AN: Life is a bitch. Sorry this is late. Warnings were on chapter one and if you wanted to skip those triggers you are probably reading the wrong fic.

"Hey. Anyone conscious?"

"Xander?"

"Cordy?"

"Cordy? As in Cordelia? As in your ex-girlfriend?!"

Xander ignored Anya and looked around towards where he heard Cordy's voice and the clinking of chains. The room was sunk in absolute darkness, the only light coming from the dull night sky peeking through a small barred window. There was only enough to make out basic shapes and he could see the straps cuffed around his arms. One pull against them and he realized that the clanking he had heard came from him. A chill ran up his spine as he figured out exactly where he was and who had put him there.

It pulled his muscles to move and pulled the skin attached to the burn on his arm but what was a little more pain in hopes of escape? His head was aching like crazy from where Angelus had kicked him and his sides still hurt from the last round. Pain was just every day for him now.

"What are you doing here?" He asked while pulling harder.

"I had a vision about Buffy in LA and-"

"Wait. A vision? What vision?"

"Yeah visions. As in plural. This half demon, Doyle, gave them to me. He was such a..." Cordy smiled at the ground without finishing that sentence. "Anyway the Powers That Be shove visions of people in danger in my head. I see and we go help."

"Like superpower TV in your head?"

"Um no but okay. Well I came with Angel to help before Buffy took his soul. I really forgot how much I hate Angelus. And right after- oh my god would you stop jiggling those chains?!" Xander stopped his jumping around and touched his feet back to the ground. Apparently whatever these chains were attached was strong. They could hold his weight and didn't budge an inch as he pulled down with all he had. "My head is going to explode. Besides, there's no point. I've tried."

"I'm Anya by the way." She cut in pointedly. "Xander's current girlfriend and wonderful lover. Who he loves very much."

"Nice to meet you." Cordy deadpanned, unsure if the girl was really serious or not.

"How long have you been here?" Xander asked without comment as he continued to swing on the ground trying to find any point of weakness. He bumped into Anya more than once but she didn't mind much as she was too distracted trying everything she thought of to get out too.

"Long enough to know what's going on. Is Giles really..."

"Yeah."

"And Buffy is really a vampire? You guys didn't happen to fix that did you?"

"No." Xander gave up with a sigh and tried to find the most comfortable position for his arm instead. It really wasn't going to happen. "And I'm assuming by our fancy new bracelets we didn't win?"

"No." Anya answered him back feeling the cuff on her wrist as best she could by bending her fingers down. "After you were rendered unconscious. Again. Willow went crazy dragon lady and breathed out the fire. She fixed Dawn but-"

"How is she?"

"She passed out. Her hands didn't look too good." Xander didn't really know what to say to that. Not when it was Willow who did it. "Then it was like dominoes. Tara was knocked out and oh! Spike's human."

"He's what?!"

"Yeah." Cordy nodded along remembering to ask them what had happened and what they meant by fire after she got all the core facts. "They tried to get Tara to fix him. I don't know if it worked."

"I don't think so. Anyway then I got caught between the two boys from hell. Which is much less hot than it sounds. Buffy and Willow were fighting but I don't know what happened."

"I hope she's okay." Xander whispered.

"Which one?" Anya half joked.

"I don't know anymore. I really don't."

Cordy could feel the weight of her shackles dragging her back down to the floor in the silence that followed. Angel was gone, Buffy was gone, Giles was dead, they were all captured, Angel Inc. didn't know a thing..."So no one's left?"

"Don't you have someone coming for you? He asked hopefully." Xander chuckled uncomfortably.

She shook her head even though he couldn't see. "Angelus called Angel Inc. They're not coming. No one is coming. It's just us."

A heavy silence fell between them again as each one tried to think of anything that could possibly give them hope at all.

"Well…maybe Willow got out you know?" Anya shrugged as best she could with her arms pinned up. "Maybe she won against Buffy."

"If she won we wouldn't be stuck here." Xander shook his chains with greater enthusiasm ignoring the part of him that knew he had just fought with them for minutes with no result.

"No but maybe she took Tara and ran for help. Maybe that's why she's not here."

"No." Another voice could be heard in the dark and the chains started to jangle from another corner of the basement. "I'm here. Again."

"Tara?" Xander called over his shoulder, unable to turn and see where the noise was coming from.

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?" Cordy called over and Tara gave a weak "I think so."

"Whoa. Asking people if they are okay? Visions that help people? Who are you and what have you done with the Cordy we knew and … tolerated?"

"Ha ha Xander. I forgot how terribly unfunny you are."

"Where's Willow? And Dawn?" Tara's questions had them dropping the impending fight. "Are they down here too?"

"If they are they're not up yet." Xander answered.

"There are lights." Cordy said looking up. "But the switch is at the top of the stairs. Usually the moon shines through the window but it must be cloudy."

"Blame Willow for that."

"Anya-"

"I'm just saying. She puffed and left plenty of clouds of smoke behind. It's not like she's here to blame anyway. If she was she would have magic mojoed us out by now. You saw what she was like with all that dark magic. If Giles was right then she would have stopped Buffy and we would be eating pizza at our apartment right now. Either she's unconscious or-"

"Anya-"

"What? You said it yourself. If she won we wouldn't be stuck here or at least Tara wouldn't. The chances that Buffy kept the only person that could actually hurt her alive is-"

"Anya!"

"What?!" In the pause that followed and with the advanced sense of hearing accompanying total blindness she picked up on the quiet sniffles of Tara behind her. "Oh. Right. I mean, I'm sure Willow's not dead. She's just planning or something."

"What about you Tara?" Cordy asked jumping over the horrible silence that left. "You're a witch right? That's why Buffy asked you to do the spell before?"

"Buffy can only be affected by dark magic." Xander answered for her.

"We think. We don't actually know." Anya reminded him.

"Well Tara do you know any dark magic?"

"No. Buffy made me try and I just…I can't do it."

"Okay. Okay. Well you can do regular magic right?"

"Yeah. Not well. Usually Willow helps me. I can't do much on my own."

"That's fine. We'll figure it out. I have an idea."

Dawn woke up looking up at a dark ceiling made of stone and wood. She didn't have time to think about what had happened because as soon as she tried to push herself up and off the bed she suddenly felt a screaming pain pulse out of her hands. In a flash she remembered the flames eating away at her flesh and she gasped. She couldn't see much in the dark but she could feel the air stinging her hands all over. She tried to bend her fingers and cried out by the pain that attacked her again.

"Dawn." Buffy was there in the door a moment later entering her room, turning on the lights, and sitting on the end of her bed. "Are you okay?"

"Where am I?"

"Calm down. Breathe." She put a hand on her sister's leg as she waited for her to calm, listening as her heart started to slow down. "You're still at the mansion."

"Where is everyone else?"

"They're alive. Just calm down and let me see your hands."

That's when she looked down and really saw the damage done. It didn't look natural. It was like she was looking at the hands of someone else only attached to her arm. From the base of her wrist up, only where she had touched Willow with her palms, it was covered in red. Some parts were harsher than others with patches where the skin had boiled away that looked near black. Her heart jumped in her chest and the edges of her vision started to blur. "No." She shook her head and pulled them into her chest, curling into the corner of the room the bed rested against.

"Dawn I can smell the blood from here so let me look." Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes at Dawn's behavior. It wasn't like she was going to lick her hand. Alright it was a thought but it was only because she was hungry from the fight.

"Better let us take a peek." Spike walked through her door and brought a small wrap of white bandage and a water to her side.

Dawn looked back and forth between the two before deciding she wasn't going to get much of a choice anyway. She used her shoulders to wipe the tears from her eyes before putting on her best brave face and moving back toward Buffy while holding out her arms. Buffy tisked as she turned Dawn's hands over in hers, careful not to touch the blackened flesh. It was hard to ignore the pure white color of bone sticking out on one finger. Dawn had to be in shock or she would have been screaming a lot more.

"Water's got soap in it so it'll sting." Spike nodded towards the bottle he brought. "Nothing you can't handle right Little Bit?"

The water was opened quick and Buffy ran it gently over her hands letting it spill onto the floor near the bed. Dawn hissed in pain but it was over with quick and the water was capped and chucked back to a different part of the bed. "Now either I can wrap them with you awake or Spike can knock you out. We don't have any meds so it's your choice."

Dawn looked at Spike who was giving her a sympathetic gaze but she wasn't sure she could trust them knocking her out. She was sure the smart choice would be to keep an eye on every move they did, even if it would hurt like hell. She could do this.

Buffy grabbed the wrap from Spike and started to unravel it. "I can't believe Willow did this to you."

"She didn't mean to." Dawn could feel Spike scoot into the small space behind her as Buffy re-grabbed her wrist and started to pull the gauze around the unbroken flesh at the base of her wrist. "I grabbed her."

"Don't make excuses Dawn. I'm happy you saved me. I really am. But she was the one that did this. It was her choice and she knew she could have hurt someone and she did. Don't try to apologize for her. She'll be doing that for herself."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

Suddenly Dawn screamed and tried to grab her arm back as Buffy added another layer and hit her broken flesh but she had her in a vice-like grip that refused to let her budge and inch. "Spike." Spike grabbed Dawn from behind and held her arm in another death grip. Or at least that's what he was trying for. He was still stronger than her as human so it worked, just not as strong as Buffy.

She found it weird that he was so warm against her back while Buffy was the one cold grabbing her wrist. The role reversal was really freaky. Or at least it would have been if she wasn't so distracted by the pain running up her arm. She stated crying out louder as Buffy moved up further, folding in between each individual finger, and she couldn't help thrashing in Spike's arms. Containment wasn't going to be an option as she tossed and turned more and Buffy ended up almost bruising her arm in the hold. When the hand was finished and taped off Dawn just brought it into her body and refused to move as she shook hard. Spike took some pity and wrapped both arms around her as she turned her face into his shoulder to cry.

It was wrong and she knew it. These were the bad guys now. These were not her friends and family. But was it so bad that she take some comfort?

"Dawn. Dawn listen to me." Buffy moved closer and leaned into her space so she wouldn't have to let go of Spike. "You don't have to feel this pain anymore. You have a choice. Let me help you."

"How?" She sobbed looking down at the hand that still needed to be bandaged. That hurt so much more than she expected it to. She didn't what she could do with her hands like this. Everything would hurt.

"Let me make you like me."

"You mean a vampire?"

"It'll be quick. Just like falling asleep."

"No." She pushed away from Spike and sat up on her own, curling into herself as much as possible. "I don't want to be like you."

"That's cus you don't know what it's like. You won't feel this pain anymore. Look at me. See here?" She pointed to her chest. "You remember Xander shooting that stake into my chest. Well it healed. Look at it. Not completely but give it a day or two. Your hands will do the same." Dawn refused to turn to her or answer. "Or you could just wait it out. I'm sure you don't need your hands for everything right? Oh wait, you kind of do."

"Can't you just…take me to Willow or…I don't know…a hospital...something else."

"To Willow? The one that did this to you? No. It was dark magic Dawn. We're not letting dark magic be used on you again. Look, I'm trying to do something nice for you. You're my sister. Is it so wrong of me to want you around as long as I am?"

"I'd rather die!"

"Oh Dawnie." It was so like her to scream in the unearthly pitch, trying to be as defiant as possible. "Poor, Dawnie. You can't make the decision yourself can you? No one ever let you make a big decision on your own. I guess that's part my fault. I should have realized how grown up you are. Well now's your chance."

"I already said I don't want to!"

Buffy put on her best hurtful and shocked expression. "You don't want to be with me? You would join with the rest of the idiotic humans, the weak pathetic little humans who did this to me in the first place? You would betray me like that?"

"I'm not-"

"That's what it is. Don't you trust me? I'm your sister."

"You're not my sister."

"Yes I am. I want what's best for you. I want to help you." She gave a dramatic sigh. "But I guess if you do chose them, if you want to disown me like that, you can. But then you'll have betrayed me. Just like they did. And I'll be forced to treat you like them." The threat was clear in the small silence that followed, Buffy aimlessly using her sharp manicured nail to draw harsh patterns on Dawn's leg. "Why would you even want to? They don't care about you like we do. They don't listen to you. No one ever listens to you. They don't hear you. But what I'm giving you will make you strong and powerful. You can stop whining and make them listen. You can be somebody."

"I am somebody."

"Not somebody worth being. Don't you want to be that? Somebody worth being heard?"

"Hey now pet." Spike cut in. "The nibblet here is someone worth hearing. She just needs that boost is all." Dawn looked back at him with tears in her eyes unbelieving that Spike was actually trying to convince her to be a vamp like him. Sure she'd had fantasies about it before where he would be babysitting her and noticing how much she has grown and one thing lead to another. But never had she pictured anything like this where she is broken and bleeding and Buffy is there. "It's not so bad you know. Just a little prick and the world is yours. I remember what it feels like. I was terrified. I know hard to believe looking at this face. But once I said yes...everything became so much clearer."

"I'm giving you a choice Dawn. A choice I didn't have. And all you have to do is say yes. And all your pain will disappear. All you have to do is give in. No more hurting over all the death and destruction. No more worries about school or houses or slayer stuff. No more pain. Everything you could ever want with me and Spike by your side. Don't you want that?"

Dawn took longer than she thought she would to answer. The way Buffy talked...it was true but she was forgetting to mention the really giant fine line. She would become a murderer. Forever. "No. No I won't. You are not my sister. You can't make me!"

"I'll give you some time to think about it. Spike."

Dawn watched as the two left the room and she curled up onto her bed crying harder than she did before until there was nothing left in her but to give up completely and sleep. She wouldn't be able to escape anyway. Her hands hurt too terrible to touch anything.

"Angelus," Buffy skipped over to the next room and the vamp in question poked his head out of the door. "The witch up?"

"She twitched so I knocked her over the head again."

"Well don't hit her too much. Don't want her coma toast. I still want to talk to her when we're ready."

"Did you just say coma toast?" Spike chuckled from behind.

"Yeah. Coma toast. That's what it is isn't it?" She looked up at the boys smirking at each other like they were sharing some inside joke. "Yeah it is."

"Sure." Angelus chuckled. "I'll be careful. We don't have any jam for the Brit."

"You're one to talk, Liam."

"Liam?" Buffy laughed.

"The Irish like jam too you know."

"Clotted cream." Angelus amended.

"Oh yeah clotted cream." Spike groaned. "Shame the States never picked it up."

"They'd've messed it up."

"We should hop back after this. Grab –"

"What the hell on toast are you guys talking about? You know what? I don't want to know. Angelus, make that call."

Buffy shook her head and peeked over at the unconscious Willow. She was against the far wall of the empty room curled on an old mattress. Angelus had wrapped her stomach up so she wouldn't die yet but the blood was everywhere and it smelled so good. She was going to have to get blood from one of the humans downstairs before she accidentally chomped the life out of someone.

"So how's it feel?" Spike's hot human breath brushed near her ear, his hot human body lining up against her side.

"How does what feel?" She whispered back, leaning just the slightest bit back so his burning human heat reached every inch of her back and the leather of her skirt brushed up against the zipper of his jeans. He pressed back oh so slightly but she didn't miss the move. His heat made everything he did extra obvious.

"Winning."

"Oh right I guess you wouldn't know what that feels like." She looked back with a smile and shrugged at his returning frown. "I'm not done yet. I'm just getting started."

It was true. Everything had lined up perfectly but she still had a lot to do. It was daunting to think about how much she had on her plate but it would all be worth it in the end. Rome wasn't built in a day.

"Aren't you gonna thank me?" Spike brought her out of her thoughts, pulling away from her to lean against the door frame, pretending to inspect his fingernails.

"For what?" She turned back and leaned opposite him on the other side.

"Saving your life."

She smirked over at him and stretched up her arms groaning and making sure every inch of her could be seen as she pushed closer to him, arching away from the frame. "I think I had it covered."

"Had it covered? What were you gonna do? Pet the fire to make nice? You woulda burned if I hadn't come in." He subtly tried to cross his legs so she wouldn't see the hard-on growing from just the sight of her but she was a vampire. She knew exactly where all that blood was going.

She pushed up from the door quickly, so quick that his human self didn't see it coming and flinched when she ended up a few inches above his leaning figure. Deliberately she moved the tip of her tongue along the line of her bottom lip, just to watch him watch. "With the knife I gave you so technically-"

"Technically nothing." He met her close stare and she bit her lip at how dark his eyes were looking up at her from under his lashes. "You owe me. And once this heart stops beating, again, I'm gonna cash in."

"You really think I'm that easy?" She teased, leaning in further refusing to touch him but still pinning him with how close she was. He was absolutely boiling with his 98.7 degrees and she was so tempted to touch that fire but she was trying to prove a point here.

"I am." He smirked, leaning in just the slightest bit further, their noses actually bumping into each other.

"I think you'll have to work harder than that." She whispered devilishly before spinning on the spot and sauntering away with her hips swinging as far as they could go. Yes, everything was lining up wonderfully.

"Wakey wakey."

Xander gasped at the sting of a hand slamming against his cheek. "Spike? What are you doing?" He tried to sit up to find the answer for himself but found he couldn't move an inch. His eyes darted from where he lay and he picked up his head to find himself in a room that didn't hold chains or the people he was captured with. This one as much smaller and brighter. That couldn't be good. "Where am I?"

"You like it?" Spike flourished a hand over the contraption Xander was struggling against.

It wasn't anything too fancy, just a table with restraints, but it did the job. The boy lay flat with the cold metal stinging across his bare back and legs. His arms ran perpendicular to his body stuck on attachments connecting to the table creating a cross. He lifted his head higher to get a better view of what was happening and saw the leather straps keeping him down. There were two straps for each arm tying him down, buckled under the table where he couldn't reach. There were three straps on his legs over his ankles knees and thighs. Then a final two straps were holding down his torso, one over his hips and one over his shoulders leaving most of his chest exposed. All straps were biting into his skin as he struggled, his boxers doing nothing to cover his body. Spike was smirking by his feet, twirling a gold bade in his hands and chuckling at his pointless attempts.

"Slayer picked it out all special. Just for you." Xander glared over at him as he started to pace around his defenseless body. The boy couldn't remember much of how he got to the room. The last he remembered was being in the basement, strung up on chains. There had been a lot of screaming, he was just waking up and then nothing. It must have been a cheap shot while he was sleeping. And who undressed him?

"Well I feel special."

Spike mockingly raised a brow at the twerp's sarcasm. The squirming was entertaining but he wanted some genuine fight or this would be no fun. "You should. You're first."

"First for earplugs I hope. Having to listen to you yammer is torture enough."

"Oh I disagree. There's always another scream just round the corner. You just got to know how to get to it. But if that's how you really feel I'll just take the tip of this blade-" The gleam of the tip came into view right above Xander's eye, making him have to tilt his head back to avoid getting a cut on his brow. "And carve out your eardrums. It's called compromise." Spike chuckled but Xander didn't find it as funny. "Funny thing about this blade. Thanks to the witch almighty we know it heals any wound it makes. Slice the stomach, wait a few hours, and presto! No blood, no wound, intestines all inside just like it's supposed to be. The magic eraser for all your victims. Bloody gypsies. They really do have all the fun stuff."

Xander gulped without response. He was relieved that Willow was okay and sounded alive at least but unless she magically popped him out of this situation...that blade was very distracting.

Spike gazed hungrily at the fear in his prey's eyes. If only the damn spell Giles put on him wore off. He wanted nothing more than to smell the adrenaline and nerves settling in as the twerp realized his fate. Well, next best thing. He'd just have to watch as he spelled it out for him. "Imagine the potential of a blade like that. Then again, Red was all high on dark magic smoke. The git suggested I test it on myself but then slayer said why not Xander? So you should feel special whelp. You get to play and your precious Buffy volunteered you."

Xander's hands uselessly tried to reach back hoping beyond hope that he had a bit of warlock in him that would undo the straps without him needing to reach. But that wasn't the case and he knew it. So he did the only thing he could do lying on a table like that as the apparently magic knife made another pass in front of his eyes. "You know, you're much less intimidating as a human than a vamp. Hiding behind the shiny things Buffy lets you play with. What kind of a man are you? You wouldn't be able to take me in a real fight. Fist to fist. Human on human. Mono y mono. Good versus an astounding level of asshole."

"Are you done yet? Jesus, someone carve out my ears. I mean, you don't actually think that'll work do you?"

"I'm just saying, it sounds to me like now that you're human Buffy is making you her bitch."

"Is that the best you could come up with? Really? Bloody hell, what was the point of you? Always wondered that. Can't do magic, can't fight, can't make a plan, not smart enough for research, only get in the way. See, there's the difference. She kept me around because I'm useful. You? Well, she just felt obligated. But now. Now you have a point. She even picked it out for you. The perfect position for a whelp like you. Test dummy." Spike made his first cut quick bringing the tip of the bade across his chest leaving a long angry pink and bleeding line behind. Xander gasped at the unexpected sting but it was over with quick.

Spike chuckled as he rounded the table again and ignored Xander as the boy looked at the cut then back up at him with confusion and fear as he started to talk again. "Have I ever told you how much I appreciated our time living together? You may have been excruciatingly boring, no fun at all really. Smelly. Terrible parents. No booze -torture in itself. But it was worth it. You know why?"

"Because my dastardly charm grew on you and you're really going to let me go?"

Xander was answered with a deeper cut zagging the opposite way down his body and curving down into his side, one of the sides that were extra sensitive due to the beatings from the fights before. In fact he knew the exact moment when the blade cut through a giant bruise because his scream raised at least an octave.

"Because I got to know you."

"Oh how- how sweet of you."

"I know firsthand what a pathetic little creature you really are."

Xander was about to open his mouth and stupidly say something else but grunted out in pain instead as the blade was brought down for a third zag cutting his stomach open and slicing through his belly button until the leather strap got in the Spike's way. He struggled more against the straps hoping the adrenaline pain rush would give him enough super human strength to bust them open but there was no such luck. He was left panting hard at the pain the movement caused by pulling across the cuts on his chest, blood pooling quicker now.

"That Anya doesn't really deserve you." Spike tapped his bleeding stomach with the tip of his blade and walked back around the boy to keep him guessing where the next cut would come. "A demon like her, so powerful. I would have gone for her myself back in the day. Girl like that-" He whistled. "That makes centuries of men bow before her, falls for a pitiful boy like you."

Xander screamed in shock when the blade suddenly entered the bottom of his foot this time. Just the tip was pressing down on the sensitive inside at first but Spike slowly pushed, allowing more and more blade to enter as the boy bit down on his lips and tried to keep his screams inside, some of them escaping without much control.

"Someone wanted you. And she had no problem saying it. Quite nasty actually. Someone, for some reason that will probably never be known, wanted to have sex with you. Pitiful boy like yourself did everything you could to keep her round. You were embarrassed of her, annoyed, and still you couldn't give her up could you? You faked it every day until you actually started to believe you loved her. That someone like you could love someone like her. You know nothing about love." He finally ripped the blade from his foot just as the tip had started to press on the other side, just on the verge of breaking the skin.

"You actually believe you could marry her?" Xander's head shot upright as Spike started to pace again. "That's right. Found the ring in her pocket. Plus you know vampire hearing." He tapped his ear. "Could hear you whispering. Secret engagement. How very Romeo. She said yes, of course she did. She doesn't know how you really feel. That sometimes when you're away from her constant nagging you wish you could take it back. Take it all back. And you really think you're in love? That you could bleed for her?" He barely had a glimpse before the bade crossed over his eyes and pierced his skin again cutting a slow path across the first mark made and creating an 'x' over his heart. He couldn't hold in the grunt that turned into a tiny scream as the metal cut deeper than before. It didn't just sting. It was nerve after nerve being sliced open, slipping down all layers of skin and cutting into the muscle. Then it crossed the path of the first cut and pulled the already sensitive skin apart. He could feel the blood slipping over quicker than before pooling on the table and wetting his back. "Oh look at that. Cross your heart and hope to, well you know the rest."

Xander's panting quickly jumped up an audible notch as Spike gently trailed the side of the bloody blade down his left arm and bounced it over the burn he obtained from the fire. It wasn't anything he hadn't had before, Dawn pulled him out before it got bad, but the blade still made him hyper aware of every patch of sensitive skin. He turned his head to watch, trying to think past the fear and pain to try and say something, anything that would get him to stop besides begging. He wouldn't beg and Spike wouldn't listen anyway. What he was saying was just riling him up in an attempt to and it wouldn't work. It wouldn't.

"You probably hated that she carried that ring around. Like I said," Spike continued when he saw Xander wasn't going to say anything. Unusually out of character for him. Oh well. He would just have to try something else. "You don't deserve her. So let's do her a favor and save her the heartache huh?"

Xander struggled to keep his hand away from Spike, clamping it into a fist but Spike shoved the blade into his palm until his fingers jolted and he grabbed the digits away. Xander continued to struggle so Spike gripped tight onto his pinky and tugged far too far to the right, snapping the tiny bone and making him scream again.

"Oooh," Spike mock sympathized. "Well now that won't heal in a few hours will it? Keep your hand open or I'll break the rest of them." Xander could feel the tears prickling his eyes from the pain but he kept his hand open as Spike moved and blocked his view. He closed his eyes and gasped as the blade touched his broken finger and gave a small push away. He groaned into another scream as Spike used the blade to push his hand down into the table. Only the push didn't stop there.

The blade cut deeper and deeper into the knuckle on his ring finger and he screamed louder and louder as the hot flashes of pain shot up his arm and Spike continued to push until he hit bone, only pushing more. His fingers begged to close but Spike didn't notice and no more fingers were broken. There was a certain snap and clack and he knew it was done when he heard the metal of the blade hit the metal of the table. He couldn't see and he wasn't sure he wanted to see because he knew what he had just done. He knew that when he looked he wouldn't see a finger anymore. Yet that didn't take away from his screams when he peeked and saw the overflow of blood and the digit sitting right next to his hand resting under his broken pinky.

"What do you think whelp?" Spike picked up the finger and brought it back over to his face, ignoring the fact that he was still staring in shock at his hand. Spike rolled his eyes and with one thrust shoved the blade deep into the boy's shoulder shocking him out of his stare. "Pay attention when I talk to you! Only polite. Who knows it could grow back." He held the finger dripping with blood over his face, letting the drops land in the center of his eyes. "Should we give this one to Anya to remember you by? You think she'll like it?"

Xander panted and grunted and tried to form the words in his mouth that were spilling out like the sweat on his brow. Every move down his body brought a different pain, the pain in his hand winning his attention. Somehow, through gritted teeth, he managed to spit the words out somewhat menacingly. "Leave her alone."

Spike chuckled thinking this would be fun after all. Not that it wasn't already. "Oh we can do whatever we want with her. And you know why? Because you don't really care." Spike grabbed the blade in his shoulder and gently started to twist, adding more and more pressure as he spoke. "I've been doing this since before you were born and I can tell you everyone has someone they call out to in the end. For some it's their god. Some it's their mom. For some it's love. Red will scream for her stuttering witch. The same for her. Anya will scream for you and you?" He ripped the twisting blade out of his shoulder, leaving an ugly and giant wound behind. The screams were like candy to his ears and the sight was just as sweet, the tears spilling over on the boy's face.

As Spike continued to taunt he inched closer and closer to his face, watching and waiting for the right nerve to strike. "Who will you scream for? Not her. You don't believe in god. Your mom? No I met your mom. That leaves…Cordelia? No. You forgot about that bitch until you saw her in the basement. Could it be…no you couldn't be so stuck that it would be…Buffy?"

"Go to hell." He spat up and Spike smiled in victory.

"Oh I've been there. And you did everything to try and make me stay. It's only fair that I return the favor." The knife clicked as it was set down near Xander's face, Spike reaching under the table for another strap. "It must burn you to know she's evil now. Never gonna help you again. Lost forever. And you brought her back that way. Your best friend, the one you call out to in death, is gonna be the one killing you. Now that's poetry." Xander couldn't respond as the strap Spike reached for was adjusted around his mouth officially gagging him. "Right. Let's get to it then shall we?"

Cordelia had been awake when they took Xander away, unable to rest after. Anya wasn't great company and Tara was silent so she just sat there stewing in her own thoughts. Anya was still trying to chew her way out of her chains when Angelus came for her. After so many days of being locked up it was getting easier and easier not to see Angel anymore. It was almost a comfort for her now. He ignored Tara and Anya's demands to know if their loved ones were okay and went straight for her, the key to her chains dangling in his hand. That wasn't good. He never let her off before. Not fully. The only times before were for bathroom breaks and those weren't necessarily to a bathroom.

"I tell you what. If you're a good girl and don't run, I won't knock you out and drag you by your hair."

"How very generous of you." She growled at him as he laughed and unlocked her, letting her lead the way up the stairs. She gave a final look towards the other girls letting them mentally know she would try and find out everything she could before using her dangerously shaky legs to cross the threshold. She hadn't walked in so long the sensation felt wrong.

Angelus grabbed her arm and led her down a dark hall not saying a word. Then another dark hall came followed with another full of doors. This hall had more lights that looked too modern for the walls surrounding, like the fluorescents in the basement.

In that hall she was shoved into a room lit by a single light in the ceiling. The door was heavy as Angelus closed it behind them and she could see the many locks leave her view. This room was meant to be locked from the outside. And with a final click of the door she had a gut feeling that she wouldn't be leaving this room again.

The light wasn't the only thing in the room. A small sheet-free mattress rested in the corner of the small room, the only thing on it being a small plate of food and a bottle of water. In the other corner was a bucket. That was it.

"Eat up." Angelus gestured towards the bed.

"If this is some lame attempt towards Stockholm syndrome or whatever, it won't work."

He smiled that super creepy, evil smile and shrugged. "I just thought you'd want to be some place nice. You know, now that you have no hope of getting out of here whatsoever."

"Just because you captured the Sunnydale people doesn't mean you won."

"Oh gosh you're right. If only- oh wait. Yeah that's right. I'm just so bad with these modern day cell phones I forgot. I'm gonna make a call later to the gang back home. What would you like your final last words to be?"

"You're not-"

"Gonna call and say you died tragically at the hands of a demon? With absolutely no body left to bury? Yeah I am. Don't worry. I'm sure they'll miss you."

"They'll know something is wrong. Angel wouldn't just-"

"Pick up everything and leave you all behind to oh I don't know, join the monks at a monastery for a long period of time with absolutely no word at all? Oh. He did that already."

"You bastard."

"I am aren't I?"

"They'll figure it out."

"So much hope for a girl with no way of escape. Just face it Cordy. You're never getting out of here. In fact, you should be thanking me."

"Why the hell should I be thanking you?"

"For getting you this room! Look at it. A bed, food, a toilet! I did you a favor. Buffy said I could do whatever I wanted with you and this is what I chose."

"Taking orders from Buffy? Isn't that so five years ago for you?"

"You'd be surprised what I'm willing to do to win. You don't need to worry about my end game though. You need to worry about yours. Which is why you should be on your knees thanking me."

"I'll never thank you for what you've done."

"Don't speak so soon. If you don't want this, I'm sure I can find another place for you to be. So what's it gonna be?" She shook her head defiantly and he shrugged, stomped forward and grabbed her by the hair. Fighting back with all she had did nothing as his muscles were practically steal and hers had turned to jello. She was roughly dragged from the room and was forced to follow as he walked them up some stairs and up another set and then another until they were on the roof.

Under the clouds in the sky she could see the sun peeking around the horizon. She couldn't remember if it was sunset or sunrise as she was kicked to the floor and pinned to the ground. Unsure of where the restraints came from she was clamped into more chains that spread her body on the stone forcing her to face the sky. She took in a deep breath of fresh air and screamed but a hand came over her mouth and a gag was applied around her head and over her lips.

Angelus checked the cuffs and stood above her body. The hope was still in her eyes but he could tell it was draining. She was getting more and more scared. She would be like putty in his hands when he was done with her. At least she was proving to be the fun he expected.

"You think about it." He winked down at her splayed body and turned back towards the stairs to let her boil in the heat, drench in the rain, and starve. A smile curved across his face as he heard her sigh in frustration. Oh yes, she was still going to be fun.

Tara and Anya didn't have much to talk about with the worry and pain leftover from the fight being the only things they were experiencing. Every scrape and movement they heard had their head snapping up towards the ceiling and waiting. Tara tried a few charms she knew on the chains but without anything to help her magic she really couldn't do much. They both jumped when the lights flickered on and boots started clipping down the steps.

"Hello girls. How's it hanging?" Buffy smiled and gestured towards the chains they were hanging from, in case they didn't get the joke.

"Where's Xander? Is he okay? I want to see him!" Anya was always straight to the point when it came to her boy.

"Willow?" Tara asked more timidly.

"Willow is fine. Out like a light." Buffy smiled and Tara slumped in her chains. "Xander, well I don't know. He was still screaming when I passed so that's a good sign."

Anya was back to fighting the metal clinging to her wrists, trying her best to get a kick in. "What are you doing to him?! Let me go! Let me see him! You bitch!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Watch the anger there Anya. Remember who's in the chains here." Anya stopped thrashing about but she was still glaring daggers at her captor. "I actually just came for you Tara."

"M-me? Wh-what do you want w-with me?"

"Back to the stuttering already? I thought we talked about this." Buffy tisked and walked around Anya towards Tara's chains, key in hand. "I'll tell you what. One free pass but that's all you get."

Tara shook her head and stared at the floor. "I couldn't help Spike. I can't d-do dark magic."

"I'm not here for your magic Tara. I'm here for you."

Tara let her arms drop when the cuffs came off and Buffy half led, half dragged her up the stairs. She wasn't sure where she was going but knew they reached the destination when shoved into a room and the door was shut behind her. There were no chains, no windows, no lights, absolutely nothing in the room. It was just complete and utter darkness surrounding her. Leaving her completely alone. "He-hello?" No one answered.

Willow woke with a start inside a room she didn't recognize. Moments later a door slammed and she sat up completely, her body fighting her as soon as she did. Everything ached and it felt like her insides had been burned with the dryness she felt. Flashes of memories clouded her mind mixing with the powerful pull of a dark force within her. With panic she looked down at her stomach remembering the golden flash of a blade but found no wound left behind. Maybe she had imagined it. Maybe she had imagined everything. But then where was she and where was Tara?

She looked around the room and her panic doubled. Covering almost every inch of the space in what looked like black paint were multiple symbols and words in languages she didn't understand. Her eyes found the door covered in the same types of symbols and her heart sank. It clearly locked from the outside with only a small eye-hole in the center of the door. She went to look out of it to see if she could make anything out but was promptly shoved back as the door started to open and a single light in the center of the ceiling burning a bright yellow.

The room came in clearer and she could see the symbols better. Not an inch was left and even the ground was covered. She looked back to the bed she had been lying on which was really just an old looking mattress but what disturbed her most was the giant stain that puddled in the middle. It was a deep red, the color of blood. What looked like gauze stained with same color rested nearby and as she looked down she saw the same red staining her shirt. She lifted it again and still only saw unbroken, unwounded, smooth flesh. She had to sit back down before passing out.

That's when Buffy decided to enter, mumbling something to someone outside of the door that she just couldn't understand. Willow looked on in shock as Buffy stood in the middle of the room, her hands resting on her hips and her boots kicked out, glaring down at her under dark lashes.

"Hey Wills." She greeted her cheerily, for once not pretending. "You like the redecoration?" She gestured to the paint job crossing every inch of the room. "I did it myself. Well okay I had help. Still, my idea."

Willow found her voice scratchy and wounded as she asked. "What are they?"

"Glad you asked. Angelus called a witch he knows. Helped me with a spell. See these keep anyone in this room from doing magic of any kind. Light, dark, grey and anywhere in between. They can't be rubbed off either. As long as you're in here, you can't do magic. Neat huh?" Willow looked around in panic feeling more and more like a rat trapped in a box. "Oh I know what you're next question is. Where's Tara? She's fine and alive. No need to worry."

"The others?"

"Less fine but they're alive."

"I..." She didn't know what to say. She looked back around the room and fell more into her own body staring at her hands and shaking her head realizing what she had done. "I failed you."

Buffy chuckled mercilessly at the sight. "You failed me long ago Willow. It shouldn't be such a shock now."

But the sad little girl was shocked and she kept shaking her head, tears running down her face. "I failed you. I failed Giles. I failed everyone. I just wanted to do what was right. I just wanted you back. I didn't want to be sad anymore. I wanted to fix things. It's all my fault."

"Yeah it is. You just couldn't let me die could you? You were just so pathetic you couldn't live on without me. How sad and selfish is that? You were so stupid too. Just going behind everyone's back, using magic that you knew they wouldn't approve of. Did it make you feel like a bad ass for once rather than that meek little nerd dropping her books on the ground like when I first met you? If only I had chosen differently. I may never have been subjected to you and to Xander. But no, I helped the poor weak girl I felt sorry for. Because I did feel sorry for you Willow. Right up until the day I died.

"You just couldn't do anything without someone holding your hand and telling you it was alright. You always needed all eyes on you, giving you approval at every turn, never breaking the rules. So you broke free by bringing me back. Well way to go Willow. You did it. It was all because of you. Let's face it. It was really you that got me dead in the first place. If you had actually paid attention you could have been more focused on the actual fight, using real magic, rather than hiding off and worrying about your girlfriend. But no. You can't be alone. So you let me die. But hey I got to go to heaven. That's a good deal. But no! Not good enough for you.

"Wanted to do what was right? No, you felt guilty for letting me die. You manipulated everyone around you and yourself, hid the idea from Giles and Spike and Dawn because you knew it was wrong. And you ripped me down. Did you hear that? I said rip because that is what it felt like. I was at peace. Do you understand? Nothing was ever going to hurt me again. And then YOU came along! YOU tore me out of heaven and YOU glued me to hell. Did I not pay the world enough? Did I not do enough for it? For you?! I gave it everything! I gave you everything! I gave up my life just to be brought down back to the hellmouth?! What did I do wrong?!

"Why? Why do I have to suffer? Because that's what it is. Everything was pain. Every step I took, every noise I heard, every smell I came across. You may think that because you gave me more power and took out my soul that it makes up for it? No. It's just a different kind of hell than the one I was living before. And now I get to live it forever! I felt true peace in heaven and I can never get there again thanks to you. Forever living in hell. Sure I live in hell as a demon but even demons want out. I can never get out again.

"So I'm continuously suffering and how do you say you're sorry for damning me? By trying to burn me alive! Don't you see it Willow? I'm not the monster here. YOU ARE! I may have no soul but you are the cold heartless bitch pushing away everything and everyone she ever loved just to get her own selfish way. Because I have an excuse. You did this to me. I feel nothing. While you, you are the human. You have a soul and yet you are willing to push and kill and murder. Which do you think is worse? You are the monster that created a monster and you are going to accept that. There is no redemption for you Willow and the quicker you accept that the better. You belong in hell with the rest of us."

Willow's mouth moved to try and say something through her sobbing but the only sound in the room was the door slamming behind Buffy and the lights flicking back into darkness.