Angelus was feeling good. The bitch might have gotten the weapon that The First wanted but he'd already had his time to rage about it. He'd taken his anger out on three Slayer look-alikes and a Spike look-alike too. Well, as close to the 80's reject as Angelus could find. They might not have been as strong as Buffy or his wayward grandchilde, but their hair, skin tone, and body shape had been enough to pretend. Then he'd taken the rest of his pent-up lust and frustration out on his Childe. She liked getting hurt, though, so it wasn't as entertaining as the ones that screamed when he had his fun with them. He'd had his fun with the other Slayer too, but she liked to inflict pain just as much as she liked to take it so he usually just stuck with lust when it came to her.

Once Angelus had calmed down from being bested by the Slayer, he moved on to make new plans. He was getting tired of The First making the plans, so he decided to make a few of his own. He'd noticed the Slayer had been spending most of her time at the Watcher's place, presumably making plans to take him down.

Whenever they were making their plans, Buffy's mom was home alone and free for the picking. Angelus had some minions following Joyce, and as soon as Buffy left the house at night, Joyce would be his. That would be enough to throw Buffy off her game and come at him right away, regardless of all the preparations they were planning for the battle.

That's just one of my plans. I have many more, and all of them are designed to devastate the girl that will become my greatest work of art when I'm through with her.

"Daddy, the pixies are telling me it's not enough."

"What's not enough, princess?"

"The pretty picture you're painting in your head, Daddy, the pixies say we need more more more."

"Did the pixies or your dollies give you any ideas?" Usually, Angelus ignored Dru's ramblings, but sometimes those pixies gave her the best ideas, and he was hoping now was one of those times.

Drusilla giggled and twirled around, watching the stars paint marvelous plans that would make her family whole again. It didn't matter that she was inside, she could see the stars all the same and they were singing the prettiest of songs on this night. "Yes, Daddy, though it's not just the pixies whispering their sweet nothings in my ear, the stars themselves are singing louder and louder. We'll get that mean Slayer and save my sweet prince. She might have her claws," she paused to hold out her fingers like claws and growled at Angelus, "in my sweet boy, but he's not yet fully encased by the sunshine. We still have time."

"Princess, I don't care about Spike, he made his choice. This plan of yours better not only be about saving him."

She laughed a little madly and twirled a few more times before draping her arms around Angelus, "Oh Daddy, no! We need my sweet poet to sing sing sing with us for our orchestra to receive its most deserved standing ovation."

Angelus looked at her dubiously but decided to hear her out. He still had his own plans in the works and he still wanted to get his hands on Buffy's Mommy dearest. So he looked at Dru and said seductively, "Tell me these plans Dru, but after your Daddy has his way with you."

Buffy was surprised. Before Spike left on his mission to gain all the minions he could, she saw his whole demeanor change. He pulled his shoulders back, put his fingers through his belt loops, his face grew serious, and his walk changed to something more domineering. His literal vamp tingles changed. She'd gotten used to them and they'd become a comfort to her. Now, though, they'd changed to a danger prickling up her spine. She had to stop herself from going for her stake. She hadn't realized how much Spike had changed since he'd started fighting on their side, how docile he'd made himself in order to put everyone at ease.

She felt like a horrible Slayer for even thinking this, but seeing him be the Big Bad again was a major turn-on. Spike was always a grade-A hottie, and anyone would describe him as a bad boy, but this was different. Maybe it was the danger of it all. Buffy shook her head and decided she might have to take some time to figure out why that got her motor running once the Angelus Apocalypse was over. Buffy did notice he was walking a little stiffly, though. She remembered how earlier she'd accidentally pushed him in the sun so when he went outside she followed him.

"Spike, wait here for a second, okay?"

Spike quirked an eyebrow at her but nodded. She ran into the house, and into the kitchen. Thankfully, no one was paying attention to her since they were all working on tomorrow's battle. She took a mug and a knife, and cut into her arm. It wasn't deep, and with slayer healing, the blood slowed down by the time the mug was half full. She grabbed a paper towel and cleaned up her cut before trying to seem nonchalant while walking past the gang. When she made it back outside it took two seconds before Spike growled and was in front of her.

"You dozy bird, what did you do?"

"With your stupid British words, I don't know if you're insulting me or not."

"Buffy…" he said, waiting for an explanation, then grabbing her arm to look at her cut.

"It's my fault you were hurt in the first place. I don't know what type of danger you might be in tonight. Don't try to fight me about this, the blood is already outside my body, it'll just go to waste if you don't drink it."

He growled again and took the cup. His eyes flashed yellow but his face didn't change. He moaned when the blood hit his taste buds and when he was done, he gave her an adoring look. He grabbed her arm again and asked with his eyes if he could; she nodded her head and he licked the wound and moaned again. The vampire saliva tingled on her skin as it helped heal her, and she gave a little wiggle at the feelings it brought out in her.

"Thank you, Buffy. You'll never know how much this means to me."

"Just be careful and come back safe. That's all the thanks I need."

He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Thank goodness they were standing on the grass because he dropped the mug to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer. She could feel his hardness against her stomach and it made her moan. She wanted him as much as he wanted her but this wasn't the time, so reluctantly, she pulled away.

"Just hurry back, okay?"

"Course, luv." With one more kiss, she made her way back into the house.

Spike started walking down the road and got back into character, letting a vicious smile come over his face. He might love Buffy, but he loved being the Big Bad too. It was nice to get into that mindstate again. He strutted his way down the street and headed toward the Bronze. He had to be careful because he had no clue where Angelus, Dru, and the Dark Slayer were tonight. He knew that Faith didn't go hunting with them but she didn't just sit at the mansion and wait for them to come home either. On top of that, he now had a stiffy that wouldn't go down for days if the last time he'd had Buffy's blood was anything to go by. Christ, he wanted her.

Once he got to the Bronze, instead of walking right in, he made a trip around the perimeter and looked in the windows to make sure none of the three was there. When he found that the coast was clear and that no less than six minions were finding a meal for themselves, he walked to the main entrance, slammed the doors wide open, and strutted his way in, making sure to let everyone know he was there.

The humans looked him over, some lustfully, some annoyed at his bravado. As for the vampires, some looked at him like he was their savior, just begging for someone to take over for Angelus, and some cowered away from him. Both reactions were good, it confirmed that the minions weren't happy with the poofter.

"Oi! Get your bloody arses over here now!"

Even though they weren't his minions, they listened. It was a minion's nature to follow directions from a master. Well, at least when they were past their first few years and the crazy blood lust that came along with the change. He made his way to the bar and the bartender came up to him quickly.

"Double Jack and keep 'em coming."

"Sure thing."

The bartender had worked in this town, and at the Bronze especially, long enough to know that this guy was bad news. He decided to keep his head down and give him whatever he wanted. Spike took his first shot, and once it was refilled he grabbed it and slowly turned around to look at the vampires that were waiting for him.

"So this is the deal. I'm taking over. I was under Angelus's tutelage long enough to know you bloody hate the bugger. So this is what's going to happen. You're going to go back to the mansion and grab all the other little minions that want to get away from Angelus. Then you're going to go to this address and lay low until tomorrow when I take him down."

"You think you'll be able to take all three of them down by yourself?" The minion that Spike had just decided was soon to be dust, scoffed. "Doesn't matter how crazy Angelus is acting, you won't be able to do it yourself. I don't care how many Slayers you killed."

Spike made no fanfare in dusting the bloke. He did it right there, in front of the entire bar, but no one batted an eye. The Sunnydale denial factor was in full force tonight. "Right, jus' because I'm a better master than the Poof doesn't mean I'll take any shit from my lessers. Take that as the warning it is." One minion timidly raised its hand. "Oi, you're not in sodden school, say what you wanna say."

"I'm not questioning you, i-it's just, Angelus has been going on and on about how you're the Slayer's lap dog and-and not to trust you," he stuttered.

"Well, if that ponce," Spike said, nodding at the pile of dust, "had waited a second, I woulda explained that I made the Slayer think just that. The bint thinks I love her and that I just wanna help her. She fully believes I'm with her. So she thinks I'm working with her to take Angelus down. After she helps me dust Angelus, the stupid bint is going to be broken-hearted and that's when I'm going to take her out. That way I'll have the Hellmouth, you lot, and my ripe wicked plum all to myself. After they're all dead, I'll use you guys to help me get the Gem of Amara and we'll all be livin' large." Spike felt dirty saying those things about his girl but he had no choice given that Angelus had opened his mouth about him being with Buffy. Going off the look on the minions' faces, they believed him.

"That's just a myth, isn't it?"

"No, it's not. And I know exactly where it is, it's jus' gonna take some work to get to it. I heard there are actually two of them together. So whichever minion makes themselves the most useful to me will get one of them."

"You're really playing the Slayer?"

"Damn right, I am. You lot really think I'd be gathering my own minions if I was really her lap dog? Makes no soddin' sense." After a few seconds' thought, one by one each member of the group started nodding their head. "Right then, I'll meet everyone at the factory before daybreak. The Slayer and I are attacking the ponce tomorrow and right after he's dust, she'll die at my hands. So by tomorrow night we'll be running this town." He ended on a yell—it was always good to get the minions a little riled up. He stopped for a second; he forgot he was not trying to get them to smash and bash like he normally would. He had to keep them from attacking people.

"Yeah!" A few of the overzealous ones yelled and Spike cringed internally; he was doing too good a job at being the big bad again.

"You lot gotta lay low tonight, I'll bring you some blood to hold you over. The Slayer and her group of White Hats are on the prowl now, trying to take as many of you out as they can. The only reason you aren't already dust is because I told them I'd take the Bronze. Fuck, half the vamps you might be going back to the mansion for might already be dust in the wind. We just need to keep it up for one night then we'll be free."

Spike planned to pretty much move them from the factory to digging for the treasure and used the fact that they were in a rush and hiding (because he obviously had no intention of hurting Buffy) as an excuse for why they were staying on bagged blood. Once Spike had no more use for them, he figured he and his girl could have a right good time taking them all out. He'd make it a date night and take her to a fancy dinner with some of the money from the treasure.

They were looking at him dubiously, and it was clear they didn't like the idea of living off bagged blood, but they didn't fight him because they knew… thought it was only for one night and they knew Spike would just stake them if they put up too much of a fight. So they nodded and waited for more orders.

"Be on your way then, I'll see you in a few hours. Except for you." He pointed to a vamp that he knew from the last time he'd been the master of Sunnyhell. He didn't remember the bloke's name but he knew he was good at taking orders and getting jobs done. The rest nodded and left while the one stayed back and waited. Spike took out the letter he'd already prepared for Drusilla and hoped it would be enough to lure Dru away for a few minutes tonight. The gross-lookin' bloke that she'd last had an affair with would be here in a few hours to take her away. "Give this to Dru all quiet like. Make bloody sure Angelus is nowhere around. This is for my girl's eyes and hers alone. Got it?"

"I'll get it done, Master."

Spike nodded his head and stood up a little straighter; he knew that they'd agreed to make him their master but with him saying it, it felt all the more real. He liked the power that came along with being the master of a nest of vampires. You got a group of blokes and birds that would do whatever you said; it made you feel powerful, invincible even. He shook his head, that was not what this was about. This was about defeating Angelus and helping Buffy, he was not actually trying to become master again.

Spike took a few more shots of Jack, found someone to feed from, took her out back, then made his way back to the Watcher's flat where everyone should be waiting for him. He had to make a detour when he felt family nearby, but thankfully, they didn't catch him.

Buffy was getting worried; she figured Spike should be back by now. She was only half listening to Giles catch Lawson up on what their plan was for the battle the next day. She saw that Xander and Willow were pouting because they were upset about being kept out of the fight. She really couldn't concentrate enough to placate them because she was too worried about Spike. She didn't even know why they were upset; it wasn't like they'd been in the actual battle with the Master or with Angelus the first time around.

Angelus had been too quiet; she'd have thought there'd have been an attack from him by now. Especially since they'd taken the weapon from him. She decided that he had to be planning something big and she just hoped that he was not planning to set his plan in motion until after tomorrow night's attack. She felt pretty confident about the battle she had planned for tomorrow. She'd sparred a little with Sam while Spike was out collecting the minions earlier. He was pretty good. He was no Spike but she was sure he would be able to hold his own in the fight.

If she was being honest with herself, what she was most worried about was Drusilla. Not her fighting skills, which had been scary ever since she'd recovered her strength, or her thrall, which was terrifying simply because she'd used it to kill Buffy's sister Slayer, Kendra. No, she was worried about what Spike would do when it came to Buffy dusting her. She knew that Spike had meant it when he told her he loved her, and she knew Spike was loyal to her. She trusted his loyalty because she knew that once Spike gave someone his loyalty, they had it. And therein lay the problem: he'd been loyal to Drusilla for over a century. That didn't just go away, especially for someone like Spike. Would Spike stop her when it came time to end Dru? Would he fight her if she didn't back down?

If Buffy were being honest, she wished Drusilla wasn't even here. She didn't want to put the man she loved in a situation like that…Wait, what? The man she loved? No, she didn't love Spike, she'd only ever been in love with one man and that was Angel, right? She knew she felt a lot for Spike, but it felt completely different from what she'd felt for Angel. When she fell in love with Angel, there was so much mystery and so many questions were involved… It was scary too. It all drew her in more and made her want those answers… although, now that she thought about it, she never really did get the answers she was looking for.

With Spike, it was scary too but in a completely different way. She felt safe and secure with Spike, she knew he wasn't the type to leave and she knew that if she asked him something, he'd give her the answer. Even if it was something she didn't want to hear. Spike was sometimes too honest. She got the butterflies with Spike too but they were different than what she'd felt with Angel.

She'd once told Angel that when she kissed him it made her feel like she wanted to die, but when she kissed Spike, it made her feel like she wanted to live, to keep fighting. To fight together with him, to make the most that she could out of these sometimes horrific cards that fate had dealt her. When she thought about it without sitting on the beach of the Nile, she felt just as strongly for Spike as she did for Angel, they were just different kinds of love. She felt her body stiffen at the realization: she did love Spike.

She took some time to accept that realization but once she did, she wanted to scream it from the rooftops. She felt silly about deciding to hide it from everyone. Even if they didn't like that she and Spike were together, they'd just have to accept it. Plus, her mom loved Spike. Giles and he had become almost friends, bonding over whatever weird British things they bonded over, and Willow liked Spike too. The only hold-out was Xander and he'd been much less of a poophead since they'd had that talk with him and he got his Jessie guilt off his chest. Once she decided to tell everyone the truth, she went right back to worrying about where he was.

He should definitely be back by now. Oh god, what if he was out there hurt waiting for me to come save him? What if Angelus got to him and he's being tortured right now? What if he's dust and I never got to tell him I love him?

She was really working herself into a panic and was about to run out there to find him herself when he walked through the front door like nothing was wrong. Like she wasn't just panicking over worst-case scenarios. Like he wasn't purposefully scaring her by taking so long. While she stomped right up to him, she could see his face go from smiling, happy to see her, to confused, then to wary, even taking a step back. Once she reached him, she slapped his arms and chest over and over again. If he'd been human, he'd have a few bruises in the morning, but since he was a vampire, that just stung.

"You giant jerk! I was scared half to death! What took you so long? I was worried Angelus got you or you were a pile of dust somewhere. Don't you ever scare me like that again! Do you hear me?"

As she was slapping and berating, her angry face slowly changed to fear and sadness. By the time she was done, she was almost crying. She then flung her arms around him and sniffled a bunch until she was sure she wasn't going to cry. Even with all the effort, a few treacherous tears fell from her eyes anyway. Spike wrapped his arms around her and was whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

"Shh kitten, it's okay. I'm right here. I didn't mean to scare you, sweetheart. It's okay luv, don't cry."

She pulled back a little just to look in his eyes then lifted her head and kissed him. She got lost in the kiss as she always did when she got to taste Spike lips. Mhmm, lips of Spike, she thought dreamily. The only thing that brought her back to Earth was the sound of an insistent throat being cleared behind her. Oh crap, she was so caught up in her worry she'd forgotten they weren't alone. She knew she'd decided to tell everyone that they were together but she hadn't meant to let everyone know like this.