Part 16: The Plan

"Get him!" 'Scarface' ordered the minions who weren't restraining Bri. Six vampires scrambled to follow their leader's orders, charging Spike dutifully. But by the time they had him in their tight grips, three of them lay in piles of dust on the ground.

Bri gulped, watching as Spike struggled in their grasps. Her green eyes met his across the short distance between them and Spike saw the fear clearly etched in her gaze. The vampire smiled shortly at his lover, silently conveying that it would be all right. He purposefully darted his eyes over to the brush by the sidewalk, indicating where Angel was waiting for his cue.

"Make sure he watches this." 'Scarface' was commanding. He turned to Bri, approaching her with slow deliberate footsteps on the pavement, each echoing dizzingly in her mind.

The large vampire clutched a handful of her hair, jerking her head to the side once again. "This was to be courtesy of the mayor, my dear." He whispered. "But now I think this is just a little more personal." His fangs descended on her neck but before they could make contact, 'Scarface' was suddenly thrown violently away from her.

Bri looked in time to see Angel take out three of minions holding her, evening the odds enough so that she could fight off the rest that had been holding her back. When all that remained of them was dust in the wind, Bri looked around anxiously for Spike. She found him squaring off against 'Scarface'.

The slayer made a move to hurry to her love's aid, but she felt a hand gripping her elbow, holding her back. She looked back at Angel and he shook his head at her. "This is Spike's fight. It was his minion turned against him…his to deal with."

Reluctantly, Bri stood by and watched as Spike and 'Scarface' fought. In the end, 'Scarface' was nothing but grit on the pavement but not before he'd sliced a long jagged gash into Spike's side with his nails. Bri rushed to his side, hugging him carefully to avoid his wound. "Let's get you cleaned up." She said, letting Spike throw an arm around her to help support his weight as they made their way back to the house.

"This vampire said that mayor had sent him, you say?" Giles asked as he polished his glasses with the edge of his shirt.

Bri nodded. "Probably wants to get me out of the way." She shivered, feeling chills running down her spine, though it was not cold in the Summers' living room. Spike put an arm around her, gently pulling her to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

The young slayer was silent a moment before speaking. "All the time they had me…I just kept thinking of my dream. It was so frightening…" she turned her head to look her lover in the eye. "Is that how I'm gonna die?"

"No!" Spike responded firmly. "You're not going to die. We've talked about this, pet."

"But the prophecies say I will."

"And the prophecies can be stopped."

Giles, who had been listening quietly to the exchange, spoke up. "We've devised a plan of action for the ascension. Before Faith was killed, she led us to some information that suggests the mayor can be killed once he's become a demon. It will recquire a great deal of fire power, however."

"Yea, and?" Spike prodded impatiently.

"W-well…we're going to…blow up the library…w-with the mayor inside. Buffy's going to lead him there- through the halls."

"Sounds like…"

"Your dream. Exactly. I therefore suggest that we keep you as far from the inside of the school as possible."

Bri considered this carefully. "But Buffy needs me."

"You'll be outside, fighting with the others. But under no circumstances should you enter the building. And…i-if you like…that is, if he'd agree…Spike could stay with you."

"Of course. I'll help out…watch her back." The vampire jumped to add, "But don't be thinking that I'm gonna start fighting the good fight now."

Giles furrowed his brow. "I've been meaning to ask …do you two have some sort of arrangement as far as…" He gestured between them. "your relationship goes? I mean…vampire and slayer…?"

"We haven't really talked about it." Bri said. "But it's kind of understood…I don't expect him to change for me- to suddenly swear off feeding. Just as he doesn't expect me to stop slaying."

Spike spoke up. "I don't think either of us are particularly happy with the other's situation, but that doesn't have anything to do with our relationship."

"If I come upon him feeding, I'll stop him."

"And I come along on patrols with her- to watch her back." Bri shot Spike a look. "Not that she needs it, that is. But anyway, I wouldn't say I'm very active in the slaying." The look on Giles' face clearly pointed out the fact that this unspoken agreement wasn't exactly even. Spike explained, "I don't care whether other vamps die. If they're stupid enough to get tangled up with a slayer and they can't handle themselves- they deserve what they get."

"Ah, yes, of course." The watcher seemed to lose himself in thought as he paced before the couple on the couch.

"Can we go now?" Bri asked. It was late and all the others- except for the ones that lived there- had gone already.

"Yes, I suppose so. Are you…staying over there tonight?"

"Yeah." The slayer ignored the hint of disapproval in the watcher's voice. She knew everyone thought she was too young to be sleeping with Spike. But hell, he was over a century old. Senior citizens would be too young to sleep with Spike. Bri helped Spike up from the sofa, frowning when he winced in pain at the nasty wound carefully bandaged on his side. "I'll drive." She said as they headed for the door.

"Like hell you will."

"OK, you seriously need to get over your little infatuation with your car."

"Little infatuation?"

Giles listened as the vampire and slayer lightly bickered on their way out to the Desoto in the drive. He sighed and shook his head. Those two…ruling over demonkind for centuries. He chuckled. It was fitting, really.

**Sorry updates have been kind of non-exsistent. But I'm wrapping this up pretty soon. So if anyone's even still reading this- well…good for you. Review. It gets you more chapters faster. Haha.**