Chapter 3

Spike peered in the window of the funeral home. It was deserted and almost in darkness except for a small security light. He went around to the back alley of the building. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, the place reeked of death. He found his way to the rear entrance and tested the doors; they were firmly locked. They would prove no barrier to his greater strength, which he proved a moment later by violently kicking them open.

One of the doors swung on a solitary hinge and fell to the floor as he brushed past it. He quickly located the embalming room, hoping he was not too late. Spike switched on the light, squinting against the brilliance of the florescent lighting.

There was a whole wall of little body fridges, each with it's own number. There had to be some way of identifying the occupants thought Spike hopefully. He really was not in the mood to search through so many human remains. He tried to see if he could catch her scent; it was fruitless, the smell of embalming fluid overpowered him.

Spike walked over to the desk in the corner, after much rummaging of the papers on its surface, he found what he was looking for. It was the schedule for tomorrow. He noted Buffy's name was at the top of the list. Fridge number 11, Spike dropped the piece of paper to the floor and located Buffy's resting place. He grabbed a hold of the stainless steel handle, pausing for a moment before opening the door.

Her golden blonde hair peeked out from the top of the white sheet. Spike gulped at the sight, he raised a finger and stroked its softness, like he had done a thousand times before in his dreams. He pulled the tray out and peeled back the sheet to uncover her pale lifeless face. She looked like a sleeping angel, Spike wept at the sight that met his eyes. He put an arm under her holding her cold body to him. Her head lolled to one side at an unnatural angle, Spike flinched at the sound of the bones grinding. This felt so wrong to him; she was only 20 and had barely begun to live. He was 126 and look what he had done with his unlife. This could not be the end, only the night before, they had come to an understanding, and he had started to hope that Buffy's feelings toward him were more than loathing.

There must be something that could be done. Well what ever he could do, it certainly was not leave her here so they could carve her up and pump her full of chemicals. He wrapped the sheet around her body and lifted her from the tray. He turned to leave walking straight into Giles and Xander.

"Spike; put her back". Demanded Giles.

"No way, do you think I am going to leaver her here alone and in the dark?" asked Spike.

Xander levelled his cross bow at Spike

"I will use this Spike". He said menacingly.

"Go ahead; you'd be doing me a favour mate". He sneered.

Xander's finger momentarily tightened on the trigger. Willow entered the room, her face paling at Buffy's lifeless form resting in Spike's arms. It was all the distraction Spike needed to make his escape. He pushed past Giles and Xander, ignoring the shooting pain in his head and ran headlong through the nearest window; shielding Buffy from the worst of it.

"We have to find him; who knows what he plans to do with her body". Said Giles urgently.

"What do you mean?" asked Xander.

"Let's hope we never have to find out," said Giles.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Spike ran harder and faster than he had ever ran in his whole 'life'. Even the added burden of Buffy's corpse did little to slow him down. He had to hide her and fast. The scoobies were never more than one step behind him, and he was pretty much sure that was something that wouldn't change even without their leader. His crypt was out of the question that was the first place they would look. The initiative caves would be perfect! he thought. He knew them like the back of his hand and it was possibly the last place her friends would look. Spike easily found the entrance he was looking for even though it had been partially obscured by the growing vegetation. He entered the dingy interior of the cave, ignoring the burning pain in his arms from having carried her so far. He brought her to rest on the floor of the cave.

"I have to leave you here pet, but I will be back and soon". He kissed her cold breathless lips and set off into the night.

Xander and Giles silently crept into Spike's crypt, it soon became obvious to them both that neither Spike nor Buffy were there.

"What are we going to do? And more importantly what are we going to tell Dawn"? Asked Xander.

"Dawn must not be told; we will find Buffy before it comes to that" answered Giles.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Spike entered Doc's home with ease. The weasel hadn't bothered to lock up before he decided to assist Glory. He almost slipped in the blue puddle of congealed demon blood on the floor. Had it only been last night that he and Xander had been here? He thought. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago. Doc had helped Dawn when she had wanted to raise her mother from the dead; Spike knew that there was a chance that Buffy could come back wrong. He was willing to take that chance and follow it through, unlike Dawn who had broken the spell in the last instant. Spike read the spines of the old books stopping at a large familiar looking tome. He pulled it from the shelf and leafed through its dusty pages until he came across what he was looking for. Spike tore the relevant page from the book and went in search of the things necessary to perform the ritual.