Buffy's Dorm- 8:30 pm

"Hey Wills, does this look ok?" Buffy called to her roommate.

Willow emerged from the closet, her arms full of clothes.

"Yeah, you look great!" She dropped the clothes on the bed

with an exaggerated sigh. "If I were a guy, I'd do you." She shrugged, with

a goofy smile.

"Thanks Will...I think." She stepped over to the mirror to

examine her outfit. A black mid thigh length leather skirt showed off

her tanned legs and a backless red silk halter left little to the

imagination. Her blonde hair framed her face in wide curls, trailing

down her back slightly. Her makeup was light and shimmery. 'Oh yeah,

Spike's gonna lose it.' She pondered evilly. 'No! Remember your plan,

no touching!' Her subconscious screamed.

"Buffy?" Willow piped up. "This look ok?" The petite redhead

twisted and turned, surveying her outfit with an unsure face.

'And I thought she outgrew that phase.' She sighed

inwardly. "Hun, let's get this under control why don't we?" She moved

toward a nervous Willow and the ever growing pile of discarded outfits

with a mischievous grin.

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"Oz!" An irritated british voice bellowed. "Where. The.

Bleedin'. Hell. Is. My. SODDING. Jacket!" Spike paced the apartment

like a caged animal.

"Chill." Oz swept into the room, duster in hand. "Here." He

tossed it on the chair, his currently blue hair catching the light.

"So you said something about a double date?" Spike said

nonchalantly, slipping the coat on.

"Yeah, but you don't have to if you don't want, I mean,

Drusilla being on your case and all. But they're hot, the redhead is

in my adv. Computer sciences class." Oz raised his eyebrows knowingly.

"Sorry mate, I didn't catch that last part." A familiar smirk

crossing his lips. "Not used to hearin more n' a few syllables out of

you, let alone whole sentences. Shocked me there."

"You, on the other hand, never stop talking!" Oz rolled his

eyes, picking up the guitar case and grabbing the keys.

"Let's go terrorize the natives then." Spike quipped, slamming

the apartment door behind them, leaving it silent.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang. The answering machine

finally picked up.

"Hey you've reached Oz and Spike.." Oz started, then Spike's voice came on,

"SPIKE AND OZ!!" Oz continued "We're not here

right now so leave a message after the beep. And if you're a

telemarketer or whatever then bugger off!" Spike's voice added at the

end. *BEEP*

"My dear Spike, how have you been? I miss you, my dark prince.

The baby fishes in my 'ead are burning, burning, burning. Call me soon

my sweet, I cannot bear the fighting, I love you." Drusilla's message

was cut off. The apartment once again silent.

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"Where are we meeting these guys?" Buffy yelled over the

throbbing music in the Bronze.

"Bar!" Willow yelled back, waving her hand in the general

direction. Nodding, they made their way over, pushing through the

throngs of teens.

Willow grabbed her hand and pulled her along. "I see them!"

She squealed excitedly. "Over there, by the corner." She waved at Oz,

who promptly waved back. Buffy looked at her friend, delighted at seeing her

so happy. That feeling was immediately shot to hell when her gaze was caught

by a familiar azure one.

'Oh shit.' Her eyes widened and she tried to pull away from

Willow's iron grip.

"Hey, Oz!" The redhead smiled. "Come on, let's dance." She

grabbed his hand eagerly.

"I'm gonna follow the redhead." Oz agreed, winking at

Spike before disappearing into the crowd with Willow, leaving Buffy

and Spike alone together.

"Well, well, fancy seeing you here, pet." He was the first to

speak. "Couldn't stay away from me hey?" He smirked, running his tongue

over his teeth.

"Geez, ego much?" She retorted, disbelieving.

"You know it, baby."

"Hey, how'd you get here, I thought your car would have fallen

apart by now." She shot back. 'Oh, score one for the natural.ish

blonde!'

"Wench." 'Ooh, nice comeback Spike.'

"Moron."

"Slut."

"Hey Spike, that one hurt!" She teased.

"Oh God, I'm sorry, I didn't."

"Kidding! You are such a softie." Buffy smiled.

"Hey, I'll have you know I am as far from soft as you can

get." He leaned back onto the bar. 'In fact, I'm painfully hard.' He

thought, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"I'm sure." 'Oh, definitely.' She leaned on the bar as

well. 'No, BAD BUFFY!' She scolded, frowning.

"Somethin wrong, ducks?" He asked, concern laced his

tone. "Cuz I don't want you to faint on me again." He smiled at her,

trying to get a response.

"I think I just need some fresh air." She looked dejectedly at

the floor. 'And Spike lips, lips of Spike.'

Willow and Oz reappeared, panting. "Hey guys! Come share in

the joy of our groove thing!" Willow begged, still out of

breath. "Come on, please?" She was in full whiny Willow mode now.

"Y'know Wills, I think I'm just gonna go outside and get some air." She

placed her plastic cup on the bar. "Cuz, with the

fainting, and...yea."

"Ok, your loss. Spike?" She turned her pouty face towards the

bleach blonde.

"No, I think I'm just gonna stay here, y'kno, glass all the

way empty." He raised his empty glass to her.

"Ok Buffy, I'll see you at home then." With a swirl of red and

blue hair, they had disappeared back onto the dance floor.

"I'm gonna take that walk now." She got up to leave but was

stopped.

"Not so fast, Summers." Spike grabbed her arm. "Plenty o'

nasties out there this time of night just waiting for a pretty girl to

be alone." His grip tightened, his eyes darkened to a midnight blue.

"Fine. Then come with me." She snapped, pulling away and

stalking outside into the cool night air.

"Summers!" He called, running after her. 'Why do these bitches

torture me?' His brain screamed as he searched for her. His eye caught

a flash of blonde hair as he found her standing at the entrance to an

alley.

"Damnit woman." He took a deep breath, calming himself. "You

scared me for a minute there, running off like that, anyone could be

out here!" He started off on a tangent, waving his arms and babbling

about short skirts, torture, safety and temptation, throwing in a

colorful british obscenity here and there. His rant was cut short when

the sound of her giggling reached his ears.

"What?" He growled, eyes flashing with either anger or worry,

she couldn't tell.

"You! You act like you hate me one minute, then the next you

go running out into an alley after me because you're worried!" She

stopped, smoothing her skirt down. "Then, y'know, rant!"

"You are." He lunged at her, pinning her to the brick wall,

grinding his hips down onto hers, making her squeak in surprise.

"Incredible." He finished, smashing his lips down on hers, hot

and demanding. His tongue pressed against the seam of her lips,

pleading entrance. When her mouth opened to allow him in, he pulled

away, pressing hot, open mouthed kisses down her neck. His hands wound

around her waist, pulling her closer against him. He moved his hands

up and ran them through her hair, savoring the intoxicating scent of

vanilla. 'God she smells so good, feels so good.' His mind was racing,

just kissing her made him crazy. The entire world was blocked out,

just the scent of her, the sweet taste of her, her hot little mouth on

his remained.

Buffy reached around his waist, holding him tighter as he

feathered kisses on her neck, his arousal evident. "Don't stop." She

whispered, only loud enough for him to hear.

"Never." He breathed, between kisses. His strong hands fumbled

with the hem of her shirt, pulling it up to slide his hands

underneath. 'Never leave her.' Was his last thought as the crowbar

came smashing down on his head.

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Buffy heard the dull thud and immediately felt the absence of

Spike's strong embrace. She looked in terror at the scene unfolding,

pressing herself to the wall as small as she could get.

"Buffy!" He choked out. "Run!" She sat frozen in place. "Bu."

a sharp kick to the stomach cut him off, he hunched over, his eyes

squeezed shut in pain.

"Think you can just do that to Drusilla and get away with it?"

A deep voice growled. "Think again, mate." The black clad figure

emphasized the last word.

"Angel?" Spike turned to look at his attacker. "Stupid

wanker." He jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain, desperate to get

Buffy out of there. Before his punch hit home, the end of an axe came

crashing down on his shoulder. Spike let out a strangled cry as the

blow hit. "Bloody Hell." He groaned. Bracing himself he tried to stand

back up, slower this time.

"Didn't take you long to find another piece of tail to keep

you occupied did it, Spike?" Angel sneered. "And I will admit, she is

a tasty treat. Looks like she's pretty wild in the sack too." He

turned his back on the bleeding Spike. "When you're done with her,

mind if I give her a go?" Suddenly Angel was on the ground and a very

pissed off Spike was straddling him, punching him mercilessly.

"Don't." Punch. "You." Punch. "Ever." Punch. "Talk."

Punch. "About Buffy that way." Punch. "EVER AGAIN!" Spike landed one

last punch with a sickening crunch and lifted himself off the

brunette. "And don't come near her again." A stomach-turning laugh

came from the man on the ground.

"Oh Spike, I won't touch her. But they will." Angel lifted

himself from the ground, holding his nose. "Fucking broke my nose!" He

shrugged, looking right at Buffy. "Kill him." She screamed and sank

against the wall. "And bring the girl back to her friends for a little

fun, can't have her messing up my plans again." He leered at Buffy,

while six big guys emerged from the shadows, all holding nasty looking

knives.

"Oh, and Spike?" He turned to him, who was now curled on the

pavement in a fetal position, blood seeping through his fingers that

were clenched over his stomach. "I'll let you say your last words." He

used the last of his strength to turn to Buffy, smiling weakly at her

before mouthing 'goodbye.' And letting his head drop back to the

pavement. Five of the guys surrounded him and continued to beat him,

ignoring his cries of pain. The other one, however, made his way

towards a frightened Buffy and held out his arms.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, sweetie." He said, his voice filled

with mock sincerity. "I'm gonna get you out of here." Buffy wasn't

buying it, she kicked out and caught the guy in the knee, startling

him. He fell to the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that, bitch." He hissed. "I was gonna be

nice, but then you got violent. Now you're gonna join your boyfriend."

He got up and was taking a step towards her when the door to the

Bronze opened and Oz and Willow ran out.

"Buffy!" Willow screamed. The men surrounding Spike backed off

immediately backed off, disappearing into the shadows. Oz spotted

Angel and ran for him, but Angel was faster.

"This isn't over yet! You got lucky!" And with that he too

disappeared into the shadows.

"Oh my god, Spike!" Buffy cried, hoarsely. She scrambled to

her feet and ran to him, falling next to him. She took in the sight,

they had beaten him very badly. His left eye was bleeding and swollen

shut, somehow his duster had been pulled off and there were gashes up

and down his arms and across his neck, dark purple bruises had already

begun to form on his face and his lip was cracked and bleeding. She

tenderly moved his hands away from his stomach and gasped. There was a

huge gash that stretched from just under his left side all the way

down to the waistband of his jeans.

He slowly opened his eyes, looking up at her. She moved and

took his head into her lap, gently stroking his hair, talking to him,

reassuring him. Oz moved over her and helped pull Spike into a sitting

position, he cried out in pain.

"Think..." He coughed, wincing. "..the stupid wankers broke my

ribs." He tried to smile but started coughing violently, his hands

went up to cover his mouth. When he pulled them away, blood stained

his palms. "Shit." He said silently, before showing Buffy his

hands. "M' coughin' up blood. But I'm ok, really. Nothin a little

sleep won't fix." He tried to stand but fell, landing in Buffy's lap.

"Now who's scarring who?" Buffy said as she started to cry. Wrapping her

arms around his shoulders she held him tightly. "Don't ever do that to me

again!" She yelled. Leaning in she kissed him full on the lips, ignoring the

bruises and cuts. It was feather light, but held a promise of more. "Let's

get you to the hospital." She whispered.

Without protest, he nodded before blacking out again. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::: A/N: AAAHH! I know I'm evil but that's why you keep reading rite? Yea I thought so.don't have a heart attack, everything always works out don't it? Well, not all the time.read and review, more soon!! Kisses to all, and special thanks to Sarah for beta-ing this chapter on such short notice, thanks!! ~~Sarfinn