Chapter Twenty

Max was seemingly sound asleep, but the tiniest noise could probably still wake her up. Keeping his eyes trained on her, Spike carefully tried to get up. Without opening her eyes, Max grunted incoherently and her hand shot out, grasping Spike's wrist. He laughed softly but made neither move to get back into bed or to get dressed.

"How long you been awake, luv?" he asked. A coy smile began to form on Max's lips. Before he could react, Spike found himself pulled back onto the bed. A boyish grin lit up his face as his new position had him only a few inches away from Max's face.

"Not that long," Max replied simply before she snuggled against Spike's chest. They shared a moment of compatible silence until Max lifted her head up to lock eyes with him. "I thought I was the one who was supposed to mend this relationship," she stated jokingly.

"You did your part," Spike replied, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Max laughed but felt the need to pinch him anyways. "Hey!" He rubbed the injured spot on his forearm and gave Max a half-hearted glare, which quickly melted into a broad grin as Max gave him an innocent pout in return. His eyes traveled down her face and focused on the protruding lip.

"Look at that lip. Gonna get it, gonna get it," he growled playfully as he leaned in closer. Max managed to maintain her pout for half a second longer before letting a giggle slip out and meet Spike in a heated kiss.

Once oxygen became an issue Max reluctantly pulled back. She absentmindedly played with some of Spike's curls but he could tell by the look on her face that her thoughts were much more complex.

"Something wrong, pet?" Max's hand momentarily stilled and she took a deep breath. Spike cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "This is lookin' to be a serious conversation so would you mind if we at least got some clothes on first? More dignity and such." Max looked confused for a second before she glanced down at the sheet covering her body. A pink tinge appeared in her cheeks and she smiled sheepishly before nodding her agreement.

"But um...do you have any clothes I could borrow?" Spike raised both eyebrows at her.

"I don't think we're the same size."

"Yeah, I know. But I only have the clothes from yesterday and those kinda got dirtied when I was fighting the demons." Spike just looked at her. "What?"

"What demons?"

"I ran into some demons on the way here and they were attacking a family so Angel and I fought 'em off."

"You were with Angel?"

"No. He just appeared. Didn't tell me why he was there but it probably had something to do with Connor."

"Who's Connor?"

"The kid the demons were attacking." Spike nodded slowly before easing himself off the bed.

"I'll see if I can find something for you to wear," he stated as he began scrounging through his drawers. A few beats passed before Spike turned back around, carrying a pair of familiar looking sweats and a black t-shirt. "I think you left the pants here from before. Couldn't find any of your shirts so here's this." He handed the clothes to Max. She opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind and decided to ask something else.

"Can I use your shower?"

That fleeting glint appeared in Spike's eyes. Finally recognizing what it meant, Max smiled broadly and wrapped the sheet tighter around her body as she got off the bed, heading for the bathroom.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said teasingly. She was standing in the doorway when she suddenly halted and turned back. "You coming or what?"

Vampire speed aside, Max had never seen a guy move so fast.


"Okay, I'm not sure that counted as bathing," Max pointed out laughingly as she and Spike flopped onto the couch, entwined in each other's arms. Smirking, Spike took a big whiff of her hair.

"You smell clean to me," he replied happily. Rolling her eyes, Max did the same to him.

"Well you sure don't," she teased. Spike made a sound of protest and pouted. Max scoffed. "Are you mocking me?" Spike didn't answer. Max raised an eyebrow at him. "Did anyone ever tell you that pouting on a man, especially if they're mocking a girl, is very unattractive?"

"Nuh-uh," Spike protested. "If that were true why did your heartbeat just speed up?" Max narrowed her eyes.

"You and your vampire hearing." Spike gave her a smug smile. Max rolled her eyes and settled herself closer against his body. Wanting to get the conversation that Max was obviously hesitating to have out of the way, Spike gently eased her away. She gave him a look of confusion.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"The weather? It really is much better than Seattle's. Or maybe..."

"Max," Spike interrupted calmly. Max sighed and fidgeted with her hands.

"Alright, alright. I have to tell you something."

"I kinda already figured that part out for myself. Just wanna know the details." Max took another deep breath before reaching out to take Spike's hands in hers and resting them on her knees. Spike cocked an eyebrow at her but didn't comment.

"You know how we have this whole apocalypse thing going on?" Spike nodded, eyeing her warily. "Well, it kinda sent Buffy into extreme slayer mode."

"Understandable."

"And you know how Wolfram & Hart's real name is Evil, Inc.? Well, Buffy's not too sure she can trust the people there. Including Angel." To Max's surprise, Spike's face broke out into a wide grin.

"Girl's finally come to her senses then, eh?" Off Max's glare he quickly added, "Not that I really care either way." Max just rolled her eyes before continuing.

"Yesterday we had a meeting...of sorts...and..."

"Who was in this meeting?" Spike asked suddenly.

"Buffy, Jondy, Krit, Willow, Faith, Alec, me, and Kennedy," Max replied quickly as if she hadn't been interrupted. "And we haven't come to a complete decision yet, but the basic idea is to figure out a back up plan in case Angel's crew does something stupid, like help out the bad guys in the coming battle."

"What part do I have in this?"

"That kinda depends..."

"On what?" Spike asked incredulously.

"On whether you're part of Angel's crew, neutral-guy, or our guy," Max explained calmly. Spike stared at her unblinkingly for so long she became afraid he was choosing a different side.

"I'm yours," he replied softly. "Completely."


Max reeled back from a particularly vicious kick to the face. Illyria let a triumphant smile form on her face as she watched Max's eyes blaze in anger.

"Perhaps you are not as unbreakable as you wish to believe," Illyria pointed out smugly. Max retaliated with a roundhouse kick. Illyria ducked it easily and landed a punch to Max's gut. When Max simply took a step back, still in her fighting stance but not attacking, Illyria's smug smile morphed into a slightly confused one. "Either you have simply lost that childish glee you previously showed when sparring with me, or you are playing something new."

With a few spots of blood coloring the inside of Max's mouth, the smile she gave came off more creepy than it should have.

"For an old fart, you sure catch on quick," she stated hoarsely. Illyria's eyes darkened.

"For an ignorant snotty cow, you seem to have more privileges than you should," she snarled. Max's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What did you just call me?" Taking advantage of her surprise, Illyria grabbed a nearby mat and hurdled it at her. It connected with Max's body with a loud smack and sent her flying through the double doors.


Max crashed into the wall with a sickening crack. Gritting her teeth in pain and irritation, she opened her eyes just in time to catch her flying clipboard an inch before it connected with her face. Barely registering the fact that Angel and Connor were nearby, Max gripped the clipboard so hard the wood splintered. She threw it to the side, neither noticing nor caring that it connected with a passing employee's head, and stormed back into the training room.

"You flaming blue hell-bitch! You'll pay for that!" she exclaimed heatedly. Illyria raised a single eyebrow and cocked her head to the side innocently. Max let a low primal growl escape her throat before she hurtled herself at the former god in a flurry of fists.

Only the sound of someone hollering for the two incensed females to stop was enough for them to temporarily quit pummeling each other and look over at the source of the voice. Angel stood near the entrance of the doorway with his arms folded across his chest but the angry dominant stance was betrayed by the slightly amused look on his face. Connor stood beside him and stared at Max and Illyria with obviously awed fascination.

Max looked down at their position. Both her and Illyria each had a hand fisted around the other's throat. Max had her other hand pulling Illyria's hair while Illyria had her's reared back for a punch. She met Illyria's ice cold blue eyes and they let go of each other at the same time.

"Connor, you already know Max from last night...And this is Illyria," Angel introduced.

"What is she?" Connor asked as he took in Illyria's leather-clad blue form. Angel opened his mouth to respond but Max beat him to it.

"She's a former god and currently a nuisance," she replied. Illyria shot her a glare which Max happily returned.

"Does she have any powers?"

"Off the top of my head I can recall superstrength and the possible ability of talking to plants," Max recited sarcastically. "I lost my notes."

"You threw your notes at an innocent passerby," Angel corrected. Max turned her glare on him.

"Like anyone here is really that innocent," she spat heatedly. Taken aback by her response, Angel couldn't form a retort. Realizing her slip, Max quickly turned her attention to Connor who was currently staring back and forth between her and Illyria, nervously swinging his arms at his sides.

"Um...hi," he said. Illyria stared back at him with her head cocked to the side. She looked up and down his body, glanced at Max, herself, and then into Connor's eyes. "I, uh, like your outfit."

"Your body warms," Illyria stated dully before turning to Angel. "This one is lusting after me." Max rolled her eyes while Connor suddenly looked somewhere between panicked and defiant.

"It's not just you," he blurted. He sent Max a fleeting glance before he could stop himself and then found something interesting on the floor. "I mean...huh...it's just the outfit..." He leaned towards Angel and not knowing Max and Illyria could still hear him, whispered, "I guess I've always had a thing for older women."

"They were supposed to fix that," Angel muttered under his breath.

"What?" Connor questioned. Angel's eyes flashed in alarm and he glanced nervously at Max, who was narrowing her eyes at him.

"Nothing," Angel replied quickly. Needing to change the subject he added, "Connor here has brought us a case. We're looking into it and I was just showing him around."

"Oh right...how's your dad?" Max asked as she remembered the demon attack. Connor smiled gratefully at her.

"He'll be fine, thanks." Max returned his smile half-heartedly when it suddenly brightened a few megawatts as her eyes locked onto something behind Connor and Angel. Noticing the change, Connor turned to see who had caused it.

"Hey...heard about a little commotion happening here but I just figured it was you and Illyria," Spike explained as his eyes fell on Connor. "Who's the white bread?" Frowning slightly at the nickname, Connor politely held out his hand.

"I'm Connor." Spike gave him a peculiar look for a brief second before accepting his hand.

"Spike." Connor's face contorted in confusion.

"Huh?"

"That's his name," Angel said, rolling his eyes. "Don't ask." Spike smirked at him.

"What? Like 'Angel' is the essential name for all vampires? Sounds kinda prima to me," he retorted. Angel glowered at him.

"He's a vampire? Like you?"

"Only in the sense that we both have fangs, drink animal blood, and have a soul," Angel replied grudgingly. Spike gave him a smug look.

"Mine's better than yours though."

"Don't forget that you both put a bunch of gel in your hair," Max pointed out innocently. Both vampires glared at her, but she just smiled sweetly. Taking Spike's arm, she began to lead the way out of the training room. "Not quite sure what Angel looks like without all the goop but Spike's pretty hot without his." Spike's glare immediately melted away and he gave Angel another smug look. "I'd love to stay and chat but there's some calls I gotta make. It was great seeing you again Connor, and I'll fight with you tomorrow, Illyria."

"Oh Peaches, Percy's got some demon info for your peepers. He's in your office," Spike called over his shoulder as he and Max disappeared through the doors. Connor stared after them before turning to Angel.

"I take it Spike isn't as busy as you or has as complicated a situation?" Angel's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"You said you're too busy to have a girlfriend and it'd be pretty complicated anyways. But Max is obviously with Spike." Chuckling nervously, Angel put his hand on Connor's shoulder and gently ushered him through the doors with a small wave goodbye to Illyria.

"Spike's situation is definitely...different...than mine."


"Where we going?" Spike asked as Max continued to lead the way down a hall.

"I'm going to call my old buddies in Seattle," she answered.

"Don't you have a cell phone?"

"Yep. I just want to get out of earshot so no one here can overhear me."

"And what do you need me along for?" Max did a quick look up and down the hallway to make sure they were alone before turning to Spike with a coy smile on her face.

"For this." With that, she suddenly pinned him against a wall and landed a very passionate kiss on his lips. Spike laughed softly before returning her affections. Max gave him one last quick peck on the cheek as some people rounded the corner.

Spike gave her a knowing look and said, "Nice timing, luv. I'll leave you to your call." With a wink, he turned and swaggered down the hallway. Max watched him go until he disappeared from sight and then made her way outside Wolfram & Hart.

As she dug out her cell phone, Max found herself thanking Manticore for making sure she had such a good memory. Without it, she wouldhave absolutely no clue whatLogan's number was.

Waiting for Logan to pick up sent a mix of emotions through Max's body. She hadn't talked to him in over a year. And now she was calling for a favor. If he hadn't changed as Max supposed, he'd probably happily consent to her request and then somewhere down the line he'd ask her for something in return. Above all things, she hoped his feelings for her had dissolved into simple friendship, as hers had for him.

"Hello?" a feminine voice startled Max out of her thoughts. Taking a brief second to place the familiar voice with a skinny blonde, Max readied herself for the coming conversation.

"Asha?" she asked.

"Yes...who's this?"

"Max."

"Max who?" Rolling her eyes, Max bit back a snippy retort and settled for semi-polite.

"Transgenic Max," she replied blandly.

"Oh! Hi Max! We haven't heard from you in so long..."

Don't tell me you're saddened by that fact. Having Logan to yourself and me out of the picture has probably been like heaven for you...

"Yeah, I've been a busy little beaver. Is Logan there? I gotta talk to him about something" Max asked. The brief silence on the other end of the phone was enough to make Max smile in odd satisfaction.

"What about?" Asha questioned too casually.

"Superhero stuff," Max replied in the same tone. Another silence met Max's statement.

"Hold on, I'll get him." It only took a millisecond for Asha's voice to disappear and Logan's to replace hers. Max rolled her eyes but another odd smile found its way onto her lips as she heard him greet her.

"Hey Max. Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Hey Logan. Sorry, I've been busy with stuff."

"Likewise. So what's up?"

"How's Seattle doing?" Max asked, ignoring his question.

"Same as when you left." When he didn't go into any more detail Max realized she might as well get it over with.

"Great. I need help. We've gotten into an apocalypse sort of situation down here and we need reinforcements." Stunned silence met her hurried explanation. Max opened her mouth to continue when Logan finally spoke.

"Where's 'here'?"

"Los Angeles."

"Oh. How soon do you need them?"

"Soon as possible would be good."

"I'll do my best to get them together, but...I'm don't think they'll just do what I say."

"Of course they wouldn't. Tell them you've got a message from me. And you won't be alone. I'll be calling OC and Sketchy after you."

"What should I tell them?"

"Max needs your help with a gigantic fight in Los Angeles. Come as soon as you can," Max recited.

"Gigantic fight?" Logan questioned. Max almost winced at the concern laced in his voice.

"Yeah. Colossal. That's why the others are needed."

"It'll take a while to round everyone up..."

"That's fine," Max interrupted. "Just get them here. I gotta go, Logan."

"Um...okay. It was great to hear from you, Max. I miss you." Max hesitated for a beat before responding.

"Me too. Bye."

After she hit the 'End' button on her cell phone, Max found herself staring at it with a weird expression on her face. Not wanting to analyze her feelings at the moment, she began to dial another number that would always have a spot in her genetically enhanced brain.


"Which car was it again?" Alec asked Faith as they stared at the cars lined up in the garage.

"Blue Camaro, I think," Faith replied. Alec looked at the mentioned car and glanced uncertainly back at Faith.

"Positive?"

"If I was positive we'd already be in it and be halfway to Not-So-Pleasantville." Sighing, Alec walked over and opened the driver-side door.

"Let's find out then, shall we?" Faith nodded her agreement and got in the other side. Alec stuck the key in the ignition but didn't turn the car on as he rested his hands on the steering wheel. "This thing'll drive itself right?"

"That's what Spike said." Just as Faith spoke, the car sprang to life. Alec snatched back his hands in surprise as the car moved smoothly forward. The steering wheel moved all by itself and the car headed out the garage door. "Okay, that's definitely straight out of a cheesy horror movie."

Alec simply grunted his response as he kept his eyes trained on the wheel with his hands frozen in a 'I surrender' position.

"Is there some way to speed this up?" he asked after the Camaro had taken them a few miles. Faith shrugged.

"Could try tapping on the dashboard with a magic wand," she replied dryly. Alec rolled his eyes, but thumped the steering wheel to see what would happen. All he got for his efforts was the blast of the horn. Wincing at the loud noise, Alec finally let his hands drop to his sides and rested back in his chair.

"Wake me up when we get there," he muttered. Faith scoffed and slapped his leg.

"Yeah right. If you get to catch some 'Z's than I should too, but if we both conk out who know's where this car will take us?" Grumbling again, Alec righted himself and stared through the windshield. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized the scenery had changed. He exchanged glances with Faith just as the car stopped in front of a house.

"They all look the same," Alec commented, not making any move to get out of the Camaro. Faith bit the inside of her cheek as she swiveled around in her chair, trying to get a good look at the other houses. "How do we know this is the right one?"

"Cuz Herbie brought us here."

"Right, and machines that think for themselves should always get 100 percent of your trust," Alec retorted glibly. They exchanged another glance and each took a deep breath before finally getting out of the car.

Standing side by side on the lawn, Alec and Faith surveyed the house in front of them again.

"Ready?" Faith asked.

"Always," Alec replied with a smirk. Faith returned it as they walked briskly towards the front door. "Ladies first." Faith rolled her eyes but delivered a hard kick to the door. It crashed open to reveal a woman in her thirties and a small boy about 7 years old with automatic weapons aimed in their direction.

Taking it in stride, Alec blurred to the left while Faith dived to the right. The two gun toters followed their movement with an onslaught of bullets. Faith laid herself flat on the floor behind an overstuffed sofa chair. A brief second later Alec joined her.

"Hey honey," he greeted. Faith blew some hair out of her face to give him the full effect of her glare. He just gave her a cocky grin and took out his own gun. Bits of fluff from the chair and other furniture and construction continued to rain down on them as the bullets ripped them apart.

"Are you planning on shooting that kid?" Faith hollered over the noise. Alec rolled his eyes but didn't answer. Instead he held up three fingers. He counted off two until it was just his pointer finger. Faith nodded as Alec closed his fist and they both ran full speed into the kitchen.

Faith bit back a yelp as she felt one of the bullets penetrate her upper arm. Reflexively she brought her other hand up to press against the wound. Alec kicked open the door to the basement with his left leg. Faith quickly took notice of the blood stain on his right pantleg that was steadily growing larger. She raised her gaze up to meet his eyes, which she saw were trained on her injured arm.

"Let's just haul ass," she stated, leading the way down into the basement.

"Listen, please! What did I do? No. No! Wait!" they heard a familiar voice screaming.

Alec quickly shut the door behind him and leaned his body against it. Faith sent him one last glance before sprinting down the steps.

She saw Gunn strapped to a table with his shirt off. An ugly demon stood across the room with a dagger it had chosen from the wall of weapons. It charged Faith, but she quickly sidestepped it and landed a blow to the side of its head. Careful not to move her right arm too much, she kneed the demon in the back, sending him sprawling.

Without hesitating, Faith hurried over to Gunn and ripped the medallion off his neck. Gunn shot up, holding his hands to his head. Faith opened her mouth to say something when the demon attacked from behind, sending her flying across the room. She crashed against the wall and let out a sharp yelp as her already damaged arm went under more pain.

"Faith!"

Alec had left his post at the door, which was shaking violently, and limped down the stairs. The demon charged him and with his injured leg, he couldn't quite get away fast enough. The demon slammed him into the wall opposite Faith. Alec let out an anguished cry before bashing his fists on the demon's back. It let go of him and Alec backhanded it across the face as hard as he could. It fell to the floor and Alec locked eyes with Gunn.

"We have to go. Now," he stated.

"Can't," Gunn replied, panting. "Can't leave here unless someone takes my place and puts on the necklace."

Faith looked over at the medallion and then back at the demon, who was beginning to stand up. She quickly picked up the necklace and tossed it to Alec.

"Put it on him!" she ordered when Alec just stared at her blankly. Once he understood what she meant, he gave the demon one last punch to the head to keep it dazed and then latched the medallion onto it.

The gate barring the fire squeaked slowly open. Alec and Faith looked over at Gunn.

"You coming?"

Still having trouble regulating his breathing, Gunn simply nodded and they each helped each other cross into the fire, barely noticing the demon cutting out its own heart on the table Gunn had just vacated.

A/N-Soooooooooooooooooooooo sorry it took me FOREVER to update! But I just started high school and as most of you probably know that means a buttload of homework, especially if you take three honors and Spanish III...Anyways, I should probably promise updates will be much sooner but I honestly don't know. What I can promise is that it won't be a month til the next update. I officially refuse to keep you guys waiting that long again ;o) Sorry again!

Doza-Thanks a lot ;o) And I'm glad you're back. The reason Illyria didn't do the time slowing thingy is cuz she can't. When her powers split with Max, Max got that ability and when it got zapped from her it disappeared. Hope that makes sense...Don't worry, there'll be plenty of good stuff happening with Illyria, and I hope her fight with Max in this chapter was more satisfactory :o).

LadyV77-Thanks ;o) Reminds me of that too...hehe.

satelliteblues21-Thanks ;o) I don't mean to write her as a god. But in the chapter where her evilness finally got zapped, she did get her ass kicked by Alec. That's how Spike was able to use the weapon on her because she was so weakened. And in this chapter, Illyria got to do it a little too ;o) If neither of these are drastic enough for you, you don't have to worry, there's going to be plenty of more fight scenes. Think big demon battle...

meri24-Thanks ;o) I'm really looking forward to writing that part...hehe.

CharmingAngel-Lol, thanks a lot ;o) I'm glad you love this fic so much :o)

Sarah-Thanks ;o)

birlygirl-Lol, thanks a lot ;o) Laziness is a lot more fun than people think...hehe.

screaminheathen69-Thanks ;o) And there was a little more 'swerve-age' in this chapter too, with plenty more to come...hehe.