Spike sank down in his couch. Outside, the sun was rising. He'd barely made it back to his lair without becoming a pile of ashes. He, Buffy, and the Scooby Gang had been out all night looking for Jeannie with no luck. The girl could sure disappear when she wanted to. He hoped she wouldn't do anything too drastic. There was nothing he could do until it got dark, so he layed down to sleep.

***************************************

Spike woke to a strange pressure on his chest. He opened his eyes and found himself face to face with a very familiar woman. "Drusilla?" She was perched on his chest, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"Daddy's going to be pleased," she said. "I've brought a gift for you."

"What sort of gift?" he asked, sitting up.

"Come," Drusilla said. "Come see what mummy's brought you." She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door.

"What is it?" Spike repeated.

Drusilla laughed. "Uh, uh, uh. It's a secret." She led him across the graveyard and to a waiting car. There was a vampire Spike had never seen before in the driver's seat. As the got into the car the vampire drove off.

***************************************

Buffy stepped out from behind the tree. She'd seen Drusilla leading Spike somewhere and had ducked behind it to hide. What was Drucilla doing back in town, she asked herself. Last time she'd been in Sunnydale the vampire had knocked her out with cattle prod. Then Spike had knocked Drucilla out with the same weapon. They'd both ended up chained in Spike's basement. When she'd gotten free, Drusilla had vowed never to return to Spike again. Yet, lo and behold, here she was back after only a week. Buffy shook her head. This was definitely not a good sign. She decided to follow the car.

***************************************

Drusilla dragged Spike into the abandoned warehouse laughing and bouncing giddily. The inside of the warehouse was a strange sight. While most of it was dusty old boxes, the back part had been cleaned out. It looked like a room from the Sunnydale hospital. There was a hospital bed, a tray of surgical tools, and a doctor. As they neared, Spike saw that the doctor was a prisoner. There were two vampires guarding him.

"Drucilla don't you think I've waited long enough? What is the surprise?" Spike asked.

Drucilla smiled and walked over to the doctor. The man's eyes widened and he cowered from her. Oblivious, Drucilla wrapped her arms around the terrified man's kneck and crooned, "You're gonna fix my Spike all up, aren't you doctor?"

The man nodded vigorously.

Spike shook his head. "Dru, the chip can't be taken out. It's been tried."

"I'm not going to take it out," the doctor said nervously. "I only have to press the button to deactivate it."

"There's a bloody off switch!?!" Spike demanded. "All this time and there's a bloody off switch!"

"All I have to do is open you up briefly, press deactivate it, and sew you back up."

"How do I know you know what you're doing, doc. I won't have just any amateur pokin' around in my head," Spike said.

"I used to work for the initiative. I probably helped put the chip in," the doctor replied, cringing as he said the last sentence.

Spike hesitated, unsure whether he could trust this doctor and Drusilla. What the hell, he'd risk it to get the chip out. "Well, what are you waitin' for doc," he exclaimed jumping onto the operating table. "let's get this operation going."

Drusilla clapped in delight. "My Spike's going to be all better!" she said. The doctor picked up the gas mask and fastened it over Spike's mouth.

"I don't breath,you twit," Spike said, his voice muffled by the mask. He sat up and ripped it off.

The doctor looked a bit confused. "Then how will I put him out for the operation?" he asked Drusilla.

Without warning she punched Spike, rendering him unconscious.

***************************************

Spike awoke to a splitting headache. He laughed as he remembered it was because his head had actually been split open. Drusilla was standing a few feet away. She was holding the doctor by the neck with one hand. She raised him up until his feet dangled at least a foot off the ground. "P-please," the poor man stuttered. "I did everything right. He should be waking up any time now."

Spike sat up. "Dru," he said. Drusilla turned and seeing he was awake, let the doctor fall to the ground. She walked over and put her hands up to his head.

"All the nasty electricity in your brain is gone, I can feel it." Drusilla grinned and turned to the doctor who was now on his feet. "You cured my Spike." The man smiled timidly. Drusilla put her hands on either side of his head and brought her face close to his. For a moment Spike thought she was going to kiss him. Instead, she snapped his kneck. "There now," she said walking back to a shocked Spike. "No one will ever mess with you head again," she assured him.

Spike knew he should have expected Drusilla's actions. It made sense that if the doctor knew how to turn the chip off he knew how to turn it back on, as well. Spike slid off the table slowly and joined Drusilla standing over the dead doctor. "Not to question your intuition Dru, but how do we know for sure he did his job?"

"We shall have a test," Drusilla declared. She clapped her hands. Her minions, obviously recognizing the signal, dragged out a struggling form from a pile of boxes. It was a young woman with bound hands and a gagged mouth. She wore a black leather miniskirt, knee high boots, and a red halter top with a black rose on it.

"Jeannie!" he exclaimed. He rushed over. Relief showed in her eyes and she mumbled something resembling his name through the gag.

Drusilla strode over and put her arms around the girl. "So pretty," she crooned, caressing the girl's face. "Kill her," she commanded Spike. She thrust Jeannie into Spike's arms.

"What?" Spike exclaimed. He looked down at Jeannie, she had a shocked look on her face. He looked from Jeannie to Drusilla and back to Jeannie. About five more vampires appeared and surrounded the group. Spike realized he had no choice. He morphed into his vampire face and leaned toward Jeannie who still had a stunned expression on her face. Suddenly, he cried out and jumped back. "I can't," he declared. "Looks like you should've kept the doc alive a little longer," he said to Dru.

Drusilla scowled. She wrenched Jeannie out of Spike's arms before he could react. Spike moved forward, but the other vampires grabbed hold of him. "Goodbye, little girl," she said to Jeannie. Her features changed and she sprouted her fangs. Before she could go any farther, one of her minions exploded into a pile of dust. As the dust settled, Buffy was revealed.

"Hello, Drusilla," Buffy said. "Long time no see...no wait, you were here last week." She staked another minion as he rushed her.

Spike now only had two vampires holding him. He whirled suddenly and headbutted the one behind him. He clutched his head as it reeled in pain, a result of his recent surgery. "Oh, bloody hell. That was a bad idea." The other vampire jumped at him, but he punched this one. The vampire went down, but not for long. He was weaker than usual, another result of the surgery. Soon, both vampires were advancing on Spike. He backed up until he found himself cornered against the boxes.

Buffy was busy defending Jeannie from Drusilla and the other two remaining minions, he wouldn't get any help from her. Spike looked around, then was struck with inspiration. He turned around and punched the nearest box viciously. The two advancing vampires, stopped in confusion. Spike turned around now holding a jagged piece of wood in each hand. He jumped at the nearest vampire while he was still stunned and plunged the makeshift stake into its heart. The other vampire grabbed Spike as his first opponent turned to dust and hurled him across the room. Spike landed in a heap against the far wall, knocking over the surgical tools.

The vampire walked over as Spike struggled to get up. He was only halfway up when the other vampire reached him, he dealt Spike a blow that sent him crashing back to the ground. The vampire reached for him again, but before he could reach Spike a surprised look came over his face. Spike, too, was astonished as the other vampire burst into a pile of dust. Jeannie was standing there, her hands and mouth still bound. She smiled as best she could from behind the gag.

Spike grabbed a scalpel from the floor and cut Jeannie loose. "Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded. Spike hugged her tightly. Across the room, Buffy was still battling Drusilla. Before Spike could move to help, Drusilla threw Buffy into a pile of boxes and started toward the door. As she reached it, she turned back.

"I see now. The doctor removed the restraints from your brain, but he couldn't remove them from your heart. There is no hope for you now, my poor Spke," she said. With that, she disappeared into the darkness.

Buffy stood up and walked over to Spike and Jeannie.

"Are you alright?" she asked Jeannie.

"I'm fine," Jeannie replied, coldly.

Buffy sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said at Willow's place."

"You're forgiven," Jeannie said, cheefully. She began skipping towards the door.

Buffy and Spike followed behind. "Does the chip really still work?" Buffy asked.

Spike just smiled. "Maybe."

The End


What'd ya think? Please R&R. Sorry this chapter took so long to write. Should I write a sequel?