A loud crack of thunder roared outside the Summers' home, making the windows rattle.  The rain had begun to fall in heavy torrents about an hour before and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.

"Alright, so this is everything we need, right?" Dawn asked, scribbling the last of the ingredients for the spell down on a piece of paper.

"Everything from the shop, we have the rest here." Willow said with a nod, closing up the books they had been using and stacking them at one end of the dining room table.

"So, Dawn, you run to the shop, get everything from there, Will can get the other magic stuff from here, and I'll gather up some weapons." Buffy stated, standing up from her chair.

"Guys?"

The trio turned to find Hope standing in the doorway, looking even worse off than she had earlier in the day. The rings under her eyes seemed darker, her straggly hair falling messily over her face. She leaned a hand heavily against the wall, as if needing the support to stay on her feet. Buffy quickly set the book in her hands down and walked over to her, brushing her hair out of the way and placing her palm across her damp forehead. "You have a fever."

The teen nodded slightly. "Yeah, I guess…"

The Slayer turned back to her sister. "Dawn, run upstairs and grab that flu medicine." The brunette nodded and headed out of the room.

"Buffy, I don't have the flu…"

"No, but the symptoms are pretty similar, so maybe it will help."

Hope gave her a halfhearted nod before pointing her thumb back over her shoulder. "Uh, on the news…"

Willow exchanged a glance with Buffy before nodding and walking past her and into the living room. "Come on." The Slayer instructed, placing a hand on the teen's back and leading her back into the living room.

Dawn came back downstairs a few minutes later, a bottle of heavy red flu medicine in her hand. Walking into the living room, she found the three other girls sitting on the couch, eyes locked on the television. "What's up?"

"Seems good ole Sunnydale is choc'fulla vicious citizens. The police have been flooded with reports of fights. So far there have been seven deaths and fifteen people are in the hospital with serious injuries." Buffy explained.

"Looks like our demon is going to work." Willow added.

Buffy nodded, standing. "Alright, we need to get everything together for this spell –now-. We can't waste anymore time." Turning back to Hope, she pointed a finger at her. "You, medicine."

Dawn had already taken the liberty of pouring some of the red liquid into a small medicine cup and handed it over to the girl. "Goody…" She mumbled stubbornly, drinking it down quickly. She made a face as she handed the cup back over to Buffy.

"See? Not so bad." The Slayer stated.

"Better than that purple stuff…" The young girl agreed, earning a small smirk from Willow.

Buffy went to say something, but another loud boom of thunder sounded and the TV and lights flicked off, leaving the house in a gloomy darkness. It wasn't yet night, but the dark clouds outside were doing a pretty good job of blotting out the sun. A flash of lighting lit up the room momentarily before leaving the girls in grimy gray darkness once more.

Buffy frowned. "Well that's just great." Rolling her eyes, she turned back to her sister. "Dawn, new plan. I don't want you out in that storm alone. Get Spike to go with you and try to hurry, we need to get this over with as soon as possible."

Dawn blinked and looked around the room. "Uh, where is Spike?"

There was a momentary silence in the room, the only sounds coming from the raging storm outside. Buffy Willow, and Dawn turned to Hope, looking at her expectantly. She blinked. "What? I thought he was in the dining room with you guys!"

"Dammit Spike." Buffy growled under her breath, scowling. He had disappeared earlier to see how Hope was faring, and hadn't come back into the dining room. They had just come to the logical conclusion that he was sitting out here with her for the past few hours. Evidently not. "Willow, get everything together here, then go with Dawn over to the shop. I'm heading over to the mansion, once you have everything, meet me there."

"What about me?"

Buffy looked down at the blonde on the couch. "You're staying here."

"What? Nuh-uh." She protested, shaking her head and standing up. She performed the action a bit too fast, causing another wave of nausea to sweep over her. She clutched a hand over her stomach and sank slowly back into the couch cushions, looking miserable.

Buffy smirked. "You're staying."

"But…"

Buffy sighed, sitting down on the coffee table in front of the girl. "Look, you're not in any condition to fight and you know just as well as I do that killing Dru and that dog ain't gonna be easy. Besides, Spike would kill me if he found out I let you out in the rain while you were sick." She finished, giving her a small smile.

Hope managed a small smile in return. "I really hate it when he's overprotective."

"Yeah, well Spike has this tendency to be –way- overprotective, so get used to it." Buffy stated, standing. She disappeared into the dining room from a moment, then came back out, pulling on her coat. "Guys, try to hurry."

Willow and Dawn nodded as Buffy swung the door open, pulled the hood of her coat over her head, and made a mad dash out into the pouring rain. Willow turned to Dawn, her resolve face on. "Okay, I'll go get the supplies from upstairs. You find a flashlight, go downstairs, and find some umbrellas."

"Check." Dawn stated, nodding.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Hope called, watching in raw amazement as Willow went upstairs and Dawn disappeared towards the kitchen. She threw up her hands in exasperation, slumping back into the couch. "Lot has their bloody priorities screwed up. Umbrellas…"

----------

Buffy barreled through the door of the mansion, muttering a string of curses that would have made even Spike flinch. Flinging her now soaked jacket angrily to the ground, she stamped her foot and tossed her dripping wet hair back over her shoulder and out of her face. "I hate rain…" She growled, clenching her teeth as she stalked down the hallway.

"We've been waiting for you, my sweet." Dru's singsong voice called softly, hanging eerily in the air. She was standing in the corner of the room, Miss Edith cradled in one arm, grinning madly.

"We?" Buffy questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. A deep growl sounded behind her and she frowned. Looking back over her shoulder, she found an oversized black dog glaring at her, teeth bared. "Oh…"

"That's not all." Dru said sweetly. "Come 'ere, my pretty."

The dog turned it's gaze away from the Slayer and obediently padded past her and over to Dru. It sank down to it's haunches a few feet from her, towering over the vampire's small form.

"You know, luv, you really should be a bit more careful. That thing could have taken your head off 'fore you even seen it coming."

Buffy spun around once more to find Spike walking towards her, smirking. She scowled. "Yeah, well if you hadn't disappeared for the fiftieth time since you've been here I wouldn't even be here in the first place."

"Sorry, pet. Promised the micro-Slayer I'd fix her little sleepin' problem. Couldn't very well do that from your place, now could I?" He questioned, standing alongside her.

Buffy just shook her head. "Whatever, Spike. Can we just focus on killing the oversized dog for now?" She demanded, glaring at him. He just stared down at her with sharp blue eyes. Her eyes searched his for  moment, her glare fading into a look of confusion. "Spike?"

A smile crept to his face and he brushed his hand across her cheek. "Wha's a'matter, pet? Nervous?"

She stared at him in confusion before pulling away. "What's wrong with you?"

"Wrong? Nothin's wrong." He stated, walking across the room and over to Drusilla. The raven haired vampiress grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her from the ground and spun her in a small circle. When her feet were back on the ground, he nuzzled her neck, watching Buffy out of the corner of his eyes. "No, Slayer, everything is fine now."

----------

"Isn't it, like, not good to carry umbrellas when it's lightening?" Dawn questioned, dashing through the dark cemetery, one hand clutched over her jacket pocket, assuring that she didn't loose the small leather pouch concealed there.

"Well, yeah, but it's raining really hard." Willow stated, her feet splashing against the muddy ground as she ran. "Just don't tell your sister. Now come on, we're almost there." She shouted back, quickening her pace as the looming mansion came into view.

----------

"Stupid…soddin'…twits…." Hope grumbled, emphasizing every word as she pulled various items from the magic box shelves. She had a feeling that Buffy wasn't going to be too happy with the fact that she had left the house, let alone the fact that she had busted out one of the shop windows to get inside. On the other hand, she had been considerate enough to break the window off to the side of the building so that the rain wouldn't get in.

Sniffling, the teen tossed the items onto the table and turned her eyes back to the shelves, scanning back and forth. She groaned, narrowing her eyes at the deep red candle. "You had to be on the top shelf, didn't you?" She grumbled at the offending object, grabbing a chair from behind her and swinging it in front of the case. With an aggravated huff, she climbed up on it and reached her arm up to grab the candle.

And even with the extra height from the chair, it was still far out of her reach.

"Dammit…" She scowled, opting to grab onto one of the shelves instead of reaching for the candle. Careful not to knock the chair down, she hefted herself up and began climbing up the shelves one by one. When the candle was finally within her reach, she grabbed it and shoved it in her mouth. The way her head was spinning, she was going to need both hands to get back down if she didn't want to fall face first into the ground.

She gritted her teeth as he foot brushed against a large glass ball, knocking it from it's stand and sending it rolling off the shelf. It shattered into thousands of pieces as it hit the floor, causing her to flinch. "That looked expensive…" She mumbled sheepishly, hopping down onto the chair and then to the ground. She looked around at the shimmering glass at her feet for a brief second before shrugging and stepping over it.

"Right, now we're going to do things my way…" She said to herself, spreading out the various plants and powders she had gathered. Rolling up the soaking wet sleeves of her shirt, she held the candle in one hand and pulled a lighter from her pocket with the other. "Told ya stealin' this thing from your room would come in handy, din't I Spike?"

----------

"Mmmm, I missed you my pet…" Dru whispered softly, running her finger through his blonde locks as he nuzzled further into her neck.

"And I you, poodle." He replied with a grin, pulling away from her. He turned his dark gaze back to Buffy, still smiling madly. "Poor, poor, Slayer…" He stated, walking slowly towards her, enjoying the look of pain on her face. "We're not jealous, now, are we?"

"What did she do to you?" She demanded, unconsciously taking a step back as he drew closer.

"Drusilla? She didn't do nothin'. Well, aside from summonin' that over sized mutt over there. Right good plan, if you ask me. Let me ask you somethin', luv." He continued conversationally, pacing in front of her. "What happens when a demon who entices violence is sent after a vampire who hasn't much been one for killin' lately? Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd say it'd clear up 'is vision a bit. Get 'im up for a spot of violence, 'ey?"

"It only effects mortals, you moron." The Slayer spat, trying to sound sure of herself.

"Does it now? I'm not sure, sweetheart. I'm feelin' a bit less…what's the word? Oh yeah, -leashed-." The final word came out as an emphasized growl as he stopped pacing, grinning at her. After a moment, he began to walk towards her again, taking slow, deliberate steps. "All the ties are gone now, luv. Not only is the chip gone, but so are those pesky feelin's. Now all there is is pure, hot, hatred. A desire to kill, to feed. And I think you'd be a nice place to start."