Chapter 10 - Dealing

As Spike finished speaking, the only thing defying the terrible silence that filled the room was a strange tapping sound. Everyone turned to see Clem nervously patter his nails on the counter. Realising he was the focus of an extremely negatively charged attention, the demon instantly retracted his hand, dropping his shamed gaze to the floor.

“Sorry!” he squeaked.

And silence took over once more. Everyone tried to look busy, not knowing how to react to the news. Willow slowly melted back into her seat as she saw the familiar combination of anger and surprise in the Slayer’s eyes. She really didn’t want to be the target of that dagger-tossing gaze. Xander was left picking up his jaw off the floor, while Dawn just looked lost in the midst of everything.

Finally, Buffy swallowed hard before speaking in a barely audible voice: “You’ve had a soul for four months?”

“Give or take a few days… yeah.” Spike tried to seem cool and nonchalant about it, but failed miserably at it. His gaze frenetically jumped off the walls, onto the ceiling, down to the wooden floor and then back up the walls; it fell over everything but her.

“And you’re willing to give it up for Anya?” Xander dared to interrupt.

Spike didn’t answer verbally, merely nodded.

“Why?” was the young man’s next question.

The vampire seemed to ponder the answer for a split second and then spoke in the most cool and laid-back way he could muster: “Never got fond of it. Didn’t stick.” He shrugged “Plus the whole guilt trip is no fun ride.”

“How can you say that?” Dawn asked incredulous.

Spike looked at her, but quickly turned away. He couldn’t look at the young girl without feeling his stomach tie up in knots.

Noticing the rising tension in the room, Giles decided to intervene:

“Maybe we should all go home. Take a break…”

“No.” Xander immediately spoke out. “I want to know how we are going to do this. When?”

“The next time… Clem gets called we will follow him and…” Giles trailed off, lowering his head and gaze to the floor as the silence took over the room once more.

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Buffy walked home, nervously fidgeting with the edge of her blouse.

“Are you ok?” Dawn asked unsure if it was the right time to speak.

The Slayer was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear her sister’s question. Her mind wandered unknowingly through a storm when she felt Willow’s strong hand gripping her arm.

“Wha’?”

“Buffy, Dawn was talking to you.” The ex-witch said with a frown.

Buffy shook her head and gave her sister a ghost of a smile as she spoke: “I’m sorry Dawn. What were you saying?”

“Are you ok?” the young girl repeated the question.

“Yeah…” the Slayer sighed, rubbing her temples as her eyes drifted shut for a second. “I was just caught by surprise. That’s all.”

“You can say that again. Spike; with a soul. How weird is that?” Dawn pondered as she opened the door to her house and walked into the living room.

Buffy dragged her feet into the kitchen and leaned on the fridge for a while. Willow followed her in silence, observing her friend shaking her head against the cold white metal door. The ex-witch knew her well enough to know it was best to let the Slayer make the first attempt of starting a conversation, so she took a seat next to the counter and patiently waited. Soon the blond girl turned to face the redhead. She paused and took a deep breath before speaking:

“How did I notice?”

“Notice what?” Willow knew what she was talking about, but needed to make her say it.

“He has a soul. He’s had a soul ever since he came back and I didn’t even notice.” Buffy moved towards the sink and leaned on its edged, her back turned to her best friend.

“None of us did. How were we supposed to know?”

“Wasn’t he supposed to change, because of it?” Willow saw the deep frown over the Slayer’s forehead as she turned to face her.

“Change to what?”

“I don’t know. Be good?”

“What do you mean good? Not biting anyone?”

Buffy nodded.

“Not wanting to destroy the world and instead helping you save it?” Another nod. “Caring about others… like Dawn?” Nod. “Looking out for her? Watching over her?” Nod. “Buffy, he already used to do that even before he got the soul. Remember?”

Buffy stared blankly at the ex-witch before closing her eyes shut and sighed audibly.

“Then what difference does it make if he has a soul or not?” the Slayer finally said it.

“I don’t know. You tell me.” Willow asked in a low voice.

“Willow, you’re not helping.” Buffy exhaled sharply as her fingers came to rest on the bridge of her nose. “You’re suppose to tell me that if you have a soul your good and if not… you’re bad. Things would be a lot easier that way.”

Willow paused for a while before revealing what had been on her mind for along time now:

“I don’t think things are that simple anymore. Not since…”

The look of pain that swam in the ex-witch’s eyes was enough to let Buffy know what her friend was referring to. She nodded, silently forgiving her.

“Having a soul doesn’t mean automatically mean you’ll be good.” Willow pointed.

“I know, but-“

“Well, maybe the other way around is true too. Clem doesn’t have a soul. He’s a demon and he’s one of the sweetest creatures I know. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Yeah, but Spike’s a vampire, which equals evil, bloodsucking demon, not cute, floppy skinned demon.” Buffy argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Maybe things aren’t all black and white, like you’d like them to be.” Willow replied.

“But…”

“Why can’t you accept that Spike can be a good person… er… vampire without a soul?” Willow finally asked.

The two stood in silence as Buffy pondered what to say.

“If Spike…” God this is hard. She thought to herself. “If he could be good… without a soul…” Willow gave her friend a nod as an incentive to continue. “Why wasn’t Angelus?” she finally said it. “Why didn’t Angel love me when he lost his soul?”

There was a hint of nostalgia in her eyes as she spoke, but the most visible emotion hovering around her was uncertainty and doubt as her glassy eyes gazed into infinity. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Dawn’s approaching voice as the teenager walked into the room.

“What are we having for lunch?” she asked taking a seat next to the redheaded woman.

“I don’t know. Do you wanna order something?” the Slayer’s tone was cool and calm as she forced her heartbeat to slow down to an acceptable rhythm.

“Sure.” Dawn immediately agreed, standing up and making her way towards the phone. “Chinese or pizza.”

Buffy looked at Willow and the two answered in unison: “Pizza.”

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“Will you ever learn how to eat with your bloody hole shut?” Spike protested as he flipped the channels on the TV.

“Sowy!” Seeing the frown over the vampire’s eyebrows, the demon swallowed the gigantic slice of pizza and repeated more intelligible: “Sorry!”

Silence settled in between them once more, but it didn’t take long before Clem’s incessant tongue broke it.

“Whatcha watching?” before Spike could answer the demon continued: “Oh! I love this commercial. Look at all those cute little kittens.” He ran a floppy hand over his tummy and added: “I’m kinda hungry.”

“You just ate two whole pizzas and you’re hungry?” the vampire asked in disbelief.

Clem was about to answer when a knock on the door echoed through the murky walls of the crypt. Soon after, the doorknob was turned and a familiar face peeked into the room.

“Can I come in?” Buffy asked with uneasiness.

“Sure!” Clem welcomed the young girl with his trademark smile.

Spike looked anxiously at the figure that now stood in front of him, nervously fumbling with the hem of her shirt. They eyed each other suspiciously, both wondering what the other was thinking, both ignoring Clem’s extreme discomfort at the alarming silence settling around them. Finally, she spoke:

“Clem…”

“Yes!” the demon immediately answered relieved that someone had broken the silence.

“Could you…” she paused, slightly tilting her head towards the lower level of the crypt, but the demon was completely oblivious to her intentions. He stared wide-eyed as the Slayer’s movements became more apparent, in a disastrous attempt to enlighten Clem in the fine art of subtlety.

“Spare your neck muscles, Slayer, cause subtlety… not his strongest trait. “ Spike finally intervened.

“Guess not.” She mumbled rolling her eyed slightly as she ran her fingers over her now sore neck.

“What?” the demon was at a complete loss.

“Leave.” Was Spike’s short, straight to the point statement. “Me and the Slayer here need to suss out a few things.”

“Oh!” the demon exhaled, making his way to the front door.

“Clem!” the vampire called monotonically making the demon stop and turn to face him. “Downstairs. You can’t go out alone, remember? Calling and all?”

“Oh, right!” Clem lightly tapped his hand over his forehead. Midway to the stairs, by work of magic, the pieces finally seemed to fit in his head and he turned to look at the Slayer. “Ah! That’s why you were…” he tilted his head just like Buffy had done a few moments before. “Now I get it.” And he continued trotting his way downstairs while Spike slurred between clenched teeth:

“Eureka…”

As Clem disappeared into the lower level of the crypt, Buffy restarted her nervous fidgeting with her shirt, while Spike suddenly became extremely interested in the cracks that decorated the room’s ceiling

“So, what brings you to my humble home.” He finally spoke, waving his arms around.

For some reason, that simple question made her blood boil in her veins.

“You know very well what I came here for.” She hissed taking a step towards him.

He shrugged in the most nonchalant way possible, but there was something clearly mechanical in the way his shoulders moved, testifying to his discomfort with the whole situation.

“Why are you helping?” she decided to avoid the real subject.

“What do you mean?” the vampire asked, frowning in a pathetic attempt to seem confused.

“Why are you helping us?” she repeated.

“Don’t I usually do that?”

Touché. She thought.

“Yeah, but this time it’s different. You’ll loose your soul.” She tried to argue.

“Look, I like the unfiltered babbling of that crazed vengeance demon, believe it or not. She’s a good person. We…” his eyes immediately shot up the walls as he drew near the delicate subject. “She helped me… and by doing that she screw up what she had with the whelp. I owe her.” He could see her eyes becoming watery and bloodshot as he spoke, but that didn’t stop him. “She doesn’t-“

“Are you in love with her?” Buffy suddenly blurted out.

“What?” was his immediate reaction, his eyes wide; his mouth open in surprise.

“It’s a simple question: are you in love…” she was forced to swallow hard before she continued: “with her.”

“What?” he was still in some kind of shock. After all he had done for her, after all that had happen between them, how could she still doubt his feelings for her. How could she think he was in love with… Anya.

“Come on, don’t play dumb with me. I know you. You would never sacrifice yourself like this if it wasn’t for someone you love.” Her voice gradually grew in intensity as the rage crept up her throat and into her words. “I saw the way looked at her.”

“What? When?” the vampire was still lost. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you making googly eyes at each other when you first came to the Magic Box and the way you were all psycho when she wouldn’t wake up, pushing me out of the way. And-and now you’re all heroic, all ‘oh I’ll give up my soul for her.’ ” suddenly it seemed to dawn on her. “She knew you were back, didn’t she? She’s known all along.”

“WHAT? You’ve lost you’re wits for good. I guess all that dye just seeped into your brain and turned it into mush.”

“Did she know you were here before I did?” the Slayer walked towards the vampire with an accusing finger pointing at him.

“No!” he shouted. There was something in his answer that seemed truthful to her, so she decided to believe him.

“Are you in love with her?” she now stood inches from him; her face flushed with anger, her eyes glassy and red with anxiety. When he didn’t answer, she snapped. “I knew it!” she exhaled sharply, turning around and pacing the room, waving her arms around as she shouted. “You say you’re in love and you’ve changed and you’ll do anything for me… and the moment something goes wrong you just jump right into the next warm bed. Don’t you? Just like you did with Druscilla.”

Spike followed her around the crypt with his surprised gaze as she frenetically danced from one side to the other, completely entrenched in her own rambling.

“It’s love…” she mocked. “It’s forever… Oh, no wait… not forever, that would be too long. It’s only temporary, until I find another ho!”

“I find? You dumped me, remember?” he sighed frustrated as his finger waved between her and himself.

“Right and it hurt you soooo much that you decided to hump the closet warm body.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“As far as I know, the moment you broke up with me who or what I hump cessed to be any of your bloody business.” He hissed.

Buffy held her breath as she struggled to find something to say.

“What? No smart come back.” He mocked, folding his arms over his chest.

She paused for a second, took a deep breath and asked in a low tone: “Do you love her?”

“Whether I love her or not is none of you business.”

“I guess not.” She swallowed hard and began to turn on her heels, preparing to walk away, but stopped in mid stride, facing him.

“What?” he looked at her haughtily, leaning on the sarcophagus with his arms crossed over his chest.

Without warning she flung herself at him, snaking her arms around his neck, smashing her lips against his.

Chapter 11 - Revelations

Spike exhaled sharply as she pulled away from him, looking at him wide-eyed. Instinctively, he reached out, pulling her small body against his and bringing his mouth to hers. He could feel her heart frenetically pang against his chest, as if trying to break away. Arms collided and spared with the urgency of enveloping each other’s bodies, eventually his settled around her waist and hers around his neck. Buffy’s slender fingers dug long trenches through his thick, bleached hair as the need to deepen the kiss took over her.

The intensity grew, becoming overwhelming and she found herself gasping for air. Noticing Buffy’s erratic breathing, the vampire reluctantly pulled away and her nails dug into his scalp, refusing to back away. Spike forced his eyelids open and to his surprise he saw Clem from the corner of his eyes. Immediately, he gently pushed the Slayer to the side. Seeing the deep frown over her forehead and the obvious pout on her mouth, he titled his head, signalling the spaced out demon moving towards the door.

“We have to call Giles.” Buffy whispered.

“You go and let him know, I’ll follow him.” He replied moving away from her and catching up with the demon.

“What do you mean: I’ll follow him? I’m the Slayer, remember?” she hissed falling into step with him.

“Exactly! And like the good little Slayer that you are, you’ll report to your Watcher. Now go!” he ordered.

“But-“

“Buffy!”

The sound of her name sent a small wave of relief over her, but in the pint of her stomach something wormed around, making her Slayer instincts scream.

“Go.” He said in a low tone, running his finger over her flushed cheek.

She nodded, looking at him under heavy eyelids. Seeing the worry in her gaze made his heart turn into mush and for a second he let his emotions get the best of him, leaning in and placing a soft kiss over her forehead. When he pulled away he was startled as she wrapped her arms, pulling him into a desperate hung.

“Be careful.” She whispered in his ear, clinging onto him for a moment before pulling away and taking off running toward Giles’ as fast as her legs would allow her.

Spike was left there, staring at her fleeting figure being swallowed up by the darkness of the graveyard. He snapped out of his daze to look for the demon who was now a few feet away engulfed in his own trance.

They walked around for a long time before they reached the clearing. The vampire sighed as the same spectacle that had been displayed just two days before repeated itself now in front of him. Quickly, he grabbed Clem by his floppy arm, forcing him to the ground amongst the bushes. The demon remained still, glassy eyes staring into infinity, a strange humming sound coming from his parted lips. They sat on the ground watching as the various demons in front of them lined up to meet their fate.

“Spike!” Someone whispered from behind the vampire. He turned to see Giles’ flushed face.

“Watcher? How d’you get here so fast? Where’s the Slayer?” before the librarian was able to answer, a blond head popped up from behind the old man’s shoulder.

“Buffy decided we should drive my car into through the bushes.” Giles said in a grumpy tone.

“Come on. A little paint job and it will be as good as new.” Buffy tried to seem as convincing as possible, but the way her eyes jumped around, obviously avoiding Giles’ annoyed look.

“A little paint job? We drove 2 miles with two flat tires and a giant tree branch sticking through my back window. I think it’ll need more than a paint job.” The older man grumbled, rolling his eyes.

The discussion was cut short by an increase in the chanting coming from the clearing. All three looked at the large pulsating circle of light and the dark figure that stood in front of it, with its back turned to the lurking group.

“So, when do we do this? The beef’s all lining up to get barbequed.” Spike tried to joke, but failed terribly as he saw the look on both Buffy and Giles’ faces.

“We need to make sure it’s open. We need to wait for the first demon to be destroyed, only then will we be certain.” Giles explained, staring at the man in the clearing. There was something strange about him. The shiver running down his spine told him this wasn’t this simple.

“Yeah, well, what do we do when we’re sure?” Spike asked anxiously rubbing his hands together.

“You’ll blend into the crowd of demons and pretend you’re in a trance. Then all you have to do is wait in line.” Giles spoke clearly, but it was like his mind wasn’t there, his gaze was glassy and intensely focused on the figure a few feet away.

“Giles? Are you ok?” Buffy finally asked, seeing the librarian’s space out look.

“Yes, it’s just…” he trailed off, suddenly snapping out of his daze. “Wait here. I’ll be back.”

“But…” before she could finish her sentence the ex-watcher had disappeared between the thick foliage. She turned to face the vampire with a questioning look on her face.

“Don’t look at me, he’s your Watcher.” Spike shrugged, refusing to speak anymore.

They sat in silence for long time, as the man continued to wave his arms and chant loudly.

“What is taking him so long? It didn’t take this much last time.” Buffy protested as she began getting anxious. She looked at Spike in the hope of getting a word out of him, but his lips remained tightly closed and his gaze focused on the white circle of light. “Are you sure you wanna do this?” she finally spoke in a low voice.

He continued silent, the only evidence that he had heard her was a slight nod of his head.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” She desperately tried to sound cool and calm about it as she felt her insides turn upside down.

He finally looked at her with a ghost of a smirk over his pale lips.

“I won’t back out, if that’s what you think.” He said in a frozen tone.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Oh, right. I guess the whole ‘you don’t have to do it if you don’t what to’ speech was just to make me feel better?” The words spilled out of his mouth drenched in sarcasm.

“It wasn’t a speech.” She snapped.

“Whatever.” He hissed turning his attention back to the clearing.

She sighed in frustration at the vampire’s arrogance, she was about to speak when finally one of the demons stepped in the Foris Caliga’s direction. It was a vampire. Slowly it out stretched its arm, reaching for the light. Gradually, it increased its pulsation as it completely engulfed the creature. Eventually, the result was the same as it had been two nights before - a large pile of dust on the ground.

Buffy found herself holding her breath and pressing her lips tightly shut as she watched the spectacle. Her stomach turned inside of her as the urge to vomit crept up her throat.

“Well, I guess that’s my queue.” The bleached vampire said with a forced grin as he began to stand up. A strong hand over his arm stopped him, when he turned around he found two watery, bloodshot, green eyes staring at him.

“I’ll come with you.” She said with a faltering voice.

“You can’t. Giles isn’t here. You have to look after Clem.” Spike explained tilting his head towards the dazed demon sitting on the ground.

“I’ll tie him up.” She tried to figure out a way out.

“With what?” the vampire exhaled.

She paused, desperately looking around. When she failed to find something that might help her, she gazed back at the bleached vampire who’s arm she was still clinging to.

“Luv, I have to go.” He said, his hand coming to rest over hers, his fingers working to release himself from her strong grip, but his efforts only resulted in a her wrapping her other hand around his trapped arm. “Slayer…”

“Don’t go.” Her eyes begged him.

“I have to. Anya, remember…”

“We’ll find another way.” Desperation took over her now and she spoke in quick and erratic sentences. “Another… there’s always another way. We always… And, Giles… we-we’ll research. And-and…” she gasped for air; her heart slamming against her chest, her palms becoming sweaty and the brackish tears making her sight fuzzy and unclear. “We’ll fight it another way… We’ll save Anya… But… just please don’t do this. Please.”

The desperation in her voice, her face, her trembling chin and hands made his heart want to scream. Falling to his knees, he ran his hand over her golden locks, his thumb brushing over her flushed cheek. Slowly, his arms enveloped her small figure, bringing her face to rest over his chest. She spoke a frantic myriad of gibberish that was muffled by the fabric of his black shirt, which was now dapped as a result of her tears.

Buffy pushed away in order at look him, his arms still rested at her sides as her pleading eyes stared into his for a second before falling to his chest. She rested her palm there, for some reason surprised at the lack of a heartbeat.

“Your soul…” she began in a whisper.

Those two simple words sent a current of rage though his veins. His reaction to it was to simply push her away, stand up and walk away.

Buffy stood there, motionless, frozen by his unexpected reaction, watching him disappear into the darkness. Second latter she saw him between the demon crowd - a dazed look on his face trying to hide the pain in his chest, the part inside of him that wanted to scream.

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Gilles circled the clearing, trying to position himself in a way he could see the mysterious man’s face. That voice… he thought to himself as he struggled with the foliage.

“Bugger!” he cursed under his breath as a twig hit him in the eye.

Rubbing his injured eye, he continued moving through the bushes. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be able to find a spot where he was facing the man while remaining at a safe enough distance from the demons. So, he made his choice and he proceeded walking towards the large crowd of horned, one eyed, tailed creatures. Eventually, he stood only a few feet form the nearest creature, but at least he was sure that, from there he would be able to see the man.

To Giles’ frustrations the mysterious figure had moved around the white circle. Apparently, one of the creatures had caught his attention. Now, he stood next to the small group which had distanced itself from the main mass to reach the Foris Caliga. Giles cursed once more as the figure continued to have his back turned to him. Patiently, the ex-watcher remained knelt between the tick bushes waiting for the man to turn around and go back to his chanting spot. Eventually he moved, and Giles was able to see who was the object of the figure’s attention.

“Spike?” the librarian whispered to himself.

The vampire stood with a dazed look on his face, just like they had planed. The figure seemed to be speaking to the apparently space out creature as it moved around, eventually it turned so that Giles could see his face. The old man felt his heart skip a beat at the revelation of the man’s identity.

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Spike could feel his blood boil inside him and he slowly moved through the small group of demons. His eyes looked into infinity as he chanted along with the rest of them. Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed the man who was chanting on the other side of the circle had stopped and moved in the group’s direction. After a few seconds he realised that *he* was the reason the figure had moved.

The man circled him twice and then stopped to face him. Spike continued to stare into nothingness.

“I know you…” the man spoke, rubbing his chin. “You’re that vampire… The master vampire who was here a few years before…what was your name?” he paused for a while as he searched his mind. “Spike!” he finally said. “I really thought you were a tough one. Oh well, it will be nice to have the demon of such a notorious vampire such as yourself.” Then he turned around back to the spot where he had been before.

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She was still a little startled, and her heart refused to control itself, anxiously pounding inside of her, but she continued to watch as the man moved towards Spike.

“What is he doing?” the Slayer asked herself. “Does he know him?”

She waited for a while and eventually she had her answer as the man turned in a way that his face was now illuminated by the circle of light and faced her. She had to bring her hand to her mouth in order to prevent the escape of a surprised scream.

“Ethan Rayne…?” she whispered.

Chapter 12 - Into the Woods

In her own hideaway, between the bushes, Buffy’s heart raced as she saw Ethan slowly move away from Spike. She struggled to control her heavy breathing as anxiety and fretfulness took over, when she heard her name being called:

“Buffy!”

She looked in the direction of the sound to see Giles holding Clem by his arm.

“You almost let Clem go.” Giles complained.

Ignoring his disapproving look she said:

“It’s Ethan Rayne.”

“Yes, I know.” The British man said, taking out his glasses and cleaning them with a handkerchief.

“How did he escape the Initiative? I thought he got arrested the last time.” Buffy asked confused as her gaze returned to the clearing ahead.

“I really have no idea.” Giles replied, putting his glasses back on and looking in the same direction the young girl next to him was.

They watched as the bleached vampire patiently waited his turn. In front of him two more vampires were turned to dust.

“Giles…” she finally got the nerve to ask him. “Are you sure nothing will happen to him… besides loosing his soul…” her voice faltered as she spoke “I mean…” she paused, looking longingly at the large pile of dust on the ground.

She waited for Giles to reassuringly voice out: “Absolutely not!” but it never came. Instead, the librarian restarted fidgeting with his glasses. The site of his bowed head, along with the frenetic movement of the old man’s fingers over the handkerchief made her heart skip a beat. She knew that look of uncertainty.

“Giles…?” she coaxed him to speak.

“I… told Spike… there is a chance he might…”

“He might what?” she questioned, but deep inside she didn’t want to hear the answer.

“There is a chance he might die.” Giles finally blurted out.

“What?!” her breath now came in short asphyxiating gasps while her heart seemed to freeze.

“He knows he might die.” Giles gave her a compassionate look as he identified the pure anguish in her eyes.

She looked back at the clearing. It was his turn… The bleached vampire stood in front of the bright white circle, slowly outstretching his hand.

“No!” she spoke in a low voice.

Without hearing Giles’ pleas to stay down, the Slayer stood up and prepared to run in the clearing’s direction when suddenly, the white circle disappeared. Instantly, all the demons around it fell to the floor unconscious, except for Spike. Completely unaware of what was happening he looked around him, his hand still outstretched, reaching for nothingness.

“I knew it!” an angry voice roared through the woods.

Spike looked up to meet a pair of seriously pissed eyes.

“I knew it.” Ethan Rayne repeated as he moved toward the vampire. “Did you think I couldn’t smell it on you, vampire?”

Spike was lost. What had just happen. How did he know?

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Buffy froze in place and it was Giles’ strong hand pulling her down that brought her back to reality.

“What’s happening?” she asked, her eyes fixed on the only two standing figure in the clearing.

“I don’t know.” Giles confessed. “He must have somehow…” suddenly realisation crashed on the old librarian. “He has been using the Foris Caliga to collect the demons and theirs powers.”

“Yes, and…” she was becoming increasingly annoyed at Giles’ strange ability to avoid getting to the point.

“He can tell Spike has a soul because of the demons he already has inside of him.” Giles finally made sense.

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“Who do you think you are?” his wrath was clear in his voice as he approached the vampire. “Thinking you could destroy my creation?”

“Hey, chump I have no idea-“before he could finish his statement, Spike found himself dangling by his neck in Ethan’s remarkably strong hand.

“Who sent you? Was it Giles?” the man gave the vampire a creepy grin as he spoke.

“I-I..” Spike struggled with the strong fingers that gripped his throat, his feet kicking the air as he desperately sought release. But the man ignored him, effortlessly holding the vampire even higher as he moved around the clearing looking into the thick forest that surrounded him.

“Oh Giles, old mate. Don’t be shy.” He mockingly singsonged while, in his hands, Spike kicked and jerked like a fish out of the water. “Come out, come out wherever you are…” and another wicked grin settled over his thin lips.

No answer.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me then.” Ethan turned his attention back to the vampire. With crazed eyes wide open he spoke: “Let’s play, shall we?” And with that the sorcerer’s fist connected with the vampire’s face propelling him across the clearing.

Never giving Spike the chance to recover, Ethan moved at lightening speed and soon his shoe pressed painfully over the vampire’s neck. Suddenly, thunder roared in the skies and a river of rain began to pour.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re tired already. I thought you were a master vampire.” Rayne mocked grinningly, increasing the weight over Spike’s throat.

“Ah…” the vampire managed to let out a muffled groan, as his hands held the sorcerer’s leg, desperately trying to pull it away.

Eventually, Ethan released him, hovering over him as he coughed his lungs out and rubbed the tender skin of his bruised neck. Slowly, Spike dragged himself to his feet but he didn’t stand for long, soon Rayne was on him, throwing a series of unanswered blows.

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Buffy watched from the shadows as Spike got beaten to an unrecognisable pulp by the old man.

“We need to help him. Spike can’t fight him. Right now, Ethan must have the strength of hundreds of demons.” Giles explained as the rain soaked his clothes.

Suddenly, Buffy fell into complete Slayer mode:

“Giles, Ethan can’t know you’re here. That will only get him even more pissed and then we are history. You take Clem out of here. Take him back to Xander’s place and I’ll see if I can help Spike.” Her voice was flawless, built on certainty and absurd confidence.

“Buffy, you can’t fight him. He’s probably stronger that Glory was.” Giles pointed out.

“I’m not planning on fighting him. We’re gonna run until we find another solution. Get everyone to Xander’s, it will take Ethan longer to find you that way.” Buffy explained.

“Be careful.” The librarian whispered as the Slayer moved through the heavy foliage and disappeared.

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“Now, now… Why do insist on going through this. All you have to do is tell me why you are here. That’s all I want to know, then I’ll…” Ethan paused for a while standing over the beat up vampire. “Well, I won’t let you go, that’s a given but… well, let’s just say that big piles of dust can’t feel pain. What do you say?”

Spike breathed heavily as the blood filled his lungs and throat, but there was still room for his usual trademark arrogance.

“Sod off.” He spat out dryly as the drops of rain violently crashed against his marred face.

The simple sentence seemed to trigger something in the old man. The rage grew inside of him and soon it was blatantly plastered across his face. Suddenly, his muscles started to contort, as if something wiggled it’s way just under his skin, but Ethan seemed oblivious to what was happening. As the emotions boiled inside of him, his eyes became completely white as if his iris had just been erased from his eyeballs and soon the tracks of engorged veins mapped his now blue skin.

“You worthless little- Ah!!!” Ethan cried out all of a sudden, bringing his hands to his head. It was clear he was in deep pain.

Buffy watched from the bushes and when the sorcerer clung to his head and screamed in pain she saw her opportunity. In the blink of an eye, she was knelling next to the vampire.

“Spike.” Her voice was nearly a whisper next to Ethan’s excruciatingly thunderous screams.

Under heavy eyelids, the vampire glanced up at her.

“Hey, luv!” he greeted drunk with pain.

“We have to get you out of here.” She snaked his arms around her neck trying to pull him up but he seemed to refuse to help. “Spike!”

“Huh…?” he spoke sleepily.

She put her arm around his waist and lifted him up to his feet. He hissed as her hand pressed against one of his open wounds. While Buffy dragged the vampire into the woods, Ethan continued to scream and howl in pain.

They moved through the thick bushes and trees as quickly as she could carry him. The rain soaked their clothes, making them heavy and making it hard to move, but even so the Slayer continued to haul Spike’s weight.

Eventually, she grew tired, feeling her legs buckle under her. She had to find shelter, there was no way she could drag his now unconscious body through the entire forest.

“Spike!” she tried to wake him.

Kneeling down, she let his head rest over her legs, the raindrops running down his chiselled checks. In the background the thick silence of the woods had muffled the tormented cries of the mad man, but she could still feel them in her chest.

“Spike!” she called out again running her trembling fingers through the his soaked hair.

Slowly he tried to force his eyelids to open, but at that moment they seemed to hold the weight of the world and all he could do was moan.

Buffy desperately looked around for a safe place to spend the rest of the night, which wouldn’t last very long. Soon, in a couple of hours, the sun would be up and she had to find a place to hide the bruised and beaten vampire from the scorching rays. Her eyes wandered through her surrounding until they fell over what seemed like and opening of a cave.

“The old Sunnydale Mines.” The light bulb lit up in her head.

In one last effort, her stood up, dragging Spike to his feet and towing them both into the cavern.

Chapter 13 - Pouring Rain

“Giles!” Dawn’s high pitch voice was heard as she ran down the stairs.

“What happen?” Willow asked closing the door behind the soaked ex-watcher.

“Get your stuff we’re going to Xander’s.” he ordered picking up the speaker of the white phone without any further explanation.

“Giles-“

Dawn was cut short by a deadly tone:

“Dawn, now.” Seeing the worry on her juvenile face he was about to add something but a hoarse voice coming from the other side of the line caught his attention. “Xander, Willow, Dawn, Clem and I are coming over.” He paused as he listened for a reply. “I can’t explain now.” And with that he hung up.

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Buffy hugged her knees trying desperately to keep warm. Her eyes wandered over the irregular, soggy and stony walls that surrounded her. Eventually her gaze fell over the marred body of the vampire who lay on his back at her feet. She had tried as best as she could to tend to his wounds, but without any resources there wasn’t much she could do.

She looked to her right, at the entrance of the damp cave. It was the only source of light, but after about four hours her eyes had already adjusted to the darkness and she could see reasonably well.

A strange chill ran down her spine as the soft air current blew pass her. She closed her eyes, trying to get some rest, but every time she did, all she could see was the figure of that mad man clutching his head in agony. The screeching, inhuman howls still rang in her ears and she brought her hand to cover them, but it was no use, the sound came from inside of her. She shook her head as she slowly rocked herself to sleep.

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They sat silently around the table. Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose, Willow nervously pressed her hand together while Dawn bit her lip as her gaze drifted blindly over the two motionless bodies on the couch. Xander’s head hung over Anya’s lap as his fingers innocently played with the hem of her long skirt. It was her favourite, the light brown one, with large yellow flowers stamped on it. He had bought it for her after one of their numerous fights. What had they argued over? He couldn’t remember.

“So now what?” Willow finally managed to ask.

“All we can do is wait. We have to wait for Buffy and Spike to get here.” Giles explained putting on his glasses.

Dawn hesitated, nervously looking towards Xander before she asked the question that had been haunting her ever since Giles had finished acquaint them with the events of the night.

“What if he…” her gaze abandoned her friend’s face as he looked up from Anya’s lap “if Ethan leaves and doesn’t come back?”

Seeing the desperation in Xander’s eyes Giles immediately tried to reassure him.

“He won’t. He knows I’m…” he corrected himself “we’re behind Spike being there to destroy the Foris Caliga. He’ll want revenge.”

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He stirred as consciousness assaulted his senses and the second it did he cursed to all the gods imaginable. His entire body screamed as the excruciating pain coursed through every inch of him.

“Bloody Hell!” he protested as he forced his eyelids to open.

Initially, everything was black and he searched his mind to find out where he was. Slowly, he was able to see light shades of brown and grey, but everything was still very blurry. He turned his head and wasn’t able to keep from howling as the pain lacerated its way through his neck down his back.

Buffy jumped up at the scream. She looked around confused and it took a while to realise where exactly she was.

“You’re up.” She said with a sleepy voice.

“Buffy?” he questioned as his eyes adjusted and his sight focused on the small curled figure to his right.

“For a second there I thought you weren’t going to wake up.” She breathed, pulling a long blond strand behind her ear.

“Ah.” He wailed as he tried to get up.

“You shouldn’t move. He beat you up pretty bad.” She started making small talk.

“As I recall he was the one howling in pain at the end.”

“What happen to him?” she asked confused.

“He got into contact with the sharp end of my tongue.” As he spoke his tongue rolled over his teeth teasingly. Well, at least there is one muscle in my body that isn’t killing me. He thought to himself.

Buffy felt her cheeks begin to redden as the blood rushed to her face.

“What did you do?” she tried to ignore her flushed face and her racing heartbeat.

“My tongue… ah!” he faltered as he sat up “is a powerful weapon.” He gave her his trademark smirk and her heart jumped a beat.

“Stop joking around.” She ordered slapping him lightly on the arm.

Instantly, the vampire retracted, holding onto his arm and howling in pain. Buffy jumped up concerned and in a second she was sitting next to him trying to get a look at his face.

“Are-Are you ok? I-I’m sorry, I-“ before she could end her apology she found herself on the ground, on her back with a smirking vampire hovering over her.

“Got ya!” he singsonged trying to ignore the pain than ran down his arched back.

Their closeness suddenly dawned on them both. Buffy stared up at the now dark blue eyes that gazed down on her, her heart slammed wildly against her rapidly rising and falling chest and her warm breath came in short, suffocating pants. Unwittingly, Spike’s mouth glided towards hers as he lowered his head.

Buffy’s eyes drifted shut, her lips parting as she prepared to be kissed. She gasped in shock and her eyelids flung open as she felt his weight shift over her and pull away. Spike sat up next to her, his eyes glued to the wall, refusing to look at her.

She pushed herself up and stared at the vampire:

“Spike…” she began but he cut her off.

“It was because of all the demons.” All his efforts went into trying to hide the nervousness and discomfort in his voice.

Buffy frowned in confusion.

“The demons inside of him were struggling for dominance. That’s why he was howling in pain. It’s already tough with one, I can imagine what it’s like with a few hundreds.”

“Spike, I-“

“How long till sundown?” the vampire ignored her attempt to discuss the subject.

She paused for a second and decided to humour him. Fine, he wants to ignore it, I’ll ignore it. She thought to herself as she looked at her watch.

“About an hour.” She answered.

“Good.” He grumbled.

They sat silently for the hour and the moment the light coming from the exit dimmed Spike stumbled to his feet. He moaned a little, leaning on the walls for support as he walked.

“What are you doing?” she asked following him.

“Going home.” He spat dryly.

“Like that?” she pointed at him as a thin eyebrow shot up.

“Yep.” He pressed his lips together to avoid screaming as the pain coursed through his legs.

“Well, I hate to point out the obvious but you can’t walk, Spike.”

As he reached the entrance of the cave, he abandoned the support of the wall, wobbling a little but eventually he was able to stand up right and even take a few steps.

“Spike, don’t be ridiculous. It’s raining out there.” She shouted as he stepped out of the cave into the storm. “Spike!”

He continued walking, ignoring her as the drops of salty water streamed down his face and soaked his clothes. She sighed loudly and milled her teeth together as she walked into the rain after him.

“Spike!” she shouted finally stepping in his way.

“What?” he squinted as the raindrops hit his eyes.

“Stop being an idiot and come out from the rain.” She ordered him with her hand over her hips.

“You know what, Slayer? You have this annoying habit of acting like I’m your trained little puppy. I’ve told you, it’s over.” He shouted over the thunder.

“You’re being pig headed about this. We can’t walk back home in the middle of this storm.” She yelled back at him, the raindrops ricocheting off her mouth.

“We have to meet up with Giles. We have to figure a way to find this guy and help Anya, remember?” Spike said walking around her and stumbling away.

She felt the anger begin to boil up inside of her as she caught up with him and stood in his way.

“Stop trying to make me jealous.” She shouted.

He raised his gaze from the muddy ground and looked at her with a frozen grin.

“I’m trying to make you jealous?” She nodded. “Aren’t you full of yourself? Why would I want to do that?” he paused for a second, but before she could answer he spat out: “I’m. Not. In love. With. You.” He saw her face crumble at his words.

Her lips articulated the word what, but her voice refused to leave her mouth.

“Actually I don’t think I ever did. I’ve got a soul now, Slayer, I realised that I never really loved you, it was just… an itch… an obsession.” He regretted the words as he saw the painful look in her bloodshot eyes.

They stood in silence, the rain pouring down on them, making their heavy clothes stick to their bodies. She looked up at him, her wet hair framing her face and she swallowed hard before speaking:

“We have to go back in. We’ll walk back into town when it stops raining.” Her voice faltered and she looked down before she added: “Please.”

She gave him one quick look before she began walking back to the cave. At the sight of her leaving, Spike felt as if someone was reaching into his chest and was twisting his insides out. He tried to run after her, but the pain in his legs prevented him.

“Buffy!” he called out. She stopped and turned around to find him standing in front of her. “Look, I didn’t mean to…”

“Forget it.” She raised her hand in the air trying to keep the distance between them. “You were right. It’s none of my business.”

“Ah, come on don’t start with the whole I’m very mature routine.” Spike spoke with annoyance in his voice.

“What do you want me to say, Spike?” she suddenly yelled, letting the cool and calm façade slide away. “I mean, you come back all strange and distant and-and all of a sudden I find out - *you* have a soul. Yuppie!” she waved her hands in the air and forced a huge Pepsodent smile on her face as she spoke. “Oh but no, now you have to nobly give it up to save a demon I thought you didn’t even care for, but apparently you do.” As she shouted the words at him her arms moved wildly trying to emphasize every angry word that shot out of her mouth. “Apparently, now that you’ve got a soul you’ve discovered that you’re in love with a vengeance demon void of a social filter. Well, congratulations!” she drew a long, sharp breath as she ended her speech.

“Oh, for Christ sake woman, I’m not in love with Anya!” He growled at her under the bucketing rain.

“Then why the Hell are you doing this? Why are you willing to lose your soul for her?” she yelled over the roaring thunder.

“Because of you!” he blurted out as he walked pass her toward the cavern.

Buffy stood in shock, huge eyes still staring at the spot where he had been standing a second ago. A flash of lightning snapped her out of her momentary daze.

“What do you mean, because of me?” she shouted after him.

Spike stopped in his tracks, taking a deep breath and grounding his teeth together before turning to face a soaking Slayer.

“God, *when* will you get it?” he hissed. “Everything… Everything *single* thing I do is because of you.” He paused for a second before continuing: “You got me running around helping you keep the demon world in check, getting the crap kicked out of me by a God with a permanent bad hair day, getting my heart ripped out when I saw you jump from…” his voice faltered, but he swallowed hard and proceeded: “spending a whole summer with your Scoobies, helping them out even though every time a saw Dawn it broke my heart because it just reminded me of you and my stupid promise. And then you came back and… seeing you again after so long. Suddenly, everything was back to normal and my biggest worry was whether the little bit did her homework so the Social Services wouldn’t take her away from you, and-”

A roaring thunder crashed through the woods and when Spike was about to continue his painful rambling he found it impossible as Buffy’s rain wet lips kissed him into silence.

Chapter 14 - Singing in the Rain

A shy knock coming from the door made him look up, his hands sliding sluggishly down the sides of his face to rest over his mouth as his gaze fell over the redhead.

“Hey…” she moved slowly, taking her seat on the bed next to the old librarian.

Giles simply nodded as he gave her a ghost of a smile.

“I think Xander has finally given into sleep.” She spoke softly, reaching for a restless strand of red hair and pining it behind her pale ear.

Another weak smile was the old man’s only reply.

“He dozed off with his head over Anya’s lap.”

A suffocating stillness built between them for a few moments, until Giles finally broke his silence and spoke:

“I don’t know if we can beat him.”

Willow looked at him a bit amazed but she didn’t speak, preferring to listen instead.

“We don’t even know what his powers are.” He sighed letting his fingers graze through his hair. “He’ll find us Willow. It won’t take long.”

The redhead paused for a while, wondering if she should say what was on her mind. They had avoided the subject the entire summer, ever since…

“I can help.” She said plainly, a deep frown settling over her marble forehead as she waited for Giles’ reaction.

“Not against Ethan. You don’t know what he is capable of.” The librarian answered, his gaze pinned on the wooden floor.

“I was talking about…” she hesitated before she said it. “…magic.”

“What?!” Giles almost shouted standing up abruptly.

“Giles-“

“No! You cannot!” he cut her off not only with his short statement but also with a flat and sharp movement as his hand seemed to cut through the air.

“Giles I know I can handle it now.” She tried to argue standing up and following the ex-watcher around the room. “You said it yourself. Eventually I would be able to recover and go back to the way it was.”

“It’s too soon. You’re not ready.” Giles said sharply, turning to face her.

“Buffy can’t fight Ethan on her own, she’ll get pummelled. Giles I know-“

“This is not open for discussion, Willow. No!” Giles ended the argument walking pass her and out the room. The ex-witch quickly followed him, trying desperately to make a point. As they moved into the living room Giles came to a full stop in mid stride, catching Willow off guard and causing her to bump into him.

“Well, well, well. You’re here after all.” Ethan spoke coolly, dropping an unconscious Xander on the floor. “And they said you had gone back to London. They got me worried there for a minute.”

“What do you want Ethan?” Giles said in a flat tone, but inside him he could feel the adrenalin surge through his veins.

“Just to say hi to an old friend, I guess. How are you doing, Ripper? You look like you’ve put on a couple of pounds.” Ethan mocked as he glazed around the room.

Giles’ eyes desperately searched the compartment for Dawn’s skinny figure until he found her sitting in the corner of the room. She was motionless, her arms hugged her legs and her mouth was tightly shut. The ex-watcher frowned, there was something very wrong with this picture, Dawn was never one to hide while one of her friends was being beat up by a madman. As he watched closely he noticed the fear and the anger swimming in her bloodshot eyes. Ethan had done something to her, he had paralysed her somehow.

Noticing the object of Giles’ attention Ethan let out a deep laugh before speaking:

“Manahan demon poison. Doesn’t last long, but it’s good for keeping bad little girls in the corner when they’ve been bad.” Looking at Dawn he added: “Isn’t it, dearest?”

“What do you want?” Giles repeated the question. Behind him stood a frightened Willow, clinging to the old man’s shirt.

“I’ve told-“

“Cut the crap, Ethan!” Giles hissed.

“Well, you’re pet vampire snivelled his way into my territory. Tried to destroy what was mine. You don’t know anything about that now do you?” A flicker of inhuman rage flashed across the madman’s eyes as he spoke.

“No.” Giles said simply.

Without a word, Ethan outstretched his hand. Almost instantly, Dawn’s motionless body was flung across the room in his direction until his strong fingers connected with the young teenager’s soft neck.

Willow drew one sharp breath at the sight of Dawn dangling by her neck from the Rayne’s hand.

“Let her go.” Giles ordered, but Ethan ignored his pleas, instead he moved towards the window.

“It’s getting a bit hot in here, don’t you think?” he asked to no one in particular as he opened the large panoramic window with one hand while the other held a grip over Dawn.

“Ethan!” Giles yelled as the young girl’s body was pushed out the window into the thundering storm.

But contrary to the ex-watcher’s biggest fear, Ethan didn’t drop her; his grip on Dawn was still firm and strong. The teenager remained motionless, the only evidence of her fear and doubt flashed in her eyes as her body refused to move.

“Ah! Rain! Always manages to make one home sick, doesn’t it Ripper?” Ethan asked in a mocking voice. Giles made a move towards the madman and Ethan immediately outstretched his hand singsonging simultaneously: “Uh-uh-uh, don’t even think about it. Back up, now!” he ordered and Giles obeyed.

An evil smirk spread across the man’s face as he saw the look of desperation on both Willow and Giles’ faces. The feel of his outstretched arm getting soaked made his attention drift towards the drenched girl hanging from his hand.

“I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain.” He sang excruciatingly off key. “Come on, don’t be shy. Sing! Oh, that’s right, you’re paralysed. Sorry, forgot.” Ethan let out a loud laugh at his own sick joke.

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