Chapter Two: Uninvited Guests

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from BtVS or Angel. Joss Whedon is a god! I do however own Rebecca, Hayley, and McKenna and would appreciate it if no one takes them. Thank you!

The door to Giles' house flew open as Buffy charged inside, Spike lying helpless and unconscious in her arms. Only after she had carefully laid him on the couch did the slayer collapse in a chair, her limbs heavy and throbbing.

Willow rushed in, Giles and Xander after her, trying to keep Dawn from clutching at Spike. "What's wrong? What happened to him? Why is there a hole in his chest?" Dawn kept asking questions until her sister cut her off.

"I think the question is why isn't he healing?" When the gang looked at her strangely, she indicated toward Spike with her eyebrows knitted. "Look for yourselves. The wounds aren't even closing." As the gang looked at Spike he started tossing.

Suddenly Spike's eyes shot open. "David!" Then, just as suddenly, his eyes shut and he relaxed. The door slammed open, startling everyone. The Scooby gang stared at the large frame filling the door.

At Giles' invite, Angel quickly came towards Spike, glancing up at Buffy before asking the question on everyone's mind. "What happened to him?"

Buffy sat down and took a deep breath before she began. "Spike and I were at Willy's, trying to find out about the newest big bad. When I was trying to get info out of Willy, Spike must have slipped out." She turned to Giles and sighed wearily. "Do you think I could have some tea? Please?"

Giles blinked and finally nodded. "Of course. A moment." Giles went into the kitchen, leaving Buffy to try to replay the night's events in her head and organize them into a story the others could understand. Finally Giles appeared, carrying a tray piled with tea cups and a few mugs of blood. After everyone's thanks had died down, Buffy continued.

"So anyway; a little while later, I heard a scream. I ran to investigate and saw some weird demony thing attacking a girl. I was in the process of slaying it when Spike here butted in. I figured he could take care of himself, so I walked the girl home. I came back and he had this stuck in him." Buffy pulled out a two foot long piece of wood designed like a sword and handed it over to Giles, who began to examine it in earnest, even as Buffy finished. "He said that thing had shoved that through him. Barely missed his heart."

Willow finally took the chance to speak. "But that doesn't explain why the wounds won't close."

Angel, who had been standing apart from the group, stepped forward and picked something out of the wound in Spike's chest. As the gang watched, he held up a splinter of wood. "Until every splinter, no matter how small, is retrieved, the wound will not heal and he will slowly bleed until he has no strength. It's almost like bleeding to death without the second death."

Xander stared, wide eyed. "So, Deadboy, you're saying that we have to make sure there are absolutely no splinters left?"

"Not even a sliver."

"That's impossible!" Everyone turned, startled at Wesley's outburst. "Even with the

right equipment, the chance that we could-!"

"Not impossible." All eyes now turned to Tara who, after pausing from embarrassment at all the attention, continued. "With the right spell, we could pull all the wood from his body instantly. If he were awake, it would hurt immensely. But since he's in a coma, he wouldn't feel a thing though his body would automatically react as if it were being yanked apart." Finished with her small speech, she glanced at Willow, who gave her a warm smile, and sat down, leaving the spotlight open for someone else.

Everyone was silent while Giles stood up and slowly walked toward the bookcase, carefully selecting a book. After what seemed like hours, he paused and gestured for Tara to look at the book.

Sheepishly, Tara walked over and studied the page Giles was fingering. Smiling, she nodded. Giles finally broke the silence as he headed to the backroom. "Angel? I'm going to need your help."

Angel nodded and followed Giles as Tara went back to Willow's side. As soon as Giles and Angel were out of earshot, Willow turned to Tara, excitement lighting up her face. "Okay spill. What spell did you guys find?"

Tara blushed as both Buffy and Xander crept in close as well. "It's just a simple ejection spell. We need to do a shield as well since the slivers are going to fly out of the wound and into the vase Giles is going to bring."

Willow gazed up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "That just might work." She looked back at Tara lovingly. "You're so… brilliant!"

Giles walked back into the room with Angel in tow. "Alright. Willow? Tara? I'll need you two to recite the spell. Angel?"

"I know."

"Good. Everyone else? Get back."

Willow and Tara started chanting, easily speaking the foreign tongue. Everyone else stared as Willow's eyes turned black and Tara's, ironically, turned gold. The girls lowered their voices unconsciously as splinters of wood shot out of Spike, who was bucking of the table they had moved him to. Angel was holding him down, thankfully, and the splinters all seemed to fly into the vase.

Just as Spike seemed to settle into a coma again, Willow and Tara collapsed. They were quickly put on the couch where they slowly woke up. Angel, seeing that they were okay, sliced his wrist open and set it to Spike's mouth, letting the blood drip down his grandchilde's throat.

To the gang's amazement, after a few moments Spike's hand snaked up and gripped Angel's wrist, drinking greedily even as Angel said, "That's enough, Spike." When Spike didn't respond, Angel cuffed him and reverted to the old Irish accent that seemed to fit better. "I said that's enough, boy!"

Spike looked like a deer caught in the headlights, though he wasn't frozen. He nearly flew across the room to stand behind the couch. "You!"

Buffy turned to Spike, confusion evident on her face. "Spike? What's going on?"

Spike could only stare, his eyes filled with terror. Angel smirked at Spike. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. "Aye boy," he said, so softly that Spike's vampiric ears only just caught the words. "I'm back. How's bout we have ourselves some fun then, ey?" he asked, eyeing Buffy hungrily.

Spike saw the predatory gaze and his cowardice crumbled, giving him the strength to leap so he was standing in between the two. "No. Back off. You can't hurt them anymore. I won't let you."

Buffy frowned. "Spike! This is Angel we're talking about right? Remember Angel? Broody vamp who wouldn't hurt a fly?"

"Wrong, luv. Look in his eyes."

With a shake of her head, Buffy peered into the larger vamp's eyes and gasped at what she saw. The horror and fear turned to anger and hate as she glared at him. "Get out of this house."

Angelus chuckled. "Is that any way to treat a guest?"

Spike roared and lunged at him, neatly decking him and throwing him outside. He shouted the uninvitation spell and then slammed the door on Angelus' screams and curses. Turning to Buffy, he said, "I'm sorry," before his eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped in a heap on the floor.