Title: Surprises (1/1)
"Changes of Hearts series, story 7
Author: Evil Willow lcaspell@yahoo.com
Feedback: Please. You really don't want to see how cruel I can be to
the characters without it. ;-)
Rating: PG-13 for some cursing.
Spoilers: This story takes off from Pangs and IWRY, and diverts into
a world of my own making. General spoilers up to those eps.
Disclaimer: The story's mine, the character's aren't. Joss, Mutant
Enemy, WB, FOX, and others own the characters. I'll return them, if
not all in one piece, when finished.
Category: Story/Romance/Angst/Humor
Keywords: Willow/Xander, Anya/Spike; alternate timeline/universe.
There's a character death in this part, but I promise, it's not
anyone that you'll be upset about. :-)
Summary: Buffy finds out about what happened to Anya, and decides to
do something about it. Adam rears his ugly head. Willow has some
plans to help make things right for everyone.

Finally, words in * * = thoughts/emphasis

**********
Willow and Buffy's room.

"What the hell..." were Buffy's next words when she found her voice
again. Xander grinned, and Willow blushed. Xander said, "Hey, Buffy.
How was L.A.? At Buffy's dark look, he said, "That bad, oh," he
looked at his watch then and said, "Wow! Two a.m.! I should go--"

"*Not* so fast," Buffy blocked his exit quickly. "I'm a very tired,
very pissed off Slayer, so I suggest you not tempt me to take out my
stress on you," she said only half-jokingly.

Xander chuckled nervously, and answered, "Okay, I won't. And notice
I'm not denying your ability to kick my ass. I just thought you might
want some sleep--"

"Where's Anya? And why are you two doing the smooching thing? Haven't
you been there and done that before?" Buffy interrupted him.

Willow opened her mouth, to help her boyfriend defend their actions,
but got distracted by that realization. *Boyfriend*, she thought with
a smile. *I could get used to that, 'this is my boyfriend, Xander'.*
She realized that Xander was trying to explain the recent turn in
events to Buffy, but was only succeeding in doing a lot of nervous
babbling.

Willow interrupted him, much to his relief, and said, "Buffy, what
Xander is trying to say is that we decided to give us a chance. I
mean, we have been there before, but we got scared. Well, we decided
to stop trying to run away from our feelings, and just see what
happens."

"Oookaaay," Buffy said slowly. "But how does Anya feel about that
decision?"

"Anya?" Xander said, stalling for time.

"Yes, Anya. Your girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend. Used to be a demon?"
Buffy said in response.

Xander looked up at her guiltily, then back down at his feet,
stuttering, "Well, uh, Anya, well, she, um..."

"Tell me!" Buffy yelled.

Xander took a deep breath, and said quickly, "Dru came back, killed
Anya, Spike killed Dru, then turned Anya into a vampire." He looked
up at her, wincing, waiting for the beating he was expecting to
follow.

"WHAT!!!" Buffy screamed.

Xander replied, "You're *not* going to make me say that again, are
you????"

"Why would Dru kill Anya? Why would Spike kill Dru? AND WHY WOULD
SPIKE TURN ANYA????"

"Um, he was bored???" At Buffy's threatening look, Xander
continued, "Uh, actually, it's a really long story, and I'm *sure*
you're tired, so--"

"It's funny, but I'm not tired at all anymore," Buffy
replied, sitting on her bed, as she waited for Xander to explain.


********
Spike's Mansion
2 am

Spike had been told by one of his minions that the Slayer was back,
and decided Anya and he needed to go underground. He wasn't
afraid of the Slayer, he knew he could manage to stay out of her way.
He was worried for Anya's sake, though. She would be too weak to
defend herself if Buffy decided to do some slaying in their general
direction any time soon. And he wouldn't be able to help her, not
with the chip in his head.

Since the news, Spike had been busily gathering some things together
and throwing them in the car, waiting for Anya to wake, *Which should
be very soon* he thought. *And if it isn't, I'll move her anyway. I
can only assume that Buffy will come after us as soon as she knows,
which I'm sure is any moment.*

"Spike?" he heard Anya's voice from the bedroom. He went in, and
walked over to where she was lying on the bed."

"Hello, Luv," he said gently, sitting by her side and stroking her
hair lovingly.

Anya sat up and wrapped her arms around him, tightly. "Oh, Spike. I
was so afraid when I woke up and you weren't here. I was afraid that
you'd--"

Spike put his finger on her lips to silence her, and said, "I'd never
leave you, Anya," and his eyes told her everything he couldn't bring
himself to say.

She smiled, and replied, "I know, I just...I'm not usually this
needy," she added disgustedly.

"You're weak, and probably hungry," Spike replied. "Your food should
be here already..." and as he was looking around, a male vampire
pushed a very confused Parker through the door. "About bloody time,"
Spike said to the vampire in irritation.

"Sorry, Boss," the vampire responded sheepishly. "It wasn't easy
finding food this late at night, especially with the Initiative out
in full force. This one was stupid enough to be underground though,
so he was an easy catch."

"I was looking for my dog, he ran off!" Parker replied indignantly,
suprisingly not frightened at all by the prospect of being in a room
with three vampires. Spike just rolled his eyes in response, and said
to the other vamp, "You know the deal, Johnny. My girl's probably
hungry, so don't keep her waiting."

"Wha--" the reality of the situation finally hit Parker. He tried to
bolt for the door, and Johnny helpfully tripped him. "Ow!" Parker
yelled as he struggled to get up. Johnny grabbed him and threw him
face first against the wall. "Ow!" Parker said again (apparently at a
loss for any other words). Spike watched in amusement as Johnny
calmly picked him up and backed him against the wall, his hand on
Parker's throat. Parker tried to reach out and punch, or scratch, but
Johnny's arms were long enough that he stayed out of the range of Parker's
flailing.

Spike looked over to the bed. Anya's blood-lust had caused her game-
face to emerge, and she was struggling to stand. He went over to help
her stand. "Spike, you were right. I'm really hungry," she said with
a grin.

He laughed, and kissed her passionately, before helping her walk over
to sit in a chair near where the helpless, still flailing, and slowly
turning red in the face Parker was gasping for breath. "Johnny will
bring your food to you," he told her.

He looked at Johnny expectantly. Johnny released Parker, and he fell
to the ground gasping for air. Johnny took advantage of the
opportunity to tie Parker's hands behind him with a bit of rope
Johnny pulled out of his jeans pocket. Spike looked at Johnny in
surprise at that, and Johnny muttered, "I was a boy scout in a
previous life. 'Always be prepared' and all that."

Spike laughed in appreciation.

Anya took the opportunity to really consider the other vampire then.
He looked young, but then again, they all did. *He probably is,
though, considering his choice of dress is very nineties,* Anya
decided. *Either that, or he has adapted better than most old
demons.*

She then turned her attention to her 'food', which Johnny had pushed
toward her. *Typical college-aged pretty boy,* she thought with
disinterest. *Just good-looking enough to believe he's all that, I'll
bet. Vacant eyes. Probably hasn't ever had an original thought in his
life.*

Johnny brought Parker to stand in front of her, and then punched him
in the stomach, effectively knocking him to his knees. "Ow!" Parker
gasped. Anya smiled at him. Parker looked up at her in fear, and that
just succeeded to make the blood-lust impossible to resist. She
grabbed Parker by the hair and tilted his head to the side.

As she sunk his fangs into his neck, he whimpered, but seemed unable
to struggle. She drank thirstily, as Spike watched, glad that she was
adapting to the reality of being a vampire so well.

When she had drained Parker, Anya pulled her fangs out of his neck,
and pushed him over, giggling as he toppled to the floor.

"Feeling better, Luv?" Spike asked

"Oh, yes. Much!"

"Good, because we have to change living arrangements, now," Spike
said.

"Why? I like it here," she pouted.

"I'm sure you do, Anya, but the Slayer's back. So we need to keep low
profile, until I can do something about the chip in my head. Johnny,
grab the bags out there, and put them in the car." Turning back to
Anya, he said, "Come on, Luv. We need to go underground, just for a
few days or so."

"Spike, it's nasty down there," Anya whined in protest.

He wasn't able to suppress a chukle at her assessment of the system
of sewer tunnels under the town, and said, "I promise, where I'm
taking you will be nothing of the sort. Now come on, we don't want to
run into Slutty, she'll be pissed enough after visiting my brooding
sire in L.A."

Anya sighed, but reluctantly allowed Spike to lead her to the car.


&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Buffy and Willow's room
2:30 a.m.

"....and I think that just about sums it up," Xander finished. He had
spent ten minutes telling Buffy the story of the weekend's events,
and then telling it two times more at her insistence. "Please don't
hurt me?" he added.

Buffy smiled at that, and said, "I'm not going to hurt you Xander;
it's not your fault. I don't know that I would have been able to do
any better, in your place."

"But you did. You sent Angel to hell, and I don't think I realized
until recently just how hard that must have been," Xander replied.

Buffy winced at the memory of that heart-breaking moment, "I did my
job," she said. "But I hope you understand, now, that I have to do my
job again, Xander. And that means--"

"I know, I know," Xander interrupted. "I just don't think I can--"

"I wouldn't ask you to," Buffy said kindly. "This shouldn't be a job
I need reinforcements for, anyway."

As Buffy left, Willow turned to Xander and said, "It'll all be okay,
Xander," reassuringly.

"Oh, sure," Xander said sarcastically. "Buffy'll do the Slaying
thing, and then everything will go back to normal."

"Buffy won't Slay them," Willow said absent-mindedly, looking out the
window.

"What?" Xander questioned. "What d'you mean, she won't Slay them?"
Xander demanded.

"Huh?" Willow said, turning to give Xander a startled look. "I didn't
say that."

"Yes you did, now what are you up to?" Xander said suspiciously.

"Me?" Willow said, giving Xander her best innocent look, "what would
I be up to?"

"Magic, Willow," Xander answered. Her face fell, and he knew that he
was right, "Willow, you know it's dangerous--"

"Xander, I know what I'm doing," Willow said, not bothering to
lie. "I would never try anything that would--"

"Willow, please!" Xander interrupted. "whatever you're planning,
don't do it," he pleaded.

"Trust me, Xander. I've been thinking about this, ever since you told
me what Spike did. I think it's obvious he cares for Anya, I'm just
going to follow Buffy and see if I can keep her from staking Anya and
Spike. Maybe they'll just leave. I don't want to watch you grieve for her,
Xan, and I know you would.

"I'll only use magic if I have to. But if we're going to be together,
you have to accept that this is part of who I am. I'm a wicca, and
I won't give that up."

"I do accept that this is who you are, Wills," Xander said, walking
over to her and pulling her into his arms. "I just worry, okay?" he
kissed her gently, and then added, "Well, I know I can't
stop you, so why don't you fill me in on the plan?"

***********
The tunnels under Sunnydale
4 a.m.

Spike and Anya finally reached their temporary home, a large cavern-
like room, that apparently some of Spike's minions had cleared out
for them. Anya looked around in disgust, and said curiously, "Hey,
explain something to me?"

Spike looked up, and said, "What's that Luv?"

"How is it that you still *have* minions?" she asked. "I mean, demons
are not known for their loyalty, and since you're pretty harmless
now, I just don't get it."

"It's mainly the younger ones," Spike replied. "My reputation
precedes me," he stopped as he realized how she had described
him, "Hey! I resent being called harmless. I am *not* harmless!" he
insisted.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot," Anya said with a grin, "You're William the
Bloody. The world trembles at the sight of you, etc, etc," she said
mockingly. To remove the sting of her words, though, she walked up to
him and put her arms around his neck, pressing up against him.

"That's right," he growled, capturing her lips in a hungry kiss. He
pulled away quickly, though, as he sensed their visitor. "Bloody
fucking hell!" he said, pulling Anya behind him.

"Uh, that's not my name, Spike, but I'm so glad you're scared to see
me," Buffy said with a grin, as she approached the two. "Spike,
Spike, Spike. Why is it that even though I have allowed you to live,
and even protected you when you escaped from the Initiative, you
insist on trying my patience constantly?"

"I'm not afraid of you. Never mind the bloody chip, I'll fight you in
spite of the pain if you come near Anya," Spike growled.

"Oh, yeah. Now *I'm* scared," Buffy responded sarcastically. "Please,
Spike. Don't yell at me, I just might die laughing!" She quickly
pulled out a stake. "Time to say goodbye. I had a really
awful weekend, and I think some decent slaying is just what I need. I
always did so enjoy kicking your ass, it's just a shame it's not
going to be the same this time."

Neither Buffy or the two vampires noticed Willow and Xander creep up
behind Buffy. Willow began muttering under her breath, and Xander
looked on, not knowing what to expect. Willow had told him her plan,
at his insistence. He didn't like the idea of her messing with a
spell, but he understood why she was doing it. She was really doing
it for him, Since she wouldn't be talked out of it, he had made a
demand of his own: that she let him go with her to the tunnels. He
wanted to be there if something went wrong, although he knew he
probably wouldn't be much help if it did.

He grabbbed Willow, suddenly and pulled her out of the way as he saw
what else was coming at Buffy, and by default, them.

"What the--" Willow protested, but he clamped his hand over her mouth
to silence her. He turned her to see the demon hybrid Adam walk past
them, making a beeline for the others.

"What the hell is that?" Xander whispered.

"That is what the Initiative have been doing with their demon
experiments, I would imagine," Willow replied. "And now I won't need
that spell. If my feeling about Spike is right, he'll give Buffy the
reason to let he and Anya go."

Spike saw Adam approaching and yelled at Buffy, "Slayer, behind you!"
Buffy whirled around, in time to see the creature approaching, and
ducked as he grabbed at her.

"What's that?" Anya said, her mouth open in shock.

"I don't know, but it's going to die now," Buffy shrugged as she raised
her crossbow and fired it at Adam. He responded by simply batting the
arrow away with a grin.

"Shit!" Buffy considered her options. The creature had
several knife-like protrusions sticking out from his arms, so
she knew she couldn't get close enough for fighting.
While she was contemplating her next move, Adam approached her.
She tried to keep a good distance between herself and him,
and also between herself and the two vampires.

Adam got Buffy cornered, but Spike threw an axe which was lying
nearby. It hit Adam and lodged in his shoulder. Adam roared and
reached around to pull the axe out and throw it to the ground.

"Oh now that was brilliant," Anya said helpfully. "Kill him, Spike,
don't waste time making him MAD!"

Spike faced Adam, who had turned on him. "How the bloody hell does
one kill this thing?!" he wondered.

"Still working on that one," Buffy replied, looking for another
weapon to use against the demon.

"Oh, great. Well, if you think of something, feel free to act on it,"
Spike said sarcastically as he ran back to his stash of weapons and
threw another axe, several knives, a sword and finally a stake at
Adam.

Adam batted some of the items away. Those he couldn't avoid, he
pulled out of his body calmly.

"Willow, why didn't Spike let that thing kill Buffy?" Xander asked
confusedly.

"I told you, Xander," Willow said with a sigh. "Spike's not the 'Big
Bad he pretends to be. I wasn't planning on saving them from Buffy
just because of Anya. I've always had the feeling Spike deserves another
chance."

She noticed then that things weren't going well for the slayer. She muttered a
few words in Latin hurriedly and in response, the room shook violently. A large fissure opened up in the ground to one side of Adam, cutting the room in half. Willow and Xander were now on one side of the gaping hole, Buffy and the demons on the other. "Oops,"
Willow said.

"OOPS???" Xander yelled. "Oops is not a word I want to hear in the
midst of spells. Oops is bad, no actually oops is beyond bad, it's
terrible!"

"I wanted the crack to run the other way," Willow said
dejectedly. "Cutting that thing off from Buffy, Anya and Spike. But
that's okay. It's still going to help." At Xander's look of disbelief, she
repeated, "It will, Xander."

The sudden opening of the ground caught Adam by surprise, and he
looked down curiously. He then looked up again, remembering his
previous intention to attack Spike. He started to move toward Spike,
who was currently at a lack for weapons.

Anya had other ideas though. "Oh no you don't!" she yelled, and ran
at him.

"Anya, no!" Spike and Xander yelled in unison. Anya leapt on Adam
from behind, and held on tightly, apparently not having any other
brilliant ideas. Adam reached around and plucked her off, hurling her
away. She landed on the other side of the hole in the ground. Spike
breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her get up.

"Hey! Ugly!" Buffy yelled. Adam turned to her again, and Buffy
continued, "I don't know what the hell you are, but I really don't
care. You interrupted my Slaying, and now you're not dying like a
good demon! Don't you know that's what you're supposed to do? Me
Slay, you die. Get it?"

"You're not a challenge at all," Adam said dismissively.

"Oh, so you *can* talk, I was starting to wonder," Buffy said. "Well,
too bad we can't take the time to get to know each other." Taking a
chance, she ran past him, her Slayer speed outmatching his reflexes.
She reached where Spike was and stopped, eyed him warily.

"Here," Spike said throwing her a sword. This took Buffy by complete
surprise, that Spike would help her twice in one night, and she
looked at him questioningly. "Behind you, Blondie!" Spike yelled
quickly, and Buffy whirled around with sword in hand, her movement
stopping Adam just six feet from her. *Three times in a row*, Buffy
realized, shaking her head in wonder.

"Try a beheading," Spike said helpfully from behind her, and she
nodded. She swung the sword, and was caught off guard when Adam grabbed
the sword, and pulled her toward him. "Hey!" she yelled in anger, and
kicked out at him. He grabbed her foot, and toppled her.

As he stood over her menacingly, he said, "This was just too easy," and raised the
sword to plunge it into her body.

Spike had moved over to the side of Adam while Buffy fought him. Just
then, he yelled, "Why don't you DIE, already!!!!" He ran at Adam, who looked up
in surprise, but didn't have time to react as Spike pushed him into
the fissure Willow had created with her spell.

The surprised Buffy stood up slowly, looking at Spike in complete
amazement. "Four times, Spike. Four times you could've let that thing
kill me, and four times, you...you saved my life!"

"I did nothing of the sort," Spike returned defensively. "I just--I--
oh bloody hell." He trailed off, giving up on attempting to argue against the
facts.

*********
End story 7