Chapter 2
Buffy sighed as Xander picked up a crossbow and began to examine it. Buffy remembered how he had whined when she had announced that she was going after Spike. "We have to save Deadboy?!" he had wailed, his face contorted in aggravation.
It was starting to feel so much like the night they had rescued Dawn from Glory. Except Spike wasn't there. Not yet anyway. Buffy smiled. She was gonna kick that stupid Ruthless guy's ass.
"Lets go get Spike back," Buffy said as the Scoobies headed out the door.
***
"Ow," Spike mumbled as he rolled to his side. Jonathon's men had sure done quite a number on him. His lip was swollen like a banana, his legs were bruised and his ankle was twisted at an impossible angle. He had huge gashes above his right eye and blood was running down his face. A few of his ribs were broken and his arm hurt like hell.
And still, after all of that torture, he didn't give up. He didn't tell Jonathan anything when he came back to the cell occasionally to ask if Spike had given up. He refused. He got beaten into a bloody pulp just so that the slayer and her Scoobies would be safe. And he was proud. Not one bit ashamed. God, he had forgotten how good it felt to be a poof. Spike smiled and whispered in a hoarse voice, "Hurry up slayer."
***
"Talk about Deja Vu," Xander said as they continued walking down the sidewalk.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to-" Xander started, hoping that he hadn't upset her.
"Xan, it's okay," she interrupted, "I just wanna get our annoying, cocky, bleached vampire back," she gave a playful smile.
Xander smiled and nodded.
"Let's kick some vampire ass!" Anya let out a whoop and waved her stakes over her head.
Xander and Buffy exchanged looks and shrugged. The only thing Buffy cared about was getting the man that had protected her sister back. The man that had stayed behind even after she was gone.
The man that loved her.
***
"Has he said anything yet?" Spike heard Jonathon say to a guard outside of his door.
Spike guessed that the guard had shaken his head because the next thing he heard was Jonathon saying, "Dammit!"
Then the sound of the door being unlocked made Spike swallow hard. Was Jonathon sending in more torture happy minions? Or was he coming in his self to do his own dirty work? Ha! Spike tried not to laugh at the idea. The most Jonathon ever did was slap around his prisoners, he never really did anything critical.
The footsteps inside of Spike's shared cell came closer to him. He looked up, ready to face anything, and was surprised when he saw a minion approach him.
The vampire was barely a fledgling, probably recently turned for Jonathon's new army. His sandy brown hair was slightly gelled and his blue eyes shone brightly in the dim light. He crouched down in front of the ex-master vampire and looked into his eyes.
"William? 'William the Bloody'?" he whispered.
"Yeah, mate. Sorry if I don't look much like myself, I just got the hell beat outta me," Spike joked.
The vamp nodded, almost something like an apology, and said, "Are you hungry? I could sneak you some food," he offered. Spike shook his head. For some reason Spike didn't want this person to get in trouble for him, he may be the only person that could help him until the slayer came to the rescue.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a way out of here, wouldja?" Spike asked, a smile playing on his lips.
The vamp just smiled in return.
***
Spike stretched his arms as the young vampire, known as Taye, untied his ropes.
"Thanks mate," Spike continued stretching and fixed his duster.
"So, where's this famous 'escape'?" Spike smiled. He still wasn't sure if he could trust this fledgling, but he was his only hope to get out of there, back to his home. Back to his life, and back to the woman he loved, even if she didn't love him back.
"This way."
***
Buffy stopped as the gang crowded near the fence surrounding an abandoned factory. Typical vampire hideout-won't they ever learn?
She patted the reasonable amount of stakes she had on her body to soothe herself. She would get him back, and he would be okay. No one would die, or- NO! Buffy stopped herself. Of course no one would die, it wasn't that bad of a mission. Ever since her own, most recent death, Buffy had been worried that it would happen again, but not just to her, to anyone of the Scoobies. She was so lucky to have friends that would volunteer to risk their lives' just to save someone else's life.
Recalling the night's earlier proceedings, Buffy remembered Dawn's concern when she announced that Spike had been captured. The girl had been genuinely worried and had begged Buffy to do everything and anything possible to get him back. He clearly meant so much to her, especially after everything they'd been through together as they coped with Buffy's death.
"Buffy?" Xander whispered at the blond slayer who was apparently in her own little world.
"Huh? Oh, sorry Xan," Buffy apologized, shaking her head to clear it.
Xander smiled, "Where were you Buff? You were in your own little world there for a sec."
"I was just, you know.thinking," she said but her heart didn't go into it. Xander knew she was holding back, but decided not to push it. Now wasn't the time. They had an annoying vampire to rescue.
"Oh dear," Giles said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him and saw the man looking at his
pocket watch.
"What's up G-man?" Xander asked.
"We've only got a few hours before the ceremony. We have to get going, now."
They nodded, and Buffy whispered a small prayer under her breath, not just for her, but for Spike too.
***
Taye was leading Spike down a corridor and abruptly stopped at a cooling vent.
"Why are we stopped?" Spike asked.
"This is as far as I can take you. Jonathon will notice my absence if I'm not back soon," he explained.
Spike nodded. He knew that there was a great chance that it was a chance, but he was willing to risk it to get back to his slayer and the little 'bit.
Spike smoothly slid the cover off the vent and climbed inside, replacing it as he did so.
He began to crawl through the ventilation system, senses alert for any signs of a trap.
***
"Hey, did you guys start the party without little 'ol me?" Buffy whined as she busted down the door of the vamp's hideout.
They all turned to look at her, shocked that they slayer had found them and that she was so bold.
After a moment of quiet shock, a vamp lunged at her.
Buffy blocked his weak attack and quickly staked him. Buffy looked up at the surrounding vampires as the dust fell to the ground.
"Next!" she called.
This time, the vamps came at her in groups. Buffy pushed them back and the rest of the Scoobies came out from where they were hiding and began to help.
Willow and Tara were chanting in Latin and suddenly a vampire that was running towards them flew off of the ground and slammed into four others, knocking them all down.
"Yes!" the Wiccas' yelled and gave each other a high five.
Anya kicked a vamp in the groin and slammed his head into the wall.
Xander stopped and looked at his fiancé in surprise. "Wow An. I had no idea you were so tough."
"I'll show you a little more tonight," Anya blew him a kiss as he blushed.
***
Spike stopped crawling and listened. He had definitely heard a voice. It sounded like the whelp and his girlfriend.
He began to crawl faster until he reached another vent opening. He stopped and peered through the wire covering.
Sure enough, Buffy and her Scoobies were beating the hell out of Jonathon's minions.
He couldn't help but smile. He knew that the slayer was there to stop Jonathon, but he also had a feeling that she had really wanted to save him on top of that.
Spike kicked the covering right off so that it landed near a newly turned vamp. Spike jumped out, landed a good 20 feet below, and decked the vamp nearest him. He backed up so that he was back to back with Buffy and whispered, "Miss me?"
Buffy jumped and turned around. She smiled and threw her arms around him.
"Spike!"
Spike was a bit shocked by her forwardness but went along with it. "Ok slayer, you're choking me," Spike said sarcastically and pulled back and was shocked to discover that Buffy's face was covered in tears.
"Luv, what's wrong?" Spike asked.
"I was afraid Spike. I was afraid that I'd lose you."
"Buffy, pet, I won't leave you and you won't loose me. I'll always be here for you. I promise." Spike smiled as he wiped her tears away with his thumb, causing Buffy to smile.
"Um, sorry to interrupt you two, but we need to find ruthless guy and kick his butt," Xander said.
"Ooh, let me have the first shot! That bastard had his minions did quite a job on me," Spike motioned to his ripped shirt that revealed a bloody gash on his chest.
"Let's go. We only have 2 more hours," Giles urged them on.
"This way," Spike took the lead and began to take the Scoobies down the hall.
***
"Sir, the slayer and her friends are on their way here. They already took out the main room. And William is with them," a minion reported to Jonathon.
"Bloody hell," he whispered. "Arm and ready the guards. Make sure they don't get past the storage room."
The vamp nodded and walked off.
***
They stopped in the hallway as Spike cocked his head to the side. "Someone's coming," he whispered and pushed them into the nearest room. It turned out to be a broom closet and Willow knocked over a bottle of window cleaner just as the guard was walking by. Everyone winced as they hear the guard stop and walk towards the door. Just as he was about to open it, Spike vamped out and kicked it down, causing the younger, more inexperienced vamp to fall to the ground. He recovered quickly and lunged for Spike. Spike kicked him in return and Buffy tossed him a stake. Catching it, he drove it home and watched the dust fall to the floor.
"Come on, they know we're here," Spike said and motioned for them to exit the closet.
They walked out and froze as they turned and saw Jonathon and his minions standing on the other side of the hall.
"William, where in the world do you think you're going?" he mocked.
Spike clenched his fists at his sides and gritted his teeth, forcing a smile on his lips.
"I've always wanted to say this Jonathon, and here's my chance; You're the most obnoxious, stupid ass I've ever seen and I think you're a sodding piece of shit. And I hope that someone shoves a stake up that uptight ass of yours." Spike gave one of the most satisfied smiles and reminisced in the look of shock on Jonathon's face.
Jonathon recovered after a moment of silence and gave his minions was small signal.
They attacked, and the Scoobies used every weapon they had.
Giles had thrown a cross at one of them and was now using a super soaker full of holy water. Giles's victims were screaming in pain as the water hit their arms and faces, causing red burns to show up on them.
Anya was finishing off a vamp that had had her cornered while Buffy was doing backflips down the hall until she had headlocked one in between her legs. She flipped him over and his neck gave a violent crack as he fell to the floor. For safe measures, Buffy staked him.
Xander gave a small cry as he lost his crossbow in battle. A vamp picked it up and pointed it at their biggest threat: Buffy.
He was pulling the trigger when Spike had jumped in front of her. Buffy screamed out in shock and anger. She knelt over Spike and looked and the arrow that was so close to his heart. "Spike," she whispered, her voice shaking.
"I didn't fail you this time Buffy," he whispered in a quiet voice.
"You never failed me before Spike," Buffy smoothed his hair and forced a sad smile through her tears. "Don't leave me Spike. You promised, Spike. You promised!" she began to sob uncontrollably and Spike closed his eyes as he began to slip away.
The last thing he said was, "I'm never leaving you luv."
Don't worry. I have a few tricks up my sleeve!
Buffy sighed as Xander picked up a crossbow and began to examine it. Buffy remembered how he had whined when she had announced that she was going after Spike. "We have to save Deadboy?!" he had wailed, his face contorted in aggravation.
It was starting to feel so much like the night they had rescued Dawn from Glory. Except Spike wasn't there. Not yet anyway. Buffy smiled. She was gonna kick that stupid Ruthless guy's ass.
"Lets go get Spike back," Buffy said as the Scoobies headed out the door.
***
"Ow," Spike mumbled as he rolled to his side. Jonathon's men had sure done quite a number on him. His lip was swollen like a banana, his legs were bruised and his ankle was twisted at an impossible angle. He had huge gashes above his right eye and blood was running down his face. A few of his ribs were broken and his arm hurt like hell.
And still, after all of that torture, he didn't give up. He didn't tell Jonathan anything when he came back to the cell occasionally to ask if Spike had given up. He refused. He got beaten into a bloody pulp just so that the slayer and her Scoobies would be safe. And he was proud. Not one bit ashamed. God, he had forgotten how good it felt to be a poof. Spike smiled and whispered in a hoarse voice, "Hurry up slayer."
***
"Talk about Deja Vu," Xander said as they continued walking down the sidewalk.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to-" Xander started, hoping that he hadn't upset her.
"Xan, it's okay," she interrupted, "I just wanna get our annoying, cocky, bleached vampire back," she gave a playful smile.
Xander smiled and nodded.
"Let's kick some vampire ass!" Anya let out a whoop and waved her stakes over her head.
Xander and Buffy exchanged looks and shrugged. The only thing Buffy cared about was getting the man that had protected her sister back. The man that had stayed behind even after she was gone.
The man that loved her.
***
"Has he said anything yet?" Spike heard Jonathon say to a guard outside of his door.
Spike guessed that the guard had shaken his head because the next thing he heard was Jonathon saying, "Dammit!"
Then the sound of the door being unlocked made Spike swallow hard. Was Jonathon sending in more torture happy minions? Or was he coming in his self to do his own dirty work? Ha! Spike tried not to laugh at the idea. The most Jonathon ever did was slap around his prisoners, he never really did anything critical.
The footsteps inside of Spike's shared cell came closer to him. He looked up, ready to face anything, and was surprised when he saw a minion approach him.
The vampire was barely a fledgling, probably recently turned for Jonathon's new army. His sandy brown hair was slightly gelled and his blue eyes shone brightly in the dim light. He crouched down in front of the ex-master vampire and looked into his eyes.
"William? 'William the Bloody'?" he whispered.
"Yeah, mate. Sorry if I don't look much like myself, I just got the hell beat outta me," Spike joked.
The vamp nodded, almost something like an apology, and said, "Are you hungry? I could sneak you some food," he offered. Spike shook his head. For some reason Spike didn't want this person to get in trouble for him, he may be the only person that could help him until the slayer came to the rescue.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a way out of here, wouldja?" Spike asked, a smile playing on his lips.
The vamp just smiled in return.
***
Spike stretched his arms as the young vampire, known as Taye, untied his ropes.
"Thanks mate," Spike continued stretching and fixed his duster.
"So, where's this famous 'escape'?" Spike smiled. He still wasn't sure if he could trust this fledgling, but he was his only hope to get out of there, back to his home. Back to his life, and back to the woman he loved, even if she didn't love him back.
"This way."
***
Buffy stopped as the gang crowded near the fence surrounding an abandoned factory. Typical vampire hideout-won't they ever learn?
She patted the reasonable amount of stakes she had on her body to soothe herself. She would get him back, and he would be okay. No one would die, or- NO! Buffy stopped herself. Of course no one would die, it wasn't that bad of a mission. Ever since her own, most recent death, Buffy had been worried that it would happen again, but not just to her, to anyone of the Scoobies. She was so lucky to have friends that would volunteer to risk their lives' just to save someone else's life.
Recalling the night's earlier proceedings, Buffy remembered Dawn's concern when she announced that Spike had been captured. The girl had been genuinely worried and had begged Buffy to do everything and anything possible to get him back. He clearly meant so much to her, especially after everything they'd been through together as they coped with Buffy's death.
"Buffy?" Xander whispered at the blond slayer who was apparently in her own little world.
"Huh? Oh, sorry Xan," Buffy apologized, shaking her head to clear it.
Xander smiled, "Where were you Buff? You were in your own little world there for a sec."
"I was just, you know.thinking," she said but her heart didn't go into it. Xander knew she was holding back, but decided not to push it. Now wasn't the time. They had an annoying vampire to rescue.
"Oh dear," Giles said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him and saw the man looking at his
pocket watch.
"What's up G-man?" Xander asked.
"We've only got a few hours before the ceremony. We have to get going, now."
They nodded, and Buffy whispered a small prayer under her breath, not just for her, but for Spike too.
***
Taye was leading Spike down a corridor and abruptly stopped at a cooling vent.
"Why are we stopped?" Spike asked.
"This is as far as I can take you. Jonathon will notice my absence if I'm not back soon," he explained.
Spike nodded. He knew that there was a great chance that it was a chance, but he was willing to risk it to get back to his slayer and the little 'bit.
Spike smoothly slid the cover off the vent and climbed inside, replacing it as he did so.
He began to crawl through the ventilation system, senses alert for any signs of a trap.
***
"Hey, did you guys start the party without little 'ol me?" Buffy whined as she busted down the door of the vamp's hideout.
They all turned to look at her, shocked that they slayer had found them and that she was so bold.
After a moment of quiet shock, a vamp lunged at her.
Buffy blocked his weak attack and quickly staked him. Buffy looked up at the surrounding vampires as the dust fell to the ground.
"Next!" she called.
This time, the vamps came at her in groups. Buffy pushed them back and the rest of the Scoobies came out from where they were hiding and began to help.
Willow and Tara were chanting in Latin and suddenly a vampire that was running towards them flew off of the ground and slammed into four others, knocking them all down.
"Yes!" the Wiccas' yelled and gave each other a high five.
Anya kicked a vamp in the groin and slammed his head into the wall.
Xander stopped and looked at his fiancé in surprise. "Wow An. I had no idea you were so tough."
"I'll show you a little more tonight," Anya blew him a kiss as he blushed.
***
Spike stopped crawling and listened. He had definitely heard a voice. It sounded like the whelp and his girlfriend.
He began to crawl faster until he reached another vent opening. He stopped and peered through the wire covering.
Sure enough, Buffy and her Scoobies were beating the hell out of Jonathon's minions.
He couldn't help but smile. He knew that the slayer was there to stop Jonathon, but he also had a feeling that she had really wanted to save him on top of that.
Spike kicked the covering right off so that it landed near a newly turned vamp. Spike jumped out, landed a good 20 feet below, and decked the vamp nearest him. He backed up so that he was back to back with Buffy and whispered, "Miss me?"
Buffy jumped and turned around. She smiled and threw her arms around him.
"Spike!"
Spike was a bit shocked by her forwardness but went along with it. "Ok slayer, you're choking me," Spike said sarcastically and pulled back and was shocked to discover that Buffy's face was covered in tears.
"Luv, what's wrong?" Spike asked.
"I was afraid Spike. I was afraid that I'd lose you."
"Buffy, pet, I won't leave you and you won't loose me. I'll always be here for you. I promise." Spike smiled as he wiped her tears away with his thumb, causing Buffy to smile.
"Um, sorry to interrupt you two, but we need to find ruthless guy and kick his butt," Xander said.
"Ooh, let me have the first shot! That bastard had his minions did quite a job on me," Spike motioned to his ripped shirt that revealed a bloody gash on his chest.
"Let's go. We only have 2 more hours," Giles urged them on.
"This way," Spike took the lead and began to take the Scoobies down the hall.
***
"Sir, the slayer and her friends are on their way here. They already took out the main room. And William is with them," a minion reported to Jonathon.
"Bloody hell," he whispered. "Arm and ready the guards. Make sure they don't get past the storage room."
The vamp nodded and walked off.
***
They stopped in the hallway as Spike cocked his head to the side. "Someone's coming," he whispered and pushed them into the nearest room. It turned out to be a broom closet and Willow knocked over a bottle of window cleaner just as the guard was walking by. Everyone winced as they hear the guard stop and walk towards the door. Just as he was about to open it, Spike vamped out and kicked it down, causing the younger, more inexperienced vamp to fall to the ground. He recovered quickly and lunged for Spike. Spike kicked him in return and Buffy tossed him a stake. Catching it, he drove it home and watched the dust fall to the floor.
"Come on, they know we're here," Spike said and motioned for them to exit the closet.
They walked out and froze as they turned and saw Jonathon and his minions standing on the other side of the hall.
"William, where in the world do you think you're going?" he mocked.
Spike clenched his fists at his sides and gritted his teeth, forcing a smile on his lips.
"I've always wanted to say this Jonathon, and here's my chance; You're the most obnoxious, stupid ass I've ever seen and I think you're a sodding piece of shit. And I hope that someone shoves a stake up that uptight ass of yours." Spike gave one of the most satisfied smiles and reminisced in the look of shock on Jonathon's face.
Jonathon recovered after a moment of silence and gave his minions was small signal.
They attacked, and the Scoobies used every weapon they had.
Giles had thrown a cross at one of them and was now using a super soaker full of holy water. Giles's victims were screaming in pain as the water hit their arms and faces, causing red burns to show up on them.
Anya was finishing off a vamp that had had her cornered while Buffy was doing backflips down the hall until she had headlocked one in between her legs. She flipped him over and his neck gave a violent crack as he fell to the floor. For safe measures, Buffy staked him.
Xander gave a small cry as he lost his crossbow in battle. A vamp picked it up and pointed it at their biggest threat: Buffy.
He was pulling the trigger when Spike had jumped in front of her. Buffy screamed out in shock and anger. She knelt over Spike and looked and the arrow that was so close to his heart. "Spike," she whispered, her voice shaking.
"I didn't fail you this time Buffy," he whispered in a quiet voice.
"You never failed me before Spike," Buffy smoothed his hair and forced a sad smile through her tears. "Don't leave me Spike. You promised, Spike. You promised!" she began to sob uncontrollably and Spike closed his eyes as he began to slip away.
The last thing he said was, "I'm never leaving you luv."
Don't worry. I have a few tricks up my sleeve!