Willow noticed Spike had left them before Oz did. "Not good. We're not supposed to take our eyes off him. We need to find him in a now type of sooner."
"How much can he harm us?" Oz asked as if the answer were inconsequential.
"I don't want to find out because this is Spike, and he'll come up with something truly horrific. Something that will break us both. He's that kind of baddie." Willow wiped her tears away and searched for Spike in the mansion. The minions were nowhere to be found, and she hoped Spike hadn't left with them. "How long did we ignore him?"
"I don't know. Ten minutes."
She started to shake. "I'm going to try something. Teleporting. If we can teleport to him, maybe he won't be as mad. I hope."
Oz nodded, and they both closed their eyes and focused. Willow remembered Spike's eyes, while Oz pictured him as a whole.
"Glad you could join the party," Spike drolled.
The couple opened their eyes and saw that they were outside the Bronze. "We're sorry, Master. It won't happen again. We're just not used to focusing so completely on someone. Oz and I promise it will never happen again." Willow's trembles felt like earthquakes in her chest.
"There'll be no hard feelings in the morning, but you have to do something to make that happen. You need to go inside and pick up two people. Willow, you'll find a woman, and seduce her into coming outside. Oz, you'll seduce a man. You have an hour or I'll be cross enough to kill one or two of your little gang. If you succeed then your friends are safe. How much are you willing to sacrifice tonight?" Spike pressed Willow against the wall when her eyes flickered away. "Eyes always on me, pet. And don't forget you are my pet. My slave. My toy. You exist for my enjoyment and nothing else."
Willow cringed but kept her eyes locked on his. "Yes, Master. Will you be inside?"
"No, so you don't have to split your attention. I'll be waiting in the alley." Spike grinned when she shrank away. "Eyes to the club, you two. And get me my couple."
"Yes, Master," Willow whispered, while Oz said it flat. They retreated inside the club where Oz stopped Willow and said, "We can't do this."
"We can't let him kill our friends," Willow replied.
"They'd at least know what's happening to them."
"But they can save more people. Can you say the same thing for anyone in here tonight?" Willow glanced around the club with her guilt evident in every worried crease of her forehead.
"How will they feel when they find out we let Spike kill two people to save them?" Oz touched her arm.
"Who would Spike kill? Giles? Our best chance at stopping Spike? Xander who still remembers some of his military training? Joyce? Dawn? It would destroy Buffy to lose them. She'd fight recklessly and get herself killed, meaning the only person guarding the hellmouth would be Spike. You know that's not an option. He may stop others from opening it, but he'd let Sunnydale be a demon playground. So who do we save? Do we save the people equipped to stop that or do we save two innocent people and let the town burn?" Her eyes were filled with tears of frustration and anger. "I told you what we were getting ourselves into and you still agreed to this. It's too late to turn back."
"I thought I could, but… I can't." Oz felt closer to tears than he had since he was little.
"I'll have to seduce them both then. Pray he accepts it." Willow murmured to herself, "I'm so glad I got this fake ID. I don't think I can do this sober."
Oz sat in the corner and watched Willow go to the bar and order a drink. As she waited for it, she scanned the crowd. He couldn't look away as she downed two shots of something brown and took a short glass of the same stuff with her as she approached a couple on the dance floor. The way she placed herself between the man and woman was brazen, but he could see her awkward hesitations.
The man was tall, over six foot, and probably of Latin or Hispanic descent. The girl was dark with short purple hair. Willow put her arms on the woman's shoulders, and drink still in hand, drew her in close. The woman laughed at something Willow said, and the man gathered close behind Willow, just shy of grinding into her.
A familiar ache clutched Oz's heart as Willow kissed the woman. He'd just kissed Spike with fervor, but that didn't change how he felt.
Willow got the couple outside in less than half the time Spike gave them. Oz knew he was going to get beaten, but Spike's cold eyes landed on Willow.
"I don't know whether to reward or punish you, Red." Spike leaned his head back and studied the couple. They were attractive, exotic for Hellmouth.
The couple didn't know what was going on and murmured to each other in confusion. When they tried to leave, Oz cut them off against his will, turning into a nreal wolf, his fur red with black streaks. Spike controlling everything.
"I'll do both. I'll reward you with a choice, pet." Spike sucked his cheeks in as he smiled malevolently. "You can give them to me to turn, or you can take a beating and they can go free."
"I'll take the beating." Her answer was immediate. Not even a breath of hesitation.
"My wolf, let them go."
Oz went to sit beside Spike, and the couple ran away. Spike watched them run while he absently pet Oz's head.
Spike snapped his fingers and Willow turned into her wolf form against her will. "You two are going to fight it out. Last one standing, gets a reward."
Both wolves whimpered as they circled each other. Neither made a move until Spike threatened to find that couple, and then Willow lunged at Oz, her teeth clamping onto his neck. Wolf instincts took over and the two of them growled and snapped at one another, taking chunks out of each other until Oz couldn't get up. Their fur was soaked with blood. Willow began to lick at Oz's wounds until Spike snapped his fingers again. Oz lay on his side on the disgusting alley floor, while Willow was on her hands and knees. They were a mess, both still covered in blood.
"Willow." Spike's tone was stern and she looked up at him.
"Yes, Master."
"You'll be my second in command."
"Yes, Master." Willow kept her eyes on Spike while she pulled Oz up to a seated position.
"When both of you can walk again, meet me inside."
Willow and Oz watched Spike enter the Bronze through the back door. Oz slumped into Willow as his wounds knit back together. "That could have gone worse."
She nodded. "Yeah. How are you feeling?"
"Better. The leg you shattered, I can feel it knitting back together."
"My ear is almost back on too." Willow sighed. "I'm sorry I did that to you."
"Me too."
They nuzzled their faces together.
