Love is a Battlefield
"We have to do something," Buffy said as she walked around the table where Xander, Willow, Tara, and Anya sat. "I know we do Buffy, but don't you think you're going a little over the edge with this?" Willow asked as Buffy walked behind her chair. "Willow, he made a, as Xander puts it, sex-bot out of me, and to me...that's not right."
"I'm gonna' have to agree with Will on this Buff. I think you're going a little off the deep end with this. Yeah, sure he's a monster...but he's also a guy as well," Xander said as Buffy sat down by him, " Even though it would be nice to see the look on his face when you end this." "Well, are you guys with me or not, second of all, he's not a guy. If he doesn't get that I don't love him through his head now, he never will, and frankly, I'm fed up with it right now."
"I'll do it!" piped up Anya with a grin on her face. "I was a vengeance demon you know, this is in my line of expertise." "Good, so what would be a way good way to get him back," Buffy asked. "Valentines Day is tomorrow." Xander said apprehensively. "Xander!" Willow snapped. "Well, hey. It's not like it's going to kill him anymore than he already is." "Ooh, good one Xander, doesn't give us much time...but good one!" Buffy exclaimed as she hugged him. "I'll let her do that, I know that Buffy won't steal Xander away from me." Anya said as Buffy hugged Xander. "Okay...let go of him now,' Anya said as she pulled Buffy off of Xander.
"So, Valentines Day is the big plot thing, now we need something to do until then." Buffy thought out loud as she looked around the table. "I'm open to suggestions." "I know! We could make rumors that you secretly like him and you could drop some hints, ooh...and then, you could plan a date with him on Valentines Day and do a bunch of stuff together, then, the next day you could dump him..."Anya said. "And I could take a picture of the look on his face!" Xander shouted. "Good, well then, we should get started on the hint dropping tonight." Buffy told them as Willow and Tara exchanged worried glances. MEANWHILE...
~*~*~* "Alright boys and girls, here I have a bag of kittens, about ten of them. Whoever bids the highest get the whole lot of them," the vampire said to the small crowd of vampires standing below the podium where he stood. "Let the bidding begin."
"3 pints of human blood..." "A gallon..." "My girlfriends...OW..." "A rare charm that will keep you from bursting into flames in the sun..." then up from the crowd came "500 dollars! " It was Spike. "500 dollars going once...going twice...sol..." and before he could finish another voice came from the crowd. "How about a stake through the heart," and the vampire burst into a cloud of smoke.
Buffy stood holding the stake in the same place the bidders' heart had been. "It's the slayer!" Shouted some guy and everyone scattered.
"Now why'd you have to go and ruin the bloody bid, eh? I was so soddin' close I could taste 'em." Spike said as he turned to face Buffy. "You were bidding over a sack of kittens?" "I have to bloody eat to you know, it's not just you humans, we vampires also get hungry." "Yeah, except you drink blood instead of chow on fast food, anyway, you want to go on patrol?" "Well I got nothin' else to do, so yeah I guess."
Buffy and Spike walked down the sidewalk together. "Do you really have 500 dollars?" "No, I was gonna' blow that joint as soon as I got the sack." They walked to the magic shop. "Why are we here?" Spike asked before following her any further. "I need to get something real fast, you can come if you like." Something's up... tread carefully. A voice in the back of Spike's head told him.
He reluctantly followed Buffy into the Magic Box. She walked with a little bit a bounce in her step and went into the back training room. Xander walked up to Spike.
"How ya' doin' there Spike?" He asked. "Why would you want to know," Spike asked him as he reached a hand in the pocket that held his cigarettes.
It was extremely odd. They never cared how he was doing before.
He pulled out his carton of cigarettes and lit one of them, then carefully deposited the pack back into his pocket. "Now, sod off." Spike said and blew a small cloud of smoke in Xanders' face.
"Yeah, same to you," Xander mumbled under his breath and walked off.
"So, Spike, are you ready?" Buffy asked as she walked out from the back room. "Sure, let's get on with it," he replied and walked out the door with a little jingle from the door's bell.
~*~*~*
"So, guys, do you think it's going to work?" Buffy asked the Scoobie Gang. With a slight cough Xander said, "I think this is going to be tougher than we thought."
Anya came from the backroom. "I think it's going to work, try fighting really sexy and maybe he might catch on, or think you're possessed by demons or something."
"Okay...Tara, will you watch Dawn until I get home?" "Sure Buffy." "Thanks, wish me luck."
"We will. Don't doubt it, we will." Anya said, and Spike stuck his head through the door. "Are you coming or not?" "Yeah, I forgot something." "Well hurry up." And he stuck his head back out side.
As soon as Buffy walked out the door she head Anya chanting. "I wish Buffy good luck, I wish Buffy good luck, I wish Buffy good luck..."
~*~*~*
He stood outside smoking, fidgeting with his lighter impatiently. What's taking her so bloody long, he asked himself as he stuck his head through the door of the shop.
"Are you coming or not," he asked as Buffy turned to face him. "Yeah, I forgot something."
He thought over that for a brief second and then said, "Well hurry up," and stuck his head back outside.
Odd, he thought, she didn't even have a stake in her hand.
She walked outside with the same suspicious bounce in her step; he didn't care really, because it made her chest bounce up and down a little.
"So, where would be the first place to hit," she asked him.
He was so lost in staring at her chest; he didn't even take heed to her question. "What's that," he asked shaking his head slightly to bring him back to focus. "Where should we hit first?" "Allies and dead ends I suppose." "Okay, lets go."
As Spike stamped out his cigarette on the sidewalk a little ways away from the shop and jogged a little to catch up with Buffy he asked, "Are you alright slayer?" She looked up at him with her brown eyes that sparkled in the moonlight. "Yes William," she said.
William, he thought questioningly, why the bloody hell would she call me that? She's always called me Spike, along with the rest of that damned daft gang of hers.
He grabbed her by her arms and pinned them to her sides and turned her so where she faced him.
"You better tell me what's going on Slayer. I know something's up, you're not acting like you usually do. You're..." She looked up at him with an indescribable look in her eyes. "I'm what," she seemed to ask playfully as he let go of her arms.
He backed up a little and she stepped closer. "You're..." "Yes," she asked in a tone that she only spoke in when talking of Angel. That's when it hit him. "You're..." and before he could finish, she grabbed him and kissed him passionately.
Panicking he pushed her off of him, but not at that exact moment, he got into the feel of it, then pushed off realizing that this wasn't normal. "What the hell's wrong with you slayer" he asked as he backed up even farther.
"Nothing William, it was just an impulse," she replied.
Mentally kicking himself for not pushing himself off sooner since there was no idea where this would lead, he said: " Yeah, an impulse for the...yeah." And ran back to his crypt thinking the whole time of that kiss.
~*~*~*
As Spike and Buffy walked along the sidewalk, Buffy thought of some ways to drop hints.
I could do what Anya said and fight sexy...but that would get me my ass kicked, I could go on talking about nonsense things that have to do with love...or I could just cut to the chase and kiss him, she thought.
Then, out of no where Spike asked: "Are you alright slayer?"
"Yes William," she said off the top of her head. He gave her a puzzled look and she turned around and kept walking and thinking.
Out of no where he grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides and turned her around so she faced him.
"You better tell me what's going on slayer. I know something's up, you're not acting the way you usually do. You're..." Spike said.
So she wouldn't have to listen to his rambling on anymore, she said "I'm what."
He backed up a little bit and she stepped closer. "You're," he repeated. She was trying to scare him off so she wouldn't have to go through with this. She didn't even have a plan for dropping the hints, just a plan for...well, the plan.
"Yes," she asked him in the tone that she used when she was around Angel, one of love and caring. Jeez, I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea...wait, I do want him to get the wrong idea...I think,Buffy thought.
"You're," he repeated again. Before he could finish, the last thought of what to do in her mind put itself to action and she kissed him passionately, just what she might do with Angel.
Spike tensed up, but didn't back off for a few seconds. He seemed to be enjoying this. Finally he did push off.
"What the hell's wrong with you slayer," he asked as he backed up even farther, trying to restrain his hand from wiping his mouth.
"Nothing William, it's just an impulse," she said. This was probably the only thing truthful she was going to say for the next week.
"Yeah, an impulse for the perverse," he said and turned and ran back to the shop.
Probably going to take the tunnels home, Buffy thought.
As soon as he was out of her sight she sat down on a nearby bench.
"That didn't go as smooth as I thought it would."
As Buffy sat there, she remembered that everyone was still at the shop.
"Damn it!"
~*~*~*
As Spike burst through the door to the Magic Box, Xander stood up and said, "What're you doing here?"
Spike was just about to go through the back door when Xander asked him that.
"Well, your beloved slayer went all lovey-dovey on me and decided to kiss me..." he paused when he saw the looks on Xander and Anya's faces. "You wouldn't have anything to do with this incident would you?" he asked.
"Uh, well... ya' see...n..." but before Xander could finish Willow said "Silence," and Xander stopped talking.
Then Anya was about to say something when Willow repeated the spell.
"What's going on witch? Ever since I came in here earlier everyone has been acting like they're completely daft, and Buffy would never have done what she just did to me in a million years." Spike said to Willow as she did a quick hand movement and Xander and Anya collapsed in a deep sleep.
"Remember when you..." but before she could finish Buffy burst through the door just as Spike did and shouted "WAIT!" Spike turned around to face her and Willow stopped talking.
"William, don't believe anything she says. She's jealous that I kissed you." There she goes again with William, Spike thought.
Not paying attention to what she had just told him, Spike said " Now listen here slayer, I'm not taking anymore of...WHAT?!"
He turned around to face Willow and saw her smile weakly. "Yeah, I guess so," she said with a recognizable hint of venom in her voice.
Spike eyed the two and ran to the back door and ran like hell through the tunnels until he reached his crypt.
~*~*~*
"Willow...what the hell do you think you're doing," Buffy asked her friend a little more harshly than she wanted.
"Look, I know Spike has done things to make you mad in the past...but I don't think you should get back at him. Did you ever just once think about what might happen after you 'break up' with him? What if he tries to hurt you or Dawn?"
Buffy thought about that for a moment. A voice in the back of her head told her don't worry...he has the chip in his head...he can't possibly hurt you or Dawn or anyone else.
"He has the chip in his head Will... he won't be able to hurt me or Dawn or anybody else," Buffy quoted the voice.
"Or so you think Buffy, but you never know. Don't get to cocky on the idea that he's just going to stand by and let you trick him, he's smarter than that," Willow told Buffy as she gathered her things and started to walk out the door.
"Where are you going," Buffy asked as she scowled at Willow. "Well, if you're going to spend the rest of the night here, I'm going to go and help Tara watch Dawn for you."
Oh god, I forgot about Dawn. I've spent all day trying to get back at Spike and I forgot about my own sister, Buffy thought as she ran her fingers through her hair.
Willow was just about all the way out of the door when Buffy called "Wait up Will, I'll heed your warning about Spike, I won't call off the trick thing, but I will listen to you."
As Buffy and Willow walked down the sidewalk to her house, Xander and Anya stirred.
"What just happened," Anya asked as she rubbed her head and stood up. "I don't know, but I think Willow had something to do with it," Xander answered as he stretched and stood up.
~*~*~*
Spike paced back and forth thinking about the earlier events with Buffy.
She ruins the bid, which was bound to happen anyway so scratch that. First she stops at the shop, which she usually has her soddin' stakes with her already, then the little poof tries to make nice with me, and then she calls me William and kisses me. Then after that, her little witch friend tries to tell me something and slayer bursts in saying that she's jealous of me. Bloody right odd for the witch since she's gone gay.
He went over to his 'fridge and pulled out a jar of blood. He took three big gulps and put it back in.
He paced some more and then sat down and turned on the TV, it was William Shatners' "Fright night" special.
Spike sat down and tapped his foot impatiently on the floor and flipped channels, thinking about what the Slayer and her gang were plotting against him.
~*~*~*
As Buffy and Willow walked through the door, Tara and Dawn were watching cartoons on the couch.
"Hi Tara...Dawn," Willow said as she sat down on the couch beside them. Buffy stood in the door way for a moment then went upstairs with a small "Hi Dawnie", under her breath.
"What's wrong with Buffy," Dawn asked as she stood up and got ready to ascend the stairs.
"She's...uh, th-thinking about a p-plan for slaying a demon thinghy,' Willow stammered.
"Right...I'm going to go see what's up..." "Dawn don't!" Tara shouted, causing Dawn to turn around. "Just trust us on this one, we're not sure she want's you to know just yet." "Know what?" "Uh...it has something to do with Valentines Day," Willow said reluctantly. "Ooh, like a party?" "Possibly..."
MEANWHILE UPSTAIRS...
Pacing back and forth, Buffy thought of how to fix the mess she had made. He already knew something was wrong and she just screwed it up even more when she kissed him.
Tomorrow I could apologize and say something like I had taken medication earlier or I was really sleepy, no...that would sound stupid. God what am I going to do? Buffy thought as she sat down on her bed. "This is going to be harder than I thought," Buffy said to herself as she heard someone shout "Dawn don't!" from downstairs.
She went to her door and opened it a crack to hear what they were saying.
Buffy saw Dawn halfway up the stairs; Dawn turned around at the sound of Tara's voice.
"Just trust us on this one, we're not sure she wants you to know just yet," Tara told Dawn. "Know what," she asked. Willow answered "Uh...it has something to do with Valentines Day." "Ooh, like a party?" "Possibly..." Willow started and trailed off into silence.
Thanks Will, Buffy thought as she shut the door and sat back down on her bed.
"I'm sure if I sleep on it I'll come up with something," Buffy said to herself as she changed clothes for bed.
~*~*~*
Spike turned off the TV and decided he was just going to get to the bottom of it, he pulled on his duster and went out into the night, ready to do whatever he needed to do to get Buffy and her gang to spill it...
~*~*~*
As Buffy slept she could faintly hear Tara and Willow and Dawn sneak up the stairs and go to their rooms.
Insomnia was taking its toll on Buffy and she couldn't think (or dream) of anything but how she was going to fix the mess she had gotten herself in. She only had two days left and she had already screwed it up.
OUTSIDE,
Spike stood underneath the tree outside Willow's window, staring upward at the darkness behind it.
"Just sleeping away is she, well...get ready for a rude awakening," Spike murmured to himself as he walked around to the back door.
He twisted the knob to find the door unlocked but as he tried to get in...he couldn't.
"Damn bloody rule, have to be invited in eh? Well then..." He picked up a few rocks and started throwing them at one of the windows until a light came on inside.
~*~*~*
Willow woke up to the sound of rocks hitting the window, trying not to disturb Tara, she got out of bed and flipped on the hall light.
Looking out the window she saw Spike standing by the back door getting ready to throw another rock.
Willow creeped down the stairs and into the kitchen where she found Spike trying to find more rocks.
"What are you doing here," she asked him. "You're not the Slayer!" "No, I'm not. What are you doing here? It's late." "Well vampires don't usually wander around during the day now do they."
Willow looked at him curiously and turned to go upstairs and wake Buffy.
"No, wait...just invite me in and I'll tell her myself," Spike blurted out as Willow reached the stairs. "Just do that for me and I'll go back to my crypt and act like I was never here."
Willow was about to keep walking when she turned around and said: "This isn't about what happened earlier...is it?" Spike's mood changed from sarcastic and deceiving, to pissed off and impatient.
"Do it now before I get really pissed and decide to oh, I don't know...burn this whole soddin' house down," he growled.
"You wouldn't, not while we were still in here," Willow gasped. "Hello, still evil over here! Or have you forgotten that I tried to kill you all once before?"
"That was then, this is now, and I can still kick your ass either way," a insomniac Buffy said.
"Buffy I'm sorry I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay Will, couldn't sleep anyway. So, what's death-breath doing here anyway?'
"He wants to speak to you about something, I wasn't sure if I should..."
"You did the right thing," she turned to Spike." What are you doing here?'
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then came out with a half-baked story with suspicious pauses every now and then.
"I'm here about a demon."
"There's lots of demons."
"Yeah, well...this one is big and walks on all four of its feet. Oh, and it has lots of prickly things all over its back like quills and looks sorta' like a rat. Huge jaws that could tear a grown man completely in half."
"Spike, you just described a very large porcupine."
Spike's face changed yet again from angry and deceitful, to "oh hell".
"You know what? Bugger you all. Next time there's dire information don't come with your soddin' whining to me! All I'm tryin' to do is tell you something and you won't even let me in! You're a bunch of poofters," he exclaimed and then stormed off into the night.
Willow looked at the blackness beyond the door for a while, waiting for something to happen. Nothing happened. She looked at Buffy.
"What are we going to do," she asked Buffy
Buffy looked at her with a hint of worry on her face. Obviously she had know idea.
"I don't know." *~*~*~*
"Bloody little poof won't let me do any of my damn business...always has to ask questions. 'Is this about earlier'? Bloody well right you are you stupid little bitch," Spike ranted as he threw a half empty bottle of Jack Daniel's across the upper part of his crypt.
'There's got to be another way to do this. The bloody Scoobie gang...you know what, that's a pathetic name, they need to be the Damned Daft gang is what they need to be! I'll get them... right and proper I will, never know what hit 'em."
He stormed around his crypt a little while longer then finally disappeared into the lower part of his crypt.
"Never know what hit 'em."
~*~*~* THE NEXT MORNING...
"Sleep at all last night Buffy," Willow asked haltingly as she poured milk over her cereal.
"Not really, but I did shut my eyes ever now and then so... I'm feeling better," Buffy replied from the entrance to the kitchen. She walked over and sat on one of the stools that surrounded one part of the island.
"That's good...very good, um...have you heard anything from Xander?"
Buffy's brow furrowed and she looked at Willow questionably. "I haven't heard anything since last night's incident...why?"
"Well...uh...he told me yesterday at the shop that he would call me to see if things went according to plan and...well, he hasn't called," Willow explained. "I know that he might have forgotten or something along those lines, but with all that's going on..."
"You're just worried."
"Yes!"
"Well, I'll go and check out Xander and Anya's place to see if they're okay. Don't worry...everything will be all right."
~*~*~
"Xander? Where are you? Gasp...bunnies didn't kidnap you did they? Oh god...what if they did? XANDER," Anya shouted. Yet again there was no reply.
Since Anya woke up that morning, she couldn't find Xander. She looked everywhere in their apartment, but couldn't find him. If he went to work, he would've woken her up because she had to manage the cash at the shop.
"Xander! This is not funny...you're really scaring me because now I have no one to have hot, passionate..."
Someone knocked on the door.
"Great, who the hell could that..." Anya opened the door. "...Buffy! Hi how are you?"
Buffy walked inside the apartment. "Just came to see how you and Xander were doing. Where is Xander?"
A look of panic came over Anya's face. "I can't find him! I've looked everywhere and I still can't find him. There's no note or traces of fur and carrots!"
"All right...calm down, when did you find out he turned up missing?"
"When I woke up, he was supposed to wake me up to count the money...the money hasn't been stolen has it?"
"No, it's still there. So he just...poof...went missing?"
"Yep, and I just can't overcome the fear that bunnies kidnapped him and are shoving carrots into his mouth to keep him quiet."
Buffy nearly laughed out loud but then remembered the situation. Then a thought hit her...
"Spike."
~*~*~*
Spike sat on the stone bench that was in his crypt so he could watch his prisoner closely. It was hard...but he had successfully broken into his apartment and kidnapped him quietly as he had came. He had been out for about four hours and showed signs of waking up. The wait would've killed any normal man, but Spike wasn't a normal man...now was he?
"Better wake up fast Harris, don't want to miss the big finale do ya," Spike asked the half unconscience Xander. "Be a big disappointment if you do, all the hard work I've had to go through to get you here. You're not exactly light as feather, could lay off the chips but...it won't matter when I'm done with you."
Xander stirred a little and then fully opened his eyes. "Where am I," he slurred as he tried to sit up on the tomb like thing he was laid on.
"It's not important right now. Let's just get you all ready for your big day...shall we?"
Spike pulled an opened box from behind him and revealed a lot of miscellaneous torture objects ranging from barbed wire, to some surgical instruments.
"Gonna take a while for the pain to become bearable...but I think I can manage," Spike said as he pulled on a pair of thick gloves and picked up the barbed wire.
"What are you going to do to me," Xander asked.
"Anything that fills my fancy," Spike replied as he hit Xander across the face with the barbed wire. Both of them yelled in pain, but only one continued on with a mad grin on his face and a glimpse of hell in his eyes.
~*~*~*
"Willow, I think I know where Xander is," Buffy said to Willow and Anya as they walked to Sunnydale Cemetery.
"Where," they asked in unison.
"Spike's got him."
Willow stood in front of Buffy and made her stop. "I told you this would happen. One of us was bound to be victim of Spike's wrath. I told you he wasn't going to let us do this to him."
"Now is not the time Will, if we want to save Xander we have to work fast," Buffy said as she walked around Willow.
"No, it is the time. You don't even care do you? You knew just as well as I did that something like this was going to happen, yet you did it anyway."
"Willow, how can you say that? I care about Xander as much as you do, yes I knew there were repercussions, but the worst Spike can do to Xander is scream him to deafness because of the chip."
Willow was about to say something when Anya interrupted.
"Hello, we can finish this moment later, I just want Xander back before 10:00 am, we were going to go see a movie."
"Fine," Willow said and the three continued on to the cemetery.
~*~*~*
Xander was bleeding badly from the barbed wire and even more badly from the Y-shaped cut Spike had made on Xander chest. It wasn't deep, but it was deep enough for him. Bruises were forming due to the blows Spike inflicted on him. Two small screws were hammered into Xander's wrists into the concrete tomb. Tears were running down his face from the immense pain and his ears were ringing from the roars of pain that came from Spike every time he hurt Xander. Right now, Spike was sitting on the floor holding his head, hissing through clenched teeth in pain. It wasn't as bad as it had been, but it was still bad.
Regretfully quick, Spike stood up and shook his head. "Bit of a nasty shock, but nothing old' Spike can't overcome." Spike then picked up two railroad spikes in his hands and twirled them like a guns to a gunslinger.
With a slight cough that drew a little blood, Xander asked: "What are you going to do with those?"
Spike grinned as he laid them by Xanders' side. He slowly pulled the skin around the cut back a half a centimeter, causing Xander to scream more intensely and for more tears o stream down his face. "You really want to know?" Xander didn't really want to know, but nodded his head anyway.
"See our boy still has spirit. Well, I'm gonna take these spikes like so," he picked them back up, one in each hand, "and I'm going to shove them slowly into your ribcage area. Got that?" Xander's eyes got wide for what seemed like the millionth time.
Spike took one of the spikes and slowly slid it in the bottom of the y-shaped cut with a slight growl of pain, then as he was about to put the other one in, Buffy kicked down the door to the crypt.
~*~*~*
"I want you two to stay out here until I give you the signal, then you come in and get Xander out of there while I hold Spike back," Buffy explained to Willow and Anya.
"Alright Buffy," Willow said as she waited for Buffy to kick the door down.
With her friends waiting behind her, Buffy kicked down the door, only to be stopped in her tracks by the sight of Xander beat and tortured.
~*~*~*
"Oh my god," Buffy gasped as she stumbled into the crypt.
"Hello Slayer, we've been waiting for you to come, him for obviously different reasons than me," Spike said as he pulled the spike out of Xander, who emitted a yelp, and licked some of the blood off of it.
"What the hell is wrong with you," Buffy shouted as she came more into the crypt followed by Willow and Anya who gagged.
"Gettin' a little revenge on you for torturing me ever since I said I loved you. You were always 'oh spike more', then you'd go all 'I can't do this anymore'. I helped you fight the fight, I helped protect baby sister, and I made you "feel" when you came back from the dead and wanted me to," Spike ranted.
"Yeah, but that's between you and me, Xander has nothing to do with this. He doesn't deserve this."
"Oh, really? He's one of your mates isn't he? I would've kidnapped the lot of you, but I thought about it. How about Harris? He's weak and the worst he can do to me is nothing, he doesn't have any magic powers or super strengths."
"You sick freak," Buffy said as she went over to Spike to kick his ass.
"I don't think so Slayer. Buddy boy here, his life hangs in the balance. I'd say he has about...I don't know, less than an hour to live before he bleeds to death."
Buffy stopped. "He's got longer than that," she hissed.
Spike rammed the bloody spike into the bottom of Xander's heart, making them both yell in pain."NO," Buffy, Willow and Anya shouted.
"Seems we've reached an impasse. Deal's this: I'll let you take him outta here and to a hospital if you don't harm me badly just yet. If you don't accept, think about this: I have another spike and can end it all by just putting it right through the center of his heart," Spike smirked as he held the other spike above Xanders' already slowly beating heart.
Buffy looked from the spike to Xander. "Deal."
"Right then, take him."
Buffy pulled the screws out of Xander's hands and carefully picked him up. Willow and Anya backed out of Buffy's way as she carried Xander out into the daylight. The three disappeared out into the day and Spike disappeared into the dark of the bottom of his crypt.
"Show her I will, go get this chip out of my skull and come back and hurt her. She'll pay she will."
~*~*~*
The doctors told the rest of the Scoobie Gang that Xander's condition had stabilized after the surgery and that he wouldn't be able to go home until next month due to the severeness of his injuries.
Buffy left the hospital and went straight to Spike's crypt to beat him until he was a bloody pulp. When she got there though, he was gone. No trace of him anywhere. He had disappeared.
She wanted to set fire to the crypt but couldn't handle it if she got arrested for arson, so she went home to rest after the days' events.
~*~*~* EPILOGUE
Spike, instead of getting the chip out of his head, got his soul back. He returned to Sunnydale and lived in the highschool's basement.
The First planned on resurrecting an army of ubervamps to take over and spread evil into the world.
Buffy trained Slayerettes and in the end, found that despite her loathing for Spike, he was their only way to defeat the firsts' army.
In the end, Spike died to save the world and upon Buffy's leaving behind of Sunnydale(what was left of it) she realized, despite her burning hate for him, she had loved him all the time.
End
"We have to do something," Buffy said as she walked around the table where Xander, Willow, Tara, and Anya sat. "I know we do Buffy, but don't you think you're going a little over the edge with this?" Willow asked as Buffy walked behind her chair. "Willow, he made a, as Xander puts it, sex-bot out of me, and to me...that's not right."
"I'm gonna' have to agree with Will on this Buff. I think you're going a little off the deep end with this. Yeah, sure he's a monster...but he's also a guy as well," Xander said as Buffy sat down by him, " Even though it would be nice to see the look on his face when you end this." "Well, are you guys with me or not, second of all, he's not a guy. If he doesn't get that I don't love him through his head now, he never will, and frankly, I'm fed up with it right now."
"I'll do it!" piped up Anya with a grin on her face. "I was a vengeance demon you know, this is in my line of expertise." "Good, so what would be a way good way to get him back," Buffy asked. "Valentines Day is tomorrow." Xander said apprehensively. "Xander!" Willow snapped. "Well, hey. It's not like it's going to kill him anymore than he already is." "Ooh, good one Xander, doesn't give us much time...but good one!" Buffy exclaimed as she hugged him. "I'll let her do that, I know that Buffy won't steal Xander away from me." Anya said as Buffy hugged Xander. "Okay...let go of him now,' Anya said as she pulled Buffy off of Xander.
"So, Valentines Day is the big plot thing, now we need something to do until then." Buffy thought out loud as she looked around the table. "I'm open to suggestions." "I know! We could make rumors that you secretly like him and you could drop some hints, ooh...and then, you could plan a date with him on Valentines Day and do a bunch of stuff together, then, the next day you could dump him..."Anya said. "And I could take a picture of the look on his face!" Xander shouted. "Good, well then, we should get started on the hint dropping tonight." Buffy told them as Willow and Tara exchanged worried glances. MEANWHILE...
~*~*~* "Alright boys and girls, here I have a bag of kittens, about ten of them. Whoever bids the highest get the whole lot of them," the vampire said to the small crowd of vampires standing below the podium where he stood. "Let the bidding begin."
"3 pints of human blood..." "A gallon..." "My girlfriends...OW..." "A rare charm that will keep you from bursting into flames in the sun..." then up from the crowd came "500 dollars! " It was Spike. "500 dollars going once...going twice...sol..." and before he could finish another voice came from the crowd. "How about a stake through the heart," and the vampire burst into a cloud of smoke.
Buffy stood holding the stake in the same place the bidders' heart had been. "It's the slayer!" Shouted some guy and everyone scattered.
"Now why'd you have to go and ruin the bloody bid, eh? I was so soddin' close I could taste 'em." Spike said as he turned to face Buffy. "You were bidding over a sack of kittens?" "I have to bloody eat to you know, it's not just you humans, we vampires also get hungry." "Yeah, except you drink blood instead of chow on fast food, anyway, you want to go on patrol?" "Well I got nothin' else to do, so yeah I guess."
Buffy and Spike walked down the sidewalk together. "Do you really have 500 dollars?" "No, I was gonna' blow that joint as soon as I got the sack." They walked to the magic shop. "Why are we here?" Spike asked before following her any further. "I need to get something real fast, you can come if you like." Something's up... tread carefully. A voice in the back of Spike's head told him.
He reluctantly followed Buffy into the Magic Box. She walked with a little bit a bounce in her step and went into the back training room. Xander walked up to Spike.
"How ya' doin' there Spike?" He asked. "Why would you want to know," Spike asked him as he reached a hand in the pocket that held his cigarettes.
It was extremely odd. They never cared how he was doing before.
He pulled out his carton of cigarettes and lit one of them, then carefully deposited the pack back into his pocket. "Now, sod off." Spike said and blew a small cloud of smoke in Xanders' face.
"Yeah, same to you," Xander mumbled under his breath and walked off.
"So, Spike, are you ready?" Buffy asked as she walked out from the back room. "Sure, let's get on with it," he replied and walked out the door with a little jingle from the door's bell.
~*~*~*
"So, guys, do you think it's going to work?" Buffy asked the Scoobie Gang. With a slight cough Xander said, "I think this is going to be tougher than we thought."
Anya came from the backroom. "I think it's going to work, try fighting really sexy and maybe he might catch on, or think you're possessed by demons or something."
"Okay...Tara, will you watch Dawn until I get home?" "Sure Buffy." "Thanks, wish me luck."
"We will. Don't doubt it, we will." Anya said, and Spike stuck his head through the door. "Are you coming or not?" "Yeah, I forgot something." "Well hurry up." And he stuck his head back out side.
As soon as Buffy walked out the door she head Anya chanting. "I wish Buffy good luck, I wish Buffy good luck, I wish Buffy good luck..."
~*~*~*
He stood outside smoking, fidgeting with his lighter impatiently. What's taking her so bloody long, he asked himself as he stuck his head through the door of the shop.
"Are you coming or not," he asked as Buffy turned to face him. "Yeah, I forgot something."
He thought over that for a brief second and then said, "Well hurry up," and stuck his head back outside.
Odd, he thought, she didn't even have a stake in her hand.
She walked outside with the same suspicious bounce in her step; he didn't care really, because it made her chest bounce up and down a little.
"So, where would be the first place to hit," she asked him.
He was so lost in staring at her chest; he didn't even take heed to her question. "What's that," he asked shaking his head slightly to bring him back to focus. "Where should we hit first?" "Allies and dead ends I suppose." "Okay, lets go."
As Spike stamped out his cigarette on the sidewalk a little ways away from the shop and jogged a little to catch up with Buffy he asked, "Are you alright slayer?" She looked up at him with her brown eyes that sparkled in the moonlight. "Yes William," she said.
William, he thought questioningly, why the bloody hell would she call me that? She's always called me Spike, along with the rest of that damned daft gang of hers.
He grabbed her by her arms and pinned them to her sides and turned her so where she faced him.
"You better tell me what's going on Slayer. I know something's up, you're not acting like you usually do. You're..." She looked up at him with an indescribable look in her eyes. "I'm what," she seemed to ask playfully as he let go of her arms.
He backed up a little and she stepped closer. "You're..." "Yes," she asked in a tone that she only spoke in when talking of Angel. That's when it hit him. "You're..." and before he could finish, she grabbed him and kissed him passionately.
Panicking he pushed her off of him, but not at that exact moment, he got into the feel of it, then pushed off realizing that this wasn't normal. "What the hell's wrong with you slayer" he asked as he backed up even farther.
"Nothing William, it was just an impulse," she replied.
Mentally kicking himself for not pushing himself off sooner since there was no idea where this would lead, he said: " Yeah, an impulse for the...yeah." And ran back to his crypt thinking the whole time of that kiss.
~*~*~*
As Spike and Buffy walked along the sidewalk, Buffy thought of some ways to drop hints.
I could do what Anya said and fight sexy...but that would get me my ass kicked, I could go on talking about nonsense things that have to do with love...or I could just cut to the chase and kiss him, she thought.
Then, out of no where Spike asked: "Are you alright slayer?"
"Yes William," she said off the top of her head. He gave her a puzzled look and she turned around and kept walking and thinking.
Out of no where he grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides and turned her around so she faced him.
"You better tell me what's going on slayer. I know something's up, you're not acting the way you usually do. You're..." Spike said.
So she wouldn't have to listen to his rambling on anymore, she said "I'm what."
He backed up a little bit and she stepped closer. "You're," he repeated. She was trying to scare him off so she wouldn't have to go through with this. She didn't even have a plan for dropping the hints, just a plan for...well, the plan.
"Yes," she asked him in the tone that she used when she was around Angel, one of love and caring. Jeez, I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea...wait, I do want him to get the wrong idea...I think,Buffy thought.
"You're," he repeated again. Before he could finish, the last thought of what to do in her mind put itself to action and she kissed him passionately, just what she might do with Angel.
Spike tensed up, but didn't back off for a few seconds. He seemed to be enjoying this. Finally he did push off.
"What the hell's wrong with you slayer," he asked as he backed up even farther, trying to restrain his hand from wiping his mouth.
"Nothing William, it's just an impulse," she said. This was probably the only thing truthful she was going to say for the next week.
"Yeah, an impulse for the perverse," he said and turned and ran back to the shop.
Probably going to take the tunnels home, Buffy thought.
As soon as he was out of her sight she sat down on a nearby bench.
"That didn't go as smooth as I thought it would."
As Buffy sat there, she remembered that everyone was still at the shop.
"Damn it!"
~*~*~*
As Spike burst through the door to the Magic Box, Xander stood up and said, "What're you doing here?"
Spike was just about to go through the back door when Xander asked him that.
"Well, your beloved slayer went all lovey-dovey on me and decided to kiss me..." he paused when he saw the looks on Xander and Anya's faces. "You wouldn't have anything to do with this incident would you?" he asked.
"Uh, well... ya' see...n..." but before Xander could finish Willow said "Silence," and Xander stopped talking.
Then Anya was about to say something when Willow repeated the spell.
"What's going on witch? Ever since I came in here earlier everyone has been acting like they're completely daft, and Buffy would never have done what she just did to me in a million years." Spike said to Willow as she did a quick hand movement and Xander and Anya collapsed in a deep sleep.
"Remember when you..." but before she could finish Buffy burst through the door just as Spike did and shouted "WAIT!" Spike turned around to face her and Willow stopped talking.
"William, don't believe anything she says. She's jealous that I kissed you." There she goes again with William, Spike thought.
Not paying attention to what she had just told him, Spike said " Now listen here slayer, I'm not taking anymore of...WHAT?!"
He turned around to face Willow and saw her smile weakly. "Yeah, I guess so," she said with a recognizable hint of venom in her voice.
Spike eyed the two and ran to the back door and ran like hell through the tunnels until he reached his crypt.
~*~*~*
"Willow...what the hell do you think you're doing," Buffy asked her friend a little more harshly than she wanted.
"Look, I know Spike has done things to make you mad in the past...but I don't think you should get back at him. Did you ever just once think about what might happen after you 'break up' with him? What if he tries to hurt you or Dawn?"
Buffy thought about that for a moment. A voice in the back of her head told her don't worry...he has the chip in his head...he can't possibly hurt you or Dawn or anyone else.
"He has the chip in his head Will... he won't be able to hurt me or Dawn or anybody else," Buffy quoted the voice.
"Or so you think Buffy, but you never know. Don't get to cocky on the idea that he's just going to stand by and let you trick him, he's smarter than that," Willow told Buffy as she gathered her things and started to walk out the door.
"Where are you going," Buffy asked as she scowled at Willow. "Well, if you're going to spend the rest of the night here, I'm going to go and help Tara watch Dawn for you."
Oh god, I forgot about Dawn. I've spent all day trying to get back at Spike and I forgot about my own sister, Buffy thought as she ran her fingers through her hair.
Willow was just about all the way out of the door when Buffy called "Wait up Will, I'll heed your warning about Spike, I won't call off the trick thing, but I will listen to you."
As Buffy and Willow walked down the sidewalk to her house, Xander and Anya stirred.
"What just happened," Anya asked as she rubbed her head and stood up. "I don't know, but I think Willow had something to do with it," Xander answered as he stretched and stood up.
~*~*~*
Spike paced back and forth thinking about the earlier events with Buffy.
She ruins the bid, which was bound to happen anyway so scratch that. First she stops at the shop, which she usually has her soddin' stakes with her already, then the little poof tries to make nice with me, and then she calls me William and kisses me. Then after that, her little witch friend tries to tell me something and slayer bursts in saying that she's jealous of me. Bloody right odd for the witch since she's gone gay.
He went over to his 'fridge and pulled out a jar of blood. He took three big gulps and put it back in.
He paced some more and then sat down and turned on the TV, it was William Shatners' "Fright night" special.
Spike sat down and tapped his foot impatiently on the floor and flipped channels, thinking about what the Slayer and her gang were plotting against him.
~*~*~*
As Buffy and Willow walked through the door, Tara and Dawn were watching cartoons on the couch.
"Hi Tara...Dawn," Willow said as she sat down on the couch beside them. Buffy stood in the door way for a moment then went upstairs with a small "Hi Dawnie", under her breath.
"What's wrong with Buffy," Dawn asked as she stood up and got ready to ascend the stairs.
"She's...uh, th-thinking about a p-plan for slaying a demon thinghy,' Willow stammered.
"Right...I'm going to go see what's up..." "Dawn don't!" Tara shouted, causing Dawn to turn around. "Just trust us on this one, we're not sure she want's you to know just yet." "Know what?" "Uh...it has something to do with Valentines Day," Willow said reluctantly. "Ooh, like a party?" "Possibly..."
MEANWHILE UPSTAIRS...
Pacing back and forth, Buffy thought of how to fix the mess she had made. He already knew something was wrong and she just screwed it up even more when she kissed him.
Tomorrow I could apologize and say something like I had taken medication earlier or I was really sleepy, no...that would sound stupid. God what am I going to do? Buffy thought as she sat down on her bed. "This is going to be harder than I thought," Buffy said to herself as she heard someone shout "Dawn don't!" from downstairs.
She went to her door and opened it a crack to hear what they were saying.
Buffy saw Dawn halfway up the stairs; Dawn turned around at the sound of Tara's voice.
"Just trust us on this one, we're not sure she wants you to know just yet," Tara told Dawn. "Know what," she asked. Willow answered "Uh...it has something to do with Valentines Day." "Ooh, like a party?" "Possibly..." Willow started and trailed off into silence.
Thanks Will, Buffy thought as she shut the door and sat back down on her bed.
"I'm sure if I sleep on it I'll come up with something," Buffy said to herself as she changed clothes for bed.
~*~*~*
Spike turned off the TV and decided he was just going to get to the bottom of it, he pulled on his duster and went out into the night, ready to do whatever he needed to do to get Buffy and her gang to spill it...
~*~*~*
As Buffy slept she could faintly hear Tara and Willow and Dawn sneak up the stairs and go to their rooms.
Insomnia was taking its toll on Buffy and she couldn't think (or dream) of anything but how she was going to fix the mess she had gotten herself in. She only had two days left and she had already screwed it up.
OUTSIDE,
Spike stood underneath the tree outside Willow's window, staring upward at the darkness behind it.
"Just sleeping away is she, well...get ready for a rude awakening," Spike murmured to himself as he walked around to the back door.
He twisted the knob to find the door unlocked but as he tried to get in...he couldn't.
"Damn bloody rule, have to be invited in eh? Well then..." He picked up a few rocks and started throwing them at one of the windows until a light came on inside.
~*~*~*
Willow woke up to the sound of rocks hitting the window, trying not to disturb Tara, she got out of bed and flipped on the hall light.
Looking out the window she saw Spike standing by the back door getting ready to throw another rock.
Willow creeped down the stairs and into the kitchen where she found Spike trying to find more rocks.
"What are you doing here," she asked him. "You're not the Slayer!" "No, I'm not. What are you doing here? It's late." "Well vampires don't usually wander around during the day now do they."
Willow looked at him curiously and turned to go upstairs and wake Buffy.
"No, wait...just invite me in and I'll tell her myself," Spike blurted out as Willow reached the stairs. "Just do that for me and I'll go back to my crypt and act like I was never here."
Willow was about to keep walking when she turned around and said: "This isn't about what happened earlier...is it?" Spike's mood changed from sarcastic and deceiving, to pissed off and impatient.
"Do it now before I get really pissed and decide to oh, I don't know...burn this whole soddin' house down," he growled.
"You wouldn't, not while we were still in here," Willow gasped. "Hello, still evil over here! Or have you forgotten that I tried to kill you all once before?"
"That was then, this is now, and I can still kick your ass either way," a insomniac Buffy said.
"Buffy I'm sorry I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay Will, couldn't sleep anyway. So, what's death-breath doing here anyway?'
"He wants to speak to you about something, I wasn't sure if I should..."
"You did the right thing," she turned to Spike." What are you doing here?'
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then came out with a half-baked story with suspicious pauses every now and then.
"I'm here about a demon."
"There's lots of demons."
"Yeah, well...this one is big and walks on all four of its feet. Oh, and it has lots of prickly things all over its back like quills and looks sorta' like a rat. Huge jaws that could tear a grown man completely in half."
"Spike, you just described a very large porcupine."
Spike's face changed yet again from angry and deceitful, to "oh hell".
"You know what? Bugger you all. Next time there's dire information don't come with your soddin' whining to me! All I'm tryin' to do is tell you something and you won't even let me in! You're a bunch of poofters," he exclaimed and then stormed off into the night.
Willow looked at the blackness beyond the door for a while, waiting for something to happen. Nothing happened. She looked at Buffy.
"What are we going to do," she asked Buffy
Buffy looked at her with a hint of worry on her face. Obviously she had know idea.
"I don't know." *~*~*~*
"Bloody little poof won't let me do any of my damn business...always has to ask questions. 'Is this about earlier'? Bloody well right you are you stupid little bitch," Spike ranted as he threw a half empty bottle of Jack Daniel's across the upper part of his crypt.
'There's got to be another way to do this. The bloody Scoobie gang...you know what, that's a pathetic name, they need to be the Damned Daft gang is what they need to be! I'll get them... right and proper I will, never know what hit 'em."
He stormed around his crypt a little while longer then finally disappeared into the lower part of his crypt.
"Never know what hit 'em."
~*~*~* THE NEXT MORNING...
"Sleep at all last night Buffy," Willow asked haltingly as she poured milk over her cereal.
"Not really, but I did shut my eyes ever now and then so... I'm feeling better," Buffy replied from the entrance to the kitchen. She walked over and sat on one of the stools that surrounded one part of the island.
"That's good...very good, um...have you heard anything from Xander?"
Buffy's brow furrowed and she looked at Willow questionably. "I haven't heard anything since last night's incident...why?"
"Well...uh...he told me yesterday at the shop that he would call me to see if things went according to plan and...well, he hasn't called," Willow explained. "I know that he might have forgotten or something along those lines, but with all that's going on..."
"You're just worried."
"Yes!"
"Well, I'll go and check out Xander and Anya's place to see if they're okay. Don't worry...everything will be all right."
~*~*~
"Xander? Where are you? Gasp...bunnies didn't kidnap you did they? Oh god...what if they did? XANDER," Anya shouted. Yet again there was no reply.
Since Anya woke up that morning, she couldn't find Xander. She looked everywhere in their apartment, but couldn't find him. If he went to work, he would've woken her up because she had to manage the cash at the shop.
"Xander! This is not funny...you're really scaring me because now I have no one to have hot, passionate..."
Someone knocked on the door.
"Great, who the hell could that..." Anya opened the door. "...Buffy! Hi how are you?"
Buffy walked inside the apartment. "Just came to see how you and Xander were doing. Where is Xander?"
A look of panic came over Anya's face. "I can't find him! I've looked everywhere and I still can't find him. There's no note or traces of fur and carrots!"
"All right...calm down, when did you find out he turned up missing?"
"When I woke up, he was supposed to wake me up to count the money...the money hasn't been stolen has it?"
"No, it's still there. So he just...poof...went missing?"
"Yep, and I just can't overcome the fear that bunnies kidnapped him and are shoving carrots into his mouth to keep him quiet."
Buffy nearly laughed out loud but then remembered the situation. Then a thought hit her...
"Spike."
~*~*~*
Spike sat on the stone bench that was in his crypt so he could watch his prisoner closely. It was hard...but he had successfully broken into his apartment and kidnapped him quietly as he had came. He had been out for about four hours and showed signs of waking up. The wait would've killed any normal man, but Spike wasn't a normal man...now was he?
"Better wake up fast Harris, don't want to miss the big finale do ya," Spike asked the half unconscience Xander. "Be a big disappointment if you do, all the hard work I've had to go through to get you here. You're not exactly light as feather, could lay off the chips but...it won't matter when I'm done with you."
Xander stirred a little and then fully opened his eyes. "Where am I," he slurred as he tried to sit up on the tomb like thing he was laid on.
"It's not important right now. Let's just get you all ready for your big day...shall we?"
Spike pulled an opened box from behind him and revealed a lot of miscellaneous torture objects ranging from barbed wire, to some surgical instruments.
"Gonna take a while for the pain to become bearable...but I think I can manage," Spike said as he pulled on a pair of thick gloves and picked up the barbed wire.
"What are you going to do to me," Xander asked.
"Anything that fills my fancy," Spike replied as he hit Xander across the face with the barbed wire. Both of them yelled in pain, but only one continued on with a mad grin on his face and a glimpse of hell in his eyes.
~*~*~*
"Willow, I think I know where Xander is," Buffy said to Willow and Anya as they walked to Sunnydale Cemetery.
"Where," they asked in unison.
"Spike's got him."
Willow stood in front of Buffy and made her stop. "I told you this would happen. One of us was bound to be victim of Spike's wrath. I told you he wasn't going to let us do this to him."
"Now is not the time Will, if we want to save Xander we have to work fast," Buffy said as she walked around Willow.
"No, it is the time. You don't even care do you? You knew just as well as I did that something like this was going to happen, yet you did it anyway."
"Willow, how can you say that? I care about Xander as much as you do, yes I knew there were repercussions, but the worst Spike can do to Xander is scream him to deafness because of the chip."
Willow was about to say something when Anya interrupted.
"Hello, we can finish this moment later, I just want Xander back before 10:00 am, we were going to go see a movie."
"Fine," Willow said and the three continued on to the cemetery.
~*~*~*
Xander was bleeding badly from the barbed wire and even more badly from the Y-shaped cut Spike had made on Xander chest. It wasn't deep, but it was deep enough for him. Bruises were forming due to the blows Spike inflicted on him. Two small screws were hammered into Xander's wrists into the concrete tomb. Tears were running down his face from the immense pain and his ears were ringing from the roars of pain that came from Spike every time he hurt Xander. Right now, Spike was sitting on the floor holding his head, hissing through clenched teeth in pain. It wasn't as bad as it had been, but it was still bad.
Regretfully quick, Spike stood up and shook his head. "Bit of a nasty shock, but nothing old' Spike can't overcome." Spike then picked up two railroad spikes in his hands and twirled them like a guns to a gunslinger.
With a slight cough that drew a little blood, Xander asked: "What are you going to do with those?"
Spike grinned as he laid them by Xanders' side. He slowly pulled the skin around the cut back a half a centimeter, causing Xander to scream more intensely and for more tears o stream down his face. "You really want to know?" Xander didn't really want to know, but nodded his head anyway.
"See our boy still has spirit. Well, I'm gonna take these spikes like so," he picked them back up, one in each hand, "and I'm going to shove them slowly into your ribcage area. Got that?" Xander's eyes got wide for what seemed like the millionth time.
Spike took one of the spikes and slowly slid it in the bottom of the y-shaped cut with a slight growl of pain, then as he was about to put the other one in, Buffy kicked down the door to the crypt.
~*~*~*
"I want you two to stay out here until I give you the signal, then you come in and get Xander out of there while I hold Spike back," Buffy explained to Willow and Anya.
"Alright Buffy," Willow said as she waited for Buffy to kick the door down.
With her friends waiting behind her, Buffy kicked down the door, only to be stopped in her tracks by the sight of Xander beat and tortured.
~*~*~*
"Oh my god," Buffy gasped as she stumbled into the crypt.
"Hello Slayer, we've been waiting for you to come, him for obviously different reasons than me," Spike said as he pulled the spike out of Xander, who emitted a yelp, and licked some of the blood off of it.
"What the hell is wrong with you," Buffy shouted as she came more into the crypt followed by Willow and Anya who gagged.
"Gettin' a little revenge on you for torturing me ever since I said I loved you. You were always 'oh spike more', then you'd go all 'I can't do this anymore'. I helped you fight the fight, I helped protect baby sister, and I made you "feel" when you came back from the dead and wanted me to," Spike ranted.
"Yeah, but that's between you and me, Xander has nothing to do with this. He doesn't deserve this."
"Oh, really? He's one of your mates isn't he? I would've kidnapped the lot of you, but I thought about it. How about Harris? He's weak and the worst he can do to me is nothing, he doesn't have any magic powers or super strengths."
"You sick freak," Buffy said as she went over to Spike to kick his ass.
"I don't think so Slayer. Buddy boy here, his life hangs in the balance. I'd say he has about...I don't know, less than an hour to live before he bleeds to death."
Buffy stopped. "He's got longer than that," she hissed.
Spike rammed the bloody spike into the bottom of Xander's heart, making them both yell in pain."NO," Buffy, Willow and Anya shouted.
"Seems we've reached an impasse. Deal's this: I'll let you take him outta here and to a hospital if you don't harm me badly just yet. If you don't accept, think about this: I have another spike and can end it all by just putting it right through the center of his heart," Spike smirked as he held the other spike above Xanders' already slowly beating heart.
Buffy looked from the spike to Xander. "Deal."
"Right then, take him."
Buffy pulled the screws out of Xander's hands and carefully picked him up. Willow and Anya backed out of Buffy's way as she carried Xander out into the daylight. The three disappeared out into the day and Spike disappeared into the dark of the bottom of his crypt.
"Show her I will, go get this chip out of my skull and come back and hurt her. She'll pay she will."
~*~*~*
The doctors told the rest of the Scoobie Gang that Xander's condition had stabilized after the surgery and that he wouldn't be able to go home until next month due to the severeness of his injuries.
Buffy left the hospital and went straight to Spike's crypt to beat him until he was a bloody pulp. When she got there though, he was gone. No trace of him anywhere. He had disappeared.
She wanted to set fire to the crypt but couldn't handle it if she got arrested for arson, so she went home to rest after the days' events.
~*~*~* EPILOGUE
Spike, instead of getting the chip out of his head, got his soul back. He returned to Sunnydale and lived in the highschool's basement.
The First planned on resurrecting an army of ubervamps to take over and spread evil into the world.
Buffy trained Slayerettes and in the end, found that despite her loathing for Spike, he was their only way to defeat the firsts' army.
In the end, Spike died to save the world and upon Buffy's leaving behind of Sunnydale(what was left of it) she realized, despite her burning hate for him, she had loved him all the time.
End