The crash from the bathroom caused the seven inhabitants of the living room to jump violently. Tara looked across at Anya from her position beside Oz on the couch, and the former demon stood quickly and started toward the noise. Angel ran quickly ahead of her through the house, not wanting Dru to hurt anyone more than she had already done. More than they had already done.

A piece of him also reminded himself that he didn’t want Dru killed. He had lost Darla and Faith in one night. Dru was his Childe; he had made her what she was. She was his responsibility.

The bathroom door swung open, and Angel stood in the doorway taking in the scene in front of him. Giles lay unconscious in the bath, while Dru was busy unlocking the shackles that bound her wrists. She smiled sweetly when she saw him. “My Angel. The nasty Watcher was…”

“Enough Dru! You know I’m not letting you leave here,” Angel growled warningly.

“But you can’t stop me Angel, you’ve never been able to stop me.”

“Dru…”

“If he can’t, we can.” Anya appeared in the doorway, aiming a crossbow at the female vampire’s heart; Wesley, Cordelia and Beth stood behind her, each holding stakes.

*******************************

Oz shifted uncomfortably on the couch. His muscles had begun to ache in protest at the strain they had been under for the last few days, and even Willow and Tara’s spells couldn’t completely remove the pain of the bruises Angelus had inflicted. He raised his head slightly and looked at Tara. She had sat nervously next to him since Willow left, trying to ease his pain, fetching him drinks and plumping the pillows. But she was still uncomfortable around him. He could feel it. He needed to reassure her as Willow had, that he was not going to take the redheaded witch away from her.

“You love her?”

“Yeah.”

“Good… Don’t hurt her.”

“No!”

“Excellent.”

“You love her.”

“Yes I do.”

“Then why?”

“Because… She needs you.”

“I need her.”

“I understand.”

“You’re not going to take her.”

“No I’m not.”

“Thanks Oz.”

Oz smiled.

*********************************

Buffy rolled her eyes as her former mortal enemy tucked her up with a blanket on the living room couch, and proceeded to fetch her snacks, drinks and sundry other items that she could possibly want, all the while reprimanding her if she moved so much as an inch.

Willow and Xander were taking great pleasure in seeing their leader bossed around by a vampire who couldn’t fight back if Buffy tried to restrain him physically. The confused group had made their way downstairs with the intention of finding out what had brought Faith back. Willow had hurriedly closed the curtains as Spike carried a protesting Buffy into the room and began to fuss over her.

“Spike, I’m not ill.”

“You’ve had a long, hard, emotionally trying night Slayer, and you need rest.”

“God, you sound like Giles.”

Spike frowned at her at the statement and raised his fingers to her lips. “Enough. No more talk. Listen to Faith.”

He turned to the other Slayer, his feelings of shock well under control. As much as he hated to agree with the boy, Xander had been right. You really couldn’t be shocked by anything in this town anymore. ‘Well what’s more shocking than falling in love with your mortal enemy?’ he asked himself.

Faith grimaced, not liking the attention she was suddenly being paid. “Gee thanks Spike.” He smiled devilishly at her and she looked away. As she had earlier with Riley, she thought back to the last encounter she and Spike had had. She would bet anything he still didn’t know it had been her inside Buffy’s body. ‘He wouldn’t be smiling at me if he did. He’d probably have tried to kill me himself’, she thought. ‘At least that means B doesn’t know what I did. Doubt she’d forgive me for that one.’ Faith had seen the chemistry between the two, had felt the unacknowledged bond between them. She remembered how Spike had reacted to her teasing - to ‘Buffy’s’ teasing - a year ago. The way his body had reacted as she had rubbed up against him. Faith closed her eyes in horror. ‘Please God, if you love me at all, please never let them find out.’

“Faith?” Buffy was talking to her. “Earth to Faith. Literally.”

“What? Sorry. Lost in the past. What d’ y’ wanna know? I really don’t know that much myself.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning? You died… then what?” Buffy winced. There had to have been a better way to put that.

Faith laughed. “Well this guy came up to me, and he’s all like, ‘This is your destiny Faith’, and I’m like, ‘I’ve completed my destiny pal’. Then he says, ‘No you’ve been chosen,’ so I ask ‘Chosen for what?’ you know? So he says, ‘You’re Buffy’s Guardian and you must help her through this difficult time’ and I say ‘What?’, and he tells me that every flesh and blood thing on Earth has a Guardian to guide them through the tough spots, right, even vampires, and that I’m yours.”

Buffy stared at Faith. “You’re what?”

“Well I said I hadn’t done a very good job so far, but he said that I did in the end. You see something has to trigger the Guardian, and they thought it was gonna be Kendra ‘cause of what was goin’ on with Angel, but it seems that something worse is gonna happen and your gonna have to make some choices and I’m here to help.”

Buffy was still staring, confused. “What?”

“Look I know it’s not easy to take in B, but I don’t fully understand it myself. Maybe you should ask Giles.”

“Right, ask Giles. I’ll do that,” Buffy said, starting to get up off the couch.

“Not so fast Slayer.” Spike pushed Buffy back down and pulled the blanket back around her. “Giles can come ‘ere for a change. You’re not going anywhere,” he insisted as Buffy opened her mouth to protest. “Willow, why don’t you ring Giles and ask him to come round. You Whelp, can make yourself useful for once and put the kettle on. And you miss,” he said turning back to Buffy as the others automatically did as he requested, “Can stop worrying your pretty little head about everything, and rest. If something extra bad is coming to Sunnyhell, we don’t want a half charged Slayer do we?”

Buffy tried her best not to smile at his concern. He really seemed to want to look after her. Buffy snuggled down into the couch. Well she’d let him. But not without the token protest he’d be expecting.

“You’re no fun,” she pouted.

“Wanna bet?” he shot back.

*********************************

“Giles? Giles!” Anya shook the Watcher roughly trying to wake him. “He’s coming around now,” she told Willow who was fretfully waiting on the other end of the phone Anya held balanced between her ear and shoulder. “Drusilla must have hurt him pretty bad. He’s been unconscious a good five minutes.”

“Please,” Cordelia snorted. “That’s his thing. He gets knocked out. It’s like having a catchphrase. Except it probably hurts more.” She helped a shaky Giles out of the bath and raised a cultured eyebrow at him. “What she do?”

“Uh, um, I can’t remember,” Giles was incredibly embarresed. He’d just been telling himself to be careful and he still let her get to him. And hearing Cordelia say getting knocked out was ‘his thing’ made him groan in shame. Determindly he turned to Anya. “Who is that?”

“Willow. She says they need you over at Buffy’s.” She held the phone out to Giles.

“Willow? What’s wrong? Is Buffy ok?” Giles asked hurriedly.

“She’s fine Giles. Spike stayed with her; made sure she slept and he’s got her tucked up on the couch now,” Giles chuckled at the picture Willow was painting. “But uh, we do need you over here. Can’t really explain over the phone.”

‘Not that we can explain when you get here,’ Willow added silently.

“Right, I’ll be right there Willow. Bye.” He handed the phone back to Anya and turned to go and change his clothes. “I’m coming,” Anya said as she followed him through the house. Giles nodded absently and then scowled at Drusilla who once more chained to a chair in the living room.

“Uh, Tara, can you stay here with Oz. Beth can you make sure she stays put,” he gestured at Dru, “Anya and I shouldn’t be long, but you never know.” He ran quickly upstairs to his bedroom.

****************************

Giles knocked and entered the Summers’ house, Anya directly behind him. “Hello?”

“Giles,” Buffy exclaimed from her position on the couch, “Thank God.”

Giles smiled widely at the girl he thought of as a daughter and entered the living room. Anya immediately ran to Xander and sat down firmly on his lap, hugging him tightly.

“How are you?” Giles asked Buffy, concerned. She looked incredibly comfortable and pampered, wrapped up tight in a blanket, with her favourite stuffed toy, Mr. Gordo. But Giles knew that inside Buffy must be suffering terribly after the events of last night.

“I’m great Giles. I’d be even better if William would only stop fussing.” She smiled sweetly across at the vampire who growled back at her. “Careful Slayer, your not too old to be put over my knee you know.”

“No, but you are sooo incapable of doing it,” Buffy replied sticking her tongue out at him. Willow and Xander started to laugh quietly, while Giles looked back and forth between the two blondes. They seemed to be getting on better; even if the previous night had been nothing but sheer horror, he was glad they were getting along. He looked past Spike to the girl sitting by the kitchen door.

“Jes’…!” Giles stumbled backwards in shock.

“Yeah mate,” Spike agreed.

“Giles, Faith, Faith, Giles,” Buffy joked as she took in the look of amazement on her Watcher’s face. “Oh and Faith, this is Anya,” she pointed to the former demon and reached down for her cup. “Oh, ‘s cold,” she pouted and looked across at Spike through her lowered lashes.

He stared at her, unwilling to further give the impression that she only had to ask and he would obey. She continued to look, raising her eyebrows slightly as he continued to stay seated. Eventually he couldn’t take it any longer and jumped up, cursing Buffy, Drusilla and Angel, the people he felt most contributed to his feeling this way. Everyone in the room was staring at him. If he could have blushed he would have been scarlet with embarrassment. He glared at her as he took the cup and turned towards the kitchen.

“You’re the one who said I had to stay wrapped up here. If we’d gone to Giles’ you wouldn’t have had to lift a finger,” she reminded his retreating back. As he disappeared through the door she smiled brightly across at Willow who’s eyes twinkled back at her in silent glee.

“So Giles, we all want to know why Faith’s here. If she tells you her story, do you think maybe you could come up with some answers?” Buffy asked becoming serious. Faith had mentioned a bigger problem than the Angel situation and Buffy definitely wanted to be prepared.

“Well I can try,” Giles replied, sinking slowly down into the chair Spike had vacated. “Uh, why don’t you start at the beginning.”

*********************************

“What were you trying to do anyway? You should know better than to come here again, after everything that happened before.” Angel stared down at Drusilla, his arms holding either side of the chair on which she was sitting. “Even I can’t be here anymore,” he added quietly.

“That’s ‘cause you love ‘er. My Angel loves the Slayer; I knew that. But when my Spike fell in love with the Slayer. Well that’s different.” Drusilla closed her eyes and rolled her head around in lazy circles.

“Dru, you left Spike. He didn’t even feel this way then. Dru!” He shook her gently, forcing her to open her eyes.

“Yes he did love. He loved ‘er right from the start, right from that first night.”

“At the school?”

“At the Bronze. ‘E came home very happy that night. We made love for hours.” Dru half closed her eyes again, informing the souled vampire that she was lost in the past, remembering the happy times she and Spike had shared. Angel frowned. He didn’t like the thought that his Childe had been in love with Buffy all this time. He understood, albeit reluctantly, that being at such close quarters to the Slayer, as Spike was these days, he had had no alternative but to give in to a force that was purely Buffy. Angel had done that himself. However, Dru’s revelations changed everything in his mind. All of Spike’s past actions had to be called into question. It set a few things straight at least and he smiled slightly when he thought of how much Spike must have hated it.

Dru’s eyes were open again, staring into his, trying to read what was in his mind. “That’s why I left him. Because of her.”

“And now you want revenge on Buffy because you think she took him away from you.”

Drusilla frowned slightly. “I love my Spike. He was corrupted by that wh…”

“Dru.” Angel growled threateningly.

“I had a dream about them. Riley was supposed to kill the Slayer, and then Spike would kill Riley.”

“And then you and Spike would live happily ever after,” Angel completed as Drusilla nodded happily.

“But it went wrong, and now I don’t know what to do,” Drusilla began to cry. Like a child, Drusilla cried easily and she used it to her advantage. Spike had been unable to see her cry, always allaying the situation before the tears began to fall. Angelus however, had loved it. He loved having the power to hurt this beautiful creature.

Angel sighed and wrapped his arms around her. Whatever she had done, she was his and he didn’t really want her to die at Buffy’s hands. He was sure that wasn’t what Spike would want either. “Would you leave? Would you go and never come back. You’d have to promise me Dru. I can arrange it if you promise me.” Drusilla gazed up at him, unsure. “For Spike,” Angel urged.

“Alright. I promise.”

*************************

Cordelia slowly circled the fountain in the courtyard outside Giles’ home. She’d had a weird few days, a weird few weeks all said and done. She hated witnessing Angel as Angelus. He was her best friend, though she’d never admit that to anyone. She hated seeing him so changed.

And Faith. There was something she didn’t want to think about. Cordelia had been hurt least of anyone when Faith had awakened from her coma, intent on revenge, but she had seen the pain Faith had inflicted on Wesley, heard about her treatment of Buffy and the gang, and Cordelia had refused to have anything to do with the girl. But the idea that she would never see Faith again was strange to her. As she had said earlier, Faith always seemed so full of life. The night’s events had brought home to Cordelia once again, just how dangerous the job she was doing was. And it scared her. It scared her so much she was afraid to tell anyone, afraid they would think badly of her.

She sat down on the edge of the fountain, wondering when her life had got so complicated. And then the pain came. The excruciating hurt that accompanied a vision from the Powers That Be. She clutched her head, screaming as the ache overtook her in waves.

Dark, Spike, chained to a wall, caves, oh God the pain, no screaming, Riley, laughing, dust, dark.

Wesley and Angel looked briefly at each other when the screaming started, and then hurtled out into the courtyard. Angel’s body began to smoke under the harsh light of the sun, and Wesley quickly pushed him back indoors before racing to Cordy. She had fallen backwards into the water, not noticing her surroundings once the pain of the vision had suffused her body.

Wesley scooped her out the water and carried her inside. She choked on the water which she had swallowed and coughed violently. Oz hopped of the couch, Tara moving with him to ease him into the armchair, and Wesley laid Cordelia down gently.

“Cor?” Angel was beside her in a second. “Cor? Are you ok?”

“I hate those things. I hate the stupid visions, I hate the immense pain, and I hate almost drowning just ‘cause Doyle was in love with me! And there isn’t enough money in the world to justify having to suffer them.” Cordelia glared at Angel. “I hope you realise what I do for you.”

“I know,” Angel smiled as he gently brushed her wet hair back from her face. “Don’t think I don’t appreciate it.” He kissed her forehead. “Wanna tell me about the vision?”

“Oh God, Angel,” Cordy exclaimed, sitting up agitatedly as she remembered. “Riley, he had Spike, in some caves.” She started to shiver and Wesley placed the blanket from the back of the couch around her shoulders.

“Spike? Riley had Spike?”

“Yeah, and Spike, God he was in so much pain. Riley was torturing him, but he wouldn’t scream or shout. He just took it. And then Riley killed him. Poof.” Cordy looked nervously at her boss. “Angel?”

Angel was considering how his soul would react to him committing cold-blooded murder for the first time in two and a half years. He had always hated Riley; from the very first second he had seen the boy talking to Buffy outside the coffee shop last year. When he had finally had an encounter with him, Angel realised that it wasn’t just the fact he was dating Buffy that made him want to shove red-hot pokers through his chest.

He had hurt Buffy, killed Faith, and now Riley was going to kill Spike. Yes Angel was definitely going to kill him.

Granted things hadn’t been right between Sire and Childe since they had met up again a few years previously. Angel’s soul, Angel losing his soul, Angelus sleeping with Dru… ‘So maybe it was all your fault.’

Spike betraying him and then trying to kill him. Twice. ‘Maybe not.’ But Spike was Angel’s favourite Childe. They’d been friends and brothers for years, before Angel’s restored soul had broken their happy family apart.

There was no way he was going to allow Riley to take one more person he loved. His face changed, his true form emerging as his anger built. “Where is he Dru?”

**************************

Spike leant against the kitchen counter his hands braced either side of him. Xander had thoughtfully drawn the kitchen blinds so the blonde vampire could move freely from room to room, without fear of messing up Joyce’s clean floors. Ash, Spike had learnt through time, was hell to shift.

He didn’t really understand what was going on, but then he hadn’t been able to grasp anything much in the last few months. His perfect existence had been ruined, by one small behavioural correction chip, and one small Vampire Slayer. He couldn’t even blame Angel anymore. ‘Bloody poof.’ Insulting him always made him feel better though.

He switched off the boiling kettle and poured Buffy’s drink. ‘If someone had told you this time last year, that you’d be doing errands for the Slayer, willingly doing errands for her, you’d have laughed in their face. Now look at you. Moping around, making sure she’d all tucked up safe. What’s the matter with you? You’re getting as bad as Daddy.’

“You love her, huh?”

Spike looked up. Anya. He smiled. Another of the Scoobies he could stand. In fact he liked Anya as much as he liked Willow. At least she understood how he felt. Her experiences as a demon certainly made her better company than… well truthfully he didn’t have any company to compare her to. Except Harmony. Spike snorted. He’d rather have Xander for company.

“Who?” No need to make it too easy.

“Buffy.”

“No.”

“Liar.”

“Please tell me it’s not that obvious.” Spike requested sardonically.

“Well I think Willow knows. But that’s all,” Anya reassured him. “And Giles I think. But no one else.” Spike sighed. Well as long as Buffy didn’t know. And the Whelp.

“Oh God no, Xander knows nothing,” Anya supplied hastily, correctly interpreting the look of horror which had formed on Spike’s face at the thought.

“Can’t disagree with that one luv,” Spike laughed. “Don’t know what you see in the wanker.”

“What do you love about Buffy?” Anya teased.

“Oh lets not play that game. I really don’t want Buffy to know that I…”

“Oh, right. And of course, Buffy knows,” Anya supplied, happy that she had remembered the final person who knew Spike’s secret.

“What?”

“Spike I’ve had a lot of experience in the area of men and women. Not exactly enough to have an easy relationship with a teenage mortal man, but enough to know that you’ve got it really bad for out favourite Slayer, and that she’s got it bad for you.”

Spike looked at her sharply and his eyes lit up. “Really? You think she…?”

“Definitely. She just doesn’t know it yet.” There, Anya had done it. She’d made her friend feel better. Who said this mortal stuff was hard? Piece of cake. “As long as nothing happens with Angel, you’ll be fine.”

*****************************

“Well, uh, it seems to me that…” Giles trailed off as the four youngsters stared at him expectantly. “I’m sorry, I really have no idea.”

Buffy slumped back down onto the couch, while Faith stood and started pacing the room. “Do we really need further explanation?” Willow asked, “I mean Faith’s Buffy’s Guardian, she’s here to help, what more do we need?”

Xander nodded emphatically in agreement. “Right, shouldn’t we be researching the big evil that’s on its way here? Then we’ll know what Faith’s purpose is.”

Giles removed his glasses. “Yes, I think that might be best Xander. If the people who sent Faith back couldn’t explain it all properly, I doubt there’s much information about it. I’ve never heard of such a phenomenon, so I think we should just take it as it stands.”

As Spike and Anya re-entered from the kitchen with a tray of drinks, the phone rang and Xander went to answer it. “Summers’ residence. Buffy is unavailable to take your call right now, as she’s being mollycoddled by her mortal enemy. Can I take a message?”

“Xander. Stop messing around. I need to speak to Buffy, it’s important.”

“Well, Angel, what a nice surprise.”

“Xander!” Angel snarled warningly.

“Yeah, ok. Buff it’s for you.” He tossed her the phone and looked worriedly at her. Angel had sounded deadly serious.

“Angel, what? Spike? No, he’s here. What? Why? Cordy what? I’m sorry? Angel, we have to do something, we have to find him. No. No I’ll go now. What? Don’t be ridiculous. We’ll all look. You, Beth and Oz stay there with Dru. Anya can wait here with Spike, unless you think we should bring him there first. No, ok, you’re probably right. Yes. Well of course. I am hurrying.”

Buffy hung up the phone and tossed it back to Xander, while extracting herself from the clutches of the blanket.

“Buffy what’s going on?” Spike demanded. The Slayerettes had sat silently throughout the conversation, trying to establish what was happening. “What did Angel say?”

Buffy avoided Spike’s gaze, looking around the room at everyone else. “Will, Xand, Giles, Faith I want you guys to go look for Riley. It’s very important. Cordelia had a vision. He’s going to do something…” She trailed off. “Please. Find him quickly.”

“We will Buffy,” Willow assured her friend as she pushed Xander out of the room ahead of her, pulling on the sleeve of Giles’ coat as she passed him. Giles looked down and saw the fear in Buffy’s eyes. He turned immediately and followed Willow and Xander.

“Why can’t I go?” Anya demanded.

“’Cause I need you to stay here and look after Spike while I’m out searching.” Buffy started to walk towards the stairs. “Spike.” She gestured for him to follow her.

************************

Buffy closed the door to her bedroom and turned to find Spike directly behind her, gazing at her intently.

“What is going on Slayer?”

Buffy swallowed audibly. “Cordelia’s vision was about you.”

“Me?”

Buffy nodded. “Riley torturing you and then kill…” She couldn’t finish. The idea made her feel sick.

Spike grasped Buffy by her upper arms and pulled her close to him. “Buffy’s he’s not going to…”

“No you’re right, he’s not,” Buffy agreed pulling out of his grip, “I’m not going to let him.” She started to pack her Slayer bag. Riley may not be a vampire or a demon, but he was a threat. She had failed to protect Faith. She was not going to let him hurt Spike.

“You stay here. No one comes in, no one goes out. Do you understand me?”

“Buffy…”

“Do you understand me?” Buffy repeated, staring Spike down authoritatively.

“Yes.”

“Good.” She walked past him and opened the door.

“Buffy?” Spike caught her wrist and pulled her to him. He stared down at her, longing to kiss her beautiful lips. But there was a time and a place for everything, and this certainly wasn’t it. “Take care,” he said softly and kissed her forehead.

**************************

Wesley didn’t know what they were doing. He, Cordelia and Tara were searching for a 20 year old, former military agent, who had gone totally off the rails and was now trying to brutally kill whoever he could lay his hands on. Not good.

Cordelia sighed. She was angry. Fear and pain. They made her angry. So her new perspective on death, her experiences with ‘evil Angel’ and the torment inflicted on her in the form of visions, had all combined to make Cordy Sunnydale’s angriest citizen. When they found this Riley guy, she was going to kill him herself. Sure she didn’t have fluffy bunny feelings for Spike, but at least you knew where you stood with the guy. God save them from good guys gone bad. “God save us from Buffy’s psycho boyfriends,” she muttered unfairly.

Tara wasn’t sure they were doing this right. She was the only one of them who had ever seen Riley in real life, so they were rather depending on her to lead them. And Tara didn’t like being in charge. It made her nervous. She didn’t even know what they were supposed to do if they found Riley. She was hoping that her group leadership would end when she pointed him out to the veteran Scoobies.

******************************

“What happened to Riley to make him do this?” Willow asked Xander as they searched the ruins of the high school. “Why’d he go all mean all of a sudden?”

“He thinks Buffy doesn’t love him,” Xander informed the redhead, turning automatically toward the library and the hellmouth.

“Well she sure won’t after this,” Willow replied, throwing the potion and illuminating the crumbling building.

“Cool,” Xander said, impressed. “But uh, don’t you think that maybe Riley wasn’t entirely to blame for this one?” he asked getting back to the topic at hand.

“Xander how can you ask that?” Willow stopped and turned to her best friend. “Since when do you stand up for people who betray us?”

“No, Will… I’m just saying if Buffy…”

“If Buffy what? If she wasn’t the Slayer? If her mom wasn’t sick? If she could only get over the love of her life? Xander she’s trying, ok? And it’s hard for her. But we have to be on her side. No matter what. Riley should have trusted her or at least talked to her about it. She’s got a lot on her mind at the moment. I don’t think she had time to deal with Riley’s insecurities too. Especially if he didn’t tell her about them. This is bad. He made the choice. There are a hundred things he could have done. He did this. Not Buffy. Don’t defend him.” Willow turned away. Did Xander really think this was Buffy’s fault?

“Hey. Hey look I’m sorry ok? You’re right. It’s not her fault. He didn’t have to do this. Hey,” he turned her around and was shocked to see her crying. “Willow?” He smoothed the hair back from her face, and moved her head so that she was looking up at him. “It’s alright. Shh.” He leant down, pulled by an uncontrollable force and gently kissed her lips.

*******************************

Faith was trying her best not to panic. Twenty-four hours ago she’d been chained to the factory wall, being systematically tortured by the man who’d spent the last year trying to save her soul. Since then she’d settled her problems with Buffy, died, been informed that she wasn’t meant to be a Vampire Slayer, she was in fact meant to help the girl who’s life she’d tried to ruin, and then she’d been sent back to Earth without another word. Now she was patrolling Sunnydale with Giles looking for Buffy’s beau, ‘cause he was going to do something… well something.

“Hasn’t the guy done enough?” Faith muttered, unconsciously feeling the stab wound Riley had inflicted on her.

Giles looked across at her, worried about how she was coping. She hadn’t really had time to get to grips with this yet. None of them had. Once again he cursed Riley for the torment he had put them all through. He stopped and turned to Faith, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright Faith? I know this must be difficult for you. If you want to go back I can carry on al…”

Faith shook her head determinedly. “No. It’s ok Giles. I’m here to help B you know. And if she wants Riley found I’m happy to oblige. Just as long as she doesn’t want him back in one piece.”

************************************

Oz was trying his best to distinguish between Angel and Angelus. The tyrant who had chained him up and beaten him unconscious was a world away from the quiet, brooding man who was searching through Giles’ kitchen cupboards for some coffee. Angel was attempting to make things right. Oz was going to let him try. He had seen the anger and fear that had overcome Angel when Cordelia had told him about her vision. Angel was a good guy. He had to remember that.

Angel banged the cupboard doors shut angrily. He needed to be out there looking for Riley. He wished he had let Buffy bring Spike to Giles’ house. At least then Angel would have been able to keep an eye on the younger vampire. Make sure Riley couldn’t get near enough to harm him. He looked across at Dru. If possible she looked even paler than usual. She was frightened. She wasn’t the only one.

Beth was in shock. She couldn’t feel anything. She had sat on the bottom stair since she had heard Cordelia’s vision, her only movement the raising of the cigarette she was smoking, to her lips. She couldn’t move anymore, knew that if she did she’d run out to find Riley, stop him from hurting her brother. She glanced across at Dru who was sitting with her head bent and her eyes closed. Seeing her looking so distressed pushed Beth over the edge.

“It’s all your fault, you evil bitch!” she screamed, hauling Drusilla out the chair, the ropes ineffective against Beth’s vampiric strength. “You did this, if you’d stayed away none of this would have happened. He’s going to die and it’s all… it’s all…” Beth started to weep uncontrollably, unable to finish what she had been saying. She sank to her knees before a stunned Drusilla, who was already torturing herself with the knowledge that she had ultimately been the one to hurt Spike.

Angel had run to Beth, trying to prevent the girl from harming Dru. It wouldn’t really make her feel any better and there had been enough torture and death in the past few days. He caught her as she fell to the floor and held her, feeling the pain that ran through her.

“I can’t just sit here Angel. I can’t just wait until she rings and tells me he’s dead. I need to find Riley.”

“Buffy’ll find him,” Angel assured her, with more confidence than he felt. Riley’s training and Dru’s spells would make him a formidable force. Buffy needed all the help she could get.

***************************

Buffy searched the Initiative caves, trying to find some clue that Riley was, or had been, there. He’d come here last time, and Cordelia’s vision had specified caves. Buffy wished she knew why Riley was doing this. She knew he hadn’t trusted her and maybe that was justified when you considered her feelings for Spike but still… She had never imagined that Riley would go so far. Would purposely do so much to hurt her and her loved ones. No she would not blame herself. Not loving him was no excuse for murder and betrayal.

****************************

“Look I’m just saying…”

“Well don’t.”

“I’m allowed to have an opinion, and frankly I think they’re overrated.”

“Please!”

“Overpaid poseurs.”

“I agree. But as they’re the most successful football team…”

“Soccer,” Anya interrupted. Spike stared at her irritated. “What? Xander says I have to call it soccer. To distinguish it from American Football.”

“Well don’t. And American Football is rugby… for wimps.”

“Can we talk about something else? I don’t like sports all that much.”

Anya was curled up at one end of the couch; Spike was sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing her across the coffee table. Their conversation had covered history, or at least the part that they have both lived through, before moving on to more everyday things. Music, literature, art… They’d seen and heard, read and lived so much. There were few people either one of them could talk to about such things, even if they tended to argue more often than they agreed.

They were stopped from any further conversation by the canister, which was thrown through the window at that moment. The curtains moved with the force, and streaks of light found their way into the living room. Spike yelped and moved quickly out of the way.

Anya felt light-headed. Something was making her tired and she couldn’t breathe as well as she needed. She closed her eyes as the gas filled the room.

Spike heard the faint hiss coming from behind the couch and looked across to see Anya lying unconscious, her head falling over the arm of the seat. Gas. Briefly the thought entered his mind that if Riley expected this to affect him, he was an even bigger fool than Spike had given him credit for.

He lifted Anya into his arms and carried her up to Buffy’s bedroom. He laid her on the bed, firmly closing the door behind them. Wrapping one of Buffy’s shirts around his arm, he carefully opened the window to let some fresh air in. He turned back to the bed, hoping that Anya would soon be ok. They really needed to get out of there. They needed to warn the others.

Pulling his mobile out the back pocket of his black jeans, he quickly dialled his sister’s number. Angel and Beth were pretty much their only hope with the Slayer and her chums gone.

“Hello?” Beth answered on the first ring. “Hello? Spike? Spike, are you there?”

*****************************

Willow and Xander jumped apart, both shocked by what had just happened. Willow flushed and turned quickly away, not wanting Xander to see how his actions had confused her. ‘I don’t want Xander right? Not in the want, want sense, anyway. Xander’s my friend. My best, best friend, there’s no way that we could still…And I love Tara. I do.’

‘I kissed Willow. Oh God. Why did I kiss Willow? She was upset. Yeah she was upset and you were trying to be a friend. What a jerk.’ Xander stared at the ground, unable to look at Willow in case she was disgusted with him. ‘Come on Harris. You have to do something.’

“I’m sorry. Oh God Willow I’m so sorry,” he looked up and walked around to face her. “I didn’t mean to… I mean I didn’t want to…” Willow looked up at Xander, confusion etched across her lovely face.

“Didn’t want to?”

“Well no, I mean I did want to… And it was very nice, no; um… well that’s not the issue. What I mean was, it was a mistake. I love Anya.”

“I love Tara,” Willow started to smile gently. “It’s over isn’t it Xander.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah Will,” Xander nodded, glad he hadn’t lost her, glad his best friend had understood. They had needed to deal with the unfinished business, neither fully able to commit to another relationship until that had been resolved.

“I’ll always love you Xander. You have a part of me no one else can touch. But we weren’t supposed to be together like that.”

“I love you too Will.”

Willow reached for his hand and they stood silently in what was left of the high school library for a few minutes, before their hunt for Riley continued.

*****************************

Cordelia spotted Giles across the graveyard and began to run towards him, leaving Wesley and Tara to follow behind. “Giles!” she shouted as she approached, “Have you seen…?” she stopped suddenly, her eyes flicking to the girl standing a little behind the Watcher. “Faith?”

Wesley pulled up behind Cordelia, breathing heavily. “You might let a fellow…” he trailed off as he followed Cordelia’s gaze. “Good Lord. Faith, I, I, I, uh…”

“Nice to see you too Wes,” Faith smiled as she stepped closer to small group. Cordelia, Wesley and Tara collectively took a step backward. “Well thanks for the warm welcome,” Faith mumbled as she stepped back towards Giles once more.

“Sorry,” Wesley said, frowning as he moved towards Faith, cursing himself for his awkwardness, “It’s just all a little hard to take in. You’re dead.”

“Incredible. Give the man a cigar.” Faith rolled her eyes at the obvious statement.

“Faith,” Giles admonished gently, trying to swallow the smile, which was forcing its way to his lips.

“Are you a ghost?” Cordelia asked, her initial shock giving way to an acceptance that only came after living so long on the hellmouth. “I live with a ghost, so I’m used to them, except I can’t see Dennis, which is good, ‘cause that would be way freaky.”

“I’m not a ghost. I’m a Guardian.”

“A what?” Tara asked cautiously.

“A Guardian,” Faith repeated, and proceeded to explain everything that had happened since her death, for the third time.

******************************

Anya woke slowly. Her head felt heavy and she had to take several deep breaths before she could even open her eyes. ‘My eyes aren’t working,’ she thought as her eyelids refused to open fully. She narrowly gazed around, wondering where she was. ‘I was in Buffy’s living room, talking to Spike about soccer, football, whatever… and then…’ She pushed herself into a sitting position and forced her eyes open. “This is Buffy’s room,” she said aloud. “Why am I in Buffy’s room?”

She looked around for a clue to why she might be there and saw Spike’s mobile phone lying on the rug. Groggily, she crawled off the bed and across the floor. The phone was lying open, face down, as if someone had been using it and had dropped it suddenly. She picked it up and pressed redial.

“Spike?” Beth answered immediately. “Are you ok?”

“It’s not Spike, it’s Anya. Did he call you? Recently?” Anya blinked several times, trying to clear her head.

“About five minutes ago. We were getting worried. Angel and I were just about to come and… Wait. Why are you asking? If you’re with him you should know.” Beth was starting to get agitated.

“But I’m not with him. I don’t know where he is. I think I passed out and when I came to, I was in Buffy’s bedroom.” Anya heard Beth talking to someone at the other end of the line. She opened the bedroom door and made her way downstairs, the feeling of light-headedness hitting her again the closer she got to the living room. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and sat down.

“Anya?” Angel was talking now. “Anya this is Angel, can you hear me? Anya?”

“Hmmm? What? Yeah, I can hear you Angel. The ooky feeling’s come back.”

“What? Anya what’s wrong?” Angel was trying hard not to lose control.

“Can you hear that? Like a hisssssss?”

“Oh God. Anya get out. Get out of the house now.”

“But, wh…?”

“JUST GO!” Angel roared, and Anya ran quickly out of the Summers’ house and down the porch steps into the street.

“Anya? Anya?”

“Yes Angel, I’m here. Wow, I feel a lot better. What was that?”

“Gas. Where’s Spike?”

“I really have no idea. Oh yes, yes I remember. Something came through the window. Then I must have passed out. I think Spike must have carried me up to Buffy’s room and then… I really don’t know. When I came to, I was alone. I saw the phone and rang to find out what had happened.”

Angel was cursing silently. “Ok. Anya look, I want you to call 911 and tell them about the gas. Stay away from the house. Then call Cordy, she’s got my phone, and tell her what’s happened. I want all of you to get over here as quickly as possible alright. Riley must have Spike.”

Anya had already come to that conclusion, and was wondering how long they had of the hideous torture Spike had mentioned, before it was too late.

*****************************

“God, what a beautiful day!”

Spike lay on the picnic blanket, his arms crossed behind his head, staring up at the clear blue sky. It had been forever since he had been able to see and appreciate such a sight, and he was relishing every minute. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face. He smiled widely, truly happy for the first time in years.

He opened his eyes again and looked down towards his feet. To celebrate this momentous occasion he had exchanged his trademark black and leather, for a lightweight white cotton shirt, which was open at the neck, and a pair of beige trousers. His feet were bare and he could feel the cool grass tickling his soles. He let out a contented sigh.

“Happy?”

The petite blonde rolled over onto her stomach and raised herself up on her forearms until she was lying half across his chest, staring down into his handsome face. “Hmmm.” Spike murmured, his smile growing wider as he shut his eyes contentedly. “Hmmm?” The blonde raised one eyebrow at his lack of response. When he further refused to acknowledge her a wicked smile crossed her lips as she lowered them to his jaw.

“Are,” she said as she rained light kisses along his jaw, “You.” The trail moved down to his neck and she increased the pressure. “Happy?” she asked again, pulling back suddenly and moving her lips directly over his, just a fraction away from touching.

He moved then, his arms coming around her to pull her to him as he crushed her lips onto his. She giggled slightly and shifted so that he could roll her onto her back. He kept one hand in her hair, firmly cupping the back of her head, as the other slid down to her waist. She groaned deep in her throat at his touch and it was his turn to chuckle.

The kiss continued, passionate and loving until they remembered they needed to breathe and broke slowly and reluctantly apart. He stared down into the beautiful face of the woman he loved, watching her passion filled eyes as she tried to steady her breathing. “I’ve never been happier,” he stated, the truth burning in his bright blue eyes for her to see. She smiled a purely feminine smile of pleasure and pulled his head back down to meet hers.

They kissed, slowly and tenderly, for several minutes, before Spike started to kiss along her jaw as she had done before. She tilted her head to the side and he kissed her neck, nipping it gently with his teeth, making her squeal softly in delight. As he began to move further down, nuzzling against the top of her breasts, she arched back, allowing him better access to her body, which was singing at his touch.

He raised his head slightly and looked up into her eyes. She mewled in protest at the loss of his kiss and looked down at him, frowning in confusion.

“I love you Buffy.”

It was a simple statement; something he’d been meaning to say for so long, but had never had the chance. She was his now. She needed to know what she meant to him.

“I love you, Spike.”

The joy that shot through him at the softly spoken words was of a kind he had never experienced before. He moved quickly back to face her, his hands cupping her face as his eyes searched for the truth in hers. She nodded slightly, seeing his apprehension, and her face broke into a gorgeous grin, as her eyes filled with happy tears. He hugged her tightly to him, swearing he would do anything in his power to ensure she always stayed this happy.

He closed his eyes again, needing to keep the moment with him as long as possible. She was the only thing that was stopping him from…

“…screaming in agony and begging me to stop.”

Riley grinned manically down at him, shoving the poker through his already searing flesh. His daydream splintered into a thousand pieces as he concentrated on not giving Riley the satisfaction of hearing him cry out at the pain.

**********************

Buffy walked quickly along Revello Drive, anxious to get home. She had checked the cemeteries after the caves, searching each crypt and hiding place she knew of, but she hadn’t found Riley. She was getting worried. The longer he was out there, the more opportunity he had to…

She saw the fire engine and police car outside her home and broke into a run. ‘No, no, no,’ she repeated over and over in her mind as she saw Anya talking agitatedly to one of the police officers.

“Yes of course I’m sure. He works for the military, so he’s bound to be able to get hold of this stuff. Oh, there’s the owner,” Anya pointed to Buffy as she came running up.

“Is this your house miss?” the officer smiled patronisingly at her.

“Yes it is. What’s going on?” She didn’t wait for him to answer and turned immediately to Anya, “Where’s Spike?”

“Who’s Spike?” the policeman interrupted, feeling he was rapidly losing control of the situation. Buffy ignored him.

“I think Riley took him Buffy. He threw this gas canister through the window and kidnapped Spike while I was unconscious.” Anya stepped nervously back a little as she spoke, correctly gauging the look on Buffy’s face. Riley was going to be so dead when the Slayer caught up with him.

“Riley? The military guy? He’s kidnapped someone? Look do you ladies wanna come down to the station with me and…”

“NO!” Buffy screamed, grabbing Anya by the upper-arms, “I have to find him Anya. We have to…”

“Angel said everyone should meet up over at Giles’. He sounded pretty mad. And Buffy, do you think maybe you could let go?”

“Sorry,” Buffy quickly released Anya and turned to the policeman. “Look um, there’s something really important I have to take care of now. My name’s Buffy Summers, this is my house, and I promise I’ll come down to the station later on and tell you everything I know, but for now I just have to go.” She turned in the direction of Giles’ apartment and started to run. Anya turned and grinned falsely at the officer before following.

*******************************

Faith stopped at the top of the stairs, her legs refusing to take her any further. She knew Angel was in there, she could feel his presence. Giles turned and looked up at her, the rest of the small group halting as he did so. He raised his eyebrows enquiringly. “What’s wrong Faith? Are you ok?”

‘No, I have to go in there and face Angel. I couldn’t possibly be less ok.’ Faith closed her eyes at the thought. Giles seemed to realise the problem and smiled slightly. “Well, uh, you go in Faith. Um, there are probably some things that need clearing up before… We’ll wait for Buffy out here.” He patted her shoulder softly, and gestured for the others to sit in the courtyard, as Faith made her way slowly towards the door.

Angel sat at Giles’ desk, the city plans lying open before him, pinpointing places Riley could be holding Spike. He didn’t look up when the door opened, merely called over his shoulder, “Giles, great you’re back. I was thinking that maybe…”

“You should get some glasses?” Faith joked, leaning back against the door, holding tightly onto the door handle for support. ‘Please God don’t let me mess this up,’ she prayed silently.

Angel turned slowly toward the door, not believing his eyes when he saw her standing there. “Faith?”

Beth’s surprise was momentary. They didn’t really have time to deal with whatever this was, but she felt that Angel probably had something deep and meaningful to say to the girl, so she quickly lifted the plans from the table, grabbed Drusilla by the arm and dragged her forcefully upstairs.

Oz, as usual, displayed no outward sign that there was anything odd about the situation. “Faith.” He acknowledged the former Slayer with a nod of his head and followed the two female vampires to the upper level of Giles’ home.

“Well haven’t you got a hug for your favourite Slayer,” Faith said finally, deciding to make some sort of attempt at conversation. She winced. ‘Oh great Faith. That was perfect. Try to remember just who he is and who his favourite Slayer actually is before you open your mouth.’

“Faith. What’re you doing’ here? I mean, how? Why?” Angel’s confusion made Faith relax slightly.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later, I’m bored with it already. I just, well I’m here to help Buffy that’s all.”

Angel nodded, “Right. So are you, ok?”

Faith laughed at his discomfort, “Apart from the dead thing? Sure.” Angel smiled. ‘God why does he have to look so nice when does that. Stop it. He’s Buffy’s… but she seems awfully into… No, no. That’s not the point and you know it. He spent the last few days torturing you, tormenting you teasing you unmercifully. You are so not allowed to be attracted to…’

“Faith, are you sure you’re alright?” Angel had moved closer to her while she was thinking and was now standing directly in front of her. She looked up, trying to hide the effect he had on her. ‘Shouldn’t this stop happening once you’re dead?’

Angel looked down at the girl who meant so much to him, more than he could even admit to himself, and remembered how he had felt early this morning when he found out she was dead. “Faith, there are so many things I want to say. So much I have to apologise for. I’ll make it right, I promise, even if it takes forever.”

“Hey, I told you, you didn’t have to apologise to me. I understand.”

The souled vampire shook his head slowly and hugged her to him tightly. “I understand,” she whispered again.

*****************************

Spike repeated the words in a mantra in his mind as Riley continued to torture him. He couldn’t really feel anything anymore, which he wasn’t sure whether to be thankful for or not. He knew that Riley was not going to win however. Even if he killed him. Because there was no way Spike was ever going to give in. He would not scream, or beg and he would certainly not be driven insane by ‘G.I. Joe’s evil twin.

His Slayer was the only thing keeping him going. The one thing keeping him together.

“Beg me to and I’ll stop,” Riley offered, holding the crucifix near to Spike’s burning skin.

“You know I stopped taking orders from head-cases the day Dru ran off with that bastard fungus demon.”

Riley roared with anger at Spike’s mocking words and pushed the crucifix roughly against Spike’s chest, eliciting a stream of smoke as the flesh burned and the smell of flaming skin filled the air. But Spike did not cry out.

******************************

The Slayer threw the door to Giles’ apartment open and entered swiftly, Anya close behind. She immediately sought out Angel, fixing her eyes on him, silently demanding that he do something to fix things. He was standing by the fireplace, head down; Buffy couldn’t remember a time she’d seen him more tense.

Her friends all looked at her worriedly. Once they’d all found out about Cordelia’s vision, they’d been concerned for Buffy and Spike. Somehow it seemed more appropriate to side with the vampire on this occasion, Riley’s betrayal showing them just how human Spike had become in their eyes.

Anya walked across to Xander, who hugged her tightly. He had things he needed to say to her, but they would have to wait. For now, he just held her.

Willow jumped up from beside Tara and moved to her best friend. She knew better than anyone how Buffy must be feeling. The news that Riley had taken Spike had upset the redheaded witch in ways that Xander and Tara had been unable to comprehend, and Willow had refused to say anything, not wanting to discuss Buffy’s feelings, even with two of the people who were closest to her.

Buffy took comfort from Willow’s closeness, squeezing her hand as she moved further into the room, but her eyes remained fixed on Angel. He stared at her, allowing her to see and share the pain this was causing him. Buffy saw a look in his eyes she hadn’t seen for two and a half years. The lust for a kill. Last time it had been directed at her, but she had been too numb to fear it. Now she was afraid.

Angel, the vampire who’s restored soul had made him ache for the sins of his past, the man she truly believed would never harm another, the demon she had willingly given her heart to because of the beauty of his soul, Angel wanted to kill Riley. There was hatred there, hatred and anger for the things Riley had done or was planning to do.

And she shared it. And she wasn’t sure what scared her more.

***********************************

“I think you need some anger management classes, mate,” Spike panted as the stream of holy water burnt it’s way down his back. Riley was muttering under his breath and the vampire knew his taunts were affecting the human. But Spike was not about to stop. His arrogance and mocking manner, his quick sarcastic tongue, they were part of who he was. Riley was not going to get them. “You know, maybe if you’d shown Buffy this side of your frightening personality, if you can call it personality, then she wouldn’t spend so much time thinking about me.”

Spike gritted his teeth as the burning metal scraped his tender skin. Every spot of pain inflicted on him by the boy-wonder, meant that Riley, deep down, was hurting ten times as much. Spike thought idly about how he would feel in Riley’s place; having Buffy in all ways but one. Not truly having her love. Yes that would make him scream.

But Spike didn’t have her. Not yet. ‘Not at all mate if this carries on for much longer,’ he reminded himself. Well until he had her, or not as the case may be, he was going to have some fun. Riley was far more than just Buffy’s boyfriend. He was one of those commandos who’d stopped him from killing. ‘Yes. You’d forgotten that hadn’t you. So evil demon that you are, make yourself useful.’

“So Riley. How much has our little Slayer told you about the love of her life? Angel? Heard of him? Great guy. Strong, smart, kind, sensitive and all that crap. You’ve seen him right? Best looking bloke she’s ever had the pleasure of shaggin’,”

‘Yet,’ he silently clarified.

“Now he’s back; and back he is, with soul no less; and you’ve lost your marbles, how do you rate your chances?”

********************************

“Buffy!”

Buffy ran quickly up the stairs to Giles’ bedroom and found Drusilla sitting up on Giles’ bed, looking wildly around her. “What’s wrong?” Buffy demanded, her jaw set. Angel had convinced her not to kill the vampiress, but that didn’t mean Buffy wanted to spend any time with her.

“Where’s Spike?” Drusilla asked, her eyes suddenly becoming clear, and looking, Buffy thought, as she must have done before Angel drove her insane.

“We don’t know yet.” Buffy felt a rush of sympathy for the demoness. She knew how hard it was to lose someone you loved, to have been the means of their death even. She had killed Angel, and now Drusilla may indirectly cause Spike’s death. Dru still loved him; Buffy could see it as clearly as she had seen Spike’s love for Drusilla years ago.

“I want to… Help me Buffy, help me find him.”

If Buffy had given it a moment’s thought, she might have considered it ironic that the woman who had left Spike over a truce with her, was how asking for a truce to save Spike. But Buffy didn’t have time. She looked hard at Drusilla for a second and then offered her hand. “You help me.”

Without hesitation, Dru took the Slayer’s hand and nodded. “I help you.”

*********************************

“Thank God for mobile phones,” Cordelia said as the group checked over where they were going to patrol. The sun had just set, and the three vampires were the most anxious to set off. The vampires and the Vampire Slayer.

“Could we hurry this along a little,” Buffy said impatiently. “Oz you stay here and make sure everyone’s got all the information they need.”

“Check,” the werewolf agreed, moving Giles’ house phone to the coffee table for ease.

“Angel, Beth, Giles, you’ve all got your phones? Anya’s got Spike’s and Willow’s got Oz’s, yes.” Everyone nodded. “Right let’s go.”

Angel and Faith set off for a sweep of Sunnydale’s sewer system, which Angel knew intimately. Giles and Cordelia started searching the cemeteries, while Xander and Anya made their way to Willy’s Bar to try and find out as much information as they could from the Snitch. Beth and Wesley went back over the high school before moving on to the factories and warehouses down by the docks. Buffy and Drusilla returned to the Initiative caves, the Slayer sure that that was where Riley would be.

Willow and Tara had been assigned to search Sunnydale’s 43 churches, but they lingered behind the others, wanting to try a spell Willow had come across recently.

Oz frowned at them as they closed the door behind the others. “Aren’t you meant to be searching for Riley?”

“We’re going to, but we wanted to try and do this for you, and this is the only night we can do it. Three nights before the full moon,” Willow explained.

“Do what for me?” Oz asked moving nervously back, away from the two witches.

“It’s kind of an anti-werewolf spell. No more fuzziness around the full moon.”

Oz stared at Willow. “Serious?” Willow nodded. “Ok.”

********************************

“Look I don’t know where the kid is alright. And I’d be sure to tell you Xander. The demons in here aren’t really crazy about the guy, you know. They’d tell me in a second if they’d heard anything about him. And Spike. Man I love him like a brother. Don’t tell him I said that though.”

Xander leaned closer to Willy, trying his best to be intimidating. Willy flinched back, and Xander’s ego swelled, as he knew he was succeeding. “Xander he doesn’t know anything. We haven’t got time for this. Let’s go.” Anya started to pull on Xander’s jacket.

“You know Buffy’s gonna kick your ass if you’re lying Willy.”

“I do know that. That’s another reason I’m telling you the truth.”

********************************

“So what’s the deal with this Riley guy anyway? I mean does Buffy have some kind of sensor that seeks out schizo’s or something?” Cordelia opened the chest and looked inside, as Giles circled the rest of the crypt looking for some sort of clue. “Wow look at this. Someone’s got it really bad for our little Buffy,” Cordelia exclaimed holding up the sweater and assortment of pictures. “Is this why Riley went crazy?”

Giles gave Spike’s collection of Buffy-memorabilia a glance and then decided to forget about it. There were some things to do with Slayers and vampires even he shouldn’t know. “Cordelia please put that away. We have no business going through Spike’s belongings… even if they are Buffy’s. And Riley was never exactly stable to begin with, so no it’s not Spike’s fault. Or Buffy’s.”

*********************************

“Beth, do you think you could slow down a little? If they are here, you’re going to walk right past them at this rate.” Wesley flashed the torch into the far corner of the factory as he spoke, willing the vampiress to calm down.

“He’s hurting Wesley. I can feel it. He’s been in pain for hours. I hate this. When I find that guy I’m going to…”

Wesley stopped and shone the flashlight onto the face of the woman he loved. She looked at him, startled and then her eyes widened as she realised how she sounded. “Wesley, God I’m sorry. But this isn’t vampire stuff ok. This is sister stuff. Even if I were human I’d want to…”

“I know,” Wesley relaxed, knowing that Beth was right and that he had to trust her. He’d seen the look in Buffy’s eyes before she left with Drusilla and he knew she felt the same way. “It’s ok, really. I do understand.” He reached across and gently caressed her cheek before they turned and made their way further into the factory.

***********************************

Faith glanced nervously at her companion. She’d agreed to go with Angel to search the sewers, knowing that it would help to convince the vampire that she forgave him. Now she was here however, she didn’t know what to say. Angel didn’t appear to want to talk, and that was good, but she was uncomfortable.

However when they passed the same section of the tunnel for the third time, Faith felt she had to say something. “Angel, aren’t we going round in circles?” Angel ignored her and carried on walking. Faith stopped, annoyed now that he wasn’t paying attention. “Look, we’re never going to find them if we keep going over the same piece of sewer. We have to try a different way.”

Angel halted and turned to face her. For the first time she truly saw how all of this was affecting him. “I’m scared Faith. I can’t let Spike die. God knows I have plenty of reasons to want him dead, but he’s my Childe and I do love him. I failed you, I’m not going to fail…”

“Will you stop talking like that? You didn’t fail ok. I was doing what you told me. And Angelus tortured me, not you. I know you Angel. You’d never hurt me. You want to save Spike, that’s great; I wanna help. But you’re not going to do it following the same section of sewer all night.”

Angel closed his eyes and nodded. He couldn’t feel Spike, couldn’t sense him, as he needed to. Maybe if he were asleep… But they didn’t have time for that. He sent up an urgent prayer to any god that might happen to be listening to the prayers of demons, and walked back to Faith as she set off down another tunnel.

***************************************

“I can feel him Buffy. Spike, he’s in here. It’s feels bad this place. Evil.” Drusilla remained at the entrance to the caves, as Buffy checked her supplies.

“It is evil. And Riley’s evil. Way eviler than Spike.” Buffy agreed handing the crossbow to Dru. “Just in case,” she explained at the vampiress’s look. She held the sword in her right hand, throwing the bag behind a bush as she stood. She glanced at Dru and nodded. “Let’s go.”

****************************************

“Is that it?” Oz asked as the two girls got up and moved towards the door.

“Yeah. No more werewolf Oz. We hope,” Willow affirmed looking back towards her former boyfriend. “We have to go look for Riley. Call if anything happens ok?”

Oz nodded slightly, smiling as he considered a permanent life without the pressures of turning into a monster for three nights every month. And then he fell.

“Oz!” Willow shouted running back to the couch to try and help her friend. “Oz, are you…?”

She never got to finish as the werewolf jumped over the couch, knocking her to the ground, before running out through the open door into the night. Tara ran to her girlfriend and helped her up. “Willow, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But Oz. Oh God Tara, what did we do?”

*******************************

“Hello? Willow, what’s wrong?”

“Um, Giles. I think we did something bad?”

“Bad. What do you mean? Where are you?”

“Your place. Tara and I tried to do this anti-werewolf spell for Oz but we kinda turned him into a werewolf.”

“What? Willow, are you and Tara alright?”

“Yeah Giles, we’re fine, but…”

“Get the tranquilliser gun out of the weapons chest. Meet us at the gates to Restfield cemetery.”

“Yes Giles. I’m so sor…”

“Willow please… do shut up.”

*********************************

Buffy inched her way slowly down one of the long passages that led through the caves. Drusilla stayed behind her trying to guide them to Spike as best she could. Buffy’s own special senses picked up the trace of a vampire as they neared the end of the passage and she signalled for Dru to stay quiet and still.

Hiding in the shadows the two women took in the scene before them. Spike was chained to the far wall, his arms stretched suspended above his head. His bare chest was covered with burns and bruises; his flesh had been pierced by metal pokers and marked with crucifixes. Buffy winced as she looked at him. Riley had tried to take away the cocky English vampire who was close to stealing her heart, and hurt him he had, but he had not defeated him. Spike’s head remained raised, his teeth set to try and will away the pain of the torture. Buffy remembered what Cordelia had said about her vision. No screaming. Buffy knew instinctually that the blonde vampire hadn’t cried out once, nor begged for release. He had taken all the pain, so that Riley would have to kill him without the pleasure of breaking him.

She saw Riley then, emerging from the shadows in the opposite corner, sword in hand. Drusilla almost cried out as Riley approached Spike, only Buffy’s urgent grip on her arm preventing her from doing so. The two women were united now against a common enemy. They both knew it wouldn’t last once they had rescued Spike, but for now they took comfort in the other’s presence.

“She doesn’t love you. She may be obsessed or infatuated or something, but she doesn’t love you. And she never will,” they heard Riley saying as he advanced upon Spike. “Won’t that hurt you? Knowing you’re going to die for a woman who never gave a damn about you.”

“Ah, but I always knew she didn’t love me. Never thought I had a chance. You on the other hand wished every day that Buffs would give you some sign that she loved you as much as Angel, and look where that got you. The point is mate, she doesn’t have to love you as much as Angel; she just has to love you, to care about you. You had it all and you threw it away ‘cause you were insecure. Wanker! If I had her, I’d cling on so tight and never let her go. Wouldn’t give a toss if she had loved the great poof an extra inch, because I had her, she chose me. She did choose you, didn’t she? God knows why. Girl’s always had pretty bad taste in men if you ask me, ‘til now that is. And you ruined it, stupid sod. So don’t think I’m going to whine like you because Buffy isn’t hopelessly in love with me. You’ve been at this for hours and I haven’t cracked, though you’re becoming more unstable by the minute. Either kill me or let me go, ‘cause frankly, I’m just bored now.”

Riley let out a shout of pure fury and charged at Spike. Buffy jumped up from her crouched position and ran quickly towards the two men. Drusilla raised the crossbow and fired at Riley’s back. The arrow sped quickly past Buffy and embedded itself in Riley’s shoulder. He turned with a shout of pain and was met by Buffy’s fist, which sent him flying back across the cavern.

Buffy advanced upon Riley as Drusilla ran to Spike. “Spike, my pet, are you ok?” Spike’s lips quirked at the question and he nodded slightly. “Yeah. Apart form the pain. The keys are on the table ducks,” he said nodding towards the corner where Riley had piled his supplies of holy water, crosses and other assorted weapons.

“You killed Faith,” Buffy spat as she loomed over Riley, “And you’re trying to kill Spike.” She leant over and dragged her former boyfriend to his feet. “I think it’s fair to say that things aren’t working out between us Riley,” she hit him again sending him smashing into the wall. He recovered quickly this time and returned her attack, backhanding her across the face.

Drusilla supported Spike as she unchained his arms and his weak body fell limply to the ground. As she bent to unchain his legs, Riley picked up the sword he had dropped when the arrow hit him and turned back to face a weaponless Buffy. Spike’s eyes never left the pair and he shouted a warning to Buffy as Riley approached her. Drusilla turned her head to look at the pair then back to Spike. He loved Buffy; she could see it glowing in his eyes along with the fear. As her mind flashed with happy memories of times they had shared over the past hundred years, Dru came to a decision. Without pausing to think why a soulless vampire was willing to help the Slayer for the man she loved, Drusilla caught up the sword Buffy had dropped and threw it to her.

Buffy caught the sword, thankful that Drusilla had kept her word to help her, and defended herself against Riley’s savage attack. He wasn’t as skilled as she was however and was soon at a disadvantage. As he tried to defend himself he hooked his foot around Buffy’s leg and she went crashing to the ground. He followed her down, straddling her waist and pinning her arms above her head. The shock of the fall left Buffy helpless for a moment and Riley used the time to hit her savagely across the head, slamming her head against the ground.

Spike cried out as Riley continued to beat Buffy, every hit making her less able to regain control and defend herself. Drusilla stared at the Slayer, knowing now what she had to do to make things right. She looked at Spike, his eyes locking with hers as she leant close to him. “I love you Spike. I never stopped.” She kissed him gently and when she pulled away her eyes were clear and focused. “Tell Daddy I did good. Be happy with her, my sweet.”

As she jumped to her feet Spike realised what she was planning and tried to catch her as she moved across the room towards Riley and Buffy. “Dru, No!” he cried hoarsely, the tears that were threatening to fall burning the backs of his eyes.

Buffy couldn’t focus, not believing she had lost control of the situation so easily. She had to do something. She had to move out of this position and start beating the crap out of Riley. The former military agent was intent on hurting the small blonde Slayer, and didn’t notice the black-haired vampiress approach.

Drusilla pushed Riley violently off Buffy, stepping over the Slayer and continuing to advance of the young man, as Buffy rolled away and got to her feet. Spike untied the shackles at his feet as quickly as his drained body could and then stumbled across to the Slayer. She caught him as he fell towards her, and he croaked desperately in her ear, “Stop her; help her, please!” Buffy looked, confused at the blonde vampire and then across at Drusilla. She immediately saw what was going to happen and started to run across the cave.

Drusilla and Riley fought angrily, each battling for control, Dru’s anger spurring her on. She wanted to hurt him as much as possible before the inevitable happened. But Riley was quick to find a stake among his vampire-torture chamber and lunged at the beautiful demoness.

Dru’s face held a look of pure peace as she glanced back at Spike and whispered, “I love you.”

Then she disintegrated.

Then there was silence.

*****************************

“Where do you think Oz could be?” Willow worriedly asked Giles as they walked quickly though the town. Tara and Cordelia had joined together to continue to search for Riley, and the Witch and Watcher had left them at the cemetery.

Giles looked down at Willow. His annoyance at her actions had faded once he had seen the look of fear on her face. It was just such an awkward time for something like this to happen. “Well, uh, he usually goes out to the woods yes? I think we should try looking there first.” He smiled at Willow, trying to reassure her that everything would be ok. She smiled back nervously, trying to take comfort.

*****************************

Spike, Buffy and Riley stood frozen for a second, before Riley launched himself at the Slayer, knocking her to the ground. Spike growled in fury as an enraged haze filled his mind. Without stopping to think of the pain which attacking Riley would induce, he ran toward the young man, dragged him fiercely away from Buffy, and threw him down onto the ground. Riley smirked cruelly up at him, “You can’t hurt me. We both know that.”

Spike didn’t know that. He couldn’t think clearly. All he could see was Riley killing Dru; Riley beating Buffy; Riley torturing him. He pushed past the pain, letting his demon emerge as he pounced on the boy, each punch hitting its mark. He couldn’t stop, the demon taking pleasure in being able to attack again after so much time.

Riley shakily pulled the crucifix from the back pocket of his trousers and pushed it into Spike’s unprotected chest. The vampire recoiled in pain and the young man used the opportunity to stagger to his feet. He kicked out at Spike, hitting him squarely in the head. He tried again, but Spike was ready this time and grabbed his foot, twisting the leg so that Riley crashed down to the ground. Riley rolled away and jumped up once more and the fight continued in earnest.

Buffy raised herself groggily to her elbows and looked around the cave. Riley and Spike were battling furiously and she knew had to help. As she raised herself ungracefully to her feet, she looked again at the two men, shocked. Spike was fighting. He was hurting a human. With intent. But he wasn’t in pain.

Spike held Riley pinned against the wall. He had to end it. He had to punish Riley for his sins. The evil in this boy was far more dangerous than the evil in him. He lent closer, knocking Riley’s head to the side and bearing his neck. “She never loved you,” he whispered in Riley’s ear before he sunk his fangs into his neck. Riley cried out at the pain, his open eyes staring wildly across the cave. He lost consciousness as the blood drained from his body and Spike supported his limp body as he continued to drink.

Buffy remained glued to the spot as she watched Spike drain her former boyfriend. She didn’t know why she hadn’t tried to stop it, but something held her back. She knew somehow that Spike’s actions stemmed from a kind of rage she understood. Once she had been intent on killing this very vampire because of the threat he posed to Angel. Riley had killed the one woman Buffy knew Spike worshipped beyond all else. She understood completely.

Spike dragged his teeth from Riley’s neck, tearing the flesh a little. The body dropped to the ground and Spike turned away violently. When he saw Buffy, standing watching from across the cave, his eyes widened and his handsome human features descended upon his face once more. He dropped wearily to the ground as the fog in his brain lifted and he realised what he had done. ‘Oh God,’ he thought, ‘She hates me now.’

Buffy started to walk across to Spike, worried that he was injured. He was still hurting from Riley’s earlier torture and needed rest. As she crossed the entrance to the cave, the werewolf jumped from the shadows, knocking her on top of the aching vampire. Buffy looked back towards the wolf as it stopped and growled menacingly at them. Buffy looked around for something to defend them with and cursed when she couldn’t see anything close enough.

The werewolf looked from the tangled pair to Riley’s body in the far corner and seemed to take a minute to think. Then he launched himself over the vampire and Vampire Slayer, and proceeded to savage Riley’s lifeless body.

Buffy didn’t have time to worry about what the werewolf was doing. She needed to get them out of there as quickly as possible. “Spike?” she said looking down at the blonde vampire, “Can you move?” He murmured vaguely in reply and Buffy helped him to stand.

As the two emerged from the cave they saw Willow and Giles running towards them. “Buffy, oh God, are you ok?” Willow asked her best friend as she ran up next to her. Giles helped to support Spike’s weak body, taking some of the weight from the bruised Vampire Slayer. “I’m fine Will,” Buffy nodded, reassuring her friends, “Spike needs rest though. And probably some first-aid.” Buffy smiled gently at the vampire who had fallen into unconsciousness.

“Yes, well, we’ll get him home then,” Giles said repositioning Spike’s arm around his shoulders.

“But what about…?” Willow began, her eyes pleading with the Watcher.

“What about what?” Buffy asked seeing Willow’s fearful look.

“Oz. Tara and I did a spell, but it went wrong and now he’s a werewolf,” the witch explained in a rush. Buffy looked at her friend wide-eyed and then back towards the entrance to the caves. “What?” Willow asked as Buffy continued to stare. “Um. Oz, he… I think he… He’s in there.” Buffy stammered.

“What? Is he ok? What’s he doing?” Willow moved towards the caves, holding the tranquilliser gun trained on the entrance. Buffy caught her arm and pulled her back. “No, don’t Will. Leave him. I’ll explain later. Can we just get Sleepy here home before my arms fall off.”

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