Under My Skin

“So, B, what now?” Faith dropped her bags by her feet, surveying the airport.

            Buffy shrugged, yawning from the twenty plus hours of jet lag weighing down on her. “Go to a hotel, I guess. Try to get some sleep. Then head out for some demon-hunting.”

            Faith nodded, picking up the luggage again. “Whatever suits ya. I could go for a crash.” Dragging Buffy after, she went outside to flag down a taxi. Buffy waited in silence. “So, any particular reason you didn’t want Captain Peroxide to tag along?”

            “I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Buffy replied as they put their things in the trunk of the parked taxi.

            “Where to, miss?”

            “Nearest hotel.” Faith handed the man a few bills, turning her attention back to the quiet Slayer beside her. “Touchy, touchy. All’s not well in Paradise?” She blinked at her unintended pun. “I mean, problems with your lover, eh?”

            Buffy sighed as the question hit home, irking her right under her skin like it was supposed to. “He’s not my lover.”

            Faith held her hands up innocently. “Hey hey, didn’t mean to intrude. You guys have just seemed sort of…snuggly.”

            She smirked. “And what about you and Robin, huh?”

            Faith grinned, turning her head away. “Not denying anything B. Certainly not denying.” Wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, she resumed a more somber tone. “Seriously though, what’s up with you two?”

            She squirmed uncomfortably. “There’s nothing ‘up’ with us. We’re very much down.” Frowning at the words spilling out of her mouth, she sputtered to correct herself. “I mean, ah, you know, no news on that front. Very not exciting. Pretty boring, actually.” She winced at her own mindless babble.

            Faith raised her eyebrows, shrugging. “The guy’s got it bad for you, B. It’s obvious.”

            “It’s always been obvious.” Buffy looked down at her hands. “That doesn’t make it easy.”

            “Well, here’s an idea.” Faith gave her a big, sunny, fake smile. “Why don’t you take advantage to the fact that you guys are on different sides of the planet. You know, enjoy your space.” She turned to look out the window. “I’m sure he’s enjoying his.”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” Buffy snapped, alarmed.

            Faith gave her a wicked grin. “Oh yeah. You don’t care at all.” She waved it off casually. “He’s probably smoking, drinking, feeding, having sex with lots of the locals.”

            She glared at Faith as she collapsed in giggles. “Very funny.” She watched the scenery fly by. “I don’t care. I don’t.”

            “Sure.” Faith agreed, nodding. “You don’t care so much you can’t stop thinking about him.”

            “American Embassy.” The cab driver slowed to a stop before the large building.

            Both girls’ eyebrows shot up. Slowly, Buffy tilted her head back to look up at the many stories. “I don’t know if we can afford this.”

            “Oh yes, we can.” Faith pulled a credit card from her jacket, waving it in front of her face. “The Council sure knows how to treat a gal.”

            With a smile, Buffy paid the driver and climbed out, squinting in the midday sun. “They sure do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Spike whirled in a circle, taking out three of the vamps in one fatal sweep. Ducking, he avoided a severe blow to the nose.

            “Man, these people really have a pest control problem!” Kennedy exclaimed, slicing the head off one vampire before being tackled by another.

            Rona let out a yelp as five of the mob turned on her. “How the hell can there be so many of them?!?”

            “Some people haven’t been doing their jobs apparently,” Spike grunted as the dust settled around him.

            “Hey!” Vi leapt over the vampires to save Rona, knocking several over in the process.

            “He’s right.” Kennedy kicked out from under her attacker. “This place is a mad house.”

            The small group of Slayers and Vampire finished off the rest of the bloodsuckers in silence. Once they were alone again, they continued on back to the apartment the girls shared.

            “How long has it been this bad?” Spike inquired, twirling a stake absent-mindedly in his hands.

            “A few weeks. It actually got a lot worse in those days we were gone.” Shannon shrugged, scanning the street in front of them. “I don’t really know what their big, bad plan is.”

            Spike smirked. “Trust me. They don’t have a plan. It’s probably a few fledglings who decided it’d be fun to take over a…Hellmouth.” The confidence in his voice faded out as a dozen or so more vampires came out of the alley towards them. “Then again…could be wrong…”

            “Spread out,” Kennedy hissed.

            “Well well well.” The vampire who appeared to be the head of the troop sauntered towards Spike. “If it isn’t Spike, or shall I say William the Bloody.”

            “Do I know you?” Spike asked, squinting.

            “No. But we know of you,” he sneered. “You’re a legend. The famous Spike-once a Master Vampire, and now a Slayer’s lap dog.” His lip curled in disgust. “You make me sick.”

            Spike snarled, slipping into his game face. “Why don’t you come a little closer and say that.”

            “Oh, I will.” He approached to within six inches of Spike, who was now growling softly. “You. Make. Me. Sick,” he whispered harshly into his ear.

            With all the fury he possessed, Spike punched the vampire back into a dumpster. He was quickly replaced by one of his minions. The girls sprang into action, quickly dusting half of the clan.

            “I make you sick?” As the remains of the minion dissipated, he chased after the leader. “We’ll see how sick you can get.”

            “Look at you, tagging after her like an old mutt.” The vampire bounced off the wall, ducking Spike’s wild swing. “You’d even kill your own sire if she asked you to, I’ll bet.”

            Spike grabbed him by the collar, sucker-punching him. He stayed silent, feeding off the slew of comments coming from his mouth.

            “You give us all a bad name!” He garbled through a mouthful of blood. “You trail after that stupid girl like you think she loves you.”

            Spike went wild, beating the vampire until his eyes swelled shut and he was bleeding profusely. “SHUT UP!”

            “You think she does!” He laughed, coughing up more blood as a well-placed kick landed in his ribs. “Open up your eyes. She’s a fucking Slayer!”

            Spike’s eyes widened at his language. You know, a few years ago I would never have noticed that… Shaking the thought out of his mind, he continued pummeling the snickering, sniveling vampire.

            “Spike!” Kennedy screamed. “Kill him already!”

            The other girls watched the overly visual display in silence, wincing at each unnecessary blow.

            “Spike!” Unable to watch anymore, Rona jumped in and grabbed his arm.

            Jerking away from her, he was surrounded by Shannon and Vi while Kennedy put the creature out of its misery. “Let me go.”

            “Hey, calm down-” Vi said, exasperated, as he took off around the corner. “Hey!”

            Despite their protests, he ran faster until their voices faded out. Now there was only one he could still hear. “Open your eyes. She’s a fucking Slayer!” Slowing, he rubbed his fingers against his temples. He had lost it back there, he knew. He had let a stupid fledgling get under his skin. What the hell is wrong with me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            “Yes…yes…well, good for you.” Giles smiled as the girl chattered. His smile was quickly replaced with a worried frown. “He what?…yes, I suppose that’s understandable-you didn’t find him?” He rubbed his forehead. “No, I’m sure he’s okay…yes…please, call again if he isn’t back tomorrow. Possibly he just needed to blow off some steam…of course…yes, you too. Until then. Goodbye.” He replaced the phone on the receiver before collapsing back in his chair.

            “Who was that?” Willow asked, pausing in her reading.

            “Shannon,” Giles sighed.

            “Is Ken-um, is everyone okay?” Her forehead wrinkled with concern.

            He smiled. “Kennedy is fine. Actually, it’s Spike who’s unaccounted for.”

            “Huh?”

            “He ran off after beating a vampire to a bloody pulp,” he explained.

            Willow frowned. “But that’s a good thing. Vampire, bad. Well, I mean, unless it was a good vampire…” Her voice trailed off.

            Giles shook his head. “No, this was a regular vampire. But that doesn’t make what he did right. He had an opportunity to steak it,” he shrugged. “And he didn’t.”

            “Well, maybe he had a reason,” she argued. “I mean, hello, this is Spike here.” She wrung her hands uncomfortably. “He wouldn’t do something like that…would he?”

            “It’s very possible he did.” Giles picked up another book. “We have no idea what he’s dealing with.”

            Willow looked down at the text before her, murmuring, “I hope he’s okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Buffy rolled over for the umpteenth time. Why can’t I fall asleep? She looked enviously at the Slayer in the other bed snoring softly. No matter what she tried, she was still wide-awake. Her mind spun at a hundred miles an hour. She twitched at any little noise in the quiet room. And her skin itched for a touch she couldn’t have. That was the real problem, deep down. Great. Now, on top of everything else, he’s given me a sleeping disorder? She wandered over to the pull out sofa, grabbing the one long cushion and dragging it back to her own bed. Placing it beside her, she closed her eyes again. Faith is just going to love this. Little Buffy can’t fall asleep without her Spike pillow. She draped an arm over the bulky pad. Somehow, the poly-cotton blend didn’t feel in the least like his cool, surprisingly soft skin. It’ll just have to do. She started humming softly to herself, the lyrics to the song milling about in her head. Twenty twenty twenty four hours to go, I wanna be sedated… She tried to picture him opening her note. Maybe drop it to the floor in astonishment. Make a sound, just loud enough to make everyone look at him and cause him to blush with embarrassment. Get that smug little look on his face, the one he used when he was right about something. With a smirk, Buffy drifted off to dreams filled with candy hearts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Spike shivered as he pulled his duster closer around him. Maybe getting hopelessly lost in a new town wasn’t the brightest thing I’ve ever done. Spying a mailbox, he hurried over and slid his letter through the door. Now all I can do is hope to god Giles forwards it… He rubbed his hands together. Looked around for any familiar buildings. A bar caught his attention. Why not-I’m already lost, let’s get drunk on top of it. He slid in, securing himself a seat at the counter.

            “What can I get for you?” The bartender with a name tag that said “Dan” looked up from his locals to the new customer who seemed to be impersonating Billy Idol.

            “Whiskey.” Spike slapped down a few bills, throwing back the first shot and tapping the counter again with the empty glass.

            “Problems?” Dan asked as he refilled the glass.

            “Like you wouldn’t believe,” he grumbled.

            Dan chuckled. “Don’t I know. Let me take a guess. It’s about a girl, isn’t it.”

            It’s always about a girl, Spike thought with a faint smile. “ ‘Course.”

            He grabbed a few bottles from under the counter and another glass, mixing up a new concoction. “Here, try this. Money back if it doesn’t make you forget all your troubles.”

            Spike eyed the absinthe that was craftily hid in a whiskey jug as it was poured into the drink. Isn’t that illegal over here? With a shake of his head, he pulled out a few more dollars. “Like anything could.”

            He winced. “That bad, eh?”

            The vampire’s eyes bugged out as he drank the potent mix. He let out his breath slowly. “No. That good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World Is Weird Without You

            The midday sunlight reflected off of the white blonde hair. Rolling over, he draped his arm around the soft figure beside him. His eyelids flew open as he realized it was a rolled up carpet. Sitting up confusedly, Spike found himself lounging in a dumpster. That must have been some drink… He scratched his head in confusion, and looked at his watch. All right, it’s only…two o’clock…wonder what day it is? He figured it was about time to head back to the apartment. Assuming I can figure out where that is, of course. Climbing out of his make shift bed, he winced as the pain shot through his stiffened muscles. He made a mental note to stop sleeping in garbage disposal containers.

            Two hours later he was exactly five blocks south of where he started. I officially hate this sodding city. Too many bloody back roads and alleyways and turnarounds… Muttering various profanities, he approached a young man wandering down the sidewalk. “Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to know the way to Charles Street, would you?”

            The man eyed him suspiciously. “Charles Street. Yeah, it’s on the other side of town.” Sighing, he pointed in the direction Spike had come from. “If you keep going down this street, you’ll pass a…a Target, Wal-Mart, something like that.” Frowning in concentration, he started gesturing with his hands. “Turn at that corner, left, go for maybe…two miles, you’ll come across Charles.”

            “Thanks, mate.” Spike waved, turning around.

            “No problem.”

            Spike shoved his hands into his pockets, whistling happily. Wait-since when do I whistle? Pausing, he started murmuring the song out loud. “One Saturday I took a walk to Zipper Head…” With a little smile he added in his own lines. “I got so drunk and lost and made a trash dumpster my bed…Slayer Girls (!), on Charles Street, the walk is gonna hurt my feet, it’s miles ‘cross the town, just because I threw that damn drink down…” He ground to a halt as his fingers brushed foreign objects. He pulled a noisemaker and a woman’s eyelash curler from the duster. “What the hell…?” Summing up his questions with a long, exasperated sigh, he tilted his head back to look at the clouds. “The world is weird without you, Buffy.”

            An hour later, he returned to the apartment of four very concerned Slayers. After being the center of attention for exactly five minutes, he was ordered to call up Giles and reassure him he was all right.

            “He was worried,” Kennedy cautioned.

            The Watcher? Worried about me? Spike couldn’t help smiling. My my, how things change.

            “Hello…Yes, me…none of your bloody business!” He puffed himself up at the Watcher’s comment. “No…No, we’re just fine here. Yes. Say-have you gotten a call from the Africa girls yet…hmmm. Well, I’m sure they’ll call soon-…oh…”

            The girls watched as Spike’s face fell.

“What’s happening?” Shannon whispered.

“Shh!” Rona waved her hands at her, attempting to listen in on the one sided conversation.

            “You’re sure…how long…” He lowered his voice. “Do me a favor-forward the letter I sent you…yeah…thanks mate.” He nodded to himself. “Mm-hmm…right. We will. Back before you know it…yeah, I’ll have one of ‘em call…No problem.” He hung up the phone, turning to notice his audience.

            “What happened?” Vi asked innocently.

            Spike glared at them. “Giles said I was allowed to duct tape the bathroom door shut if you ever listened in on my phone conversations again.”

            Shannon grunted, standing up. “Told you he’d never admit it.”

            His eyes narrowed further. “Admit what?”

            Rona shrugged, looking down. Finally, Kennedy spoke up for the group. “That you were worried about Buffy.”

            If possible, his gaze became harder than before. “I wasn’t worried.” He turned away, muttering, “I am worried.”

            They all jumped as the phone rang. When they realized Spike wasn’t going to get it, Rona lifted it from its cradle. “Hello?”

            “Hi!”

            “Oh, hey.” Rona smiled at the sound of Dawn’s voice.

            “Um…I was wondering…is Spike there?”

            “Yeah.” Rona cupped the mouthpiece in her hand. “Spike.”      

            He looked up from where he had slumped in the recliner. “What.”

            “Dawn’s on the phone.” She held it out as he stood, sighing.

            “ ‘ello Nibblet.” He took the phone, sending a warning look to the girls still brave enough to remain in the room with his cranky, hung-over self.

            “Hi Spike! How’s it going over there?”

            “Not bad. I killed some vampires,” he offered.

            “That’s always good. Us, we’ve been mighty bored.”

            “Find out anything about those demons?” Spike tried to stretch the cord around the corner, cursing not having a cordless available.

            “Um, yeah, we did.” Her voice got quieter over the line. “Not exactly the reason I called.”

            He gave up on his journey to the kitchen, more concerned about the young Summers girl. “Something wrong, Bit?”

            “No…”

            “Come on.” His voice softened. “You know you can tell me anything.”

            “…I don’t know. I mean, what, they’re just possessed kangaroos, right? Nothing to get worried over, right?”

            He bit his tongue. “Don’t know what to tell you, pet. It’d be a lie to say I’m not worrying about our favorite girl.”

            “Well, that’s different,” she protested. “Seriously, you worry when she goes to the drug store.”

            “Drivers these days are dangerous!” Spike stated in defense. “…But that’s beyond the point.”

            He heard her sigh. “I just want to know everything’s going to be okay. I want to know that you and Buffy and Faith and Kennedy and Rona and-”

            “Spare us the roster, please,” Spike joked.

            “-I want to know you’re all going to not die,” she whispered. “I want you guys home.”

            His heart broke at her saddened tone. “I’ll be back soon Bit. Just have a few more demons to deal with.”

            “You promise?”

            “Promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Buffy woke to Faith standing next to her bed, chuckling. She rubbed her eyes sleepily. “Shut up.”

            Faith cracked, laughing outright. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She whipped at the tears rolling down her cheeks. “I woke up and look over and there’s B, getting all cuddly with the couch cushion…” She struggled to control herself. “I’m alright. Really.” She managed to hold a semi-serious expression before exploding in giggles again.

            “What?” Buffy pouted as she shoved the cushion away.

            “Oh man.” Faith grinned evilly. “I was just seeing Spike come in here and see you with that cushion…” Helplessly, she toppled over into the sheets.

            Buffy got out of the bed, ignoring the titters coming from it.

            Sitting up abruptly, Faith looked about the room. “I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”

            Buffy nodded.

            “Well, let’s go get something to eat then!”

            She shrugged, grabbing the room key. “Fine. But you’re paying for it.”

            “Oh no.” Faith grabbed the credit card. “The Council pays for it.”

            Eyeing Faith, she closed the door behind them. “You’re loving that too much.”

            “You bet I am!” She hopped into the elevator, pushing the floor button. “I figure, it’s a limitless stock of cash from an organization that has unlimited amounts of cash.” She shrugged. “And being as we saved the, oh, two people who are still alive in this organization, I figure they owe us these…services.”

            “Fine, fine.” Buffy shrugged the subject off. She was really hungry. They walked across the street to what appeared to be a Nigerian supermarket.

            A worried look crossed Faith’s face as she examined a package of what was supposedly food. “Uh, B, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore…”

            She looked around for anything that looked remotely familiar. All this time, teachers are trying to tell me that globalization has ruined this country…She picked up a can of what looked like eyeballs. I’ll have to assure them they’re wrong.

            “Hey.” Faith stepped up to one of the employees. “Um, do you have any, you know, American food?”

            The man grinned at her, hurrying into a back room. The girls darted after him. Both looked adequately surprised as he came out, and handed them a package of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. “American!”

            Buffy offered him a smile. “Yeah. American.” She looked over to Faith, struggling with the laugh that was threatening in her throat.

            “Thanks,” Faith managed weakly. They hurried to purchase their snack cakes, barely making it out the door before snorting with amusement. “Hey, want a Swiss Roll?”

            Buffy took the treat, smirking. “American.”

            “American,” Faith agreed, closing her eyes as she sunk her teeth into one.

            As they wandered back to the hotel, occasionally giggling about the Swiss Rolls, Buffy tried to think what Spike would have done it such a situation. Actually, I don’t think such a perfectly odd thing could happen, she mused. He’s exciting enough-no need to throw random chocolates into the mix of things. She dwelled on the image of him nibbling chocolate crumbs from his fingers as they went upstairs to gather their bags. The world is weird without you here.

            “So.” Buffy looked over at Faith as they sat in the bus depot. “The last place you saw these demons was…?”

            “Out past Kano.” Faith shrugged. “It’s kind of a…plain-sy, Lion King sort of setting. Picture mud shacks and the villagers wearing hyena skins, the whole lot.”

            “Hmm.” She pondered for a minute. “We should call Giles.”

            Faith raised an eyebrow. “Because he knows exactly how to give us directions to Kano.”

            “No.” She stood up, looking around for a phone booth. “Because he might have some information on how to kill these things.”

            “You know, once we call him it’s not like we’re going to be able to reach him again,” Faith reasoned. “I mean, unless we get one of those super call-from-anywhere cell phones they’re advertising everywhere…”

            Buffy eyed the Slayer. “You still have that credit card?”

            She grinned.

            BRRRING

            “Come on, pick up…” Buffy cursed at Giles’s speed issues quietly as Faith watched.

            BRRRING

            “Maybe he’s, you know, not there.” She shrugged. “He might have a life-nah.” She shook her head, ignoring Buffy’s glare.

            BRRRING

            “Hello?” A horribly sleepy, British voice answered the phone.

            “Giles?”

            “Buffy.”

            “Hi.” She smiled. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at the whole time-thing…”

            “It’s alright.” She swore, she could hear him stretching. “Is everything alright?”

            “Yeah, we’re fine.” Twirling a bit of hair around her finger, she watched a bird fly past. “We got a cell phone.”

            “Oh.”

            “Did you get anymore information about our kangaroos?”

            “Well, they aren’t kangaroos.” Was that the sound of a handkerchief rubbing on glasses she heard? “From our many, many hours of painful, back breaking research-”

            “I said thank you for that, right?” She cut in.

            “Yes-we were able to conclude it was some sort of evolved demon of the Betugk Swetuk variety.”

            “The Beet-ooh-guck-Swee-too-kah?” She wrinkled her nose.

            A smile crept into his voice. “No.” He pronounced it for her. “The Bate-ugh Swa-took. A being that, until now, has been known to stand at about seven feet tall, upright, with a tan hide and long, curved claws.” A small sigh was heard. “Apparently these demons somehow received the ability to produce venom, along with a change in their bone structure.”

            “Well, what kills it?” Buffy tilted her head curiously as Faith mouthed ‘What the hell is a beet-ooh-guck-swee-too-kah?’ She pressed the cell phone to her ear with her shoulder, holding up her hands and taking a few small jumps in an attempt to imitate a kangaroo.  After getting a bizarre look, followed by one of understanding, Faith nodded.

            “These demons can only be killed by “A one tool that was crafted before the time of steel.””

            She blinked. “You’re telling me I can kill these things by staking them?”

            “Well-actually now that I think about it…” His voice trailed off for several seconds. “It could very well work. Wood, hypothetically, was used as a weapon before steel…but, mind you, that was before they became what they are now.” Another pause. “For all we know there may be no way of killing them.”

            “I’ll find a way.” Her voice filled with a determination that caused Faith to look up from the cell phone instruction booklet she was paging through.

            “Buffy-”

            “We have to go,” she interrupted. “The number for the cell phone is 729-442-8339. Call us again when you have something.”

            Another sigh. “Alright. Be careful, Buffy.”

            “I will.”

            For a few seconds the line was silent. “Buffy…do you have a mailing address?”

            She started at the random question. “Huh?”

            “An address to send mail to.”

            “Ummm….” She blinked a few times. “I guess if you wanted to send it to the American Embassy…”

            “Alright.” He cleared his throat. “Now, let’s make this clear. You must promise not to fight these demons until you have a sure fire way to kill them. Can you do that?”

            Slowly, she nodded. “I promise…Bye.” Quietly, she put the cell phone in her pocket.

            “Ready?” Faith looked over to her as their bus pulled into the lot.

            “Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prophesy

            ***She woke with a start as he shook her gently. “Come on, love. Our stop.” Sleepily, she stood up, leaning on him as they tripped off the bus. They got their bags quietly, wandering to the overhang to get away from the bright sunlight.

            “What do you have in here, steel blocks?” He joked as he dropped a medium sized bag.

            “No,” She said with a serious tone. “I have stakes.”

            “Stakes?” His eyebrows went up. “Love, these aren’t vampires.”

            She took a step closer, drowning in his blue eyes. “I know,” she murmured. “Giles said they could be killed by a tool crafted before steel. Wood seemed logical so…”

            He smiled sadly, brushing his fingers against her cheekbone. “That’s not it, Buffy.” He leaned in, catching her with a soft, loving kiss. She warmed against him, shifting closer and humming. He opened his eyes again, gazing at her perfect face. “You have to look deeper.”

            Her forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?” She pouted slightly, entwining her fingers in his. “I don’t understand.”

            He smirked at her. “You will.” He kissed her again, turning to leave.

            “Wait!” She cried out. “I don’t understand! What is it supposed to mean?”

            He tilted his head, pausing. “A one tool that was crafted before the time of steel. A one tool…” His voice trailed off as he walked off into the distance. “A One tool…”

            “Don’t leave!” She called again, but he had vanished. A chill swept through the region, giving her a convenient excuse for her shivering. ***

            She woke with a start as she shook her gently. “Come on, B. Time to go kick some demon ass.”

            Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she got her things and trailed after Faith off the bus. All the while thinking of her dream. It could have just been a dream, Buffy. You know, the kind you have all the time?

            But I’m the Slayer. I have prophetic dreams.

            How do you know this was one of them? You just miss him, and you were remembering your talk with Giles.

            But it seemed so real…

            “B? You there, B?”

            It seemed so real…

            She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “Yeah. Just…thinking.”

            “Right. Thinking.” Faith nodded. “That’s a good thing to do every now and again.”

            “Ummm…” Buffy looked at the overhang wearily. “Are we going to need a guide or an elephant or what.”

            The girl grinned. “No. I think I can remember the way. Might help if we rented a Jeep, though.”

            She squinted into the sun. “Can we do that? This place seems pretty much…deserted.”

            Faith nodded again. “Yeah. There’s an expedition service, you know, for those vacationers on safari…” She gestured to a building sitting a few hundred feet in the horizon. “They can lend us one.” With a sigh, she started out towards it.

            “Good morning, ladies!” A man with a rich accent greeted them as they stepped into the cool room.

            Buffy blinked. “Is it morning?”

            He laughed. “I can see you have been traveling. Is there anything we can help you with today?”

            “Actually, you can.” Faith leaned against the counter casually. “We need to rent a Jeep.”           

            “A Jeep?” He cocked his head, looking at her curiously. “What for?”

            Her eyes widened slightly. “Ah, you know, we were going to go out into the plains a bit, see the sights.”

            He shook his head slowly. “It isn’t wise to go without a guide. And there have been reports of animals attacking our customers once you get beyond our general trails.”

            Buffy’s ears perked up. “Attacks?”

            He nodded sadly. “Yes. A wife and husband were found just last week.”

            She narrowed her eyes. “They died.”

            He gestured for her to keep quiet. “It is not wise to raise a panic among the tourists. It tends to make things worse.”

            She agreed silently. “Yes. Actually, we were sent to look into your little…problem. Try and study these…creatures.”

            “You have credentials?” He crossed his arms across his chest. “I can’t have our company responsible for any more liabilities.”

            Buffy’s mind spun as she reached into her bag. “Of course.” She grabbed her driver’s license and the Council’s card, pressing them closely together in her palm while hiding the overlapping edge. Quickly, she flashed it at him.

            He shrugged. “Fine. You’ll need to sign these papers…” Quickly, the legalities of renting the vehicle were worked out and the girls were escorted to their new mode of transportation. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

            “Okay. Thanks.” With a final thought, she rushed back to him. “Um, do you think we could have our mail forwarded here?”

            “Um, sure…” He looked at her uncertainly.

            “Thanks.” She smiled before going back to the Jeep and the questions from Faith.

            “What was that about?”

            With a shake of her head, she pulled her seatbelt tighter as Faith started out into the tall grass. “I really wish I knew.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            “Tonight. We’ll do it tonight.”

            “Can you get it to work that fast?”

            “And we need someone to pick it up…”

            “I already sent someone. It will all be in place by nightfall.”

            “But what about the Slayers?”

            “Don’t even worry about them. I’m taking care of it.”

            “How?”

            “Let’s just say they’ll be-” The vampire stopped talking abruptly as he noticed the shadowy figure sitting at the bar opposite him. Slowly, he stood and edged over. “Hey, you have a problem?”

            Spike looked up from his beer. “None whatsoever.”

            The vampire growled. “Because it seemed to me you were listening in on a private conversation. Didn’t you mother ever teach you good manners?”

            He drew back, coughing. “Didn’t yours teach you good hygiene?” Unsurprised as the minion pushed him off the stool, he stood to face him. “Seriously. It’s called soap.”

            The vamp glared at him. “I wouldn’t be saying that if I were you.”

            “Really now.”

            “You don’t have the slightest idea what you’re messing with,” he gloated.

            Spike yawned. “Okay. Try me.”

            Without a word he vamped out, his eyes glowing yellow.

            Spike blinked. “I thought you said I didn’t have the slightest idea what I was messing with.”

            He blinked confusedly for a moment. “I’m awful hungry, you know…”

            “Me too.” He punched him in the stomach, sending him sprawling back into the wall. “I’m not complaining, though.”

            De-vamping, the being looked up at him wearily. “What are you?”

            “Just a bloke out for a drink,” he replied with a shrug. “Not my fault if I pick up on the rumor there’s going to be some action as of tonight.”

            “You want in?” It asked incredulously.

            He smirked, reaching up to secure the cap to his head more firmly. Gotta love undercover work… “You want me in.”

            The other vampires stood up, circling him. “Do we.”

            He nodded seriously. “I’m the only one who can help you.”

            The leader stood, eyeing him. “Help us with what.”

            Spike raised his eyebrows. “Oh, come on. Your entire existences scream ‘ex-minion’. I bet this is your first job running solo, is it not?” Pausing for confirmation, he continued. “None of you have even seen a Slayer. I have.”

            “You have?” Their eyes took on a look of admiring.

            “Yeah. Fought with her back in the good old days. Nearly beat her, too.”         

            “What stopped you?”

            “Good old days?”

            “And she didn’t stake you?”

            He smiled. “We called it a draw. She had other evils to fight; I was just trying to get home. Considering the entire town was going nuts what with the trials and burnings, I was a small fish.”

            “You’re saying you fought a Slayer in Salem?” One asked.

            He nodded. “I did. Best fight of my life. Didn’t kill her if for no other reason than to get to fight her again.”

            “And you want to help us.”      

            “I want in on the fight,” he corrected. “Might help if I knew where exactly you’ll be.”

            They looked around suspiciously. “In the abandoned construction site. We’ll have others lure them there, and then the rest of us will jump out and surprise them.”

            “How many.” Spike struggled to watch their faces through his sunglasses.

            “We’ve taken some hits. By tonight, we might have sixty.” He shrugged. “Only four girls. And once they’re gone the town-and the mouth-are ours.”

            He drew in a sharp breath. “Right. I’ll be there after sunset.”

            They nodded. He grabbed the blanket he had set on his stool, draping it over himself as he ran out the door. A few blocks down, he turned into an alley and slowed. He removed the disguise, reaching for the bag he had stowed his duster in. “I’ll be there after sunset, for sure. I’ll be there bloody before.”

Arriving back at the apartment, he was attacked by a frantic Vi. “Spike, thank god you’re home.”

            “What happened.” He rushed up to her.

            “Giles has been calling and calling. He won’t tell me anything.” She handed him the phone.

            BRR- “Hello.”

            “Giles.”

            “Spike. I tried to call you earlier-”

            “What. The. Hell. Happened.” He gripped the phone so tightly his knuckles turned white. Dear god, not Buffy. Please, please let Buffy be okay…

            “Buffy’s fine,” he said quickly. “But we’ve discovered something quite, well, odd.”

            “What is it!” He clenched and unclenched the muscles in his jaw. I swear, I’ll tear this man limb from limb…

            “Dawn.” Spike froze. “She’s…well, she’s started to glow.”

            “Glow?”

            “I talked to Willow. Apparently it’s part of a locating spell.” He paused. “Someone’s trying to find Dawn.”

            “What in bleeding hell do they want with Dawn?” He bit his lip, pacing around the room.

            “Spike-your vampires, do you know their plans? Do you know if they plan to do anything besides take over the town?”

            His eyes bugged out of his head as he recalled bits of their conversation.

            “Can you get it to work that fast?”

            “And we need someone to pick it up…”

            “I already sent someone. It will all be in place by nightfall.”

            “Once they’re gone the town-and the mouth-are ours.”

            “Shit!” He gasped. “They want her. They’re going to do something with the mouth. “They think she’s still the Key.”

            “No…” Giles ran his hands through his hair. “They located the Key. It just still happens to be Dawn.”

            “You need to get her out of there!” Spike bellowed into the phone. “Now!”

            “Alright.” He turned from the phone, though his words were still heard. “Dawn…get in the car…I can’t-please, just go…” His voice became clearer again. “They won’t know we’re here, Spike. It’s the spell. They’ll follow us anywhere-”

            He jumped as a loud noise interrupted Giles.  “Giles!” The phone was silent. “Giles!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            “Are we there yet?” Buffy complained, stretching her arms over her head.

            Faith glared at her. “Hey. Do you want to drive?”

            Buffy was about to respond when she screamed. “Faith!”

            Faith tried to jerk the car to the side as a creature bounded out of the underbrush at the car. Unable to stop, she hit it.

            She pulled her hands from her face. “…Did we kill it?” In answer, long claws pierced the bottom of the Jeep, reaching up and tearing at her legs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            “Oh my god.” Willow jumped up, staring at the metal bound book before her. “Oh my god!” With shaky hands, she lifted her translated prophecy.

            Into each time before one was sent to save the world. One to balance the forces of light and of dark. Among them, there will be one unlike the rest. The One. She is the way to maintaining the balance for which they have fought. She will be beyond goodness or evil. To save her, the champion of heart will rise. Dark will lighten and the world will be anew as it never was. He will give himself to save them all. There will be a great battle, in which he will perish. The forces of evil will bide their time under the Earth, waiting for the time when they might rise again. The One and her army will be spread far and wide. They will face their own evils as they would-alone. Only together can the balance be achieved.

            Alone will they go towards small victories. Alone shall they die. Without completion, each shall spiral down into the firey pits as evil grows impatient and shows itself. Risen again, he will fight for one dear. The armies of the dark will keep hidden the answer, keep hidden the key to their being. They shall rise up in their numbers and be spread to keep apart the forces. As long as they remain unbalanced, so shall the armies succeed in their quests. Dark is held as long as light remains; without her it devours. And the world will become hell. She will fight, but she will fall. Without heart, she will fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fade To Black

            “Oh god…” Willow stood up, rushing to the phone. “Oh god oh god oh god….”

            BRRRING

            “Oh god oh god oh god oh god…”

            BRRING

            “Oh god oh god oh god…”

            BRRI-“Hello?”

            “Spike?”

            “Willow?” Spike tapped his foot quickly. “This is a bad time, Red.”

            “Spike! The translation!” She gasped.

            “Red-listen closely,” he hissed. “They have Dawn. They have Giles. They’re coming back here. I have to go and find them.”

            “What?!?” She screeched. Risen again, he will fight for one dear. “It’s…its part of the prophecy. It says ‘he will fight for one dear’.”

            “Does it say if I win?” He snapped.
            “No…”

            “I have to go.” He started to hang up.

            Willow looked back to her paper. “No! Buffy! It says something about Buffy!”

            “What does it say?” He asked, fearful.

            “It says…” She hesitated. “ ‘She will fight, but she will fall. Without heart, she will fall.’.”

            “Right.” He bit his tongue hard. Don’t loose it now, mate. Got to get the Nibblet. “I have to find Dawn, Red. Try calling her. Please.”

            “Yeah…call Buffy…Okay, I’ll call them.” She nodded to herself as she heard the harsh click as he set down the phone. “Okay.” She looked down at the phone number Giles had given her. “Okay.”

            BRRRING

            BRRING

            BRRING

            “Come on Buffy, now’s not the time to loose your phone,” she joked nervously.

            BRRING

            “Hi-”

            “Buffy!”

            “-You’ve obviously called us when we couldn’t come to the phone, so if you want to leave your name and number we’ll be sure to call you back.” Buffy’s voice sounded falsely happy as the recording played. “Thanks!”

            BEEP

            “Hi, Buffy, it’s me, Willow…” She stammered into the phone. “Um, could you, please, call me, we’re really worried, please-” The message stopped abruptly, leaving her with an empty dial tone. “Buffy,” she whispered. Remembering Dawn and Giles, she hurried to his collection of books. Pulling down one labeled Harnessing The Light, she started to chant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            “Dawn!” Giles rushed from the phone, scrambling to the other room. She was cowering in a corner as a large rock smashed through the window.

            “Throw out the Key and no one gets hurt!” A voice called.

            Giles cautiously looked out. Five vampires stood by the window, another three by the door. “Never.”

            “Oh really?” The leader sneered, stepping aside to reveal a Hask demon. The being slowly approached the doorway. “Let’s just see about that.”

            “Dawn.” He turned to her quickly. “Run upstairs. Go to one of the windows and wait for me. If I’m not there in two minutes, you need to run.”

            She grasped his hand firmly. “I’m not leaving you.”

            “Oh yes you are.” With a sound shove, he sent her to the stairs. “Go!” His head snapped back to the door as it was kicked in.

            The Hask demon stood in the doorway, grinning evilly. It reached one of its large hands out, coming after him.

            “Bloody brilliant.” He grabbed a lamp. “Stay back.” He shifted it from hand to hand. The being’s grin spread. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

            With a cry, the demon leapt forward and sent him sprawling back. He landed with a bang against the wall. “I will not pass out. I’m not going to pass out!” He was drug to his feet. Smashing the lamp against its face, he tried to run for the back door in hopes of it following him. Instead, it grabbed him by the neck and forced him up the stairs.

            “ ‘Ere ghurli ghurli ghurl…” It garbled. It drew blood from Giles’s neck as it pressed its nails in.

            “You’ll…never…” He gasped, kicking wildly as his vision blurred. I will not pass out. I will not pass…

            “GILES!” She screamed, charging at it with an axe. She managed to cut its arm before being swept up in the deadly embrace. “Let me go!”

            “Hey, don’t kill her,” one of the vampires outside cautioned.

            “Cun uy kyll im?” It questioned, lifting Giles from his feet.

            The vampire shrugged. “Sure. Go for it.”

            “AWAY.” A voice surged through the house. The demon flew back, smashing down another door.

            “Forget him! Come on!”

            Quickly, he stood and threw Dawn out the window.

            “FORCES OF LIGHT, FORCES OF DAY, PROTECT THE GIRL, STAY AWAY.”           

            The vampire who held Dawn let out a yelp as he flew back, finally landing some hundred feet from the house. “It’s some sort of spell!”

            “We have our own spells,” another boasted. He turned to the oldest vampire amongst them.

            “It’s a witch,” he said simply. He held out his hand. “LET HER BE KNOWN!”

            Willow suddenly appeared in the middle of the street, looking disoriented.

            The vampire held out both his arms. A dark mist began to swirl around her.

            “Mother-” She staggered as a powerful blow hit her. “Goddess…Come into me…” Slowly, a white orb replaced the dark light. She turned her gaze to the vampire. “Let the evil be extinguished.” He winced. “Let the evil do no wrong.” Her light grew. “Let the darkest forces quiver.” The minions began to drop around her, grasping at their hearts as they burned from within. “Let my powers grow strong.” Her eyes began to change as she struggled with the energy flowing through her. She shook her head, harnessing it. “Let my powers grow strong!”

            The master vampire struggled through the barrier she had created. Tilting his head back, he called to the sky. “Osiris!” His eyes began to glow red. “Fill my being. Take my body. Take her soul.” Clouds of dark energy wafted around him, billowing out and weakening her. A smirk spread on his face as her light began to drift to him.

            “AWAY.” He stumbled back a few feet. Recovering quickly, he jumped to land beside her. “Sleep, girl.” He put a hand on her shoulder.

            “NO.” She managed to force him back. He returned, again placing his hand upon her. Taking her energy. Taking her power. “No…” Her eyes glowed fiercely before she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath.

            He drained her until she was no more than a softly beating heart upon the street. His eyes danced with the new resource he suddenly possessed.            

            “Willow?” Dawn cried, struggling with her captors.

            “QUIET.” He rather liked this new tone of his voice. Her eyes widened when no noise escaped her lips. He looked about the group smugly. Approaching her, he took her hand. She grew quiet beneath his touch. “HOME.”

            As the other vampires gaped, they disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            “B!” Faith jumped up as Buffy kicked at the demon’s claws.

            She winced as another long cut sliced down her leg. “Run,” she grunted.

            In response, she reached over and wrapped her hands around the creature’s arm. “Get out,” she urged.

            Buffy jumped out, bending down to grab the thing’s tail. It hissed, forgetting Faith temporarily to go after her. Here Betugk Betugk Betugk… “What, is that all you’ve got?” She grunted as it kicked her back. “I have kicked demon ass before-” She called, delivering a punch with each over-pronounced word. “And. I. Will. Kick. Yours.”

            “You need new slay-sayings, girl.” Faith jumped over the car, landing a nice flying kick to the demon’s back. As it stood again both girls leapt on it, trying to stay away from those damn claws. “Honestly. It sounds like-” She went flying, crashing against a patch of grass. “-a bad wrestling catch phrase.”

            Buffy would have liked to respond to that, but instead she was granted a near shish-cabob experience. Damn claws. “Faith,” she called. “Go…get a sword…we need to cut-” She back flipped onto the hood of the Jeep. “Those claws off.”

            “One nail job on the way.” She popped open the back and threw  a sword towards her. “Catch!”

            Grabbing the sword, she plunged it into the Betugk’s arm. Oh right. Steel no kill. Re-aiming, she managed to take off a hand. It rolled from the car, causing Faith to raise an eyebrow. “What, are you just going to stand there and-” Her eyes bugged out as the remaining claw plunged deep into her side. “…Watch…?” No Buffy. Don’t pass out. Bad Buffy. Don’t. She pressed a hand over her wound as the world began to fade to blank. “No…”

            Faith grabbed her by the wrist, throwing her a good distance from the fight. Dodging blows and trying desperately to remove that other hand, she couldn’t tell if Buffy was still conscious. “B?” Silence. “B?!?” She groaned as her cheek was cut open. “Damn man, you had to go for the face.” She stood again, walking towards it determinedly. “I hate that!” With a quick gesture she removed the other hand. A brief smile stole her face at the demon’s expression. It dissipated as she started to feel woozy. “Oh yeah…forgot about that…venom…” Tripping over her feet, she took the stake from her jacket and lunged blindly. She never saw where it landed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            He ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the construction site. Dear god, or whoever’s up there, please, don’t let Dawn… He couldn’t finish the thought. And he absolutely refused to think about Buffy. About whether or not she was hurt. Or alive…He shook his head. She’s brave. She can face this. She needs to face this. Besides, not like I can help at the moment. What with being here and all. Nothing I can do for her. I need to find-

            He tripped over the two figures that suddenly appeared in front of him. “What the hell…” His eyes widened as he realized one was Dawn. “Bit!”

            She looked up, her eyes filled with sadness.

            “The girl is a little…” the vampire grinned. “Tongue tied.”

            He felt himself slipping into game face. Whoops. “Let. Her. Go.”

            “Or what?” He looked at him amusedly. The question was answered as he was struck with a series of unnaturally fast punches and kicks.

            It took Spike exactly two seconds to realize that this vampire was a little bit different than the others. Three more to notice the dark magics crackling around them. “I can’t believe this. You’re a warlock vampire?”

            He grinned.

            “Hey! Hey!” The vampires from the bar approached, stepping in between the two.

            The master vampire looked at them confusedly. “What?”

            “He’s with us. Fighting on our side.”

            Dawn raised a noiseless eyebrow as Spike quickly shook his head to her.

            “Ah.” He turned to look at the blond vampire. “Wait-then why…”

            Spike shrugged. “My mistake. Thought you were trying to take our…prize...”

            The vampire blinked at him, mentally believing him to be the daftest being on the planet. “Well then.” Abruptly, he turned to Dawn. And pulled a stake from his pocket. “I don’t see why we can’t kill her right here.” He looked over to Spike, daring him to defy.

            One of the others nodded. “She’s The Key. We don’t have to be directly over the seal, I’d bet.”

            “Actually, we do.” He looked down, scuffing at the loose dirt with his toe thoughtfully. “And we are.”

            “Oh,” the others muttered.

            He pulled back the stake dramatically. “Goodbye, girly.”

            Spike jumped in front of her silently as the stake plunged down.

            “SPIKE!” Dawn screamed, suddenly freed from the spell, as the vampire jerked back against her. She held his arms until he was balanced again. “Spike?”

            Slowly, he tilted his head to look at the stake firmly implanted in his heart. “Bloody hell,” he muttered as the world faded to black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~