Spike growled softly, wishing he could turn on the radio but knew that would
irritate Willow.  He did not want to be driving back to Sunnydale, and he
especially did not want to be going back because of the idiots she used to
call friends.  Of course the minute they run into trouble they call Willow,
begging her to come help them on another prophecy.  And being the
softhearted person she is, she comes running to their aid.

He hoped that she would not let the bastards walk all over her again.  He
got tired the first time of them putting her away in a little box, and only
calling on her when she was needed. With friends like those, who needs
demons?

  The only reason he agreed to go back with Willow was to make sure his
fucking sire didn't hurt Willow worse than he already had.  Plus, the chip
was out, and he wanted revenge for the chaining in the bathtub and all the
other crap they did to him.

He flashed back to the conversation he heard between Bethany and Willow when
he was halfway awake after Beth took his chip out.

He was in pain; he knew this time that Beth had used a real knife instead of
a penny like that stupid initiative doctor.  While he was still in a fog:

"You're worried that he is going to kill you and your friends now." Was
Bethany's soft statement. He was curious how Willow would reply.

"Yeah, He said many times over the time that he was helping that as soon was
he got the chip out, we were dead." That hurt.  He may kill the others, but
he would never hurt Willow.  He loved her too much.

"I won't let him.  He may be my friend, but the only reason I'm taking this
out is to allow him to defend himself. If he kills you or the Slayer without
just cause, I will kill him myself." He suspected as much.  Bethany still
had her soul, and wouldn't let a killer lose indiscriminately.    Plus, he
knew she was perfectly capable of killing him if she thought he betrayed
her.

He softly chuckled at that.  Bethany was proof that a vampire with a soul
didn't have to be broody and wear all black like his sire. He had a
suspicion that the reason was Beth wasn't cursed by the damn gypsies.  No
one was quite sure how she had received hers, just that she did feel guilt
and repented for what she did.

He opened his eyes and Bethany helped him sit up.  He could smell a wave of
jealousy from Willow when the Bethany's hands cradled his face.  And the
wave grew stronger when she warned him in ghost that he was dust if he
killed and it wasn't in self-defense. Why would.oh she thought Beth was
whispering sweet nothings.

She seemed surprised when he left with her.

"I thought you were going to stay with Bethany." She stated in the car.

He growled softly to himself. Damn his sire for doing this to her.

"No. She's just a friend."

"What did she say in the conversation after you woke up?"

"If I kill without a good reason, I was dust." He summarized.

He grinned to himself.  He knew slutty was going to be her usual bitchy
self, and that he could kill her without Beth bringing down the stake. And
if he killed the others, he could claim all the shit they did to him in the
past.

He should have bloody known this was a trick.  The minute they walked into
the watcher's house he saw his sire, the cheerleader, the whelp, the watcher
and slutty.

"I'm sorry, Willow." The watcher started off.

"What for, Giles?" His mate asked.

"There was no prophecy.  Buffy made me lie to bring you back." His sire and
the slayer shared cat-got-the-canary expressions.

"How dare you?" Willow fumed.  Spike could feel her anger building.

"Willow, if you would have left Dead boy junior a long time ago this
wouldn't have happened." Spike growled at Xander's words.

Spike saw Willow's hurt look; he knew that her former best friend's words
hurt her, and that one major regret of hers was losing Xander over this
mess.

He was angry at his sire once again.  He didn't stay with slutty, he moved
on to the cheerleader. He hoped Willow didn't see the loving looks between
the two.
"You can't stay with just one woman, can you Angel." Willow snorted.

Spike chuckled, looks like she did see.

"Willow, leave that bastard now." Buffy said.

"No."

"Fine." Buffy said before throwing a stake at his heart and dusting him.

The last thing he saw was Angel holding his pissed off mate before
everything went black.  When he woke a few days later, he was in Sunnydale
and felt human again. His first instinct was to find Willow.   He hoped that
she would be at her parent's house.

He saw her crying in her room and lightly tapped on the glass.  They went
through a long I-can't-believe-your-back scene before they settled on her
bed and he explained, without really knowing how, what happened to him.

He smoothed a hand over her hair as she curled around him.

"Are you sure, luv?" He wanted to know if she was sure she could go through
with helping him get his revenge. Even though she disliked her "friends"
actions, was it enough for her to kill them?

"Yes."

The next night he followed the Slayer, laughing that she never sensed him.
She wasn't able to sense the subtle differences, just the huge ones such as
vampires or some demons. Some slayer she was, not even knowing something was
wrong until he knocked her out.

"Do you want me to get the whelp?" He asked Willow as he dragged the
unconscious slayer into the room.

"Leave Xander out of this, please." He didn't like it, but he would respect
her wishes. He wanted to get his hands on the boy for hurting Willow, but he
knew that killing him would hurt her more.

The look on her face was wonderful when she woke up, but she started to get
annoying with the repeated "but you're dead," and the screaming every time
he or Willow cut her.   He finally ripped out her throat to shut her up.

He left the body in the watcher's house, and playfully growled at Willow's
"Like sire, like childe" comment.

"Former childe, peaches isn't my sire anymore."

"I loved the look on his face when you walked into the room."

"It was bloody priceless."

They left Sunnydale for good, and vowed that no one would drag them back to
the Hellmouth.

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