A/N: I ish tired and cold. Scoo should have been closed today. It was frickin' freezin' in the stupid building. It was –20 outside with the windchill and I have to walk back and forth through a courtyard to get to classes! Ack, I'm not going tomorrow, so maybe I'll get another chapter out… maybe. Reviews might persuade me to be a bit quicker. *hinthint*
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"Willow?!" Buffy was hardly through the door when she shouted the redhead's name.
"Buffy, thank heavens. We we're worried sick." Giles said in a reprimanding tone as he came around the corner. He stopped when he saw them. "Dear lord. What on earth happened?"
"Not now, Giles." Buffy said, leading Spike into the living room. He fell onto the couch, curling up on one end instantly clutching at his head once more. "Where's Willow?"
"Upstairs, but Buffy, what…" Giles began.
"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed, rushing down the stairs, Kennedy on her heals. "Oh God… what happened?"
"Not now, Will. Do you still have Sam's e-mail address?" The Slayer demanded, sitting on the edge of the couch, trying to keep Spike still as he squirmed.
"Uh, Riley's Sam?" The redhead questioned. "Yeah, it's…"
"E-mail her. Tell her I need to talk to Riley now."
"But Buffy, I…"
"Willow, please, I don't have time."
Willow swallowed, nodded, then took off back upstairs in search of her laptop.
"Shit." The Slayer muttered, wiping at the blood that had begun to flow from the vampire's nose. "Molly, go get me a towel…"
The girl didn't need to be told twice.
"Buffy, what's going on?" Giles demanded, his voice firm. "What happened?"
Buffy sighed, taking the towel Molly handed her and pressing it under the vampire's nose. The rest of the girls had accumulated around the room, but for once they remained silent. "Me and Spike were going to do a quick patrol before the sun came up. Molly and Chloe were awake, so we took them. A group of vampires attacked us. Spike took a hit to the head and once we finished them off… The First showed up."
"The First? Bloody Hell…" Giles muttered.
"It… it looked like Spike." The Slayer continued. She looked at Molly, then Chloe. She clenched her jaw, then turned back to Giles. "It said that it wasn't doing this to Spike. And it's not. Giles, it's the chip. It's malfunctioning or… something."
"Buffy, there's no way to be positive that…"
"Aaagggghhh!!!" Spike shouted once more, pulling at his hair as he curled up further into the cushions. Buffy had to grab his hands and pull them away before he ripped the hair from his head. She held them together with her left hand and used her right to hold him down when he struggled to get away.
"Tell Willow to get a hold of Riley now." The Slayer demanded, putting the vampires hands above his head and straddling his stomach, using her own weight to keep him still.
The SIT's watched in horror. Chloe and Molly remained apart from the group, arms crossed tightly over their stomachs. Neither mentioned anything about Buffy having the opportunity to kill The First, having only to have staked Spike. They remained as silent as the rest as they watched the scenario in front of them.
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Buffy shifted in her seat, careful not to jolt the vampire lying beside her. He was asleep. No, bad choice of words. Unconscious. When he had continued to struggle profusely, Buffy had resorted to slamming her head into his, knocking him out. It had been nearly three hours now, and other than the constant shivering and nosebleeds, he hadn't moved. Giles had taken the SIT's with him to meet with some demon 'contacts' he had around town, and Anya and Xander had tagged along for the sake of getting out of the house.
The Slayer sniffed, wiping the vampire's blonde hair from his sweaty brow. She wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do with him. Willow was upstairs with Aryn, who turned out to be rather knowledgeable when it came to scientific geeky stuff, trying to figure out a way that she could possibly disable the chip with the help of the microwave, some double A batteries, and an old radio antenna.
Buffy thought the idea was a bit absurd and they weren't having much luck.
Buffy shifted again, pulling her legs up underneath her. Spike made a soft moaning noise, and her heart sank. God did she wish she could do something…
"Buffy!!"
The Slayer looked up as Willow came rushing down the stairs, phone in hand. When had that rung? She shook it off as she came towards her, Aryn following behind her.
"It's Riley." The redhead said, holding out the phone. Buffy nearly snatched her hand as well when she took it from her.
"Riley?" The blonde demanded, climbing to her feet. The slayer closed her eyes, tucking her hair behind her ear and then glancing over at Spike. "It's Spike, Riley. There's something wrong with his chip. It's… malfunctioning or something. Going off all the time. It's hurting him and…"
She stopped talking for a few moments obviously listening to what he was saying. A scowl crossed her face. "Don't you even give me that, Riley." She ground out venomously. A few moments later, she sighed heavily. "Thank you…" She said quietly, then turned the phone off. She looked up at Willow and Aryn, who were staring at her expectantly. "He said the chip's aren't long-term, and Spike's the only one with the implant that hasn't been 'disposed of'. He's gonna call if he finds anything…"
"So what do we do until then?" Willow asked.
"Wait." Buffy said, looking back over her shoulder at the vampire. "It's all we can do…"
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"Keep your elbows up, feet apart…no, not like that." Buffy sighed, moving Vi's elbows so they were in a better position. "Now punch."
Vi obeyed, slamming her fist into the punching bag. Aryn and Rona continued to block mock-punches they were throwing at each other, Chloe was sharpening a blade in the corner, and Molly and Kennedy continued to hurl daggers at a target on the wall.
Vi yelped, pulling her hand back quickly.
The Slayer rolled her eyes, taking the girl's hand. She wasn't really in the mood to be training the girls, but she couldn't just sit around with Spike all day, as much as she would have liked to. It had been six hours since she had talked to Riley and she had come to the conclusion that he had his head too far up his ass and didn't plan on helping. She gritted her teeth. "Lemme see."
"Is it supposed to hurt like that?" The girl asked, flinching as the Slayer touched her finger. "Ow!"
"No. You had your fist balled up funny. This…" She said, poking the girl's ring finger and causing her to flinch. "…is broken."
"'ey!" Vi snapped, pulling her hand back and cradling it against her stomach. "You don't need to poke at it."
Buffy rolled her eyes. Motioning for vi to follow her. "Come on, we'll get some ice on it and I'll get you a splint." Vi made a face, following the Slayer up the stairs. They walked through the living room and down the hall to get to the kitchen, avoiding the others in the dining room. Willow and Dawn were still looking for some way to help Spike on Willow's laptop, but Xander, Giles, and Anya had gone back to researching The First.
"Do you think 'e'll be alright?" Vi asked, taking the ice pack Buffy handed her. She set it on her swollen finger, wincing.
"I don't know…" Buffy said under her breath, concentrating on digging out a splint from a first aid kit.
"He wasn't shakin' so bad. Isn't that a good thing?" The girl questioned, looking back over her shoulder towards the living room. "I mean, you'd think that…"
"Vi!" Buffy shouted suddenly, causing the girl to jump. She sighed, running her hand through her hair. "Sorry, I just…. I can't do this right now, okay?" They stared at each other for a moment. "Here." The Slayer finally said, giving the girl the splint. "Keep it on for a few days."
"Thanks…" Vi said halfheartedly, turning to head back downstairs. Buffy snapped the bright yellow first aid kit closed, looking rather disgruntled. She froze, narrowing her eyes. Looking up, she saw Vi standing in the doorway, obviously having heard the same thing she did.
There was a loud noise coming from outside, getting increasingly louder. It was almost like….a thumping? "Go!" She ordered, pointing towards the living room. Her and Vi both broke into a run, thr younger girl nearly slipping as she rounded the corner. Buffy made it to the living room first, bounding over the coffee table and leaping onto the end of the couch Spike wasn't occupying and pulling the blinds to the side. She could hear the girls running up the stairs.
"Buffy, what's going…" Giles stopped mid-sentence. Staring out the window from behind her shoulder.
"Bloody 'ell…" Molly exclaimed, expressing everyone's thoughts quite nicely.
There were two helicopters in the street, their propellers spinning to a halt. Two more were circling in the air above them, lights shining down on the house.
"Riley…" Buffy muttered in disbelief, watching as Riley hopped out of the first chopper, followed by two other men. He waved them towards the house and then walked towards the second chopper. A man stepped out, a small package under his arm. He seemed to be giving Riley strict orders, then finally handed over the package. Riley stepped back as the choppers rose into the air once more, tucked the package into his coat, then turned and headed towards the house.
"Riley!" Buffy nearly knocked the other two men from the steps as she pushed past them, all but throwing herself into Riley's arms. "Dammit, Riley. You should have called. I didn't think you…"
"Buffy, I'd do anything for you, you know that. Just say the word." He said with a smile as she pulled away.
She gave him a grateful smile. "So what's the dish?"
Riley sighed, trying to hide the fact that he completely repulsed what he was about to do. "Me and Sam called in a few favors. Had to get a team flying to Russia to drop us here on their way to bag a rare demon." He explained, then pointed to the two stern looking men on the porch. "These guys here are familiar with the procedure used to implant Spike's chip, so they should be able to remove it."
Buffy didn't know what to say, so she settled for something simple. "Thank you."
Riley nodded, smiling, but then gave her an odd look. "Uh, Buffy. Why are there so many people in your house?"
The Slayer looked over her shoulder. Everyone was gathered at the corner of the window, watching out. All six SIT's,her sister, her two best friends, her former watcher, and... Anya. She smiled sheepishly, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the house. "Long story…"
TBC…
A/N:….. for some reason I really dislike how this chapter came out. It bothers me. Just the way it's written… or something. I want to redo it so it sounds like I want it to, but I'm a lazy SOB, so no. Ack. Sorry.