Chapter 22: Allies

"When?" Buffy asked, whisking through the halls of Sunnydale High as Spike and Xander trailed behind.

"Early this morning. Dru and two henchmen burst into the library, trashed it, and grabbed Giles before we could stop them. Willow, Oz, Ms. Calendar and I were with him the whole night, studying up on this Acathla character----"

Buffy paused before entering the library and turned to face Xander. "Acathla?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Xander went blank before realizing Buffy had been absent for most of last night's revelations. "That's right, you weren't there." He shot a dark sideways look at Spike to indicate that he was the unsavory cause for this. "Last night we got word from the museum that a huge artifact had been stolen by two vampires. One male vampire described as 'tall, dark and handsome'----"

"I'd like to contest to that," Spike muttered under his breath.

"Shut up, Spike," Buffy deadpanned without turning around.

"----And a girl described as pale, skinny and psycho."

Spike straightened and furrowed his brows tightly. "That's my Dru, all right."

"Dru and Angel at the museum? What did they want? What did they take?"

"Well after apparently going Dutch and splitting a tasty curator amongst themselves, it looks like they had their eyes on a big rock with the unfortunate name of Acathla. Giles went down to the museum and identified the missing artifact from all the pictures the curator had been studying."

"Okay . . . so . . . I'm guessing this oversized pet rock isn't all fun and games."

Xander nodded solemnly. "Try apocalypse and a whole demon dimension of pain. Apparently, the rock the dynamic duo stole contains the statue of Acathla, the guard and gatekeeper of a hell dimension. He's got this sword dealie sticking out of him. Whoever slides that baby out has unlocked whatever there is that keeps this dimension and the other from bleeding together. And from reading up, this hell dimension? Not the greatest place to make a permanent stay."

Spike leered at Xander. "Yeah, we sorta gathered that from when you said 'hell dimension', shagwit."

Xander ignored Spike. "All the righteous and good of the earth shall be smitten or enslaved while all the evil denizens get to party like its 1999."

Sighing, Buffy pushed back the doors to the library. "Okay, so your standard 'end-of-the-world' scenario. Got it." She stopped and surveyed the ruined state of the library grimly. "But why did they want Giles?" she murmured, still staring at the overturned shelves and ripped books. "Why did they take him?"

"I don't know. Probably since he's the go-to guy with the magic. Maybe they're having trouble opening the portal."

Buffy turned to Xander with a look of decision. "That buys us some time."

Spike stared down at the floor and shuffled darkly. "What do you think they're gonna do to him?" he mumbled in a small voice.

Buffy shrugged, trying to disguise fear with initiative. "Squeeze out any information Giles has about Acathla. Torture him until he talks. We've got to find him as soon as possible." She stared steadily at Spike, who nodded slowly in response.

"Buffy----" Xander started, staring down at his hands uneasily. "If . . . I mean when we do find Giles . . . what then? What are you going to do? Angel means business, you know. He's going to end the world----"

"I'm not going to let him!" Buffy replied, her voice unusually sharp, her eyes cold. "I won't."

Xander nodded testily, but squinted at her hard. "How?"

Buffy threw up her hands helplessly. "I don't know! I mean, I do know, but----"

"You knew Angel was in town, didn't you Buffy?" Xander's voice was soft and deliberate.

She spun around with her eyes wide. "What?"

"You knew. And somehow . . . you knew he was going to turn." He tried to make it sound like a question, but it came out as a statement. "You did. And you didn't tell us."

Buffy stood stock-still, overcome with guilt. "Xander-----"

"You didn't come to us. Your friends, your family. You didn't trust us enough to tell us about him. Why?"

"I . . . I don't know . . ."

Xander hardened and threw his hands up in the air. "Well great, Buffy. That's just great, you know? Because you kept this whole thing a secret from us, Giles' been kidnapped, Willow's in the hospital---"

Buffy stopped and straightened. "What? What is Willow doing in the hospital?"

Xander stared at her in a chilling, damning way. "One of the vampires knocked a bookshelf over and Willow was on the other side of it. She has a concussion and a broken arm. She's been knocked unconscious and she hasn't woken up."

Buffy paled. "Oh my god."

Xander nodded, as if this proved the point. "You see, Buffy?" he said in a harsh tone. "This isn't a game. Because you lied to all of us, lives are at stake."

"I know!" She knew all too well.

"You have to kill him Buffy, you know that."

Spike shrugged. "For once, I agree with the shagwit."

Buffy winced, knowing the truth in the words, but not wanting to hear. "Again, I know." In her mind, she thought about how this would take place. Would it just be like last night where she would have the opportunity, but lack the courage to finally end it? How could she murder the person she loved most in the world? Okay, so he was a apocalypse-aspiring, heartless demon. But somewhere inside . . . there had to be something left of her boyfriend. There had to be. "B-but . . . what if there's another way?"

"Another way? How can there be another way?" Xander demanded.

"I-I don't know. Maybe the spell . . . maybe Ms. Calendar could restore his soul through the gypsy curse. She translated it, why wouldn't she be able to do it?"

Xander squinted at her. "Oh I get it. All you care about is getting your boyfriend back, regardless of how many people he's killed or how many lives he's ruined." Spike clenched his teeth visibly.

Stung, Buffy stared at her best friend with dismay and anger. She could handle such words from Spike, but from Xander? "I'm just saying it's an option."

"No, I think you're saying that you're still too ridden with puppy-love to face the facts. Grow up, Buffy, this is real life!"

"I know real life! I'm the one who protects it everyday, not you Xander! I've grown up faster than you'll ever have to! You won't ever understand what it's like!"

"Oh that's right, because you're the Slayer. Well news flash, Buffy: Just because you're the slayer doesn't mean you get to go around protecting whoever the hell you want to protect just because he's your undead honey!"

"God Xander! Don't you get it? I've thought about this. Do you know what kind of risk it would be if I just barreled in and tried to save Giles? And who knows if Angel already found out the secret to opening the portal and is doing that as we speak?"

Xander shook his head firmly. "No. Giles would never tell."

"You don't know that. You don't know what they could be doing to him. Now if we restore Angel's soul as soon as possible, there won't be a chance of him opening the portal. He'd let Giles go. And we wouldn't even have to risk anything to stop it---"

"No, you wouldn't have to risk anything. Soon as it's all over, you'd go running back to Angel's arms like nothing happened. Who cares if he killed all of Spike's family, tortured Giles and put Willow in the hospital?"

"This isn't about vengeance! This is about the best alternative!"

"Yes, which is to send his King-of-Pain, brooding ass to hell!"

"And you say that I'm being immature? God Xander, I know your ego has been bruised a couple times by Angel, but this isn't about him stealing your high school crush, get over it!"

Freezing at her callous reference to her rejection of him last year, Xander clenched his teeth and shook his head in fury. "Right now, I can't even see what that was about. Angel can have you. I hope you both get sent to hell."

Buffy was shocked at her best friend's statement. Before her mouth could drop open as her eyes welled with tears, Spike stalked up to Xander and grabbed him by the collar. "Hey lay off, Harris, alright?"

This wasn't right. This was all topsy-turvy. Xander was the one attacking her and Spike was the one defending her? The world Buffy knew was slipping fast from her grasp.

Xander looked up at Spike with the same venom he directed at Buffy. "Why should I?" he asked sneeringly.

"Because she's the goddamn Slayer, that's why. The girl makes mistakes, but when it comes down to it, she's the only one who'll save all our asses in the face of the apocalypse. So maybe you should listen to what she thinks best."

Xander gaped at Spike in disbelief. "Spike, Angel practically killed your whole family!"

"Yeah, and I'm not willing for him to make it one more. He's got my father and God knows what he's doing to him. So I'll do everything in my power to get him back." At the last minute, he turned to Buffy, who was staring at him in awe, and said flippantly, "I still think you should kill him, though."

Buffy cracked a small smile, but her mouth straightened into a firm line when she gazed down at Xander. "Where's Ms. Calendar?"

Sighing, Xander slumped with quiet disdain. "At the hospital with Oz and Willow."

"Get her. Tell her the plan. Help her with the spell. Meanwhile, I'll will track down Angel and Dru and see if we can stop Angel before he opens the portal."

Xander widened his eyes. "You mean . . . you are going to kill him?"

Buffy started to go through the weapons box Giles had always kept in the library. "We need a back-up plan don't we?" She rummaged through the weapons box in dismay. "Dammit. There aren't enough supplies here. We have to go home, I've got more weapons in my room."

Xander cocked an eyebrow at Buffy. "Who's 'we'?"

Buffy glanced awkwardly at Spike. For some reason, she had come to think of him as a partner of sorts. Maybe it was because they had gone through the same things, maybe it was because they understood each other, and maybe it was because of his recent defense of her. Whatever it was, they felt like allies. No--more than that, they were. "Me and Spike. We'll stop by my house and wait for you to tell us if the spell worked or not."

Xander considered this and nodded dourly, finally making his way out of the library. Buffy glanced over at Spike with a resolute expression. "Ready?"

Spike's face held similar resolution. "Right behind you, Slayer," he said, following her out the library door.