One
There was no aspirin.
Willow had looked. She had combed over the whole dorm room, looked under everything, in drawers and cabinets... everywhere. The fact the room had been half trashed by Buffy... well the semi cavewoman Buffy. Anyhow, she doubted they even had any left. There were only two alternatives. One, she could go knock on a dorm room and see if anyone else had any. Unfortunately, it was three A.M. and she ran the risk of waking people up, and Willow was not in the mood to do that. Her other choice was to go to a drug store, but she didn't want to do that either. To be honest, going anywhere was not a good idea. That would mean leaving Buffy alone and she couldn't do that while she was still in the state she was.
Speaking of Buffy, Willow apparently had woken her up in her rummaging.
"Friend," Buffy said, looking up through her still mussed hair.
Willow turned around. "Oh, Buffy, you're awake."
Buffy pulled herself off the bed and walked slowly to Willow. "Willow lay down. Willow hurt."
"I'm fine. Willow is okay," Willow said. She couldn't help but to suppress a giggle. This was so bizarre, it was like talking to a child.
A child who could bend a rifle in half.
"Willow hurt head. Willow lay down, go to sleep."
Buffy then took Willow by the hand and pulled her back to her bed. After she was confident Willow wouldn't go anywhere, she decided to sit on the corner and watch.
"Aren't you going to sleep? Remember... Buffy tired?" Willow asked.
The blond shook her head. "Not tired." She pointed at the TV. "People. Want people. Friend make people come back?"
Willow got back off the bed and walked to the TV turning it on. Buffy immediately hopped down and peered closer at the TV. "People!" she said happily.
That would keep her busy while she went back to sleep to make the headache go away. She also would rather be unconscious. All sorts of unhappy thoughts were running through her head. Mostly ones of Oz... and Veruca. While she was laying on the floor surrounded by cavemen in a burning building, Oz was off somewhere with...her.
Willow had been in deep thought when she took notice of Buffy looking
at her again.
"What's wrong, Buffy?" Willow asked.
"What's wrong?" Funny. It sounded like she was just mirroring her own speech, but beneath it, she could hear genuine concern. The real Buffy was coming back and could see something was bothering her.
"Veruca.. Oz... It's complicated. I don't know. You probably still can't understand me, but I'm scared. I think I might be losing him.. The way he's looking at her, it's the way he would look at me. Now, I just realized he hasn't looked at me like that since... since.." Her eyes blurred. It took her a few moments to grasp that tears had sprung up in her eyes.
Buffy's expression changed to one of sympathy. She got up off the floor and picked up her stick.
"Veruca bad."
"No," Willow said, remembering how she had struck Parker. "No hitting."
Buffy looked from Willow to the stick. "Veruca bad," she argued.
"She is, but no hitting." Willow paused. "Not yet at least."
Buffy didn't look happy, but she put her stick down. Willow couldn't help but to smile. It was nice to have a friend who was willing to do such things, at least in spirit.
"Okay," Buffy said. then she walked over to the bed and sat down next
to Willow and
hugged her tight. "Friend no be sad. Buffy no like it."
Willow smiled again, feeling more tears, but happy ones. "Willow no be sad."
"Good."
Buffy kept hugging her for a long time. Willow tried to move, but found the lock a little too tight.
"Buffy?"
She listened for a response, but only heard soft breathing. The Slayer had fallen asleep.
*****
Traffic sucked.
More than usual, especially for this time of night. Spike growled and laid his hand down on the horn hard.
"Bloody hell," he cursed.
What was the hold up? There was no reason the expressway should be this clogged at five in the morning. He was hoping he would be back in Sunnyhell by now. Then he could go some place a little more comfortable to wait until nightfall. Instead now he was going to be trapped inside the car.
He lit up another cigarette. That was the other reason he wanted to be back by now. He was down to his last pack. It would be very hard to get another batch in the day. Oh sure, he could do it, it would just be harder. That pissed him off. He wasn't feeling very patient as of late. Oh sure, he could bide his time just as well as the next bloke, but he had experienced a number of big disappointments in the past few days. His patience has worn thin.
However, the thought of her calmed him. The image of her red hair blowing in the night air sent a delightful shiver through him.
Spike sat back in his seat, feeling a little mellowed by the picture. Her hair was so soft, so fine. He still remembered the texture when he tucked it behind her ear back in the factory. He would be feeling it again soon. One time wasn't nearly enough.
He wondered what she was doing right now. Probably sleeping in her dorm room with the Slayer close by. She was probably tired from a day of college and an evening at some club. In all likelihood, she had spent the evening with the wolf.
A flash of anger shot through him and he felt his true face rise. He would have to be dealt with. Spike was not one who liked to share.
He drew in a sharp intake of air, even though he didn't need it. He would have to be careful. the Slayer and the wolf would stand in his way. The direct approach may not work. He was going to have to play this cool and slow.
Unless of course, he got bored, as he often did.
He smiled and allowed his human face to return. He turned up the radio and sat back, singing along.
"Someone tell me why, I act like a fool when things don't go my way...
When
you're around me, I'm somebody else..."
He smiled again.
Soon, Red.
Two
"My head, ow."
Willow's eyes fluttered open at the sound beside her. There was Buffy, half sitting up, rubbing her temples.
"Why do I learn everything the hard way? First Angel and premarital.. you know, and then he goes all evil. First time I get drunk..."
Willow sat up, too. "Well, at least you learned something."
"True, but does it have to suck so bad each time?" Buffy wondered aloud.
"It's not fair," Willow agreed.
Buffy got up, stretching her muscles. Then she looked over at the wall. "Oh God, did I do that? I'm so sorry, Wills."
"It wasn't your fault, Buffy. You were under influence.. extra bad influence."
"Yeah, I sure was. So what was in the beer that did this?" Buffy asked, gathering up some clothes for the day.
"Xander said that the guy he worked for had a curse put on the beer. Apparently the guy was real bitter about smart college kids."
Buffy pressed her lips together in a thin line. "Remind me to have a chat with the bar tender later."
"You're not going to hit him with a stick, are ya Buff?" Willow asked, grinning.
"No, but I may hit him with other... Stick? What do you mean st... oh my. God, I hit him twice. I smacked Parker with a stick twice!" Buffy said, feeling her face flush red.
Willow grinned some more. "Personally, I would have hit him three times."
"And kicked a few times where it hurt," Buffy added, feeling a fresh batch of the giggles come on.
"And let's not forget throwing spitballs at the back of his head, we
can still do that!"
Willow said, perhaps a little too eagerly.
Buffy stepped into the bathroom, still talking while she changed. "I think you have it in for him a little bit more than I did."
"Well, it's the best friend's job. Sacred duty, yadda yadda yadda."
"I appreciate it," Buffy said, coming out while brushing her hair.
"Well good," Willow said, putting her Pleased Face on. "That means I'm doing my job. Do I get a gold star?"
"How about I share my Fritos with you at lunch?"
Willow hopped up, already dressed. "That's good, too."
"Come on. Even if my head is screaming, we still got to go to class. I think the professor is out to get me."
Willow pulled the door shut behind them. "Oh she's out to get everyone. Besides, if we don't go, we won't get to throw spitballs at Parker!"
"Willow, let it go."
***
Three hours later found the Scooby gang and their Slayer sitting at the lunch table. Willow was happily munching away on the Fritos promised by Buffy. Every now and then, Xander reached across the table, pilfering one or two.
Willow slapped his hand lightly. "My Fritos. I earned them."
Oz sat back nodding. "She fought the battle. The Fritos are the spoils."
"I suppose you want one?" Willow asked.
Oz nodded. "Yep."
Willow happily picked one up and placed it on his tongue.
"Thank you."
Xander just stared. "Must you torture me through snack food, Willow? What did I do to deserve such punishment?"
"Xander, I thought chocolate was your drug of choice?" Buffy asked.
"It is, but... Fritos!"
"Here," Buffy said, casually tossing a Ho-Ho his way. Xander caught it with undisguised glee.
"Buffy, you are my god."
"Blasphemer," Oz said.
"So how are you feeling, Buff? Better today?" Xander asked, happily chewing his chocolate.
Buffy nodded. "I can form sentences and no longer have the urge for beer.. no matter how foamy. By the way, I plan to have a talk with your boss later."
Xander shook his head. "Not my boss anymore. Something about working for a guy cursing food products didn't sit well with me. Besides, my days of townie boy are soon to be over."
"How so?" Willow asked.
"I decided to apply here after all, and when I'm accepted for next semester, I'm going to take out a loan. I miss you guys and taking odd jobs is a pretty much a ticket for nowheresville."
"Good for you, Xander," Willow said, genuinely pleased.
"Yep, go you," Buffy agreed.
Just then Parker walked by. He looked at Buffy once, rubbed the back of his head once, then passed on.
"I think you put the fear of God into that boy," Xander said.
"Good," Willow said.
"I wonder if he knows he has spitballs on the back of his head. Know anything about that Willow?" Buffy asked, looking her right in the eye.
Willow only shrugged and ate another Frito.
*****
Spike was hungry.
He paced back and forth at the mouth of a tunnel, just a hair's space away from the light of day. He could almost taste the tang of blood on his tongue.
There was still quite aways to go until nightfall seeing as how it was only noon. He would have to wait.
Noon. Lunch time for humans. He imagined his Red was sitting at a table
with the
despicable Slayer at the two strange boys. She was probably enjoying
her meal.
Vaguely, he wondered what she would taste like when the time came.
He would find out soon enough.
Until then, he would have to wait.
So he paced more.
*****
"Are you sure this is the smartest thing to do, Buffy?" Willow asked,
following Buffy
through the maze of people leading to the bar.
"Yes, Willow. And for the last time, I'm not doing this cause I'm mad... Well, I am and that's helping, I think, but it has to be done. What he did hurt people, and he might be hurt more. I would be slacking off as the Slayer if I didn't do something."
Willow nodded. She was right.
"Are those guys okay?" Willow asked.
"Yeah," Buffy said, biting her lip. "Dazed for the most part. But one of them got hit by a car and is pretty bad shape." She paused. "You don't have to come with me. If he gets stubborn, well, things might get really ugly."
"I don't mind. I'm moral support."
"And I feel the support, but wouldn't you rather be with Oz right now, I mean... you know."
Willow felt her good mood falter. "He went to see Veruca's band again. I didn't want to go, I don't like her... and Oz knows it."
"Maybe there's something going on here we don't know about," Buffy offered.
"I hope to God not!" Willow said sharply.
"That's not what I meant. Maybe its something else... a wolf thing. Maybe he's in..."
"If he was, it would be with me," Willow said bitterly. "Well, it should be."
Buffy could tell her mission to make Willow feel better was failing
miserably. "Well,
maybe later we could look up wolf things. Maybe I'm right."
"Or maybe Oz is just being a stupid jerk," Willow said.
"Or that," Buffy said, glumly. The two walked into the bar. "You might want to wait here, Will. I am suddenly feeling not so.. logical. I'm thinking head banging into the counter as an approach."
"Gotcha," Willow said. "I'll wait here.
She watched as Buffy made a bee line for the counter. the smart thing
to do would be to wait until there was less people around or when he was
alone, but the Slayer
was very unhappy. You don't make the Slayer unhappy.
"Willow?"
Willow turned around to see Riley Finn looking at her.
"Oh, hi Riley. What's up?"
The T.A. smiled. "I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute, outside... about Buffy?"
"Sure." Willow allowed him to lead her outside. It probably would be better to get him outside. He would really wonder about Buffy's sanity if he saw her pummeling the bartender.
She leaned against the wall outside. "So," she asked. "What's up?"
"Buffy has been acting kind of funny. Is she alright?" Riley asked.
Willow thought quickly for a reply and came up with quite the honest one. "She's been under alot of pressure and had some people problems. She sorted them out last night so now she's cool."
"That's good. I was kind of concerned about her. She.. She strikes me as a nice girl."
Willow could already see where this was going, and she was very pleased with it. "She is. She cares alot about other people."
They were temporarily interrupted by the sound of breaking glass and the sound of Jack's begging.
"I heard she rescued people froma burning building last night. That was pretty incredible."
"Well, that's her thing. She was voted Class Protector in high school. No joke."
"Wow," Riley said. "So Willow, I was wondering if you could tell me..."
But Riley didn't get the chance to finish his sentence. A hand reached out and threw him against the wall. He tried to recover, but before he could even get back up on his feet, the figure came down on him again, this time picking him up by the neck and flinging him into some nearby bushes.
All it happened so fast. Willow could barely see what was happening.
Then it all stopped and a familiar bleached blond head turned her way.
"Hello cutie," Spike said.
********
Three
Willow backed up a few steps, but for each step in reverse, Spike matched.
"No hello for your old pal, Spike?" he asked with that familiar smirk on his face.
Slowly, Willow continued on her backwards journey until she hit a wall. Not good, she thought. Solid objects made escape very difficult, even if she didn have a chance. If Spike was amped about getting her into a corner, he would, not matter how fast she ran.
"Um, hello," she said nervously.
"There, that's better. I don't think that was too difficult, do you?" Spike said, still walking forward. He paused. "You cut your hair."
All Willow did was nod.
"It suits you, pet. Very becoming."
Willow glanced down. Riley was in a heap besides a trash can. He was
still breathing which was a very good thing, but she did not like the amount
of blood seeping out from
beneath his head.
Spike followed her gaze. With a small laugh, he gestured towards her
fallen comrade. "I
wouldn't worry about him. Just a nasty knock to the head. He'll be
alright come
morning... provided I'm still in a good mood."
"Oh," was all Willow managed to say. Silently, she cursed herself. Oh.
Was that the best
she could do? She was face to face with a vampire! Not just any vampire
either... One
who had nearly killed a number of them on numerous occasions and even
kidnapped her.
The whole "bottle in face" scenario still was in the recesses of her
mind.
"Why are you here?" she asked suddenly.
He grinned again.
"A very good question. And as luck would have it, I have a very good
answer. The reason
I am here is simply you."
"Me?" she squeaked.
He took another step forward. Now he was close enough to touch and then
some. If he
breathed, she would have felt his exhalations on her face.
She did feel the sigh he gave.
"Is it that hard for you to believe, luv?" he asked.
Willow looked to the side for help. Where was Buffy? Was she still in
the bar "dealing"
with that bartender?
She felt a cool hand touch her face and turn it in the opposite direction.
"I'm talking to you, ducks. Is it that hard to believe?" he asked again.
"What about Harmony?" Willow blurted. She cringed at the sharp laugh.
"Her? Please. I'll be honest... I have no idea what in the HELL I was
doing with that
thing. Maybe I was just jealous, seeing people having someone else....
knowing Dru was
off shagging a fungus demon somewhere... That and I got very drunk
one night near San Diego... It's actually a very funny story... But I digress.
the point is that she was nothing."
"I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out," Willow offered, looking for
an escape. "Now if
you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to be meeting Oz..."
He placed a hand on either side of her, effectively trapping her.
"Willow." He paused. Even her name sounded so smooth, almost like silk.
"Be honest
now. Did you really want to go to that gig at the Bronze and see him
drool over the harlot
on stage. That woman is a dog in heat.. and I mean that literally..."
He face fell, suddenly
becoming sympathetic. One hand cupped her face. "You can do better."
Willow was afraid. Through alot of mental effort, she managed to raise
her hand high
enough to pull his hand off her cheek.
"I don't want to do better."
He grinned. "You will. Did you know you have been in the corner of my
mind since I
came back here last year?"
Not good, Willow thought. This was not a good thing. Where the hell was Buffy?
In a quick breakdown of nerves, Willow moved forward.
She made it all of about three steps before two very strong hands took
her arms and
pulled her back.
She kicked as she was lifted slightly off her feet. "Let... go!" she cried.
"I don't think so, pet. You know, I actually put alot of thought into
this, but again, I got
bored. Even with immortality, I'm not good at waiting. We're leaving
now."
"No kiss goodbye?" came a third voice. Spike turned his head only to
have it knocked to
the side by a lead pipe. He let go of Willow who was flung against
the wall. He looked up
to see the Slayer standing over him, brandishing the blunt object.
"You just don't know how to stay gone, do you Spike?" Buffy said, shaking her head.
Spike let his game face slip on. "What can I say, I like the weather."
"And getting your ass kicked, apparently." Buffy brought the pipe down.
Quickly, Spike moved off to the side, narrowly missing getting his skull
smashed in. He
rolled up to his feet, already in a battle stance. He stepped forward,
kicking the weapon
out of the Slayer's hand.
Of course, that wouldn't stop Buffy. in a instant, her fist was meeting
his face. He
returned it by grabbing onto her arm and smashing her into the wall.
"Do you mind?" Spike said, growling and pushing her hard against the
bricks. "I was
trying to have a conversation. I don't like interruptions."
Just then, Spike was interrupted by a trash can lid being brought down
on his head.
Behind it stood Riley, still slightly bleeding from the head. Buffy
came up beside him
with Willow slowly creeping with her.
Spike was still down on the ground. He shook his head once, shedding
his vampiric
features. He looked up to Buffy. "This isn't over, Slayer," he spat.
He sent a look to Willow with what could only be described as...
...longing.
Then as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished back into the night.
Buffy let out a choked sigh of relief. that had been awful fast... too fast. Something was off.
No time to worry about that. She looked at Willow.
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked.
"I'm fine," Willow said. "Riley..."
Buffy looked over to Riley who was still holding the lid in his hand,
but was close to
dropping it. He rubbed the back of his head.
"Damn," Riley breathed. "That hurt." Then he looked at Buffy. "Are you
okay? I opened
my eyes and you were getting thrown into a wall..."
Buffy smiled. "I'm okay. Willow's okay, but you.. you, Mr. T.A. need
to get yourself to a
doctor. You've had a nasty knock to the head."
Riley shook his head, still hurting. "What was wrong with that guy's face?"
"Nothing," Buffy said a little too quickly. She glared at Willow.
"What? He looked fine to me.. except for the being evil and hurting
us part. Yup, he was
completely normal.," Willow said very quickly.
"Come on," Buffy said, putting herslef underneath Riley's arm. For a
moment, she was
surprised by how right it felt. "We need to get you to a doctor fast.
You're seeing things now."
"You might be right," Riley agreed. He bit back the words "cause I see
an angel." It
sounded so cheesy.
Willow didn't miss the look he gave Buffy and she would be smacking
the Slayer on the
head if she missed it.
The three slowly walked back into the safety of the stream of people.
Unfortunately, they had eyes on them.
Four
Willow calmly sat on the sofa inside Giles’ house. Well, she was sitting calmly, but mentally she was anything but. Repeatedly, she folded her hands on her lap while Buffy paced back and forth.
"What the hell is he doing back here?" Buffy asked aloud. "Isn’t he tired of me smacking him around yet?"
"Apparently not," Oz said, sitting next to Willow. He smiled once at his girlfriend, trying to calm her down. It worked a little bit. She did smile, but it was a nervous one.
"Let’s get back to the matter at hand," Giles said, once again playing
the part of the
grounded one. "What exactly happened?"
Again Willow refolded her hands. "He came out of nowhere. I was talking to Riley when he showed up and tossed him against the wall. And then.. he said.. said he was back for me."
"For you?" Buffy said, raising a concerned eyebrow. "Why?"
"He said he couldn’t stop thinking about me," Willow said, biting her lip.
Buffy folded her arms, a worried look painted on her tanned features.
Okay, what was
Spike up to this time? Was there some other relic buried under Sunnydale
that he knew about and they didn’t. Did he want a spell.
Or worse, did he want pure and simple revenge? After all, what better way then to start messing with her friends?
"Well," Buffy said. "He better stop and fast. Otherwise he is going
to be carried out of
Sunnydale in a dustpan."
Willow felt a pressure on her hand. She turned to see Oz squeezing her
hand. The look on his face was one of comfort, but beneath she could see
the wolf. It knew its
mate was being threatened and was not very pleased about it.
"So what’s the plan?" Oz asked. "There is a plan, right?"
"Plan," Buffy said. it was all happening so fast. She really hadn’t had time to think yet. "The plan is I’m going out now. I’m going to comb the town, check out the usual haunts.. see if I can’t dig up anything. Maybe I’ll pop into Willie’s. It’s a possibility that he might know something."
"He might be tight lipped. This is Spike we are talking about," Giles added.
"I’ll convince him," Buffy said, determined.
"Can I go now?" Willow asked. She was tired now. All the action had
left her close to
exhaustion.
"No, you’re staying here. You’re not safe at the dorm," Buffy said.
"But," Willow started.
"Remember Sunday? Apparently dorms are public places meaning he doesn’t need an invitation."
"Oh," was all Willow managed.
"I’ll stay here," Oz said.
Willow smiled at him. "Thanks."
He smiled at her. "I wouldn’t leave you for anything in the world. Especially not now."
For the first time all that week, Willow felt a little bit better. In
a weird way, she felt
grateful to Spike for showing up. At least it distracted Oz from Veruca.
"The couch pulls out and the fridge is full if either of you are hungry," Giles said, turning to his books while Buffy vanished out the door.
***
Spike sat in the back seat of his car, his feet propped up against the front seats. He had the radio on and was calmly puffing away on one of his mentholated smokes.
He grinned.
He touched her and he talked to her. Yes, she had been terrified for the most part, but he had seen her again. Actually, the fear had mesmerized him for a brief period. Brief enough for him to get slapped around by the slayer and the boy.
He felt the demon growl inside. No matter. He would come calling on those two soon enough. He was thirsty for the blood of a slayer again and he would get it. Right now though, he had priorities. One, find the witch. Two, deal with her.
He smiled again, sinking lower in his seat.
He wondered what she was doing right now. He imagined she was not in her dorm room, probably seeking refuge inside the home of the former watcher, or even the Slayer’s home.
Smart girl if she was. It’s what he would do if he was in her place.
With his foot, he turned up the music.
*Oh I am what I am
I’ll do what I want
But I can’t hide
I won’t leave
I can’t hide
I can’t breathe
Until you’re resting here with me
I won’t leave
I can’t hide
I cannot be
Until you’re resting her with me*
He rested his head against the side of the window. This song was fitting, he thought. It applied to them both. Soon he would rest.
With a redhead beside him.
***
Forest was getting pissed, but only slightly.
"Damn it," he said.
All he wanted was a Coke. Just a simple, cold, Coke can, but the vending machine once again had eaten his 75 cents and he was not in the mood to run and get the key or try and find more change.
"Hey," a voice said behind him. Forest turned to see Riley jogging up.
Forest turned around, a lopsided grin on his face. "Hey man. Would you
believe the
machine ate my money again?" He quieted when he saw the look on the
other man’s face. "Something wrong?"
Riley stopped in front of him.
"We have problems."
Five
***
with one light on in one room, i know you’re up when i get home
with one small step upon the stair, i know your look when i get there
if you were a king up there on your throne, would you be wise enough
to let
me go
for this queen you think you own
wants to be a hunter again, wants to see the world alone again
to take a chance on life again, so let me go
***
Spike paced back and forth underneath the overpass, safe from the rays of the sun. He wasn’t very far from the witch, just a few miles. That fact alone was driving him to madness. He was so very close to her! If he squinted, he could see the home of the Watcher, no scratch that, former watcher. Well, he may no longer be employed by the stuffed shirts back in England, but he still did the functions of his old job.
That included protecting the kin of the Slayer.
Oh, what he wouldn’t give to be able to go back in time and keep that ring! No, wait, if he had the ability to go back in time, he would have taken Willow when he had the chance.
He reached out his hand to the light. His fingertips were just mere centimeters from flaming death.
Angrily, he yanked back his hand. It was infuriating how close he was.
Really, it didn’t matter all that much. It was only a few hours before sunset. Then he could move forward.
He smiled in anticipation. As much as he was anxious to get to her, he did love a good chase.
Such was the life of a hunter.
***
Willow rested her head against the side of the window. The cool glass was like heaven on her fevered forehead.
The sun had set some time ago. Buffy had gone out to patrol, hoping to find Spike as quickly as possible. Xander and Anya had gone... doing something. Willow could imagine just what.
She looked over at Oz, who was resting his head, lazily on her knee in half slumber. He had stayed awake for nearly a day now. He refused to let down his guard for a second. The last thing she had seen when she had closed her eyes was his face. The first thing she had seen when she awoke were his eyes. It was so sweet how concerned he was and how hard he worked to protect her.
The question was, would it be enough. Willow hoped so.
Maybe it wasn’t even necessary. Maybe Buffy had staked him already.
She laughed bitterly. Not likely.
Oz shifted. He blinked a few times, then sat up.
"Good evening," Willow said, smiling.
"Did I fall asleep?" Oz asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Yes."
"Sorry, didn’t mean to," he mumbled.
"Don’t be. You need to get some sleep," Willow chided gently.
Oz shook his head. "I’m not tired."
"Liar." She kissed him lightly on the lips. When their lips parted, Oz had that semi-dopey grin on his face.
"You know, this isn’t all that bad. At least this way we get to spend more time together," Willow said, once more finding the bright side to things.
"This is true," Oz said. He then went back to laying down on her lap.
"When Giles gets back," Willow said, tousling his hair. "You are going to get some sleep."
"But," Oz protested.
"Resolved face."
The argument stopped.
***
Giles had been driving around what felt like bloody hours... Wait, it had been bloody hours. No sign of the vampire. He wasn’t at any of his usual haunts, as Buffy had some vehemently insisted. As it turned out, she was right. He should have known better. Why would Spike hide where they knew exactly where he was?
Willie hadn’t been much help. Not even after a little bit of "Ripper" came out. It became very clear after some... convincing that the man didn’t know anything.
No one else knew anything. Spike certainly was covering his tracks well.
The Englishman stepped out of his car, cursing under his breath all the while, too angry to hear his own thoughts.
Certainly too angry to hear the crunch of steps behind him.
***
Willow didn’t know Oz snored.
Well, now she knew. Strange, she had slept in the same room with him before, and this was the first time she had heard it.
Maybe it was because it was so close to the full moon. Maybe Oz didn’t snore, but the wolf did.
Willow shrugged. Didn’t matter. In all honesty, the sound was a little comfort.
There was a knock at the door.
A sudden shiver went through her. Something wasn’t right.
"Oz," she said, shaking him gently. "Wake up."
It took him a few seconds, but in a moment, Oz was on his feet, shaking the sleep out of his head. "What’s up?"
"Someone’s knocking on the door. It can’t be Giles. The door isn’t locked and why would he knock on his own door?" Willow said, nervously.
"Buffy?"
Willow shook her head, no. "She would just walk in. Same for Xander."
Oz set his lip at a grim line. He picked up one of Giles’ tall lamps
and walked to the door, gesturing for Willow to stay back. Of course, with
her Resolved Face, she
would have none of it.
He placed his hand on the knob and looked back once at Willow. Then
he swung
the door open, brandishing the lamp.
Willow gasped.
Spike, full game face on, stood at the threshold. He had Giles properly subdued, holding his head so his neck was exposed.
He grinned.
"Hello, pet. I would say it’s about time to negotiate, wouldn’t you
agree?
Six
Willow froze and took a step back as Oz went from making a move to rush
forward, and
then stopping himself. All the while, Giles struggled violently to
no avail. It looked so
strange. Giles was a big man and was quite strong when he had to be,
but not now.
Compared to Spike’s grip, he looked weak. Vulnerable. Doomed.
"You know why I am here," Spike said. "So let’s talk, shall we?"
"There’s nothing to discuss. Let him go," Oz said.
Spike glared at him once. He resisted the pull of jealously he felt
towards the werewolf.
After all, he had the witch, he didn’t. Her affections belonged to
the man in front of him. It was hard not to throw Giles away and reach
into the threshold to tear his throat out. Of course, if he did that, he
would have nothing to bargain with and most likely would end up with a
stake through his heart.
"I wasn’t speaking to you," Spike said, half rolling his eyes. "I was
speaking to Willow."
He turned his gaze to her. "I’ll let him go if you step outside."
"I don’t believe you," Willow said, finding her voice.
Spike allowed himself a grin. "Well, that is to be expected, but think about it for a moment. How well could I handle three... Alright, I could handle three, but not very well. Things could get complicated so I would like to leave as quickly as my legs can carry us."
"She’s not stepping out for you to kill her," Oz said angrily. He drew
dangerously close to
the border of safety.
"Oh, yes she will, mate. Here’s a little bit more food for thought.
It would be much safer
for the rest of you if she comes out now. Willow, if you don’t come
out, I will kill him.
Snap his neck like that. True, you’ll be safe, but for how long. I’ll
just go find another
friend to kill. Or maybe a family member. Sheila perhaps... or Ira,
I haven’t quite decided
yet," Spike mused. "Yes, that sounds like it will work quite well.
So come out now and
fewer people die."
"No," Giles gurgled.
"Not talking to you either," Spike said, tightening his grip on Giles
so a small cry escaped
the human’s mouth. He grinned and turned his gaze back to Willow. She
was cute when
she was in shock. Her nicely shaped mouth open, her face a little paler...
brought out her
eyes nicely. No, don’t think of that. Have to keep the focus.
"So what will it be, pet. I kill him, or you step on out?"
"How about I just kick your ass some more?" Then there was a sudden
blow to the back
of his head, startling him just enough to release Giles. The older
man stumbled into the
house, rubbing his sore neck.
They all looked up to see a small fist fly into Spike’s face.
Buffy Summers had arrived.
***
"Tracking anything?" Riley said, rubbing his temples. He had developed
somewhat of a
headache.
"Nothing," Graham said. "Not even civilians."
"Guess everyone decided to call it an early night. Either that, or they’re
all watching the
release of Star Wars," Forest said, looking around.
"I’m thinking about calling it a night. I don’t think we’re going to
find anything, just a
feeling."
Forest checked his weapon. "We don’t have to call it a complete night.
I hear K’s Choice
is playing at the Bronze again."
"You can go if you want, I’m going to hit paperwork. Maybe then when
I actually do get
a free night, I can actually do something with it."
Forest laughed. "I doubt it. You’d probably use it to, I don’t know, study?"
"Something you might want to try."
"Bite me, sir."
"If I could interrupt," Graham said. "I think we have something..."
***
Spike was thrown into the threshold, but bounced off the invisible barrier
down onto the
ground. He moved quickly to the side, narrowly missing the Slayer’s
fist.
"Spike, give it up. We know how this is going to play out. You hit me,
I hit you..." She
blocked a kick. "You get your ass kicked and leave with your tail between
your legs. Evil
plot defeated. So why don’t you just leave and come up with a new one
so we can foil it
again, already?"
"Sorry, luv. Not giving up this one." He managed to grab a hank of her
hair and pulled her viciously down to the ground. Before she could move,
he placed a boot on her throat
hard. He smiled at the sound of her gasps.
He frowned though, when he felt a pair of hands, shove him off. Giles
had returned with a
second wind. His fist came flying, but Spike caught it and threw the
man back indoors.
Unfortunately, Willow had been standing there, not knowing whether to
go deeper inside
or stay and watch to look for a helpful window. She barely saw Giles’
form fly towards
her. She quickly stepped out of the way to avoid being knocked over.
The thing was,
however, was that she stepped outside while Buffy was still on the
ground.
Spike took a few steps forward and grasped a handful of Willow’s hair.
He pulled her
into his arms.
"No!" Willow cried, scratching at is arms in a vain attempt to break
free. Her struggle
only made him smile.
He looked down to Buffy as she began to get up.
"Sorry, Slayer," he said. Then he causally threw Willow over his shoulder
and bounded
out into the shadows.
"Willow," Oz said, running out. He stopped at the edge of the front
porch, looking out
into nothingness, joined quickly by a shocked Buffy.
***
She was dizzy. Her head hand been hanging upside down for too long.
By now her face
had to be bright red.
Willow had no idea where she was. Only that it was a wooded area. Twigs
scratched her
face as Spike ran, still carrying her.
*Where is he taking me?* she wondered. She got her answer when she felt
herself slide
forward off his shoulder and slammed against a tree.
Spike pushed her into it harder with his bodyweight. He smiled.
"Now, luv, this won’t hurt," he said, bringing up his game face once more. "Much."
He leaned forwards, sinking his deep into a vein. He felt her body tense in pain, unconsciously gripping his body. His eyes rolled slightly. God, this was heaven. Spike pulled her closer as he drank.
His victory was interrupted by a sharp blow to the back. No longer did
he see Willow’s
struggling form or her red hair.
Only blackness.
Seven
She could have been flying.
Buffy Summers had never run faster in her entire life. She wasn’t aware of the ground beneath her or the trees around her. Even Oz, who was trying desperately to match her speed, but failing, did not cross into her mind. There was only the chase... or at least she hoped it was one. She had no idea if she was getting close or if there was anything at all. There was only the hope that this had been the direction that Spike had run.
Eventually she did stop. Mostly it was to look around and get some bearings
on the
situation. It was also partially to give Oz a chance to catch his breath.
She turned her head to the left, looking off into the shadows. The woods had become a maze. Too many turns and not enough clarity. She was positive she had hit a dead end, but there was always room for doubt. What if she left and had been close? It could kill Willow.
That is, if she wasn’t dead already.
Buffy felt fresh panic rise.
"She’s not here," Oz said. His voice was unnervingly calm.
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked.
"I can smell her, but it’s not strong. It’s faint. She was here, but not... not anymore."
Buffy let it take a few moments to register. He could smell her....
Oh yeah, the werewolf
thing. She almost forgot how the last year he was able to track her
that way.
"Anything?" Buffy asked, knowing very well that the panic was now in her voice.
Oz turned around, head up and alert.
"This way," he said.
They resumed their pursuit.
***
"Oh bloody hell..."
Spike rolled off his back and onto his side. Damn, how it hurt. Applying
any kind of pressure to the small of his back made his head swim. Couldn’t
have that. He got the
feeling he needed each and ever one of his senses intact.
He became aware of some very bright lights. He squinted against the brilliance.
"What the hell..." He trailed off.
Apparently he had been knocked out and was taken into the X-Files. Any
moment now he
expected Mulder and Scully to walk by... or more likely the man who
smoked all the
time. He couldn’t recall if the man had a name or not.
All around him he could see brethren and other such creepy crawlies.
Down the hall some
he could see another bloke who owed him money. Well, now he knew why
he hadn’t
been paid back.
Very few things surprised Spike. In all his unlife, Spike’s jaw had
never really dropped in
shock. He had seen a number of oddities... been friends or associated
with them in some
way most of the time. Hell, he had made it through the sixties without
a raised eyebrow,
but today was different.
The humans walking by in the white coats were a surprise.
With the surprise came the anger. Anger at them and anger at himself for allowing himself to be taken down by them. Well, this would have to be remedied. Quickly, too. He somehow doubted he was down there for a photo shoot.
Looking behind him, he noted his cell was empty. No redhead.
He felt a small shudder of fear.
What had they done with his Willow?
***
Professor Walsh stood with her arms folded before her. She was pleased that another hostile had been brought in. A successful takedown always did fill her with a sense of relief, but this time was different. A very unexpected situation had occurred.
She looked at it through the glass lying in a bed.
They had always talked about what would happen if they happened upon
a hostile with a
victim, trained for it even, but until now it had never actually happened.
To complicate
things further, she was looking at the unconscious form of one of her
own students. One
of her better ones at that. Her presence was going to be missed.
She sighed.
Riley Finn came up behind her. The look on his face was not a happy one.
"This has never happened before," Riley said, flatly.
"I know," Walsh said. "You’ve been trained, but..."
"That’s not what I meant," he said, setting down some of his gear. "I
know her. She’s a
friend."
Walsh said nothing. She tried to keep her emotions at bay. She had a
job to do and so did
Riley. They couldn’t let things like this get in the way.
"How is she?" Riley asked.
"Stable," Walsh answered. "She lost alot of blood, but that goes without
saying. She
hasn’t regained consciousness yet."
Riley kept his face devoid of everything he felt. "Has she..."
"No. She’s still alive. Changes come post-mortem." She paused. If these two had a friendship, it would be best to keep him out of the rest. He was the best of what she had and she couldn’t risk that changing. "You should go now. I’ll expect the report in writing, but you should rest first. Clear your head."
"Yes, ma’am," Riley said. He turned and departed, but not before looking back a few times.
Walsh resumed looking at the girl and mentally debated. She had been
found in the throes
of dying. If she had drunk any of the hostile’s blood remained unknown.
As of yet, they
hadn’t been able to document the change. All hostiles had been caught
be surprise or
running, not with someone. They had never found a transformation in
progess. Did they
have one now?
There was only one way to find out.
***
Oz stopped in his tracks. He could smell her.
What bothered him though, was how faint it was. It didn’t smell...how
could he put this..
It didn’t smell like her. It smelt like something she had been left
behind.
With Buffy at his back, Oz walked about, ingoring the other smells of the woods.
He crept close to a tree, feeling nausea rise in his stomach. He touched
the bark and then
turned to Buffy.
"I smell blood," he said simply.
Eight
***
I'll tell you something
I am a wolf but
I like to wear sheep's clothing
***
Oz just stood there staring at the tree.
He had no idea how long he had been standing there. He just stared. He smelled Willow there. He smelled blood, hers. His stomach fell. God, if anything happened to her...
The animal inside him rattled. It wanted to tear out and scour the landscape. It wanted to hunt down Spike and rip him to pieces. With the way he felt at that moment, he wouldn’t need a full moon. He just needed a time and a place. Given the look on his face, no one would be able to tell what was going on inside. His exterior was a calm one. Typical Oz.
Behind him, Buffy shifted her stance.
"Blood?"
He heard the panic in her voice. He felt it, too.
"Yeah," was all Oz could manage.
"Anything else?"
He closed his eyes and inhaled. Then, there on the wind, he caught whiff of something.
Oz moved. "This way. Whatever happened, she was taken this way."
***
I am a bonfire
I am a vampire
I'm waiting for my moment
***
He paced.
What else was there to do? Well, there was plotting his escape, but other than that, it was all there was.
Spike occasionally would stand and just glare at his captors. For the most part, they ignored his looks. They would stand before him, jot down something, and then walk away. Others though were visibly frightened and quite glad for the glass that separated them. It gave Spike some measure of comfort that they knew if given the chance, he would tear out their spleens with a smile on his face. He would... it was just a matter of time.
Time. How much of that had gone by? It couldn’t be more than a few hours, could it? He couldn’t be sure. He had no way of knowing how long he had been out. For all he knew, it could be some time next week.
He wanted to put his hands up on the glass, but he couldn’t. The nasty shock he received the last time taught him better. He wasn’t in the mood to smell like charred meat again. God knew how long it would take to get that scent out of his coat.
Again, he squinted. There was too much white in this place. He felt as if he was going to go snow blind if he looked out much more.
Apparently some of his comrades shared the sentiment. He noticed a few demons, ones that he knew that by nature despised any types of light looked about ready to scratch their many eyes out.
He took note of a vampire he knew in a cell across from him. Julio, he thought his name right. The creature was sitting on the floor, holding his head as if he was in some sort of pain.. no, that wasn’t it. He looked about ready to pass out.
And then he did.
Almost immediately after, the white coats came. They opened up his door and slid him onto a gurney and rolled him away.
"What’s wrong with him?" Spike wondered aloud.
"They’ve drugged him," a voice said from the next cell.
Even though Spike couldn’t see who was beside him, he knew immediately it was a chaos demon. His lip curled. Disgusting creatures they were. What ever Dru saw in one of them was beyond...
"That’s how they get us, you know. They drug our food, your blood. Then they wait. Then they take you away."
Spike pressed his lips together. Then he smiled.
He knew what to do.
***
You come on like a drug
I just can't get enough
I'm like an addict coming at you for a little more
And there's so much at stake
I can't afford to waste
I never needed anybody like this before
***
Walsh sat in her office, looking over the papers before her. On one side there were the tests that Riley had graded earlier for her, all stacked in a neat pile. Her students for the most part had done quite well. She was surprised. Given the dull looks on their faces the last few classes, she didn’t think anyone was paying attention. She was wrong.
One of them stood out in her eyes. Willow Rosenburg.
She sighed. This was going to be difficult, but there was a mission here. She had to remember that.
She got up from her desk and moved down the hall. She paused at the mirror and allowed the retinal scan and once the door opened she spoke. Authorization granted.
Calmly, she moved down the hall, her lab coat slipping on as she walked. A tech handed her a clipboard. As she moved, she felt the eyes of a hostile boring into her, but she just looked at the blond haired creature impassively. Just another experiment. He was nothing to fear.
Onward she moved to the quarantine area. There were about seventeen unconscious people in there. One was being moved out, having passed through three days with no change. He would be moved to a local hospital. The proper paperwork had already been filled out. They were careful not to make mistakes here.
She approached Rosenburg’s room with the tech still at her side. He handed her a syringe.
Walsh stood over the young girl for a few moments with no expression on her face. With one hand, she brushed a lock of hair out of the girl’s face. With the other, she injected the needle into the girl’s wrist.
Sometimes people died. No changing that.
***
I'll tell you something
I am a demon
Some say my biggest weakness
I have my reasons
Call it my defense
Be careful what you're wishing
***
He had been quite careful.
He tried not to move. It was hard, given how uncomfortable he felt. He had taken the packet of blood and disguised his movements to empty the contents into his clothing. He back was soaked in drugged blood. As much as the scent made his senses reeled, he knew a taste was out of the question. Spike couldn’t let himself be subjected to whatever the hell these people were doing here.
He planned to find out what that was, but not now. First escape.
Escape. Find Willow... Revenge would come last. Hell, then he would have the brilliant red haired siren with him. With her at his side, these people stood no chance whatsoever.
He restrained the smile then faked a collapse.
Almost on cue, the gurney boys came a running. The door opened and they reached to pick him up.
Spike didn’t even give them a chance to exhale.
His hand came up. One went down with a snapped neck. The other was impaled with a leg from the gurney. Given the fact it had a wheel on it still did not make a pretty picture.
Well, if you were a vampire, it was a masterpiece.
All around him came cries for help. He ignored them. He had a goal. Yes, he would come for them later, but first came himself and Willow. They could wait.
Once man still stood. Spike reached for him and twisted him around, holding his neck at and angle that made for either a clean break or a good snack. The man cried out.
"Where is she?" Spike growled, morphing into his game face.
"W-w-w-ho?" The man stammered.
"The bloody redhead. Where is she? If you want to live, mate, tell me. Tricks mean I take you apart." He yanked on the man’s neck for good measure. "Once piece at a time."
"She’s in.. She’s in the quarantine."
"Thank you," Spike said. Then he snapped the man’s neck. He was never famous for his promises.
He tore off down the hall among the cries and blaring alarms.
*Coming Princess.*
***
You are a secret
I need possession
I like to keep you guessing
***
Oz kept running.
Then he stopped suddenly.
"I smell her," he said.
Buffy looked around, very confused. "Oz, we’re on campus. I really doubt Spike dragged her into a crowd of people to.." She stopped for both their stakes. She knew damned well what Spike was doing to her, she just... She couldn’t think of that now. She had to stay focused.
Her focus at the moment was on two things. One, find Willow and fast. The other led to the first and that was to follow Oz. At the moment, he was her only lead.
He stalked through the crowd of people, completely within his scent of smell. It was his guide to Willow. Ohh, the scent was strong now. He could smell her... She was just...
Then he stopped. He stared, confused. No, this couldn’t be right...
Buddy stopped at stared, first at Oz in confusion, then at the group of people about twenty feet away.
"Riley?"
Nine
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked Oz.
Oz’s brow creased in frustration. He didn’t understand what was going on at all. One moment he felt so sure, he was on the path. Then suddenly, just as soon as he had it, it was gone. The trail had led him here, to this crowd of people. It made absolutely no sense. The thing about it was that he could still smell her, but there was absolutely no trace of her.
As the people moved about him, he closed his eyes and just inhaled.
Oh yes, the scent of Willow was about. Almost in concentrate form, but
it wasn’t her. She wasn’t anywhere around here. Come to think of it, now
that he was taking the time to concentrate, she had never been here in
the physical sense. It was almost as if a part of her
had been left behind.
"Blood," Oz said.
"What?" Buffy asked, confused. She had been looking around for some sign, for anything that would lead her back to her best friend, Spike, and Mr. Pointy.
"I could smell her blood. She wasn’t here. She didn’t even pass through here, but her.. her blood did. She might have bled on something and now it’s here."
Buffy folded her arms and looked down on the ground.
"We have to figure out what that is. It could be the only thing we have to lead us to her." She narrowed her eyes.
For some reason, it was bothering her alot that the trail ended with Riley.
***
Spike moved down the halls as fast as his feet would carry him.
Willow. He had to find Willow.
In the past ten minutes it had become nothing short of his mantra. He had to find Willow and get the two of them out of there. They had to leave and hide. Oh no, he wasn’t hiding out of fear. He would hide because he needed to protect Willow after he changed her. She would be vulnerable at first and he could not risk these bastards catching her, staking her or doing God knows what else.
He needed the time to figure out who these people were so he could find the best way to gut them.
Gripping the gun he had lifted from the man who’s internal organs he had exposed to oxygen, he moved. No longer was he surrounded by demons, but by walls. Ones splattered with blood now after a few fatigue clad men with weapons had come down after him. Bloody bastards... He would have liked to lift their skulls off their necks, but he didn’t have the time.
He flew through yet another door. There. Now he was getting somewhere. He smelled humans all around him.
Another guard came at him. Spike’s arms came up and flung his attacker into a wall, leaving a very ugly smear on the wall.
He snarled, his game face springing back into place. He inhaled deeply. His kind was around here as well, but the early stages. These place reeked on death, life, and something cold. He didn’t like it here. Oh sure, the death part was just ducky, but the rest... no.
He peeked into different rooms. No... no... no....
There!
His princess lay back on a very hard looking bed, her hair laid out flat against the pillow. She didn’t look at all peaceful, she looked pained in her sleep.
There was a woman hunched over her. He smelt chemicals... they were hurting her...
A low growl escaped his lips.
***
"Buffy."
Buffy walked up to Riley, twisting her hands together in her hands. Oz just walked behind her, his hands in his pockets.
"Hey Riley."
Riley smiled. "I was looking for you early, but Sonya said you bailed and..."
Buffy looked away nervously, then back to him. "Have you seen Willow at all today? She was supposed to meet me somewhere, but she never showed. That’s not like her."
Riley looked at the ground.
"No, I haven’t seen her. Something up?"
Buffy smiled. "No, nothing. I am just a little worried is all."
"Want me to help you look for her?"
"Yeah. I already checked the dorm. I’m going to hit the Grotto," Buffy said.
Riley nodded. "I’ll try the Bronze." The T.A. took off as fast as lightening. Buffy and Oz went off in a separate direction just as fast, but they stopped behind a wall.
"He was lying," Oz said.
"How so," Buffy said, following Riley with her eyes.
"Because," Oz said. "I smelled her on him."
***
Spike roared as he burst into the room, snapping the neck of the tech who was standing besides the woman with the needle. The woman screamed and fled into an adjoining room.
He didn’t bother to follow her. Instead, he took two steps in and scooped up Willow, then broke out into a run.
He was perfectly aware of the commandos following him. He felt the burn of a bullet in his back, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He had a mission.
Quickly, he moved up a flight of stairs and through a doorway as another tech was opening it. The shocked woman just looked on as the vampire burst past carrying a young woman. He also paled because he had unwittingly let the creature out.
The surroundings had changed drastically. This was the school building now... Bloody hell, what were they TEACHING here?
The footsteps behind him drew closer.
Spike let Willow slip to the side just a bit so he could pick up a chair. He promptly flung it through the window of the third story.
Then, with Willow back in his arms again, he followed the glittering
shards back out into the night air.
Ten
***
You wanna make me sick
You wanna lick my wounds
Don’t you baby?
You want the badge of honor when you save my hide
But you’re the one in the way
Of the day of doom, baby
***
He jumped over a fence.
It wasn’t a particularly high fence. He’d jumped higher ones, but when Spike landed on the ground, he felt a dull ache in his legs. He wasn’t sure if it was from the weight of Willow in his arms or whatever unknown injuries he acquired from the commandos. Maybe it was both. No matter. He was on the run now and there was a good distance between him and them. In fact, he couldn’t smell humans anywhere near him.
He had made it. Wonderful.
He slid Willow off his arms and kneeled on the ground with her.
Her eyes were still closed. There was a definite look of pain on her face. Instantly, Spike felt his blood boil. How dare they do this to his princess. The moment they were both at full power he would come back and then...
In anticipation, he smiled at the blood soaked nights that lay before them. Already he could hear the screams.
He brushed the hair from her face. Gently, he shook her, trying to wake her.
Slowly, Willow’s eyes opened.
Spike grinned. Good, she was at least semi aware. A human asleep couldn’t very well be turned.
His game face rose into place.
***
If you need my shame to reclaim your pride
And when I think of it, my fingers turn to fists
I never did anything to you, man
But no matter what I try
You’ll beat me with your bitter lies
So call me crazy, hold me down
Make me cry; get off now baby-
It won’t be long till you’ll be
Lying limp in your own hand
***
Buffy and Oz had been following Riley for what had to be at least an hour. Buffy couldn’t be entirely sure. From the moment Willow had disappeared, time had lost all meaning. Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like seconds. Time dragged and then suddenly sped up. The universe wouldn’t be right again until she knew her best friend was okay.
"I think he was telling the truth," Oz said. "He is looking for her."
It looked to be true. He had gone to the Bronze and asked around. He
also had combed some popular places and not so popular places. Riley was
making an effort, but something about it felt off to her, even if the looks
were right. Very early on after she had been Chosen, Buffy had learned
to listen to her instincts. Very few times had she been led astray. Right
now, she
felt that something was wrong.
"I don’t know, Oz," Buffy said. "After you said you could smell her on him... I don’t know. I just have this funny feeling. I think we should keep..."
She stopped speaking when someone came up behind Riley. A dark complexed man with a white sweater on. He looked familiar. Once when she had been looking to ask Riley about her paper she had found him talking to this guy... Forest? She was pretty sure that was his name.
For some reason, Forest’s body language looked nervous. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she got the distinct impression that is was something not of the good. Now given the new expression on Riley’s face, it was confirmed.
The two took off.
"Do we follow?" Oz asked.
"We follow," Buffy said, setting her lips to a grim line.
The bad feeling was deepening.
***
You feed the beast I have within me
You wave the red flag, baby you make it run run run
Standing on the sidelines, waving and grinning
You fondle my trigger, then you blame my gun
And when I think of it, my fingers turn to fists
I never did anything to you, man
***
Spike pulled off Willow, holding his mouth.
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Her blood... It didn’t taste right. It reeked of something foul. After only a small mouthful, something within it made his head swim in a most awful manner. Bloody hell...
He suddenly remembered how he had found Willow. Some woman had been standing over Willow with a needle in her hand.
They had done something to her. He couldn’t... He couldn’t bite her. That meant he couldn’t change her!
"SON OF A BITCH!" Spike roared, slamming his fists into the ground.
Sodding bitch... What had she done to his duchess? What had she done? She put something in her. What?
Willow moved in his arms. At first he thought she was just waking up more, but then he looked closer.
She was convulsing in his arms.
Desperate, he tried to hold her still, but it wasn’t working. She still shook and shivered violently in his arms.
"No," he moaned.
No, this wasn’t happening. This was NOT happening. No Princess. Don’t die. Don’t die now, you can’t. I’m supposed to be the one who kills you, not them. Come on baby, stop it. Please stop it baby... No no no....
She slowed in his arms. The episode had passed, but he could see another one beneath her eyelids forming.
Again, he swept her up. He had to do something about this. If he couldn’t bite her without getting ill and potentially dying a second death, he would have to fix this. Then try again.
And to do that, he was going to have to do something absolutely insane.
He shook his head as he ran with her. The demons within him would never approve.
***
But no matter what I try
You’ll beat me with your bitter lies.
***
They were hard ones to follow... at first. Then Forest and Riley moved into the campus.
"Where do you suppose they are going?" Oz asked.
"It looks like home. This is Riley’s house," Buffy said, moving effortlessly through the throng of people. Oz on the other hand, had to fight a little bit more to keep up.
"I wonder why?"
Buffy shrugged as they ducked into some bushes besides the house. "Personal emergency?"
She heard a slight growl in Oz’s voice. "More important than Willow?"
She smiled, but only a little Willow was pretty much the sun, the moon, and the stars of Oz’s universe. There were few things that held a higher place to him than her. Such was the way of love, she mused. She felt the same way of Angel, even if he was no longer with her. Then there was Riley. If he was indeed something in her universe... She guessed he was a star. She’d figure it out as time went by.
First though, came Willow.
They followed in the shadows, peeking through the windows, trying to gauge their course.
The two men paused in front of a mirror. In the dim light, Buffy could make out a green line pass over their eyes. Given the look Oz was giving off, he saw it, too.
A door slid open.
Buffy’s instinct sang to her. She knew what she had to do.
"Oz, go get Giles. Tell him what happened," Buffy said quickly. Then she opened the window and jumped in at a speed only a vampire would be able to see clearly.
The door began to slid shut, but Buffy broke off a table leg and wedged it in to stop the doors from closing. Then using the strength bestowed on her to fight the forces of evil, she pried the doors open and jumped...
...landing atop an elevator.
Buffy crouched down as the lift lowered down into blackness. She narrowed her eyes.
Just what the hell was going on here?
***
So call me crazy, hold me down
Make me cry; get off now, baby-
It won’t be long till you’ll be
Lying limp in your own hand
************************
Eleven
***
I let the beast in too soon, I don't know how to live
Without my hand on his throat; I fight him always & still
O darling, it's so sweet, you think you know how crazy
-How crazy I am
You say you don't spook so easy, you won't go, but I know
And pray that you will
***
It descended down in to darkness.
< Into hell. > She had no idea what to expect, and that bothered her a great deal.
She was used to knowing the score. For a moment she felt a brief longing
for earlier days, back when it just vampires. Go take a talk, dance with
Mr. Pointy, and go home to brush the dust out of her clothing.
As time passed, it became variations of demons, slayers gone bad, and
mayors ascending into demons. So much more complicated.
However, at the same time, it was something she knew how to fight. Those
things were clear, black and white, good and evil. Now she was beginning
to have doubts. Whatever was going on here, Riley was involved. That brought
everything into a shade of gray she so did not need at the moment.
She wished she could call Willow. Talking to her best friend had a way
of making everything feel that much easier to deal with.
Just what was all this about? It had a creepy X-Files meets Batman feel
to it. Cover-ups mixed with a secret lair of a sorts. Plus, of course,
the fact that some big secret was laying down here. The only thing missing
was some guy constantly smoking a cigarette.
< Why is Riley here? What is he doing? Why did Oz smell Willow’s
blood on Buffy felt almost sick. She had been starting to like this fellow and
now big mistrust issues were being raised. Was he somehow involved in Willow's
abduction? For his sake, she hoped not. According the unofficial credo
of best friends, she would then have to expose his inner organs to daylight.
She didn't want to do that.
God, what was he keeping from here? What hell was under this building?
Was Riley keeping some sort of secret identity from her?
A bitter laugh escaped her lips. Apparently they might have more in
common that she had originally suspected.
The elevator halted. She felt the weight shift beneath her. Riley and
Forest had to be getting off.
< Great. Now what do I do? > Especially since the elevator was now moving upwards.
< Oh … damn…. > ***
It was an awfully quiet shift. That was surprising considering in this
town it felt like someone was always bleeding.
Dr. Franklin just finished up his third coffee and was done with his
fifth magazine that moment. Perhaps it was unprofessionally, but at this
point he didn't care. He was bored. So bored, in fact, he had made a card
pyramid of emergency cards.
"Now that's impressive," the security guard, Garibaldi said, holding
two cups of coffee.
"Thank you," Franklin said. "Took me about three hours."
Garibaldi raised an eyebrow. "That slow?"
"Yep," Franklin said, taking the coffee. He surveyed the emergency room.
The two men were the only souls in there. "Not a bleeder in the house."
He shooed Garibaldi away from the pyramid. "Careful. This is a piece of
art here."
"Sorry."
"Should be. Man, I need something real to do. If someone doesn't come..."
With that, the doors swung open. A blond haired man wearing a black
duster ran in carrying a bundle in his arms... No wait, it was a woman!
"Shit," Franklin said. He hadn't meant it!
The man laid the woman down on a gurney gently, blowing over the card
pyramid in the process.
< Double shit. > "Help her," the blond man said.
Franklin immediately went to work. Man, she had lost A LOT of blood
... something else was wrong too...
Garibaldi looked down at her than lifted up his head.
"Hey pal, you mind telling me what..."
The blond haired man was gone.
"...happened?"
***
-Fast as you can, baby scratch me out, free yourself
< Answers. Need them now. > He was going to get them. Oh yes, he was going to get them, by any means
necessary.
It was his hope that the process would involve draining the life out
of one of those secret agent wannabes who had taken them Spike was hungry
and angry, not a very good combination. Great for him, but for whoever
got in his way this night... He pitied the fool.
He paused outside of the college campus. He had a feeling they were
out on the prowl for him, and why wouldn't they be? He had eluded them
and now he knew about them. A stake was probably already sharpened in his
honor.
He felt his vampire visage come to surface. It was bad enough that he
had been taken in, but they had hurt Willow. That was something he was
not going to take lightly. Someone had to pay.
And he had a pretty good idea who that would be.
***
The elevator was moving upwards a little too fast for Buffy's taste.
She reached out and touched the walls and they slid down beneath her
touch.
This was not how she imagined her death, crushed in an elevator shaft.
It lacked a certain poetry.
"Damn it, no," Buffy said.
She tried to keep her cool. Panicking would only make things worse.
She didn't have the time for it. She had to act, and now.
She looked up and saw something that looked like an air vent.
"Oh please be an air vent."
She stood up, taking a stance. This was so going to hurt.
Her fist reached the right range. Using all of her strength (and it
was quite considerable) she punched the metal. Her knuckles stung. The
metal bent, but did not fall through...and the elevator was moving upwards
still.
She crouched down and tried again. This time it gave.
Buffy dove through the vent into the ducts, feeling her feet rise as
the elevator moved to the above. She jerked her feet down with her, narrowly
avoiding having them severed.
She allowed herself a moment to breathe.
Then she moved through the tiny passages, on the hunt for Riley or the
reason why he was there.
The bad feeling returned.
***
Another sleepless night.
She would have thought she would have been used to them by now, but
the truth of it, Professor Walsh wasn't. She had been born and raised a
day person. She preferred to sleep at night, but work prevented that.
She set down some papers in her office. Pretty soon it would be time
for her day job. If she was lucky enough, she would get to put her head
down for a quick nap before she had to go educate.
It was her hope if she got that much, that Riley would wake her with
news that the hostile had been recaptured and Willow reacquired. She could
not risk one of them knowing about what they did. The potential consequences
and repercussions were nothing to laugh about it.
Sighing, she knew it probably wouldn't happen. It was almost dawn. The
sending out of the troops would probably accomplish nothing. The creature
was no doubt in hiding with his quarry. Another loss of life and two experiments
out the window.
They couldn't win every single battle.
Hopefully the next would be less bloody. Fifteen men dead and injured.
Good agents and soldiers.
"The families will have to be notified," Walsh murmured. that was the
part she hated. The lies... She wanted to know the families were told their
sons had died for a noble cause, but they couldn't say why.
Her head hurt. To hell with the papers. The students could wait another
day.
First came sleep.
She was about to lay her head down when she heard her door slam shut.
Walsh jerked her head up.
"'Ello, luv.
Twelve
***
I've got to keep myself together
Walsh snapped up and out of her chair. She was supposed to be prepared
for the attack of a hostile. She had been trained just as well as any of
the agents she worked with. She worked out, she practiced...but all those
times it had been with weapons. It had been with others nearby. Every single
possible scenario had been imagined and put into practice.
But never had it been thought that one would appear in her office. Especially
one that had escaped.
It smiled at her.
Walsh moved to the side quickly. It followed, blocking the way from
that maneuver.
"What do you want?" Walsh asked, desperate to keep the fear out of her
voice.
Now it grinned, its eyes narrowed.
It stepped on up and simply socked her once in the face. She stumbled
back on the ground, landing not quite so gracefully on her bottom. She
looked up as it slowly moved forward, hands casually on its hips.
"I’d like to know a couple of things, but," Spike drawled. "I can wait
on those. There's
Walsh got up and made another move for the door. Spike grabbed her by
the shoulders and threw her into a bookcase. She cried out as she and the
bookcase toppled over backwards on the ground. Quickly, she tried to get
up, but it was a little late. Given the pain, she moved very slowly. At
least it felt like it was slow. The fear in the mix seemed to make everything
move in
Spike was on her in a heart beat. He pinned the day-job-professor down
with his body weight and held her arm. He smiled at her.
Then he twisted it back. Walsh screamed, but his hand over her mouth
prevented anyone from hearing it.
"Now, luv, we're going to have a little talk. You're going to tell me
just what the hell you put into Little Red and how I can fix it," Spike
said, very matter of factly. He took his hand off her mouth.
Walsh struggled beneath him. God damn it, where was Riley? Wasn't he
supposed to be back by now? She hoped so, oh God she hoped so. She prayed
he hadn't decided to go for a nap before class. With a free hand, she reached
out.
Her offensive was met by a sharp backhanded slap to the face.
"None of that now. Tell me what you did to her."
"No." The Initiative had to be protected at all costs. She couldn't
allow fear to cause her to do anything stupid. Nothing would save her life
that she would have to say anyhow. Without even asking, she knew once her
usefulness had been served he would kill her. She would not help him.
"Not the answer I wanted to hear, ducks." With that, his true face surfaced.
Walsh gasped. "Scared now? Good. You're supposed to be. Now, I will kill
you. No chance of me letting you go. After all, you would have killed me,
yes? Experimented on me first, right?" His voice was calm, but under the
surface, he boiled. If she could hear what he was thinking, the thoughts
alone would give her heart failure. "That's wasn't very nice. Play around
with things you don't understand is only going to hurt you."
He twisted her arm again for good measure. Her body arched in pain.
Now this, was fun. He brought his face close up to hers. "Now, like I was
saying, I am going to kill you. But...if you're nice and tell me what I
want to hear, I’ll make it quick. If you don't," he said meaningfully.
Spike reached over for what she had been previously diving for. A simple
pair of sharp scissors.
Still pinning the woman down, he held it over her midsection. "I’ll
kill you very slowly. You'll scream, but no one will hear you."
He smirked. "Let me show you an example."
***
Now that you know what you know
It quickly became obvious that while the building was being constructed,
no one was polite enough to consider the needs of those sneaking around
in air ducts.
Buffy cursed as she banged her elbow on the side for the fifth time
in ten minutes. It was bound to be very sore later.
There had to be an exit around there somewhere. It felt as if she was
going in circles. Maybe she was. She had no point of reference, no way
of even knowing where she was. She had long since given up hope of trailing
Riley and Forrest once she had gotten off the elevator in such a hurry.
There was no way to tell where they had gone. Her only consolation was
that she had found something new.
The question was: What did it have to do with Willow? Did it have anything
to do with her at all? Her gut told her it did. The moment Oz had told
her that he could smell Willow's blood on him led her to believe that.
She damn well intended to find out.
Once she got out of this maze.
She continued to crawl forward. As her hand hit the metal below, she
heard a different kind of thump. It sounded hollow meaning there was nothing
below her. She had to be above something now.
With a strong, but cramped kick downward, she forced the metal sheet
out of its holding. It fell downward with a loud clatter.
She peeked downward and had to squint her eyes. It was so bright down
there, so white.
After a few moments, her eyes adjusted to the light. They widened.
"What the hell," Buffy breathed. Below her were a number of demons being
held in cells. Many of them were vampires. the rest were an odd assortment
of demons, some of which Buffy had seen before and others that were new
to her eyes.
All this on campus... Jeez. It filled her with an immediate sense of
dread. There was definite reason behind this. It theory, it was a good
idea to study these things for weaknesses, but she had serious doubts that
it was that. She had the feeling it had all grown into something quite
dangerous. Dangerous for her and dangerous for everyone else. Once she
found Willow, this was going to have to be seriously looked into a dealt
with.
< And I had thought dealing with the Mayor had been a chore. > This appeared to be a nice exit. Well, there were probably better ones,
but she didn't have the luxury of time to find one. She had to find Willow.
She lowered herself into the gap and dropped. Almost immediately, an
alarm of some kind was blaring.
"Oops," was all the Slayer could find to say.
She began to run down the corridor with surprised demons banging on
the glass and being shocked back. This brought Buffy to a halt in astonishment.
These people certainly knew how to contain what they caught. Speaking of
containment, a guy in a white coat came up behind Buffy, trying to hold
her down. They did not have a kind policy towards intruders. As it turned
out, she didn't have a kind policy towards attackers. Buffy took the guys
arm and flipped him over her shoulder.
He wasn't alone. Another came at her from the front and was met with
a roundhouse kick to the face.
That was the last of them, but she had the feeling there were more.
"Slayer," came a voice. She turned around to see a vampire looking at
her from inside one of the cells. She knew him. He had been one of Sunday's
lackeys that had escaped her raid to reclaim her stuff on her third day
of class. Apparently, he didn't get too far.
"Vampire," she said back.
"I thought... I thought these were your guys," he said.
"No," Buffy said, fending off another who slammed her into the wall.
"Never saw them before." She simply right-hooked this one, sending him
to the floor. There was now a nice pile of white coats at her feet now.
"They won’t let you out. This place has got some nice guards."
"So I see." Damn it, these guys just kept coming. She had the suspicion
armed ones were coming in a moment. She so did not want to be there when
that happened.
"I.. I know where the exit is. Spring me and you're out. If you're not,
they’ll catch you and I bet they would love to know what a Slayer is made
of," he argued.
Damn, he did have a point. Well, if he attacked her, she did have Mr.
Pointy handy. She reached into the coat of one of her disabled attackers,
fumbling for some kind of key. She found a white card and went to the door,
quickly opening it for the vampire.
He stepped out, happy to be free. He looked back for a second, musing
on which way he remembered. He pointed to the left.
"This way."
Buffy had little choice but to follow.
***
"Hello. This is Buffy and Willow. We're not here right now so leave
a message and we’ll get back to you."
Beep.
"Hello, Ms. Summers? My name is Dr. Franklin at Sunnydale Hospital.
A Willow Rosenburg was brought in here at 4 A.M. with serious injuries.
We have attempted to call family, but there was no response. If you get
this message, please respond. Our number is 546-8839. Again, my name is
Dr. Franklin."
Buffy continued to run, following the vampire.
It went through her head a dozen times of how screwed up this was. Here
she was, the Slayer, the one girl in all the world chosen to fight the
forces of evil, was dependent on a vampire for escape. She could only imagine
what Giles would think of it. Well, once he got passed that, he would focus
on this.
An underground compound dedicated to the study of the dark forces. This
was definitely not of the good.
What the hell did Riley have to do with these people?
Of course she was not of the evil ones, but they didn't know that. She
had broken into their facilities. They wanted to deal with her as an enemy.
She would have been happy to let them try, but she was outnumbered. Therefore,
getting out of there was the way to go.
"Are we getting close?" Buffy asked.
"I think so," the vampire answered.
"You think so? Let’s go with you know so please!"
"I’m sorry," he said, trying to keep the fear of capture and of her
out of his voice. "At this point, I’m not quite so sure."
"Well, get sure."
Before he could respond, another door opened. Five guys wearing black
came out. They were the armed guys Buffy had been afraid of. Great. Oh,
look at that, they had stakes.
One of them lunged for her, his stake ready. IT scratched her skin,
drawing a small
"Hey, that's my job," Buffy said, grabbing him by the neck and pulling
her knee up to
She dove through the door, going by instinct. Behind her, she heard
a cry out. She knew the vampire had been staked. Well, it saved her a job
later.
Right now, she had places to go.
***
Giles knocked on Buffy's dorm room door with Oz behind him.
"I don't think she came back here," Oz said. "She probably wanted to
deal with whatever was in that house."
"I don't doubt that, but it is possible she’s back," Giles responded.
"She would have called," Oz argued.
"Possibly. Or she might have fallen asleep. She’s been awake 24 hours.
If she did, it probably wasn't on purpose. You might want to consider it."
"Not until I have Willow back."
Giles resisted the urge to say that it might not be for a while...or
even ever, but it would crush the boy. Besides, they needed to keep up
optimism.
Oz pushed in front of him and opened the unlocked door.
"Buffy?"
No one was there. Nothing was on and nothing moved.
All except for a red light blinking on the answering machine.
***
Buffy knocked out another tech as she ran up a flight of stairs. At
last, a real door. Thank you!
She opened it with the white card key she still carried. The door slammed
and hissed shut behind her
What she saw there surprised her even more.
Somehow she had ended up back on campus. Oddly enough, into the school
building itself. Oh, this was bad, this was very bad.
Well, at least she blended in now. Students milled about ahead of her.
She began walking, cursing vehemently under her breath all the while. She
had failed. She failed Willow. If only she hadn't gone down that elevator
shaft and picked a different direction. She could have found Willow.
"Oh God, Wills," she sniffed. Tears were forming as reality crept to
surface. Willow was probably dead now.
Spike was going to pay.
Big time.
Her mental rant and self flogging was interrupted from a small cry coming
from an office. Buffy walked over and touched the door. It swung open beneath
her touch.
"Oh my God."
The place was a mess. Books thrown about, a chair smashed, and a bookcase
toppled over.
However, it was the blood that got her full attention. It soaked the
ground, puddling in some places...especially by the desk on which the body
of Professor Maggie Walsh laid. She was cut something severe across the
stomach and arms...and especially her neck. She was still alive, given
the soft, pained moans coming from her.
Buffy ran over to her and held her head up.
"Professor?" Buffy asked.
Her eyes opened. "Buffy?"
"Yeah," Buffy laughed bitterly. "The girl who sleeps a lot?"
"Get...get out of here...leave..."
"I can’t. You’re hurt. I’ll call 911."
"Go.. Might still be..."
"Sshh. Save your strength."
"He might still be here..."
Buffy froze, sensing her words. "Who? Who might still be here?"
"Blond hair... va... English..."
She almost dropped Walsh at that. Spike. Spike had done this. Wait.
Why had he done this? God, was she connected to all this too?
"Where did he go?"
"Don’t... know..."
She decided on a new tactic. "Where is Willow?"
Now that caught the semi delirous Walsh by surprise. "He...took.. her..."
"Let her go," Another voice came.
Buffy looked up to see Riley with a trained rifle aimed directly at
her.
Thirteen
***
"Riley."
Riley's face was stony, close to ashen. He had barely gotten back when
he had heard of the break in. He had been shocked enough as it was to see
it had been Buffy. But now, to see her standing over the professor's body...
"Back away from her," Riley said, his voice hard, his sights never straying
from Buffy.
"Riley's she's hurt. She'll die if we..." Buffy argued.
"I said, back away."
Professor Walsh tried to get up, but the immense pain forced her back
down. "Riley," she gurgled.
"It's alright, Professor. I got it under control," Riley said.
"Oh are you ever off," Buffy blurted. They had to see how wrong they
were. One day they were going to lose control of the situation underneath
their feet and all hell was going to break loose. How many more people
would die then? Didn't they see that or were they already that far disillusioned?
"Quiet," Riley barked. Oh God, why did it have to be her? Why? Why her?
Damn it, just when he found someone he was actually really and truly falling...
No, can't think about that. He had to focus on the matter at hand. The
professor was in danger and he did not know for certain if Buffy was involved
or not. Chances are, she was. Hadn't she been the one who compromised their
security? A feat in of itself to be sure.
"Put your hands on the back of your head and lay down on the floor."
"Your making a mistake," Buffy said, slowly obeying him.
"I think you got that backwards."
Walsh again tried to protest. She wanted to scream that it was not Buffy
who did this, that it had been Hostile 17. This girl was trying to help!
She had nothing to do with this! She was helping...but it was hard. Breathing
was so hard. She couldn't keep her eyes open...
As Buffy moved down, Riley cautiously made his way over to her to restrain
her. He still didn't want to hurt her. It might have been an accident,
she might have stumbled on them by accident. She had been looking for Willow
had had briefly been in their custody. God, he would never forgive himself
if she was dead now. Never. No, can't think of that. Have to focus now.
Buffy had her eyes down. To the casual observer, it looked like she
was complying. Oh, how far from it that was. As he moved closer to her,
she was preparing to make her move. She did not have time for this. For
all she knew Willow was dead or dying. She would never live with herself
if something had happened to her. Her eyes narrowed as she thought of Spike
and a dozen nasty thoughts ran through her head now. No, no, can't think
of that. She had to focus on the now. She had to get out of there. She
hoped she wouldn't have to hurt him. She was finally beginning to feel
something for this boy over here.
Riley stepped closer.
Buffy lashed out with her foot.
***
"She's not in here," Oz said.
Giles rubbed his forehead, frustrated. "Yes, that is painfully obvious
now."
Oz paced back and forth a bit. He didn't like this. He had this awful
feeling in his gut which was growing. She should have been found, they
both should have been found. the fear for Willow just deepened more, but
now there was one growing for Buffy. Where had she even gone? Was there
something in that building which had gotten to her?
"Do you think she is still in that building that you spoke of earlier?"
Giles asked.
Oz looked up, distracted from his dark musings. "Oh...it's possible.
I mean, it was weird. It looked like a retinal scan, the kind you see in
spy movies. Then she jumped down an elevator shaft."
"And you say you smelled Willow's blood on this boy's clothing," Giles
questioned. He noticablely gulped at the word blood.
Oz growled under his breath. "For the third time, yes. It was strong."
Giles leaned against the wall, thinking. This had a number of implications,
some good and some bad. "It's possible he might have found her."
"If he did, and I think he did, why didn't he tell us? He acted as if
her being missing was a complete surprise," Oz argued.
"Good point. He might have found an article of clothing?"
"No, it just doesn't feel right. Something doesn't fit. I got this feeling
it's all related to that building."
"I get the same feeling myself," Giles argued.
The two men looked at each other in silence.
"Okay, let's think about what we know. I smelled her on him, meaning
either he's working with Spike...or he found her and for some reason doesn't
want us to know."
"That does make sense. Perhaps the lad brought her to medical attention
or for study, possibly both?"
Oz grimaced. He didn't particularly like this idea of his girlfriend
being the subject of a scientific inquiry.
He managed a bitter laugh. "Yeah, it's not like Spike would take her
to Sunnydale Presbyterian!"
He leaned against the nightstand, accidentally hitting one of the buttons
on the answering machine.
"Hello, Ms. Summers? My name is Dr. Franklin at Sunnydale Presbyterian
Hospital. A Willow Rosenburg was brought in here at 4 A.M. with serious
injuries..."
***
He was slightly startled by the appearance of Garibaldi behind him.
"Oh hey, I thought you would be going home now," Franklin said, scribbling
something down on his chart.
His friend shrugged. "I don't think I'd be able to sleep in good conscience
without knowing how our young friend was doing."
Franklin took a seat outside of her room. "She's better now, not much,
but improving."
"Always a good thing. Think she'll make it?"
"Very certain." He sighed deeply. "It was a close one though. She suffered
a hell of a lot of blood loss."
Garibaldi shook his head. Way too many cases like that in this town
for his liking. "Poor thing. She looked like she was attacked by an animal."
"Looks like it, but I don't think so."
"No?"
"You might be brought into this a little bit more. I found a puncture
wound on her arm. Someone injected something into her system, something
to stop her heart and some other compound I haven't analyzed yet."
"Wait a second. This was a murder attempt?"
"Possibly. It might have been set up to make it look like she had been
bit by an animal and then this."
Garibaldi let it all sink in.
"I think I'll stick around awhile longer."
Franklin nodded. "Might be a good idea."
***
Riley was knock backwards, not exactly landing in the most noble of
positions. Damn it, how had she moved so fast!
Buffy jumped up and made a break for the door when she was pulled down
to the ground. She turned her head to see Riley with both hands wrapped
firmly around her ankle.
"Let go," Buffy said.
"Not on your life," Riley said.
"Fine, have it your way." Buffy used her free leg to kick him full on
in the face. Riley let go, gripping a bleeding nose.
She leapt to her feet, but found herself pausing. Walsh was still on
the table, moaning painfully. Tentatively, Buffy placed a hand on Maggie's.
"We need to get you help."
"No..." Walsh breathed. "You have.. to.. go... Find..."
Buffy leaned in closer. "Find who?"
"Willow...he...had... go.. find.. stop..."
Buffy nodded once. She didn't want to leave, but she had to. Riley was
here. He would help her. She, on the other hand, had a friend to save.
Inwardly, she sighed. This was the part of being the Chosen that truly
sucked. As much as she tried, she couldn't save everyone. there were just
too many people and too many nasties.
Unfortunately, there was only one of her.
Regretfully, Buffy took off. She had a search and rescue to undergo.
And a vampire to stake.
Riley got up onto his feet, still clutching his nose. Damn it, she got
away. This just conformed what he feared. She was involved in all this.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
He heard a moan. He instantly ran to the professor's side.
"Maggie?"
Maggie Walsh opened her mouth to speak. She had to tell him! she had
to tell him Buffy hadn't done this. She was trying to save her friend's
life was all. The vampire had said her name, said what she did. The girl
was on their side! They had to find her, work with her. She could help
them and vice versa. She had to say it.
But all she did was exhale one, final breath.
***
He stroked her hair and smiled.
"It's going to be okay, baby," Spike whispered. "She won't hurt you
any more."
He heard what the doctor said. He couldn't help but to sigh in relief.
He didn't know what he would do if he lost her. If she would have slipped
through his finger like that... God, he would take a walk at noon.
He thought to the woman at the university with a smile. Really and truly,
he had enjoyed that. It had been such a long time since he dug into a human
like that. The fear had such an intoxicating aroma.
There would be little trouble from her now, but he suspected there would
be plenty from those beneath her and above her.
No matter, he could handle it. He had an extra something up his sleeve
now that they would not see coming. In anticipation, he grinned.
Lightly, he caressed Willow's face. She would be alright, he could feel
it in his bones. Soon, he would try again, after he knew for certain it
was safe to do so. Really, there was no rush. Yes, no rush at all. He just
had to remember what patience was.
He frowned slightly. He wasn't too happy about that. Patience was never
his strongest point. Kind of ironic, he supposed, considering he had eternity.
He smiled again. Yes, eternity. Eternity with her. He relished the thought.
What a pair the two of them would make.
Underneath his touch, he felt Willow move slightly. Good, she was coming
to. Slowly, he leaned over and kissed her forehead.
It was then a shadow fell over them.
Angrily, Spike turned his head.
"Spike," Oz growled.
Fourteen
****
Spike looked up at his contender for a brief moment, hate dripping from
his eyes. Slowly and deliberately to spite the boy, he turned back to Willow.
He looked down at her, a soft smile playing at his lips, and he brushed
a stray lock of hair from her face. He really wished she hadn't decided
to cut it. It did look very lovely, but he did miss it long. He'd have
to persuade her to grow it out.
He stood up, brushing his duster as he did so. He smiled at the wolf.
"Hello, mate," Spike said.
Oz narrowed his eyes. He had to use every single bit of self control
he had to keep from tearing the vampire apart. What he wouldn't give for
a full moon right then and there. He could use the extra strength to tear
a limb off.
Then again, this was about Willow. He wouldn't need the wolf for this
one.
"Get away from her," Oz said.
Spike smirked. "No."
Oz advanced slowly. "Get away from her, or I will make you."
This caused a bit of laughter to emit from Spike. Oh God, that was funny.
Was this why she kept the little puppy around? For amusement?
His expression was one of mock terror. He placed his hand on his own
face. "Oh no," he said in a falsetto voice. "The little wolf is going to
hurt me! Whatever will I do!" The mirth quickly disappeared. "Really, just
how are going to make me? I'll leave when I bloody well choose to."
Oz seethed. "I said get away from her," he breathed. "And STAY away
from her."
Spike slowly stepped forward until he was face to face with him.
"The thing about this is, there is not a bloody thing you can do to
stop me. Sure, we just might have a nice go at it right here, you might
live through it, you might not. I'll leave the room eventually, wait until
they've fixed whatever those blokes did to my girl over here, but I'm not
going to stay gone. I might come back tomorrow, I might not. I might wait
a few months, a year, but I plan to come back. I'm going to pin her down
and drain her down to last drop and then give it all right back. The beauty
of it is, with everything you've got, the wolf inside, the watcher, the
slayer at your side... There is not a thing you can do about it."
Instantly, Oz's fist met with Spike's cheek.
The vampire let his head roll back with the punch. The, very slowly,
he turned his head back, a wide smirk on his face.
"Alright then. Here we go."
***
Giles had been driving only a few minutes. He figured it would be easier
and less inconspicuous if he searched out Buffy in his car. After the incident
with the bad beer, he felt less inclined to walk amongst the students.
He didn't stick out that much, easily being mistaken for a professor, but
he felt odd just the same.
She wasn't anywhere in the dorm. He wondered for a moment if he should
have stayed in her room, but he had doubts she would return. With Willow
being missing, she probably was still out looking, even though the sun
was now up. At least this would narrow down the places where Spike might
be holed up, but not by much. There were a number of places where a vampire
would hide from the sun. Too many to count, but that wouldn't stop Buffy.
This was one of the reasons she had to be the best of the slayers. In
addition to some fine allies, she had a fierce dedication that didn't slip
for a moment. Briefly, he pitied Spike. Briefly.
He caught site of a blond figure racing across the campus.
He rolled down his window. "Buffy!"
She changed her course sharply. She stopped in front of his car and
quickly swung around to the side and opened the door, hopping in.
"Drive," Buffy ordered sharply.
For a moment, Giles was quite alarmed. Something had clearly happened.
First he would start with good news. "Buffy, Willow's been found," Giles
said as he drove away from the campus with Buffy looking behind her the
whole while.
She turned her head. "She has?" Buffy brightened a moment, but her smile
faded. "Is she..."
Giles sobered. "She is alive. Willow was apparently brought to a hospital
early in the morning. I don't know anything beyond that. Oz went to her
and I came to find you."
She relaxed against the seat.
"Oh thank God."
Giles looked to her. "Oz mentioned that you disappeared down an elevator
shaft. I take it you...found something?"
Her face darkened. "You could say that. Once again, there is more going
on that what's on the surface."
"Care to explain?"
"Gladly. Let's just motor over to Willow. Thank God she's alive."
Giles nodded his agreement. "That's for certain. She's with Oz now.
I don't see how there could be any danger there."
***
Spike picked Oz up by the collar and threw the boy down to the ground.
Before Oz could react, he grabbed onto his left arm and sharply twisted
it back.
Oz yelped out in pain, eliciting a short laugh from Spike. It was enough
of an antagonist to make him suddenly jerk his arm down to pull the vampire
down. He quickly rolled on top of Spike and brought a series of vicious
punches to his face.
It didn't last of course. Spike had in seconds, taken both of Oz's wrists,
and separated them. He brought his head forward in a hard butt.
Oz fell back. Spike stood up, releasing Oz with an obvious look of disgust.
"You know, I honestly don't see what she sees in you," Spike said.
Shaking his head from the blow, Oz pulled himself up. Unfortunately,
he was wavering and his adversary could see it.
Oz stepped forward, aiming a punch at Spike's smirking face. One that
Spike easily sidestepped. He took hold of Oz's arm and used his own motions
to propel him into the wall.
"I mean, if she was looking for protection, she should have stayed with
the Slayer and not gone to anyone else. Remember when I took her the other
night? A hell of a lot of good you did her. I swept her away before you
had even a moment to blink your eyes."
Furious, Oz rolled off the wall. He picked up a table tray and hit it
across Spike's face. Before it could leave contact with his skin, he grabbed
a hold of the object and wrenched it away from Oz. He used the makeshift
weapon to bash him over the head with. He tossed it aside and pushed Oz
over Willow's bed and down onto the ground.
Gloating, Spike stood over him.
"She barely fought back, you know. I had her smashed up against a tree.
Yes, she did squirm," Spike said. He paused to grin, looking reminiscent
for a moment. "I did love that part. That tiny little body of hers touching
mine, trying to break free, but just making all sorts of delicious contact
with mine... I think she liked it that way."
Oz got up to make another pass. However this time, Spike had been anticipating
it. He seized his shoulders and pined him up against the wall. Oz tried
to break free, but found it impossible. That didn't mean he wasn't going
to try.
Spike smiled. "She's a sweet girl. She deserves better."
"Right. Like you're perfect," Oz growled.
"I am mate. I can keep her safe. I can show her what the world really
is, and I intend to. No one is going to use her the way you and the rest
do. I'll let her play it her way. Do what she wants...kill who she wants.
Bloody shame it won't be you."
With that, he let his demon visage come up.
And behind them, Willow opened her eyes.
***
"An entire compound? All beneath the university? That's incredible!"
Giles said while driving towards the hospital.
Buffy nodded. "It's even more incredible to see. They had some serious
stuff going on. I mean, it was a complete operation...all under our noses.
Who knows how long this was going on."
"And the woman?"
"I don't know." She frowned. "She was in pretty bad shape when I found
her. I honestly don't think she made it, even if there had been a full
medical staff next door. To make things worse, Riley stopped me before
I could do anything to help or find out anything more." She paused. "Giles,
I think it was Spike who attacked her."
"Spike? How, he was with Willow...wasn't he?"
"Oz said he smelled Willow's blood on Riley. Maybe he brought them both
or one to that place... But it didn't work out."
"If it was Spike, he was probably very unhappy with his captors. In
Prague, he nothing short of wiped out the mob that harmed Drusilla. He
doesn't taken well to his...paramours being threatened. Or if it was Willow,
he might have gone into to rescue her."
"Wait, she was taken to a hospital."
"Meaning these people might have done something to her?"
"It's not to hard to imagine."
"But if Willow's there..."
At the same time, they both said. "Spike."
Giles laid down on the gas hard. Too hell with the speed limit.
Suddenly, a car blocked his way. Just barely, Giles was able to swerve
to the side. He tried to back up, but another vehicle blocked that path.
They had just been ambushed.
"Bloody hell," Giles spat.
***
Spike had been mere centimeters from a mouthful of Oz when a sudden
burning spread across his chest.
He released him to bat and the holy water he had been doused with from
the front. Oz had come prepared.
With his chest still smoking, Spike stepped back up to the gasping Oz.
"Any new surprises?" Spike asked.
Oz only made another rush at him. Spike accosted him in the coat and
threw him down onto the ground. The vampire picked up a metal folding chair
and raised it over his head. Oz raised his hands to block it.
< Tough luck, mate. > He brought the chair down.
Suddenly, red hair filled his vision as a small form blocked Oz's body
with her own.
Spike hesitated.
"Willow."
Fifteen
***
Buffy and Giles glanced at each other, worriedly. They were surrounded.
Giles had only a vague idea what was going on, all based on Buffy's scattered
account on the events as they’d driven. He had no chance to get the details
and she hadn't the time to give them.
She, on the other hand, had a very good idea who had them cornered and
a vague conception of what these people were capable of. They were smart,
that much being obvious. Kind of an odd thought considering what they were
doing was deeply stupid on all levels. Unfortunately, their stupidity was
in large numbers and they had much better weaponry than she had...which
was nothing at that moment. All she had was Giles and a pair of fists.
It all diminished in the face of what she was going to be up against.
"I'll assume this would be about the woman in the office?" Giles said.
"I guess this means she didn't make it," Buffy replied, devoid of emotion.
It had to be. If she had made it, she would have said something about her
trying to help, that she hadn't been the one responsible, that it had been
Spike.
Then again, she supposed it didn’t matter. Whether she lived or not,
they no doubt wanted to get the girl who broke into their lab and thrashed
a number of their people. She knew their secret and did not want it to
get out.
"Ideas?" Buffy asked.
"None what-so-ever," Giles said.
"They probably are very prepared for a fight," Buffy mused, feeling
her muscles tense. Well, if that's what they wanted, she would give it
to them.
Almost on cue, several men came out of the trucks, all heavily armed,
advancing on Giles's car.
"Damn, Giles said.
"Whatever happens,"" Buffy said. "One of us has to make it to Willow.
Even if it is day, he could be there right now. I can't risk losing her
again."
"Agreed."
The first of the commandos stood about five feet away from her side
of the car. She easily recognized him as Riley. This was not going to be
pretty.
"Out of the car, hands above your head," Riley shouted.
Buffy glowered. She was coming out the car, but he wasn't going to like
it one bit.
She had a mission here.
***
Willow clung to Oz's form, blocking him from Spike as best she could.
She couldn't remember things very well. Her memories of the previous
events were fuzzy at best. She could very clearly remember Spike carrying
her off into the night and smashing her into a tree. She remembered him
biting her. After that, things got cloudy.
There had been men clad in what looked like military garb, but she had
passed out from the loss of blood. At some point she remembered waking
to see a woman doctor over her, but then conscious had faded.
Just now, she had opened her eyes to see Spike pummeling her boyfriend,
about to smash his head in with a chair. She had fought off pain and dizziness
to protect him, her IV bag dragged to her side.
Spike stood over the two, chair still raised over his head. He was hesitant.
He couldn't hurt her, he didn't want to.
"Willow," Spike said.
Oz was temporarily stunned into silence, still expected his head to
be one with the linoleum. Slowly, he came back into focus, feeling Willow
on top of him. The physical contact with his beloved filled him inside
with a comfortable warmth. Quickly as it had come, it faded, replaced with
an increased sense of worry and fear. Spike was still hovering over them.
"Willow," he said softly. "You have to go. Get away."
"No," Willow whispered, holding him closer. No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't.
If she did, Spike would hurt him. He would kill him. She couldn't allow
it if she could. She had to protect him if she could.
"Willow," Spike said, looking down. "Get off of him."
"No," Willow said.
"I don't want to hurt you, baby," he soothed.
"Then go away," she replied, choking back fear-filled sobs.
The vampire let the chair drop off to the side. With one hand, he grabbed
Willow by the flimsy collar of her hospital gown and flung her into the
wall.
"Doesn't mean I won't," Spike said softly, a hint of apology in his
voice.
He took the other leg of the chair in his head and brought it down quickly
on Oz before he had time to react.
But he was knocked to the side.
***
Buffy stepped out of the car, her face masked in subservience. At least
she hoped it was. They had to buy her act, they just had to. Then again,
these guys were clever. They were probably prepared for her to resist.
And resist she would.
Riley had his gun off to the side, but about five other guys, Forest
included, had weapons trained on her. they had them on Giles, too, but
she was the focus. that would have to change.
"Down on the ground," Riley said.
"You're the boss," Buffy said softly.
She brought herself down on the ground , facing down, but watching the
shadows.
Riley slowly moved down to restrain her with one other man who she didn't
know. His fingers touched her wrist.
That was the exact moment everything went straight to hell.
Giles had been waiting. The exact moment Riley reached for Buffy, he
gunned the engine and slammed into the car in front of him, sending the
stationary vehicle rolling into the one in back of that one. Glass shattered
where the headlights collided. One man stumbled out of the car, bleeding.
Riley looked up. His mistake, quite the costly one.
Buffy grabbed onto his ankle and yanked him down. She rolled over to
her feet and broke out into a run.
She heard shots behind her as she burst into the woods. Wow, these guys
were lousy shots...
"Ow!" Buffy cried. She had been hit in the ankle. She ignored the pain.
She didn't have time to react to it. She had to move fast, into a populated
area where they wouldn't be able to pursue her so directly. She had to
get to Willow....
..before anything happened.
***
"God DAMN IT," Riley shouted, still in pursuit.
Forest was right behind him.
"We lost, her man. We got to go back.. regroup... It'll be easier to
track her," Forest suggested.
Riley shook his head. "We'll lose her. Can't do that."
"Face it, we lost her!"
"She killed Walsh, we are not going to lose her!"
"Okay let's think... She's been hit. That's got to slow her down. She's
bleeding."
Riley was hit with a thought. "If she's hurt, she's going to have to
have it checked out, right?"
"The hospital," they said in unison.
***
Garibaldi knocked the blond haired guy into the wall. He'd be damned
if anyone was going to start a fight on his watch. Well, technically his
watch had ended hours ago, but he was here. No trouble while he was still
breathing.
"Okay, you two calm down," Garibaldi said, shaking his hands at his
side, getting ready for any resistance. "Whatever it is..."
Spike turned around to him, vamp face on.
"Holy SHIT!" Garibaldi said, drawing his side arm.
He didn't have the chance. Spike grabbed him by the shoulders and bit
deeply into his throat. Now Kenny Garibaldi was a big man, he was used
to guys much smaller than him trying to take a piece, but never like this!
He could feel the blood being sucked straight out of his veins.
"Get off him!" Willow cried.
She grabbed onto Spike's shoulder's trying to pry him off.
"Willow, no!" Oz cried out. He stepped forward to pull her away.
But before he could get anything accomplished, Spike flung the security
guard out of the room, into the hall. He took a handful of Willow's hair
and pulled her into his arms.
With blood stained lips, he kissed her temple.
"Missed you, baby," Spike whispered into his ear. He sighed inwardly
when he felt her cringe to his touch. He clenched her neck hard when Oz
came closer.
"Not so fast, mate," Spike said. "Wouldn't want me to bruise the girl,
now." He cocked his head to the side, a wide smiled on his demon-distorted
features. "We have to be off, but we'll be back."
It was then he felt a sting in his shoulder. He looked to the side to
see an arrow protruding from the leather. He looked up with a snarl.
Buffy stood in the doorway, a small crossbow in hand.
"What's your hurry?"she asked, sweetly.
***
Sixteen
**
Spike rolled in eyes in a visible mix of disgust and annoyance. He had
worked awful hard to make it through the night alive… err… dead. Well,
he knew what he meant. He had worked up and followed through with a plan
to take Willow. It would have worked out just fine if it hadn’t been for
those damned soldier boys. It was all right, he could deal with that and
had, even though it had been quite the inconvenience. Come to think of
it, he had been awful lenient considering what he was capable of. Memories
of Prague were still burned in his mind. It had been a very large mob that
had nearly killed Drusilla and he had not let one of them walk away. Funny
how no one in that area ever spoke of the massacre. They probably were
afraid to speak of it would be to bring him back.
The point was, he had put up with a bloody lot this past night. He escaped
that only to find he couldn’t turn his princess due to a nice poison running
through her system. Again, he had kept his cool and took control of the
situation. Instead of losing his head, he did the smart thing and took
her to someone who knew what he was doing. Well, in the long run, maybe
it hadn’t been that smart. She did have ID on her that he forgot about
so of course they notified people. So because of that minor oversight,
he had to deal with dog-boy. That security guard had picked the wrong time
to mess with him. All that aggravation, plus dealing with the bitch professor,
had left him with quite the appetite.
Now, just when he finally had Willow back with him, who should show
up, guns ablazing like that bloody Annie Oakley? Buffy Summers, the Slayer,
the bleeding Chosen One, had picked this exact moment to ride to the rescue.
Bloody hell!
"Buffy," Willow gasped. He was holding onto her throat awful tight.
He didn’t meant to, it was more for effect that anything else. Well, that
wasn’t entirely true either. He did like the feel of a human body thrashing
and struggling to break free. It was the demon inside of him. Come to think
of it, when he had been human, he liked that feeling even then. Inwardly,
he shrugged at it.
Buffy never took her eyes off of Spike, her crossbow aimed square at
his head.
"Not the heart, luv," he smirked.
"No," Buffy drawled. "But I’d imagine it would hurt a lot."
< Fair enough, > Buffy cocked her head to the side with her, ‘gimme a break’ look. "Spike,
think about this. You’re not leaving with her. You’re cornered in a room
with one exit and you are outnumbered."
"I do have Willow," he pointed out.
"Yeah, but you’re not going to kill her," Oz added.
"And how would you know that?" Spike said with half a glance to Oz.
He had to keep his focus on Buffy, she being the only real threat in the
room.
"You brought her to the hospital," Buffy said.
"I did not," Spike lied.
"I know about the commandos," Buffy said. "They found Willow, didn’t
they?"
Spike narrowed his eyes. Just what was the little chit trying to get
at there. For awhile he had thought that they might be in cahoots… Wait,
they still might be.
"What did they do to her, Spike?" Buffy asked. "What did you do to her?"
He could hear the edge of rage just beneath the surface.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I do know, I am leaving
now."
"Fine, you can leave, Buffy said, stepping closer, but with her bow
still aimed squarely at him. "But she’s staying here."
Spike wrenched Willow’s neck slightly, cutting her air supply to elicit
a gasp from her. < I mean business here. > "Sorry, no compromises. She
comes with me."
"See, that’s where we run into a problem cause, she isn’t going anywhere
with you. Now while I’m still breathing."
"That can be fixed," Spike growled.
He moved in a slow, very tight circle. Buffy tried to make him face
to face, but she knew where this was going. He was trying to keep her attention
focused on his face and what he was saying, not what he was doing. He wanted
an opening. She had no plans to give him one, but she had to be realistic.
Any move he made she would have to counter, but keep escape blocked. She
couldn’t keep it up forever.
Willow had to be realistic as well. She knew she had to stay alert.
She, unlike the two enemies, had no window of opportunity she could see.
The only things in her field of vision was a very angry Buffy and a worried
Oz. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the security guard slumped
against the wall just outside of the room. His neck was bleeding. She squinted
her eyes, hoping to see some kind of movement, but it was too far away
to tell. She had this awful feeling that the man was dead and she would
be soon to follow.
Only she wouldn’t be staying dead for long.
"Spike," Willow said, trying to distract him.
He didn’t remove his eyes from Buffy for a second. With his thumb, he
stroked the side of her neck without moving his hands away from anything.
"Quiet, baby. Daddy has to get us out of here."
Oz couldn’t take it any more. He made a rush for Spike, making an attempt
to knock him over. Unfortunately, Spike had been anticipating that move.
He clung to Willow with one arm, but flipped Oz over on his back with the
other. Viciously with his heel, he trounced down upon the boy’s collarbone,
smiling at the loud crack.
***
In that same moment, a number of things happened at once.
While Spike was happily breaking the bones of his competition, Buffy
seized the opening she had been waiting for. At that exact instant, she
made a run for him, crashing into him and knocking him onto the ground
and freeing Willow.
The red head, fighting off waves of dizziness and aching muscles, picked
herself off the ground. She had made it all of about three steps when Spike’s
ice-cold hand reached around her ankle, despite a volley of punches from
Buffy across his face, and pulled her back down to the ground. He was starting
to drag her backwards, when a rather brutal right hook from Buffy forced
his hand to loosen. Willow then sprung up to her feet and over to Oz.
"Are you alright?" Willow asked.
Oz groaned. His eyes were rolling to the back of his head. She guessed
it was from pain, but it could be more. It was possible he was bleeding
internally. She had to get help.
She ran out of the room in her bare feet, nearly tripping over the security
guard, Garibaldi. She heard him moan slightly as she passed. Good, that
meant he was still alive.
Unfortunately, that floor of the hospital was empty for that time of
day. Most people were on the lower floors in preparation for surgery and
the rest were still sleeping. There had to be someone around there who
could…
A tall, dark skinned man stepped into her view. He looked up, quite
surprised to see her.
"I’m surprised to see you moving at all," Franklin said. "To be honest,
Ms. Rosenberg, I think you should turn yourself right around and…"
"Doctor, there’s a problem," Willow said. "My friends came to... to...
to check on me and this guy, he broke in and I think he stabbed a security
guard," Willow said through a series of gasps.
Franklin looked down at her with a serious look on his face. He reached
over the nurse’s desk to pick up the phone. "I’m going to call security.
Until they get here you just stay with… Hello? We need secur…"
Before he could finish the ‘ity’ part of the word, two men, armed and
clad in military fatigues ran down the hall.
Franklin set down the phone with an amazed look on his face. "Wow. That
was fast."
***
"You sure this is the right way,?" Forest said, nearly out of breath
as he followed Riley past a bewildered doctor and patient. He tried to
suck it in. There was only two of them and one of her. If it turned out
she was not of the friendly nature and Riley was right, that she was a
violent enemy, he couldn’t afford to be anything other that 100%.
"I saw her go up this flight of stairs," Riley said.
"Yeah, but how do you know she got off on this floor? Wouldn’t she have
gone to the emergency room?" He was having his doubts. There was something
about this whole situation that made him feel very uncomfortable. Something
just wasn’t fitting right and it truly did bother him that he couldn’t
see what that was.
"Maybe," Riley said. "But I just got a feeling here."
"Remember the last time you had a feeling and a hostile took out a piece
of Forest over here?"
"It was dark."
"It's ALWAYS dark with them. We need to go with logic here, not gut
instincts."
A blond woman was thrown through a doorway and onto the floor in front
of them.
Buffy.
Forest looked to Riley. "I stand corrected." He reached down to pick
Buffy up off the floor, but instead found himself being thrown into a wall.
Riley brought his fist up for a punch, but pulled back when he saw something
he didn't expect. Hostile 17 strolled out of the hospital room. He went
for his gun, but the vampire grabbed his hand before he could move and
yanked it towards him... HARD. His shoulder was dislocated now. He tried
to ignore the sudden pain so he could defend himself, but he didn't have
the chance. Spike pulled his head down and his knee up fast, breaking Riley's
nose and throwing him off to the side.
He had one last thought before blackness took over.
< She's with him... >
***
"I don't think that was security," Willow said.
"You might be right," Franklin said. "I'm going to call again."
Before he had the chance to reach for the phone again, Buffy came running.
"Willow, we have to leave... now," Buffy said firmly.
"But what about Oz?" Willow asked. He was still in that room and Spike
was running about.
"The commando guys are here. They're gunning for me and Spike is still
here. None of them are interested in Oz... Now we need to leave. Get out
into the sun where he can't get to you."
Franklin took that moment to speak up. "Now wait a second here. She's
still hurt. No one is going anywhere."
"Wrong about that one, mate," Spike said, briskly walking towards them.
Buffy stood to block them from him. Spike's fist shot out to her face.
Unfortunately, Buffy was not quick enough to block it. She went flying
over the station and onto the ground.
Spike smiled at Willow.
"Come along now, pet. You know there isn't anything left to help you."
Willow looked around frantically. There had to be a pencil or something
around here. Yes! There was one! She picked it up and held it up.
Spike's eyes lit up in bemusement. "Luv, you know I'm not going to hurt
you."
"No, just kill me, right?"
"That's the plan." He stepped closer and took the pencil out of her
hand, gently. "It's not really going to be that bad. You won't be afraid
of anything anymore. All those people who ever mistreated you... They'll
get theirs. You'll stay just as you are until the sun explodes."
"I don't want to be a vampire."
"I'm not asking you want you want right now. After, I will."
He took her by the shoulders and exposed her neck with a free hand.
Then he clamped his teeth down on her neck.
Again, she felt the blood being pulled out of her veins. He couldn't
do this to her now, could he? There were too many people and Buffy was
right nearby! She struggled violently in his arms, but ever so slowly,
she began to weaken.
"No," she whispered.
"I'd have to agree," a British voice said.
Spike withdrew and turned around to a face full of holy water. He jumped
back, flinging Willow into the waiting area, conveniently bathed in sunlight.
With his face blistered and smoking, he turned to see Giles, armed with
a stake, a bruise, and a very unpleasant disposition. The former Watcher
had him by surprise and continued to use it. He gave Spike a sharp shove
into the sunlight, causing more screams and smoke.
Spike quickly regained control of his senses and leapt out of the path
of the rays. He snarled, ready for more, but Giles had acted quickly. He
stood near the window, holding Willow up in safety.
He smirked. As if a little pain would stop him.
However, a pissed off Slayer might. Buffy had come back in full force.
She rushed Spike full on, knocking him to the floor. He flung her off,
and sprang to his feet, ready for a fight.
Then, more of the soldier wannabes came up the stairs.
Giles looked alarmed. "Buffy, leave."
Buffy hesitated a moment, then made herself scarce. They were safe now.
Spike couldn't do anything now. Too many people with big guns.
Spike also faltered. He stood at the border between the sun and the
shadows. He wanted to reach over and pull her with him, but she was just
out of his reach with a Watcher. The other man was holding up a cross.
Willow was barely conscious.
"Oh... bloody HELL!" Spike said, furious.
Quickly, he took off before the commandos could do anything.
Franklin had been standing by, taking the whole scene in. Garibaldi
came stumbling over to him, clutching his neck. Willow, in her daze, smiled.
He hadn't died.
"I'm thinking about transferring over to Chicago," the guard said. "Want
to come."
Franklin just nodded. This place had just gotten a little too strange,
even for him.
Seventeen
***
"Giles you can stop now," Willow said, brushing him away. For the better
part since her arrival back to the sheltered safety of his home, he and
Oz had been rather fussy over her. Not that she didn’t enjoy a little attention,
especially Oz’s, but she did want a few moments alone to
"Now Willow, you’ve lost a lot of blood," Giles protested.
"You don’t think I know that? I was there," Willow protested, with a
hint of mirth in her voice. She slightly amazed herself at how calm she
was given what the situation was the night before. She had almost been
killed three times in a single evening. She wondered if her mind was protecting
her from the severity of what the possible consequences might have been
or if she had seen so much in the past few years that she had finally became
desensitized against the machinations of the Hellmouth. Perhaps it was
a little bit of both.
In the cases of Giles and Oz… and Xander once he got there, it was a
completely different story. While she had been unconscious or flitting
somewhere in between, it was all burned very clearly in their minds. They
had nearly lost someone tonight. Giles had almost lost one of his comrades.
Oz, his girlfriend, and Xander had just been told is best friend was nearly
killed.
What Buffy felt, she didn’t know. Somehow she got the sensation Buffy
was doing something similar to how she was blocking, but for a completely
different reason. After she was semi-forced to rest, Giles had told her
of Buffy’s discovery and the following events, including the potential
demise of the psychology professor who apparently was a lot more than what
she
She sighed. Really, she should have known life would still be like this.
In Sunnydale, very little was what it appeared to be on face value. Why
should college be any different. Once again she found herself wondering
if she would indeed survive to finish school. It seemed unlikely, but hey,
she made it through the mayor’s ascension, hadn’t she?
Xander came through the door, trailed by Anya, both of them carrying
brown bags. She smiled, not so much from joy to see them, but from a nice
break from all the fussing going on.
"Xander… Anya… hi!" Willow said brightly. She tried to get off the sofa
and out of the blanket, but Oz wouldn’t let her. She smirked at him and
he looked about ready to laugh. Time had strengthened his resistance to
the Resolved Face. Clearly, that was something she was going to have to
work on.
"Hey Wills," Xander said. "How ya feeling, bud?" Xander said, sitting
down on the couch next to Willow. Anya took a place in a chair seated beside
him and opened up one of the bags.
"I’m feeling better. Not do a handstand on the coffee table better,
but a vast improvement," Willow said.
"Yeah, you can tell she is feeling better when the big words start getting
used," Xander explained to Anya. A small cushion flew at his head.
"Hey," Xander said looking at Willow.
Willow just grinned. Then she turned her attention to the bags. "Hey,
what did you bring?"
"Chocolate. After extensive research I’ve found it makes a human woman
very content," Anya said with a very serious, yet triumphant tone in her
voice. "It also makes Xander giddy."
"It does not," Xander protested.
"Does to," Anya said.
"I would have to agree," Giles said. Beside him, Willow and Oz both
nodded.
Xander just waved them off and dug into the bag. "Ah ha! Hostess cupcakes!"
"See? It does make you giddy. I heard that giggle," Anya said.
Xander just grinned sheepishly and handed one over to Willow. "So,"
he said in between bites, "Where’d the Buffmeister go?"
Giles’ face sobered up some. "After our latest encounter with Spike
in the hospital, she has taken on somewhat of an undercover mission."
"But not the fun kind," Willow said. "When he says undercover, he doesn’t
mean secret agent. He means under the cover of dark, as in hiding. The
commando guys think that Buffy killed someone."
"Here we go again with Buffy taking the blame for the vampires violent
shenanigans, " Xander said. "But wait, it’s not the police after her, is
it?"
"No, not to my knowledge," Giles said. "And I don’t imagine they would
be brought into this, at least in the pursuit of Buffy. These people are
dealing with things they do not want to law documenting in reports, meaning
they want to keep it on the inside. They would look for her themselves."
"Vigilantes," Willow said.
"Yes, of a sorts," Giles agreed. "But this time it’s a bit more dangerous…
We don’t know who these people are… they could be anyone."
"And Spike’s out there, too," Oz added, his face dark.
"Yes, that, too. She now has a battle to face on two fronts."
***
"I can't believe it was her, Forest," Riley said, pulling a boot on.
Well, he was trying to pull a boot on. He found he didn't quite seem to
have the same energy he used to. It seemed to take the last bit of his
reserve to even breathe.
Forest looked down. For the first time in his life, he didn't have an
answer. He didn't know how to make his commander feel better, stronger.
Well, he knew one way, he just didn't know how to prove it.
"It might not have been her," he tried to say.
Riley shook his head. "We don't know that it's not."
"Well, we can look into it. Hell, we have to investigate the damn thing
on our own anyhow."
Riley just looked down on the floor. He didn't know what to say or think.
There was just this dull ache inside of his chest. It was bad enough to
have Walsh die so brutally on their own grounds... but to see her standing
over the body...
"Things aren't always what they seem... That's practically our credo,"
Forest continued. "Think about it. She might have been coming in early
to ask about that test she took last week. Walsh did take her time with
the papers."
Somehow, Riley managed to smile. "Which is why I would get dumped with
them."
Forest joined him in the sad smile. "Yeah... You did. Now really think
about it. Did she look like she had attacked her. There would have been
blood on her clothing, yes?"
Riley looked thoughtful. "You're right."
"Of course. I'm always right."
"Let's not push it. Wait, why did she run."
"Hello... You had a gun trained on her!"
"Good point."
"Thank you. Now... Maybe you should sit this one out. Can't go into
all this with your head all messed up in a dark place. I'm going to go
back and see if I can't dig up something new. Money says it was a hostile."
Riley nodded, his expression returning to numb.
"Be careful."
"I won't be gone a minute."
***
"Bloody hell."
Spike kicked a rock in the tunnel he had taken refuge in. A few of his
belonging lay strewn about. All of Harmony's things had been gone. The
little bint had left. Good riddance. He was not in the mood to deal with
her and her reaction to his new obsession. Perhaps she had some idea. After
all, what was left of his was blackened and burned.
He hoped she was far away. His Sex Pistols tape was shredded.
He sat down on a rock. He had to think. His alternative plans were also
ashes. The commando boys were something new. It sure made going outside
a lot more dangerous. He didn't like that, much preferring being the hunter
to the hunted.
He smirked. Little red was probably tucked away sleeping now. She looked
so peaceful with her eyes closed, with that little half smile on her face...
He shifted into his vampire guise. He had her in his arms! Three times
and each time they found away to pull her out of his embrace.
They would have to be dealt with.
Painfully.
***
Forest felt violently ill when he walked into the professor's office.
Her body was gone now, but blood still stained the carpet and the place
was still in a complete disarray.
"Damn," he breathed. "I'm not ready yet... Who was I kidding?" He lowered
his head, guilt filling his insides. They should have known to protect
her. Willow shouldn't have been used as bait and Walsh should have had
a guard on her. Hadn't they mentioned protection at the last meeting.
It was their own faults. They had been so confident...
He walked deeper into the room, his face bathed in sunlight.
There had to be something in here he could use. Something...
The shade fell down, darkening the room.
Forest didn't have the chance to turn around before another kind of
darkness descended on him.
***
-Fast as you can, baby run-free yourself of me
Fast as you can
***
I may be soft in your palm, but soon I'll grow
Hungry for a fight, and I will not let you win
My pretty mouth will frame the phrases that will
Disprove your faith in man
So if you catch me trying to find my way into your
Heart from under your skin
Fast as you can
Fast as you can, baby scratch me out, free yourself
Fast as you can
***
Sometimes my mind don't shake and shift
But most of the time, it does
And I get to the place where I'm begging for a lift
Or I'll drown in the wonders and the was
And I'll be your girl, if you say it's a gift
Cuz I'm tired of whys, choking on whys
***
I let the beast in and then;
I even tried forgiving him, but it's too soon
So I'll fight again, again, again, again
And for a little while more, I'll soar the
Uneven wind, complain and blame
The sterile land
But if you're getting any bright ideas, quiet dear
I'm blooming within
***
I never claimed to be your savior
I said I had a dirty mouth
Stop analyzing my behavior
If you're too dumb to work it out
You know I hate to disappoint
A masochistic lamb to slaughter
Maybe you miss the point?
***
just one thing on me mind right now."
slow motion.
I'm feeling small
I'm climbing the walls
I don't let it show
I bet you wish you could let it go
You'll never come sucking your thumb
Better off dumb
***
***
amount of blood.
meet his face.
Maybe I could write a letter
To help me with my self-esteem
You should get to know me better
No one's ever what they seem
***
I'm feeling small
Climbing the walls
I don't let it show
***
The window burns to light the way back home
A light that warms no matter where they go
They're off to find the hero of the day
But what if they should fall by someone's wicked way
***
Still the window burns
Time so slowly turns
And someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames
Do you feel your name?
Did you hear your babies crying?
Mama they try and break me
Still they try and break me
***
Excuse me while I tell them how to feel
These things we turn to me that still seem real
Now deservingly this easy chair
But the rocking starts the wheels of this play
***
Franklin checked the fluid in the IV bag attached to his patient. She
had improved some. she wasn't out of the woods yet, but she had made it
through the night okay. That was a very good sign and he decided to stay
optimistic.
Don't want your hate
But the fist I make
For you still no fear
No not on me
So please excuse me while I tell them how I feel
***
But now the dreams end
And now the dreams end
They everlast the night
So build a wall
Behind it crawl
And hide until it's light
So can you hear your babies crying now?
***
Sucker love is heaven sent.
You pucker up, our passion's spent.
My hearts a tart, your body's rent.
My body's broken, yours is spent.
Carve your name into my arm.
Instead of stressed, I lie here charmed.
Cuz there's nothing else to do,
Every me and every you.
***
Sucker love, a box I choose.
No other box I choose to use.
Another love I would abuse,
No circumstances could excuse.
In the shape of things to come.
Too much poison come undone.
Cuz there's nothing else to do,
Every me and every you.
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
***
Sucker love is known to swing.
Prone to cling and waste these things.
Pucker up for heavens sake.
There's never been so much at stake.
I serve my head up on a plate.
It's only comfort, calling late.
Every me and every you.
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
***
Like the naked leads the blind.
I know I'm selfish, I'm unkind.
Sucker love I always find,
Someone to bruise and leave behind.
***
All alone in space and time.
There's nothing here but what here's here's mine.
Something borrowed, something blue.
Every me and every you.
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
Every me and every you,
Every Me...he
***
And it feels right this time
On this crash course we're in the big time
Pay no mind to the distant thunder
Beauty fills his head with wonder, boy
***
Says it feels right this time
Turn around, found new high lights
Good day to be alive sir
Good day to be alive, he said
***
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just a freight train coming your way
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just the freight train coming your way
***
Don't it feel right like this
All the pieces fall to his wish
Suck up for that quick reward boy
Suck up for that quick reward they said
***
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
is just a freight train coming your way
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just the freight train coming your way
It's coming your way
It's coming your way
Here comes
***
Yeah, Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your
tunnel
Is just a freight train coming your way, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Then it comes to be, yeah
Down in the depths of my fiery home
The summons bell will chime
Tempting you and all the earth
To join our sinful kind
There is a job to be done and I'm the one
You people make me do it
Now it is time for your fate and I won't hesitate
To pull you down into this pit
***
So come on
Jump in the Fire
So come on
Jump in the Fire
***
With hell in my eyes and with death in my veins
The end is closing in
Feeding on the minds of man
and from their souls within
My disciples all shout to search you out
And they always shall obey
Follow me now my child not the meek or the mild
But do just as I say
***
Jump by your will or be taken by force
I'll get you either way
Trying to keep the hellfire lit
I am stalking you as prey
Living your life as me I am you see
So reach down grab my hand walk with me through the land
Come home where you belong
***
You say you heard every word, but I watched you turn away
Your eyes grew colder than winter
"Love is so intrusive" I thought I heard you say
And laugh so unconvincingly
***
breathe.
said.
Famous last words, "I'm not ready yet"
"I won't be gone a minute."
***
Narrow is the road and too high a price to pay
When loneliness is such a sanctuary
Empty are the musings and wasted are the days
When you said you were only waiting
***
And famous last words, "I'm not ready yet"
"I won't be gone a minute" and I won't forget
Famous last words...
***
...You say you heard every word. I watched you turn away
You were only waiting.