Please see chapter 1 for disclaimers

Warnings: References to canon sexual violence

Willow's nose bled a little as she jotted notes in a book. Absently she wiped it away before it could drip on the colour-coded page. She had over-done things with the magical ropes – the constant flow of power needed to maintain them had drained her, and she had finally admitted another solution would be needed.

So after a brief period of brain storming, she had discovered a simple, elegant solution which would prevent either she or Faith being permanently injured. The problem was, a spell which would have been simple yesterday was now practically impossible – she was too drained to do a card trick, let alone genuine magic.

Buffy made her way through the sewers. The number of weird beasts either coming out of the hell mouth or being drawn to their town by its changed energy was already notably increasing. To stay on top of things and give Faith as much time as she needed, the slayer was hunting during the day as well as patrolling at night.

Many demons were dormant throughout the day, making it easier to take on established nests of those who had 'bunkered down'. During the night she focussed on patrolling to protect civillians against demons out to hunt.

Buffy's familiarity with the sewers these days made it safer than it used to be, but the slayer was still ready for anything.

Consequently, Spike was almost dust before Buffy realised it was him.

"Bloody hell." Spike clutched his chest, where he'd almost been skewered. "You almost restarted my heart."

"Spike?" Buffy asked unnecessarily, stretching out her senses to make sure there was nothing nearby likely to attack while they were distracted. "What happened?" She took in the vampire's uneven stance and some of the burns on his arms.

"Just on my way back from giving the dark slayer the time of her life." He boasted, hoping to make the blonde jealous.

"And you...got jumped by angry priests?"

Spike followed her line of sight to the suspiciously neat cross-shaped burns on his arm. "Oh, right. That – no, it was a demon." His pride insisted on the lie. "Big, flaming demon. On fire, I mean. Not queer. With...very square hands."

Spike had always taken a perverse sort of pride in being just as capable of taking a bit of torture as he was of giving it. But he was also aware that it was probably the sort of vampiric skill that would impress Buffy about as much as 'who can piss the highest'. Not to mention, the last thing he wanted was Buffy asking Faith about their time together, or...making assumptions about why he might want a slayer to make him hurt.

But Buffy could usually tell when he was hiding something, and always assumed the worst.

"Why would she need to burn you...?" she frowned in thought, and he could almost see the conclusions piling up behind her eyes. "What did you do?... Did you try to hurt her?!" Buffy stepped closer. Her feelings about Faith - mostly guilt and determination to come to her defense, and her feelings around Spike - mostly distrust, guilt and self-loathing, were quickly creating a dangerous cocktail of emotion.

Spike froze for a minute, worrying that she'd keep guessing until she got it right.

His apparently guilty silence was all the catalyst needed for all of her feelings to react and explode as anger. Buffy grabbed the front of the vampire's shirt with one hand, and punched him with the fist still gripping her stake. "I won't let you hurt her again – "

Breaking her hold, Spike spun and threw Buffy against the wall before getting in her face. "I didn't hurt the bint. What, you reckon I've been boning you so long I forgot how normal people do it?" He hissed contemptuously, manoeuvring between her legs. "You think I'm so used to you getting turned on from a good beating that I tried it with the jail bird?" He ground his hips into Buffy's long enough to make his point and for Buffy to feel violated before she found enough leverage to give him a sharp shove away.

"No chance, luv. I know very bloody well that I can't hurt any humans – except the one that came back wrong." He sneered, waiting for the violent reaction he wanted.

Buffy clenched her fists hard enough to dig her nails into her palms before swallowing her fury down deep. "Did I come back wrong? Maybe. But what I've been doing with you...is definitely wrong."

"Don't start this again." The vampire rolled his eyes and started walking away. "You can't help yourself. You'll be back for more before the Watcher even gets his next concussion."

Buffy remembered breaking down crying in Tara's lap from shame and shook her head. "I really won't."

After receiving a text from Faith, Giles made the call to Willow.

"Yes, hello dear. Faith was wondering if you might be free for...er, your part of the ritual later today. In about three hours time."

"That's fine, Giles. Um, can I ask you something? About magic?" Willow responded a little vaguely.

"Certainly." The British man answered, struggling to hide his trepidation.

"Would the presence of a benign charm inside the circle disrupt the exchange of essences?" She asked, nervous that her final plan might be a bust.

"Um, let me see." The former librarian considered this for a moment. "No," he finally answered decisively, "definitely not. Unless it was cast on the vessel. Willow? You won't cast anything on Faith, will you?"

"No." The red head sounded relieved rather than anxious, and as she had always been a terrible liar, he felt relieved in turn.

"Alright then. Um, good luck." They both cringed at this.

"Thanks. Bye." Willow ended the call as quickly as possible, then turned to look at her latest purchase. With a little enhancement, these would hold the Slayer in place without causing any death or amputation.

Now all she had to do was find Amy and get a power boost so she could cast the spell.