Part 2

At the Summers' Residence

Spike slowly opens the front door to the Summers' house, rather surprised that his invitation hadn't been revoked. He stood there in the hall looking in at Buffy and Dawn sitting on the couch watching some silly American chat show that Dawn loves.

"Spike!" Squealed Dawn when she saw him standing there.

"Hello Bit."

"What are you doing here? And more to the point, where the hell have you been?" Buffy asked while coming gracefully to her feet.

"Yes where the hell indeed."

"Spike, what's wrong?"

"Sorry, nothing Bit, nothing's wrong. Look, I shouldn't have come, sorry..." Spike backs away to the door just as it flies open and Xander walks in helping a young lady.

"What the hell is the evil dead doing here? Come to finish what you started?"

"I was just...leaving...sorry," Spike runs from the house.

"Well that was weird, even for Spike." Shrugs Xander.

"Who is this? And why is she in my house?" Buffy asks.

"This is Nancy and her dog just got ate by a big nasty that came out of the ground. Are you sure it wasn't something else, like maybe Spike? I mean it's been quiet as a mouse round here and all of a sudden Spike turns up and things start being eaten again..."

"Shut up Xander. Now what do we know about this thing that ate the dog?" Buffy sat and put her head in her hands.

Meanwhile outside, under a tree, was a shadow quietly muttering.

Waiting. As the humans left the house it pealed off and followed them. Again waiting outside while they went into the Bronze.

Nancy was the first to come out, closely followed by Buffy, then the earth started to shake and a huge worm like creature surged up from the ground in front of them. Buffy pushed Nancy out of the way and was getting ready to fight, when out of the shadows came Spike.

"Think you've had your turn love; leave the real violence to the demons." Spike hit the creature with a mettle spear. "That's right, Big Bad's back and he's looking for a little death." Spike held the pole like a spear and ran at the creature just as the spear pierced it the creature turned into a human.

"Arrrrr," screamed the human and Spike together.

"I'm sorry," Spike cocks his head and removes the spear. "Right, wrong, wrong manoeuvre not highly helpful. God please help me. HELP ME..." Spike screamed, round the corner came three more people who skidded to a halt surveying the scene before them.

"You're not the one who needs help." Buffy said while taking out her cell phone and dialling 911. "He's going into shock. Hi, I need an ambulance..."

"No too much, too much, too much, deep inside me all the way...to deep..." Spike muttered.

"Look Spike, whatever you are doing..."

"Get away," Spike put his hands up defensively.

"Do it somewhere else, I'm through with this."

"Oh, oh, lucky girl, call it quits now there's an option, if only it was so easy. If only...if only...what the hell are you screaming about? I can hear you no need to SHOUTTT." While saying shout, Spike's voice and face change into a scream of agony; he bends over in pain then stands up and laughs, still holding the spear.

"Ha, ha, ha, I get it jokes on me lots of laughs, bring the wife and kiddies, come see the show, cause it's going to be a circus. This it's just the beginning love. A warm-up act. The real headliner's coming, and when that band hits the stage, all of this...all
this...will come tumbling in death and screaming, horror and bloodshed. From beneath you, it devours. From beneath..." Spike starts to cry, and looks away, then starts to gag. He runs away down the alley, leaving Buffy there.

"What the hell..." Buffy starts, but doesn't finish as Angel comes into view looking paler than normal. "Angel," Buffy says breathlessly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find Spike." Angel try's to walk past her in the direction that Spike went, but Buffy grabs him.

"What, no hello kiss?"

She moves her mouth towards his, but before they make contact Angel says, "No, I have to find Spike."

"Why, you two hate each other and besides I think he's finally gone mad. Serves him right. Did you know he tried to rape me?"

Whatever reaction Buffy was after, she didn't get what she wanted as Angel rather calmly stated, "Then he is a better man than I, for Angelus would have raped you
and not thought twice about it. Yes, I know what's been going on in those few months you were using and abusing him. All those times you hit him and degraded him I know and I'm amazed he had the self control to stop himself. You played a dangerous game there Buffy and you are lucky you are still alive to tell the tail."

"You had me followed...How dare you. You have no right, you left..."

"I did not have you followed," Angel roared. "I had Spike followed, like I have for the last hundred years."

"Why?"

"Because he's mine." With that Angel stormed off in the direction Spike had disappeared. Leaving an open mouthed Buffy behind with Fred and Gunn trying to help the human on the floor.

Angel walks through a moonlit cemetery, looking for Spike. He sees a chapel, with lanterns lighting the front door and heads toward it and goes in. The chapel is lit with moonlight streaming in; Spike is bare-chested, holding his shirt out to him.

"What the hell are you...?" Angel starts.

"It didn't work. Costume. Didn't help. Couldn't hide."

"No more mind games, Spike."

Spike is looking down at the ground, even though Angel is standing right in front of him.

"No more mind games. No more mind." He chuckles.

Angel reaches for his chest, where it is covered in scars.

"Tell me what happened to you."

Spike flinches away recoiling violently, and looks into those chocolate brown orbs he's missed so much.

"Hey, hey, hey! No touching. Am I flesh? Am I flesh to you? Feed on flesh. My flesh. Nothing else. Not a spark. Oh, fine. Flesh then. Solid through," he starts unzipping his pants. "Get it hard; service the man."

"Stop it!" Angel uses his Sire tone.

"Right. He doesn't want to be serviced. Because there's no spark. Ain't we in a soddin' engine?"

"Spike, have you completely lost your mind?"

"You know what Peaches, I rather think I have," Spike says in a crisp upper English accent.

"All right. I'm listening. Tell me what happened."

"I tried to find it, of course. For you, for her."

"Tried to find what?" Angel was starting to lose what little patience he had left.

"The spark. The missing...the piece that fits. That would make me fit. Because you didn't want..." he starts to cry. "God, I can't...Not with you looking." Spike scurries away and stood in the corner of the chapel with his back to Angel. "I dreamed of killing you."

"No change there," Angel chuckles.

"I think they were dreams. So weak. Did she make me weak, holding myself, and spilling useless buckets of salt over her...ending? Angel...you should've warned me. You make a good show of forgetting, but it's here, in me, all the time." Spike walks toward him from behind." I wanted to give you what you deserve, and I got it. They
put the spark in me and now all it does is burn."

"You got a soul." Angel gasps as he finally understands what's going on. "Oh Spike, why didn't you come to me."

"I did you stupid poof. Who the hell do you think dragged your big ass out of that mettle coffin at the bottom of the sea? You kept calling and calling me the blood, it wouldn't stop, wouldn't stop..."

Spike started pulling his hair out, but Angel was there wrapping his huge body around his Boy.

"Shush, I'm here now. Why didn't you stay in LA? Why come back here after all that's happened?"

"Dawn," was all Spike said.

"I don't understand, what do you mean Dawn?"

"She's not safe with Buffy anymore, had a dream about it. You know; the ones I sometimes have, bit like Dru's visions only we know what they are about rather than trying to work them out. Well this one told me that Dawn needs to be protected from Buffy...Angel..." Spike lifted his head and looked Angel straight in the eye. "Buffy will go dark and Dawn will be the innocent that gets caught in the middle, she will die if I don't keep her safe and that's if we are lucky. Dawn is still the key if she goes dark with Buffy then I dread to think what will happen...And-and now everybody's in here, in my head talking. Everything I did...everyone I- and him...and it...the other, the thing beneath-beneath you. It's here too. Everybody. They all just tell me go...go...to hell," Spike shivers in Angel's arms.

"Come on let's go. It's not good being here all these crosses about."

"Can- can we rest now? Angel...can we rest?"

"Yes my Boy, we can rest." Angel led Spike out of the chapel towards the mansion on Crawford Street.