Max knocked on the Summers' door.
"I'll get it!" Dawn yelled. She opened the door. "Max!" she exclaimed with a big smile on her face. Dawn threw her arms around Max.
"Well I missed you too." Max said.
Dawn broke away from the hug. "Right sorry." Dawn said.
"Nah it's ok. So is Buffy home?"
"Yeah come in." Dawn said opening the door wider so Max could enter. "Hey Buffy, Max is here!" Dawn yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
I could have down that. Max thought. She shook her head and stepped through the door. Ames followed close behind.
Buffy walked down the stairs. "Hey Max."
"Hey Buffy. So you said you needed my help. What demon is it this time?" Max asked.
"Well come on I'll explain." Buffy said leading them into the living room.
Max and Ames sat on the couch while Buffy sat on the table across from them. "Ok so what demon's trying to end the world now?" Max asked.
"Well I don't know if you can call it a demon. See it's The First." Buffy explained.
"The first what?" Max asked.
"The First Evil. Basically it's the essence of evil. It likes to manipulate people to do things they wouldn't normally do. It even made Spike start killing again." Buffy said.
"But what about the chip? I thought when the Initiative put the chip in his head. He couldn't bite anyone anymore." Max asked.
"Yeah well he's been having blackouts. So he doesn't remember doing it." Buffy explained.
"Oh. Well where is he now? Maybe I can figure it out." Max asked.
"He's in the basement." Buffy said. "Are you gonna be ok here? Because I need to go to the school for a while."
"You mean you're gonna leave us here with a vampire that's been killing again?" Ames finally said, more out of shock than fear.
Buffy looked at him then at Max. "Don't mind him. We'll be fine." Max said. Buffy wondered who he was. She'd never met him before and Max never told her she was with anyone. When Buffy didn't move Max said, "I'll explain later." Buffy nodded then left.
"Max are you insane?" Ames asked once Buffy left.
"No. I'll be fine. Besides I've kicked his ass before and he knows I'll do it again." Max answered. "Now I'm going to go talk him and see if I can't figure this thing out." Max said as she stood up. She turned back to him. "And don't try and stop me." Max added then headed for the basement.
Max walked down the stairs. Spike sensed someone come down and he looked up from his spot on the floor. "Max, what are you doing here?" Spike asked.
"It's nice to see you too."
"Uh right. What are you doing here though?"
"Buffy called me said she needed my help." Max said as she hopped up on the desk.
"Ok. So I suppose she told you about The First."
"Yeah. She told me it's got you killing again."
Spike just nodded.
"Any idea what The First is using to make you do it?"
"Nope. No clue."
"Damn. Well we'll figure this bitch out one way or the other. We always do."
Later that day, Buffy and Max where up in Buffy's room sitting on her bed. "Ok so who's the guy?" Buffy asked.
"Nobody." Max said but she couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Yeah sure. Spill will you."
"Ok, ok I'll tell you. Actually we started out as enemies. Hell we hated each other. I don't know when it changed or even how but I guess they say there's a fine line between love and hate. And I guess somewhere along the way we crossed that line."
"Oh so you love him."
"I didn't say that." Max protested.
"Yeah sure."
"Ok fine. I love him." Max said. "What about you and Spike?" Max asked.
"I don't know. I mean I don't hate him. Hell he went and got himself a soul for me."
"Whoa wait a minute Spike has a soul?"
"Yes."
"When did that happen?"
"After I broke up with him. At least that's when he left. When he was actually ensouled, I'm not sure."
"Wow he must really love you."
"Yeah he does." Buffy said smiling slightly. Max didn't notice or at least she didn't say anything.
That night, Buffy went down to the basement to clean Spike up. He'd attacked Andrew earlier that day before Max arrived. She dipped therag in the bowl of water and gently cleaned the blood from Spike's mouth.
Spike opened his eyes and looked at Buffy. "Did I hurt anyone?" Spike asked.
"You took a good bite out of Andrew."
"Who?"
"Tucker's brother."
"Oh."
"He'll be ok." Buffy said trying to reassure him.
"I don't remember."
"It's ok." Buffy said. She stood up and walked over to the sink to rinse the rag.
Spike used the chains on his arms and legs to get into a sitting position. "Kill me."
Buffy turned around and looked at him. "What?"
"Buffy, you have to kill me."
"You don't understand. When I left the room earlier, I heard you talking to someone..."
"Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?"
"I was in the cellar with you. I saw what you did."
"I'm not talking about the cellar. The people in the cellar got off easy. I'm talking about me. Buffy, you've nevermet the real me."
Buffy crossed her arms. "Believe me, I'm well aware of what you're capable of."
Spike stood up. "No, you got off easy too. Do you know how much blood you can drink from a girl before she'll die? I do. You see, the trick is to drink just enough to know how to damage them just enough so that they'll still cry when you...cause it's not worth it if they don't cry."
"It's not your fault. You're not the one doing this."
"I already did it. It's already done. You wanna know what I've done to girls Dawn's age? This is me Buffy. You've got to kill me before I get out."
"We can keep you locked up. Keep you here and we'll figure out..."
"Have you ever really asked yourself why you can't do it? Off me? After everything I've done to you, to people around you. It's not love. We both know that."
"You fought by my side. You've saved lives. You've helped..."
"Don't do that." Spike said rolling his eyes. "Don't rationalize this into some noble act. We both know the truth of it. You like men who hurt you."
"No."
"You need the pain we cause you. You need the hate. You need it to do your job, to be the slayer."
"No. I don't hate like that. Not you, or myself. Not anymore. You think you have insight now because your soul's drenched in blood? You don't know me. You don't even know you. Was that you who killed those people in the cellar? Was that you who waited for those girls?"
"There's no one else."
"That's not true. Listen to me. You're not alive because of hate or pain. You're alive because I saw you change. Because I saw your penance."
"Window dressing."
"Be easier, wouldn't it, it if were an act, but it's not." Buffy said walking towards him. "You faced the monster inside of you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man."
"Buffy..."
"And you can be. You are. You may not see it, but I do. I do. I believe in you, Spike." Buffy said. The lights flicker and go out. One of the Bringers bursts into the basement, pushing Buffy away from Spike and she falls to the ground.
More Bringers burst through upstairs, smashing through windows and breaking down doors. Willow throws one of them off of her. Dawn does her best to fight back. The Bringer from the basement pushes Buffy threw the basement door. Several Bringers head upstairs and Buffy follows them.
Andrew laid tied up on the bed in Dawn's room. A Bringer enters the room and faces him. He drops the staff he was carrying and pulls out two curved daggers. The Bringer lunges at Andrew, but misses when Andrew rolls off the bed. Buffy comes in, grabs the Bringer, and they fight.
Downstairs, Dawn lays on the floor and stands up weakly. She grabs the staff on the ground. Dawn walks slowly over to the Bringer lying on the floor. He swings his foot out, tripping her. He climbs on top of her, pulls out a dagger, and aims of her chest. Max walks into the room and throws the Bringer off of Dawn.
Upstairs, Buffy continues fight off the Bringers. Andrew stands up and tries to sneak out. Buffy grabs him, swings him into the Bringers, then throws him on the ground. One of the Bringers walks towards Buffy with daggers. She grabs his wrists, kicks him backwards, and grabs the daggers. Another Bringer lunges at her and she stabs him in the stomach with a dagger. Buffy does the same with the last Bringer. Max walks into the room.
"Buffy?"
Buffy looks at her. "Dawn?"
"She's fine." Max said. She looked at the lifeless bodies on the floor. "Is that it? I thought there was more of them."
"Spike." Buffy said and the two hurried out of the room.
Buffy and Maxwent down to the basement. Buffy stops dead in her tracks when she sees Spike no longer down there.
Willow comes into the living room with the first aid kit. Anya, Dawn, and Xander are on the couch, and Ames is sitting in the chair. Willow sits on the coffee table. Buffy and Max walk in together.
"They were so fast and organized." Max said.
"They were after Spike all long." Buffy said.
"And we were just in the way." Max said.
Buffy knelt down to inspect of the Bringers. "I know these guys. I've fought them before. They work for the First."
Down in the basement of the new Sunnydale High, a Bringer straps Spike to a ritualistic construct. "You'll have to excuse the spectacle, but I've always been a bit of a sucker for the old classics." The First in Spike's form said grinning wickedly.
Spike's tied to the wheel-like construct with all four corners of his body pulled in different directions. A Bringer pulls out a knife and uses it to cut Spike. Spike moans in pain. He eyes the First.
"Oh, don't look at me that way. I wanted to do this more subtle-like. My Harbingers have a tendency to call attention to themselves." The Bringer cuts Spike again. The First leans forward. "You're the one who couldn't hold his end of the bargain. You're the one who couldn't take care of what's-his-name. You're the one who had to make breakthroughs and learn something about himself." The First said.
The Bringer cuts Spike once more."So now, fittingly, you're the one who gets to do the honors." The First crossed his arms then morphed into Buffy's form. "I have to admit, I'm glad it worked out this way. I was going to bleed Andrew, but you look a lot better with your shirt off." The First said, still in Buffy's form.
The Bringer cranks the wheel attached to the mechanism that hoists the wheel Spike's tied to into the air. Spike's now hanging about ten feet from the ground, bleeding steadily from his ritualized symbol-shaped cuts.
"To be honest, I'm getting a little tired of subtle. I think it's about time we brought some authority to our presence. Now, Spike, wanna see what a real vampire looks like?"
Spike's blood's pooling in the grooves of the Seal of Danthazar, and being absorbed by it. The seal glows and one by one, the points of the pentagram begin to fold in the center making a pyramid. Light comes out from underneath it. The pyramid sinks into the ground and the remaining pieces of the seal follow.
Spike glared at the First, then watches the hole where the seal was. Something sticks it's hand out of the hole. An ubervamp climbs out wearing black leather. It raises it's hands to the sky, looks around the room, and then growls menacingly.
A/N: ok so i add the last couple of scenes. it just makes it longer and i thought i should have them in here.