Spike bit back the urge to bait his companion. In human form, the watcher was formidable. As a demon, he was quite terrifying. Watching him struggle with his first real taste of bloodlust would be downright amusing if it weren't for the fact that Buffy would leave him dusty if anything happened to her bloke.
"Buffy and her damnable secrets." Moonlight cast the shadow of the horns over the watcher's face as he paced. "She wouldn't know the truth if she fell on it."
"Not exactly cricket of you to blame her. Your lot taught her to be secretive, to hide her calling, and now you blame her for being tight lipped?" Spike cringed as the larger demon grabbed him again.
"My mate is lying to me about you." The clawed fingers dug into his body through his coat.
"Mind the leather, Watcher." Spike growled and then groaned as the damned bastard shook him for all he was worth. How much human reasoning was left inside Buffy's true love? "Is hurtin' me gonna get you answers?"
"No." The watcher flung him for distance and resumed pacing, ranting in progressively less erudite Fyarl.
Spike leaned back against the grave marker that had broken his trajectory and considered his options. Helping the watcher was a fairly dangerous proposition. What with his rather horrible disposition. He thought about leaving the fool to his fate, but Buffy needed the imbecile. He sighed and got up, dusting himself off.
"Your girl loves you. Believe it. You are the girl's everything." Spike watched as eyes that were entirely human fastened on his face. "If she's not bein' honest with you, give her time and trust. Hasn't she earned that much?"
"No more lies." The watcher stormed about knocking over grave markers. He was clearly I enraged. "She is mine. I must protect her."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you blathering on, but you need to calm down first. Buffy can protect herself." Spike frowned as he considered the falsity of his statement. The girl was tired and pregnant and she needed to be cared for properly. He had wanted to talk with the watcher for so long, but breaking her trust felt wrong. Trying to be reasonably good was so bleedin' difficult. He growled and kicked a floral tribute. Watching it sail through the night air made him feel a bit less of a ponce.
"No. Buffy protects the world it falls to me to protect her. Now, I find she is making alliances with a vampire notorious for killing her kind. The risk boggles the mind." Giles pulled a tree from the ground and started breaking it to bits. "How am I to keep her safe when she conceals everything from me?"
Spike decided it would be best to leave off answering his companion while he was standing about with wood in his hands and pain in his heart.
"Why don't we go have a couple of pints at a demon bar? Safer to be there than out here where the commandos might be hunting." Spike smiled as the watcher nodded. A few well placed words might be enough to nudge the man in the right direction.
"That is a giant vulture. I would have said if it was a giant vulture." Xander pushed the book back and looked at all the volumes scattered on the tables. He needed to find the answers, to find Giles safe and sound despite the evidence to the contrary. He glared at the broken balustrade.
"We're all trying, Xander." Anya looked at him over the book she was going through. "With Buffy missing this may not be the best allocation of our resources. Even if we identify the demon, we'll need Buffy. We need to find her as well."
"Locator spells don't work on slayers after the first couple of weeks. Their powers grow to reflect the spell back. It's a protection built into the whole slayer gig." Willow turned back to the book she was paging through.
"That's why we couldn't find her when she ran away? How come I never knew that?" Xander looked at Willow and noticed her drooping shoulders.
"You were so pissed at her for disappearing that we just didn't talk about it around you." Willow looked up and met his eyes. "I don't think any of us were really thinking about what she was going through. Well, other than Giles."
Xander felt the tug of old guilt, and turned back to the books. He hadn't cared about her heartbreak before, but if Giles was hurt, it would be so much worse.
"We could do a locator spell on Giles right?" Xander asked.
"He's got everything we would need." Willow smiled. Xander quashed the dread that filled him. Willow and magic, magic and Willow, so not okay, but what else could they do?
"We will need a very special item for this to work, something personal. Willow's magic is just a bit too unpredictable to be trusted to anything less." Anya chirped.
"We have his shirt." Willow held up the piece of clothing and shook it.
"But there's not even blood on it. It's just another blah bit of watcher camouflage. We need something special." Anya pulled the shirt away from Willow and let it drop to the floor.
Xander opened the desk drawer, hoping to avoid the conflict between his girls. It was always best to look busy when they got into it. Examining the drawer for possibly useful stuff was a good cover. everything was carefully placed, neat and orderly. In the back of the drawer there was a bit of cloth wrapped around something. He pulled it out and unwrapped a small dagger.
"Think I found the personal item we need." He held the blade out and smiled when both girls nodded.
Buffy and Ethan dragged the last insensate watcher into Faith's old room. Ethan grimaced and rubbed his back. Buffy had made short work of the fools, but the last one had broken her bracelet. She leaned against the empty bed, round and vulnerable. He hated seeing her like this. The guilt was easier to deal with when she looked invincible.
"I've got no idea what to do with these guys." Buffy sighed. "They're mostly human. I mean I think the one with the glowy eyes is demonic, but he's still Council. What am I supposed to do?"
Ethan looked at the pile of weapons and wallets in the far corner of the room. This group was not here to play nice. He looked to her and saw the exhaustion she was fighting.
"Go back to Faith. You'll be safe inside the wards while I come up with a method of dealing with this bit of flotsam."
"Yeah, yeah. I could care less. Fix Giles." Buffy glared at him.
"He will be restored. I promise. Now go get some rest." Ethan smiled as Buffy nodded and yawned. She slid from the room, rubbing her back as she went.
"I know who you are." The disdain dripped from the restrained man with the darkest nature.
"Yes, I would imagine you do. After all, like to like and what not." Ethan turned and smiled at the bastard. "Do you enjoy your work?"
The man frowned and looked down. Ethan smiled. There was something to play with in that action.
"You kill for the money. That's quite cold. No honor in it after all, killing a girl in her bed. Did you see how lovely she is? How still? I know the slayer defended her rather quickly. Perhaps you didn't get to admire her beauty?" Ethan kept his tone light. "Perhaps she was nothing more than an assignment, a picture and a name in a coded file?"
He watched the man shift and felt the flash of triumph. No need to make this one talk. Buffy had identified the weak link in the bunch. Spike could see to him. Ethan sat back against the door and indulged in his favorite vice. It was so much fun to break a man.
Buffy stumbled into Faith's hospital room. The adrenalin rush of the last few hours was gone and she knew that sleep was not just wanted but needed. The room was fairly neat despite the recent whipping of ass that she had delivered to the Council's idiots.
The stave was propped in the corner. It was really good this was Sunnydale. Even if someone came in the room they would have shrugged it off. She sighed, broke down the weapon, and stowed it once more under the bed. They needed to find a way to protect this room with more surety. The pregnancy was making everything harder. Was it too much to ask for a nap once in a while?
She grimaced and rubbed the sides of her belly. She spent so much time masking the changes in her body that she hadn't really adjusted to them. She gathered up the pieces of her bracelet and set them on the small table next to the bed. It was broken beyond repair.
"I guess I'm gonna be me for a bit." Buffy slid into the chair and grabbed Faith's hand. she had painted her nails a bright red the other night. They were still perfect. "Must be nice to be able to maintain a manicure. You really need to wake up so I can find out."
