"Angelus."

Every breath in the room halted for a moment, all caught under a fearful spell. It was Spike's own cough that brought them all back to reality. He had fallen unconscious.

Buffy looked up and at Xander. "Help me take him to your room?" she asked. Xander nodded. They picked him up, Xander taking Spike's legs, and Buffy holding him from his armpits.

After they had placed him on Xander's bed and put a blanket over him, they returned to the living room, where Willow and Anya were beginning to clean. Giles was leaning against a wall, staring into space. In his left hand were his glasses.

"Willow- we'll handle this. Can you do a spell to make Angelus un-invited?" Buffy asked. Willow nodded.

"I'll get the books and ingredients. They're at your house. Should I tell the Potentials, Dawn?" Willow asked, almost as an afterthought.

"Yes, and Giles-" Giles looked over at Buffy. "Go to the house and take care of them. Angelus might try and hurt them. If Dawn wants to, she can come over but if she can. " Willow nodded, and she and Giles left.

"Be careful!" Xander called out after them. The door shut.

***

It took an hour to clean up, most of the mess was fixable, but there were a few lamps that had broken, and the coffee table needed to be replaced. Buffy was amazed that Spike or Angelus hadn't burst into dust, there were so many splinters of wood.

"Wow."

It was Xander who had spoken. He was sitting on the couch, staring at the boxes filled with all the broken and unfixable pieces of furniture. He grimaced as he caught sight of a bloodstain on his wall.

"Someone should call Angel's office in L.A. Xander, maybe it should be you, since you know them better than Anya does." Buffy said, after thinking for a moment. "Ask them what happened? See if they're all alright."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Check on Spike. See if I can get anything about what happened to him out."

There was a noise from the door, and then Willow and Dawn came in.

"We have the stuff." Willow said, and set it all on the counter and began to set up. Dawn walked over to Buffy immediately.

"Where is he, is he alright?" she asked, looking around anxiously.

"He's asleep, in Xander's bedroom." Buffy answered. Two seconds after she spoke, there was a loud scream from the bedroom. "Or at least, he used to be..."

***

Spike watched William from the shadows as the young man sat bathing in warm, liquid sunlight. He was wearing a tank top and black leather pants, and looking up at the sun. His hair was bleach blonde. Words flew out of his mouth-

"Dreams are a wish, your heart makes, when you're fast asleep…" he changed tunes. "Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still, but he told us where we stand. And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear… Claude Raines was the invisible man. Then something went wrong for Fay Wray and King Kong, they got caught in a celluloid jam. Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space, and this is how the…"

William paused mid-song and looked at Spike. He smiled, and changed tunes "…message ran: Break me,

shake me, hate me, take me over, when the madness stops then you will be alone. Just break me, shake me, hate me, take me over… when the madness stops then you will be alone."

William stopped singing and gestured to Spike. Arms wrapped around Spike's torso. At the touch, Spike stiffened.

"I may be alone," said a familiar voice. "But you won't."

*~*~*~*

Author's Note

Sorry for the lateness, but I've been sick. All characters belong to Joss Whedon and all that crap, and credit for the lyrics to the songs go to their respective owners (Disney for the Cinderella song, Rock Horror Picture Show for "Science Fiction Double Feature", and Savage Garden for "Break Me, Shake Me")