on a million different mental tangents.

He just had one direction to go.

A tuft of grass and mud flew up in the sky and Riley pushed off in the
direction of Giles’ residence, faster and more determined than before.

____________

Buffy bit back on her lip to keep from letting out a spew of curses she felt
brewing beneath. At least that’s what it looked like to Willow. She had seen
Buffy’s "Fuming Mad under the Skin" look before and this was a perfect
example of it. The initial shock of seeing the presumed dead professor at
her doorstep had begun to wear off and the past was quickly catching up.

Willow looked over at Oz, clutching his arm. Buffy wasn’t the only one who
looked about ready to kill. She half wondered what would happen if she
wasn’t there, literally holding him back with her fingertips.

"Yeah," Buffy said. "I’m fine."

"And Willow?" Maggie asked.

"She’s peachy," Buffy practically snapped. "No thanks to you."

Doyle leaned over to Angel and whispered. "Was she always like this?"

Angel smirked. "For her sake, I really hope she doesn’t get too close." He
the mirth vanished from his face, it being replaced with some anxiety.
Something felt off… almost like the eye of a hurricane. Despite Buffy’s
volatile mood, everything felt eerily calm.

Maggie looked down and inched forward with a limp, just shy of the doorway.
"I know… I know… I didn’t have the right…"

She didn’t know what it was, but something in the tone of her voice, the
calm, the aloofness of her voice… whatever it was just set Willow off.

"You tried to kill me," she said, her eyes narrowed.

"I didn’t know…"

"Liar." She stepped forward, her foot inches from the threshold. Angel
narrowed his eyes for a moment, expecting some sort of fight. From what he
heard, Willow had been through a lot the past few days. She was a quiet
person by nature, but too little sleep and too much stress could easily
break one's control. Weird, the other woman didn't step forward at all.

Doyle could see it, too. In an attempt to break things up, he stepped
forward. "Maybe it would be better to continue this tomorrow? I mean, we
know everyone's okay now... Some sleep on both sides would help us all sort
things out better."

Giles snapped to the present. He was eager to distance himself from that
Walsh woman. For some reason, just looking at her made him feel edgy. "I
would have to agree... Tomorrow might be better. Especially if you would go
back and call your troops of buffy here."

"Yeah," Buffy said, still feeling sore from the wound she recieved. "Why
were they chase..."

Her words caught in her mouth as she realized it.

"Willow, step back away from the door."

Angel caught it about the same moment Buffy did. "Backing away is a good."

Doyle perked up. "Why what's..." He quieted after Angel gave him a glare. He
knew that look.

Willow was confused. She still glared forward at Maggie.

Maggie only smiled softly. "I think we need to talk, Willow."

Willow opened her mouth to speak.

Outside, in the shadows, Spike smiled.
 

Seven

***
There is nothing that competes with habit
And I know it's neither deep nor tragic
It's simply that you have to have it
***

<Well, that was deeply stupid. > Riley thought. He tried to pull himself up
off the dirt with some measure of dignity. He ended up tripping twice,
kicking up a cloud of dust, but not falling. This was not being taken as a
good omen. He had seen a short cut to Giles’ house and, like the smart boy
that he was, he took it. He climbed up the chain like fence surrounding a
playground, but when he got to the one on the opposite side, his heal got
caught in a loop. He lost balance and would have fallen on his head if the
cuff of his jeans hadn’t gotten caught on a stray bit of the wire frame.
Unfortunately, gravity didn’t care for his Levi’s or his body weight and he
dropped. He could only imagine what Forrest would have to say to that. He
knew exactly what he would say if it had been Forrest.

He cursed under his breath, shaking his head and dusting himself off before
the dirt became mud on his clothes as he ran. He shouldn’t have left
Forrest. He didn’t know why he was thinking that now. Forrest was a very
capable soldier and that’s why when it came time to pick a second, Forrest
had been first on his list. He had actually been the only one on his list.
Back when they had first met, both men had not particularly liked each
other, but he respected him. A lot could be built from respect. Both their
relationships with Walsh proved that much. They all respected her to some
extent, no matter how much they hated her.

That one thought stopped him right in his tracks.

He knew right there that he was going to be the one to kill her. He didn’t
know how he knew. He just did. Only time would prove if it was an accurate,
but he had the sinking feeling he was going to have to be the one to drive
the stake home.

It was a horrible notion. Just the thought of it made him want to double
over and wretch in the bushes.

What it did do was weaken his movements forward. All the energy ebbed out of
his limbs almost like he was being drained of blood.

“She’s dead,” he whispered.

He had never been one of her biggest fans, but he did defend her against
criticism. She was the same as him, soldiers in a hidden war. the only
difference was hers was inside a lab, his was out in the woods, the sewers,
the cemetery… wherever the hostiles would run. Now she was one of them.

“No. It’s not her.”

He had to remember that. What he would eventually find was not Professor
Walsh, but a shadow with her memories. He knew what it would try to do. It
would try to reach out to him with false affection, then with hurtful guilt,
then at last with tooth and claw. His Walsh wouldn’t do that.

This was something else. He hoped he would remember that when the time came.
He also hoped that whoever it met that had known her would know that, too.
After what happened to Graham, he knew Forrest wouldn’t hesitate as much as
he would. He didn’t know how others would react. Take Buffy for example. He
knew given what he had seen that she had some experience fighting these
things, but if Walsh walked up to the door, how would she react? Would she
know? Would she be able to do it?

“Buffy.”

Riley ran.
 

***
So you can make a killing
Oh you can make a killing
Oh you can make a killing
***
 

Buffy’s look of relief had faded almost as soon as it had surfaced. As happy
as she was to know that Spike hadn’t killed her, she was still angry. If she
didn’t know there were some kind of injuries under her clothing, she would
cross over the thresh hold and beat the woman senseless with her shoes,
California law be damned.

“Fine, you’re okay, I’m okay. Leave.”

“Buffy,” Angel said, surprised at how she acted. Of course, he would feel
the same way if he had the entire back-story here. The others knew, which
would explain the growing looks of disdain. He was beginning to feel
uncomfortable.

Doyle looked even uneasier. Even though he had just about as much
information as Angel did, it was enough to make him worry. This woman ran
with an organization that experimented on demons. He had a good feeling they
wouldn’t pass up on a half demon. Why Angel wasn’t even the slight bit
nervous puzzled him. Wait, now that he thought about it, Captain Brooder
didn’t seem to have too many facial expressions. This could BE  his worried
face.

He looked around to gauge what everyone else was feeling. the Englishman
wore a tight expression. Clearly, he was holding back his animosity towards
her. From what Angel had told him, Giles was a very polite, well-mannered
gentleman… Right until something truly pissed him off.

A dark-haired boy, Xander-Something, sat forward, doing the same thing he
was doing, trying to see the reactions of others. He did notice that the
young man did avoid looking at this Walsh woman. The girl sitting next to
him just kept looking at him. It was almost like the rest of the world
didn’t matter to her.

Then there was of course, the boyfriend. He had been told the boy, Oz, was a
werewolf, but it didn’t matter. Given the expression on his face, he
wouldn’t need a full moon to tear her to shreds. The only thing holding him
back was his sense of right and wrong.

What truly puzzled him the most was the red haired Willow. There was no
expression on her face and he couldn’t decide if that was a bad thing or
not.

“What?” Buffy said. “Look, Professor, I’m glad you’re okay… I guess.” She
didn’t bother to hide the malice she felt from her voice. “But you’re not
welcome here.”

“Buffy, please. I came here by myself. I’m out here alone,” Walsh said. She
sounded almost desperate to get inside. She was afraid of something, at
least that’s what it looked like.

“What, no commandos?” Buffy said.

Maggie Walsh shook her head, rain drops shaking off. “No, they’re out
looking for the hostile that attacked me.” She paused. “And the one that
attacked Willow.”

“You seemed real concerned about Willow before,” Oz sniped.

“You tried to kill me,” Willow said, coming back to reality.

“It was research. I didn’t know it was you…”

Willow took Oz’s hand off her shoulder and started to slide off the couch,
to walk toward the door. No one made a move to stop her. The only motion was
Maggie’s head rising up to great her.

Willow narrowed her eyes. “You tried to kill me,” she said again. She took a
step towards the door.

Maggie looked down a moment, watching her draw nearer.

***
I wish I was both young and stupid
Then I too could have the fun that you did
Till it was time to pony up what you bid
So you could make a killing
Oh you could make a killing
Oh you could make a killing
***
 

Forrest was beginning to get irritated.

Well, it was better than being over stricken with grief or panic like half
his guys were. That’s the thing that was annoying him. He truly wished
everyone would pick one mood and just stick with it. It would be much easier
to rally everyone.

If he could do that, maybe he could find a way to do it to himself. The
things that had happened to Walsh and to Graham were finally starting to
sink in. He could feel weight in the pit of his stomach pulling him down. He
tried to shake it off, but he knew it wasn’t going to go away. It was only
going to get worse as time went on.

Which was why they had to hash this thing out now. everything would become
about five times worse if too much time went by.

He bit his lip and looked away. Maybe he was being a coward, but he didn’t
think he could be the one to do it and watch her face melt into dust. He
hoped it would be someone else because he knew he wouldn’t be able to,
possibly even if his life depended on it. Knowing how the luck was around
there lately, it probably would.

He stood up in front of the better part of his team. Technically, it was
Riley’s team, but his boy was out there being the hero for his girl. When
this was all over and done he was going to have a big ‘I-told-you-so’ talk
about her. How could he accuse his would-be girlfriend of that? Shock and
grief, he supposed.

For a minute, he felt a measure of alarm. there were a few guys missing, the
biggest hole seen was where Graham usually stood. That was going to hurt for
awhile. But where was everyone else? He counted about three guys total
missing. He knew he should calm down, that it was just paranoia, but given
the events of the last 48 hours, he felt justified. He shook his head, there
wasn’t time for this.

He continued on what he had just been talking about.

“Now that you know… what happened, does anyone remember seeing Graham within
the last five hours? Even if it’s just a glance, give me an answer with a
time if you can. Reese?”

A sandy haired, young man raised his hand.

“Reese.”

“I talked to Graham almost two hours ago. He had just gotten back… He was
excited about going out on patrol tonight.” He hung his head.

“How about Walsh?”

A younger kid named Pat raised his hand. “I did, sir. It couldn’t have been
more han an hour ago. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, I didn’t
know that before she had been...”

Forrest didn’t want to hear it. “The point?”

“It was weird, she kept slipping in and out of doors. All the while it
looked like she was trying to avoid being seen.

Forrest sighed. “Okay, we found him forty-five minutes ago. That’s a very
big window of escape, especially for her. Now, remember that it’s not her.
It’s just something that looks like her. Unfortunately, that makes her extra
dangerous. She know every intimate detail of this organization. She is also
now on the other side meaning it's only a matter of time before she leaks
information to some destructive beings. She is also dangerous because she is
someone we know. It’s not going to be easy but…” He paused. “This is going
to be a kill. We have to move out and move out fast. Before anything gets
worse.”

He knew it was a jinx as soon as the words escaped his lips.

A commando was dropped from above, landing right on the table where most of
the team was sitting. People fell, knocked out by the impact, others rolled
away at once, trying to escape the shattering boards and splinters.

Forrest looked up, his eyes widening.

“Oh shit.”
 

***
I could follow you and search the rubble
Or stay right here and save myself some trouble
Or try to keep myself from seeing double
***
 

Riley’s chest was burning. He knew that he should slow down and catch his
breath. He wouldn’t be any good to Buffy, Willow, or anyone else if he was
completely winded.

He also wouldn’t be any good to them if he was too slow and got them killed
because of it. So onward Riley Finn moved. For once on this trip, he managed
to maneuver himself into a part of town that didn’t have quite as many rain
puddles and stable ground. After as many slips as he had just had, he had
too look pretty scary. He hoped that he wouldn’t get hit as being a
suspected invader of the home. He imagined they had to be pretty edgey after
all that had happened.

And that wasn’t even the half of it. They didn’t know about Walsh yet.

“Finally,” he breathed as the apartment came into his line of sight.

He had been about to break into the final sprint when a heavy back knocked
him onto his stomach from behind. He tried to throw the weight of his back,
but found it exceedingly difficult.

It got worse when he heard the voice.

“Sorry, mate. That dance is for the ladies.”
 

***
Or I could make a killing
Or I could make a killing
Oh I could make a killing
***
 

Willow’s face was just inches away from Maggie Walsh’s. Willow’s hands were
at her side, her hands becoming clenched fists.

The ones that knew her could only remember a few times when they had seen
her this angry.

“I don’t care what it was for,” Willow said bitterly. “You don’t experiment
on people… Especially involving that kind of thing. I was still alive! You
shouldn’t have been trying to kill me. How many other people have you done
this to?”

Something was bothering Buffy. She glanced over at Angel, who was thinking
along the same lines as she was. It was small really. Why didn’t she just
walk in? It just struck her as almost out of character for the self declared
bitch monster of death. Politely waiting for an invitation didn’t seem to be
a thing Walsh would do.

Wait.

An invitation?

“Willow,” Buffy said,

“After what you did, it’s not like I’m just going to throw the door open and
say come on in, Maggie.” Willow continued, her face almost scowling.

“Willow!”

Maggie’s foot crossed the thresh-hold.
 

***
Yeah I could make a killing
I could make a killing
***

Eight

***
I can't use what I can't abuse
And I can't stop when it comes to you

You burned me out but I'm back at your door
Like Joan of Arc coming back for more

I nearly died
I nearly died
I nearly died
***

For a brief moment Forrest forgot all his military training. He forgot he
still had men under his command, but worse of all, he forgot he had a weapon
in his hands. His abilities and focus were thrown askew because of one man.

To be honest, he wasn’t even sure if he could classify it as a man. It’s
flesh was marred with metal and odd colors. He didn’t know what to call it,
was it a demon? Well, by the looks of it, parts of it was a man, but the
rest of it had parts that could only have come from a cold, dark place where
the nice people were too afraid to tread. Forrest wouldn’t lie, he was
afraid. He was afraid of it because not only was it something he couldn’t
fathom, but because it was very strong and had knocked out his team in one
fierce blow. The commando hadn’t been dropped; he had been thrown. It had
been enough to knock out four and reduce three to writhing wraiths on the
floor. Besides him, only one man was still standing and he was in even worse
mental shape than Forrest was, but he wasn’t quite as stunned.

“What the hell is that?” the other man said, incredulous.

Amazingly, the creature spoke.

“I am ADAM.”

It took a step down.
 

*****
I came to cut you up
I came to knock you down
I came around to tear your little world apart
I cam to shut you up
I came to drag you down
I came around to tear your little world apart
And break your soul apart
*****

Riley tried to suck in a deep breath before his opponent made another try to
press his face into the rain-soaked ground. At first he hadn’t thought him
other than some jerk, his mind having been too far away to focus, but now he
was back and analyzing. It was too strong for its build and it’s hands were
too cold, even for that weather.

This was just what he needed right now, o be unarmed and alone with a
hostile while the clock was ticking away for Buffy and Willow. He’d like to
be optimistic and think that they were safe, but too much had happened in
the last few days.

“I do not have time for this,” Riley muttered. Then he pushed himself up off
the ground hard, effectively throwing Spike off of him.

The vampire had barely made contact with the ground before he picked himself
up using his weight with the momentum to flip back up to his feet.

“Not too shabby, mate,” Spike said, smoothing out the front of his duster,
game face on and smiling.

Even in the dark, recognition came quickly to Riley.

“You,” he said, shifting his balance in preparation for the next attack.
“You’re the one who took Willow.”

Spike grinned, but the mirth never touched his eyes. He folded his arms and
slowly circled the man before him.

“I think I know you, too. You were talking to my girl that one night trying
to get tips on winning the heart of Slutty the Vampire Slayer. Word of
advice, chasing her with army guys is not the way to win her.”

Riley growled. “She’s not your girl,” he said, ignoring his words about
Buffy.

“Oh, she is,” Spike said smugly. “I just haven’t made it official yet.”

Riley immediately took a swing at him, but Spike latched onto his wrist and
flung him into a tree. The commando fell back, half stunned with a number of
bloody scratches on his face. Spike made no attempt to attack. Instead, he
casually stood over his opponent with an amused smirk as Riley reflexively
clutched his face in pain.

“Now that I think of it,” Spike said, “I think I know you from somewhere
else, too, don’t I?” With that, he viciously kicked Riley in the ribs before
there was a chance for recovery. “You’re one of those wankers who tried to
do in my girl.”

“She’s not your girl.”

Spike kicked him again. “We’ve been over that already.”

“She wasn’t harmed in my custody.”

“Then why was she poisoned? I barely scratched the ripe little plum’s neck.
True, I did draw, but not enough to kill her, so I’ve come to conclusion
that you blokes tried to kill her. That wasn’t very nice, mate.” With that,
Spike’s voice dropped to a dangerously low tone. and dug his boot into
Riley’s neck.

Riley grasped onto the vampire’s boot, trying to push him off, but found it
to be a difficult feat. The fact that he was confused didn’t help. What was
he talking about?

“Say now, mate, does your new girlfriend know that you nearly killed her
best friend? I don’t think that association will get you any higher either.”

A shrill scream cut through the air.

Spike looked up for a moment, his vampiric features melting away into a
sickly warm, human... proud smile. then he looked down at the pinned Riley.
“That Maggie, she is something else, isn’t she? She was the one who injected
Willow, you know.”

“You lie.”

Spike dug his heel in deeper. “Think about it... You know it, you just
didn’t want to see it.” He smiled again. “I was just going to kill her after
I tortured her, but then I got an idea. It’s much more interesting this way,
isn’t it?”

Riley’s body slumped under his foot. Defeated.

“I wonder which one of them screamed...”

Suddenly, Spike’s foot flew up from underneath him. He flew back, landing in
a very undignified position. He shook his head, stopping in game face. By
the time he had regained his focus, he only saw a small running back.

Why didn’t he always have to take the time to rub it in?

“Bloody hell.”

*****
You burn and burn to get under my skin
You've gone too far now I won't give in
You crucified me but I'm back in your bed
Like Jesus Christ coming from the dead

I nearly died
I nearly died
I nearly died
*****

Willow was still glaring with her arms folded as Maggie Walsh crossed the
thresh hold. Before her foot even touched the ground, her apologetic face
melted into something unrecognizable. Of course, Willow wasn’t paying
attention to that, being far too consumed in her own anger to notice.

Angel noticed. He could smell her now and so could Oz. Xander and Giles had
both taken notice of a mirror directly across from the door. Buffy... She
didn’t need anything. She just knew.

Somehow she always knew.

“Willow,” Buffy said as she began to move forward to intercept.

A number of things happened all at once.

Oz reached out to take hold of Willow’s arm while Giles dove for his weapons
chest. Angel moved alongside of Buffy, pushing Doyle behind him.

Maggie...

Oh, she was a quick one. She grabbed a hand full of Willow’s hair and yanked
her into her arms before Oz’s fingers could touch her arm. It was only then
that Willow realized what was going on. She opened her mouth to scream, but
Maggie clamped a hand over her mouth. Only a whimper escaped.

“You’re not going to get very far, Maggie,” Angel said.

“Oh, I think I will.”

A splash of water flew. Some of it caught onto Angel’s hands, eliciting a
gasp. the bulk of it landed on the face of Maggie. She screamed and let go
of Willow, fleeing in pain.

Buffy caught Willow as her friend fell. Already, she could hear the sobs.

“It’s okay, Willow. We’re here. We’re here,” Buffy said.

A shadow crossed over. Buffy looked up ready for a fight, but then
hesitated.

A bloodied and confused Riley stood at the door.

“I’m, uh... Here to rescue you?”

*****
I came to knock you up
I came to cut you down
I came around to tear your little world apart
I came to rip you up
I came to shut you down
I came around to tear your little world apart
And break your soul apart

I nearly died
I nearly died
I nearly died

*****

Forrest raised his weapon and fired, but the shots did nothing. He was
outnumbered.

“Retreat.”

The other man hesitated. It was his last mistake.

Adam reached for him and threw him into the wall, impaling him on the bottom
of the railing.

“Shit,” Forrest said.

He picked up his cell phone and dialed as he ran. “Damn it, Riley, pick up!”

His feet flew up underneath him and he crashed into the ground. He scrambled
up to his feet, but was forced back down.

The phone was still ringing.

*****
I came to cut you up
I came to knock you down
I came around to tear your little world apart
I came to shut you up
I came to suck you down
I came around to tear your little world apart
Tear your little world apart
Tear your little world apart
And break your soul apart
*****

Nine

***
Meet me in a doorway
I'll be painting pictures of gates
You were so crazy I was so chaste
I don't know what happened to me
I don't know
***

Oz held Willow on the couch. She was shaking terribly and truthfully,
so was he. That had been much closer than either of them had wanted
to admit to.

Doyle sat on a chair across the room, looking at everyone, feeling
vaguely out of the loop and given the expression he observed on
Angel's face, he felt the same way. They had too little of the back-
story for a clear understanding of what was going on. Everyone else,
though, knew enough that they all had blanched considerably.

The Slayer, though she looked as nervous as everyone else did, also
looked quite pissed off.

"You were here to rescue us?" Buffy asked, dubiously.

Riley walked deeper into Giles's home, wiping blood at rain out of
his eyes. "Yeah... Um, could I get a towel?"

Giles disappeared in the other room. He didn't have a problem with
leaving Buffy alone with the young soldier. It did not appear he was
there to do harm and he was for the moment, outnumbered.

Buffy folded her arms. "And I should believe you because?" It was
then that the fact that he was bloodied and bruised registered. "Oh
my God, what happened to you?"

"Vampire."

Angel looked him over and sniffed once. "Spike."
 

"Who?" Riley asked.

"Blond hair, black coat, English," Xander filled in.

"That would be him," Riley said nodding and accepting the towel the
just returned Giles provided. "Roughed me up pretty good."

"He'll do that," Willow said, her voice small.

"Was that Mag-Walsh that I just saw running out of here?"

"The vampire version," Buffy said, sitting down.

"Damn it," Riley said. "Buffy... Willow... I'm sorry... I didn't mean
for anyone to..."

Willow sat up. "Well, anyone did. A lot. When she was human, she
almost killed me and she just tried to again, thanks to Spike. Would
you please tell us just what the hell is going on here?"

Riley sighed heavily and found a chair and started to sit down, but
got up and pulled something black out of his back pocket. "Damn it,"
he said, setting down a shattered cell phone.
 

***
I don't want to think about it
I don't want to think about it
I don't want to think about it
***

Forrest opened his eyes and blinked repeated, looking up at a white
ceiling.

He was alive.

He sighed heavily and tried pulling himself up. Every single part of
his body hurt. He was pretty sure he had bruised ribs, but thankfully
nothing was broken. As his eyes focused to the light, he saw that he
had gotten off lucky.

"Damn," he breathed.

The room was littered with corpses of dead commandos. It took a lot
of effort for him to suppress the urge to start gagging.

A movement behind him startled him quickly to his feet.

An older man held up a hand. "Settle down, son. I'm not going to hurt
you."

"Carter," Forrest breathed.

"We saw what happened on the security camera... I'm sorry we didn't
get here in time," Carter said, lowering his head.

"That thing..."

"Escaped. Right out the back door... God, we couldn't stop it... Just
tossed our boys aside and walked out."

"But what was it?" Forrest asked.

"I'm not sure... I think it was one of Walsh's projects."

Forrest looked around more, trying not to be sick. Instead, he found
himself being overwhelmed with a sense of dread. Just what had Walsh
been up to before she died... and what was she up to now?
 

***
You rendered me conscious
You cut my innocent face
I'm not really bitter
Then again I'm not amused
I just want to kick you till you cry
I loved I really loved you
***

Buffy had taken in all Riley said with a sense of wonder and a
growing sense of unease. A quick glance to the side showed that she
wasn't alone in that.

"So how long has the Initiative been here?" Willow asked.

"Since June... There had been a few operative roaming around here
before then, but after your high school was infested with a giant
snake and blew up, well, it got our full attention after that. You
guys had something to do with that, I'll bet."

"Oh yeah," Xander said, nodded. "Big snake, big fight, big boom."

"I take it the charges against Buffy have been dropped?" Giles asked,
trying to change the subject.

Riley nodded again. "The display we just saw a second ago completely
clears here. We do want to know what you were doing on our grounds."

"I was looking for Willow," Buffy said. "You lied to me, then. You
knew right where she was..."

Riley cut her off. "We would have given her right back once we knew
Willow was Willow."

Buffy clearly didn't like that answer, but she held her tongue. They
had other problems they had to deal with.

"We'll talk about this later," she said in a low voice. "Right now I
think we have bigger problems. All of us."

"Walsh knows every detail about the Initiative, and now that she's...
a vampire, there's going to be demonic retribution to say the least,"
Riley said. His voice choked on the word "vampire." He still couldn't
believe what had happened to Walsh.

"It can't be good if she's working with Spike," Willow threw
in. "Those two minds... Won't be pretty."

"That's encouraging," Riley said dryly.

"Now what?" Willow asked.

"We wait," Buffy said.

What else could they do?
 

***
I don't want to think about it
I don't want to think about it
I don't want to think about it
***

"Stupid little bitch!"

Maggie was thrown into the wall. Her game face came up and she pulled
herself up off the ground.

"What was I supposed to do, let them kill me?" she asked.

Spike paced back and forth a few times before speaking again. He was
furious.... Willow was supposed to be with him now. The bint couldn't
even abduct one little girl. True, the Slayer had been there, but it
was such a simple task.

"I should have bloody left you to die on the floor of that room," he
started.

"You didn't," Maggie countered.

"No kidding... I hate to admit it, but I do still need you... You're
my link to those little GI Jokes... Have to get rid of them quick...
Think you can handle THAT at least?"

Maggie walked closer. "I can do much more than that..."

"Really then, cause I have my doubts," he said holding onto her
throat.

It was then a strong arm grabbed onto his shoulder and threw him so
hard back that once he hit the wall, he saw stars.

"You will no speak to her that way again," a deep voice said.

"Adam," Maggie practically cooed.

"Mother."

Spike tried to pull himself up, but found the world quickly fading to
black.

***
Meet me in a doorway
I'll be wearing Middleton's lace
It's as sterile as chess
Nobody'd guess
You were touching me between the love of God and sister mercy
***
 

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