Part 9

Hilary began grumbling to herself, "I can't believe I left my wallet at home." She walked up the stairs to find the door slightly ajar. She decided to approach cautiously and slowly opened the door to see Buffy leaning over an unconscious Spike. She was talking on the phone completely enthralled in her conversation.

She couldn't believe that that bitch was here and trying to take Spike from her. Hilary silently ran into kitchen, grabbing a towel, and then headed towards the den, retrieving some rope and a bottle of chloroform. Carefully dowsing the towel, she ran back into the room, sneaking up behind the interloper. As Buffy put down the receiver, the redhead placed the towel firmly over the blonde's mouth and nose. Buffy struggled for a few seconds, but was eventually overcome by the fumes and went limp in Hilary's arms. Hilary held the cloth in place for a few extra seconds just to make sure, and then she dropped the sleeping body none to gently to the ground. She quickly disposed of the cloth and tied the slayer up firmly.

* * *

Spike awoke looking into his lover's blue eyes and smiled before he his face clouded as the memory of the demon came back to him. "Hilary, she's here, that"

"I know. I knocked her out and dragged her into the basement. I have her tied up there, but she won't be out for long. I need you to stay here."

"Why?" Spike stood up shakily.

"Because she is going to try and fill your mind with lies, and I don't want to put you through any more pain. She already fought you and look at what happened." Her eyes glistened wetly as she hitched a short breath trying to hold back tears.

"Okay, okay." Spike couldn't bear to see her cry. "I won't interfere in whatever you are going to do to that thing."

"Good," Hilary sniffled.

"What are you going to do?"

"Kill her. So for once and for all she can't hurt us anymore."

Spike was surprised by the coldness in her voice as she picked up a knife in the kitchen and walked toward the basement door.

* * *

Buffy opened her eyes slowly, peering into the dark gloom of the basement. Her head throbbed dully and the side of her face ached as she tried to swallow. She could feel ropes tied tightly around her wrists and ankles, firmly securing her to the hard wood chair that she sat in. A sharp pain shot along her right side and she frowned as she realised that Hilary must have dragged her down the basement stairs.

She heard the door open and someone padded down the stairs. Buffy looked up to see the murderous glare in Hilary's eyes.

"I guess you came here to die." Hilary smiled, setting down the butcher knife on a large woodworking table.

"No. I came here to get Spike and reverse whatever you did to him, and put you somewhere you can't hurt anyone," Buffy said, more weakly than she intended.

"He knows what you are, and he hates you for what you did to him."

"I did to him?"

"Torturing him, hurting him."

"You lied to him."

"Did I? I watched you over the last couple of months in Sunnydale, you treated him like dirt. So I just told him the truth. You're an evil bitch. And who's Spike going to believe? The bitch that hates him or the woman he loves. The woman he makes love to. The one he's marked. Spike is mine. He's mine." The young woman clenched her jaw, glaring at the slayer.

"You are a sicko. You have to brainwash a guy into loving you. It's pathetic. And I don't hate him"

"Only some blind self-absorbed bitch would not see how much love he has to give."

"It just burns you that he doesn't truly have that love to give you. You have to erase his memory. You're psycho. He doesn't love you. He could never love you. Spike loves me."

"But you can't stand him. You lead him on only to break his heart. Why don't you let him be happy with me?" Hilary took out a black rag from her pocket.

"Because he doesn't want you."

"No, I know the real reason why. You just want him to be as miserable as you. But I won't let that happen."

Hilary stuffed a gag in Buffy's mouth. "I wanted to hear you scream, but I think that I can still get satisfaction from breaking you silently."

* * *

Spike looked at the door. He hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary, but he wanted to make sure that Hilary was okay. He slowly crept down the stairs in time to see his lover gagging the demon. The demon looked over at him, her eyes pleaded with his. He couldn't help but think she was beautiful. Buffy could see that there was some kind of recognition but she needed to get past the lies that Hilary had told him.

Hilary turned to look at Spike, her rage intensifying as she noticed the soulful stare the two gave each other. She quickly broke it. "Spike, what are you doing here?"

Spike snapped out of it. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm fine." She made her way to him then gave Buffy a hard glance and kissed Spike passionately to prove her point that he was hers. She broke away flushed. "Hand me that bag please, honey."

Spike obliged, picking up the black bag and handing it to Hilary. Buffy began to struggle as she watched a medical instruments being pulled out one by one. "We are gonna make her bleed Spike, like she made you bleed." Hilary was done with the bag's contents and even Spike felt a chill go down his spine as he glanced over the sharply gleaming metal.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I am gonna make the bitch pay for hurting you."

* * *

Part 10

Willow and Tara quickly gathered the needed ingredients and began mixing them together for the spell.

"Anya and I are leaving for Shore Lake now. You guys just make sure the spell works."

"It will, Xander. You guys be careful."

"We will."

Xander walked out, passing by Dawn nervously pacing the Magic Shop.

"So Spike doesn't remember Buffy? That means he doesn't remember us. What if something happens to Buffy? What if that girl tries to kill her again?"

"It won't happen, Dawnie. As soon as we get the ingredients together we can start the spell, and we are already halfway there. Buffy will be fine." Willow assured the young teen.

* * *

Buffy had tried for the last half an hour not to cry from the pain she was in. Hilary had already broken all of the Slayers fingers on her right hand, leaving it completely numb. Her jaw was bruised and Buffy's right eye was closed shut, but that still didn't stop Hilary from punching her with brass knuckles a couple more times for good measure.

Spike's senses were in turmoil. The smell of the demon's blood was both enticing and familiar. Hilary turned back to see Spike standing wearily off to the side. "Come over here babe and get some fun in."

"Fun?"

Hilary's face beamed. Small beads of sweat appeared around her hairline and a small splatter of blood marred her face. "Yes, fun. Why not have something fresh to eat? I bet she's tasty. You could drain her."

Buffy looked at Spike from her good eye and saw a small smile cross his face, but he quickly frowned. "But I only feed off of humans, not demons. Her blood might poison me."

Hilary wanted Spike to take the final act in killing the Slayer. "No, look at her neck. She's been bitten before." She could sense the indecision in his voice. The phone rang. "Go and get that will you Spike."

He obediently left.

* * *

"I think I'll call Buffy back to make sure that she's okay. It's been over an hour since we last heard from her." Willow pressed *-6-9 on the phone.

"Hello?"

There was brief silence. "Spike?"

"Yes."

"It's me Willow."

"I don't know anyone named Willow."

"Spike, where is Buffy? Is she hurt?"

"That demon bitch is in a world of hurt for the things she's done."

Willow was immediately worried by the tone of contempt in his voice. It reminded her of when Spike was trying to kill Buffy. "No Spike, Buffy is good. She's not a demon. Spike, she came there to rescue you from Hilary."

"You don't know what you are talking about." With that, Spike hung up the phone. He was halfway out the door when the phone rang again.

"Spike don't hang up. Buffy is good, she's a slayer. You've helped her. Hell, you are in love with her."

"Me? In love with her? She tried to kill me."

"No, you have to listen." Willow gestured to Tara to hurry up with the mixture for the spell and Dawn grabbed the candles to set up the cleansing ceremony. "What do you remember of Buffy? Not what Hilary has told you. Do you remember anything?"

"You are trying to stop me from killing her. You are one of her demon friends."

"Hello! I am not a demon. You are. A vampire. A."

Spike could hear rustling on the phone. "Spike?"

"Dawn give it back to me." He could hear the first girl speak.

"Spike? It's me. It's Dawn. You have to remember me. I mean monks put memories in your mind about me. She can't erase that. Please tell me that you remember me."

Willow sighed as she sat in the circle with Tara and they began the spell. The room filled with a dark red mist.

Sudden flashes of the girl passed through his mind as he heard her voice. "Nib—let?"

"Yes, Spike. That's what you call me." Dawn tried to ignore the soft chants from her friends. "Do you remember how you helped protect me from Glory? Do you remember helping Buffy?"

"Why I I don't understand?"

Dawn could see the mist change to deep orange.

"Glory? An-and Ben." He squeezed his eyes shut. It was like his memories were covered with thick molasses. He was trying to swim through the thick substance.

* * *

Hilary turned back to her victim it scissors in her hands, "Don't think I can't commit the final act myself goldilocks." She smiled at the helpless girl in her grasp before cutting off her hair in chops. "Did you ever think that you would die at the hands of a human? That must be a bitch, huh? Fighting demons for how many years to get killed by a human. Kind of ironic huh?"

Spike walked down the stairs softly, his mind steadily filling with the truth.

"Who was it honey?" Hilary asked as she dropped the hair to the ground.

"Nibblet."

Hilary abruptly stood up, knowing that he shouldn't remember that name. "Spike?"

Spike looked at Hilary carefully, desperately searching for some sign that he was mistaken, that she really was the loving sweet girl that he'd thought she was. His eyes drifted over to Buffy who was hanging limp in her chains, barely conscious.

"You monster," he hissed to Hilary. "How could you do that to her, and to me?"

Hilary remained calm, putting down the scissors and moving towards Spike.

"Baby? What are you talking about?"

"I remember it all," he said, resisting the urge to tear her throat out. "What you did to me before and what you're doing again now."

Hilary reached out for him. "Spike, I don't know who was on the phone and what they said to you, but it's a lie. You love me, and that bitch over there tried to take you from me." Spike looked over at Buffy.

"No," Spike replied with icy calmness. "I could never love you."

It was then that Hilary realised she'd lost. Spike remembered everything, and even if she shot him with all the serum she had it wasn't going to be enough.

She turned back to Buffy and grabbed the scissors again. "Fine, but if I can't have you, I'm going to make sure she can't either."

As she moved to plunge the scissors into the Slayer's chest, she was tackled to the ground by Spike, the vampire wincing in pain as his chip went off. It didn't stop him though, and he quickly climbed to his feet before Hilary could make another attack on Buffy.

"Spike, don't make me hurt you," Hilary pleaded as she picked the scissors up off the floor. "We can be happy together, just let me kill her. Everything will be the way it was. Please, everything will be perfect if I just do this."

Spike finally realised that this girl was absolutely insane. There was no way she was going to stop until Buffy was dead. It was time to try something else.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you either. But if you kill Buffy, the cops will be on your tail for the rest of your life. Why don't you let her go? She's not in any condition to hurt you and the chip stops me from doing anything. You can get out of here. I promise we won't follow you."

Hilary seemed to consider this for a moment, even reaching into her pocket for the keys to Buffy's chains. Then she shook her head.

"No. If I can't have you then I don't care what happens to me."

"All right," Spike replied, starting to panic. "We'll leave together. Just let Buffy go."

Hilary smiled. "You have to promise you'll never leave me."

Spike nodded. "I promise."

He knew Buffy would come after him as soon as she could and that was enough.

Hilary moved over to Buffy, giving her one final slap before unlocking the chains and letting her drop to the floor. She turned to Spike.

"Okay then, baby. Let's go."

Spike forced a smile and nodded, casting a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Buffy was all right. She was awake, and watching him with sorrow in her eyes. He winked, letting her know it would be all right. Then, before Hilary could react, he grabbed the trolley with its bloodied torture devices and threw it at Hilary with all his might. As it cracked her on the back of the head, she grunted and dropped to the floor, unconscious. At exactly the same time Spike crumpled to the floor as his chip dealt him the worst shock he had ever felt.

From her position on the floor Buffy could only watch helplessly as Spike saved them, knocking himself out in the process. She just hoped that his chip hadn't damaged his brain seriously. Looking at Hilary she knew she had to do something before the insane girl woke up. Thankfully her Slayer healing was doing its job and she could feel her wounds healing with every moment that passed. Finally she was able to climb to her feet and make her way to the stairs.

She deliberately didn't look at Spike, knowing that it wouldn't be safe for her to check on him until Hilary was no danger at all. Buffy limped into the bedroom and found the safe containing the serum. This was the only way to stop Hilary for good. Buffy couldn't kill her, but she could make sure that she no longer posed a threat to anyone.

She quickly made her way back into the basement, noticing with a wince that while Hilary hadn't woken up, neither had Spike. That wasn't a good sign. Kneeling down beside Hilary, Buffy rolled up her sleeve and set down the remaining syringes. Then, as carefully as she could, she injected them one after another until they were all empty. By the time Hilary woke up, she'd have no memory of any of this, including who any of them were. She could start her life over again.

Satisfied that the Hilary problem was over, Buffy moved to Spike and gently turned him onto his back. It was obvious that he was hurt badly. There was blood coming out of his nose and ears, and a little on his lip where he had bitten it in pain. Buffy didn't know what to do; she wasn't a doctor. She had no way of knowing if he had suffered brain damage or not.

"Please be all right, Spike," she whispered, stroking his hair softly as she prayed for him to wake up. "You saved my life, you can't die on me now."

Leaning down she placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you."

Spike let out a soft moan, stirring and opening his eyes for a split second before squeezing them shut in pain.

"Spike?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Remind me never to do that again," he whispered in pain.

Buffy smiled. It looked like he was going to be okay. "You've got it. No more playing the hero."

Spike managed a small smile, although his lips were still pursed together in pain.

They sat there for a while until Spike was finally able to open his eyes without it hurting too much. He was having problems focusing his vision, but Buffy was sure that would clear up in time.

* * *

Xander and Anya cautiously approached the cabin.

"Are you sure we should go in there? What if she's in there waiting to kill us?" Anya whispered to Xander as he slowly pushed open the door.

"She's not expecting us."

"But she" Anya stopped as she saw Buffy limp through a doorway. "Buffy?"

"Hey guys."

"Buffster, what happened?"

"Hilary happened, that's what. Let's not talk about it now. We need to help Spike, he's downstairs," Buffy answered, her voice hoarse as dried blood crackled around the edge of her mouth. The Slayer led them back down the stairs.

In only a short time, Spike was recovered enough to walk with help, and the two injured warriors made their way out to the car and away from their nightmare.

* * *

When they finally arrived back in Sunnydale, Buffy warded off any questions from her friends as she helped Spike inside and took him up to her room. She quickly got him settled into bed before crawling in beside him. Almost instantly the two of them were asleep.

* * *

Buffy awoke to the sound of someone lightly tapping on her door. She opened her eyes to see Spike still sleeping beside her. Deciding to leave him to his rest, she got up and opened the door quietly, her wounds pretty much healed.

"You've been asleep for almost sixteen hours," Dawn said once her sister had opened the door. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," Buffy whispered, not wanting to wake Spike. "Give me a minute and I'll come downstairs."

Dawn nodded and closed the door.

As Buffy put on her robe she looked at the man sleeping in her bed. She really hoped that rest was all he needed and that he'd be himself once he woke up. Although she got the feeling that it was going to take more than a little sleep for him to get over what Hilary had done to them both.

With a small smile she placed a gentle kiss on Spike's forehead and turned to go downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Spike's sleepy voice called just as she had reached the door. Buffy turned and moved back over to the bed.

"Downstairs. How are you feeling?"

Spike opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. "Well, I can see properly again, so I guess that's something. Still got a bit of a headache though."

Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed and gently massaged his temples.

"I was so worried about you," she admitted as Spike relaxed into her touch.

He opened his eyes. "Really?"

Buffy nodded. "I'm just sorry I didn't realise what had happened sooner."

Spike shook his head. "It's not your fault. I'm just glad it's finally over."

Buffy smiled. "Do you want to some downstairs or are you going to sleep some more?"

Spike grinned. "That depends where you're going. Sure I can't persuade you back into bed with me? There's plenty of room."

"Well, I can see there's nothing wrong with you," Buffy said with fake annoyance. "Now why don't you get up and keep me company while I make breakfast."

As she moved to get up, Spike caught hold of her wrist and pulled her back down. "Don't I get a good morning kiss first?"

For a moment Buffy thought he was kidding until she saw just how serious his eyes were. Leaning forward she pressed her lips against his, deepening the kiss as his arms slid around her waist.

"Good morning." She smiled when they finally parted. "Now are you going to get up?"

Spike returned the smile. "Pet, after that I can do anything."

The End