Part Eight - Losing A Lover

"Spike!"

Dawn burst into Spike's crypt, where the vampire was busy cleaning up the mess his fight with Riley had created. He looked up from the remains of his couch.

"Hey. What's the matter, Little Bit?"

She looked around frantically.

"Is Buffy with you?"

He snorted, and reached for his cigarettes on top of the broken TV.

"Nope. Slayer's not here." As if she would.

On the verge of tears, the teenager looked up at him.

"But she hasn't come home from the hospital this afternoon. And now it's been dark for almost three hours, and I've been everywhere, but I can't find her!"

Spike shrugged.

"Well, probably just needed some time off. Gone to watch a movie, or- Riley!" His eyes widened as realization struck him.

"Riley?" Dawn asked, confused. "But he's gone."

"He's back." The vampire began to pace the room, worried.

"Well, that's not bad, right?" the teenager began. "I mean, he loves her, and-"

"He's a vampire," Spike interrupted. "Listen, I want you to get the Scoobies. Go check the caves of the Initiative, I'll take the factory. Understand me?"

The stunned girl could only nod.

"Then go!"

***

I wonder if this is in the job description. 'And every now and then you'll experience the wonderful sensation of coming round chained up to something'.

Buffy opened her eyes, and wasn't very surprised to find herself in the exact spot Spike had been held captive before, facing the factory hall's entrance.

"Oh. You've repaired the door."

At the sound of her voice, Riley, who had been examining one of the machines in front of her, turned around.

"I didn't like the thought of everybody watching." He smiled, and her heart sank. He will kill me. He is completely insane, and he will kill me.

"Not very original place, is it?" she asked, tugging lightly at her chains.

"It won't be for long." He shrugged. "Now, isn't this place fascinating? There are even some prototypes left, and I found a robot that looked like a demon a few rooms further. Shame it's broken."

"Always the one for a new toy, right? But I'm more interested in the reason why this won't be for long," Buffy answered. If I know how he's going to kill me, maybe I can figure out a plan.

"It's simple. Spike will turn up and try to save you. I will kill him, and you can go."

"You're letting me go?" she asked, startled. "Why, 'cause it's more fun to chase the Slayer?"

"No. It's a vampire I'm after, not the Slayer. Not you, Buffy." The soldier sighed. "I came back for you, you know. Thought we could start again. And know what's funny? I still love you, even now."

"You're a vampire, Riley."

"I know. And that's all you see, right? I might finally be your equal in strength, but still it's not enough for you."

"Riley-"

"No. I was never enough for you, we both know that," he interrupted her.

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is! Whatever I tried to reach you, you were always one step ahead!" Riley shouted. "And now I'm back, and look what's become of me! Strength, power, all that is mine, and still you will always regard me as inferior to you! Because I'm a vampire, and vampires can't love, right? Now let me tell you something, Slayer," he built up in front of her and waved a finger under her nose, "It's not in the soul. It's in the heart, in the blood, in every fibre. A soul means conscience, but the feeling is somewhere else. I knew that even before I got turned, but you just don't see it, do you?"

"And who taught you that?" she snapped. "Your vampire whores?"

"Who else would have done when you never let me in, when you pushed me away from you!" he yelled.

"So it's my fault once again, isn't it? Well, Riley," Buffy began to shout herself, "If it hadn't been for all the inferiority complexes you were feeling, you wouldn't have had to leave me all alone and crying over you at all!"

He stared at her, then ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, enough of this. We'll just wait for Spike and get over with it. Wonder he hasn't turned up yet."

She accepted the change of topic. She felt ill. Arguing with Riley had always done that to her, but this time, it was even worse. Because she knew there would be no making up this time.

And because she knew she would have to kill what had become of the man she loved.

"Why do you think he would come for me, anyway? The chip is gone." Just keep talking. Talking made her stop thinking. And right now, she didn't want to think.

Riley snorted and shot her an angry glare.

"You got to be kidding. He will do anything to save you. The guy loves you."

"You knew that?" She looked at him, shocked surprise written on her face.

"That's why I never trusted him." Riley answered simply, and Buffy fell silent.

If Riley had known that Spike had feelings for her… Then he had developed them a long time before he confessed them. Drusilla's words came to her: I knew, before you did. I knew you loved the Slayer. How long had it been? Even when he came back to Sunnydale for that first time, before Angel had left her, did he already feel something? He's a vampire! He doesn't have a soul! He can't love, it's just impossible! But even to her, those words suddenly sounded hollow.

A loud bang snapped Buffy out of her thoughts. She looked up, just in time to see the door crash against the wall and Spike appear in the entrance. Riley turned, and grinned.

"Now, that's a way to enter."

"Learned it from the Slayer."

Spike began to walk towards the two of them, but stopped when Riley took a stake, and held it against Buffy's throat. She froze, barely daring to breathe. Whatever her boyfriend had been before, now he was unpredictable.

"Now, I know these things are for killing the likes of us, but I bet she wouldn't feel too well, either."

"So what do you want?"

"You." The soldier reached behind his back and produced another stake, throwing it over to the peroxide blond vampire, who caught it in mid-flight and looked at it, surprised.

"You stake yourself, and your honey can leave."

"Isn't she supposed to be your honey?" The trademark sneer appeared as Spike began to play with the wood in his hands. "Or are you still not man enough to satisfy her?"

Buffy looked from one to the other. She had the strong feeling that this wasn't the first discussion of that kind.

"I'm more man than you'll be after you used this," Riley retorted, pointing towards the stake. "And you will do that now, or else there'll be a new Slayer pretty soon."

The sneer disappeared from Spike's face as the soldier pressed the stake against Buffy's throat, the sharp point cutting into the flesh. A single drop of blood appeared

"I mean it."

The peroxide blond vampire nodded, and raised the stake, meeting Buffy's gaze. Her heart seemed to stop when she saw the look in his eyes. He is serious! Next to her, she heard Riley laugh softly, his voice ringing with expectation. Spike turned the stake, its tip now pointing at his heart. As she saw the muscles in his arm tense before the move, something inside her screamed. No!

The Slayer brought her legs up in a desperate kick, more surprising the tall man next to her than actually hurting him. But that short moment of distraction was enough: With the experience of one hundred and twenty years, Spike threw the stake, sending it spinning through the air. With a sickening thud, it hit Riley's chest.

"I'm sorry," Buffy whispered as the vampire turned to dust.

Spike walked over to her, and opened the chains with the key he picked up from Riley's remains.

"Buffy-"

"And what did you think you were doing?" she hissed, snatching her hand back from his light touch.

"Why, I think you would have enjoyed the sightof me turning to dust," he replied, offended.

She slapped him hard across the face, then pointed a trembling finger at the startled vampire.

"If you ever, ever do something like this again, I'll stake you myself!"

She turned, storming out of the hall and leaving a speechless Spike behind.

I don't have to understand that now, do I