Now I hear that some of you aren't Spike fans. I'm not jumping up and down screaming like a little girl for him, either, but he's a good guy. Definitely is in my fic. The only time when I don't like him is with Buffy. Spuffy's so out, and Bangel's just cliche. And don't get me started on Riley. But the point is, Angel and Spike are good vampires. Yay them.

Enjoy and review. I think you'll like this one. I enjoyed writing it for Buffy's sake.

6:27 PM

"So Angel's team performed some wickedy-doo-da spell with no Spike in sight, so they thought it was bust, when really, you poofed back into existence somewhere in Italy and ran into Andrew?"

Xander Harris was trying to figure this all out.

"Well, yea."

"I was out eating at my favorite pizzeria when I saw him, it was really something! I thought, 'it couldn't be' but it was! And so I-"

"Oh shut up. This isn't the time." Spike cut him off with a wave of his hand.

He glanced about at the weary group.

"We'll figure out the particulars later. Right now, we need to retrieve Faith."

They all jumped up at once. Except Giles, who only glanced up in a shocked manner. It was more dignified.

"Faith? As in our Faith? Of course you mean our Faith. What other Faith is there that we know? You know where she is? How did you, and where did...Is she alright? Should we take the car? What's going to happen to her? Does she remember-" Willow's intense questionnaire-babble was shut down by Kennedy's hand over her mouth.

The hot-headed Slayer nodded at Spike to continue.

"She's chained up in an abandoned warehouse not too far from here, considering it's better to be near the Hellmouth during the ritual. I've been tracking the guy for months; he's tough, and he's smart, which makes for a bad combination for us. In any case, he's been waiting a long time for Faith to be broken in and he was bloody well pissed into oblivion when you brought her back, Willow. Unfortunately, a bit of that situation came to his advantage and the past two and half weeks he's just been waiting for the perfect moment to snag her. And...he did." He paused a moment to let it sink in.

"As for how she's doing..." He shook his head with disgust before meeting their gazes very seriously.

"She's hurt. Bad. He's used magic to freeze her wounds, keep them from healing at all, but it won't let her die, either. That's for tonight, after they bring out her full-fledged darkness. It's the bullet wound that's done her in the worst. Christ, I was gonna try and work on it, but they caught me and I had to pretend I was just beating on her like they were-"

"Bullet wound?" Buffy spoke up, feeling something inside her twitch.

Spike stared at her with surprise.

"Yea...you mean you don't know about that?"

They shook their heads. He jumped up in a burst of frustration. Anger that justice hasn't been brought down upon the criminal's head.

"He shot her! That sodding human shot her and dragged her to the Master! I don't even know if it was for thirty pieces of silver, but that's one fucking Judas, is what he is."

Angel stiffened.

"What...human?" His voice was nowhere near friendly, but Spike knew it wasn't out of their rivalry.

It was out of concern. Something he shared with Angel, ironically enough. A Slayer caused them to be enemies, and now it was another Slayer that brought them together. Figures the two Slayers were polar fucking opposites.

"Buffy's new one."

"James? Buffy's fiance?" Anya clarified. In a questioning tone.

This time it was Spike who stiffened before laughing incredulously. At Buffy.

"You're kidding me, right? Fiance?" He shook his head again.

"Yea, James. That's the one. I figured you lot would've known. Faith was worried that he had Buffy, she was trying hard to get out..."

Angel was already on the move. So was Kennedy.

They were back in less than 3 minutes, dragging in a sputtering James in his bathrobe.

Angel threw him to the floor, and Kennedy was on him immediately, picking him back up by the collar and slamming him into the wall. Not really caring if there just happened to be a door handle in the way or not. The sound of bone crunching made Xander and Dawn cringe, but neither of them felt any pity. She was in the business of slaying evil, and since she'd sworn to do the best that she could possibly do, she was holding up to that oath. And this pathetic fool quavering in front of her? Definitely being tossed under the speeding bus with the label 'evil' across the front. Her job?

To exterminate.

"What? What did I do? I-agh! S-stop! Please...Buffy!" But there was something in Buffy's eyes that told him there was no help coming his way.

In fact...

Buffy easily pushed Kennedy aside and took place of aggressor as she dug her fingernails into his skin as she slammed him again in the walls. He whimpered, but he knew better than to say a word.

"You shot her."

"Wh-what? I didn't-"

Without any straining on her part, she just flung him across the room. He met the bookcase head-on, falling to the floor in a crumpled mess. As he moaned and shifted, she moved quickly without breaking a sweat to pick him up again, but Spike grabbed her by the arm.

"Buffy-"

He nearly lost his undead life for what he felt was the millionth time in his...undead life.

She had somehow - by reflex - twisted his arm around and pushed him up against the wall, her favorite stake dangerously up close and personal to his chest. She had been fiddling with it before all of this had occurred, it usually made her feel very calm. And right now? Well...not so much. The look in her eyes was beyond frightening. Possibly because past the crazed look of hate and anger and revenge, there was guilt and sorrow and so much pain that came with being Buffy Summers. She was feeling it down to the core, and he had just stopped her from letting it loose upon one of the factors of that pain.

"Listen, Slayer-" He lost his un-needed breath for a moment as she pulled him forward and slammed him against the wall again.

"What more do I need to listen to, Spike? Give me one good reason not to beat you to death for stopping me."

He smirked. He couldn't help it.

"Well for one, I'm already dead. Second of all, I'm the only one who knows how to get to her."

Andrew jumped in excitedly.

"Actually, I know how to-"

"Will you shut up?! Are you trying to get me bloody killed?" Spike gave him an exasperated look. Andrew flushed and did as he was asked.

Buffy's eyes returned to normal as she released him. He brushed himself off and straightened out his clothes before continuing.

"They must've wiped you both, so he doesn't remember anymore than you do. The Master's-"

"The Master? I thought we already-"

"Different guy, same name. Barmy assholes can't find it in themselves to be original. In any case, his warlocks are powerful. Just lock the pig up and we'll get back to him later. Right now, we have to worry about Faith."

Buffy wanted desperately to protest, but she knew he was right. She had to focus on finding Faith now. She nodded sternly and motioned for everybody to get ready to leave as soon as possible. As they all scurried to positions, Buffy dragged James into one of the interrogation rooms. Before she locked it, she turned around and glared at him with one of the most frightening looks he'd ever seen in his life. It was the look that the Slayer gave before she caused an intense amount of damage. It was one you did not ever want to cross.

"If she dies, James, I'm going to watch you burn, and I'm going to enjoy every single minute of it."

With that, she slammed the door shut.

9:02 PM

The leaders stood, gathered in the center of the lobby, the final strategic plan being laid out.

"The ritual will be at midnight, precisely. As unoriginal as you can get, really, but it's the ancients." Spike had said.

"My team goes on the offensive, up front. Kennedy's will bring up the rear. Xander, you're in charge of blueprints and guiding us around. Anya's team will manage weapons and ammo. Willow and her group will be working on the magic. Angel, I want your group to work from roof down. We're gonna try to cover all sides as much as possible. Giles, will you be able to translate that spell by then?"

"Yes, I do believe so, Buffy."

"Good. Remember, our headsets will be linked to each other. Keep in touch."

"I suppose I'll be going with you then?" The bleach blond vampire raised his eyebrows towards Buffy, who nodded in affirmative.

"Xander's gonna work mostly with the others, so I'll need you to guide us, since you know your way around the place."

"Right." He didn't find the need to blurt out some sarcastic comment. It just wasn't the time for it.

Over the past few hours, they had all seen a part of Buffy that they hadn't seen in a long time. Most of them expected a bit of a fanfare or perhaps a explosion with streamers flying all over the place. All for the return of the Slayer. Not just any Slayer. The Slayer. Buffy Summers, who had been MIA for so long, was back. And ready to kick some ass. It was a triumphant moment for them all, especially for the ones who had stuck it out with her for the longest time, waiting ever so patiently for her return, wishing and praying for it. So by the miracle of God, the Powers That Be, or most probably - Faith - she was back.

And now it was time for Buffy to return the favor.

They didn't know much about the ritual, just what they've already heard and gathered from the last meeting with Faith and Spike's input. Apparently Faith was weakened enough now to contribute everything to the resurrection. The warlocks would cast a spell and draw out her dark, demonic side and at the very end, that essence, as well as the essence of her broken heart would be thrown into the mixing pot and poof here comes the Master.

Okay, so perhaps the mixing pot and poofing wasn't exactly the way it was going to occur, but that was the gist of it. The whole thing was under a lot of hush hush, so none of the vampires knew a single thing about it, which didn't help Spike out much, but at least he knew location. That was usually all the Scoobs ever needed. After that, they most often winged the damn thing. So far it'd turned out alright.

"Alright, let's go."

They hoped tonight wouldn't be a turnabout of luck.