Chapter 25: Never Leave Me

Ok guys. Another installment on the Buffy front. Little Liam dialogue. Not much. Next Chapter will be really, really, awesome. Trust me. Anyway, The First rings its ugly head to the gang. Enjoy.

November 17, Nighttime

The gang was cleaning up the living room from the aftermath of when Joyce visited Dawn. They didn't finish because of 'vision' thing with Buffy, Faith, Willow, and Dawn and then dealt with Spike. Xander was working on the large picture window behind the couch, covering the hole with plastic. Anya was replacing the home decor items on the mantle. Willow was weeping off a table. Angel was sweeping broken glass and house on the floor. It was Buffy's turn to take care of Connor so she was holding him in her arms while overseeing the cleanup. Dawn came over and spoke to them.

"So the basement was filled with bodies?" Dawn asked.

"Apparently." Buffy said.

"And Spike could've sired countless others and buried them around town. And we're waiting for him to do what, exactly? Do something crazy?"

"It's not that simple, Dawn." Angel said.

"Shouldn't we stab him through the chest? Isn't that what we do when these things happen?" Anya asked.

"Look, Faith knows what she's doing." Willow said.

"Well, Xander, you know what we're all talking about. I mean, you've always been part of the 'Spike is evil' faction."

"I've got a house to put back together." Xander said.

"Fine. You guys keep your heads buried in the sand, but I think we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that William the Bloody is back."

"Anya!" Buffy said, getting angry.

"Sorry."

…

Faith was in Buffy and Angel's room tying Spike's wrists to a chair he was sitting in.

Faith sighed. "We're gonna get to the bottom of this. We just can't take any chances." She told him.

"Don't... Make it tighter…the knots'll give. I get free, someone's gonna die." Spike told her.

…

November 18, Day

Buffy sat kitchen talking to Quentin Travers. They decided to call the Watcher's Council for help on the situation they had. Dawn asked about calling Liam but there was still some bad blood between him and the rest of the gang. Even the team in LA hadn't spoken to him since last week. So with no one else to really turn to, they called the Watchers Council to try and get Giles.

"I need to find him as soon as possible. He's not answering any of his numbers." Buffy said.

"Mrs. Summers, the Watcher's Council does not keep track of our lapsed employees. Ever since Mr. Giles pulled up his stake in Sunnydale, we've not made it our business to follow his every move." Quentin said.

"You don't have to get all British and dodgy, Mr. Travers. I know you have ways of finding him."

"Well, I suppose if you feel the matter's urgent, we can look into it."

"I'd appreciate it. Thank you."

"Not at all. Good day." Buffy hung up the phone and sighed, putting her head in her hands.

"Any luck?" Angel asked as he was trying to feed Connor. Connor however was being hard to get along with. He wouldn't accept food, or milk, and he was very fussy today.

"No. I'm really sure if they'll help or not." Buffy replied.

"Well, in the meantime, could you help with Connor? He's being very difficult today." Buffy walked over to Connor and tried to feed him the mashed pees. Connor moved his head away and gave a disgusted look.

"I thought he liked pees." Buffy said.

"He does. Just not today."

"Have you tried bananas?"

"That's what he was supposed to have today. He didn't want them either."

"My God, Connor. What has gotten into you lately?" Connor hasn't been acting his cute baby self. He's been crying and being a complete brat lately. No one really knew why he started acting like this.

…

Faith sat on Buffy's bed near Spike, watching him closely. Spike was still tied to the chair. He was shivering and gasping. "Can I do something?" She asked.

"I think you should probably go." Spike said.

"Here." Faith got up to get him some water. When she turned back around he was vamped out and pulling against his restraints. She looked down with tears in her eyes and walked out. Willow stood just outside her room and turned to look at Faith.

"How's he?" Willow started.

"He's been feasting on humans for weeks. He's having some pretty bad withdrawals. I think we need to get him some blood."

"Do you want me to kill Anya?" Willow asked excitedly.

"No," Faith said matter of factly. "We should probably try to wean him off humans. He'll have to make do with animal blood."

"I'll go get some."

"You don't mind?"

"No, I have to get out of the house. It's a little cramped and obnoxious down there."

"Thank you."

"How… How're you doing in there?"

"He's in pretty bad shape, past the point where he can tell me anything."

"I wasn't asking about him."

"I know. I'll be ok.

…

Willow dragged Andrew home from the butcher shop where she found him buying a lot of blood. They come in through the front door, with Andrew carrying the groceries from the butcher's shop. Xander, Dawn, Anya, and Buffy were in the living room. Xander was finishing installing the new window.

"Look who I found." Willow said, dragging Andrew into the Summers' living room.

"Oh, this can't be good." Xander said.

"Guess who was buying mass amounts of blood at the butcher's shop."

"Hey, your hair's not even black anymore!" Andrew said to Willow.

"What're you doing back in town?" Buffy asked.

"You'll get nothing out of me, Slayer."

"We'll see about that." Buffy heard a noise come from the kitchen like something dropped.

"Connor, don't throw!" Buffy heard Angel said. Buffy sighed.

"Xander…" She directed to him.

"I'll take care him." Xander said.

Anya pushed Andrew into a chair and tied his wrists to it, in a similar fashion to Spike's restraints. Anya stood in front of Andrew, going through his leather trench coat.

"Careful with my coat. It's expensive." Andrew whined.

"Is it new?" Anya asked. She threw it on the floor and stepped on it with her shoes.

"Hey! Ow!"

"Now, we can do this the hard way, if you want." Xander said. He tied up other arm. "But believe me if I tell you, this will go much easier if you just tell us what you know." He tightened the restraints again.

"Ow. You're barking up the wrong asparagus, man. I don't know anything."

Xander pulled up a chair beside Andrew and sat on it backwards. "Here's the thing. I don't believe you."

"I haven't done anything wrong."

"Well, then, you won't mind if we ask you a few questions."

Andrew saw Anya glare at him angrily. "Yeah. Ok." He said nervously.

"Why were you buying blood at the butcher shop?"

"I fell in love with a beautiful vampire girl down in Me-hi-co. Now we're trying to make a go of it on the straight and narrow, and put our lives back together here in Sunnydale." Andrew said rapidly, as if rehearsed.

Anya angrily crossed her arms. "You think this is a game, junior? People are dying." She told him then grabbed Andrew's lapel. "Friends lives are in danger."

"Hey, Anya." Xander said standing.

"Now you want to waste time on deceptions? Not on my watch!" Anya backhanded Andrew across the face.

Xander grabbed her forearms. "Hey, Anya! Can I talk to you outside for a second?" Xander and Anya came out of Dawn's room, where they were interrogating Andrew. They looked mad. Once they shut the door, Xander turned to face Anya, who was leaning against the door, smiling.

Anya giggled and put her palms to her cheeks. "Did you see that? I actually made him cry."

"You were perfect. I was worried I overdid it with the whole 'easy way, hard way' thing."

"No, you were great! And I wasn't sure if I should slap him, but then he made me want to slap him, so I thought, OK, slap him!"

"He'll be singing in no time."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Now, we let him stew in his own juices for a bit, then we give him the hard brace."

"Right." Faith came out of Buffy's room, which was adjacent to Dawn's. "What's the status with your guy?"

"He's not talking yet. We'll get there." Faith said and sat on hall window sill. "How's your guy?"

"The weasel wants to sing. He just needs a tune." Anya said.

"He's primed. I'll be pumping him in no time." Xander said. Faith, and Anya stared at him. "He'll give us information soon." Xander clarified.

"OK, good. How's the little guy downstairs?"

"Connor's still being fussy and not at all cute. Driving Buffy and Angel insane."

"Have we found out why?"

"No. My guess, he's acting out to get attention."

"He's always getting attention. He's never left alone in a room. I think something else is going on."

"Well if you figure it out, tell Buffy and Angel." Anya said.

…

The parents were downstairs in the kitchen, still dealing with a fussy Connor. He wasn't eating anything they were giving him, he would fuss in their arms and would want to be put down, and he had on some sort of angry look. Connor had earlier taken a bottle from Angel and threw it across the kitchen. Buffy and Angel were getting tired of his behavior so much that they gave him a time out. But is seemed that he didn't mind it.

"Geez, what is his problem?" Buffy complained.

"Maybe he's just acting out." Angel theorized.

"When he's nearly a year old? Why? He's almost walking and talking and all we've done is given him love and attention. Why act out?" While the parents were trying to figure out Connor's behavior, Dawn came into the kitchen.

"Hey guys." Dawn greeted them and then went over to Connor in his booster seat. "Hi, Connor." Dawn cooed to him. Connor smile at his aunt.

"Don't try. He'll just give you angry looks too." Angel said.

"Has he been fed?" Dawn asked as she picked up a cup of baby food and spoon from the counter.

"He won't take anything. And I'm worried because he needs to eat." Buffy said while she paced. Dawn successfully put a spoon full of baby food into Connor's mouth without trouble. Connor smiled and opened his mouth for more. Dawn giggled and continued to feed Connor. Angel and Buffy stood and watched wide eyed that Connor was being his normal cute self and eating. He wasn't making any fuss and trying to throw things.

"What? How?" Angel asked.

"He's eating. And he's not fussing." Buffy said.

Connor extended his arms out to Dawn, indicating that he wanted to be picked up. "Oh baby, does baby want to be picked up?" Dawn cooed and picked Connor up. "It's ok. Auntie Dawnie's got you."

"We're terrible parents." Buffy admitted sadly and sat down in a chair.

"No you're not." Dawn said.

"Then explain how he's not doing anything but being fussy with us but with you he's ok." Angel said.

"When did he start doing all of this?" Dawn asked.

"About several days ago."

"So…right around the time you guys kicked Liam out." Dawn pointed out. Buffy and Angel looked to each other. They realized that Connor had in fact started acting up after Liam never came back to Sunnydale. And it was Buffy's decision and Angel's backing that made Liam leave. That was why Connor was angry with them. They kicked his brother out. The brother that sacrificed everything time after time to save him. "Tell me I'm wrong."

"Dawn, Connor can be angry with us all he wants. It won't change how Angel and I feel."

"How you feel? Liam wasn't just your son. He was Connor's brother. He sacrificed everything to just make sure he turned out ok. Or have you forgotten?"

"We will never forget, Dawn." Angel said.

"Could have fooled me."

"Liam lied to us." Buffy said. "He went behind our backs. Kept too many secrets. He killed someone we cared about."

"From what I heard, Cordy was going to die anyway. Liam just made sure that the world didn't become enslaved in the process."

"He should have told us first."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, if Liam checked with you about everything that he did, you wouldn't allow him to do anything. You would never have allow him to jump into that portal to save me and you and Connor. But he did. And look where it got you and Angel. You're married, you have a child that loves you but are being selfish and he's being affected."

"That was…" Angel began.

"I'm not finished." Dawn stated. She gave the same look that she gave Spike upon his return back to Angel, making him cower a little. "Liam didn't tell you guys he would kidnap Connor to keep him safe from Holtz. He trusted Wesley and successfully killed the demon after him, got Wolfram and Hart of our backs, and Holtz died too. Liam has done more for all of us in the past two years then both of you in seven. He helped Faith get off jail and turn her life around. Even Spike was a different person before and after his soul because of Liam. He's helped top apocalypses before they start. He's trying to do so now and you guys aren't even trying to look out for him or help him. It doesn't matter if doesn't ask. It's still your responsibility as his parents to help whenever you see it." Buffy and Angel looked to each other as Dawn scolded them. They both now felt worse for kicking Liam out then they did before. Dawn's words were true in that all that Liam did since coming to the past was help them. And they just threw him out. "You guys may not be able to look past the death of a friend to see that Liam's a good person, but I can. Unless there was another way, which I doubt there was, I would've killed Cordy too. So you guys get your heads out of each other's ass and realize that we need him as much he will probably need us." Buffy and angel looked to Dawn alarmed. Not just from her saying that she would kill a friend if needed, but that she seemed to be more mature at the moment than any of them. Dawn turned away from them with Connor in her arms and exited out of the kitchen. "God, sometimes it feels like I am the only mature one here." She said as she left. Buffy and Angle looked to each other and realized how much they were being stupid.

…

Faith walked back into the room after she had rinsed the cup out that she had fed blood to Spike with. "Better?" Spike nodded. "Good." She sat on the edge of the bed again.

"I don't remember anything." Spike said.

"Well, you were having pretty bad withdrawal."

"No, not that. I don't remember... What I did."

"Nothing?"

"It's all flashes here and there. It's like I'm watching someone else... do it, kill people. I've been losing time for a while now, waking up in strange places."

"When did your chip stop working?"

"I wasn't aware that it had, you know. Not 'til now."

"And the losing time? How long has that been going on?"

"Oh, things have been wonky since I got back, ever since…"

"You got your soul."

"Figured that's what it was like, it'd been so long since I had one."

"How did you do it? How'd you get your soul back?"

"Saw a man about a girl. I went to seek a legend out. Traveled to the other side of the world, made a deal with a demon."

"Just like that?"

"No, not just like that. There was a price. There were trials, torture, pain and suffering.. Of sorts."

"Of sorts?"

"Well, it's all relative, isn't it?"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I have come to redefine the words pain and suffering since I fell in love with you."

"How can you say that?"

"Apparently, I just slaughtered half of Sunnydale, pet. I'm not really worried about being polite anymore."

"So, that's what this is about? You feeling sorry for yourself, Spike?"

"I'm feeling honest with myself. You said some pretty nasty things that night."

"Yeah, I did. So did you."

"And I admitted that. Soul's not all about moonbeams and pennywhistles, luv. It's about self-loathing. I get it. Had to travel round the world, but I understand you now. I understand the violence inside."

"Violence? William the Bloody now has insight into violence?"

"Not the same. As bad as I was, as evil and as wretched as I was, I never truly hated myself back then. Not like I do now."

A loud noise came from Dawn's room. Faith looked at Spike. "Excuse me." She walked into Dawn's room.

"Somebody help. Ow!" Andrew wailed.

"Everything ok?"

Faith looked around. Andrew was sitting on the floor. Anya was holding his shirt collar, with her arm raised to a fist aimed at his head. Xander was sitting on the desk holding his sore cheek. The room had been trashed and smashed.

"Fine." Anya said.

"Ok." Faith said, leaving the room. She walked back to Buffy's room, but paused. Spike was talking.

"What do I do, job half-done? Never send a boy to do a man's job." He started to sing. "Oh, don't deceive me, Oh, never leave me."

She opened the door. "Who were you talking to?"

"What's that?" Spike asked.

"I heard you through the door. Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody. I was just, uh, keeping myself company."

"Are you ok?"

"Fine. How are you?"

"Spike?"

"I'm fine, Faith. Really. I'm just... feeling a bit peckish, I suppose." He looked at the bags of pig's blood on night table by the bed. "Do you mind?"

Faith went towards the blood, keeping her eye on Spike the whole time. When she turned to look at the table when picking up the bag, Spike vamped out. He roared, broke the chair arms, and stood. Faith tried to fight him, but he pushed her down and went purposefully in the opposite direction.

Spike shoved his arm through the wall and grabbed Andrew by his chest. Another arm broke through and grabbed his head. Andrew screamed. Spike pulled Andrew through the wall, into the Buffy's room. He bent Andrew's head over, exposing his neck, and bit him.

…

A growling Spike bit the neck of the wailing Andrew. Faith rushed to his aid, throwing Spike off of him and against the wall. Xander and Anya rushed into the room and looked after Andrew. Spike seemed confused at the scene. Faith stood and walked to Spike. She kicked Spike in the face, knocking him out. Willow walked over to Faith and pulled her downstairs. They were joined by Angel and Buffy from the kitchen and Dawn who was already in the living room with Connor.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"I'm not sure. He got out of the chair and... He didn't seem to want anything to do with me. I mean, he just pushed me aside and charged at the wall." Faith said.

"Are you hurt?" Willow asked.

"Not-not really." Faith said as Xander and Anya came down the stairs.

"How is what's his name?" Dawn asked.

"He's got a good chunk taken out of his neck, but he'll be all right. Had to tie him up again, but mainly just to keep him from scratching at his bandages." Xander said.

"What the hell happened up there?" Angel asked.

"I-I don't know. Spike and I were having a conversation, and he was fine. I mean, you know, fine as Spike can be. And then I went to check on you guys, and when I got back, it was like he was a completely different person."

"Different like 'William the Bloody' type different?" Willow asked.

"He was talking to someone. I heard through the door, he was having this conversation. And then he started singing. He-he mentioned something about a song in the cellar. Uh, a-and he changed there, too... I mean instantly became another person."

"Trigger." Xander said.

"The horse?" Anya asked.

"No, in his head. It's a trigger. It's a brainwashing term. It's how the military makes sleeper agents. They-they brainwash operatives and condition them with a specific trigger, like a song, that makes 'em drastically change at a moment's notice."

"Is this left over from your days in the Army?" Willow asked.

"No, this is left over from every Army movie I've ever seen. But it makes sense. We've had ghosts or something haunting us, right? Well, what if Spike's ghosts have figured out a way to…not only haunt him…what if they figured out how to…how to control him?"

"If they have, they have one dangerous weapon." Angel said. "I know Spike. He's known for being violent."

"Spike said he's been seeing things since I found him in the basement." Buffy said.

"So, he gets his soul back, he starts seeing spooky things, and he goes extra-extra-crazy." Willow said.

"This trigger. How do we do we make it stop?" Faith said.

"Well, usually the operative completes his task and either blows his head off or steals a submarine." Xander said.

"All right. I need information. If Spike's a bomb, then I need to know how to diffuse him." Faith looked at Willow. "Willow, I want you and…" Faith looked around but didn't see the other person she wanted. "Where's Dawn?" Everyone looked around but Dawn and Connor weren't in sight.

"Dawn?" Buffy called out.

"Kitchen." Dawn said. Everyone moved to the kitchen. Connor was back in his booster seat and playing with some cheerios Dawn gave him. Dawn was dialing a number on her cellphone and put the receiver to her ear.

"Dawn, honey, who you calling?" Angel asked.

"Since you guys don't have the balls to do it yourself, I'm doing it." Dawn responded.

"Balls to do what?" Buffy asked. Dawn held up a finger as she listened to the ringing on the other end of the line.

…

A phone was ringing on a kitchen island table. A groaning noise came and a hand grabbed the phone. The hand belonged to Liam. He had his head on the counter and an ice pack on his head. He was recovering from the hangover and his sister, Kathy, suffered last night from drinking. The ringing noise was very loud and Liam didn't want to talk to anybody, but he assumed that the caller might have some emergency.

Liam flipped open the phone, sat up, and put it to his ear. "Hello?" he said groggily.

…

"Hi, Liam. It's Dawn." Dawn said. Buffy and Angel's eyes went wide knowing that Dawn called Liam.

"Dawn, what are you doing?" Buffy asked.

"Getting answers." She told her. "Did I call at a bad time?"

…

"No." Liam said. "I missed waking up to a ringing phone in the middle of a hangover. I remember now why I quit drinking."

…

"Sorry, but I kinda need your help." Dawn told him.

"Does mom know you're doing this?"

"Yeah. She's against it, but I really need your help. We all do."

"OK. Shoot."

"Well basically, Spike seems to have some sorta trigger thing that makes him someone else. Someone violent. He apparently sired several vampires recently and he doesn't remember anything. I was wondering if you can shed some light on to it."

"Put me on speaker. I know mom and the rest are in the room." Dawn did as she was told and put her cellphone on speaker. "Ok, Spike having a trigger and siring people rings a lot of bells." Liam spoke. Buffy and Angel both felt a little happy hearing Liam's voice again. Connor was especially happy to hear his brother. He smiled and giggled happily.

"Hey, is that Connor? Hi big guy!" Liam said to Connor. Connor smiled more and bounced in his chair. Dawn smiled.

"He's happy to hear your voice." She told him.

"Well feelings mutual. But I'm happy to hear his voice. Not mine. I always hear my voice."

"Liam, as much as I like to speak with you again, we're in a situation." Faith said.

"Hi, Aunt Faith. Sorry. What do you need?"

"Spike, trigger, siring, what do you got?"

"Something that all of us don't like facing.

"What is it? Who did this?" Faith asked.

"Your answer isn't a 'who'. It's a 'what'."

"What?"

"Exactly. I actually have half a mind to tell you guys right now what it is. Even though you'll figure it out soon. But due to recent events, I might just tell you."

"Liam, what is it?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"Hey, my mother finally speaks to me."

"Liam, enough chit-chat. What are we up against? No beating around the bush."

"Something that apparently needs to be put back into its place. Delia and I figured to out a little bit ago and have been working on fighting it."

"Wait, you knew this thing was already out? And you didn't even bother to tell us?" Buffy said sounding angry.

"Mom, if history plays this out the same as before, you guys will figure this thing out and come out on top."

"And how many will die in the process?" Angel asked.

"Hello to you too, dad. Of course you'll lose some people. There are always casualties when fighting a war."

"Who said anything about a war?" Willow asked sounding nervous.

"Hat to break it to you all, there's always been a war. It's just been secret and nothing like what you guys are facing. Until my time."

"Liam, what are we fighting?" Buffy asked.

Liam sighed on the other end. "You guys are fighting The…" The line cut right after that.

"Liam?" Buffy asked. "Liam are you there?" She received no answer. "Dammit."

…

In Los Angeles, Liam was trying to call Dawn back but couldn't get her on the phone. The line had been cut. Liam slammed his phone on the table.

"Dammit." He said.

"What?" He heard his sister's voice behind him.

Liam turned to face her. She too had an ice pack to her head. "Something's going down in Sunnydale." He told her.

"Mom?" Kathy asked.

"She's safe for now. The First got to her. It's only a matter of time before the Slayers show up and then the Battle for the Hellmouth begins."

"So what do you have planned?"

"We'll give them some help."

"We? As in…"

"I'll go tomorrow and tell them everything. Us, The First, Wolfram and Hart, The Orb, everything. Too many things are happening all at once to be kept separate. They are going to need us, as much as we're going to need them."

"Are we gonna come with?"

"No. You all will stay here and try to decrypt the rest of that book. Do as much as you can. Hack into Wolfram and Hart and find out their moves. Once we have some stuff, we'll all go. I promise."

…

"So now what?" Xander said.

"We go about doing what we can without him. Willow, Dawn. Get to research. We need to know what did this to Spike. Spirits, ghosts, demons? Check the lot of them. Look for anything that could haunt or-or possibly control like this. We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

…

Spike was lying on the floor in shackles, both hands and feet chained to the wall of Buffy's basement. His eyes were closed. Faith walked downstairs with a bowl of water and went over to him. She dipped a towel in the water and washed the blood off of his face.

"Did I hurt anybody?" Spike asked.

"You took a good bite out of Andrew." Faith said gently.

"Who?"

"Tucker's brother."

"Oh."

"He'll be ok."

"I don't remember."

"It's ok."

"Faith, I don't know why."

"We think we do. Something's playing you. Some ghost or demon has figured out how to control you. Got the gang researching it right now." Spike pulled himself up into sitting position using the chains. "Xander has this theory that you're being triggered."

"Kill me."

"What?"

"Faith, you have to kill me."

"You don't understand. When I left the room earlier, I heard you talking to someone..."

"Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?"

"I was in the cellar with you. I saw what you did."

"I'm not talking about the cellar. The people in the cellar got off easy. I'm talking about me. Faith, you have never met the real me."

"Believe me, I'm well aware of what you're capable of. Buffy's informed me."

"No, she got off easy too." He stood. "Do you know how much blood you can drink from a girl before she'll die? I do. You see, the trick is to drink just enough to know how to damage them just enough so that they'll still cry when you... Cause it's not worth it if they don't cry."

"It's not your fault. You're not the one doing this."

"I already did it. It's already done." Spike paced, then stepped purposefully toward Faith. "You wanna know what I've done to girls Dawn's age? This is me, Faith. You've got to kill me before I get out."

"We can keep you locked up. Keep you here and we'll figure out…"

"Have you ever really asked yourself why you can't do it? Off me? After everything I've done to you, to people around you. It's not just love. We both know that. Buffy killed Angel and she loved him."

"You fought by my side. You've saved lives. You've helped…"

"Don't do that. Don't rationalize this into some noble act. We both know the truth of it. You like men who hurt you. You always have."

"No."

"You need the pain we cause you. You need the hate. You need it to do your job, to be the Slayer."

"No. I don't hate like that. Not you, or myself. Not anymore. You think you have insight now because your soul's drenched in blood? You don't know me. You don't even know you. Was that you who killed those people in the cellar? Was that you who waited for those girls?"

"There's no one else."

"That's not true. Listen to me. You're not alive because of hate or pain. You're alive because I saw you change. Because I saw your penance."

He lunged violently at her, but the chains held him back. "Window dressing."

"Be easier, wouldn't it, it if were an act, but it's not." Faith walked boldly toward him. "You faced the monster inside of you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man."

"Faith…"

"And you can be. You are. You may not see it, but I do. I do. I believe in you, Spike."

"Well, look at that. Little Sister Faith found her inner Buffy." Spike looked at her with a face full of hope and amazement. Just then, the lights flickered and went out. Someone burst into the basement and pushed Faith away from Spike. She fell to the ground.

…

Xander and Anya were in the living room. Willow and Dawn were in the dining room. Buffy and Angel were in the Kitchen with Connor. Robed men started breaking into the house from all angles, smashing windows and breaking down doors. Covered head to toe in long, black, hooded robes, these people have wooden staffs and no eyes. Buffy and Angel immediately went in to defensive mode to protect Connor.

Willow pushed one of the robed men off of her. Dawn fought back against one. Angel scooped Connor into his arms and left to protect him. Buffy went the living room and joined the battle fray. Some of the robed men headed upstairs as the fight continued on the main level. Faith jumped back up and ran upstairs to check on the others after knocking the guy out. She came into the room and grabbed a robed person who kicked her. They continued to fight. Another robed person entered the room.

Andrew was tied up, lying on the bed and whimpering. One of the robed men entered the room, facing him, carrying a wooden staff. His hood was removed, revealing an eyeless face whose sockets were covered in red scars. He dropped the wooden staff and took out two silvery curved daggers and lunged at Andrew, but narrowly missed as Andrew rolled off of the bed. Faith came into the room and grabbed the robed person, who kicked her. They continued to fight as another robed person entered the room.

Dawn was on the floor and weakly stood, grabbing a wooden staff. A robed person was lying still on the floor in front of her. She inched closer to him, holding the wooden staff defensively. He swung his leg at her ankle, tripping her. He climbed on top of her and pulled out a silver dagger, aiming for her chest. Buffy came into the room, wielding a wooden staff, and knocked the robed person off of Dawn.

Faith continued to fight the robed people. Andrew stood and tried to sneak out of the room, but Faith grabbed him and swung him at the robed people, using his body both as a shield and a weapon, before throwing him to the floor. A robed person came at her with silver curved daggers in both hands. She grabbed his wrists, kicked him back, and grabbed the daggers. One robed person lunged at her, and she stuck the dagger in his belly. When the other robed person came at her, she did the same. They screamed and collapsed. Willow entered the room.

"Faith?"

"Where's the rest?"

"They're ok. Is this it? I thought there was more of them."

"Spike."

The two girls ran down to the basement. The shackles hung on the wall, empty. Spike was gone. Faith lowered her head and turned to go back up.

"They were so fast. And organized." Willow said.

"They were after Spike all along." Faith said.

"And we were just in the way." Buffy said. Buffy knelt to inspect one of the robed people who was lying face-up on the floor. "I know these guys. I fought them before. We aren't being haunted. This isn't some demon. It's all the same thing. Spike's ghosts, the people you guys saw, from beneath us, it's all the same thing. I know what we're up against. The First."

"That thing that haunted me over Christmas a while back." Angel said. "Tried to make me commit suicide."

"The same one."

"Liam, tried to tell us." Dawn said. "But the line cut."

"This thing is everywhere." Angel said. 'If we're gonna fight it, we're gonna need help." Angel looked to Buffy. They both nodded. They knew what they needed to do.

"I'll call Liam tomorrow. Maybe he can help us prepare." Buffy said.

"Uh…Buffy." Willow said. Buffy looked at her. "I know that this isn't really a good time to say it but, tomorrow…tomorrow's Connor's birthday."

Buffy put a hand to her head and sat in a chair. "Oh my god. I totally forgot. I haven't planned anything. I haven't done anything."

"It's alright Buffy." Angel said. "We can still have a small celebration. We'll figure it out tomorrow."

"Right. Tomorrow. Call Liam, call the team, small party, then the First. Easy." It wasn't going to be easy.

End of the chapter. Next will have Liam back in action with his sister and the rest of the White Hats. Will Liam actually tell Buffy everything or is he going to put it off? Next chapter is Connor's birthday and there's going to be a special surprise for him. Just wait and see.

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