Disclaimer: No sadly I don't own them. Sure I own all the seasons of Buffy on DVD that are out, but the characters are not mine. They belong to Joss Whedon and company. The luckiest people in the world if you ask me.

Distribution: Sure go ahead ask first

Spoilers: Um sorta I guess for 'The Killer In Me' except no embarrassing phone call to a wannabe flower shop, no going to the old Initiative and Riley doesn't call Spike 'bass face'.

A/N: OMG! I'm sorry it's taken so long, but life tends to get in the way of everything. You know? It's all very tedious some times. I promise to update faster. Oh and (for people who didn't see Angel this Wednesday skim past this) YAY! Spike's corporeal. Oh goody! Hopefully now the really action starts!

A/N 2: Okay shoot me, shoot me now. Anyone have a gun? I'm willing to pay big money for it. See this is what happens when you have so many stories and two that have the same amount of chapters. This is the REAL chapter 16. I ACCIDENTALLY posted the wrong chapter for this story. Please don't throw tomatoes. It was brought to my attention by Confused! Thank you so much for that. Jeez I need a break. I'm posting the wrong chapters for stories. Hopefully that happens to some people. No, just me. Great! I always wanted to be the first to do somethin. Here you go. The REAL chapter 16. hope people read it after this incident/

Chapter 16:

No one was quite sure how long they sat there after the explanation that was given to the initiative. The initiative guys seemed a little stunned by the explanation, which was acceptable because everyone had talked at once. It had only taken twenty minutes to explain everything in detail and the doctors were upstairs working on Spike and Lorne was filling them in on a few things.

Dawn had come home and was in the kitchen along with Angel and Gunn. Everyone was silent. No one was sure of what to say. Each person had some ill feelings towards the initiative. All in all it hadn't bee a good start.

Maddy looked over at the clock on the wall. Buffy was due back any minute now. She should be relieved that the initiative was here. Spike could get fixed up and they could resume their perfect lovey dovey relationship. They seemed to be the only ones. Xander and Anya seemed to not be getting back together and not even trying to make an effort. Everyone knew that Gunn and Fred's relationship was shot to hell over some incident that was foreign to the Sunnydale lot.

The two other British men in the house were so not going to get any. Wes seemed to be hung up on someone. It appeared to be Fred, but others had their suspicions that it was someone else. Giles, was well, Giles. There were some major sparks between Angel and Cordy, but no one was making a move. Then the whole Dawn, Connor, and Maddy triangle was just to hard to contemplate. So everyone was quite.

Too quite. The eerie silence could get to anyone. It was starting to get to everyone. Some of the people that sat in the living room were awaiting the news about Spike. It seemed like it was talking forever when they had only been up there for about fifteen minutes. It was so quite that they could hear the ticking of the clock. Why did it have to tick so loud? No one really knew they answer.

They were all lost in their own thoughts. And that's how Buffy found them. She walked in ready to complain about her awful day at work, but all she heard was silence where there should have been loud noise. She walked into the living room to find everyone in deep thought and three guys she didn't know and one she knew to all too well.

"Hey Riley." Buffy said as pleasantly as she could manage.

The last time she had seen him he was married and she was at a low point in her life. It wasn't because she was with Spike, but because she didn't know what was going on in her head.

"Buffy you're home." Riley said as if he was a person who belonged in her house.

"You're here early." Buffy said.

"Yeah I know. We didn't mean to be so early. The doctors are upstairs with Spike and that Lorne guy." Riley said.

"That's good. Have they given any information yet?" Buffy asked while she took at seat next to Xander.

He took her hand in his to try and comfort her. Although he thought Buffy could do much better then Spike, he realized that Spike was an okay guy and he made Buffy happy.

"No not yet. They're just checking him out and going through all the possibilities." Riley said.

"So you guys are just waiting?" Buffy said.

"Yes, and make a mental note that I hate waiting. It's too anticlimactic. Not to say that Spike's chip is unimportant, but it's way too much build up for his chip." Anya said.

"Way to be supportive there Anya." Maddy said.

"Yes well I just think that it's way too much stress." Anya said.

"Part of the human package. Stress and all that. You should know though." Maddy said.

"Well not really. Being a vengeance demon keeps me from having too much insight on human ways."

"So you don't know how to act like a human?" Connor asked.

He thought that she was doing just fine, but he himself had just got back from a hell dimension and was dealing with being civilized.

"No I have some experience, but I became a vengeance demon again and I'm supposed to be with the smiting cheating men, but for some reason I keep getting dragged back in here. I think I'm just going to tell D'Hoffran that I don't want the job." Anya said.

"How is D'Hoffran. Is he still worried about that new girl, what was her name, Shelly?" Maddy said flippantly.

"How do you know D'Hoffran?" Anya asked and everyone came in a little closer to hear the answer.

"Oh well he came and tried to recruit me after I sought vengeance on this guy. Talked a bit. The coven is really big on keeping their demon contacts updated." Maddy said and it was the truth. D'Hoffran had asked her to join him, but she turned him down knowing she still had a propose.

"Oh that makes sense. What did you do to the guy?" Anya asked.

"Well see he was all magical as well so the vengeance didn't take. I was going to make it so he could never. . . " Maddy looked around the room to see that all the guys seemed uncomfortable.

"Why don't we compare notes later? The guys seem a little stricken." Maddy said.

"Oh I guess they do. I never noticed that." Anya said.

"So where's Sam?" Buffy whispered to Riley.

"She's upstairs with the doctors. So how are things with you?" Riley asked.

"Better much better. Now we just have to fix this chip thing and take down Willow and I'll be fine." Buffy said.

"What's up with Willow?"

"She went to the dark side. Just a little thing, but we're on it."

"I had to beg these guys to come. They think that it's odd that the slayer associated her self with demons, but I set them straight."

"Oh well I guess it's a little weird, but all of them are good demons."

"Yeah I noticed. So how goes things with you and Spike? I assume you care about him since you called us." Buffy held in an irritated groan. It was bad enough that she had to deal with one ex now there were two to deal with.

"Spike and I have decided to see each other."

"Well what would you call what you were doing before?"

"Having great sex. This is different. He has his soul now."

"Okay didn't need to know about the sex thing, but are you sure. . ."

"That I should be getting into a relationship with someone like him. Look this is my life and I'll do what a damn please."

"Okay I know that I gave up all rights when I left and got married. I was just trying to look out for you."

"I don't need you to look out for me, but thanks for the thought." Buffy said as she turned around to try and engage in conversation.

Buffy wondered why it was that old boyfriends thought that they knew what was best for you. It was one of those things that Buffy would never figure out. They left you, but they thought that they knew what was best. In Riley's case he had been right to leave. She never really loved him. She had been going through the motions because she was with him. And Angel, though he hadn't been right to leave her, was better off and so was she. She had found someone who was. . . better.

Okay so better wasn't the right word, but it made sense. Spike wasn't exactly the most conventional boyfriend, but he worked for her. She didn't need a normal guy. Spike had always been there for her. He had gone out and got a soul for her damn it. He had seen her in the good and the bad and yet he still stuck around. He really loved her. Although she couldn't say the words yet she knew that she cared for him deeply.

"Miss Summers we have some news." Buffy looked up to see a man in a doctor's coat standing in front of her. Everyone in the room stiffened considerably.

"Well what's the news?"

"It seems that host. Spike's chip is causing some severe brain damage and is majorly defective."

"What does that mean." Buffy said grabbing Xander's hand.

It was killing Xander to see her like this. He could see how much this was killing her. He knew just by her face that she really cared about Spike. Maybe even love him. Even though that should kill him he found himself okay with it.

"Well his chip will kill him if it stays in his head as is. We could either insert another chip or we could take it out completely. It's up to you."

Suddenly Buffy felt like all eyes were on her. It was almost an easy decision, but she wanted to please everyone. Why she didn't know. This was between her and Spike and no one else. So Buffy knew right then what decision she had to make.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The eerie silence didn't seem right for the Summers house. Sure there people in the house. A lot of people were in her house at this very moment. It just felt like there weren't any when Buffy could hear herself think. The surgery was taking a long time. Longer then she really cared for. Was it so hard to remove a chip from someone's head? Or at least talk to the worried people about the progress.

Buffy had waited with her friends in the living room for what seemed like hours before she couldn't take it anymore. Mostly everyone was okay with her decision although Buffy didn't really care what they thought at this moment.

Like she had thought before, it was a matter between her and Spike. She knew that she had made the right decision. It was the looks of dread on their faces that had Buffy a little uneasy.

What was their reason for looking so sad? The doctor had gave news that the damage caused to Spike's brain might give him a slight case of amnesia or, quiet possibly, make him a vegetable in the human sense of the word.

There was a chance that he would never be the same. Not that they weren't already chancing that with the soul, but now there had to be the stupid chip in his head screwing things up worse.

So Buffy retreated to her back porch. She liked to think of it as the place were she first met the really Spike. It was that time she had talked with him when she found out that her mother was sick. It was her first glimpse into the more William version of Spike.

It had been the place where they would just sit and talk when she first came back. It was like their special place. It was where she spent many nights while he was gone. And now she was sitting here waiting for any news that the doctors might have on him.

Feelings were never Buffy's strong suit. Neither was opening up. She liked to stay calmed up and not admit things to anyone. And that little personality trait might just make things a whole lot worse. She never told Spike exactly how she felt about him, which was okay because they were taking it slow. Now she was regretting it. She didn't love him; she wasn't even sure what love was at this point in her life.

She had always thought that she loved Riley and Angel, but that turned out to be wrong at least in Riley's case. She cared a lot about Spike though. It was something she realized two months ago on the night he left. Everything changed that night. He had been so caring and attentive.

Something that Buffy had refused to see all that time, but now was staring her straight in the face. So yes she cared a lot about him, but he didn't know that. He knew that she had feelings, but he didn't know to what extent. So here she sat. Wallowing in her own self-loathing, which wasn't anything new for Buffy.

"Buffy?" a voice from behind Buffy asked.

Buffy turned around to see Sam, Riley's wife.

"Hey." Buffy said.

"They're done. They said that it went pretty successfully, but they aren't sure if he. has any brain damage." Sam said fidgeting a little.

Riley had told her that Buffy was involved with the vampire after their last visit. Sam had found it a little disgusting at first. After meeting Glen she understood that not all demons were bad and looked at it through Buffy's perspective. Then there was the fact that he loved her enough to go out and get his soul. He seemed like a good guy.

"Is he awake?" Buffy whispered almost inaudibly.

"No, not yet. Your friend, Maddy I think her name was, and that big green demon guy are in with him right now. They're performing some magic spells on him right now to try and wake him up."

"Okay."

"Are you going to go see him?"

"Yeah I should huh?" Buffy said as she got up and walked over to the door. She opened the door and walked inside. The house was still quiet. Sam followed close behind her.

Buffy walked up the stairs and into her room. He was still lying on the bed, on his side. His head was bandaged up. Maddy stood next to him and Lorne was on the other side.

"Did you get him to wake up?" Buffy asked.

"We're just starting the spell. Shouldn't be long now, sweetness." Lorne said.

"Yeah quick brush of the hand and then presto Spike's awake." Maddy said lighting a few candles.

"Okay. Do you know if he's okay?"

"He seems fine. From the read that I'm getting off of him he would appear normal. The soul's a little shiny though, so I'm having trouble seeing past it." Lorne said.

"I did a quick magically exam on his head and everything would appear normal. Like I said little disorientation for awhile, but nothing serious." Maddy said opening a book and searching for the right spell.

"Okay just an easy little healing spell. Should go okay." Maddy said taking a deep breath.

"It is an easy spell. Just focus." Lorne said.

"I'm focused." Maddy said.

"Okay just concentrate." Lorne said taking Maddy's hand.

"We call upon the goddess to give us the power to heal. Use our strength to heal the wounded in the protected circle. Guide him through his mind." Maddy said.

All of a sudden there was a low rumble in the room and the lights went off. The only light that could be seen was two thin lines of white light that were coming out of Lorne and Maddy. It lasted for about a minute before it stopped and Maddy and Lorne dropped to the ground and the lights turned back on.

Buffy looked at Maddy and Lorne. They appeared to have been knocked out. She looked over at Spike. His eyes were fluttering open and he started to cough. Buffy ran over to him.

"Hey are you okay?" Buffy asked when she made it to him.

"My head." Spike said raising his hand to reach his head.

"Don't touch your head."

"Why?"

"Because they just took out the chip."

"What? How long was I out for?"

"Three days."

"Three days. Bloody hell, no wonder I feel so sore. Did you say they took out the chip?"

"Yeah I had them take it out."

"You mean no more chip?"

"Yup. There was a decision on whether to take it out completely or to put in a new one. I figured with the fight that we're about to face it would be better to take the chip out completely."

"So I can hit anyone I want again?"

"Don't go getting any ideas."

"I know. Pullin' for the good guys now."

"Is there anything you want? Some blood maybe."

"No I think I jus' want to sit up."

"You can't do that. The surgery that was performed on you requires full bed rest." Sam said.

"Great more time on this bloody bed." "You have to do what the doctors say Spike. So how are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy. Nothing to bad."

Just then Spike heard the low sound of groaning coming from the ground.

"Whas' that?"

"I think its Maddy and Lorne. They kinda got knocked out when they did the spell to heal you."

"Oh this is worse then a hangover or that time Wolfram and Hart did that brain sucking thing." Lorne said.

"Yeah didn't expect it to be so powerful. It was a really big blast." Maddy said.

"Neither did I. Maybe the goddess took a little too much." Lorne said.

"No Spike seems to be in ship shape so that's the good thing." Maddy said attempting to get up, but then falling right back down.

"I guess gravity is telling me to stay put." Maddy said.

"You guys okay? Is there anything that I can do?" Buffy said in a worried voice.

These two people, well one person one demon, had given Spike much needed strength and she would do anything to repay them.

"You could make the room stop spinning." Maddy said.

"You are feeling that to?" Lorne said.

"Yeah, it's really dizzy. Like thing are. . ."

"Floating around and you're stayin' put." Spike finished.

"Yeah." Lorne and Maddy answered in unison.

"Can you get up?" Buffy asked.

"Not right now. Think that we should just stay put. Actually a little tired." Maddy said.

"Yeah I hear that sweetness." Lorne said as he started to drift off to sleep. Maddy did so as well.

"Well I guess they needed to rest." Buffy said to Spike.

"Yeah they prolly havta regenerate."

"It's good to see you awake." Buffy said placing a hand on Spike's cheek.

"Well I don't think that it will remain that way for that much longer. Starting to feel the unpleasant side effects of the spell. It really is very draining."

"Get some rest. We'll be able to catch up in the morning."

"Yeah you're prolly right." Spike said closing his eyes and falling right to sleep like Maddy and Lorne had done. Buffy kissed his forehead and got up. Sam was still standing in the doorway looking at Buffy expectantly.

"Xander and all the other people informed us to what was going on." She said simply.

"It doesn't seem real." Buffy said messing with the hem of her shirt. She was still in her Doublemeat Place uniform because she wasn't able to get into her room to change.

"Riley and I want to know if there is anything we can do to help." Sam said.

"No, not really. We don't need any more help. We've got everything we need right here." Buffy said.

"We'd like to help anyway. I know that this is a little out of our scope of things, but we can help. We heard that Willow was raising some pretty powerful demons and taking them under her control. We can help take them out."

"We have pretty skilled demon fighters here. This is too far out of your range." Buffy said pushing past Sam and trying to walk into the hallway. She ran into Riley on her way there.

"Look Buffy we have orders to stay here in Sunnydale." Riley said.

"Well you can stay, but you're not getting in the way." Buffy said.

"Buffy you need all the help that you can get. We're here to help. We have information regarding a spell that can strip Willow's powers." Riley said.

"We know about that spell Riley."

"Then why haven't you done it?" Riley asked with an incredulous tone in his voice.

"Because it kills her."

"So?"

"So? We can't kill Willow."

"Why not? She's killed people Buffy. She needs to be put down before she kills anyone else. Or worse she starts an apocalypse."

"We have information that says she can be taken done without killing her. There's a prophecy that says it can be done."

"Buffy she's too far gone. If we don't take her done right now she might end the world."

"I've avoid more apocalypses then I can count Riley. I know what I'm doing. I won't let you kill Willow."

"We have no choice." "This isn't your fight. Take your wannabe demon fighters and get out of here. This is my town."

"Buffy if you don't kill Willow then there won't be any hope for the rest of us. You have to make this decision."

"I'm telling you that there is a way to save Willow and the world. Now I want you and your sorry excuse for demon hunters to get out of my house. You did your job. You fixed your little 'hostile 17' as you call him now get out. Leave the demon fighting to the professionals."

"I'm not going to back down from this Buffy."

"If you hurt Willow I swear I'll hurt you. That goes for any other member of your team that wants to get trigger happy on me and mine."

"That was an accident."

"Accident my ass. You initiative guys are all the same. Demons bad, people good. Just get out of here." Buffy said going back into her room and closing the door.

Riley looked over at Sam and saw that his wife had a disappointed look on her face.

"What?"

"She's right you know. The initiative does see all demons as bad. I thought that we were pass that now."

"Willow isn't a demon."

"Which makes this all worse. You want to kill a human being."

"Look she isn't a human anymore. She isn't the same Willow that wanted to get Buffy and me together. She's lost it."

"This chip thing was supposed to be the end of it. We were supposed to retire and go back to Ohio to raise our family. What about our baby. I'm pregnant Riley and we were supposed to be getting out."

"I can't leave it like this."

"Well I can. I'm sorry, but I can't stay here. I'm going home."

"What are you talking about? You have to stay here."

"No I don't. This is my last assignment and it's finished. I'm out. When you decide to come home I'll be waiting. Just don't get yourself killed and don't take to long." Sam said as she walked by Riley.

She kissed him on the cheek and then left. Riley watched as the only good thing in his life walked away. He couldn't let this one go though. He sighed put his head down dejectedly. It was time to gather his troops and get out of Buffy's house before she blew a gasket. He just hoped that by staying he was really helping her and not ruining his life.

A/N: Review you know you wanna! Come on! Please!