/

/

/

"Freeze!"

Spike looked at the policeman and policewoman that were pointing guns at him. Snyder was there too.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Spike insisted, "I didn't do it!"

"Stay right where you are," the policeman warned

Spike knew he was screwed; Snyder wasn't going to back him up. Then Spike thought back to when Joyce had been in the hospital after Darla had attacked her. The nurse believed Spike when he said a vampire had bitten Joyce; could the police have a similar procedure?

"It wasn't me, a vampire did it!" Spike said, desperately, "Could have been this guy called Angelus."

The policeman was unsure what to do. Spike realized instantly that his plan had failed. Snyder tried not to laugh.

"Right…" the policeman tried to remain calm, hoping Spike would follow suit, "Kid, why don't we…take you somewhere that's…safe from the…vampires?"

The policewoman approached Spike.

"I'll go with you, but can you just make sure they're okay?" Spike asked, desperately, "Please!"

The policeman looked to his partner for approval.

"Go ahead," she said

The policeman checked Oz's heartbeat, then Willow's.

"They're still alive," the man said, "I'll call in an ambulance."

Spike then grabbed the policewoman's gun, and threw it out the window. Before the policeman could fire on him, Spike made his exit.

/

Later, the hospital…

/

"Yes, Mrs. Rosenberg," Oz said, "I'll call you if I hear anything else."

Oz hung up the phone. He started to walk back to Willow's room. He passed a teenager in a black hoodie and jeans.

"Oz," he coughed

Oz looked under the teen's hood, and realized it was Spike.

"Oh thank God you're okay," Oz breathed a sigh of relief, "I heard the cops come in, I was afraid they'd arrested you."

"I managed to fight them off," Spike said, "But I can't keep…"

Oz saw two policemen approaching them; he wrapped his arms around Spike.

"It's okay, man, it's going to be okay," Oz said

Spike watched the policemen pass by.

"It's safe," Spike said

Oz let go of him.

"So, I see you're more-or-less intact," Spike saw Oz's cast, "But what about everyone else?"

/

Oz and Spike stood by Willow's hospital bed. She had a black eye and a cut on her forehead, and was unconscious.

"It's head trauma," Oz explained, "She could wake up any time, but the longer she's out, the more danger there is."

"You called her parents, right?" Spike asked

"Yeah. And Xander."

"Is Cordelia…?" Spike began

"I'm alright," Cordelia walked in, "Oz told me to run. I must have made it through three counties before I realized no one was chasing me."

"And Giles?" Spike asked

"You didn't see him?" Oz asked

"No."

"Maybe he's back at his place?" Cordelia suggested

"I should go check it out," Spike said

"Be careful," Cordelia warned

/

The Mansion…

/

Giles was tied to a chair in front of Angelus and Drusilla. The Watcher hoped it was just a bad dream; he would have been happier knowing it was a hallucination while he was in a coma following a horrific accident.

"I can't activate Acathla," Angelus said, "I tried the ritual, blood of the innocent on my hands and yank the sword out, but it didn't work. So, do you know how to do it?"

Giles avoided Angelus' eyes.

"Yep, figured you did," Angelus said, "Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to torture it out of you?"

"I won't tell you," Giles said, firmly

"Thought so," Angelus sighed, "Jeez, you people always make this so difficult! Do you think I like torturing you for information? Oh...wait, I do."

Angelus left the room, with Drusilla following him. As soon as they were gone, Buffy turned her back to Giles, and rolled up her sleeve. She had written a message on there:

I've got your back.

/

Giles' apartment…

/

Spike opened the door with his spare key, and walked inside.

"Giles, you here?" Spike asked

No one replied. Then Spike heard something fall over in the bedroom. He ran up there, prepared to fight. He found Doyle standing near the window.

"Who the hell are you?" Spike demanded

"Why does everyone always ask me that?" Doyle complained, "Always those five exact words, never 'who are you?' or 'I'm insert-name-here, who are you?'."

Spike tensed his fists.

"I'm Doyle," the man said quickly

"Drusilla's Doyle?" Spike asked

"Yeah."

"I don't suppose you've you come to help?" Spike asked

"Not in the way you want," Doyle said, "All I can do is talk to you, give you some cryptic prophecy."

"Can you give me the quick version?" Spike groaned, "I'm having a bad day."

"My hands are tied by the Power-That-Be," Doyle was equally annoyed, "I can't tell you anything until you bring me the sword."

"Fine," Spike muttered

/

The slayer walked along the street, trying to think of the best way to get to school. Then he heard a police siren, and began to run. The police car caught up to him, and a policeman got out.

"Freeze!" he yelled

Spike raised his hands.

"Don't do anything stupid," Spike warned

"You're not going to bluff your way out of this," the policeman warned

He cocked his gun.

"Wilkins gave me orders to shoot on…"

The policeman was interrupted by Buffy appearing and knocking him onto the hood of his car.

"Sorry I took so long," Buffy said

She looked to the unconscious policeman.

"Do you mind?" she asked, "He was going to kill you."

"Can you do it without killing him?" Spike asked

Buffy rolled her eyes at Spike's puritanism. She leaned down to the policeman, and bit on his neck, drinking some of his blood.

"Okay, that's enough," Spike pulled her up

"Whatever," Buffy brushed him off, "So, Angelus has your librarian friend. But, I can help you stop him."

"Why would you want to do that?" Spike asked, "I thought the end of humanity would be what you wanted."

"Not really," Buffy said, "I kind of like this world. You've got hair dye, a million kinds of nail polish…plus there's lotsa cute boys walking around, like slabs of beef with legs."

Buffy wiped the blood from her mouth, and retracted her fangs and ridges.

"Do you want my help or not?" she asked

/

The Summers House…

/

Spike and Buffy walked up to the house just in time to find Joyce coming home.

"Spike, where have you been?" Joyce asked, frantically, "The police were here…"

"I didn't do it," Spike insisted

"Oh, good," Joyce said

"Wait, you thought I killed someone?" Spike asked, accusingly

"Well, no, I just thought that maybe they'd seen you kill a vampire and got the wrong idea," Joyce explained

She noticed Buffy.

"Who's your friend?" Joyce asked

Buffy stepped forward.

"Elizabeth Anne Pratt," she introduced herself, "But you can call me Buffy."

/

Spike was in the kitchen, on the phone to Oz. Buffy sat with Joyce in the living room. Years later, Buffy would recount the story to Andrew Wells, who would be inspired to write a book which detailed a reality where Buffy was Joyce Summers' slayer-daughter, and Spike was an evil vampire. It became something of a favorite among the potentials.

"It's really nice to finally meet you, Ms. Summers," Buffy said, happily, "Spike's told me a lot about you."

"Um, it's nice to meet you too," Joyce said uneasily

"I was thinking you and I should have coffee sometime, or maybe go shoe shopping?" Buffy suggested

"I guess we could do that," the prospect of having someone young to shop with appealed to Joyce; Spike wouldn't even go to the supermarket with her

"Can you believe it's been almost a hundred and twenty years since a boy's asked me to meet his parents?" Buffy asked

"That long?" Joyce asked

"Yeah, I've recently gotten out of a long-term relationship," Buffy explained, "Guy was a jerk. He was nice at first, I mean, he was so intellectual, such a bad boy. Just the idea that he was interested in me made me feel…special. I know it sounds pathetic."

"Oh no, I've done that," Joyce sympathized, "I was with this guy in college, such a jerk, but he had really great hair."

"How long did that go on?" Buffy asked

"Um…well, not as long as yours. It was just under a month. Well…three weeks. Rounded up."

/

Spike walked back into the living room.

"Willow's come out of her coma," Spike said

"Oh thank god," Joyce was relieved

"I need to go to the library and get something," Spike continued, "I'll be back…"

"Spike, what the hell is going on?" Joyce interrupted, "You're wanted for murder, Giles is missing, and…is Buffy your girlfriend?"

Spike decided to go ahead and tell Joyce about Acathla, then about Kendra (the whole story about her, how Spike had tried to help her), then Angelus and Buffy.

"Oh my…" Joyce was overwhelmed with information, "Well, can't you call that Watchers council to help you? Or the police?"

"The police can't help," Spike replied, "And if I called the Watchers council, they'd just tell me to go sort it out."

"B-but," Joyce couldn't comprehend it, "You're telling me, you're the one they expect to stop the end of the world?"

"Yes," Spike sighed

"That's not fair! You're only seventeen, you can't be expected to…!"

"Now's not the time to argue," Spike interrupted, "Buffy and I are going to try and stop Angelus and Dru. Best thing you can do is to stay in the house."

"Shouldn't we leave town or something?" Joyce attempted to be helpful

"That wouldn't be far enough," Spike replied, "Unless you've got a spaceship tucked away somewhere, then there's no way we can outrun Acathla."

/

The hospital…

/

"Done?" Oz asked

Willow nodded. Oz moved the cup of water away from her mouth.

"How are you feeling?" Xander asked

"A lot better," Willow replied, "In fact, I'm ready to try that spell again."

Everyone exchanged nervous glances.

"Willow, you just came out of a coma," Xander reminded, "And that spell is really powerful magic."

"I don't care," Willow said, "I'm resolved to do it. See this? It's my resolve face. And you know you can't change it. Besides, we can really help Spike. What if we could restore Drusilla's soul before Angelus activates Acathla?"

"She has a point," Oz said

Willow turned to Xander and Cordelia.

"You two go get my supplies from the library," Willow ordered, "Cordelia knows what to get."

Xander nodded, and left with Cordelia following him.

"It's really good of you to do this for Spike," Oz said

"Oh, I'm not doing it for Spike, it's more for me," Willow admitted

"To practice magic?"

"No, to get revenge," Willow spoke calmly, which made it even scarier, "I want to make her pay for what she did to me."

"You can't just act on revenge," Oz said, "That's what Ms. Calendar's people did, and look how that turned out."

"This is different," Willow insisted

"No it's not," Oz said, "Too many people around here get absorbed by revenge. Spike's made it his entire life, Xander's becoming just like him, and then Giles goes off on a suicide mission. All that's bad enough, but now you? I might as well be going to school with the Count of Monte Cristo! Until we learn to let go of things, we're just going to get caught up in revenge, retaliation, and aggression!"

"Well that's easy for you to say!" Willow argued, "Your life is easy!"

"No it's not. You think I didn't want to kill cousin Jordy for turning me into a monster?" Oz asked, "You think I didn't want to rip Spike to shreds for dragging me on that werewolf hunt?"

Willow had never seen this side of Oz before. It frightened her more than Oz had been frightened of Willow's dark side.

"I let it go, and made sure it wouldn't happen again," Oz concluded, "That's why three nights a month I lock myself in the library cage."

Willow knew Oz was right.

"Ok. No more revenge," Willow agreed

"Good."

Brief pause.

"You're still doing the spell, right?" Oz asked

"Oh, yeah," Willow nodded, "But I won't enjoy it. Well, I'll enjoy helping Spike, but…"

/

Angelus walked around Giles, who was still not giving in.

"You've done this before," Angelus realized, "This goes beyond the anti-interrogation tricks they teach at the Watchers' council. In fact, I'd say that you've been on both ends of this.

Angelus pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of Giles.

"So, do I have to get the chainsaw?"

"The ritual…" Giles muttered

"Yes?" Angelus asked, eagerly

"The ritual must be performed…" Giles said, "It must be performed…"

"YES?"

"…while wearing a wedding dress," Giles completed, "Wanker."

"Right, that's it, get the chainsaw!" Angelus growled

"Hold it, if you put him into shock, he won't be of use to anyone," Buffy reminded, "There's an easier way to do this."

"How?" Angelus asked

Buffy stepped aside, revealing Drusilla.

"Dru, hypnotize him," Buffy ordered

"You dare speak to your sire in that tone?" Angelus growled

Angelus turned to Drusilla.

"Drusilla, could you please hypnotize him?" Angelus asked

"Certainly," Drusilla replied

/

Sunnydale High School…

/

Spike walked discreetly back to the library. He just wanted to get the sword and get out; the image of Kendra's lifeless body was still stuck in his mind. The slayer walked to the table where Kendra had left the sword, hidden in the gym bag. Spike pulled it out. He had never been one for swords, they were a bit too extravagant for his taste. There was nothing a sword could do that couldn't be done with a stake or a railroad spike. Still, if it had to be done…

"You know this is a crime scene, don't you?" Snyder asked, "But then again, you are a criminal, so it makes sense."

"You know I didn't kill her," Spike said, "The cops will figure it out."

Snyder snorted.

"Summers, you know how deeply stupid the Sunnydale police department are," Snyder reminded, "It doesn't matter anyway. Whatever they find, you've proved too much of a liability for this school."

Snyder stopped to take a breath.

"These are the moments you want to savor," he grinned, "You wish time would stop so that you could live them over and over again. You're expelled."

Snyder expected Spike to be broken, defeated. He had hoped Spike would start crying and beg not to be expelled. But instead…

"You realize you just gave up your only protection from me?" Spike asked

Snyder laughed at him.

"This time, there's no Jonathan or Larry or any of your other…"

Snyder used a very hateful term that pushed Spike too far.

"…friends to back you up," Snyder warned, "It'll be my word against yours."

"What good is your word if you can't say it?" Spike inquired

He punched Snyder in the face, breaking his jaw, then before he could back away, Spike punched him in the throat. The pain was incredible, like nothing Snyder had ever faced before.

"Grrrrrhhhaaaaaa!" Snyder moaned in pain, convulsing on the floor, unable to form words

/

/

/

To be continued…

A/N: I have some ideas for Season 3 that I'd like to get feedback on. Is there anyone who I could share them with before I start writing Season 3?