Author's Note: I'm craving reviews here, so please review! It gives me inspiration to write, and I am being good to you, two chapters now in two days, and the others aren't far behind. Warning: It gets agnsty and involves mentions of torture and rape.

Disclaimer: I don't own BtVS or Angel.

Chapter 16

Together, Buffy and Spike began their training sessions, preparing for the fight that both knew would come soon, perhaps sooner than they would be ready. In the weeks that followed, the informed all of the Scoobies, and Buffy's family about their relationship. While Buffy and Spike trained, the group researched.

However, Angelus and Glory continued their own plans. Angelus soon would seek out his revenge up the slayer for making his feel as he had as Angel and soon Glory would have her key, she just needed to know who it was, but all of that was just simple matters.

Angelus leaned back onto Glory's bed as she changed into a red leather dress and put on a pair of pumps to match. "It starts tonight..."

"Good, can't wait to see your work."

"It should be quite... pleasing to you."

"I should expect as much from you Angelus, make me proud." She smirked and cast him a seductive glance. "Please me and perhaps you will get a treat..."

He chuckled low in his throat. "Can't wait to rip apart that whelp and see what his insides look like."

"Why wait when you could do it now?"

"You know... you have a point."

Angelus, with a flash of black from his jacket was gone into the night, to stalk his prey in order to send the slayer to her knees.

Xander walked Anya back up to their apartment and kissed her sweetly before going to open the door. He was suddenly grabbed around the throat and pulled back. Anya watched in rapt horror as a man whom she had percieved to be one of the good guys sunk his teeth into her Xander's neck, and seemed to be... grinning... at the same time. She went to scream, but the man dropped Xander and slammed her into a wall, rendering her only barely conscious. She was forced to watch as her Xander was tortured right before her very eyes.

Blood flowed from his neck as Angelus began work on his body, breaking his fingers one by one, listening to the bones crack and shatter. Xander's eyes regarded the man before him and looked with hatred... Angelus...

He pulled out the knife that he carried with him that night and slid it up Xander's arm, right beside the artery that would end his life and watched the blood flow from it and preformed the same on the other arm, slit to the bone. Moving on he jammed the knife into the fleshy stomach, pulling out the lighter. Lighting it, he moved closer to Xander, tracing the cross onto Xander's shirt, watching it burn in flames that scorched the skin, before burning out.

Seeing the boy ready to pass out, he grabbed him by the hair, yanking him up and grinned at him, licking the neck wound. "Let Buffy know this... I will win this time..." Throwing him down he walked over to Anya who watched in horror and shook his head. "Poor poor thing... Come here."

Grabbing hold of her, he slammed her against a wall and lifted her skirt, letting his hand wander over her before unzipping his own pants and slamming into her, raping her brutally. When the two had passed out he smiled at his own handiwork and left, dialing 911 and then leaving the two to whatever might befall them, death or some other fate. He just knew that it would destroy Buffy.

Buffy got the call early in the morning as she lay wrapped in Spike's arms. Picking up the phone she listened to the person on the other side, her eyes growing wider and wider. Willow was in hysterics on the other side of the phone as she attempted to explain what had happened, to both Anya and Xander.

"Buffy... I'm... scared... They... They don't know... know if... if... if..."

"If?" Buffy was afraid to even ask, too afraid of the answer that she might get.

"If Xander will even make it through the rest of the night..."

"Oh God..." The tears fell unchecked down Buffy's cheeks as she hung up the phone.

Spike, awakened by the phone as well, watched his love and pulled her close to him, whispering to her sweet nothings in hopes that she would be comforted. The truth was, even he was scared. He and the whelp had been getting along fairly well, even forming a friendship of sorts in the past weeks and now this... It just wasn't right. "Love, he'll make it. Xander's a strong guy, and too annoying to die..."

The word die sent Buffy rigid and she looked back at him. "This... has to end..."

Angelus walked back into Glory's room and was met by Ben, who slammed him against a wall. "You murderous bastard! I ought to kill you right here!" He raised a stake as if to emphasize his point. "I don't care what Glory wants or anything else. I'm here to make sure that she doesn't get what she wants and you're first!"

Laughing, Angelus pushed him roughly off of him. "Listen boy, I'm not gonna kill you, because you're Glory, consider yourself lucky, but pull that shit again and you will have your ass kicked severely..."

Ben clutched at his head. "No!" It was then Glory standing in front of Angelus and grinning like a mad woman at him. "Well done... I'm pleased. You really sent Ben for a loop there, and the craftsmanship... fabulous... needless to say, I can't wait to see what else you have planned."

"You did promise me a reward if I did well... didn't you?"

"That I did..."

For the next few days, the gang spent most of their time at the hospital, watching, waiting for Xander to wake up, to reveal that he was going to be okay. Thankfully he had made it through that night, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. The burns that covered his upper body were the most gruesome sight, and the bandages had to be changed every hour.

Willow tailspinned into a deep depression and refused to leave her home, and Anya refused to even utter a word as she, forever sat by Xander's side, gripping his hand.

Giles threw himself into his work, recording all of his books and working overtime at the Magic Shop.



The bell on the door of the shop tinkled and Giles heard footsteps from the back room, but was knocked unconscious by a sudden blow to the head. Angelus looked over at Glory who stood beside him. "This is Giles, Slayer's watcher. Writes everything down. If she knows where the key is, then he knows too... and it's somewhere in one of his books..."

"You know, I just might have to keep you around." She smiled and went off in search of the book that would contain the answer to the question that had been plaguing her for months.

Angelus on the other hand made sure that Giles would not be waking anytime soon... and left a note, pinned to the tweed.

Slayer,

Come and get me... if you can.

Love,

Angelus

"Found it! It's her brat kid sister. No wonder she was so damn jumpy whenever the brat came in the room..."

"Yeah, well let's go get the little bitch in training before she comes and finds her watcher..." He looked back at Giles, slumped against the back wall, sitting in a chair, blood falling from a large gash on his forehead.