Rose watched as Daria set wards and laid traps. At least, she did when Daria was in her extremely limited field of vision. When she wasn't, it tended to make the hairs on the back of Rose's neck stand on end, metaphorically speaking, of course.

Rose had pretty much resigned herself to not being rescued, and she had even gotten to the point where she was more or less okay with it. Given that, it narrowed her field of worries down to the possibility of Spike letting his feelings override his good sense and come back. That was plenty enough to worry about.

&&&&&

Not strangely, Angel had had the same thought in regards to Spike, and was going to great lengths to watch him without actually seeming like he was watching him. He should have known it wouldn't fool the cocky Brit vampire.

Spike barged into Angel's office without knocking, and with a protesting Harmony in tow. Angel gave Harm a nod, and she gratefully removed herself.

"You know," Spike opened conversationally, sitting on Angel's desk. "Weeks on end I sit in that cramped little office seein' no one but the Watcher. And now, all of a sudden like, I am never alone for more than thirty seconds. I'm glad vampires don't have to use the loo. That could get a little awkward." Having said his piece, he sat there and stared at his grandsire pointedly.

Angel sighed. "It's not that I don't trust you, Spike..," he began.

"But you don't," Spike interrupted. "You don't think I don't know it was a damn fool thing to do? I could have cocked the whole thing up good and proper."

"Yes, you could have," Angel agreed. "But we got lucky and it didn't happen. I'm, just a little concerned that you might try pushing your luck."

Spike shook his head. "By now the bounty hunter's probably got that house wired like a bloomin' Christmas tree. So I'm not going." He hung his head and muttered something under his breath. It sounded to Angel like he said, "The bloody flames didn't hurt this bad." Then he gave himself a shake. "Angel, mate, you want to be having a talk with your boys in black. Not one of them tried to stop me. I don't think they even saw me. Sloppy work, and I don't think we can afford it if we're going to have a chance of getting Rose back."

"I'll do that," Angel replied. There had been something nagging at the back of his mind about the whole affair, and once Spike had made the comment, it had clicked. Granted that a vampire could be extremely stealthy, but those men worked for Wolfram and Hart, and should have been prepared for anything, human, demon, vampire, or whatever. "Do you want to be in charge of the surveillance?"

Spike looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "First you supervise me like a two-year-old, then you offer to let me run the show?" he said incredulously. "What gives?"

"You've convinced me that you have Rose's best interests enough at heart that you won't do anything stupid," Angel replied. "And given that you have a personal interest in the operation, I'm betting that those guys won't dare to slack off."

"Too bloody right they won't," Spike stated. "Does bein' in charge give me the authority to kick their sorry asses around if I catch 'em sleeping at the wheel?"

"As long as you leave them pretty much functional," Angel conceded. "I don't have an unlimited number of them, and training them takes a while."

"I'll try not to break anything," Spike promised. He started heading for the door, then halted. He turned back to Angel with a serious look on his face. "We're going to get her back, aren't we?"

Angel felt a pang of sympathy at the raw pain he heard in Spike's voice. Even though given what little they had managed to do, he was far from sure of the outcome himself, he couldn't deny Spike what little comfort he could give. "Of course we're going to get her back," he said firmly. "I almost wish..," he started, then cut himself off.

"What?" Spike asked, re-tracing his steps. When Angel didn't answer immediately, he planted himself in front of the desk, hands on either side, staring hard into the ponce's eyes.

Angel felt backed into a corner. He didn't want to tell Spike what he had been thinking about, but if he didn't, he knew that Spike would torment him unmercifully until he did. Might as well get it over with.

"When Rose was trying to find a way to bring you back," he said slowly. "I thought that I wished I could have a word with the rest of The Powers. That night, while I was sleeping, I got what I wished for."

Spike's face was a picture of shock. "You talked to the bleedin' Powers?" he asked incredulously. His eyes narrowed. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them that the two of you loved each other so much that it would be cruel to separate you," Angel confessed. "I was just kind of thinking that maybe if I could talk to them again, they might help us get Rose away from Daria."

"If anyone's talking to the high and mighty sodding Powers," Spike snarled. "It had better be me. As you pointed out, I do have a personal interest."

"I don't think it's up to us," Angel remarked. "But for what it's worth, I'd be more than happy to let you do the talking." He glanced at the window. "It's getting dark. Are you going to go and start whipping the ops team into shape?"

Spike got an evil grin on his face. "With the greatest of pleasure," he replied. He was halfway to the door again, when, he stopped again. "Uh, Angel?" He gave his grandsire a look.

Angel shook his head and tossed Spike the keys to the Viper.

&&&&&&&

Wesley popped into Spike's office. He saw the vampire grab his coat and start back to the door. "Where are you going, Spike?" he asked.

"Going to make those sodding useless ops poufs toe the line," Spike informed him. "So, I'm afraid that I won't have time to sneeze my way through your dusty old research."

"Does Angel know about this?" Wes asked suspiciously.

"His idea," Spike answered. He stopped. "Call him and ask him if you don't believe me." He leaned against the door and folded his arms across his chest.

Instead of picking up the phone, Wesley went over to Spike and looked at him for a moment. He seemed to find the answers to his questions in Spike's expression. "Go on," he said quietly. There was a small, quiet, male-bonding moment. "Spike?" he added. "If you get a chance at Daria McBride, could you add a few.., comments, for me?" He quirked an eyebrow at Spike.

"Doubt if I'll leave much of anything to comment on, Watcher," Spike replied. "But if I run out of reasons to give her hell, I'll keep you in mind."

"Fair enough," Wes agreed.

&&&&&&&

Rose watched the sun set with mixed emotions. It wasn't so much the coming of the night, she thought, as the thought of what, or who might be coming. She wanted to see Spike, oh so very much, and hear the sound of his voice. But she knew that if she got what she wanted, then her love would be as trapped as she was. So with great determination, she pushed her wants aside, and hoped that he had sense enough to stay away.

She spent a lot of time looking out that window. There wasn't a lot she could see, being unable to leave the room, or even turn her head, but it was a nice view. She saw a light colored something duck quickly from one bush to another. What on earth, she thought. Then, the figure passed by again, a little closer to the house. Oh no. She bit back a groan. Spike. Surely he wasn't going to be so foolish. Then, for one brief moment, he stopped in full view of the now repaired window. He gave her a thumbs up, blew her a kiss and disappeared again. Rose felt a wave of relief wash over her. True, she hadn't been able to hear him speak, but for the most part, she had gotten everything she had dared to wish for.

And, as much as she could be in her present circumstances, Rose was content.

&&&&&&&&

Spike was both cheered and pissed. Cheered at the sight of his beloved, and pissed beyond reasoning that not one of the ops men had caught him or questioned his presence. He went hunting, intending to rip the team some new ones. But even his sharp, vampire eyes couldn't pick out any of the black clad men. He sniffed the air, hunting by smell. Now, there was an odd thing. Not one scent of a human at all. At the distance he was from the house, and considering how he had seen the men begin to deploy when he'd first accompanied the McBride bitch here, he should be able to track them by scent by now. Then he realized that he was on the wrong scent. Given that, he started following a different aroma altogether. A smell any vampire would recognize. He started beating the bushes in dead earnest. And, unfortunately, dead was an appropriate term. But how had she done it? For there was no doubt in his mind that Daria was behind it. But the men lay there as peacefully as if they were sleeping, not a mark on any of them. And what was going on at Wolfram and Hart? This lot was the same ones that had come along with him last night. Where were their daytime replacements? And why hadn't anyone back at the firm noticed that they hadn't reported back in? He headed back to the Viper at a dead run.

&&&&&&&

Angel was just about to leave his office when his phone rang. With a long-suffering sigh, he trudged back to his desk and picked it up. "Hello? Spike? What? All of them? How long? Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Can you hold down the fort while I get things sorted out at this end? Stay the hell away from the house and watch your back. Yeah, same to you."

With a look of consternation on his face, he dialed the extension for ops, wondering, as Spike had, what was going on in that department.

&&&&&&&

"Had an eventful day?" Daria asked, strolling over to where Rose stood, immobile. "Any sign of your sweetie, yet?"

"If I had seen him I wouldn't tell you," Rose sniffed. "In case you hadn't noticed, we don't seem to be on the same side."

"I almost wish that I still had him instead of you," Daria remarked. "At least with him, I could exert a little leverage over you. And don't tell me you weren't frothing at the mouth to put in an appearance to save him."

"I won't tell you anything," Rose said primly. "Draw your own conclusions. I've no doubt that you will anyway."

"But how do you hurt a disembodied spirit?" Daria mused, ignoring Rose's remarks. "The only way I've seen is the one I can no longer employ. At least, not until I can lay hands on that vampire again." She saw Rose's face grow hard and grim at that observation. "Struck a nerve, have I?" she asked with a grin. "Shall I tell you how it felt, touching him? Feeling his bare flesh under my hands?" As Rose's face began to resemble a thundercloud, Daria laughed and left off taunting her. Then, she left the room.

&&&&&&

Spike glided from one piece of cover to another, trying as best he could to keep the entire, very extensive grounds under surveillance. And to give him credit, he wasn't doing a bad job. But it was just too much of a job for one person to handle properly. He hoped that the pouf got some more troops out here soon. The bounty hunter's client could have come and left a dozen or so times without being detected. Then, he had a thought, and he was willing to bet it was something that Angel hadn't thought of. He snuck back to the car.

&&&&&&&&

"Hello?" Wesley answered his phone. "What? You don't say. Yes, I suppose it's possible, but I'll have to run it by Angel first." He started to grin. "Actually, it's a very good idea, Spike. Carry on as best you can for now. Will you be near a phone? Oh. Yes, probably not the best idea. And you'll be too busy, of course to stay near the car. Well, I guess that you'll just have to wait and keep your fingers crossed."

As soon as he finished his conversation with Spike, the researcher hung up, then picked up the phone again and called the head vampire. "Angel? I assume you know what's going on at Daria McBride's? Yes. Well, I just got a call from Spike, and he had an idea that might be better than what we were doing. It would certainly save us losing more men. All I have to do is get out there and set up some wards of our own. They don't actually have to keep anything out. They can be used simply as an alarm system. That's right. With the proper wards at oh, say fifty yards from the house, no one or no thing will be able to approach the place without us knowing. Then Spike wouldn't need an entire team. Oh, absolutely, I'll get right on it."

Wesley hung up again, and, humming under his breath, started looking up the spells he'd need and figuring out the material items he'd need for them.

&&&&&&

Spike dragged back to his apartment fagged out. He wouldn't have left for anything, except the coming of dawn. He couldn't do anything for his Rose if he was a pile of dust. He glanced around. It wasn't quite as crummy as Rose's place had been, but he hadn't gotten around to fixing it up like his crypt had been. Mostly, it was just a place to sleep. And spend time talking to Rose. More than anything, he missed their pre-bedtime talks. Cuddled up together on the bed, nearly nose to nose, talking about whatever came into their heads. He got some of the red stuff out of the fridge and warmed it up in the microwave. Downed it almost automatically. He strolled into the bedroom, shedding clothes as he went. Then, with a sad smile, he went back and picked it all up, remembering Rose's gentle nagging on the subject. He crawled into bed and pulled a pillow into his arms, wrapped himself around it like he'd like to wrap himself around her. Cuddling the pillow to himself, he fell asleep, with one, lone tear trickling down his cheek.

&&&&&&&&

"William." Who the hell was calling him that? Spike burrowed his head farther into the pillows.

"William." Couldn't whoever it was let a bloke get some sleep?

"William."

Spike: "Who the hell are you and what do you want?" His mind's eye opened fully, and he saw all the pretty colors.

Cerulean: "It was you who expressed a desire to speak with us, William."

Spike: "Since I haven't got a bleeding clue who you are, why would I want to talk to you? And call me Spike."

Violet: "Spike, then. Surely by now you have some clue as to who we are. Although, admittedly we are missing one of our number."

Spike: "Rose. You're The Powers That Be, aren't you? Listen, Rose is one of you lot, or she was. Why won't you help her?"

Sienna: "We deem it unnecessary. You have what you require to free her."

Spike: "Are you talking about that effin' reference to the two demons who are not demons?"

Viridian: "Maybe. But we are not met to give you your answers, vampire. We would rather ask the questions."

Spike: "And supposing I refuse to answer?"

Citrine: "Perhaps, then, we will recall Rose. It is possible that she has overstayed her time in your world."

Spike: "Like hell she has. Ask your bloody questions. In case it has escaped your notice, which wouldn't surprise me, I happen to be in love with the lady."

Violet: "And what would you have us do about our other part? We should have brought her back long since, but we allowed her to stay on."

Spike: "I want to be with her. Okay, so I'd prefer it if she had her body back. It would be nice to be able to hold her again. But if the way she is now is the only way I can have her, then I'll settle for that. I just want her with me. Always."

Viridian: "Suppose we did allow it? How would you have her be.., Spike? As a human, she would age and die before you had time to turn around. As a vampire, she would be evil."

Cerulean: "Having two vampires with souls has caused enough difficulties. Three would be unconscionable."

Citrine: "So choose then, vampire, how would you have Rose?"

Spike: "That's a pretty narrow choice, isn't it? And to tell the truth, I don't much care. Whether I have ten years, or a hundred or a thousand, I want to spend it with Rose."

Sienna: "You have given us much to think about, Spike. Sleep now, and we will consider your words."

Spike: "Hey, hang about." He sat up in bed, suddenly wide awake. "Oh, bugger. Sodding Powers."