Chapter Eight

"Sleeping With the Enemy"

Part One

Written by Phil

*

Buffy came awake very slowly, her head pounding as if she had been kicked repeatedly by a mule. Well, possibly a mule on steroids; really, really powerful steroids. After the terrific pain in her head, the next sensation she experienced was nausea, as the throbbing in her skull mixed with the smell of stale alcohol that hung all around her. It was all she could do from tossing the contents of her stomach all over the bed.

The bed. Spike’s bed. The bed where she had just spent the better part of the night and early morning…Oh My God. What have I done?

That, of course was the question, wasn’t it? Or more to the point, why? What could she have possibly thinking, although even as she formed the question a part of her was telling her exactly what she had been thinking and what with. No, she chided herself; I am not going to even think about that. Clothes. Clothes would be of the good right now.

Sitting up slowly, and not without some pain, she scanned the crypt cavern for her blouse and jeans, discovering that they were nowhere near the bed. The bra and panties were lost causes; she remembered that part of the evening’s lust-a-thon only too well. Chiding herself for being the biggest moron in Sunnydale, or at least the biggest since Harmony Kendall had left town, she slipped out from under the covers and grabbed the jeans from off the floor.

Harmony. Buffy hadn’t given the dumbest vampire in the history of the known universe a thought in a while, but now she couldn’t help it. Great, I’ve just screwed Harmony’s ex-boyfriend. What in the Hellmouth does that make me? She thought as she pulled the jeans on and attempted to zip them up, even as she remembered that Spike had torn off the top button with his teeth….

Such a good question, to quote Giles. Oh, great. Giles. She remembered what he had told her about staying away from Spike just before he had left. Was that only two months ago? It seemed like a lifetime. A lifetime that she had just managed to blow to hell in a few hours. Giles had been pissed off enough when she had gotten engaged to Spike that one time because of Willow’s wacky ‘My will be done’ spell. What was he going to say when he found out she was literally sleeping with enemy. Even as she thought that though, she realized she no longer really thought of Spike as the enemy. He was…, well there was no clear-cut way to describe Spike anymore in relation to her life, but he certainly wasn’t that anymore.

Okay, genius, so what is he then? The nagging voice in the back of her brain kept at her as she found her blouse lying on top of Spike’s recliner, the majority of the buttons torn from it as well. Other than the best lay of your entire, admittedly limited, sex life. Dammit. That was one place where she didn’t want to revisit again. And yet…

To say that the sex had been the most intense physical experience she had ever had was probably not too far from the truth. If someone were to ask her to describe it in one word, Buffy would have been forced to say volcanic, which would have made her die of sheer embarrassment in and of itself. It certainly hadn’t approached anything resembling the emotional purity of her one, perfect night with Angel. Nothing ever could. But on a purely primal overload level? In this case, she would have to use a favorite expression of Xander’s: ‘Zoiks and Jinkies.’

As she finished doing up the few remaining buttons on her virtually un-wearable blouse, she found her gaze being drawn back to the bed, and to the cause of the destruction of her wardrobe. He was lying on his back peacefully, appropriately sleeping the sleep of the dead. God, he really is beautiful, she thought to herself in what was getting to be a very bad habit.

A bad habit. Is that what Spike was to her? Something that she just couldn’t stay away from, no matter how bad she needed to. Yeah, that’s it. He’s bad for me, no matter how much I think I want him. This was a mistake, pure and simple. It will never happen again. I cut double mocha lattes out of my diet. I can do the same with platinum blonde vampires.

With that, the Slayer gathered up what was left of her badly shaken resolve and left the chamber, never looking back at Spike, who remained motionless on the bed. The dawn was just breaking as she emerged from the crypt, and she stopped just for a moment to marvel as the Sun sketched its morning patterns across the eastern sky. Taking a deep breath, Buffy shook off the doubts that were beginning to form in her mind and began the journey from the Kingdom of the Dead back to the land of the living.

**

It was well past 7:30 when Buffy walked through the front door, finally reaching the safety and comfort of her home. Not wanting to disturb Tara, she quietly crept upstairs to her room and quickly changed out of her ruined clothing. As she did, she couldn’t help but smelling Spike’s scent all over them, his cigarettes and bourbon in particular. That brought back memories that she didn’t want brought back. Putting on a sweatshirt and a faded pair of blue jeans, she decided to trash the old clothes later, when nobody was around to ask potentially embarrassing questions.

Heading back downstairs to the kitchen, Buff planned to get something to eat without making Tara aware of her presence, and the fact that she had been out all night, but her hopes were dashed as she discovered the witch sitting at the breakfast table, pouring over the contents of a large, leather-bound book. Tara didn’t acknowledge the Slayer’s presence as she entered the house, not even to look up as Buffy casually opened the refrigerator door, trying to pretend that she wasn’t desperately hungry. Sex had always given her a huge appetite. In fact, the better it was, the more ravenous she became. Riley had once joked that his ego got boosted every time she wanted to go out afterwards to eat a pancake breakfast at the I-HOP on Route 58. This morning she could have devoured the contents of several large French restaurants.

Quickly grabbing and peeling a banana off the top of the refrigerator, she gulped the fruit down in a couple of perfunctory bites, reveling in the taste. Deciding that she wanted something to drink, she took a few scoops from the coffee can and turned on the coffee maker. Noticing that Tara had still not acknowledged her presence, she tried to start up a conversation.

"Hey, Tara. You want a cup?"

"Ummm?" was the only response she got.

"Coffee. Do you want some?" she asked again, a little puzzled by the response. Tara was usually bright and chipper in the morning, a trait that Dawn never ceased to complain about. The again, the list of things that Dawn liked to complain about must be about three miles long by now.

"Uhh, yeah. I guess." The witch never pulled her eyes out of the book. Instead she continued to read, thoroughly engrossed, only stopping occasionally to turn the page, or make a brief note on the legal pad she had perched on her lap.

Buffy waited while the coffee finished, then poured it into two cups and sat down at the table across from her friend, offering her a mug. When Tara failed to respond, Buffy cleared her throat rather forcefully, which caused the other woman to look up at her for the first time since she had entered the kitchen.

Tara looked rough, as in "I’ve been wrestling live alligators all night armed only with a pocket knife’ rough. There were large purplish circles under her eyes that were threatening to turn into a particularly ugly shade of black. It was obvious that she hadn’t gotten any sleep the previous evening. Nodding silently, she took the mug from Buffy and proceeded to go back to what she had been doing.

Growing a bit concerned, Buffy scanned the cover of the volume in Tara’s hands, hoping to strike up a conversation.

‘The Origin and Mythology of Mind Control Spells," huh? A little light reading before bedtime? You may want to try something else next time though Tara cause you’ve totally missed it. That’s okay, though. I can pick Dawn up if you’re too…"

The rest of the sentence died on her lips as Tara looked back at her with haunted eyes. Buffy had seen her look hurt before, devastated even. She’d never seen her this…possessed.

"I can’t figure it out, Buffy. I’ve looked all night long and he’s not in here. There’s nothing in here about how he’s doing it." She sounded as if she had been pushed beyond the point of all reason.

"Okay, you’re going to have to slow down and run that by me again, because I didn’t get any of that. Who is doing what to who? And who is he?"

"Crispin." The name sounded like a curse on Tara’s lips. "He’s casting some kind of mind control spell on Willow. He’s the reason she’s been behaving the way she has. I thought I could find something on him at the Magic Box but this is the best reference that Anya could find and he’s just not in here."

"Tara," Buffy began carefully. "Are you sure that you really know what you’re saying? I know we’ve all had our doubts about him, but what you’re suggesting, is, well it’s…"

"Evil?" Tara replied coolly. "Trust me, Buffy. I know how demented I sound, but I’m not delusional and I’m not acting out of petty jealousy. He tried to cast some sort of spell on me yesterday. He’s incredibly powerful…and evil. I felt it. He has to be controlling Willow. It’s the only thing that makes any sense." She still sounded desperate, but Buffy could hear something else in her voice. Resolve.

She’s absolutely convinced of this, she thought. And to be fair, as far fetched as a powerful witch like Willow being led around by the nose seemed, the simple fact of the matter was that this was still the Hellmouth. Anything could happen here. Besides, Tara was convinced of it and if there was one thing that Buffy had learned in the past couple of years, it was that Tara’s instincts were usually right.

"All right," she said, making up her mind. "I believe you. You’re right, it would explain a lot of Willow’s weirdness lately. Do you have any idea at all how he’s able to do it? I mean, he’s got to be some kind of demon, right?"

"Maybe," Tara replied hesitantly. "Anya hadn’t heard of any demon species that practiced that kind of magic though. At least now the kind that would affect a witch as strong as Willow is. It’s very powerful magic, Buffy but it’s incredibly subtle too. I don’t think most demons could pull something like that off. I don’t know though. Anya and I are totally baffled by it."

"So you’ve discussed this with her and Xander already then?"

Tara shook her head. "Just Anya. She told me that I was grasping at straws because Willow had obviously outgrown the allure of lesbian chic and returned to worshipping at the altar of the penis, but she agreed to help me anyway. I think she’s starting to have her own doubts about Crispin too, though. She mentioned that Xander’s been suspicious as hell."

"Well, that’s Xander for you. Suspicion is his middle name. Actually, it’s really Lavelle, but I think we’re all agreed that suspicion sounds a lot better."

Tara smiled wanly at that, finally showing some signs of the inner beauty that Buffy knew she possessed in huge quantities. "So, if we all agree that something bad is going on, what do you want to do about it?"

Buffy folder her hands underneath her chin, mulling over her rather limited options. "Okay, I don’t see a lot of room to play with here. If you and Anya can’t get a handle on this guy, I only know one person who could.

"Giles, you mean."

Buffy nodded. "In the watcherly flesh. Or actually not… since he’s still in Merry Old England playing sleuth. We can work around it though. We’ll call him and get his advice. If there’s some record of this guy anywhere, Giles will know where it is."

"That makes sense," the witch agreed. "Do you want me to call him and let him know what’s going on?"

No, that’s all right. I think I’ll let Anya set it up for us. She keeps in better touch with him than I do these days, what with the store and all. You go get some rest and I’ll pick Dawn up this afternoon."

"Thanks. I really am beat. So, do you think Giles will have the answers we need?"

Buffy grimaced. "He’ll have to. I swear Tara; I don’t know what else could possibly go wrong. First we have these damn vampires from Hades running all over town and now we have this guy…"She stopped in mid-sentence as a small, nagging feeling that had been residing somewhere in the darkest corners of her brain suddenly pushed it’s way to the top of her thoughts. "Oh, crap."

"What?" Tara asked her worriedly.

"Damn it. I’m so stupid. It actually makes sense now." Buffy shook her head in amazement at her own obtuseness.

"Buffy, what are you talking about? What makes sense?"

"The gang that couldn’t bite straight. We’ve always known that they had somebody pretty powerful behind them. ‘What’s her teeth’ said as much the first time I met her and Spike’s sources all say the same thing. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve just figured out who their boss is."

Tara looked stunned at her friend’s turn of logic. "You’re right. That does make perfect sense. I don’t know why we didn’t make the connection before."

Buffy shrugged. "I’m not sure. Maybe Willow’s boyfriend is casting an idiot spell to go along with the mind control ones. If you stop and think about it though, it’s almost too obvious. Say you want to take over Sunnydale and you know that the only thing standing between you and it is us. What do you do you do? You go after the strongest member of the group and turn her to your side, while you keep the rest of us busy with los vampiros. "

"Divide and conquer, you mean," agreed Tara, catching on.

"Uh huh. And we fell for it, like a bunch of rookies. God, if I had known that being dead for five months was going to make me this rusty, I wouldn’t have bothered."

Tara snorted at Buffy’s attempt at gallows humor. "So, what do we do now that we know they are probably connected?"

"Nothing we can do right now, other than what we planned. We’ll talk to Giles tonight and lay out the sitch for him. Right now, you go to bed and get some sleep."

"Check. On my way to sleepsville, right now. Uhh, do you have any plans for the day?"

"Yeah, I’m going to eat breakfast. I’m absolutely starving," the Slayer replied as the witch turned to leave the kitchen. "Say Tara, you don’t happen to know where the pancake mix is, do you?"

***

It was just after 6:30 in the evening when the Scooby gang assembled in the training room of the Magic Box. Xander was the last one to file in, muttering apologies about having to work overtime to get a load-bearing wall put up. Not bothering to ask what that was, Buffy launched into Slayer mode.

"Okay, everybody knows what’s going on, right? That we think that Willow’s professor is putting some sort of whammy on her to make her act all Dark Phoenix?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, I got the full scoop from Anya." He nodded at his fiancée’ who was busy hooking up a speakerphone. She smiled back at him but kept working. "I gotta say Buffy, that it sounds more logical than Anya’s power-mad bitca theory."

"Oh, I don’t know about that…" Dawn began but Buffy quickly cut her off.

"Dawn, it’s not the time for that right now."

The teen started to reply, saw the determined look on her older sister’s face and thought better of it. Instead she put on one her best pouty faces and shifted restlessly in her chair. After a few minutes, she looked around and asked.

"Hey, Buffy, how come Spike’s not here? I thought this was to be like this big Scooby war council thingie. You’re gonna need the Big Bad to help fight the big bad, right?"

"Umm, let’s just take this one step at a time," Buffy said, as calmly as she could, even though internally she was screaming: He’s not here because I am never going near him again! "This is research mode, not head knocking time. When we need him, I’ll let him, and you know. Okay, Dawnie?" Now, shut up and stop asking embarrassing questions you annoying little snit!

"Fine, whatever," and the girl lapsed back into her sullen routine, which for once, Buffy was grateful for. Tara, who had been sitting quietly next to Dawn reached out and patted her on the shoulder in sympathy, while giving Buffy a ‘take it easy‘ look.

"Hey Anya, how are we doing over there?" Buffy asked, trying to get her thoughts off a certain blonde vampire, and failing miserably at it. She had been brooding about walking out on him, and the reasons for it, all day. Now she was nearly a nervous wreck, at the one time she had to be on top of everything at once.

The ex-vengeance demon smiled triumphantly. "Got it. Whenever you’re ready, just say the word and you get instant conference call. You gotta love modern communications technology. It’s the cornerstone of the current dominance of the American capitalist system…"

"Just make the call," Buffy said through clenched teeth.

After what seemed a very long moment of endless ringing, there was a click at the other end of the line and a very tentative "Hello?"

"Giles?" Buffy asked, a combination of hope and relief sweeping through her at the sound of her watcher’s voice.

"Buffy? Is that you? Yes, it’s me. Err, how are you?"

Hoping she didn't sound too, well hopeless, she chuckled grimly. "Oh let’s see. Vampires running loose, heavy use of witchcraft, possible demon mind control and my living room still has a giant hole in it. By the way, we are never having another meeting at my house. Did I miss anything guys? Nope that’s about it." Best to leave the all night sex party with the soulless vampire off the table for the moment.

There was a brief pause at the end of the line for a moment, followed by a ‘Oh dear lord." There was a split second where she could have sworn she heard him cleaning his glasses.

At this point, Xander chose to speak up. "Hey G man. How’s it going in the land of stiff and upper lips? Eat any good blood puddings lately?"

The change from bewilderment to mild annoyance in Giles voice was evident as he replied "What a pleasure it is to hear your voice again, Xander. I’ve missed the constant ringing in my ears. I take it that everyone is there, then Buffy?"
"Yes, we are," Anya leapt in.

"Me too," added Dawn. "And Tara."

"Yes, and Tara," Anya agreed cheerfully. "We’re all here."

"Except Spike." Dawn again.

"Yes, except Spike." Anya agreed again, just as cheerfully.

"Ahh, yes, the marvels of modern technology. Bloody nuisance if you ask me." The frustration in Giles voice was palpable. "At any rate, I believe Buffy called this meeting for a specific purpose? I suggest we focus on the matter at hand." Translation: quit wasting my time with you childish blathering, you twits. God, how she had missed Giles.

"Yeah, good idea," she said, glad to have the conversation back on track. "Did Anya fill you in on what’s been going on Giles?"

"She did mention that you suspect that Willow is under some sort of mind control spell or device, yes. Tara, you believe that this McDermott fellow tried to use it on you, correct?"

Tara nodded, and then realizing that Giles couldn’t actually see her replied, "Yes."

"Did you see him make any specific gestures or hear any incantations?"

"No, I just felt this overwhelming urge to believe everything he was telling me. It was incredibly compelling. I’m not sure how I shook it off, exactly."

"Hmm," was the only response she received from the speaker.

"So, Giles, any clues as to what’s going on?" Buffy asked.

"Well, to be honest, Buffy, I’m not sure what to tell you. There are all sorts of creatures that use spells that can be used to influence the human mind. From what you tell me though, it doesn’t sound like Willow is being controlled outright. It seems to be far more subtle than that, and most demons that I am aware of with this kind of power, don’t possess the patience or the intellect to attempt it, particularly against a magical adept of Willow’s caliber."

That was not what Buffy wanted to hear. "So, what? You’re saying we don’t have any way to identify this guy? That’s not exactly helping me out, you know. You watcher’s are supposed to have all the answers, remember?"

"What I remember is that your lack of patience is as well developed as it ever was." He snapped back at her. The others shifted somewhat restlessly in their seats at the sound of irritation in his voice. "Now, let me see. Are you sure you’re telling me everything about Willow. Have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary; besides her behavior?"

"Well…"Buffy began.

"Yes?"

"The last time I saw her she looked pretty bad. Umm, old I mean."

"Old?" was the reply.

"Yeah, she looked, oh well, at least forty-five. I thought she was just tired at the time so I didn’t say anything about it."

"Hmm."

"Would you stop ‘hmm’ing me, Giles? Do you have something or not?" She asked him, getting as irritated as he was.

"I’m not sure. I seem to recall reading something about this once when I was doing research on certain practitioners of the ancient black arts. It’s rather a fascinating topic really. I spent an entire summer just compiling texts from the Mesopotamian era…"

"As much as I would like to stroll down dusty memory lane with you, we’re kind of in a hurry," Buffy interjected, cutting him off in mid-ramble. "Do you have something for us nor not?"

"Err, possibly. I once read of an individual who could tap into a witch’s power source and bend her to his will or something along those lines. If I remember correctly the subsequent power drain does cause an effect that looks remarkably like premature aging. If this is what is going on, you’re probably not dealing with a demon."

"So, who and or what is this guy then?"

"It sounds like a warlock to me, an extremely old and powerful one, I’d wager. I don’t have a name for you off the top of my head though. Crispin McDermott isn’t ringing any bells, but then again if he really has been around a while, he’d hardly be likely to use his own name."

"So, what do we do?" she asked worriedly. "Go up to him and ask him which ancient evil warlock he is?"

"Hardly necessary," he replied. "Anya, are you still there?"

"Sure am, although I don’t think I know who he is either. There are several of the old warlocks still running around. I haven’t met them all." Anya told him.

"That’s quite all right, Anya. What I need for you to do is to go back into my private stock of research material and find a black, leather bound book. It will have "Tobin’s Guide to the Sorcerers" inscribed in Latin on the front. If our friend has been around a while, he may very well be in there."

"Okay, she agreed. "Tara you want to give me a hand. My Latin’s rather rusty."

"Sure," the witch replied, obviously glad to have something to do. She’d been even more quiet and withdrawn than usual since waking up this afternoon and Buffy remained worried about her emotional state. This thing with Willow was still taking a big toll on her

"Before you all go, I do need to stress something," Giles voice broke into Buffy’s consciousness. "If what you are dealing with is what I think it is, then you are all in a great deal of danger. It doesn’t help that Willow could be under his influence. You may be forced to take actions that go against, well…"

"You’re saying that we may have to fight Willow," Buffy finished for him, carefully noting the pained expression of Tara’s face as she did.

"I’m afraid that it’s a distinct possibility, yes." The watcher said wearily. "I think that it might be advisable to hold off any action until I can catch a flight back to California."

"No, we don’t have time for that," Buffy said determinedly. "This mess has been going too long as it is. I’ll tell you what we are going to do. We’re going to figure out who this guy is and what he’s up to…and then I am going to slay him. It’s that simple."

"Umm, Buffy, I hate to be a big buttinski here," Xander put in abruptly. "But what exactly do we do if Willow decides she doesn’t want you to, you know, kill her boyfriend to death?"

"He has a point, Buffy," Anya said. "She’s really powerful and since we’re working on the theory that he’s bending her to his will, you have to figure that he’s even more powerful than she is. We’re kind of outclassed in the magick department."

"In case you both didn’t noticed, we actually have a pretty strong witch of our own. Tara managed to drive off those vamps you know." Buffy replied, even though it was a concern that she had already considered herself.

"I also know that it made her sick for two days. Besides, we’re not talking about a bunch of vampires here. We’re talking about potentially taking on two very powerful practitioners of magick. More even, if that rat girl is in on it too…"

"Damn. I’d forgotten about Amy," Xander cut in. "She’s right, Buffy. I think we need to seriously rethink this whole thing."

Buffy shook her head vehemently. "No. We’re not going to back down. Not now. Something evil has Willow. Now is not the time to be wringing our hands and crying about how badly outnumbered we all are. In case you hadn’t noticed Xander, we are always outnumbered. We’re usually outclassed too. It’s never stopped us from winning in the end. Have you forgotten that we took on and beat a God this year? Or are you too busy agreeing with Anya to remember?"

"Yeah, I remember, " he said firmly. "I also remember the price we had to pay to do it. I think I speak for everyone here when I say I’m not prepared to go through that one more time. We lost you once. I don’t want to lose you again."

"And how about Willow? Are you prepared to lose her? Because if we sit on hands we just may…"she bit back angrily

"Has it ever occurred to you that we may already have?" He shot back at her. "Face it, Buffy. Willow’s changed. Even if we can figure out how what this guy is up to and show her how evil he is we may not be able to get through to her."

"Xander, how can you say that? Of course, we can get through to her. She’s still Willow. Come on guys, you all see that, right?" When nobody responded she found herself looking at the one person she could count on to agree with her. "Tara, you know I’m right."

Tara refused to meet her gaze. "I don’t know anymore, Buffy. I don’t know what I think or feel. It’s all just too…much."

"Buffy," Giles voice cut back into the conversation. "I think you should let Anya and Tara get started on their research. Perhaps Dawn and Xander will be able to give them a hand."

"But…" She started to protest, even as the others moved instinctively to obey Giles.

"Go ahead you lot, " her watcher reiterated firmly. "Buffy and I need to talk alone for a few minutes.

The rest of the group filed silently out of the training room, leaving a confused and shaken Slayer in their wake.