Spike strode into the back door of one of the most notorious demon bars on the south side of London as if he owned the place.

His memory might be a complete blank except for Buffy, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t able to be as bad as he wanted.

It was with this in mind that he strutted into the fold of demons and vamps that congregated there.

Striding to the nearest occupied stool he reached out and gripped the shoulder of a large scaled demon.

“Move,” was all he said.

The G’Twaron demon’s red eyes flashed, but abruptly the fire went out as it got a good look at Spike’s face.

Grabbing its mug of intestines it lumbered off the stool and strode off.

Tense with the sudden realization he was the sole focus of everyone in the room Spike tried to relax.

“The usual?” the bartender asked flicking his forked tongue out to taste to air.

Spike kept his grimace of distaste to himself. And realized this bloke knew who he was, which he realized was too interesting to let go.

“Yeah,” Spike growled out. “So…you got any news-uh decent news?” he asked as authoritatively as he could.

As he wasn’t used to being like this it was slightly unsettling.

The bartender set down a mug of blood in front of Spike and a small bowl of shredded wheat.

Spike frowned down at it for a moment.

“Damn it’s been awhile Spike…we heard you’d skipped the country after that mob went after you in Prague,” the bartender stated as he leaned against the bar and studied Spike.

“Was in the States,” Spike said shortly.

“Well…nothin’ much has been goin’ on here- ‘cept there was a rumor- hey is that why you’re back?” the bartender couldn’t keep his excitement out of his voice as he stared at Spike wide eyed.

Spike tried to follow the demon’s line of thought but came up empty and narrowed his eyes.

Took on a defensive stance and let his eyes flare gold.

“What are you on about?” he demanded coldly.

They couldn’t know about Buffy, he thought abruptly. If they did he wouldn’t hesitate to kill everyone in this room and enjoy it.

“Oh!” The bartender dramatically lowered his voice. “You don’t want anyone to know huh? That you’re after the Slayer…right?”

Spike clenched his jaw so tight he felt it begin to ache and tried to remain calm. They didn’t know for sure if Buffy was here.

He’d just have to put out a different rumor; he mused as he lifted his mug and took a sip.

Cautiously tasted a bit of the wheat and was pleasantly surprised when mixed with the blood it tasted rather good.

“Nah,” he announced loud enough for everyone to hear. “Didn’t come for the Slayer…she’s still in the States. Came to deal with another chit. Goes by the name of Dr. Walsh.”

Pausing delicately he waited for them to all absorb that name.

“What’d she do? She some evil demon who done you wrong?” the bartender asked excitedly.

Spike finished his blood and smirked.

“Human. But the bird’s crazy, got a thing goin’ on down at the Hellmouth where the Slayers’ are. Capturing demons…messin’ with ‘em. Making them her slaves. Poking around in their brains. And vampires… She’s making it so they can’t feed. Puts a microchip in the noggin’ and it’s goodbye warm blood and hello dusty demise.”

Spike had to grin at his little tale.

Shocked murmurs had erupted as he’d spoken, and he knew he had their undivided attention.

“And…and she’s here?” the bartender asked in disbelief.

Spike shrugged again.

“S’matter of fact she is. In fact she’s taken over the Council. She’s using their resources to begin the same thing as she did across the pond. Gonna stop her if it’s the last thing I do,” he declared angry as he rose abruptly.

Tossing a few bills down onto the bar he took a handful of the last of the shredded wheat and stuffed it into his mouth.

With a nod all around he sauntered out.

The seed had been planted.

Now all he had to do was wait for them to come to him. Meanwhile he had a little exploring to do.

~*~

Maggie watched the drugged Slayer go through the first round of experiments.

Tried to determine whether or not to use Angelus or Spike as the donor for their newest creation.

Spike had already created a baby, she mused. Then felt a pang of…regret that it had died with Drusilla. She would have loved to have seen it. Just once.

Twirling a pen between her fingers she pursed her lips and watched as Buffy was given a shot of hormonal drugs to kick in her menstrual cycle.

Vaguely she wondered about mixing both sperms and how that would turn out. She quickly decided against that.

Who knew what might come out of Buffy. Some two headed vampire freak, she thought with a shudder.

No…

She would have to wait and see.

Drusilla hadn’t been in the position to protest her insemination, she’d been quite agreeable really.

Maggie’s lips quirked and she abruptly jabbed at the intercom button to her left.

“Samuel,” she called out impatiently.

The doctor looked up inquiringly.

“Yes Dr. Walsh?”

“That’s enough for today,” she ordered.

“But-“the doctor began to protest.

“I said enough,” Maggie snapped as she lifted her finger off the button and rose from her observation seat.

A thought had just occurred to her. One she was certain would cause a certain ensouled vampire to agree to her terms as soon as possible.

~*~

Angel paced the room he was sharing with Buffy and ran a hand through his hair only to pause mid step when his door was thrown open.

He knew it wasn’t Buffy, he would have sensed her presence.

He was only slightly surprised to see it was Maggie.

She stepped in and the door automatically shut and locked behind her.

Regarding him with cool blue eyes she leaned against the wall.

“That soul’s got to bother you,” she finally mused.

Startled Angel felt his eyes widen and disconcerted he wondered where she was headed with this.

He wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that she had to know a certain amount about him.

But still it unnerved him.

“The soul is…” he hesitated on what to say. It was a curse…an anchor…something he would never have wanted. “It’s a good thing,” he found himself saying lamely.

“Not to you it’s not,” Maggie stated. Smiled when he didn’t deny it. “In fact as it’s a curse rather than a blessing it’s easy to see why you hate it. But let’s not forget…it’s the only thing that’s keeping Buffy around. Or is it?”

Maggie let that hang for a moment.

Angel grasped onto that like a life line.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded angrily advancing towards her.

Maggie lifted a hand.

“No closer or you’ll be dust in seconds,” she warned him.

Angel came to a halt and glared at her.

“She’d love me- she’ll love me forever,” he stated grimly.

Maggie nodded.

“Did she tell you about Spike?” Maggie asked already knowing the answer. She’d listened to their little attempted heart to heart yesterday.

Nothing had been said directly, but things had been implied and she was here today to manipulate just a little.

“Dru asked for her help with Spike,” Angel said.

Maggie nodded.

“Because he was one of our patients…as I’ve told you he’s quite the vampire. He withstood almost all of it. Except the last bit and well…by then he’d served his purpose. As I’ve been told only a few days before Drusilla escaped fro-“

Angel frowned.

“You had Dru too?” he asked incredulously.

He didn’t understand what was going on.

“Yes. She came after Spike and ended up staying for awhile. She escaped and took Spike with her. Only it seems Spike didn’t remember her. Or much of anything at all in fact. Except…”

Maggie paused watching Angel’s expressionless face.

“What?” he asked impatiently.

 “The Slayer, your Buffy. She’s all he can remember and when Dru asked Buffy came. Why is that, do you think? Because really I’m sure like the rest of us, you’re just dying to know. She came for him, took him knowing she was being hunted and left you behind. Now why would a Slayer help an evil, unsouled vampire like Spike?”

Angel stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at anything but Maggie.

His mind moved slowly, step by step trying to figure out why this was so important. Why Buffy had risked her life for Spike of all vampires.

“And when I gave her the option of giving me Spike for your safe return you know what she did? She sent Spike away and came to rescue you instead…and look where both of you are. All she had to do was let Spike go and she couldn’t even do that. Why?”

Maggie smirked as she watched Angel try to absorb everything she’d said.

“Just so you know…by the time we’re finished with you Buffy will be pregnant. Our main objective is the birth of a super baby. Now Spike…extraordinary vampire that he is has already done the deed. Drusilla was pregnant…until she was killed by dear sweet Buffy. If you want to live you’ll get her pregnant yourself or…” Maggie gave a shrug and grinned,” There’s always Spike.”

 

“The curse…” Angel whispered.

Maggie caught his words and paused.

“Think of it this way…you’re going to lose it either way. Why not the most enjoyable way possible?”

The door slid open as she stepped in front of it and as she stepped out she glanced over her shoulder at him.

“Remember what I said,” she told him before the door shut and locked.

~*~

“As you can see she’s put guards on every exit possible. The fact that they’re very experienced military men will hinder us,” Ronald stated.

Giles sent him an irritated look before he returned his gaze back to the large blueprint of the Council Head Quarters.

“From what I’ve seen just by walking by there’s a good amount of fire power. If we go in for a direct assault we’ll all surely die. But that’s why we aren’t going to do that. In fact I think a full out attack is what she’s looking for,” Giles remarked thoughtfully.

Settling back into his large leather armchair he rubbed his chin warily.

The group of men and a scattering of women littered the den of Ronald’s flat.

So far Giles had come to one conclusion.

That having so many repressed and stuffy Brits in one room was a disaster. No one spoke too loudly or shouted or showed too much emotion.

Not that he’d expected much emotion.

“Magic,” one of the women spoke quietly.

Giles’s head swiveled to find the face of the woman who’d spoken.

His eyes landed on a blonde woman with glasses.

“Yes?” he asked.

The woman fiddled with her glasses before she cleared her throat.

“Magic, Dr. Walsh doesn’t believe in it. We could use it as an advantage,” she said in a rush blushing as she became the sole focus in the room.

Giles nodded slowly.

“Is that true Ronald? She hasn’t taken down our magical wards?” Giles demanded.

Ronald shook his head.

“Not that I know of,” Ronald said stiffly.

“Bloody hell, this is marvelous! Brilliant work there…” he looked expectantly at the woman.

She gave a nervous smile.

“Lydia,” she mumbled.

“Well done Lydia. If we take down the wards… I think we’ll have a way to get in and out undetected,” Giles said in wonder. “We’ll need glamour spells… Anti gravity spells…”

Soon more people were suggesting things and very soon they had an outline for a decent and Giles hoped well thought out plan to retrieve Buffy.

~*~

Joyce paced because she couldn’t sit down.

She kept an eye on the clock and wished time would move a little faster. It was still ten minutes past three in the afternoon and Xander still hadn’t reported in.

The children were just getting out of school and Willow and Oz would be dropping by. Faith was sleeping in because she’d had a long night yesterday and wouldn’t be seen until nightfall.

Clenching her hands into small fists she blew out an impatient breath.

Wondered if this was how Buffy felt when her friends got involved in her dangerous work.

Anxious and beyond frightened of what might happen.

Swallowing Joyce told herself to relax.

Xander as immature as he often acted could handle himself. He had volunteered to go and nothing bad would happen to him.

The door bell rang and dragging her gaze from the clock on the wall she moved to answer the door.

She smiled weakly as Willow and Oz greeted her and stepped in.

Oz held out a paper to her.

“Here’s your paper,” he said.

“I don’t get the paper,” Joyce said surprised.

“Well it’s got your address on it,” Willow said.

Everyone looked at the paper.

“I could do a spell…” Willow began but Joyce waved her off.

“It’s probably a mistake. Thank you Daniel,” Joyce gave Oz a smile as he cringed at her using his given name.

Willow grinned and wrapped her arms around Oz.

“Ah…you’re so cute,” she said giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Would you all like something to eat?” Joyce asked on her way to the kitchen.

At their nods she suggested sandwiches and went about fixing them.

Her attention was caught by the paper for a moment and she paused studying it.

Picking it up she unfolded it and stared at it.

At the note that was taped to the front page.

She frowned as she read it, not quite understanding it.

“Guys?” she called out her eyes lingering on the paper.

Willow and Oz wandered in.

“Take a look at this,” Joyce shoved the paper towards them feeling incredible on edge all of a sudden.

Willow and Oz scanned the note then looked at eachother.

“Well…” Oz said.

“Who’s to say this isn’t some kind of trap?” Willow asked as she studied the note once more.

Joyce wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“I mean hey-they didn’t even leave their name. Joyce I think we should ignore it,” Willow went on to say.

Joyce sighed again and shook her head.

“No I can’t. They went through a lot of trouble to ask for our help and we’re gonna give it. What’s that address again?” Joyce asked.

“It’s room 34 at that motel at the edge of town,” Oz answered.

“Oh…” Willow looked scared for a moment at that. “That’s a scary part of town Joyce. And since- well we don’t have Buffy maybe we should let the police handle this.”

Joyce shook her head beginning to get impatient.

“I can’t! Listen kids I’m not asking you to come with me alright? I’ll go and check this out. See if I can be of some help. Meanwhile you two try and get in touch with Xander. I haven’t heard from him since yesterday afternoon.”

The two teenagers’ hesitated.

They didn’t want to let Joyce walk into a situation like that alone. As far as they knew the only people who stayed at the motel were low life’s.

“Take Faith with you,” Oz instructed.

Sending him a startled look at his authoritative tone Joyce could only stare.

“Fine. Just make sure Xander got in okay and nothing has happened to him alright?” she asked at last.

“Will do Joyce,” Willow agreed.

Joyce gave a relieved smile.

~*~

Giles liked London after dark although it wasn’t the safest of times to go for a stroll.

But armed with a bottle of Holy water and a stake he felt prepared enough to handle any vamp that he came upon.

His mind was busy with the plan they’d made earlier in the day and he was certain it would work.

There was one thing he was grateful to Maggie for. Her scientist brain could not wrap around the fact that magic indeed existed.

This had in return been in their favor.

The Council’s security had been made up of 99% of magic. And as it was still intact it would be relatively easy to get rid of with the help of a few witches.

And getting past the guards would be easy enough with a glamour spell and they’d have free rein as they searched for Buffy.

Get in and get out.

“…do we know you’re for real?” the voice pitched low and harsh reached his ears and Giles stiffened.

Pausing he heard footsteps coming closer.

Every instinct he had told him to hide and so he did, slipping into the shadows and hiding.

“Yeah! You’re not known for tellin’ the truth.”

Giles gave a slight start as the men came into view.

The dim light the street lamp cast was enough to show him that two of the men were demons.

He couldn’t define what type but they were demons none the less.

His eyes rested on the third man and he squinted. There was something familiar about him…

“I am telling the truth,” the third man growled his face twisted in contempt. “Not my fault you don’t believe me. Fact is once you meet that bitch in person you’ll wish you’d listened to me.”

There was a pause and finally Giles heard one of the demons give a grunt.

“You’re sure about this?” one of them finally demanded.

The third man gave a curt nod.

“Yes. Now what do you wanna do about it?” he asked.

“Kill her,” one of them growled.

“Eat her,” the other demon snapped.

The third man laughed darkly at that.

“Could be arranged. But can’t do it alone mates…gotta have backup, spread the word and get back to me. We’ll get ‘er the sooner the better.”

Giles watched as the demons grunted and trotted off leaving the man alone.

“You can come out now,” the man called amused as Giles gasped.

 Giles swallowed as fear skirted through him and down his spine.

Abruptly he stepped out of the shadows and found himself face to face with Spike.

Giles choked out another gasp and fumbled in his pocket.

“Get away from me you evil fiend,” Giles yelled splashing some water onto his hand.

Spike held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Didn’t your mum ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop?” he asked with a small smile.

Giles wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he remained silent.

Spike gave a shrug and began to move off.

“This is all your fault! If your Drusilla hadn’t lured Buffy he-“Giles’s voice was abruptly cut off as he found him slammed against the wall.

Yellow eyes stared into blue and Spike growled at Giles.

“What do you know about Buffy old man?” he asked as he let his hand tighten around Giles’s throat.

Giles struggled to breath.

“I…You know who I am,” he gasped out.

Spike stared blankly at him as shook him again.

“Who are you?! How do you know about Buffy?!” he yelled.

Giles blinked in shock and realized abruptly that Spike had no recollection who he was. The thought was completely unfathomable and he tried to absorb that.

“Watcher,” he finally gasped out.

Spike hesitated as he stared into Giles’s eyes.

Abruptly he dropped Giles and moved off anxious energy running through him.

“I am her Watcher. I…do you remember me Spike?” he asked carefully.

Spike sent him an irritated look.

“No. You here to get Buffy back then?” Spike asked as he turned to stare at Giles his game face slipping away.

Giles stood as tall as he could.

“Of course,” Giles stated indignantly.

“Right then,” Spike muttered. “You and I need to have a bit of a chat.”

Giles stared at him for a moment.

Nodded and gave a huge sigh.

“It would seem we do. Come I know a little pub not too far away.”

Spike hesitated a moment before he followed after Giles.

~*~

“We shouldn’t be here,” one of the men complained.

“Shut up,” Forrest snapped as they edged along.

“Both of you shut it,” Riley ordered from his position in the lead.

Both men fell silent as they moved through the field of grass behind the motel at the edge of town.

It had been generally felt that Riley as one of Dr. Walsh’s favorites wasn’t worth much and right about now most of his men were cursing him under their breaths.

Tonight was supposed to have been party time, drink and maybe get laid time, by one of those cute little fraternity girls.

But no good ol boy Riley had decided on a recon mission and thus here they were.

In the middle of this fucking field and about to take turns watching some room.

Riley held up a hand and everyone paused.

“Okay, fan out and search the windows. We’re looking for a human male.”

The men dispersed and Riley took his turn looking around.

“Watcha doin’?”

The voice had him jerking in surprise and whirling around.

Before him stood a dark haired beauty.

He almost swallowed his tongue.

“H…hi,” he managed to get out blushing slightly.

Faith smirked, planted her hands on her hips and eyed him.

Joyce had warned her about these dudes, but she hadn’t said they were so cute, she mused regretfully.

“Hi and goodbye,” Faith’s fist shot out and he went down out cold.

She dragged him further into the fields and grinned when she found his walkie talkie and deepening her voice spoke into it.

“Uh…we’ve got an agent down,” she mumbled out before she dropped it and slipped away.

She had to get Joyce out of here.

This was a trap.

~*~

Joyce studied the man before her silently.

“I should believe you because…?” she asked leadingly.

Wesley cleared his throat.

“I didn’t-well my ID is gone at the moment. My name is Wesley and I am a member of the Council. I’ve come for Rupert’s help…yet he wasn’t at home or I missed him,” Wesley rushed to say.

“What do you want?” Joyce demanded.

“I-Buffy sent me here.”

Joyce’s eyes sharpened at that and he watched in awe as she pounced towards him and gripped him by the collar of his shirt.

“I don’t believe you!” Joyce exclaimed.

The baby’s wail broke through the tension abruptly.

Joyce looked around wildly.

“Oh! Tate’s awake,” Wesley muttered happily.

Joyce watched as the man escaped her grasp and went to the corner of the room and lifted up a little baby.

“You have a baby?” Joyce asked incredulously.

“Oh no…this isn’t my baby,” Wes said as he patted Tate’s back.

Joyce arched a brow.

The door was thrown open abruptly as Faith strode in.

She took the room in at a glance.

“Whoa we gotta jet Joyce…who’s the baby?” Faith demanded as she tugged on Joyce’s arm.

“This is Tate,” Wes said as he trailed after them. “Spike’s baby.”

Joyce whirled around.

“What??!”

Giles hurried from his flat, his long strides determined. His main thought at the moment was to get as far away from Spike as possible. He’d tried not to leave a trail for Spike to follow and had stayed sequestered in his flat for hours waiting for Spike to attack.

It had unnerved him greatly to have come upon Spike unprepared like that. Not to mention the fact that he seemed to have no recollection of anything except for Buffy. How that had been accomplished he had no idea.

But it plagued his mind as he half walked and half ran down the cobbled street. This made things more difficult, he realized in dismay.

He wondered vaguely why his Slayer’s life was so complicated. He had often wondered since becoming Buffy’s Watcher how he had gotten stuck with her.

Why couldn’t he have had one of those staid and hollow Slayer’s that the Council produced amass?

He cringed even as he thought it. Buffy was the best Slayer for a reason, and he knew very well he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He loved the girl despite her flaws and tendency to fall for the very vampires’ she was supposed to kill.

Slightly out of breath he leaned against the side of a building and sucked in a few deep breaths before he glanced around.

He wanted to make sure he hadn’t been followed. By Spike or any of Maggie’s men. He wasn’t sure if she even knew he was in the city, but he still had to be careful.

He moved silently into a darkened alley and paused at a nondescript door. He knocked once and waited for the door to be answered.

When it swung open revealing a dimly lit interior he hurried in, and gave a slight start when the door slammed shut behind him.

“What do you want?” the thick Irish accented voice came from behind him, and he whirled around to face the speaker.

He wanted desperately to clean his glasses, but resisted the urge as he studied the woman before him.

She had to be well past seventy and he must say she looked every one of her years.

Her face was a mess of wrinkles and her eyes barely peeked out from beneath sagging eyelids and wild white hair.

All in all she made for a ghastly sight.

Giles smiled.

“Rowan?” he asked slightly hesitant.

The woman stared at him.

Giles shifted and when it became evident she wasn’t going to say anything he cleared his throat and began to speak.

“I am Rupert Giles and I’ve come to you for help. I’ve long been aware of your certain expertise and until now it hasn’t been prudent to use your type of magic. But now I must ask for your help and hope you will be inclined to help me,” he said slowly not wanting to say it all in a rush or stumble over the words as he was want to do.

“Hmmm,” was the only response he got.

“I’m sorry what was that? Was that a yes?” he asked curiously.

“No lad it was an ‘hmmm’,” she snapped with a small cackle.

Giles managed a strained smile.

“You see I’ve come to rescue m-“

“You part of them Watchers?” she demanded as she moved forward.

Giles almost let loose a yell of horror as he finally noticed as she moved that one of her legs wasn’t a leg at all.

It had been covered by the table she’d stood behind, but now as she moved forward he realized she was one legged and the other…well it actually appeared to be a frog leg.

Swallowing Giles tried to tear his gaze from the sight and meet her old and all too wise eyes.

“Whatcha starin’ at lad? Like what you see don’tcha?” she drawled out mockingly as she paused a few feet from him.

“Dear Lord…you do realize you’ve got a frog leg?” Giles stammered out despite himself. He told himself to shut up, but his brain wasn’t listening as he went on. “Is that sanitary?”

“S’exactly why I don’t do business with you Council lot. Came by here a time or two wantin’ me to do something or another for them. Gawked all they could at me and asked the same dumbass questions. So no I won’t be helpin’ you tonight Rupert Giles. Appearances aren’t always what they seem… Off you go now lad,” she all but shoved Giles to the door.

He tried to stammer out an apology, but it was too late as he found himself face to face with the closed and locked door.

Now he did take off his glasses and clean them.

Blinked rather owlishly and shook his head, a vision of her frog leg appearing in his minds eye.

He shuddered and thought it was a good thing she hadn’t wanted to help him. Knowing his Slayer as he did she would have been prone to say a rude thing.

Of course not that he had been rude. No he had just been startled and had asked pertinent questions.

Besides having a frog leg couldn’t possible work out well could it?

Putting on his glasses he strode off and wondered whether she had to soak the leg in swamp water.

~*~

Xander shoved open the door to the Summers house and called out.

“Shhh,” Willow shushed him as she came into the foyer and pulled him into the livingroom.

Xander stared at the baby asleep in a play pen across the room.

“Where’d that baby come from?” he asked confusedly.

“Where have you been Xan? We’ve been trying to talk to you since like two days ago,” Willow complained in a whisper as she dragged him from the room and into the kitchen.

Xander trailed after her and finally shook free of her to open the fridge and scrounge for food.

“I was training. Getting caught up on protocol. Doin’ manly stuff,” Xander replied puffing out his chest.

Willow couldn’t help but shake her head.

“Well listen that baby in there belongs to Spike,” she started off abruptly.

“WHAT?” Xander half yelled half yelped.

“Shhh!!!”

Xander clamped his mouth shut with a grimace.

“But that’s not the most important thing here. It’s that Buffy sent Tate here-“

“Who’s Tate?” Xander asked as he began to fix himself a sandwich.

“That’s what the baby’s named. Anyway Maggie is after Wes and she doesn’t know that the baby survived so Wes brought him here. In fact it seems Tate’s a super baby. He’s like a little superman. He’s cute too which is surprising because he-“

“Ok hang on a minute. We’ve got a super baby in the livingroom and we’re gonna still use Oz as bait? Am I the only one who sees a prime opportunity to get into the inner sanctum of the Initiative here? I’ll just take the baby and bam! I’m in and they’re all bye-bye.”

The look Willow gave him could have curdled milk, as it was it made Xander take a quick step back and swallow hard.

“Or maybe not,” he mumbled.

“Xander come on this is serious! That baby’s human and Buffy wanted us to protect it. Maggie doesn’t know about Tate and that’s the way we’re gonna keep it! Now Joyce went out to meet Wes. They’re gonna discuss something and we’re supposed to look after Tate. While we’re at it you can tell me how it’s going with the commandos,” Willow ordered as she walked out of the room.

Xander munching on his sandwich reluctantly followed.

~*~

Joyce paused as she caught sight of one of the men she knew was a commando. He’d been following her, she was sure of it.

She turned abruptly in the other direction.

She knew she wasn’t being very discrete, but she wasn’t used to playing at espionage.

She had been on her way to meet Wes at the Espresso Pump for some coffee. And to talk more in depth about Spike, Buffy and little baby Tate.

He’d been reluctant to leave the baby with them to go back to the motel. But with the help of Willow, she’d finally convinced him that it was the safest place for the baby. There were wards up and other magicky stuff she had never heard of too.

If they were being watched as it seemed they were, then this plan of theirs really wasn’t going to work, she realized abruptly.

Joyce glanced at her watch and bit back an oath as she tried to think of a way out of this mess they’d gotten themselves into.

Her thoughts strayed to Tate and grimly she settled on a fate she hoped would work out for all of them.

~*~

“How did this happen?” Buffy demanded as she moved out of Spike’s arms.

“I have my ways,” Spike replied with a grin as he took in their surroundings. For a cell it was certainly better than the one he’d had back in Sunnydale, he mused.

He looked at Buffy then, really studied her and didn’t like what he saw.

She was pale, paler than she had been and her eyes were slightly unfocused and he knew drugs were in her system.

Striding towards her he took her arms and steered her towards the large bed.

“What are you doing?” Buffy asked her voice slurring slightly as the drugs took hold of her.

Spike made her take a seat and gripped her hands in his.

“You’ve got to sleep of the drugs Buffy,” he told her gently. “When you’re awake enough I’ll explain what’s happened and where we go from here. Go to sleep.”

Buffy blinked warily up at him.

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” she asked tiredly.

Spike grinned.

“’Course I will,” he promised.

Buffy smiled dreamily as she fell back onto the bed.

“You look funny… Like Angel but you’re not. Cuz I can see you. See your pretty blue eyes…” she trailed off and was soon fast asleep.

Spike sighed and moved away from the bed.

Looking around he knew as with his old cell there had to be cameras and listening devices all over the room. He would have to find a way to speak to Buffy alone without Maggie eavesdropping.

Crossing his arms over his chest he wondered vaguely what he must look like as Angel.

The witch had gotten an image and he’d trusted her to make him look as much like this Angel fellow as she could.

He shook his head as he thought of the old woman.

She hadn’t been hard to find, he’d asked in all the right places and had come to her for help.

It seemed to him that now that Giles was involved he had to move quickly, and wouldn’t have time to wait around for the demons of London to make a move.

It was selfish he knew, but he wanted the credit of rescuing Buffy all to himself.

Pursing his lips he wondered how Wesley and Tate were getting on.

They would be in Sunnydale by now and he hoped they were okay. With Maggie here and her attention focused on Buffy he knew Tate was relatively safe.

But for how long, he didn’t know.

He knew what Maggie wanted with Buffy and he shuddered as he thought of it.

Buffy had not gone into detail about her relationship with this Angel person, but Spike knew it must have been important enough for her to come rescue him.

But that didn’t matter; he was more than confident that he could help her put Angel in the past. After all she hadn’t seemed too upset to see him.

She had feelings for him and at the moment that was all he needed to make his plan work, he thought with a smug grin.

Glancing at Buffy again he narrowed his eyes. He knew that Rowan was the best at what she did, and he sure as hell’d paid her enough to get things right.

He just hoped she did as he told her.

~*~

“I’ve heard many a tale about you boy,” Rowan said as she studied the man she had strapped to a chair in her back room.

“You have to let me go,” Angel said sharply as he glared at the old woman.

She shook her head and grinned.

“I’ll not be doin’ that. No I’ve made a deal with a certain vampire, and until he says so you’re to stay here. So not a minute sooner are you to leave. It’s quite a treat to be meetin’ you Angelus,” she mused taking a seat opposite him.

Angel’s eyes flashed with banked anger.

“Angel. It’s Angel now,” he muttered.

She cocked her head to the side and studied him.

“That’d be the soul talkin’ now wouldn’t it? I’ve no doubt you’re no Angel,” she laughed loudly at that, too amused with herself to be polite.

“Look you don’t understand. I’ve got to go back. You have to send me back okay? A girl’s in trouble and if I’m not there- Listen to me this is a life or death situation,” Angel growled jerking against the magical binds that held him.

“So I’ve been told. You aren’t the first to come lookin’ for a little help in rescuing a certain Slayer lad,” she slyly said, and grinned when she saw the look of shock settle on his features.

“What?! Who else is looking for her? Is it Spike? Tell me you didn’t help him! He’s evil woman. Pure evil. He doesn’t have a soul and he’s been trying to kill her since he laid eyes on her!”

“Is that so?” Rowan shrugged. “Well it’s too late. I gave him everything he needed. In fact even now he’s taken your place. Something tells me he won’t be killing her though. Not the way he talks about her.”

She shook her head as if confused by Spike’s feelings for Buffy.

Angel frowned.

“What are you talking about?” Angel demanded to know. “What are you saying?”

Rowan met his eyes and shrugged again.

“I’ve never seen a vampire in love before. But this Spike fellow sure does fit the bill. Talked about rescuing her and keeping her safe. Wanted to be the one to rescue her. Didn’t care how he did it. Didn’t even care about my leg.”

She lifted her frog leg and stuck it out.

Angel swallowed back the gag that wanted to erupt. And thought about what Rowan had just said.

Spike was in love with Buffy.

He shook his head and couldn’t believe it.

No.

It wasn’t true; Spike had lied to this woman and was on his way to kill Buffy as he sat here helpless.

“Listen you have to call Giles back here. Explain to him that Spike is trying to get Buffy too. You must know the stories about William the Bloody don’t you? He’s killed two Slayers already. She’s third on his list. Please-“

“Do you always talk this much? I wanted to ask you some questions about the old country,” Rowan complained.

Angel’s brows rose.

“What?” he asked shocked.

“Did you happen to know the O’Donnell’s?” Rowan asked. “Old Thierry O’Donnell?”

Angel blinked.

“Uh…” he began.

“I am askin’ only because you were a right bastard Liam O’Connor. You got around so to speak. Thierry’s little girl Maggie. Remember her? Right bastard you were to leave her like that,” she scolded him.

Angel stared at her blankly.

“That was over a hundred years ago. Listen that’s in the past I can’t change who I was back then, but I’m a better pers-“

“Left her high and dry. Treated like a tramp she was for carryin’ your bastard seed.”

Angel’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“What?!” He gasped out.

Rowan cast him an innocent look.

“You dinna know? I’m sure there are all kinds of things you don’t know about. I’ll be havin’ fun filling you in dear Liam.”