*****
Almost a full week had passed since Spike had last seen Buffy. In that time, he had moved his home base to an abandoned mansion that was several steps superior to his old location. It wasn't the mansion on Crawford Street, though. Spike couldn't have received a bribe big enough to compel him to live there. No, this mansion was a place of his own choosing, on the opposite side of town. It had recently been inhabited by a family of Fyarl demons, but with some persuasion they'd moved out, whereupon Spike and his pack had taken up residence.
Sure, he could have left town to lick his wounds. Instead, Spike had chosen to stay in Sunnydale, at least for the time being. He wasn't going to allow Buffy to rule his life anymore. She no longer exerted any influence over his actions. Except for the fact that he never wanted to see her again, and thus avoided any place she was known to frequent. That primarily meant the college, the Bronze, and the cemeteries. So far, he had been successful in keeping away from her.
Of course, if Buffy wanted to find him, she shouldn't have any real trouble. News traveled fast on the demon grapevine. All she would have to do was demand the information from Willy. But Spike hadn't seen a trace of her since Monday night. Her absence just proved what he had already figured out: Buffy had been using him, and once she got what she wanted it was goodbye, Spike, hello... well, hello, anyone else, for all he knew. The situation was hardly fair.
Spike had no doubt that Buffy had instantly reported back to her friends with every single word he had spoken after drinking the truth potion. They knew it all, including his most damaging secret: the existence and location of the Gem of Amara. They could take him down. It would be easy for them. All they had to do was catch him and dig open his chest in their search for the Gem. Once it was removed, a quick stake to the heart would dust him. And dusting him must have been Buffy's objective all along.
Yes, Spike was going stir crazy waiting for her little gang to come after him. Why hadn't they made their move yet? After all, Buffy had gotten what she wanted. All of his secrets and his pathetic, emasculating feelings for her were laid out in the open. He wondered how many hours she and her friends had spent laughing at him and his stupidity.
He couldn't take the suspense anymore. He had to find out what they were plotting and when they would strike. It had been almost seven full days since that awful night when they had learned the truth. They must be drawing out the attack just to torture him, to try to make him break. Instead, Spike was going to take the fight to them.
He set out from the mansion into the morning sun, making up his plan as he proceeded. Buffy and Willow would be on campus in classes today. Oz and Anya were potentially anywhere. That left Giles and Xander, who were his biggest threats anyway, aside from the Slayer. If a plot to dust him existed, Giles would be the mastermind behind it and Xander would be its biggest proponent. Spike knew he stood little chance of intimidating Giles or persuading him to give up any details, but Xander was a different story. He was the weak link. All Spike had to do was make his way to Harris' house, catch him alone without his precious friends to protect him, and frighten the truth out of him.
Through his stalking of Buffy, Spike knew exactly where Xander lived. He had taken up residence in the basement of his parents' house. He also had been proceeding through a succession of crappy part-time jobs and might even be in between gigs at the moment. In short, the likelihood was that he was home. Arriving outside the house, Spike noted a rust trap of an old car parked in front. It had "Xander" written all over it.
The stumbling block was his entrance into the house. Spike had no invitation. But fortune was smiling down upon him. As he walked toward the front door, it opened and a woman who looked about the proper age to be Xander's mum stepped outside, evidently preparing to leave.
Taking a chance, Spike greeted her. "Hello, Mrs. Harris. I'm calling to see Xander like we arranged the other day, if that's all right."
"Oh. Well, go on in." She moved away back from the door, having given Spike the invitation he needed. "Xander's in the basement."
Spike smiled. "Thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate this." He entered the house and waited until the woman had driven away in her own ratty car before he listened for heartbeats. The only one in the building came from the basement. Perfect. He had Xander all to himself.
Spike trotted down the basement stairs and emerged into the dim, unpleasant little space. It was about the sort of place he'd imagined Harris having, all right. Only, where was his victim? Spike glanced around. There! Emerging through a doorway at the far end of the room was Xander. Spike grinned and waited patiently for the idiot to spot him.
It took a good 10 seconds, when Xander had crossed the room to his TV set, before he noticed the intruder. "Ahhhh!"
Spike winced at the ear-piercing cry. "Hello to you, too, Harris."
"Spike! What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in?" Xander looked around wildly.
"Your mum. Very accommodating lady."
"Um, we are talking about *my* mom, right? 'Cause it doesn't really sound like her."
"She just left the house and gave me an invite in. How convenient."
"Thanks, Mom," Xander muttered. "Of all the times to be hospitable. Well, what do you want, Spike? Or, I have an idea. Why don't you just get the hell out before I stake you?"
Spike tensed and began checking about for any sort of trap. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't be the least bit afraid of Xander, but the kid knew his secret now. In fact, Spike wouldn't put it past the idiot to try to pull a stun gun on him and capture him before yanking out the surgical knife.
But what was this? Xander was backing away and looking nervous, like he had no sort of protection at all. He was even rambling on about something. "Look, I didn't mean. And Buffy will really hate you if you decide to have one of her friends for breakfast or lunch or whatever it would be to you."
Now, this was interesting. The boy was afraid of him, and didn't seem to have the first clue as to how to take him down. A faint suspicion entered Spike's mind. Was it possible...? "What's this, Harris? I thought you were going to stake me all by yourself?"
Xander laughed nervously. "I know that isn't possible. I mean, since you're invincible and immortal and all because of that ritual you performed. I could stake you, but it wouldn't hurt you so there's no point."
"Ritual," Spike repeated, keying in on the lone word of importance amidst the babble. "What do you know about a ritual?"
"Only what Buffy told us, that you performed it and it can't be reversed and now you're undustable. I didn't really mean I was going to stake you. I wouldn't do that."
Spike didn't bother to dignify that comment with an answer. He was too busy trying to think of the best way to get the truth out of Xander. "Let me get this straight," he said, speaking very slowly and clearly so the moron couldn't possibly misunderstand him. "Last Monday after Buffy drugged me, she came back and told you and the rest of her little gang about the invincibility ritual I had performed that I told her about while under the influence of the potion. Right?"
Xander nodded. "Yes! Exactly!"
No longer interested in Harris, Spike turned and left. He had learned something very important. Xander didn't have the guile to lie to his face and get away with it. Therefore, Buffy had misled the gang about the Gem of Amara. Which meant she hadn't betrayed him. But why? Spike was curious. Too curious, he realized. He would have to pay Buffy one last visit, if only to find out why she had lied to her friends.