A/N: I'm starting to get to the end of this fic and I'm doing my best to
finish it as soon as possible. Although I know exactly what's going to
happen in the last chapters, I have trouble writing it down for some
reason. But hopefully it'll be finished by the end of next week. And thanks
for the reviews; they have really inspired me to write! /mell
Chapter 13
Alex knelt beside Spike and put her hands over his wounds. As she started saying the words in the spell she felt as though some of her life was given to the vampire, and she grew more and more tired. When her hands started glowing she suddenly felt so dizzy she thought she would faint, but the pleading look on Buffy's face made her try harder.
She knew that Spike probably wouldn't die even if she stopped, but at the same time they needed him to defeat Giles. He couldn't fight humans, but she feared that Giles had allied himself with something that wasn't.
When Spike's eyes shot open Alex couldn't hold herself together any longer and she fainted.
~*~
It was like a fog surrounded him, and he couldn't see who was leaning over his body. But he could feel who it was behind him.
"Buffy?" he got out hoarsely. "What-What's happened?"
She didn't answer, instead she held him tight and he could feel something wet in his hair. Tears. Worried that someone had died or was seriously hurt, he tried to get up and comfort her, but he was still too weak. But now he could at least see.
"What's wrong?" he whispered gently.
She continued crying, but he could see her trying to say something.
"I-I thought I'd lost you!" she cried. "I thought you'd died and left me, just like the others."
Confused and worried he looked around. He had some problems understanding what she was saying; his mind still hadn't completely cleared.
"Who died? Oh my god, not Dawn, right?" He was now trying to get up again, and this time he succeeded.
"No, no one's dead, I was-I was talking about people leaving me," she said. Relieved he put his arm around her shoulder and let her help him stand up. Then he felt a sudden pain in his chest, it wasn't much, but it startled him. He looked down to see where the wound was, but there was none.
"What happened to me?" he asked. He couldn't remember anything that had happened since that he an Alex had left the car.
"Giles shot you," she replied softly.
He was about to remind her that a gunshot wouldn't really kill him, but then he noticed Alex lying on the floor.
"He shot you and then he did something to Alex to make her unconscious."
Alex's long hair completely covered her face and he could swear that parts of it were white as snow.
"Is she still unconscious after what Giles did to her?" he asked.
Buffy shook her head and sat down beside the witch.
"No, she healed you. I think it took a lot out of her, she fainted at the same moment as you woke up. I haven't tried to wake her up yet, I was kinda busy with you at the moment."
Spike had to stop himself from smiling happily at the fact that she'd been worrying about him, and that she cared whether or not he was alive or dead. But the timing wasn't really appropriate.
"We have to wake her up, and then figure out a way to get out of here."
~*~
They stood close together as near the car as they could. They had no way to get out of there because between them and the car where at least ten men, just waiting for them to try to get to the vehicle.
"There's no use," Marcus said, smiling wickedly. "All of you will be dead before dawn. Nothing you do can change that, we're to many."
Willow grabbed Dawn and Anya's hands and whispered to them.
"Remember, those of them that are under the One's control aren't good anymore, and they probably never will be again. If we don't stop them, the One will rise again and the world won't be this nice, so do what you have to do."
Dawn was shaking slightly, but her face looked calm and confident. If Willow hadn't felt her hands tremble she would have thought that the teen was totally unaffected by the whole ordeal.
"How will we know who is good and who isn't?" Dawn asked. "You said it wasn't very strong yet, so all of these people can't be its slaves."
Willow considered this for a moment before looking around at the waiting humans around them. Most of the people from the hotel looked scared, just as some of the soldiers.
"You're right, Dawn. I don't think all of these are slaves. I will try something," she whispered determinedly. "Listen, all of you," she called out. "I am a very powerful witch, and I can kill you all. But all of you that is not under the control of the One, step forward now, and you will be spared."
No one moved, but confusion was visible on at least thirty people's faces. They had no idea of what Willow was talking about.
Quickly Willow started mumbling words that no one could understand, and the faces of those that wasn't under the One's control started glowing brightly.
"Don't kill those who glow!" Willow screamed and let go of Dawn and grabbed a weapon. The others soon followed and the fight began.
Dawn was rushing forward towards some of them that was glowing, hoping to be able to get them away from there.
Everywhere around her, her friends were trying to win over their attackers without killing anyone, but it was evident that these people no longer cared for their own lives, they we're ready to fight until death. Dawn could see how Xanders axe fell down on an old man from the hotel that she recognized as Simon's dad. The man fell slowly to the ground and the axe was still stuck on him. Xander leaned down and grabbed it, and anyone that didn't know him would have thought that it didn't matter to him that he'd just killed a human being, his face was totally expressionless.
Anya's shout at her made Dawn duck at the exact time that a knife flew over her head and got stuck in a tree behind her. Turning she could see Simon standing there, another weapon ready in his hand. And he was glowing.
"You don't want to do this!" Dawn screamed, fearing for her life. She had lost her grip on her weapon when she ducked, so she had no way to defend herself. "It's me, Dawn!"
Simon smirked and walked closer to her.
"And? You think you mean anything to me, you murderer? Don't you think I know what you've done, you and your friends?" He looked at her with hateful eyes. Dawn couldn't do anything but stare at him.
"Murderer? Where have you heard that from?" she asked confusedly.
He snorted and raised his weapon.
"Don't try that, I know everything. Giles told me about you. It's you, all of you, that have killed all of those people. And now you have to pay!" Dawn didn't get a chance to say anything before he threw the knife at her. But it stopped just and inch from her face, and she could see Simon staring at he in shock. Quickly Dawn put on a threatening face, and she took the knife from where it was in the air. Careful to not let him see it, she gave Willow a thankful look.
"I am a powerful witch," she lied to Simon. "And if I were you, I would run. Now!"
Seconds later Simon was gone, and a couple of other glowing people that had seen the exchange followed him. Pleased with herself, Dawn turned around. Anya was battling two men with swords, one of them was glowing, and she was winning. None of them seemed to have any skills what so ever with swords, and soon the non-glowing one lay lifeless on the ground. She shot the other man a threatening look, and he ran away.
The others seemed to be in similar situations, the glowing ones didn't really want to be there, and their courage quickly dissipated, and the slaves under the One weren't very skilled fighters, with a couple exceptions. But those that where was taken care of by Willow, who had gotten up on the car's roof somehow and was chanting in foreign languages. Between her lifted hands was a small ball of energy that seemed to shoot out little shots on some of the humans now and then.
Fifteen minutes after that they had been attacked, only ten soldiers were still there, all except one of them glowing. Marcus stood there, shaking with fury as he stared after some of his men that had fled the scene. He was the only one left that didn't glow.
"This doesn't change anything witch!" he screamed, sounding like a maniac. "My Master will still win this, and there is nothing you can do, for it has already began!"
Then he ran, followed by his remaining men.
"Does anyone else but me think that that was too easy?" Nils asked. Everyone stared at him. "Well, maybe not easy," he quickly said, "but think about it. There's five of us, and like fifty of them, and we make it out without a scratch, and we've killed at least ten people. Many of them trained soldiers. And I know some of those men that ran and I tell you; those men are not cowards. I don't think we where supposed to loose."
Anya, Xander and Dawn looked at him like he was crazy, but Willow nodded.
"Yes, I think your right. I think those were just her to slow us down, not kill us."
"But what is it that's going to happen that they don't want us to be at? And where?" asked Xander curiously.
"We need to find Buffy, now!" Dawn said determinedly, and walked to the car.
~*~
When Alex finally woke up, Spike was totally recovered, and he'd been spending the last ten minutes throwing himself at the door. But it didn't move at all.
"Oh," Alex moaned as she felt the pounding headache. "We're still in here?" she asked, trying to clear her head.
Buffy nodded before suddenly giving her a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for helping him."
Alex smiled slightly, ignoring the sudden rush of pain that caused.
"You're welcome," she replied softly. "But now we really need to get out of here."
Buffy nodded in agreement and got up to help Spike. But after another minute or two they both agreed that there was no use.
"We need to find another way," Spike said, very tired after everything that had happened.
None of them looked at her, but Alex understood what he meant. They needed her help.
"Give me a moment," she grunted while trying to stand up.
Buffy looked torn between her need to get out of the room and her concern for the witch.
"Are you sure you should do that?" she asked worriedly. "You might hurt yourself."
Alex tried to give her a self-confident smile as she leaned against the doorframe.
"It'll give me a hell of a headache, but that goes away after I've rested. Hopefully Willow has realized that something is wrong and then she'll come her and join us. Then I won't need to use any magic for a while. It'll be okay."
Both Spike and Buffy looked doubtful but they nodded.
"All right then, but any sign your gonna break, I'm stopping this," Spike said gently but seriously, and Buffy gave him an odd look. "Not going to let the girl who saved me die on me, are I?" he added with a smirk.
"Let's go then," Alex said and turned her full attention to the door. The words she spoke in Latin sounded almost as the wind, so soft were they. The door started to shake and little by little it swayed open. When the crack between the door and the doorframe was so big that Buffy could put her hand in it, Alex stopped, completely exhausted.
"You think you could do the rest?" she asked tiredly. Without a word of objection Buffy started pushing with all of her force, and since it was already starting to open, it wasn't too difficult. Soon it was totally opened and the tree of them could go out.
"Freedom, at last," Buffy said with a smile as they hurried down the corridor towards the stairs. None of them knew where Giles where, they didn't even know if he still was in the building. But they had no choice but to look after him in the normal way since Alex was in no condition to do any more spells. Well, almost the normal way, they did have a vampire with enhanced hearing and smell.
"He's close," Spike whispered as they reached the stairs. "Down."
The girls didn't question him and they all stepped down as silent as they could, not wanting to alert Giles of their sudden freedom.
~*~
Willow couldn't help but feel stressed as Nils drove the car towards the old house in the outskirts of town were they'd found out that Buffy and the others were. Luckily, Giles hadn't done any kind of spells to prevent her form finding the place, so her location spell had worked like a charm. Maybe even to easily, Willow thought.
Nils had to be driving at least 100, but it felt too slow. Willow had to pull up every ounce of self-control not to use magic to speed the car up a bit. But she needed to save her power as much as possible to the final battle. Hopefully they'd win it and go back home and return to their normal lives, maybe bring Alex with them, but if they didn't win. Willow couldn't help but think about Anna's predictions of how one of them was going to die. Who could it be? One or maybe more of them would loose one person that they loved very much. But in their tight circle almost everyone was loved by all of the others. Except maybe Spike. Come to think of it, Spike wasn't really loved by anyone. Dawn maybe, but Willow doubted that Dawn actually loved him, especially after everything that had happened before he got his soul.
Her depressing thought were interrupted by the car coming to a halt and she could see the large house among the trees further down the road.
"Why are you stopping now?" Dawn asked Nils. "It has to be 800 yards left, at least."
"We don't want him to know we're here, Dawnie," Xander explained before Nils had a chance too. For some reason he didn't seem to like the Swede that much. He was probably just jealous because Anya liked the guy.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about that," Willow said dryly to her friends. "I think he's known that we're coming from the start."
"Probably," Anya agreed. "But we should still try to surprise him as much as possible. Any advantage we get is a definite plus."
There was no more discussion, and they all got out of the car and started sneaking up to the house. Even though they were still too far away to be seen, they didn't want to take any chances.
The house was very large, and something about it sent chills down everyone's spine. Nils mentioned that all of the people around here avoided the place as much as they could.
"And here we are anyway," Xander muttered under his breath. Everyone ignored them as they reached the front porch.
"It's so quiet," Dawn whispered weekly when they'd gotten inside. The smell that hit them was overwhelming, and no one besides Willow could understand what it came from.
"It's flowers," she said quietly. "A special kind that you use for summoning and certain spells that increasing power. I think Giles has begun with whatever it is he's going to do."
Behind her Anya gasped and looked around warily. '
"Then we're maybe too late. If we stay we might be the first ones to come under the One's control. I say we run now while we still have the chance."
Dawn and Nils shot here angry glares, but Willow and Xander looked at her understanding.
"If you really don't want to be here, Ahn, you can leave. I'm sure we can make it without you, and no one will hold it against you afterwards," Xander said sympathetically.
Willow nodded in agreement, but Anya saw Dawn's look and raised her head, giving the teen an intimidating glance.
"No, it' all right. I'll help you send this demon back where he belongs. I won't let anyone -- or anything -- scare me off."
Nils increased his pace so that he walked beside the vengeance demon and he gave her an approving look.
"That's great Anya. Now lets go stop this."
The others nodded and hurried up. The closer they got to the stairs in the end of the hallway the stronger the scent was. There was no doubt in their minds that they would have to go up.
"You sure this will hold?" Xander asked Willow hesitantly as he tried the first step. "I mean, it looks kinda shaky."
Without answering, Willow walked up the stairs, quickly reaching the second floor.
"I think you got your answer there, mate," Nils said, somewhat amused.
Xander snorted and ignored the blonde. Moments later the entire group had reached the third floor. They could see Giles pacing back and forth, softly reciting in a foreign language. Surrounding him a dark form could be seen, almost floating in the air. It was translucent and it had no clear form, although the things shining red eyes was perfectly clear. And when it looked at them shills went down all of their spines and all around them soft whispers could be heard.
"Don't listen to it, it's trying to take control over your mind!" Willow screamed to her friends as she put her hands over her ears. But it didn't help as the words weren't coming in the natural way, they where formed inside her own head. She couldn't get away even how much she tried. She could see the others around her doing the same thing, and for a moment she felt like she could fight it. Its power seemed to be weakening. But then it's voice increased in power again and it filled her mind.
Willow tried to move her legs and arms but found that she couldn't. Luckily she could still speak and move her head. She turned to Dawn who stood beside her. The brunette looked like she was about to panic and Willow would have done anything to be able to reach out to her.
"Sh, Dawn. Don't worry. It won't be able to hold us like this forever. Remember, I told you it wasn't very strong yet, it can't control many people at once."
Dawn whimpered slightly but she nodded. The teen knew that it wasn't the time to fall apart.
Giles had now stopped to watch them; his face looking totally indifferent to the fact that his friends were held captured by a demon that probably would kill them.
"So Willow, I see you're finally here. And you brought company," he said, sounding like he was discussing the weather. He shot a quick look at Dawn and Willow could see a small flash of sorrow in his eyes, but it was soon gone. "You even brought Dawn. I'd been trying to keep her away from this, but apparently I didn't succeed." He sighed and shrugged. "Oh well, I guess she'll have to die with the rest of you." After that he turned around and continued with the spell that he'd been doing when the group arrived.
"Giles, listen to me, this isn't you!" Dawn cried out, but he didn't even seem to notice.
~*~
Alex had one arm around Spikes shoulders and one around Buffys as the three of them made their way down the stairs. She was growing more and more tired every minute and Buffy cold see her almost dozing off a couple of times.
"Al, wake up!" she whispered in the witches ear. "This is no time for sleeping, you'll get to rest later."
Alex mumbled something inaudible and raised her head a little.
"See pet, all better," Spike joked as he held her steady. "And just ten more steps or so we'll be visiting dear ol' Rupert again. Won't that be jolly. Eh Slayer?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the vampire. Even if she liked him a lot more now, maybe even loved him a little, he could still be annoying. So annoying that she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. Or wait, that probably had nothing to do with why she couldn't stop looking at him, that had more to do with how good he looked and the way. 'No Buff, don't go there', she silently scolded herself. 'He's nothing but a good friend with a really good-looking ass.' Her own thought made her eyes go wide and she blushed slightly. She could see Spike giving her an odd look before smirking and chuckled.
"Something the matter, luv?" he asked, a smile still remaining in his face. Which was very inappropriate considering the grave situation they were in. But Buffy couldn't help but smile too, his smile strangely contagious. And of course, some more blushing.
"No," she said quickly, trying to hide her red face. "I just want to find Giles as soon as possible and get this over and done with so we can all go home."
He shrugged and paused in his step.
"I'll say your wait is no over. He's just around the corner."
Buffy stopped as well and took a quick peek into the large room they were standing outside off. And just as Spike said, there was Giles, pacing back and forth mumbling something in front of what looked like an altar. And behind him a shadow she recognized all too well hovered. And its red eyes were directed directly at her.
"Shit!" she exclaimed and drew back quickly, making Alex stagger for a moment before falling against the wall. The collision resulted in a low bang, but since the house was totally quiet both the thing inside the room and Giles heard it.
"What is it, Buffy?" Spike asked troubled.
She stammered for a moment before leaning down to help Alex back up. The witch had barely noticed that she'd just fallen against the wall.
"The thing is in there," she whispered. "And Giles too, just as you said. He's making some kind of altar.
Spike walked leaned in so that he also could see what was in the room. His eyes were better equipped to see in the dark, and he could clearly see five human forms inside the thing. And he could see Giles walking towards them.
"Shit!" he also exclaimed and drew back. Buffy gave him a worried look and he put his hand over her mouth to make sure she'd remain quiet. But it was no use.
"I know your there Buffy, you might as well come out," Giles all too familiar voice said, totally void of emotions. "And bring Spike and the witch along."
Surprised and notably scared she complied, practically dragging Alex with her. Soon Spike followed the two girls, warily eyeing Buffy's former watcher.
"What's with the red?" he asked, the same cocky attitude as always, but he was so tense that if Buffy didn't know better she'd thought his veins would pop. Giles just stared at him, not understanding what he meant. "The altar thing-y.?" Spike added, tilting his head in the altars direction. It was covered in red flowers that smelled really strong and on the ground below it was something dark red that could be dried blood. Usually Spike would have been able to tell by the smell but because of the strong scent from the flowers he couldn't.
Giles chuckled and gave the vampire an almost friendly glance.
"Oh, Spike. Always hiding behind that mask of yours, coming with rude comments every minute. But it's just a facade. Really you're just a lost pathetic vampire that can't get it through his head that no one loves him, and that no one ever will. That new soul of yours won't make any difference."
Spike couldn't hide the sudden pain he felt inside hearing those words even though he knew Giles was just trying to tick him off. But to his surprise, Buffy stepped forward.
"I think you should lay off, Giles. He was a much better man then you are now even before he got his soul. He's not pathetic, and I do think that someone could love him, if he just had the patient and the time to let that love grow."
Giles looked surprised at her, not expecting Buffy to take Spike in defense like that. And the look on Spike's face was just priceless. It was a mix of hope, happiness, sadness and admiration. 'Yes, pathetic indeed', Giles thought amused. 'He's noting more then a shell of the vampire he once were, only doing what he thinks Buffy would want him to do.'
'And that isss what'sss going to be hisss fall,' the voice said in Giles mind. 'Now do as we've decided.'
"Yes Master," Giles answered out loud.
Buffy frowned.
"Who are you talking to?" she asked curiously. Then she remembered the thing she'd seen earlier. She turned her head slightly and then she saw it again. She couldn't help but shudder as she felt the pure evil radiate from it. "Oh," was all she could say before she looked away from it.
But Spike stood as frozen, his eyes fixed on the thing.
"Buffy," he whispered. When she didn't react he spoke louder. "Buffy!" Now she turned too him. "It's someone inside of it."
She stared at him like he was crazy, before turning back to the thing. At first she couldn't make out much off anything, except those creepy red eyes, but then she saw it. Five silhouettes barely visible in the shadow created by the being.
"Who is it?" she asked Giles harshly. "Who is it inside of that thing."
Giles snorted and gave the shadow an admiring gaze.
"First of all, don't call it a thing call it Master. And second, it's your beloved scoobies, as you call them." His laugh was truly evil, and there was now no trace of the nice man she'd known since she'd moved to Sunnydale.
"The scoobies?" Buffy asked, not really scared. "Willow? Xander? Who else? Dawn?"
At the thought of Dawn being hurt Spike stepped forward and lifted Giles up in the air. The glare he gave the watcher should have scared anyone half to death, but Giles only smiled.
"If Dawn's hurt, I swear-" he screamed, but was cut off by Giles' laugh.
"Oh, Spike. Always so aggressive. I'm sure Dawn is fine." He paused to give Spike another smile. "For now. Now put me down again, or I swear to you that your precious Dawn wont survive her little visit inside my Master."
Spike immediately dropped him and took a step back. He did his best to see who it was inside of the thing that Giles called Master, but it was to dark.
"Why are you doing this?" Buffy asked, tears in her eyes threatening to fall. "This isn't you."
Giles laugh made chills go down her spine, and she unconsciously took Spikes hand in hers.
"Oh, I guarantee you that this is me, and you should be grateful."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"Grateful, for what? You threatening to kill my sister, shooting my- shooting Spike, and probably holding Willow and Xander hostage inside of you Master. I say I can't find anything there that I'm grateful for!" She was now so mad that she almost jumped up and down as she spoke.
But Giles just continued smiling, although more softly now.
"Don't you see, Buffy? I'm doing this for you," he said gently. "I'm doing this so you can have a normal life."
Buffy helped Alex sit down so she could move more freely and then she stepped closer to Giles, not letting go of Spikes hand. She could feel him squeezing hers in support, and she gave him a thankful look. She decided that when this was all over she would sit down and have a long talk with him about her feelings and what they should do in the future. After thinking that he would die she couldn't even contemplate on a life without him.
"I don't understand you Giles," she said coldly. "You say your doing this to give me a normal life. But how will killing my sister and my friends do that? They are the closest to a normal life I ever can have. I am a slayer; I can't have a normal life.
He gave her a look that a father would have given to his child when it wasn't listening.
"Buffy, they are holding you back. They and the whole slayer business. But I can fix it. My Master has told me that if you continue taking care of them, you will die. But if you would make a sacrifice, or be forced to make one, he can transform you into the girl you were before you became the slayer. A normal girl."
"And this sacrifice is letting you kill my friends, right?" she screamed angrily. "I can't believe this. And how the hell can you believe what that thing tells you? For all you know it could be lying about everything."
Giles shook his head with a sad expression.
"Buffy, you don't know what's best for you. But I do, and I will make sure it happens. In the end I hope you'll realize that I'm right." And then he turned back to the altar.
Buffy stood as frozen for a long moment, shocked by what Giles had told her. She couldn't believe that he would do this, he loved her! He wouldn't do anything to hurt the ones she cared about, but now he did. If Spike hadn't stroked his hand over her cheek she probably would have stood there for much longer.
"Buffy, what should I do?" he asked her, concern written all over his face.
She swallowed forcefully and shot a glance at the demon.
"Try to free them, and I'll do my best to get trough to Giles," she finally said, her voice shaking.
Spike looked like he was about to object, but he changed his mind and gave her a quick nod. After giving her hand a final squeeze he ran towards the thing.
Buffy looked at Alex who was at the moment leaning against the wall, barely awake. She was only able to give Buffy a weak smile before Buffy left her there.
~*~
Spike gave Buffy a final look before running to Dawn and the others aid. Even though he knew it wasn't the best time for it, he felt happy. Buffy had shown that she did have feelings for him, even though they might not yet be love.
The demon hovered in the air only a couple off yards in front of him. The closer he got to it, the more could he see. Dawns face was now visible for his enhanced seeing, and he was pretty sure that the woman beside her was Willow.
"You all right, 'bit?" he yelled at her, not really thinking that she'd be able to reply. But to his surprised she did.
"Yeah, just fine. If you ignore that I can't move anything but my head and that I'll probably just live for another five minutes," she said, not very loudly but perfectly hearable.
"Dawn, it'll be okay, don't worry," Willow said soothingly to the teenager. "Buffy, Spike and Alex are doing their best stop top this."
Spike stepped as close as he could without touching the demon, and looked at Willow.
"You know anything about what's going one? And who is that behind you? Xander, and who else?" he asked her curiously.
"It's Xander, Anya and Nils. And yes, I do know stuff about this demon. It's called 'The One' and it's very powerful when it's connected to it's full power, but until then all it can do is control a couple of people. And that's what it's doing to Giles."
Spike gave the shadow close to him an unsure look.
"So your saying it can't hurt me?" he asked.
Dawn nodded.
"No, it can't. And I think it's tired, too," she said to the vampire. Both he and the four people trapped gave her questioning looks. She smiled weekly and concentrated on Spike. "Well, it hasn't done anything to try to get into your mind has it? Or Buffys? Don't you think it would do the same to you as it has done to us if it could?"
Willow thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I think your right." She turned her head towards Spike. "We're fine really, we just can't move. I doubt there is anything you can do to get us free. But I think Alex could. Where is she?" She looked around curiously for the witch. When she saw Spike avoiding her eyes she got worried. "What is it Spike, has something happened?"
The vampire looked down for a moment before meeting Willows gaze.
"She did a very hard spell and she was exhausted. Then we needed her to open a door for us and she almost collapsed. She's awake now I think, but she's very tired."
For the first time Anya opened her mouth.
"What kind of spell was it?" she asked.
Again Spike looked down.
"A healing spell," he said quietly.
Dawn, Willow, Xander and Anya all looked at him worriedly.
"Buffy was hurt?" Xander asked, furious at the thought of someone hurting Buffy.
"No," Spike said, still looking down. "I was."
They all watched him in surprise.
"But-But you don't look hurt," Dawn said confused.
He chuckled slightly.
"Remember the part with the healing spell, niblet?" he said amused. "Anyway, she healed me, making so that she was so exhausted that she was unconscious for a bit. Then the whole opening the door for us took the last strength she had left."
Xander fumed with anger.
"So this really nice girl could have died saving you? I thought the whole soul thing would have given you a conscience. But I guess I was wrong," he said enraged.
Spike looked away, shame evident on his face, and he obviously thought that that was the opinion of the others as well. But if he'd been watching them he'd seen that they stared at Xander in disbelief and anger.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I couldn't help it, I wasn't even awake."
"It's okay, Spike," Anya said. "We all know that your good now, and at least I'm glad your not dead. Just ignore Xander, all right?"
Spike was surprised that Anya took him in defense, and looked back at them. He could see that everyone but Xander gave him supporting gazes.
"Now lets try to get out of here," Nils said. The Swede hadn't said anything until then.
"Yes," Willow said in agreement and soon all of them discussed the best ways to defeat the demon. But they were interrupted by a loud bang in the further down in the room. Turning as much as they could, they saw a small group of people approaching. It was Marcus and about ten other men that they recognized from the fight outside the hotel.
"Bloody hell," Spike exclaimed.
TBC
Chapter 13
Alex knelt beside Spike and put her hands over his wounds. As she started saying the words in the spell she felt as though some of her life was given to the vampire, and she grew more and more tired. When her hands started glowing she suddenly felt so dizzy she thought she would faint, but the pleading look on Buffy's face made her try harder.
She knew that Spike probably wouldn't die even if she stopped, but at the same time they needed him to defeat Giles. He couldn't fight humans, but she feared that Giles had allied himself with something that wasn't.
When Spike's eyes shot open Alex couldn't hold herself together any longer and she fainted.
~*~
It was like a fog surrounded him, and he couldn't see who was leaning over his body. But he could feel who it was behind him.
"Buffy?" he got out hoarsely. "What-What's happened?"
She didn't answer, instead she held him tight and he could feel something wet in his hair. Tears. Worried that someone had died or was seriously hurt, he tried to get up and comfort her, but he was still too weak. But now he could at least see.
"What's wrong?" he whispered gently.
She continued crying, but he could see her trying to say something.
"I-I thought I'd lost you!" she cried. "I thought you'd died and left me, just like the others."
Confused and worried he looked around. He had some problems understanding what she was saying; his mind still hadn't completely cleared.
"Who died? Oh my god, not Dawn, right?" He was now trying to get up again, and this time he succeeded.
"No, no one's dead, I was-I was talking about people leaving me," she said. Relieved he put his arm around her shoulder and let her help him stand up. Then he felt a sudden pain in his chest, it wasn't much, but it startled him. He looked down to see where the wound was, but there was none.
"What happened to me?" he asked. He couldn't remember anything that had happened since that he an Alex had left the car.
"Giles shot you," she replied softly.
He was about to remind her that a gunshot wouldn't really kill him, but then he noticed Alex lying on the floor.
"He shot you and then he did something to Alex to make her unconscious."
Alex's long hair completely covered her face and he could swear that parts of it were white as snow.
"Is she still unconscious after what Giles did to her?" he asked.
Buffy shook her head and sat down beside the witch.
"No, she healed you. I think it took a lot out of her, she fainted at the same moment as you woke up. I haven't tried to wake her up yet, I was kinda busy with you at the moment."
Spike had to stop himself from smiling happily at the fact that she'd been worrying about him, and that she cared whether or not he was alive or dead. But the timing wasn't really appropriate.
"We have to wake her up, and then figure out a way to get out of here."
~*~
They stood close together as near the car as they could. They had no way to get out of there because between them and the car where at least ten men, just waiting for them to try to get to the vehicle.
"There's no use," Marcus said, smiling wickedly. "All of you will be dead before dawn. Nothing you do can change that, we're to many."
Willow grabbed Dawn and Anya's hands and whispered to them.
"Remember, those of them that are under the One's control aren't good anymore, and they probably never will be again. If we don't stop them, the One will rise again and the world won't be this nice, so do what you have to do."
Dawn was shaking slightly, but her face looked calm and confident. If Willow hadn't felt her hands tremble she would have thought that the teen was totally unaffected by the whole ordeal.
"How will we know who is good and who isn't?" Dawn asked. "You said it wasn't very strong yet, so all of these people can't be its slaves."
Willow considered this for a moment before looking around at the waiting humans around them. Most of the people from the hotel looked scared, just as some of the soldiers.
"You're right, Dawn. I don't think all of these are slaves. I will try something," she whispered determinedly. "Listen, all of you," she called out. "I am a very powerful witch, and I can kill you all. But all of you that is not under the control of the One, step forward now, and you will be spared."
No one moved, but confusion was visible on at least thirty people's faces. They had no idea of what Willow was talking about.
Quickly Willow started mumbling words that no one could understand, and the faces of those that wasn't under the One's control started glowing brightly.
"Don't kill those who glow!" Willow screamed and let go of Dawn and grabbed a weapon. The others soon followed and the fight began.
Dawn was rushing forward towards some of them that was glowing, hoping to be able to get them away from there.
Everywhere around her, her friends were trying to win over their attackers without killing anyone, but it was evident that these people no longer cared for their own lives, they we're ready to fight until death. Dawn could see how Xanders axe fell down on an old man from the hotel that she recognized as Simon's dad. The man fell slowly to the ground and the axe was still stuck on him. Xander leaned down and grabbed it, and anyone that didn't know him would have thought that it didn't matter to him that he'd just killed a human being, his face was totally expressionless.
Anya's shout at her made Dawn duck at the exact time that a knife flew over her head and got stuck in a tree behind her. Turning she could see Simon standing there, another weapon ready in his hand. And he was glowing.
"You don't want to do this!" Dawn screamed, fearing for her life. She had lost her grip on her weapon when she ducked, so she had no way to defend herself. "It's me, Dawn!"
Simon smirked and walked closer to her.
"And? You think you mean anything to me, you murderer? Don't you think I know what you've done, you and your friends?" He looked at her with hateful eyes. Dawn couldn't do anything but stare at him.
"Murderer? Where have you heard that from?" she asked confusedly.
He snorted and raised his weapon.
"Don't try that, I know everything. Giles told me about you. It's you, all of you, that have killed all of those people. And now you have to pay!" Dawn didn't get a chance to say anything before he threw the knife at her. But it stopped just and inch from her face, and she could see Simon staring at he in shock. Quickly Dawn put on a threatening face, and she took the knife from where it was in the air. Careful to not let him see it, she gave Willow a thankful look.
"I am a powerful witch," she lied to Simon. "And if I were you, I would run. Now!"
Seconds later Simon was gone, and a couple of other glowing people that had seen the exchange followed him. Pleased with herself, Dawn turned around. Anya was battling two men with swords, one of them was glowing, and she was winning. None of them seemed to have any skills what so ever with swords, and soon the non-glowing one lay lifeless on the ground. She shot the other man a threatening look, and he ran away.
The others seemed to be in similar situations, the glowing ones didn't really want to be there, and their courage quickly dissipated, and the slaves under the One weren't very skilled fighters, with a couple exceptions. But those that where was taken care of by Willow, who had gotten up on the car's roof somehow and was chanting in foreign languages. Between her lifted hands was a small ball of energy that seemed to shoot out little shots on some of the humans now and then.
Fifteen minutes after that they had been attacked, only ten soldiers were still there, all except one of them glowing. Marcus stood there, shaking with fury as he stared after some of his men that had fled the scene. He was the only one left that didn't glow.
"This doesn't change anything witch!" he screamed, sounding like a maniac. "My Master will still win this, and there is nothing you can do, for it has already began!"
Then he ran, followed by his remaining men.
"Does anyone else but me think that that was too easy?" Nils asked. Everyone stared at him. "Well, maybe not easy," he quickly said, "but think about it. There's five of us, and like fifty of them, and we make it out without a scratch, and we've killed at least ten people. Many of them trained soldiers. And I know some of those men that ran and I tell you; those men are not cowards. I don't think we where supposed to loose."
Anya, Xander and Dawn looked at him like he was crazy, but Willow nodded.
"Yes, I think your right. I think those were just her to slow us down, not kill us."
"But what is it that's going to happen that they don't want us to be at? And where?" asked Xander curiously.
"We need to find Buffy, now!" Dawn said determinedly, and walked to the car.
~*~
When Alex finally woke up, Spike was totally recovered, and he'd been spending the last ten minutes throwing himself at the door. But it didn't move at all.
"Oh," Alex moaned as she felt the pounding headache. "We're still in here?" she asked, trying to clear her head.
Buffy nodded before suddenly giving her a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for helping him."
Alex smiled slightly, ignoring the sudden rush of pain that caused.
"You're welcome," she replied softly. "But now we really need to get out of here."
Buffy nodded in agreement and got up to help Spike. But after another minute or two they both agreed that there was no use.
"We need to find another way," Spike said, very tired after everything that had happened.
None of them looked at her, but Alex understood what he meant. They needed her help.
"Give me a moment," she grunted while trying to stand up.
Buffy looked torn between her need to get out of the room and her concern for the witch.
"Are you sure you should do that?" she asked worriedly. "You might hurt yourself."
Alex tried to give her a self-confident smile as she leaned against the doorframe.
"It'll give me a hell of a headache, but that goes away after I've rested. Hopefully Willow has realized that something is wrong and then she'll come her and join us. Then I won't need to use any magic for a while. It'll be okay."
Both Spike and Buffy looked doubtful but they nodded.
"All right then, but any sign your gonna break, I'm stopping this," Spike said gently but seriously, and Buffy gave him an odd look. "Not going to let the girl who saved me die on me, are I?" he added with a smirk.
"Let's go then," Alex said and turned her full attention to the door. The words she spoke in Latin sounded almost as the wind, so soft were they. The door started to shake and little by little it swayed open. When the crack between the door and the doorframe was so big that Buffy could put her hand in it, Alex stopped, completely exhausted.
"You think you could do the rest?" she asked tiredly. Without a word of objection Buffy started pushing with all of her force, and since it was already starting to open, it wasn't too difficult. Soon it was totally opened and the tree of them could go out.
"Freedom, at last," Buffy said with a smile as they hurried down the corridor towards the stairs. None of them knew where Giles where, they didn't even know if he still was in the building. But they had no choice but to look after him in the normal way since Alex was in no condition to do any more spells. Well, almost the normal way, they did have a vampire with enhanced hearing and smell.
"He's close," Spike whispered as they reached the stairs. "Down."
The girls didn't question him and they all stepped down as silent as they could, not wanting to alert Giles of their sudden freedom.
~*~
Willow couldn't help but feel stressed as Nils drove the car towards the old house in the outskirts of town were they'd found out that Buffy and the others were. Luckily, Giles hadn't done any kind of spells to prevent her form finding the place, so her location spell had worked like a charm. Maybe even to easily, Willow thought.
Nils had to be driving at least 100, but it felt too slow. Willow had to pull up every ounce of self-control not to use magic to speed the car up a bit. But she needed to save her power as much as possible to the final battle. Hopefully they'd win it and go back home and return to their normal lives, maybe bring Alex with them, but if they didn't win. Willow couldn't help but think about Anna's predictions of how one of them was going to die. Who could it be? One or maybe more of them would loose one person that they loved very much. But in their tight circle almost everyone was loved by all of the others. Except maybe Spike. Come to think of it, Spike wasn't really loved by anyone. Dawn maybe, but Willow doubted that Dawn actually loved him, especially after everything that had happened before he got his soul.
Her depressing thought were interrupted by the car coming to a halt and she could see the large house among the trees further down the road.
"Why are you stopping now?" Dawn asked Nils. "It has to be 800 yards left, at least."
"We don't want him to know we're here, Dawnie," Xander explained before Nils had a chance too. For some reason he didn't seem to like the Swede that much. He was probably just jealous because Anya liked the guy.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about that," Willow said dryly to her friends. "I think he's known that we're coming from the start."
"Probably," Anya agreed. "But we should still try to surprise him as much as possible. Any advantage we get is a definite plus."
There was no more discussion, and they all got out of the car and started sneaking up to the house. Even though they were still too far away to be seen, they didn't want to take any chances.
The house was very large, and something about it sent chills down everyone's spine. Nils mentioned that all of the people around here avoided the place as much as they could.
"And here we are anyway," Xander muttered under his breath. Everyone ignored them as they reached the front porch.
"It's so quiet," Dawn whispered weekly when they'd gotten inside. The smell that hit them was overwhelming, and no one besides Willow could understand what it came from.
"It's flowers," she said quietly. "A special kind that you use for summoning and certain spells that increasing power. I think Giles has begun with whatever it is he's going to do."
Behind her Anya gasped and looked around warily. '
"Then we're maybe too late. If we stay we might be the first ones to come under the One's control. I say we run now while we still have the chance."
Dawn and Nils shot here angry glares, but Willow and Xander looked at her understanding.
"If you really don't want to be here, Ahn, you can leave. I'm sure we can make it without you, and no one will hold it against you afterwards," Xander said sympathetically.
Willow nodded in agreement, but Anya saw Dawn's look and raised her head, giving the teen an intimidating glance.
"No, it' all right. I'll help you send this demon back where he belongs. I won't let anyone -- or anything -- scare me off."
Nils increased his pace so that he walked beside the vengeance demon and he gave her an approving look.
"That's great Anya. Now lets go stop this."
The others nodded and hurried up. The closer they got to the stairs in the end of the hallway the stronger the scent was. There was no doubt in their minds that they would have to go up.
"You sure this will hold?" Xander asked Willow hesitantly as he tried the first step. "I mean, it looks kinda shaky."
Without answering, Willow walked up the stairs, quickly reaching the second floor.
"I think you got your answer there, mate," Nils said, somewhat amused.
Xander snorted and ignored the blonde. Moments later the entire group had reached the third floor. They could see Giles pacing back and forth, softly reciting in a foreign language. Surrounding him a dark form could be seen, almost floating in the air. It was translucent and it had no clear form, although the things shining red eyes was perfectly clear. And when it looked at them shills went down all of their spines and all around them soft whispers could be heard.
"Don't listen to it, it's trying to take control over your mind!" Willow screamed to her friends as she put her hands over her ears. But it didn't help as the words weren't coming in the natural way, they where formed inside her own head. She couldn't get away even how much she tried. She could see the others around her doing the same thing, and for a moment she felt like she could fight it. Its power seemed to be weakening. But then it's voice increased in power again and it filled her mind.
Willow tried to move her legs and arms but found that she couldn't. Luckily she could still speak and move her head. She turned to Dawn who stood beside her. The brunette looked like she was about to panic and Willow would have done anything to be able to reach out to her.
"Sh, Dawn. Don't worry. It won't be able to hold us like this forever. Remember, I told you it wasn't very strong yet, it can't control many people at once."
Dawn whimpered slightly but she nodded. The teen knew that it wasn't the time to fall apart.
Giles had now stopped to watch them; his face looking totally indifferent to the fact that his friends were held captured by a demon that probably would kill them.
"So Willow, I see you're finally here. And you brought company," he said, sounding like he was discussing the weather. He shot a quick look at Dawn and Willow could see a small flash of sorrow in his eyes, but it was soon gone. "You even brought Dawn. I'd been trying to keep her away from this, but apparently I didn't succeed." He sighed and shrugged. "Oh well, I guess she'll have to die with the rest of you." After that he turned around and continued with the spell that he'd been doing when the group arrived.
"Giles, listen to me, this isn't you!" Dawn cried out, but he didn't even seem to notice.
~*~
Alex had one arm around Spikes shoulders and one around Buffys as the three of them made their way down the stairs. She was growing more and more tired every minute and Buffy cold see her almost dozing off a couple of times.
"Al, wake up!" she whispered in the witches ear. "This is no time for sleeping, you'll get to rest later."
Alex mumbled something inaudible and raised her head a little.
"See pet, all better," Spike joked as he held her steady. "And just ten more steps or so we'll be visiting dear ol' Rupert again. Won't that be jolly. Eh Slayer?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the vampire. Even if she liked him a lot more now, maybe even loved him a little, he could still be annoying. So annoying that she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. Or wait, that probably had nothing to do with why she couldn't stop looking at him, that had more to do with how good he looked and the way. 'No Buff, don't go there', she silently scolded herself. 'He's nothing but a good friend with a really good-looking ass.' Her own thought made her eyes go wide and she blushed slightly. She could see Spike giving her an odd look before smirking and chuckled.
"Something the matter, luv?" he asked, a smile still remaining in his face. Which was very inappropriate considering the grave situation they were in. But Buffy couldn't help but smile too, his smile strangely contagious. And of course, some more blushing.
"No," she said quickly, trying to hide her red face. "I just want to find Giles as soon as possible and get this over and done with so we can all go home."
He shrugged and paused in his step.
"I'll say your wait is no over. He's just around the corner."
Buffy stopped as well and took a quick peek into the large room they were standing outside off. And just as Spike said, there was Giles, pacing back and forth mumbling something in front of what looked like an altar. And behind him a shadow she recognized all too well hovered. And its red eyes were directed directly at her.
"Shit!" she exclaimed and drew back quickly, making Alex stagger for a moment before falling against the wall. The collision resulted in a low bang, but since the house was totally quiet both the thing inside the room and Giles heard it.
"What is it, Buffy?" Spike asked troubled.
She stammered for a moment before leaning down to help Alex back up. The witch had barely noticed that she'd just fallen against the wall.
"The thing is in there," she whispered. "And Giles too, just as you said. He's making some kind of altar.
Spike walked leaned in so that he also could see what was in the room. His eyes were better equipped to see in the dark, and he could clearly see five human forms inside the thing. And he could see Giles walking towards them.
"Shit!" he also exclaimed and drew back. Buffy gave him a worried look and he put his hand over her mouth to make sure she'd remain quiet. But it was no use.
"I know your there Buffy, you might as well come out," Giles all too familiar voice said, totally void of emotions. "And bring Spike and the witch along."
Surprised and notably scared she complied, practically dragging Alex with her. Soon Spike followed the two girls, warily eyeing Buffy's former watcher.
"What's with the red?" he asked, the same cocky attitude as always, but he was so tense that if Buffy didn't know better she'd thought his veins would pop. Giles just stared at him, not understanding what he meant. "The altar thing-y.?" Spike added, tilting his head in the altars direction. It was covered in red flowers that smelled really strong and on the ground below it was something dark red that could be dried blood. Usually Spike would have been able to tell by the smell but because of the strong scent from the flowers he couldn't.
Giles chuckled and gave the vampire an almost friendly glance.
"Oh, Spike. Always hiding behind that mask of yours, coming with rude comments every minute. But it's just a facade. Really you're just a lost pathetic vampire that can't get it through his head that no one loves him, and that no one ever will. That new soul of yours won't make any difference."
Spike couldn't hide the sudden pain he felt inside hearing those words even though he knew Giles was just trying to tick him off. But to his surprise, Buffy stepped forward.
"I think you should lay off, Giles. He was a much better man then you are now even before he got his soul. He's not pathetic, and I do think that someone could love him, if he just had the patient and the time to let that love grow."
Giles looked surprised at her, not expecting Buffy to take Spike in defense like that. And the look on Spike's face was just priceless. It was a mix of hope, happiness, sadness and admiration. 'Yes, pathetic indeed', Giles thought amused. 'He's noting more then a shell of the vampire he once were, only doing what he thinks Buffy would want him to do.'
'And that isss what'sss going to be hisss fall,' the voice said in Giles mind. 'Now do as we've decided.'
"Yes Master," Giles answered out loud.
Buffy frowned.
"Who are you talking to?" she asked curiously. Then she remembered the thing she'd seen earlier. She turned her head slightly and then she saw it again. She couldn't help but shudder as she felt the pure evil radiate from it. "Oh," was all she could say before she looked away from it.
But Spike stood as frozen, his eyes fixed on the thing.
"Buffy," he whispered. When she didn't react he spoke louder. "Buffy!" Now she turned too him. "It's someone inside of it."
She stared at him like he was crazy, before turning back to the thing. At first she couldn't make out much off anything, except those creepy red eyes, but then she saw it. Five silhouettes barely visible in the shadow created by the being.
"Who is it?" she asked Giles harshly. "Who is it inside of that thing."
Giles snorted and gave the shadow an admiring gaze.
"First of all, don't call it a thing call it Master. And second, it's your beloved scoobies, as you call them." His laugh was truly evil, and there was now no trace of the nice man she'd known since she'd moved to Sunnydale.
"The scoobies?" Buffy asked, not really scared. "Willow? Xander? Who else? Dawn?"
At the thought of Dawn being hurt Spike stepped forward and lifted Giles up in the air. The glare he gave the watcher should have scared anyone half to death, but Giles only smiled.
"If Dawn's hurt, I swear-" he screamed, but was cut off by Giles' laugh.
"Oh, Spike. Always so aggressive. I'm sure Dawn is fine." He paused to give Spike another smile. "For now. Now put me down again, or I swear to you that your precious Dawn wont survive her little visit inside my Master."
Spike immediately dropped him and took a step back. He did his best to see who it was inside of the thing that Giles called Master, but it was to dark.
"Why are you doing this?" Buffy asked, tears in her eyes threatening to fall. "This isn't you."
Giles laugh made chills go down her spine, and she unconsciously took Spikes hand in hers.
"Oh, I guarantee you that this is me, and you should be grateful."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"Grateful, for what? You threatening to kill my sister, shooting my- shooting Spike, and probably holding Willow and Xander hostage inside of you Master. I say I can't find anything there that I'm grateful for!" She was now so mad that she almost jumped up and down as she spoke.
But Giles just continued smiling, although more softly now.
"Don't you see, Buffy? I'm doing this for you," he said gently. "I'm doing this so you can have a normal life."
Buffy helped Alex sit down so she could move more freely and then she stepped closer to Giles, not letting go of Spikes hand. She could feel him squeezing hers in support, and she gave him a thankful look. She decided that when this was all over she would sit down and have a long talk with him about her feelings and what they should do in the future. After thinking that he would die she couldn't even contemplate on a life without him.
"I don't understand you Giles," she said coldly. "You say your doing this to give me a normal life. But how will killing my sister and my friends do that? They are the closest to a normal life I ever can have. I am a slayer; I can't have a normal life.
He gave her a look that a father would have given to his child when it wasn't listening.
"Buffy, they are holding you back. They and the whole slayer business. But I can fix it. My Master has told me that if you continue taking care of them, you will die. But if you would make a sacrifice, or be forced to make one, he can transform you into the girl you were before you became the slayer. A normal girl."
"And this sacrifice is letting you kill my friends, right?" she screamed angrily. "I can't believe this. And how the hell can you believe what that thing tells you? For all you know it could be lying about everything."
Giles shook his head with a sad expression.
"Buffy, you don't know what's best for you. But I do, and I will make sure it happens. In the end I hope you'll realize that I'm right." And then he turned back to the altar.
Buffy stood as frozen for a long moment, shocked by what Giles had told her. She couldn't believe that he would do this, he loved her! He wouldn't do anything to hurt the ones she cared about, but now he did. If Spike hadn't stroked his hand over her cheek she probably would have stood there for much longer.
"Buffy, what should I do?" he asked her, concern written all over his face.
She swallowed forcefully and shot a glance at the demon.
"Try to free them, and I'll do my best to get trough to Giles," she finally said, her voice shaking.
Spike looked like he was about to object, but he changed his mind and gave her a quick nod. After giving her hand a final squeeze he ran towards the thing.
Buffy looked at Alex who was at the moment leaning against the wall, barely awake. She was only able to give Buffy a weak smile before Buffy left her there.
~*~
Spike gave Buffy a final look before running to Dawn and the others aid. Even though he knew it wasn't the best time for it, he felt happy. Buffy had shown that she did have feelings for him, even though they might not yet be love.
The demon hovered in the air only a couple off yards in front of him. The closer he got to it, the more could he see. Dawns face was now visible for his enhanced seeing, and he was pretty sure that the woman beside her was Willow.
"You all right, 'bit?" he yelled at her, not really thinking that she'd be able to reply. But to his surprised she did.
"Yeah, just fine. If you ignore that I can't move anything but my head and that I'll probably just live for another five minutes," she said, not very loudly but perfectly hearable.
"Dawn, it'll be okay, don't worry," Willow said soothingly to the teenager. "Buffy, Spike and Alex are doing their best stop top this."
Spike stepped as close as he could without touching the demon, and looked at Willow.
"You know anything about what's going one? And who is that behind you? Xander, and who else?" he asked her curiously.
"It's Xander, Anya and Nils. And yes, I do know stuff about this demon. It's called 'The One' and it's very powerful when it's connected to it's full power, but until then all it can do is control a couple of people. And that's what it's doing to Giles."
Spike gave the shadow close to him an unsure look.
"So your saying it can't hurt me?" he asked.
Dawn nodded.
"No, it can't. And I think it's tired, too," she said to the vampire. Both he and the four people trapped gave her questioning looks. She smiled weekly and concentrated on Spike. "Well, it hasn't done anything to try to get into your mind has it? Or Buffys? Don't you think it would do the same to you as it has done to us if it could?"
Willow thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I think your right." She turned her head towards Spike. "We're fine really, we just can't move. I doubt there is anything you can do to get us free. But I think Alex could. Where is she?" She looked around curiously for the witch. When she saw Spike avoiding her eyes she got worried. "What is it Spike, has something happened?"
The vampire looked down for a moment before meeting Willows gaze.
"She did a very hard spell and she was exhausted. Then we needed her to open a door for us and she almost collapsed. She's awake now I think, but she's very tired."
For the first time Anya opened her mouth.
"What kind of spell was it?" she asked.
Again Spike looked down.
"A healing spell," he said quietly.
Dawn, Willow, Xander and Anya all looked at him worriedly.
"Buffy was hurt?" Xander asked, furious at the thought of someone hurting Buffy.
"No," Spike said, still looking down. "I was."
They all watched him in surprise.
"But-But you don't look hurt," Dawn said confused.
He chuckled slightly.
"Remember the part with the healing spell, niblet?" he said amused. "Anyway, she healed me, making so that she was so exhausted that she was unconscious for a bit. Then the whole opening the door for us took the last strength she had left."
Xander fumed with anger.
"So this really nice girl could have died saving you? I thought the whole soul thing would have given you a conscience. But I guess I was wrong," he said enraged.
Spike looked away, shame evident on his face, and he obviously thought that that was the opinion of the others as well. But if he'd been watching them he'd seen that they stared at Xander in disbelief and anger.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I couldn't help it, I wasn't even awake."
"It's okay, Spike," Anya said. "We all know that your good now, and at least I'm glad your not dead. Just ignore Xander, all right?"
Spike was surprised that Anya took him in defense, and looked back at them. He could see that everyone but Xander gave him supporting gazes.
"Now lets try to get out of here," Nils said. The Swede hadn't said anything until then.
"Yes," Willow said in agreement and soon all of them discussed the best ways to defeat the demon. But they were interrupted by a loud bang in the further down in the room. Turning as much as they could, they saw a small group of people approaching. It was Marcus and about ten other men that they recognized from the fight outside the hotel.
"Bloody hell," Spike exclaimed.
TBC