Title: Fluffy Innocence (Ep 6 of the Fluffy Files)

Author: Hilary

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Everything I have borrowed from Joss.

Author's Notes: This is part of a series I have lovingly titled The Fluffy Files. I'm taking every Ep that Spike has appeared in and twisting it to give it a nice fluffy B/S ending. The eps are not meant to be read in sequence (unless you want to). They are all stand-alone fics which I have just grouped together, sort of a 'how they might get together' thing. In other words ignore any other Fluffy File fics and just pretend this is the first. For each EP just assume that the show has gone more or less as normal up until the point where I start.

Author's notes: For the purpose of this fic, although Spike was badly hurt during What's My Line, he is not in the wheelchair at this point.

Dedication: To the greatest Muse out there. A HUGE thank you to Py for her fantastic beta skills and help with the ideas, you know I love ya. Thanks also to Kris and Rich for encouraging me and putting up with my moaning. Naked Spike's for all.

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Dru gazed in wonder and awe at the vampire who stood before her. Angelus, the scourge of Europe, a monster that put all other villains to shame, her sire, was back. She had felt so lost without him, like part of her was missing. She'd had Spike, of course, and although her childe was devoted to her, it paled to the love of the one who had made her. In fact she had only turned Spike at all because Angelus had suggested it.

Angelus grinned, as the realization that he was back swept over Spike and Dru. He strode over to his childe and pulled her into a passionate kiss, which she returned readily. Spike watched in numb shock as the love of his unlife happily sucked face with someone who had been their enemy just the day before.

"Miss me, baby?" Angelus purred when they finally parted. Dru nodded and snuggled into his chest. Angelus glanced at Spike and smirked at the look of almost despair written across his face. It was nice to see that things were back to normal already.

"So," he began. "Now that we're back to being one big family again, what's say we go out and cause a little mayhem?"

Dru clapped her hands in glee. "Yes, please, my Angel, there's so much fun to be had."

Angelus nodded. "First things first, my childe, I've got a Slayer to deal with."

Dru nibbled his earlobe as she whispered to him. "Can I help? Make her pay for taking you away from me?"

Angelus grinned. "That's my girl. Alright, I'll let you play with her for a while before we kill her. Spike can stay here and keep an eye on things while we're gone."

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, the two of them walked out into the night, leaving Spike alone

* * *

Fear was steadily gnawing at Buffy's heart as she stepped into Angel's apartment for the hundredth time that day. No one had seen or heard from him since she'd awoken alone the night before. Now she was beginning to fear the worst. Supposing he'd gone back to try and stop the Judge; there was no way he could beat him. Glancing around the apartment, she froze; a shirt lay on the bed. A shirt that hadn't been there that morning. Her heart soared. It had to be Angel; he had to be alive.

She ran into the bathroom and stopped. It was Angel, shirtless and kissing a dark haired girl…passionately. If she had eaten that day, which she hadn't, Buffy was sure she would have thrown up right there.

"Angel?" she whispered.

His acute vampiric hearing must have picked up her words, for he broke away from the kiss and turned to face her.

"Buffy, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight." He wasn't even bothering to pretend to be concerned that she had caught him with someone else. Buffy looked at the girl and her stomach lurched even more when she saw who it was: Drusilla.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice trembling, knowing what the answer was but wanting to hear it from his own lips. "I was so worried about you."

He shrugged. "Sorry, Buff. I had to go away for a while, find something…someone to take my mind off that disaster."

The remaining colour drained from her face and she looked at him as though she were looking at a total stranger. "I-I don't understand. It was me?"

"Hey, don't worry about it, I'm not. Besides, if I ever decide to give you another go, I'll make sure I give you some pointers."

Buffy choked back a sob. "Why are you doing this?"

Angelus shrugged. "Figured you should know the truth before the next sucker comes along."

This final jab was too much for Buffy. She turned and ran. Once Angel heard the door slam, he turned back to Dru and winked.

"This is just the beginning."

Dru smiled cruelly. "I like this game."

* * *

Spike was fed up. He'd spent the last half an hour pacing the factory, running over what had just happened again and again. Finally he reached a decision: there was no way he was putting up with this crap from Angel. He and Dru had managed just fine without him for the last 80 years and he was buggered if he was going to sit back and let him undo that all in one night. He grabbed his coat and headed for the door. He was going to find them, wherever they were, and tell Angel just who was in charge around here. As he headed towards town, he had a pretty good idea where to look for them

* * *

"Willow, get away from him." Jenny warned but it was too late, Angelus had grabbed her in a chokehold.

"Angel?" Willow whispered, mostly out of fear, but also because he was cutting off her air. "What's going on?"

"I want you to give Buffy a message for me." he sneered.

"Why don't you give it to me yourself?" a voice spat from behind him.

With a grin, Angelus turned to face his ex-lover and Xander used the distraction to shove a cross in his face. Angelus hissed in pain and released his grip on Willow, pushing her into Xander and sending them both tumbling to the floor.

"Come back for some more, have you?" he sneered. "You know, begging really isn't that attractive. If I wasn't already put off, I certainly am now."

Buffy just stared at him.

"I don't know why you're doing this, and right now I don't care either. Stay away from me and stay away from my friends." Her cold calm voice did nothing to betray both the trembling rage and the agonizing pain she was feeling.

Angelus looked faintly amused for a moment before he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. Before she could even think to respond, he pushed her to the floor and ran out of the doors, leaving her staring numbly after him.

* * *

Spike watched. He watched as Angelus had fun with the Slayer, and he watched as her friends drove him away. Despite the confusion at Angel's sudden change, they were sharp enough to realize that they had a new enemy on their hands. Even the Slayer seemed to realize it, no matter how much it hurt her. As he watched her friends try to comfort her, an idea hit. The Slayer was weaker now than she had ever been before. Her whole world was falling apart and this was the chance he had been waiting for. He'd prove to Dru who was the better vampire; he'd bring her the Slayer's head on a plate. He'd like to see Angelus top that as a gift.

He remained hidden in the shadows and watched as she climbed into her Watcher's car and he drove her home. He followed. As soon as she was alone he'd do it.

The car remained stationary outside her house for a good few minutes. Spike smiled as he imagined the Slayer was getting a good telling off for shagging a vampire. Killing her was going to be so much fun. He heard the door to the car open and saw the Slayer walk towards her house; shoulders slumped dejectedly. A few minutes later he saw the upstairs light come on. It was time.

* * *

Buffy's body trembled as she stepped into her room and slowly began to undo the buttons on her coat. She let it slip to the floor, not caring where it landed. The light caught the sliver cross which was hanging on her bed stand and she held it loosely between her fingers for a moment, remembering the night Angel gave it to her. Their first meeting. An image of Angel kissing Drusilla flashed into her mind and she let go of the cross, letting it swing.

She looked down at the ring on her finger, the pledge of friendship and love that Angel had given her on her birthday. She wrenched it from her finger, remembering his cruel words to her. As it slipped from her hands onto the floor, the first tears began to fall and from there on there was no stopping them. Her whole body shook with uncontrollable sobs and she stumbled over to the bed, collapsing on it as she finally accepted that Angel was gone.

* * *

From his perch outside her window Spike smirked as he saw the door to her bedroom open. He watched as she dropped her coat on the floor and began to finger one of the trinkets that Angel had given her. It was a necklace; he imagined it around her neck.

"Such a pretty neck, Slayer," he muttered to himself. "I'm going to snap it like a twig."

His smile faltered as he saw tears start to roll down her cheeks. It was an unusual sight as the only tears he had ever seen a Slayer shed was when she begged for her life. Something about the sight of her tears made his rage fade a little. He shook his head; this was crazy. He was a vampire; she was the Slayer. He'd come here to kill her and he was damn well going to do it. He watched as she collapsed on the bed, her body wracked with sobs and something hit him. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill her. Seeing her like this reminded him of how he felt when Dru had left him for Angel, utterly destroyed. The problem here wasn't the Slayer; it was Dru and Angel. She was a victim, like him.

He felt a new rage boiling inside him, mingled with the urge to do what he could to ease her pain. Finally he reached out and tapped lightly on the glass, not sure if it was a good idea or not, but figuring there was only one way to find out.

The sounds of his knocks were lost on Buffy as she continued to sob. Finally she tapered off into whimpers and tensed. She could sense a vampire. Since none of the regular vamps knew who she was, there was only one person it could be.

"Angel..." she whispered.

Climbing out of bed, she walked slowly to the window, part of her hoping he'd come to apologize and explain what was going on, another part of her was afraid that he had come to abuse her some more. As she reached the window she froze, a combination of anger, disappointment and confusion filling her soul. It wasn't Angel at all. She opened the window, knowing he couldn't get in without an invite.

"What the hell do you want?" she spat, wiping her face with her hand. The fact that he was seeing her vulnerable like this just made her angrier.

"Relax, pet, I'm not here to fight."

Buffy glared at him. "No? Just come for a gloat instead? I suppose Dru told you all about her little conquest. Angel certainly wasted no time bragging about it."

Spike shook his head. "No, that's not it. It's Dru."

Buffy flinched as she remembered the look of total pleasure on Dru's face when she had been kissing Angel. "You'd better keep your girlfriend away from me, Spike. If I ever see her again, she'll be dust."

This time it was Spike's turn to flinch. "She's not my bloody girlfriend; that's what I've been trying to tell you. She's gone and left me. Decided she prefers your ex to the likes of me."

Buffy looked incredulous. "And you're here why? Thought I'd be your shoulder to cry on? Sorry, Spike, you'll have to find someone else to pity you; I'm all out."

"I'm not here for your pity!" Spike yelled. "I came here to kill you! It's your bloody fault Dru left me! If you hadn't gone and shagged the poof then me and Dru'd still be happy together!"

Buffy's right fist shot out and connected sharply with his jaw, the force of the blow knocking him from his perch to the ground below.

She smiled with satisfaction as she heard him hit the ground with a thud. How dare he turn up like this and blame his problems on her. After a moment she leaned out of the window and her smile fell a little when she saw that he was lying motionless on the ground.

"Spike!" she yelled, thankful that her mom was out of town on a buying trip. "Stop kidding around and get back up here."

She was almost relieved when he climbed to his feet and glared up at her. "Come up there so I can be your punching bag? I don't think so."

She sighed loudly. "Look, you obviously came here for something other than to piss me off. Either come and tell me what it is, or go away. I've had a really bad day and you are not helping."

Rolling his eyes, Spike climbed back up the tree and reclaimed his perch as Buffy sat down on the edge of her bed and folded her arms.

"Alright, talk," she snapped. "And make it good; I'm already starting to regret not staking you when you first got here."

"Revenge." he said simply, as if that explained it all. Buffy raised an eyebrow, clearly not impressed with his explanation.

"What?" Spike scoffed. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. Are you really going to let Angel get away with treating you like little more than a whore?"

Buffy flinched at his words and felt fresh tears well up in her eyes. "I loved him." she whispered.

"And I loved Dru." Spike replied. "Seems that doesn't matter much to either of them."

She raised her head and looked at him, raw emotion on her face. "I-I don't think I can. Even after everything he said, I don't think I can hurt him."

Spike nodded, fully understanding how she felt for the first time. He wasn't sure he could hurt Dru either, despite all his talk of revenge. "I know, pet," he said gently. "But there's still the Judge. Angel isn't going to waste any time putting him to his own uses."

Buffy sighed. She'd forgotten about the Judge. Another thing to add to the mountain of problems she had already. Spike saw how his words seemed to add an extra weight to her shoulders and almost regretted saying them.

"Look, Slayer, I-" he stopped as lightening flashed and thunder rumbled in the distance. Great, he thought to himself. Then it started to rain. Bloody perfect.

Buffy seemed oblivious to the change in the weather, her eyes were fixed on her hands in her lap.

"Um…any chance of an invite, Slayer? It's getting a bit wet out here."

She looked up and couldn't help but smile at the sodden vampire outside her window; his hair plastered down and his lower lip extended in a small pout. He looked so pitiful; she couldn't help herself.

"Come in, Spike." she said softly.

"'Bout bloody time." he grumbled, although he was happy that at least he'd got her to smile. Buffy wandered into the bathroom and came back carrying a towel. She handed it to Spike and sat back on the bed as he dried himself off.

As he rubbed the towel over his face, he heard a sniffle coming from Buffy. He dropped it on the floor as his saw fresh tears roll down her cheeks. Kneeling down beside her, he tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey now, pet," he said gently. "It'll be ok."

His soothing gesture merely caused her to bury her face in his chest and start sobbing again.

"I-I d-don't know w-what to d-do." she choked.

"Shh, luv, we'll work something out." He gently stroked her hair and did his best to comfort her. Finally her sobs trailed off into soft whimpers. Spike pushed on her shoulder lightly, trying to coax her into lying down.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep, it's late."

Drained and exhausted, Buffy put up no resistance and once she was in bed, Spike pulled the covers over her and sat beside her, gently stroking her hair.

"Spike?" she whispered sleepily. "I don't want to be alone tonight. Will you stay with me?"

"Course I will." he replied, a little stunned by her request but willing to do anything to help.

He sat by her side until she drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Buffy awoke to warm beams of sunshine pouring through her still open window and onto the bed. She yawned and opened her eyes before realizing with some confusion that she was still in her clothes. Then the memories of the previous night came crashing down on her; Angel, Dru, and Spike. SPIKE! There was sunshine pouring into her room and the last thing she remembered was Spike sitting on the bed beside her.

She jumped out of bed, her heart pounding. Then she stopped, a small smile spreading over her face. There, on her floor, was Spike, curled up in the shadow of her bed with his duster pillowed under his head and his boots placed neatly beside him. She quietly walked over and closed the curtains before walking back to the sleeping vampire. She frowned; he couldn't be comfortable on the floor like that. She knelt down beside him and shook him gently by the shoulder.

"Spike?" she called softly, not wanting to startle him.

After a minute he stirred and blinked sleepily up at her.

"Slayer? What are you doing here?" he asked in bewilderment, still half asleep.

"Um…I live here."

He looked around and the last traces of sleep left him as he took in his surroundings. He wasn't in the factory at all, but in Buffy's house.

"Oh, right."

He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before massaging his stiff neck. Buffy smiled as she took in his appearance; his hair was mussed up, sticking up in all directions. She giggled.

"What?" Spike asked, slightly confused.

She reached up and pulled a leaf from his hair, holding it in front of his face. Spike grinned.

"Yeah, falling out of a tree will do that to you."

Still smiling, she stood. "I'm going to school soon, thought you might want to make use of the bed while I'm gone."

Spike nodded and climbed to his feet as well. "Thanks."

She grabbed a towel and headed out to have a shower without another word to Spike. It was all just too weird.

When she returned to her room, she found Spike in her bed, sleeping peacefully. She watched him for a moment, in awe at how different from his normal badass appearance he looked. Finally she sighed, tucked him in, and left for school.

* * *

As she slowly made her way to school, Buffy's thoughts turned to Angel. Spike was right; personal revenge aside, it would only be a matter of time before Angel attacked again. They had been lucky last night; no one had been hurt, but what about next time? Supposing he killed her, or worse still, one of her friends? It would be her fault for letting her personal feelings get in the way of her duty. No, she had to do what needed to be done; she had to kill him. Now. It would be the perfect time; he'd be asleep and wouldn't know what hit him until it was too late.

Quickly she changed her direction and headed for the factory.

* * *

Buffy stalked through one room after another, stake in hand, searching for Angel's bedroom. There were only so many places he could be and each room she searched reduced that number by one. Finally there was only one room left, typical that the last one was the one she wanted. She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

What she saw chilled her. Row after row of china dolls lined the room, some of them blindfolded and some of them gagged. They had to belong to Dru. What chilled her more was the sight of the empty bed; she knew she was in the right place but where were they?

The door clicked behind her and she jumped as a voice spoke.

"Hello, lover. We've been waiting for you."

She spun around and briefly caught a glimpse of Angel before she felt a sting in her arm. Instantly she felt strange, light-headed, and everything was blurry. She stumbled and tried to catch hold of something to steady herself. She knew Angel had done something to her and she was too weak to fight him. Finally she dropped to the floor and was engulfed by darkness.

Angel smiled to himself as he knelt beside the now unconscious Slayer. The drugs he had given her were strong and he was amazed that she had managed to stay awake as long as she had. He rolled her onto her back and gently brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Sleep well," he purred. "It'll be time to die when you wake."

"Now, Angel," a voice chided from the doorway. "It's not nice to start the party without all the guests. Miss Edith will be most displeased."

Angel grinned at her. "Don't worry, baby. He'll be here soon, then we can have our fun."

* * *

"Xander, maybe we shouldn't."

Willow glanced nervously at her friend as they hovered outside Buffy's front door.

"Look, Will, Buffy didn't come to school today; something is obviously up. I know she's upset about Angel, but I just want to check on her. If she wants some alone time then that's fine; I just want to be sure."

Reluctantly, Willow nodded as Xander knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer.

"Maybe we should go." Willow suggested, but Xander was already looking around for a spare key. Finally he found it beneath a flowerpot and he opened Buffy's door, stepping inside. Willow followed tentatively behind him.

"Buffy?" Xander called. Silence resounded through the house. He began to make his way upstairs.

"Xander!" Willow called anxiously. "What if she's in bed or something?"

He stopped halfway up the stairs. Buffy probably wouldn't appreciate him seeing her in a state of undress. He backed down and motioned for Willow to go ahead. She knocked lightly on Buffy's door.

"Buffy?" she called softly. "Are you awake?"

Nothing.

She looked back at Xander and he motioned for her to go inside. She carefully pushed open the door and froze, her eyes wide in shock. There was someone in Buffy's bed, but it definitely wasn't her.

"Um…Xander…"

He immediately knew something was wrong and ran into the room, skidding to a halt when he saw what Willow had seen. Spike. Spike was asleep in Buffy's bed. He didn't know why or how this had happened and right now he didn't care. All he knew was that Buffy was missing and Spike, more than likely, knew something about it.

He silently motioned Willow to pass him a stake and once he felt the wood in his hand, he roughly hauled Spike out of bed.

"What have you done with Buffy?" he hissed, pressing the stake against Spike's chest.

It took a minute for Spike to wake up fully and by the time he was aware of what was going on, he had a hand clasped around his throat and a stake pressed against his heart. Not the nicest way to wake up, he had to say.

"Bloody hell," he growled. "Do you wake everyone up by threatening them like this."

"Where's Buffy?" Xander repeated, not moving an inch.

Spike managed a small shrug. "Thought she was with you; she said she was going to school when she left this morning."

Confusion overrode his anger and he let go of Spike. "Alright, bleach boy, why don't you tell us what's going on; including why you were tucked up all cozy in Buffy's bed."

Spike sat down on the end of Buffy's bed, pulling his boots on as he told them what had happened. How he had come there to kill her, right through to her offering him her bed while she was at school. Once Spike had finished, Xander glared at him skeptically.

"You expect me to believe that you came here to kill Buffy and she still invited you into her house?"

Spike sighed. "Were you not listening to me? I was pissed off; I knew I couldn't kill her as soon as I saw her. And as for the invite, it was raining. But this doesn't answer where she is? Are you sure she didn't go to school?"

Xander rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I only have every single class with her."

"Where could she be?" Willow asked, growing increasingly afraid for her friend's safety.

Suddenly it hit Spike like a brick to the head. There was only one other place she could have gone. It was insane but that had to be it. He grabbed his coat.

"Bloody hell." he muttered before jumping out of the window. He just prayed he wasn't too late.

* * *

He ran until he reached the main doors of the factory, stopping for a moment to compose himself; if Buffy was still alive, and if he was to stand any chance of saving her, he had to play this cool. Finally he pushed opened the door and casually swaggered inside.

The main room was empty and he wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. The sun had only just set so it was possible, but unlikely, that they had gone out. He wandered into the bedroom. At least he wasn't too late. Buffy lay on the bed, manacles clamped around her wrists and ankles. She was unconscious but alive. He swiftly made his way over to the bed and examined her restraints. There weren't going to come off easily. He'd have to pick the locks and that would take time. Time he wasn't sure he had.

"Don't worry, luv," he whispered. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Naturally she didn't reply, but he hoped that some part of her had registered what he was saying. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something to work the locks with.

"Spike," Dru cooed as she wandered into the room, Angelus close behind her. "Where have you been?"

Spike shrugged and took a step back from Buffy. "Got caught outside, had to hide out until sunset."

He glanced down at Buffy and forced a smirk. "I see you've been busy while I've been away."

Dru nodded, an evil sneer on her face. "Now that you're here the games can begin."

Angel wrapped an arm around Dru's shoulder. "She insisted on waiting for you before we had any fun."

"I'm touched, but why don't we go and feed first. You know I can't stand to torture on an empty stomach. It's not like she's going anywhere"

He knew that if he could just get them out of the factory for a couple of hours Buffy might wake up and manage to free herself. If not, he'd have to try and put off the torture until he had the chance to set her free.

Angel shrugged. "I guess it won't hurt to fill ourselves up first."

With that he swung a punch at Spike and sent him sprawling to the floor. "Do you think I was born yesterday, boy? I can smell her all over you. You've been with her haven't you?"

He grabbed Spike by the collar and hauled him to his feet. "HAVEN'T YOU??"

Spike smirked, a genuine one this time. "Hey, I owed it to her. She came to me that very same night, crying; desperate for a good shag."

Angelus began to shake with rage.

"I mean it's not as though you didn't try," Spike continued. "It's just that you left her so unsatisfied. She needed a real man to do the job properly."

Dru began to wail and that was enough to make Angelus snap. His fist shot out to hit Spike's face, but he ducked out of the way. He delivered a kick to Angelus' stomach, causing him to stumble back a few steps.

"Just like old times, eh, mate?" he said, as his grand-sire lunged at him again. This time the attack was successful and sent both vampires to the floor. They wrestled, snarling and growling until Spike got the upper hand and began punching him rapidly.

Angelus didn't like being bested by Spike, especially in front of Dru, so with one powerful punch, he knocked Spike off of him and onto his back. Standing up quickly, he picked Spike up and hurled him across the room where he smashed headfirst into the opposite wall. He slumped to the floor and landed in a dazed heap.

Spike tried to blink away the fog that was clouding his vision and he looked up and Dru knelt beside him. She gently lifted his head in her hands.

"You've been a very naughty boy," she scolded, raking her nails deeply across his chest. Spike flinched in pain and with that she slammed his head hard into the concrete floor, knocking him out cold.

Angelus grinned at her. "Now you can have your party, Dru."

She looked back down at Spike and clapped her blood-tipped hands with glee. "Goody."

* * *

As Buffy slowly returned to consciousness, she became aware that she was in rather an uncomfortable position. After a couple of minutes of trying to shake the groggy feeling in her head, she finally managed to open her eyes. She was still in the bedroom of the factory, only now her wrists were clamped in manacles, which hung from the ceiling. She gave them a sharp tug but they held tight; she hadn't really expected otherwise. Time to see what her assets were. Angel wasn't stupid; he wasn't going to chain her up near anything that would aid her escape. He'd known her long enough to know how her mind worked.

Her eyes quickly scanned the room and she gasped. On the far side of the room, Spike hung limp in a set of chains similar to her own. It was apparent that either Dru or Angel had roughed him up a bit before chaining him up; his face was marred with bruises and he was bleeding from a deep gash on his forehead. He was still unconscious and his head drooped forward so that his chin was resting on his chest.

"Spike?" Buffy whispered; wanting to rouse him but not alert Angel or Dru to the fact that she was awake. "Spike, wake up."

When she got no response from him, she went back to trying to work her chains loose.

"Well, Buff. Looks like you draw the short straw."

Buffy looked up to see Angelus and Dru eyeing her with some amusement.

"You see," Angelus continued. "Dru and I had a little bet going. Whoever woke up first gets to see the other die. Since that's you, I guess Spikey's the one who gets to go quickly."

They stepped back and the Judge entered the room, slowly.

"You know who this is, of course," Angelus grinned. "I'm afraid he's still feeling a little weak. After all, being chopped into pieces isn't the healthiest of lifestyles. The point is: he needs to feed on humanity to get strong again. I thought I'd give him you two as a little gift. It should be enough for him to be ready to take on the world."

Buffy began to pull frantically on her chains.

"Can we stay and watch?" Dru asked with a smile, half in amusement and half in delight.

"You know I'd love to, baby, but we've got the end of the world to plan. Seeing our exes die just isn't at the top of the 'To Do' list."

Dru pouted for a moment but agreed. She always did as far as her precious Angel was concerned.

"Make sure you kill the vampire first." Angel instructed the Judge, and with that he followed Dru out of the room, locking the door behind him.

The Judge looked at Buffy for a moment, almost as if he was debating his instructions. She held her breath, waiting to see if he would attack. Finally, however, he moved towards Spike. Unexpectedly, Buffy felt her heart wrench in her chest. Spike was going to die, and for some reason it bothered her a lot more than it should. He was a vampire, an evil one at that; she should let him die. However a small part of her mind remembered the way he had comforted her the night before, how he had stayed with her when she has asked him too and stroked her hair until she had fallen asleep. Now he wasn't even in a state to defend himself, and part of it was her fault. He'd come after her. That much she was sure of. There was no other reason Angel would have let him die.

"Hey!" she yelled; the words were out of her mouth before she even realized it. "You don't want him; he's a vampire. Not much humanity in him. I've been fighting the forces of darkness for years. Why don't you drain someone who will actually do you some good?"

Again the Judge stopped, seeming to consider her offer. After a moment of weighing up the options, he reached the conclusion that Angel would never know who had died first, and it was better to get the feisty one out of the way first and deal with the sleeping one later. He began to move towards Buffy.

"Great idea." she muttered to herself, as she prepared to fend off the attack.

As soon as the Judge was close enough, Buffy used the chains to hoist herself up and use both her feet to kick him square in the chest. The blow sent him stumbling back but he soon recovered himself and moved towards her once more. Buffy sighed, she could only keep this up for so long; either that or the Judge would get bored and kill Spike before having another go.

A few kicks later, her arms were starting to tire. She realized with a heavy heart that she was merely postponing the inevitable. She was going to die. The Judge also seemed to sense her defeat. He moved forward again, this time with a look of triumph on his face. He barely got near her, however, when a chain wrapped around his throat from behind and he was jerked back, swung around, and spun hard into the nearby wall. Before Buffy even had time to figure out what was going on, Spike was in front of her, very much awake and unlocking her chains.

"How-" she asked in bewilderment.

"I'll explain later." Grabbing her hand, he pulled her over to the door. Locked. Spike glanced at Buffy.

"On the count of three."

She nodded and he began to count

"One…two…three."

And with that, they both threw themselves fully at the door with all their strength, knocking it off its hinges and sending them both sprawling to the floor. Spike scrambled to his feet and quickly helped Buffy up. Without looking back the two of them ran.

* * *

The door to Buffy's house burst open and the two blondes tumbled inside before collapsing on the couch, Buffy panting heavily. They had run all the way from the factory just to make sure they weren't followed. For a few moments they both sat there, trying to compose themselves. Finally Buffy sat up and turned to Spike.

"How did you manage to get free?"

He held his hand out to her; in the centre of his palm laid a small key.

"Managed to swipe it from Angelus while we were fighting. Quite funny really, he was the one who taught me how to pick pockets in the first place."

Buffy smiled, and then frowned as she ran over Spike's words in her head. There had been a fight. He was hurt.

"Come upstairs," she said, climbing to her feet. "I want to get something for that cut on your head."

Spike looked up at her for a moment before getting to his feet as well. The two of them slowly made their way upstairs and into Buffy's bedroom.

"Sit down," she said. "I'll be back in a minute."

He perched on the edge of her bed and watched as she disappeared into the bathroom. He was thankful that they were both more or less in one piece, but at the same time he was aware that they had had a very narrow escape.

Buffy, in the meantime, was pulling a first aid kit out of the cupboard in the bathroom. Something was seriously wrong with her. She'd just had her heart broken by a vampire whom she thought she had loved, and now here she was, looking after another one. One who had just saved her life despite his lack of a soul; she doubted life could get any weirder.

First aid kit in hand, she walked back to the bedroom and stopped dead in the doorway, unable to move any further. Spike was standing with his back to her…and he was shirtless. The black t-shirt, which he'd been wearing, was idly discarded on the bed. Buffy glared at the offending item; it should be on his body not on her bed. His body. Buffy's eyes involuntarily took in the well-defined muscles in his back, certainly not unpleasant to look at.

She shook her head and scolded herself. Bad Buffy.

Spike seemed to become aware of her presence and turned to face her. It was then she saw there were a few quite nasty gashes on his chest. Stop looking at his chest. Bad, bad Buffy. At least there was a reason for him having his shirt off; it wasn't just to give her a heart attack.

Making sure she kept her eyes away from his body, she focused instead on his face. He smirked at her and she scowled.

"Sit down." she snapped. He obeyed, but the grin remained on his face.

She sat down beside him and roughly opened the medical kit, pulling out some gauze and disinfectant. She soaked the cloth and moved to dab the wound on his head. He caught hold of her wrist, stopping her.

"It was stupid to go after Angel on your own like that." His voice was soft but she could still hear the anger behind it.

Buffy shrugged. "I didn't have any choice; you said so yourself."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to go running in there without even forming a plan first. Look where it got you; nearly killed is where. What good would that have done anyone?" Spike's voice rose as his anger increased.

"What about you?" Buffy yelled back. "You came running off to rescue me without a plan. How do you think I would have felt if Angel had killed you? Another loss that I'm responsible for."

Spike shook his head. "No, luv, I made a choice. Anything happened to me it would have been my own fault. I'm touched that you're so concerned though."

Buffy snorted. "Concerned? Who said anything about being concerned? I just don't need any more guilty feelings getting in the way of my Slaying that's all."

Spike stood up. "You know what, Slayer? Fine. I don't need your bloody help and you clearly don't need mine."

Buffy stood up as well.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"Anywhere but here." He made a move to pick up his shirt and Buffy grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, you don't. If you think you're going to leave me feeling bad about letting you leave, you've got another thing coming."

Spike glanced at the hand on his bare arm but made no move to shake her away. "I don't care what you think."

Buffy noticed him looking at her hand and quickly let go. "Fine, whatever, get out of here and don't ever come back."

A split second later they were kissing, neither of them aware who started it, it happened so quickly. They melted into each other's arms and lost themselves.

Finally they parted.

"Um…" Buffy began, but stopped, having no idea what she was supposed to say.

"Still want me to go, Slayer?" Spike asked softly.

She shook her head and they both sat back down on the bed. In silence Buffy began to clean his wounds.

"What are we going to do?" she asked Spike softly. "I don't know if we can beat them."

Spike leaned down and kissed the hand that was currently bandaging his chest. "We'll work something out, I promise."

Buffy didn't look convinced. "No weapon forged can kill him." She must have read those words a thousand times.

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment, then his eyes widened. "I think I have an idea."

He jumped to his feet and quickly pulled his t-shirt on. "Give me a day to sort something out and I'll be back."

Buffy looked totally bewildered. "Spike, what-"

He pulled her into a kiss, cutting her off. "I'll be back soon."

Buffy watched as he jumped out of the window and disappeared into the night. She felt oddly comforted by his words, and even more so by his kiss.

* * *

The next day Buffy called Giles and the others to let them know she was alright. She didn't mention Spike or his plan but she did tell them to keep a low profile in case Angel attempted another attack. Hopefully after tonight it would all be over.

As dusk began to approach Buffy paced her room, so far she'd heard nothing from Spike and she was starting to worry. However, literally minutes after the sun had set, a bag dropped through the open window, closely followed by Spike.

Buffy pulled him into her arms and kissed him before looking at the bag with confusion.

"What's that?"

Spike grinned. "My plan. Come on, there isn't much time."

Grabbing the bag, he climbed out of the window, Buffy followed.

"There's always a loophole in these prophecies." Spike explained as they walked. "It's just a case of finding out what it is."

"So, what's the loophole?" Buffy asked as they reached the factory. Spike set the bag down and opened it. Inside was a reel of fuse wire and a small button device.

"Thought I'd give Big Blue a taste of modern weaponry. The whole place is rigged with explosives; just need to set them off."

Buffy looked impressed. That might just work. She smiled at Spike.

"What do we need to do?"

"It's quite simple really," said Spike, as he pulled the equipment out of the bag. "Just need to hook up the fuse and KABOOM!"

Buffy smiled as Spike began to trail the reel of wire into the factory. When this was all over she was going to show him just how brilliant his idea was.

Spike hooked the wire into the main batch of explosives and stepped back to admire his work. It had taken a lot to get into the factory and hook it all up, while Angelus and Dru had been asleep.

"Hello, Spikey. What have we here?"

* * *

Buffy glanced at her watch. Spike had been gone a long time now. She wondered if she should go and make sure he was alright. Then she saw him stumble out of the door and pull it shut behind him, holding onto it tightly. She wondered what he was doing until she saw it shake. Someone was on the other side, trying to get out. Angel or Dru probably.

"Buffy!" Spike called, still holding onto the door. "Hit the switch."

She glanced down at the mechanism on the floor and back up at Spike. If she did this he was going to go up with everyone else. Spike saw her hesitation.

"BLOODY DO IT!"

She stooped and picked up the small silver box.

"Don't make me come over there and kick your ass!" Spike yelled a little more frantically

Tears slid down Buffy's cheeks as she closed her eyes and pressed the button.

The force of the blast knocked her to the floor and she didn't bother getting back up again, instead curling up into a ball and weeping at Spike's loss. She had to be the only person that had lost two people she loved in the space of a couple of days.

After what seemed like forever she opened her eyes and sat up. Where the factory had once been there was now a burning pile of rubble. In the distance she could hear the shrill ringing of fire engine sirens. She knew she had to get out of there before they arrived.

"Goodbye, Spike," she whispered. "And thank you."

She turned away but something caught her eye, something moving. Blinking away the tears, she tried to focus. It couldn't be…

"Spike?" she whispered.

He made his way slowly towards her, limping badly. His clothes were burned and badly torn, his face covered in dust, soot and blood. His hair was sticking up in all directions, but he was alive.

She ran to him, catching him just as his legs gave way. She lowered him to the floor and covered him with kisses.

"Spike! Oh my God! I thought I'd lost you."

He smiled weakly as she fretted and fussed over him. "Takes a lot more than that to get rid of me, luv."

She smiled and smoothed his hair back. "I love you."

He pulled her into a kiss.

"'Bout bloody time."

The End