Chapter 29

"What did you do to him?" The slayer asked the mayor, Spike's reassuring hand on her shoulder being the only thing keeping her from lunging at the mayor and showing him what slayer strength was all about.

"The thing is, you can't hurt me. Not now, not ever. Test it out if you want. Stake me, stab me, I'm invulnerable, I'm immortal. The other thing is, your watcher isn't hurt…yet. Here, I have pictures," Mayor Wilkins said, his tone of voice still chipper, as if he didn't sense the waves of hatred coming off of the vampire and the slayer.

Reaching into his desk drawer, the mayor produced two pictures, one of Giles, tied to a chair, gagged and bound. The other picture was of the watcher lying unconscious on the library floor. It seemed that he had been the last one to leave the library, and had been jumped right as he neared the doors. The mayor spoke again, "Now don't worry, Mr. Giles is doing OK. He's being fed, he's been given a cell with a cot and a bathroom. He's in excellent care…but that can all change," The mayor's tone immediately became harsh and cold. "You and your boyfriend do exactly what I say, when I say it Miss Summers. You don't double cross me, and you don't disobey me. In one year I let you and William go. Your watcher is returned to you, and we pretend that nothing happened. It's up to you. Be loyal to me, or be free… and your watcher dies."

Buffy and Spike looked at one another, Buffy's eyes filled with anger and fear, Spike's reflecting the same thing. The mayor picked up on their indecision.

"I'll let you two think it over of course. You can both wait in my private meeting room, right through that door," The mayor offered, his voice chipper once again, almost fatherly. Buffy and Spike allowed themselves to be ushered through the door, and then watched with amusement as the door was locked, as if that would keep two people with super strength in.

"I don't know what to do?" The slayer admitted. She and Spike had taken to seats next to each other in the board room. A large table was in the center of the room. However, they had chosen seats around the edge of the room.

"I don't expect you to slayer. We'll figure this out, I promise," Spike assured the worried slayer.

"And what, end up running errands for the mayor until he decides that Giles can go free. I can't do that, kill random demons…possibly people, but I also can't let Giles suffer. So basically I'm stuck. Between a rock and a soft place, as some might say."

"I think that's a rock and a hard place," The vampire corrected. However, he gave Buffy a look of apology for correcting her sentence when the slayer glared at him.

"What do we do? I think the mayor is telling the truth about being invulnerable, and I don't think that the Scoobies will be able to help on this one. We're on our own. The more people we involve, the more are at risk.

"We'll get through this," Spike promised.

"Don't say that," The slayer gently reprimanded.

"Why? It's the truth. We WILL get through this. We just need a plan. Maybe we could play along with the mayor and then try and find out his master plan. Then we could get all the scoobies together and-" Buffy cut Spike off.

"-And what?" The slayer asked. Spike shrugged and then leaned his head back in defeat. However, after a moment he spoke again.

"I think the first step is to figure out the mayor's plan. Without that information we don't know anything," Spike said.

"So we play along for a while," The slayer said, a plan forming in her mind, "Before we kill demons we could ask them about themselves. You know, ask them what they do, what information they have. Then we'd know why the mayor wanted them dead."

"But what about the more harmless demons. Do we kill them too?" Spike asked.

"I doubt he'll have us kill harmless demons for a while, and by then, we'll know what the mayor's plan is, and we can ask the Scoobies to help us," Buffy answered. Spike was silent for a moment. Then the vampire tilted his head to the side, as if trying to get a better look at the slayer.

"What?" The petite slayer asked at Spike's strange look.

"Smart girls are SO hot," The vampire replied. Buffy laughed.

Spike really liked hearing her laugh. He liked seeing the brilliant smile that lit up her face, and he liked the way her muscles relaxed when she giggled. In his mind Spike swore that he would kill every demon and vampire in the entire world, that he would do anything he could possibly do, if it just meant that the slayer would never stop smiling. But the thing he loved most about the smile…it was kind of contagious…it made him feel more like a man.

I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion -
I have shudder'd at it.
I shudder no more.
I could be martyr'd for my religion
Love is my religion
And I could die for that.
I could die for you.