Chapter 9

"I can't believe him!" Willow exclaimed. She downed the shot of whiskey she had poured for herself. "What in the hell is he thinking? I don't see how keeping Vi or Harley or whatever the fuck he's calling her is going to help us at all. She's just going to cause problems."

Spike sighed. She had been ranting about the Joker for an hour now. "Why do you even care what he does?" he asked. "We've got bigger things to worry about. Word out on the street is that Faith and Giles are trying to recruit the Batman to their side."

"So?" Willow said stubbornly.

"So?" Spike repeated. "That means we're not just dealing a bunch of pissed off Slayers. We're dealing with a freak and the entire Gotham police department."

"What's the matter Spike? You scared of those odds?"

"No, I'm just trying to remind you why you need to get your head back in the game. Your little jealous rage is going to cause problems and get us all killed."

Willow's jaw dropped open. "What exactly am I jealous of, oh wise one?"

"You're jealous of Harley! She's getting the attention you always wanted. You wanted Xander to love you but he loved Buffy. Now you want Joker to love you but he's fixated on Harley." Spike took the bottle of whiskey away from her so she couldn't drink anymore. "The thing you're not realizing though is that he has turned into a complete sociopath. He doesn't love anybody and you better realize that really quickly or you'll turn out to be as pathetic as Harley."

Willow folded her arms over her chest. She knew what he was saying was true, but she didn't want to believe them. "What do you know about love? You don't even have a soul."

Spike's eyes darkened. "I don't need a soul to love. I loved Drusilla. I love Connor and Fred. I'm in love with you. It might not be conventional human love, but I feel it. It burns through me, it consumes me during every moment of my existence. You don't know what I would give to have you look at me the way you look at him. But you won't do it because you are drawn to the pain and the misery. He didn't care about you when you were teenagers and he CAN'T now. And it hurts you because you know it. Deep down inside, you know he's nothing but a monster. Yet you hang on because not only do you want to cling on to the memories of the old Xander, but you feel like you deserve the pain and the misery because you still feel guilty about Tara."

Willow stormed out of the room. She didn't want to listen to Spike anymore. The damn vampire knew her better than anyone else and it frustrated her sometimes. She went out on the back porch to get some air. Connor was already out there with a sword in his hands. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Connor refused to look at her. "Batman and the Slayers are coming for us."

"We knew this already Connor."

He shook his head. "They actually have a plan now. They're going to burn us out of our hiding place and take us by surprise. They're going to dust Spike, have the witches from the Coven capture you and strip you of your powers."

"Which might kill me at this point."

He nodded. "Faith mentioned that. I'm not sure if they really care. Batman wants to take Joker down and throw him in Arkham. They haven't decided what they're going to do with me and Fred yet."

"How do you know all this?" Willow asked.

"I spied on them. I found Batman and stalked him for a few hours. He led me right to the Slayers. It was easy to eavesdrop. Almost too easy." He put his sword down. "Some of the Slayers survived the attack you guys made on that school."

"Yeah I know."

"Kennedy was one of them. It seemed like she's pretty determined to kill the Joker before Batman gets him."

"Understandable since he shot her. Is the Coven here yet?"

"No but they're on their way. They want to rehabilitate you."

Willow chuckled. The witches in the Coven were all about helping people. They were the ones that had created the army of Slayers in the first place so the First wouldn't take over the world. As a group they were powerful, but she knew she could take them if she went for the kill, not for the capture as they would ultimately do. "Did they talk about Vi?"

Connor shrugged. "Batman and Wesley were the only two really interested in saving her. I actually felt really disgusted hearing the others talk about her like she's not important."

Willow sighed in frustration. She had been hoping the other Slayers would be rallying to save their friend. She wanted them to take her away so Joker couldn't have her anymore. "I'll put some spells around the house to help keep us hidden. Tomorrow morning we'll get everyone together to talk about how we want to deal with this. Keep Fred with you, me or Spike at all times. Don't go off on your own either. They might stoop to our levels just to get us."

He nodded. "Okay." They went back in the house and locked the door behind them. He went upstairs to bed and she put some protective spells around the house. They would make the house much harder to find and give off alarms to warn them if they had been discovered.

She went upstairs and peeked into Joker's room. She was infuriated to see Harley and Joker sleeping in the same bed. Letting out a low growl, she stormed into her room and slammed the door. Who was she kidding? Spike was right; she was jealous. Frustrated, she slammed her fist into her mirror. Why was she letting Joker affect her like this? Nothing was going to happen between them. She turned on her radio and flopped down on her bed. It was time to listen to country music (the music of pain) and mope until morning.